"You can't even find her yourself. Where am I supposed to find her?" Xu Cong really wanted to slap him. He grabbed Cheng Yuan by the collar and shook him hard. "Back then, you were the one who said you didn't like her, didn't love her, and didn't want her. What? Only three months apart and you're already regretting it? Are you even a man?"
"Yes, I'm not a man. I'm going back on my word," Cheng Yuan said, throwing a drunken tantrum. "I regret it now. Can't I?"
"Regret? What bullshit are you talking?" Xu Cong punched him in the gut, trying to knock some sense into him. "Don't forget, you're the president of the Cheng Group. Don't say regret! Never!"
"But I do regret it!" Cheng Yuan's voice choked up. "I just want her back."
He slumped onto the carpet, kicked over an empty bottle, and amid the clattering sound, confessed, "Xu Cong, I miss her. Help me find her..."
This was the first time Xu Cong had seen Cheng Yuan cry. How should he put it? It was strange and also astonishing.
He had thought that a man like Cheng Yuan, who always rolled around in a sea of women, was the least likely to understand love. But it turned out he was completely wrong.
This playboy Cheng Yuan had actually fallen into the trap of love.
Xu Cong patted his shoulder. "I really can't help with this."
"Then get lost if you can't help," Cheng Yuan said, pushing Xu Cong's hand away. He continued drinking. When he saw the bottle was almost empty, Xu Cong tried to snatch it away, and they started wrestling.
By the time Zhou Jin arrived, Cheng Yuan was on top of Xu Cong, punching him. Zhou Jin tried to pull them apart and took a hit himself.
"A Yuan, what kind of drunken madness is this?"
Xu Cong winced. "He's gone crazy. Hurry up and pull him off me. It hurts like hell."
They finally managed to drag him up, but Cheng Yuan wouldn't calm down. He insisted on going to the restroom, where he got into another fight with someone.
Everyone was drunk, so no one held back. At first, Cheng Yuan fought back, but then he just stopped moving and let the other guy hit him.
He didn't remember how many punches he took. The last time, he coughed up blood and passed out.
The only thing Cheng Yuan remembered was seeing Jiang Xiao. She was holding his face and asking him if it hurt.
He rubbed his cheek against her palm and whined, "It hurts. It hurts a lot."
Jiang Xiao leaned in and blew on it, then gently massaged it.
He grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her lips.
That kiss was gentle. It was the first time Cheng Yuan had ever kissed her like that. His tongue tentatively reached out, hooked onto hers, as if afraid she would run away again.
The scene ended with him begging her, "Don't go. Stay with me, okay?"
Then a harsh machine sound came.
Cheng Yuan opened his eyes. The strong smell of disinfectant hit him. He was in the hospital. A doctor was examining him. The sound he had just heard was from the medical equipment.
Seeing him awake, Xu Cong let out a long sigh of relief. "Good thing you didn't die."
Xu Cong wasn't exaggerating. This time, Cheng Yuan was seriously injured: internal organ damage and three broken ribs.
Jiang Yu asked, "President Cheng, do you want to press charges?"
Cheng Yuan said, "No."
Xu Cong raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You have to press charges."
Cheng Yuan glanced at him and signaled for Jiang Yu to escort him out.
The hospital room fell silent again. Cheng Yuan looked at his swollen left hand, then raised his right hand and pressed down on it. He pressed harder and harder.
He deliberately reopened the newly healed wound. The bloodstains on the gauze were shocking.
He took out his phone from under the pillow, snapped a photo of the bleeding wound, and sent it to his Moments, visible only to Jiang Xiao.
He hoped she would soften.
After all, in the past, whenever she saw him injured, she would worry so much she couldn't sleep, even more than he cared about himself.
Two hours passed. No activity in his Moments.
He sent another photo, this one also bloodied, looking even more horrifying than the last.
He thought, this time Jiang Xiao should care about him, right?
Time ticked by. Midnight came and went, and there was still no reaction. Cheng Yuan couldn't hold back anymore. He sent a WeChat message to Jiang Xiao.
The moment the message was sent, he received a reply: "You are not friends yet."
Jiang Xiao had blocked him.
In the past, it had always been Cheng Yuan who blocked Jiang Xiao. This was the first time she had blocked him. Cheng Yuan's feelings were beyond words. In short, he felt terrible.
He called Jiang Yu. "Contact Madam now. Send her anything."
Soon, Jiang Yu replied. "President Cheng, Madam has blocked me."
In a rage, Cheng Yuan called Jiang Xiao. Same result—his number was also blocked.
He roared in fury, threw his phone to the ground, and checked out of the hospital that very night. He took a private jet to Milan.
There was no one in Milan. He went to Los Angeles, then San Francisco...
He searched twenty cities. Every single one.
Jiang Yu said, "President Cheng, there's another crisis at the company. What should we do?"
Cheng Yuan rubbed his brow. "Return to Jingbei."