Lakefront Tea House.
With its antique-style decor and sowhat upscale furnishings, spending here cost several hundred per person.
The reason is simply that this tea house is located on the pri real estate of the East Lake shoreline.
From a private room on the second floor, one can clearly see the scenery of East Lake, with a panoramic view of the lake and mountains from the window.
However, neither of the two people sitting opposite each other at this mont had the heart to appreciate the beauty outside the window.
"Can you tell about what happened back then?"
Chen Feng began sowhat tactfully.
Zhou Qianru elegantly peeled a tangerine, glancing at him lightly as if casually, with a hint of feigned ignorance: "What happened back then?"
Suppressing the indignation in his heart, Chen Feng sneered, "The matter of you leaving without a word, without even a goodbye ssage afterwards."
Zhou Qianru looked at Chen Feng with a hint of anger, but she didn't feel unhappy; instead, there was a vague sense of achievent. After all, so many years had passed, and this man still held a grudge against her, always rembering her in his heart.
"I rember that we agreed beforehand not to ask about each other's personal information, not to disturb each other's life, and not to involve emotions. Not to ask what shouldn't be asked. So, even if I left without saying goodbye, it can't be said that I was wrong, right?"
What Zhou Qianru said left Chen Feng montarily unable to refute.
In fact, it was true that, during their second eting at the hotel, Zhou Qianru had indeed set these ground rules for him, and he had readily agreed at the ti.
Back then, they were in actuality just casual partners, even less than what so relationships between others might have entailed, considering they didn't even know each other's nas.
Chen Feng just felt a bit resentful about how heartless and cold-blooded she was, without the slightest bit of human kindness.
Seeing that Chen Feng didn't argue, Zhou Qianru didn't push him but rather said with a slight sigh: "I really didn't expect to see you again, and I believe you feel the sa. This ti, when I contacted you, I believe you guessed what I ant."
After finishing, Zhou Qianru started to eat the peeled tangerine segnt by segnt, slowly chewing.
She ate as if Chen Feng didn't exist.
Seeing her act like this, Chen Feng couldn't help but feel irritated, so he picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and then said sowhat sharply, "I don't know what you an. You'd better tell straight."
Only then did Zhou Qianru turn her gaze back to Chen Feng, smiling slightly: "So many years have passed, and how co you're still as naive as back then? Your resentnt towards is entirely unnecessary. We were just fleeting visitors in each other's lives; no one wronged the other or was unfair to the other."
Hearing this, the anger within Chen Feng's heart subsided a bit, and he knew that indeed, he had been a bit small-minded.
Regarding their affairs back then, to be honest, he benefited quite a bit. She never asked him to be responsible, and she even paid for the hotel a few tis. Chen Feng truly shouldn't bear any grudge against her.
Ultimately, he resented that she departed without farewells or human kindness, making him feel as if he was an object without any value to her, just discarded without any regret.
That feeling wasn't pleasant at the ti, and even after so many years, recalling it still made him indignant.
"Alright, you're right. I just felt you lacked human warmth back then. Regardless, we had slept together many tis, yet you didn't even leave a parting call or ssage, just vanished. At the ti, I even thought sothing might have happened to you, worried for a while, and paid attention for a long ti to reports about traffic accidents, unexpected incidents, and criminal cases, just in case sothing happened to you."
Zhou Qianru listened to Chen Feng's words, and after a mont of silence, she softly said, "Back then, my family had so issues. My father suddenly had a severe stroke and was hospitalized, and I stayed in the hospital with him. Eventually, after more than a month, he passed away.
My mom passed away when I was a teenager. Later, my dad never remarried, and we lived together depending on each other. When he passed away, I beca an orphan without both parents, feeling extrely sad and depressed. Fortunately, at that ti, Yanhong was always by my side, trying to cheer up, taking on trips, and introduced to my current husband, which slowly helped through that difficult period."
After hearing her recount, the resentnt that had lingered in Chen Feng's heart for seven or eight years dissipated instantly, and he felt both joy and guilt.
The joy ca from realizing that Zhou Qianru wasn't heartless nor truly discarded him like an old shoe; it was because she had lost her supportive father and wasn't in the mood to deal with him.
In such circumstances, it was fully understandable why she suddenly disappeared and stopped contacting him.
By the ti she erged from the grief and found a boyfriend, many months must have passed, making no sense for her to contact him anymore, nor should she.
Throughout these years, Chen Feng had been unjustly blaming her, always bearing grudges against her, was indeed small-minded which made him feel naturally guilty.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know the whole story, it was my misunderstanding."
Chen Feng sincerely apologized to her.
"You don't owe an apology; you didn't wrong , and of course, I didn't wrong you either. I invited you here this ti because I was worried there might be so misunderstandings or any unrealistic ideas from your side. Do you get what I an?"
Zhou Qianru's earnest words amused Chen Feng sowhat in his heart.
Even though Zhou Qianru didn't make it explicit, how could he not understand?
"I understand. You're afraid I'll bother you, aren't you? Rest assured, I won't disturb your happy life now, and even more so, I won't affect the relationship between you and your husband."
Chen Feng directly stated her concerns and expressed his stance.
He indeed had no intention to rekindle their past, not only because she's married now but also due to their noticeable age difference.
Back then, when he was barely twenty, she was around thirty, and it didn't seem an issue.
But now, with him at thirty and her nearing forty, despite good maintenance and style, she couldn't hide the fact that she's a middle-aged woman.
Chen Feng now didn't lack young and beautiful won, so there was really no need to ss with a married woman like her.
Zhou Qianru hadn't expected Chen Feng to be so straightforward and genuine, and it appeared as if he wasn't lying, which made her smile: "Very well. What's past has passed; things are different now, so let's not dwell on past things and look forward."
"Yes, I won't bring up past things again."
Chen Feng also gave her a concrete promise.
In fact, all these years, he never ntioned their past affair to anyone else.
Unlike so indiscreet n who brag to friends about their hotel encounters with so won.
All along, including with Zhou Qianru, he adhered strictly to confidentiality principles, never flaunting his intimate past with anyone.
User Comments
0 comments from readers