Chapter 7 An Unacceptable Fact 3
My brother had many good friends when he was alive. When he passed away, everyone felt that God was jealous of his talent. There was a long line of people who came to send him flowers. At that time, I was thinking, is God blind? Why did he take away such a good person like my brother and leave me, a useless person.
After my brother died, I still haven't come to my senses.
Later one day, Shen Ruoyun found me and told me that he saw Tang Ai at school.
At that time, I remembered my brother's words and his concern. I thought about it all night, and the next morning I took my phone and called Shen Ruoyun. I said, I will go to school to see her, the girl named Tang Ai.
When I arrived at school, I didn't expect to be seen by you, and I didn't expect you to recognize me as Xi Chen.
You were wrapped in the afterglow of the sunset, wearing a casual skirt, with your hands behind your back under the golden sunset, squinting your eyes and smiling warmly at me, tilting your head, and gently calling: "Xichen."
At that moment, it seemed as if a bright sunshine really slid across my heart, and I knew at a glance, yes, it must be you, you are Tang Ai.
I opened my arms and smiled like my brother, saying, "Xiao Ai, sorry for the wait."
Then, you ran towards me in the afterglow of the sunset and threw yourself into my arms.
At that time, I didn't feel guilty for doing something wrong, but I wanted to protect you, who was so beautiful. Because I didn't know how devastated you would be if you heard that Xichen had passed away.
So, I became selfish and wanted to keep it a secret from you as long as I could because I didn't want to make you unhappy.
It was not until later, when so many things happened between you and me, and you always stood firmly on my side, trusted me, and treated me well, that I realized that the person who liked you was named Xi Chen, but his heart was Xi Feng.
I am struggling with this. How can I like you? You are my brother's favorite person...
But I don’t want to give up, I’m unwilling to give up. Tang Ai, tell me...what should I do in this situation?
Xi Feng raised his head and looked at Tang Ai, his whole face wet with tears.
Tang Ai's hand left the table, her body swayed, and she suddenly fell into the chair.
"Xiao Ai!" Xi Feng stood up and tried to help her, but Tang Ai quickly dodged his hand, stood up from the chair, and stepped back repeatedly until her body hit the wall. She raised her hands in front of herself, shook her head, and said in a sobbing voice, "You, don't come over, please, I beg you, I don't know you..."
"Xiao Ai..." Xi Feng frowned, his hoarse voice trembling.
"Xi Chen is dead, he is dead, everything is fake! It is all fake..." Tang Ai muttered incoherently, and images flashed through her mind one after another. She seemed to remember that on the first day of school, she saw an ambulance passing by on the bus. Was that Xi Chen?
Is this how they missed each other... On the brink of life and death, not even a finger was seen.
But how could she believe it? In the past year, the phone number was Xi Chen's, the WeChat was Xi Chen's, the appearance was Xi Chen's, and even his personality was the same as before... Tang Ai leaned against the wall, crying and laughing, covering her face and slowly squatting down.
She had suspected that Xichen had changed, but she herself denied her suspicion. Who should she blame?
Tang Ai slowly raised her head with a bitter smile on her face.
"Xiao Ai..." Xi Feng walked over, leaned down, and put his hands in a supporting position. Tang Ai waved at him and said, "Don't touch me..."
She supported herself on the ground and stood up, shaking her head continuously. She staggered past Xi Feng in a daze, opened the door of the private room and ran away.
Shen Ruoyun, who was drinking coffee in the lobby, saw Tang Ai rush out the door and flee, and he understood something. He put down his coffee cup and walked into the private room. He saw Xi Feng standing there with his head drooping and his body boneless. He asked, "Did you tell her everything?"
Xi Feng was silent for a while, then he slowly walked to the coffee table and sat down, leaning weakly on the chair, and said, "I said..."
Shen Ruoyun didn't know what to say, so he just put his hands in his trouser pockets and said, "You knew this would be the result, didn't you? What are you going to do next?"
"I will stand up for my brother, keep the shares that belong to us, and let my father know that although my brother has passed away, I will work as hard as he did to keep what I deserve." Xi Feng stared ahead with a somewhat dazed look in his eyes. Now, he has the courage to stand up and complete his brother's career, but he has lost the courage to face Tang Ai.
Is this a gain or a loss?
"Don't worry about her. I will keep an eye on her. Just take care of your own thing first." Shen Ruoyun said lightly. After all, besides Xi Feng, he also had a part in taking care of Tang Ai. That was what he had promised as Xi Chen's best friend.
Xi Feng's eyes gradually brightened. He slowly stood up, looked at Shen Ruoyun, and said, "Then I'll trouble you first. I'll go find her after I finish dealing with the company's affairs."
"Have you decided to win her back?" Shen Ruoyun asked.
There was a hint of seriousness between Xi Feng's brows, and he said firmly: "Not only do I want to win her back, I will also take care of her and protect her on behalf of my brother." At last, with a gleam in his eyes, he said, "With the rest of my life." After saying that, Xi Feng pushed away the chair and walked out of the cafe.
Shen Ruoyun stood there silently for a while. Then he slowly turned around, staring in the direction where Xi Feng left, with a relieved smile on his lips.
If Xi Chen were still alive, he would definitely be very pleased to see Xi Feng in this state, right?
Shen Ruoyun knew Xi Chen. If Xi Feng fell in love with Tang Ai, Xi Chen would definitely bless them wholeheartedly. But Xi Chen, if you are still alive, please bless Xi Feng to gain a firm foothold in the Xi family, and to successfully resolve the entanglement with Tang Ai and reconcile.
After all, no one in this world wants them to be happy more than you.
The dusk was deep, the roofs on both sides of the street were glowing with golden light, and a few birds flew across the high sky and landed in the rosy sunset.
The weather is already warm enough to wear just one layer of clothing.
But even in such warm weather, Tang Ai felt cold all over, as if she had fallen into an eternal icy valley.
Xi Chen is dead... They said Xi Chen is dead... How could Xi Chen die?
Tang Ai was like an empty shell without a soul, walking back and forth on the busy streets. She was unaware even if someone accidentally bumped into her.
There were the crisp ringing sounds of bicycles, as well as the harsh honking sounds of electric vehicles and motorcycles all around her. Those sounds were so close to her, yet so far away from her. The whole world was hazy, and Tang Ai was deeply trapped in it. She couldn't see the way forward, let alone retreat.
Suddenly, a strong arm grabbed Tang Ai and quickly pulled her aside. Tang Ai came to her senses and saw that the person who was pulling her was Shao Yu, who looked surprised.
"Tang Ai, what's wrong with you?" Shao Yu's voice seemed to have its own reverberation, gently hitting Tang Ai's eardrums.
Tang Ai's body was a little unstable, but Shao Yu did not let go of her hand.
"Do you... know this too, Teacher Shao?" Tang Ai raised her head, her small and delicate face already wet with tears.
Shao Yu looked at her in confusion, knowing that she was not in a clear state of mind, so he stretched out his hand to hold Tang Ai and said, "Come on, come back with me first."
"I won't leave..." Tang Ai struggled out of Shao Yu's arms, punched Shao Yu's chest with both fists weakly, venting the collapsing emotions in her heart, "Do you also know...know that the current Xi Chen is fake! Follow them to deceive me? Isn't it?"
Shao Yu was startled. Did she know?
Do you know about this?
No wonder this is happening.
"Xiao Ai, you..." Shao Yu was about to say something, but stopped immediately.
What to say? Should she calm down? The person she loved so much had passed away a long time ago. The person she had treated with so much sincerity was not the one she wanted to meet. Not only that, all her friends were conspiring to deceive her. How could she calm down at this moment?
"It's okay, just cry for a while." Shao Yu held Tang Ai in his arms, gently pressing her head with one hand, and coaxing her gently.
"I hate you guys so much..." Tang Ai cried silently in his arms, her whole body trembling violently. "I want to see Xichen, I miss him, I want to go see him. He is not dead, he said...he said that if I come, he will wait for me , why? Why don't you keep your promises?"
Shao Yu gently pressed Tang Ai's head against his chest and whispered, "If he hadn't been forced to do so, he wouldn't have wanted to leave you, silly girl. Who would be willing to do that?"
Shao Yu felt sorry for Tang Ai because he could relate to her. His first love used this sentence to comfort him before she closed her eyes.
She was pale, holding Shao Yu's hand while crying bitterly, and said with a smile: "Silly boy, if I had no choice, how could I be willing to leave you?"
The same goes for Shao Yu and his first love, and Tang Ai and Xi Chen.
In this world, no one is willing to leave the one they love. However, death is really something that cannot be reversed. Tang Ai cried for a long time in Shao Yu's arms until she lost her voice.
Just as Shao Yu was about to call her, he felt the girl in his arms lose all her strength and fall down. Shao Yu hurriedly supported her and saw that she had fainted.
Shao Yu felt a slight pain in his chest. If Xi Chen saw Tang Ai like this, he would be heartbroken, right? Shao Yu sighed, picked up Tang Ai, and took her into his car.
In the car, Shao Yu covered Tang Ai with a thin blanket, saying that the weather was getting colder in the evening and she should be careful not to get sick.
Afterwards, Shao Yu sent another WeChat message to Xi Feng:
"——Xiao Ai is here with me. She fainted from being too sad. She won't be a big problem. I will take good care of her. When you have dealt with your business, come and see her."
Xi Feng replied almost instantly:
"--Okay, thank you."
Shao Yu locked his phone, put it aside, and turned to look at Tang Ai. Her breathing was even, but her thin eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if they were knotted and could not be untied.
The twilight outside the window deepened. A dim full moon was faintly visible in the dark blue sky. Rows of warm yellow street lights had lit up at the end of the road.
The hands on the watch were turning tirelessly, and the hour hand had already pointed to seven o'clock. The girl beside him had fainted and slept for nearly an hour, but her brows were still furrowed. Suddenly, the girl moved, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and soon they were wet with tears.
She opened her lips slightly and murmured, "Xichen, Xichen..."
Shao Yu was about to wake up Tang Ai when he saw her slowly open her eyes, tears connecting her upper and lower eyelashes into several strands.
"Awake?" he said.
When Tang Ai heard the voice, she turned around and found herself in Shao Yu's car.
After crying for so long and sleeping for so long after fainting, Tang Ai's emotions were not as broken as before. She leaned against the back of the seat and asked, "Teacher Shao, do you know where Xichen is?"
She was referring to the place where he was buried. Shao Yu knew what she was referring to, so he said, "If you can hold on, I will take you to see him."
"I can hold on, Teacher Shao." Tang Ai stared blankly at somewhere, but her expression was calm.
Seeing her like this, Shao Yu sighed, leaned over to help her fasten her seat belt, and said, "I'll take you there." After that, Shao Yu drove the car out of the parking lot.
The car drove through the bustling streets in the twilight and headed towards the suburbs.
Tang Ai leaned her head against the back of the chair, looking at the scenery flashing by outside the car window. This place is far away from the city and there are few people. I wonder if Xi Chen will be lonely? But the view here is good. If you look up, you can see the stars in the sky. When Xi Chen is lonely, he will also look up at the stars.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Tang Ai's face, but that smile was mixed with a lot of unspeakable pain.
Not long after, Shao Yu's car stopped in front of a cemetery. Tang Ai got out of the car and stood outside the cemetery, looking at the neatly arranged tombstones. Her heart suddenly beat violently and her eyes quickly became moist.
Xichen, I'm here to see you. I came so suddenly and I don't have anything with me.
Will you blame me? Blame me for coming so late, blame me for not recognizing that it wasn't you who was with me for so long?
You blame me, blame me, only then I will feel better and dare to meet you with a smile.
Tang Ai kept smiling like that as she followed Shao Yu through the road in the cemetery and finally stopped in front of a pale tombstone.
