After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 68

Chapter 68: Just Like Them Now.

“President Huai, Xiao Li and the others’ car has broken down,” Ding Rong said, turning her head to report to Huai Xing in the back seat after finishing the call.

Huai Xing looked at the gloomy night outside the car window, her brows furrowed tightly. She then looked at Ding Rong and asked, “Where is the location?”

“It’s on Ningxi Road, about eight kilometers from us.”

“Uncle Tai, drive to Ningxi Road.”

The driver followed the instructions and turned the car around. Ding Rong in the passenger seat had already contacted another car to rush to Ningxi Road at the same time.

Huai Xing gently rubbed her brow. She had just finished a social engagement not long ago and was about to go back to her apartment.

She had even had a glass of red wine today to suit the occasion, thinking that the flush on her face would have subsided by the time she got home. She hadn’t expected the thing she was worried about to happen. As a manager of the company, and not far away, she should go over to take a look and express her concern.

After all, the other party were the key employees of “Lan Ling,” and it was Vice President Chu who was leading the team.

Another muffled thunder sounded in the sky. Just as the car passed a street, the downpour fell, and the rain curtain blurred their vision.

Uncle Tai’s driving speed slowed down a little, and he drove steadily towards the destination.

Huai Xing pressed her lips together. After her fingertips habitually tapped the back of her phone, she still unlocked the screen and then opened WeChat.

She pulled up the chat box with the withered flower profile picture.

The input method was displayed at the bottom, but her fingertips hovered over the screen, not knowing what letters to press.

The light from the phone was reflected in her black gem-like pupils, magnifying her hesitation.

After the car had driven past another street, she still exited.

There was nothing to send. It would be in time to ask when she got to the scene. If there was really something important, Xiao Li would tell Ding Rong.

Thinking of this, she sent a message to Lu Xianyue to explain the situation.

Lu Xianyue replied: [You guys be careful too. The rain is getting heavier.]

Indeed, the Haicheng downpour was on the hot search again.

The dense raindrops smashed vertically on the ground, splashing up layers of water. The streets were instantly filled with accumulated water, and the wheels of the cars stirred up undulating waves as they passed.

The eight-kilometer journey took the car a full twenty minutes to stop on the side of the road because of the rain. There were no shops around Ningxi Road, and it was a very wide avenue.

Huai Xing composed her expression and got out of the car with an umbrella.

The broken-down car had already been towed away by the rescue team. At this moment, Chu Wantang, Xiao Li, and the other five were standing on the side of the road with umbrellas… no, Chu Wantang was not standing, but squatting at the side, her black umbrella covering her.

…Like a mushroom.

Coincidentally, another car from the company also arrived. Huai Xing greeted them sincerely, “Thank you for your hard work. I’m sorry you had to encounter such an accident. Please get in the car…”

After Xiao Li and the other three “Lan Ling” people got into the other car, Chu Wantang was still squatting in place, not having moved.

The rain was slanting heavily, and Huai Xing’s pant legs were all wet, and her shoes were also soaked in the water.

She pressed her lips together tightly, her footsteps pausing in place for a few seconds before she still walked over. She bent down slightly, slowly lifted the brim of Chu Wantang’s umbrella, and said at the same time, “Let’s go.”

But Chu Wantang held the umbrella very tightly and did not give her a chance to lift it.

Huai Xing had no choice but to squat down with her. This time it was much more convenient.

As cars passed by, the light strips hit their side, allowing her to clearly see the tear stains on Chu Wantang’s face.

Chu Wantang looked at her quietly, her eyes still sparkling with crystal, and did not say a word.

Huai Xing also stared at her. A few seconds later, she tentatively said, “Were you scared?”

She paused before saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this car to break down. But you… don’t be afraid. This is not a car accident, just a small accident. No one was injured.”

She knew that because Huai Zhao and Xu Zhixun had died in a car accident, Chu Wantang would have some psychological trauma in this aspect.

She naturally thought that Chu Wantang was showing such a fragile expression at this moment because she felt that she had faced a car accident.

After she said this, she saw Chu Wantang’s long lashes tremble slightly, and another teardrop fell, looking exceptionally pitiful.

Huai Xing looked back at her in silence.

At the side, Ding Rong asked with concern, “President Huai, did something happen to President Chu?”

“No. You can get in the car first, Ding Rong.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Huai Xing covered Chu Wantang’s half of the umbrella with her own.

The two umbrellas were connected, and this time it was like a suddenly enlarged mushroom. The rain beat against the mushroom, and the pitter-patter sound was amplified in this space.

And Huai Xing also moved a little closer.

The wind was strong, and the rain was heavy. She gripped the handle of the umbrella, looked at Chu Wantang’s slightly pale face, and hesitantly took out a tissue from her bag and handed it over. “Do you want to wipe it?” she said. “We’re getting in the car in a while. Ding Rong will see.”

Chu Wantang was freezing all over, and the fingernails on her hand holding the umbrella handle had turned purple, but she still didn’t move.

Huai Xing’s hand was always suspended in mid-air. After more than a dozen cars had passed on the road, she moved forward a little again. This time, she was even closer to Chu Wantang. This time, she was too lazy to ask and gently wiped the tears from Chu Wantang’s face with a tissue.

The scene seemed to overlap with the one in front of the tombstone many years ago. The only difference was that the person wiping the tears was now Huai Xing.

After doing all this, she squeezed the wet and soft tissue and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you want to stay here all night, President Chu?”

Neither of them could be considered decent at the moment. Their shoes and pants were soaked, especially their pants, which were stuck to their calves. Their hair was also blown against their skin by the wind, which was very uncomfortable.

“Huai Xing,” Chu Wantang’s lips finally parted at this moment, but her voice was a little low.

Huai Xing: “Hmm?”

“Why did you rush over?”

“First, if anything happens to you ‘Lan Ling’ people here, I will also be responsible. Second, didn’t you say you would give me my clothes tonight? I don’t want to delay the meeting time. I have social engagements tomorrow and the day after tomorrow night.”

It was an expected answer, and Chu Wantang’s heart did not fluctuate at all.

Or rather, from the moment the first teardrop fell, her heart had been sinking to the bottom of the sea. Huai Xing’s appearance had even made the oxygen concentration around her lower and lower, suffocating her.

The rain flowed down the umbrella surface in streams, surrounding the two of them in this small world, isolating them from the outside world.

Huai Xing looked at Chu Wantang’s silent appearance, and her lips parted again. “…Don’t be afraid. It’s really just a small accident.”

She thought for a moment and reached out her hand. “Can you hold my wrist? I’ll take you to the car.”

When Chu Wantang had been injured at the seaside and was getting medicine at the hospital, she had held her wrist.

As soon as she said this, the woman in front of her moved, but she did not grab her wrist. Instead, she tried to stand up with her umbrella, but she had been squatting here for too long, and her legs were not used to it yet. They were a little numb, and she couldn’t stand steadily at all.

Huai Xing timely reached out her free hand to grab her wrist and reminded her with a frown, “Be careful.”

Chu Wantang lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on Huai Xing’s hand on her wrist.

Huai Xing’s palm had some water stains, and with her body temperature, it was a little sticky. Now it was sticking to her skin, and it was slowly melting into her blood, making all the senses in her body rush to this place.

She did not struggle.

She had no strength to struggle either.

Apart from this way, what else was there between her and Huai Xing?

Seeing this, Huai Xing seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She held the umbrella and the person and walked slowly towards the car.

The cars on the road all had their hazard lights on, and the red lights flickered in the rain curtain. Their figures were also flickering under the light strips.

It was clearly a very short journey, but it felt as if they had walked for a long time before they finally arrived.

Ding Rong held an umbrella and opened the back seat door for them. Only after they had both gotten in did she return to the passenger seat.

The windshield wipers were swinging back and forth at the fastest speed, but it was hard to penetrate the heavy rain. They could only draw messy water marks on the windshield.

The car got on the road again and first drove to the hotel where Chu Wantang was staying. The journey was more than ten kilometers, and in this weather, the car speed was not fast.

Huai Xing had let go of her hand the moment she got in the car, and there was a seat’s distance between the two of them.

She listened to the sound of the windshield wipers working hard, looked at the scenery outside the window that she couldn’t see clearly, and her palm seemed to still have Chu Wantang’s body temperature. Her mind was a little blank.

Ding Rong handed over a tissue. “President Huai, President Chu, do you want to wipe yourselves?”

Huai Xing looked at her wet pant legs and shook her head. “No need.”

But she still took the tissue, said nothing, and was about to put it next to Chu Wantang.

A muffled thunder sounded, and her wrist was held by Chu Wantang.

She looked at Chu Wantang’s profile in the dim light, but she couldn’t see anything clearly. She put down the tissue, did not pull her wrist away, and in this position, she looked out the window on her side again.

At this moment, the exclusive ringtone of Lu Xianyue sounded in the space.

Her wrist was released by Chu Wantang in the next second. She glanced at Chu Wantang, retracted her hand, and answered the call.

Lu Xianyue asked with concern, “When are you coming back to the apartment?”

“I still have something to do. What’s wrong, Xianyue?”

The person on the other end was replaced by Lu Zhenyue, who said to her, “Xiao Xing, if you’re hungry when you get back at night, you can tell me. I went to the supermarket after I finished my activities today, and I just sent you a photo of the finished product.”

“Okay, Sister Suisui. I won’t be polite.”

After a simple conversation, Huai Xing held her phone and opened the food photo that Lu Zhenyue had sent.

She smiled, her fingertips tapping the screen: [They all look delicious.]

At the side, Chu Wantang had been fully focused when the ringtone had sounded. Hearing the three words “Sister Suisui” that Huai Xing had said in the car, her temples were pressed so hard that they ached.

Now, using her peripheral vision to notice the smile on Huai Xing’s face, she felt even more that the air in the car was suffocating.

She slowly closed her eyes, but her breathing was not even at all. The small ornament, the envelope bouquet, the smile, the hug…

All of this replayed in her mind over and over again, and it also made her have to face a reality—

In the past period of time, she had been deceiving herself.

She had built a wall of paper for herself, shielding herself from all negative emotions, and just immersed herself in her own world.

Huai Xing didn’t pay much attention to her? It didn’t matter. They hadn’t seen each other for so many years, and she was at fault first. This was what she deserved. She would slowly get close to Huai Xing until it was like before.

Was Huai Xing more intimate with others? It didn’t matter. No matter how intimate, it couldn’t be more intimate than they had been. She would also bit by bit break down the intimacy between Huai Xing and others, just like before.

…But was it really not more intimate than they had been?

After five years, Huai Xing had shed her naivety and was even more dazzling than before. She could see it, and others could see it too. More importantly, Huai Xing was now in a very gentle and soft atmosphere. Just like on the day they had watched the sunrise at the seaside in Nancheng, in a flash, Huai Xing, Lu Xianyue, and the two subordinates were under the golden light, with brilliant smiles on their faces.

And she was at the side, stunned on the spot as she watched this scene.

She should have woken up long ago. The current Huai Xing and she were in completely different worlds.

She was trapped in the past, trapped in the cemetery in Yuncheng, trapped on Chaoyin Road in Nancheng, trapped in the rainy night in Jingcheng. Her past with Huai Xing was already like that withered spring letter, with an indelible dark yellow inside and out.

How to admit it?

To admit that the Huai Xing who had liked her so much before no longer had her reflection in her eyes.

How to face it?

To face the Huai Xing who had been full of her, and who, since their reunion, had not even given her a single genuine smile.

How to believe it?

To believe that the Huai Xing who had taken a red-eye flight to express her love for her five years ago had not shown a single fluctuation when she had seen her in tears and in the dust at the hotel the night before.

All her confidence, pride, schemes, and calculations were completely disintegrated in an instant.

The paper wall she had built had been drenched in the downpour for two nights.

It was already shattered and no longer existed.

…

It was almost eight-thirty. The car stopped at the hotel entrance. It was not raining here, and a waiter came to open the car door for them.

Huai Xing got out of the car first. It had only been more than half an hour, and her pant legs were not dry at all.

She turned around and saw Chu Wantang coming down with an umbrella.

Perhaps because she was cold, her lips were a little purple, and her face was even paler in the bright light. Her temperament was a little cold, like the woody scent she often wore.

Ding Rong also got out of the passenger seat and asked, “President Huai, do you want me to go and buy some medicine?”

Chu Wantang struggled to part her lips, and a dimple barely appeared. “No need. Thank you, Assistant Ding. I’m fine.” She then looked at Huai Xing. “Please wait a moment, President Huai. I’ll go and get the clothes.”

“I’ll go with you,” Huai Xing said, her tone still business-like. “It’ll be faster this way, so I won’t have to trouble President Chu anymore.”

She then looked at Ding Rong. “You and Uncle Tai can go and wait for me first.”

“Okay.”

The car drove away, and they no longer stood at the door, but walked into the lobby.

Chu Wantang had been graceful when she had left in the morning, but now she was in a mess. The front desk staff who had an impression of her were a little surprised to see her like this.

The elevator was slowly ascending, and there was no one else in the car.

The oxygen here seemed to have been sucked out, making Chu Wantang’s throat ache.

Finally, the elevator reached their floor. The rain outside had not stopped, and the customers had also come back with rain. The expensive carpet on the floor had been forced to absorb a lot of rainwater, and the feeling of stepping on it was a little different from usual.

Chu Wantang didn’t feel it at all. She remained silent, not saying a word.

When she reached the door, her hand was trembling a little as she swiped the room card. After a “beep,” she pushed open the door and turned to say to Huai Xing in a distant manner, “Please wait here, President Huai.”

“Okay,” Huai Xing nodded.

Chu Wantang took a deep breath. Just as she stepped in, before she could insert the card.

A white blade cut through the sky not far from the floor-to-ceiling window, followed by a shocking and majestic clap of thunder.

Subconsciously, Chu Wantang was rooted to the spot.

Her mind once again flashed with the image of her mother’s death many years ago, and the bank card that had been illuminated by the lightning. She gripped the room card tightly, but she couldn’t feel a trace of pain.

Seeing her like this, Huai Xing’s brows furrowed tightly, and she called out softly, “Chu Wantang.”

No one answered.

Huai Xing said again, her voice a little heavier, “Chu Wantang.”

Chu Wantang’s throat moved with difficulty, and her hand also loosened, like a person who had just been rescued from drowning.

She stared at Huai Xing in a daze, her lips pressed together tightly, wanting to say something but unable to.

She really wanted to ask if Huai Xing liked Lu Zhenyue.

She really wanted to ask why she had given Lu Zhenyue a spring letter. Oh, no, Huai Xing liked summer now. It had just been the beginning of summer a while ago, so it should be a summer letter.

She really wanted to ask why she had posted a separate Moments for that small ornament. Was it so precious?

She had given Huai Xing so many gifts before…

No, Huai Xing had returned them all, all included in that eight hundred thousand.

Chu Wantang’s long lashes fluttered, and she did not speak, but her eyes and the tip of her nose gradually became sore and red.

She was almost standing in the darkness, while Huai Xing was standing in the brightly lit corridor, glowing.

Just like them now.

“Chu Wantang,” Huai Xing said, looking at her watch. “Don’t waste time, can you?”