To Feng Qing, Sheng Yan's threats were extremely despicable. First it was about the company, then it was her father. Sheng Yan always resorted to underhanded means to force her.
"Despicable!" Feng Qing couldn't help but scold him. Qi Zhicheng's advice had turned out to be off - the - mark.
Sheng Yan didn't care. He was already used to Feng Qing's abuse. "I'm despicable, but what can you do about it?"
He reached out and touched Feng Qing's face. This face that had haunted his dreams since five years ago was now glaring at him in anger. He knew she had an indomitable spirit, but was also a soft - hearted person. Although her soft - heartedness had never been shown to him, there were only a few things that could move her.
Feng Qing endured Sheng Yan's touch. She clenched her fists tightly, telling herself to be patient. Sheng Yan could bully her, but she couldn't let him find an excuse to target others.
Sheng Yan watched as Feng Qing's eyes gradually turned red, filled with unwillingness and humiliation. Then she spoke, pleading with him.
"Even if you hate me and want to take revenge on me, I'll accept everything you do to me. But I beg you, my father is innocent."
The hand that was touching her face stopped suddenly. Sheng Yan replied casually, "If you marry me, your father will also be my father. Naturally, I'll be as filial to him as a real son."
Marry, marry, marry. Why did Sheng Yan insist on marrying her!
What was so good about marriage!
"Anything but marriage." Feng Qing averted Sheng Yan's gaze and looked elsewhere. Her eyes were evasive, as if she was guarding a secret that was about to be revealed.
"Why?" Sheng Yan grabbed Feng Qing's arm and pinned her against the elevator wall. This time, Feng Qing was not as calm as before. "Don't tell me it's because you're going to marry the person you love. A person like you is capable of loving others? It's all just an excuse!"
Feng Qing looked up at Sheng Yan seriously, as if she was ready to confess.
"Believe it or not, I never intended to hurt you. I can't agree to marry you because..."
"Because what?" He didn't believe Feng Qing could come up with any lame excuse!
"I'm married." Feng Qing didn't expect herself to blurt out this secret. Her voice was trembling.
It was a secret that had taken a long time to cover up, but in order to make Sheng Yan give up, she still said it.
Originally, apart from the parties involved, no one else knew this secret.
"What did you say?" At first, Sheng Yan didn't believe it. He thought Feng Qing was fabricating such a lie to avoid marrying him. But when Feng Qing said again that she was already married, his heart couldn't stay calm anymore.
Feng Qing didn't seem to be lying. For a moment, he felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was cracking. The huge shock made it hard for him to see clearly. Feng Qing's appearance and expression were all shaking in his eyes.
What kind of excuse was this?
What kind of excuse was this?
She was already married? During the five years when he had suffered because of her departure and missed her day and night, she had fallen in love with someone else and married them?
Then what was he? Had he been a joke from beginning to end?
"You're already married." Sheng Yan suddenly laughed. To Feng Qing, his expression looked extremely hideous. "You're married. Then what am I? For the past five years, only I remembered you, while you had already forgotten everything between us!"
"Feng Qing, you're so heartless!"
Feng Qing stood there, accepting Sheng Yan's accusations and abuse. She knew that Sheng Yan wouldn't react calmly after she told him this. She didn't know what he would do, but since Sheng Yan was so insistent on marrying her, she couldn't find any other reason to refuse him.
"Since I came back to the country, I've been telling you to let the past go. Holding onto it will only hurt yourself in the end. I've always been trying to keep you away from me. You always thought there was still a chance for us, but I can tell you rationally, there isn't."
Feng Qing's expression was very calm, and her tone was flat. She was as relaxed as if she was reading a narration, but the content was like a cruel death sentence for Sheng Yan.
Finally, the elevator arrived. Feng Qing stepped out first. Sheng Yan seemed to be greatly shocked. She still couldn't bear it and advised him, "I know it's useless to say anything now, but I still hope your future will be good. I may not be the best choice for you. You still have a long way to go in the future."
The elevator door closed again. Sheng Yan stood alone in the elevator, closing his eyes in pain.
He still had a long future ahead. Why could Feng Qing always say such heart - wrenching words so casually? Since Feng Qing left five years ago, the future he had been looking forward to always included her.
If there was no Feng Qing in the future, what kind of future would it be?
But the person he regarded as his future and had been waiting for so long had married someone else after leaving.
The distance between them was no longer just between the domestic and the foreign, or between the superior and the subordinate. It was that she was already married, but not to him.
Why was he still suffering, while Feng Qing had already walked into marriage with someone else?
Was he really just like all her previous boyfriends to Feng Qing, just an unimportant passer - by in her life?
Was there really nothing special about him in her heart?
***
Feng Qing knew that Sheng Yan was in a bad mood. She thought that maybe avoiding him for a while would make him feel better.
So Feng Qing didn't go upstairs to find Sheng Yan for several days. For some important documents, she still asked other assistants to deliver them.
She learned that Sheng Yan hadn't been to the company for a while when she heard other assistants chatting in the restroom.
People love to gossip when there are many of them, no matter where they are. Feng Qing was in the cubicle, listening to the assistants outside praising Sheng Yan. Their words were full of admiration for him.
Feng Qing also smiled. In fact, Sheng Yan was really a good person. It was just that their beginning wasn't serious, and maybe they had no future together.
"But he seems to have been absent from the company for a few days."
Someone asked why, and the person continued to answer.
"I heard that he had a big fight with the general manager a few days ago. He left the office soon after going back and hasn't returned until now."
"But he and the general manager are really in love. Although they always seem to be quarreling, isn't that how young couples are these days?"
"..."
Feng Qing was sweating at their wild speculations. She didn't even dare to open the door. She waited until the people outside had all left before quickly slipping out of the restroom and returning to her office.
She didn't expect that just by going to the staff restroom, she could hear gossip about herself.
Nor did she expect that in their eyes, her quarrels with Sheng Yan were just like those between young couples.
She had to admit that their imaginations were really too rich.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Feng Qing glanced at the caller ID and also thought it was a bit sudden. After answering the phone, her expression looked very serious.
After struggling and doing a lot of mental preparation, she still chose to accept it calmly. After thinking for a while, she called Qi Zhicheng.
"Um... I'd like to ask, you should often take your son out to play, right? Where in Luocheng is suitable for taking children to play?"
Qi Zhicheng was slightly stunned. "Judging from your words?" He paused and then laughed. "Don't scare me. This kind of thing can't be joked about."
Feng Qing also laughed. "Is it so hard to believe that I have a child?"
"Anyway, it's really shocking. But this is your private matter, and I can't make any comments. I'll sort it out and send it to you later."
Qi Zhicheng hung up the phone quickly. Feng Qing was still holding the phone, and her smile gradually stiffened. She didn't know whether she should be happy or worried.
The content of that overseas call just now seemed to still be echoing in her ears.
"Mommy, Daddy and I are going back to the country to see you soon. Do you miss me?"