withered lover

The coffee shop is very quiet during working hours. The humming sound of the milk frother echoes in the silent shop, and the rich aroma of coffee floats in the air.

Shen Guiwan sat in the corner, staring at the steaming cup in front of him, while Wen Qiong sat opposite him, sipping coffee with the cup.

She tasted the bitterness lingering on the tip of her tongue, and gently put down the cup, and the ceramic cup and saucer collided with each other, making a crisp sound.

"Is this period of time okay?" Wen Qiong smiled politely at Shen Guiwan.

Shen Guiwan raised his head, there was a moment of hesitation on his face, but he still said: "Everything is fine."

"Really." Wen Qiong smiled, looking away from Shen Guiwan's face.

She looked at the pedestrians coming and going outside the glass window, at the black car parked on the side of the road, and then turned her head to look at Shen Guiwan.

Shen Guiwan looked at her calmly, without any shyness to dodge.

Wen Qiong looked at him and chuckled, "I know you are Zhinian's lover, and I also know that you have been by Zhinian's side after your father was hospitalized, but you can't hide by his side forever."

Shen Guiwan frowned, looking at Wen Qiong gradually became vigilant.

Du Zhinian's mother exposed all the secrets about him in a few words, his past was almost naked in front of her eyes, allowing her to freely comment on the sidelines.

This feeling is terrible, even during the Cold War, Du Zhinian never treated himself like this.

However, the one sitting in front of him was Du Zhinian's mother, a female elder, Shen Guiwan could not act too rudely.

He bit the tip of his tongue to force himself to calm down, but Wen Qiong ignored his vigilant gaze from the beginning to the end.

"I can send you abroad, anywhere you want, and I can guarantee that your father will not come to trouble you again."

She took out a slender notebook from her bag, tore off one and handed it to Shen Guiwan, "If you are short of money, you can write this check as you please."

Shen Guiwan looked at the check and did not move for a long time.

Ever since I met Du Zhinian, Lu Yi or Wen Qiong, no matter what the purpose of these people I met through Du Zhinian, they were all trying to help me escape from Shen Lu's confinement.

Shen Guiwan knew that escaping from Shen Lu was a very simple matter for these people, but he struggled in this predicament for three years.

He is different from them, not a class of people.

Neither is Du Zhinian.

Shen Guiwan looked up at Wen Qiong, "What is the price?"

"The year you left." Wen Qiong slightly parted her red lips, and spoke softly.

Shen Guiwan lowered his eyes, neither accepted the check nor rejected it, but asked Wen Qiong calmly: "Does Du Zhinian know what you said?"

"He doesn't know." Wen Qiong shook his head, "He had a quarrel with his father on New Year's Eve, and he never came home or contacted him after that."

Shen Guiwan blinked his eyes slowly, Wen Qiong watched his bland reaction, and slowly suppressed the smile on his face, "You are not surprised at all, Zhi Nian told you all about it?"

"I said a little bit." Shen Guiwan paused, "He was very sad that day."

Sad to the point of losing control, he showed a fragile expression in front of himself.

Wen Qiong sighed, and rubbed the center of her brows with her slender fingers, "I have no other demands, I just want my family to return to its original state."

"This condition is not bad for you, is it?" Wen Qiong asked with a smile.

Shen Guiwan remained silent, slowly closing his hands leaning against the edge of the table.

Although the woman sitting in front of him had exquisite makeup, the heavy foundation could no longer cover the fine lines around her eyes.

"This is not the way to restore calm." Shen Guiwan rubbed the back of his hand, "If you don't communicate with Du Zhinian, just ask me to leave him, won't Du Zhinian be angry if he finds out?"

Wen Qiong took a deep breath, and asked in a sharp tone: "You care about Zhinian's feelings so much, do you know that he is going abroad?"

Shen Guiwan's hands resting on the table trembled, and then they clenched even tighter.

"He has always wanted to leave here, even if he doesn't leave this year, he will leave in the future." Wen Qiong looked at him with wide eyes, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Will you still be together by then?"

Du Zhinian was leaving, and when Shen Guiwan heard the news from Wen Qiong, apart from being a little surprised at first, there was actually no other fluctuation in his heart.

Probably because he stayed with Du Zhinian for too long and saw too many different looks of Du Zhinian, or because Du Zhinian once asked him if he wanted to marry him, Shen Guiwan had already had this premonition in his heart.

But compared to unfamiliar women, he would subconsciously prefer Du Zhinian.

At that time, Du Zhinian kept saying that he would take him away, that he wanted to marry him abroad, and even cried when he agreed. Although he didn't believe the man's promise in bed, Shen Guiwan felt that Du Zhinian would not lie to him. At least not leaving without saying hello.

Unwarranted suspicion will only make the rift bigger and bigger. Shen Guiwan has seen his mother tortured to despair by Shen Lu's suspicion and suspicion, so no matter whether Du Zhinian will leave here or not, he should tell himself this matter. Well, Wen Qiong's words at most gave him a psychological preparation, and could not be the basis for doubting Du Zhinian.

What's more, he has no right to doubt Du Zhinian, they are just lovers, even if Du Zhinian wants to leave in the future, that is Du Zhinian's right.

If Du Zhinian lied to him, he could also leave.

But he won't be the one to leave first.

Shen Guiwan lowered his head and remained silent, the coffee in front of him was completely cold.

Wen Qiong looked at Shen Guiwan who was silent, and said again: "I just want you to leave here temporarily and go abroad in a few years. You can get together again if you want to, and no one will stop you at that time."

"Just do me a favor." Her tone became gentle again, "I can help you with Shen Lu's matter."

Shen Guiwan listened to Wen Qiong's good promises again and again, and suddenly laughed, "I don't need you to worry about the matter between me and Shen Lu, this is my family matter, even if I ask others to help , and in the end I have to solve it myself.”

"He killed my mother, broke my ribs, and I smashed his head...these things will eventually come to an end."

Whether he was willing to face it or not, from the moment he dialed Lu Yi's phone number, there was no turning back.

This nightmare will eventually come to an end, and he will eventually leave that cage.

Wen Qiong's lips, which were painted with bright lipstick, were tightly drawn into a line. Shen Guiwan smiled indifferently, and said, "I don't know what happened to the Du family on New Year's Eve, but you said that Du Zhinian was going to leave. Can you really leave? Are you really going to let him leave here?"

He was just guessing at the time, but now that he met Wen Qiong and listened to what she said to him, the guess in his heart was confirmed.

Shen Guiwan recalled everything Du Zhinian had done, all kinds of performances in front of him, and suddenly understood why Du Zhinian wanted to leave here.

They are all the same, and they are all struggling to move forward in chains.

Shen Guiwan's smile hurt Wen Qiong's eyes.

"As long as he is determined, he can leave here." She closed her eyes and sighed in her voice, "He is already doing this."

"His father doesn't know about the matter between him and Yu Minggu yet, but he will soon be unable to hide it."

Tears glistened at the end of her eyes, Shen Guiwan listened to the elder's trembling voice, without any expression on his face.

Looking at his calm face, Wen Qiong smiled self-deprecatingly, "It seems that you know that that child really doesn't treat you as an outsider."

"Is this important?" Shen Guiwan neither admitted nor denied, "I can't agree to any of your conditions, and I won't send a message to Du Zhinian for you. If you have anything you want to say to him, tell him yourself."

He took out two pieces of paper from the tissue box and handed them to Wen Qiong, "I haven't been able to communicate properly with my mother. There are many things I want to tell her now, but I have no chance."

"I don't want Du Zhinian to become like me even though his parents are still alive. He can live a better life."

Wen Qiong looked at Shen Guiwan's hand stretched out in front of her eyes, there was a hideous scar in the slightly closed palm, which almost completely tore apart the lines on his palm.

"What did Zhinian give you to make you follow him so desperately?" She tied the tissue in Shen Guiwan's hand and asked in a trembling voice.

Shen Guiwan withdrew his hand and did not answer Wen Qiong.

Du Zhinian took him in. Although it wasn't like Wen Qiong just threw a check when he came up, but thinking about it carefully, Du Zhinian also gave him a lot.

The joy brought by love, a warm haven, meticulous care when injured...

Du Zhinian took the trouble to communicate with him, who was almost cut off from social interaction, dragged him out of the dark cage, and brought him back into the society. It was too late for Shen Gui, who was dying and struggling under Shen Lu's stick with pain and sorrow.

Shen Guiwan felt as if he had learned other feelings, although he still didn't know how to describe that feeling that was different from hatred and anger, and different from pity.

"It doesn't matter what he gave, anyway, it's not a blank check I just wrote." Shen Guiwan pushed the check to Wen Qiong's eyes, "If you really care about him, don't ignore his feelings."

He stood up and lifted the shopping bag on the ground, "I should go back, thank you for the coffee."

Shen Guiwan turned to leave, but Wen Qiong stopped him suddenly.

"Do you know the year when you met the daughter of the Lu family who has severed ties?"

"I don't know." Shen Guiwan looked back at her, "But I will tell him."

He will tell Du Zhinian when the matter about Shen Lu is settled, or when Du Zhinian decides to leave.

Wen Qiong rubbed the center of her brows wearily, and asked again after a long while: "Are you going to make glutinous rice balls tonight? Zhinian doesn't like sweets."

She saw the glutinous rice flour in the bag and remembered that today is the Lantern Festival.

"He told me he wanted to eat minced meat." Shen Guiwan said, "I will make it."

A very strange expression appeared on Wen Qiong's face, surprise mixed with something else, Shen Guiwan couldn't understand.

She stared blankly at Shen Guiwan, took a long time to hold Shen Guiwan's hand, and said in a solemn tone: "If possible, please stop him for a year, and don't let him get involved with Yu Minggu again."

"That man is dangerous."

Shen Guiwan didn't understand the grievances and entanglements between wealthy families, but he had seen Yu Minggu once, and his intuition told him that this man was dangerous.

"I try, but you know there's nothing I can do."

He didn't refuse Wen Qiong's request, nor did he promise anything, but Wen Qiong showed him a heartfelt smile.

"I'll take you back, I've delayed you for too long."