Yang Congrong seemed to see through my intense inner reaction at that moment. He took a cigarette from his pack and handed it to me, indicating that I should calm down first before we continued our conversation.
I took the cigarette from Yang Congrong, lit it, and took a deep puff. Despite being mentally prepared, his words still profoundly overturned me. In reality, after leaving Jian Wei, I was merely a small inn owner in Xitang. The strong vitality currently shown by Lukui was actually endowed by Jian Wei and Yang Congrong. As for that artistic path I had eagerly anticipated building, it was nothing more than a subsidiary of the Lukui company. The hardest part to accept was that I held the largest share in this Lukui company, which was essentially not founded by me.
After finishing the cigarette, I finally spoke to Yang Congrong: “Uncle Yang, please tell me, why did Jian Wei do this? I want to hear it from you.”
Yang Congrong sighed deeply. After a long pause, he seemed to have made a decision and said, “Actually, initially I had the same question too, because from a businessman’s perspective, I really couldn’t understand why she would do this… During the last time she tried to persuade me to invest in Lukui, I finally couldn’t help but ask her: Why invest in a company that has to start from scratch and has little market value?”
“What was her response?”
“…She asked me in return whether I had ever loved someone deeply. I couldn’t answer her question, but I could understand her… Jian Wei is such a unique girl; this is not only about her personality but something hard to describe deep in her bones, which she already showed when she was young… Once, during a casual conversation, Jian Boyu told me about a past incident involving her.”
Yang Congrong’s expression turned nostalgic as he continued, “When she was a teenager, she picked up a cat from outside. However, since Jian Boyu’s wife was allergic to animal fur, they gave the cat away. But the next morning, this girl got the cat back again. No matter how much the Jian couple tried to persuade her, nothing worked. Eventually, she even ran away from home with the cat for several days, scaring the couple so much that they still have psychological shadows about it to this day.”
After listening to Yang Congrong’s story, I recalled again the incident where she went to Ah Ji’s guitar shop with gasoline to retrieve her guitar. These two incidents had something in common. Jian Wei seemed to possess a kind of stubbornness that ordinary people didn’t have, although “stubbornness” didn’t seem quite accurate. Her personality was very complex; even after loving each other for so many years, I couldn’t truly understand her or her every decision.
Yang Congrong continued, “She has always had a strong will since childhood; perhaps she was also stubborn in love. I heard that you even eloped with her, and that lasted nearly a year. Was that true?”
Remembering that year, which was as firm as a brand in my memory, my nose tingled with emotion. The images of hardship returned to my mind once again. That year, I transformed her from a beloved daughter of a wealthy family into a pitiful woman who had tasted the bitterness of life. Our daily life was filled with nothing but empty rented rooms and the smell of instant noodles.
Finally, I nodded to Yang Congrong, confirming that Jian Wei had indeed eloped with me for a year.
Yang Congrong sighed again, saying, “Jian Wei has always had feelings for you, Zhaoyang. This is probably something only you couldn’t see…” He suddenly stopped and added, “Wait, I need to correct myself. It’s not that you couldn’t see it, but rather you saw it but were unwilling to admit it… In the past, I also advised her that if she couldn’t let go of this relationship, she should try to salvage it. But she just shook her head without saying a word… Her behavior puzzled me greatly, Zhaoyang. Do you think this has anything to do with you now having a girlfriend? She doesn’t want to become a third party interfering in your current relationship?”
I shook my head and said, “That’s impossible. In between, my current girlfriend and I broke up once. There was a gap of several months. If she wanted to get back together, she would have said so at that time, but she didn’t. We just got along as usual, not even mentioning the past!”
“That really is quite strange… This girl is truly unfathomable!… But Zhaoyang, the fact that she sincerely helped you develop your career is absolutely true. I think you shouldn’t waste her good intentions. From a personal perspective, I also hope that after our candid conversation this time, you can have a change in mindset and work with us to achieve something in the tourism industry. Men shouldn’t focus too much on romantic entanglements; career is the guarantee of fame and fortune, don’t you think so?”
After a long silence, I looked up at Yang Congrong and said, “Uncle Yang, I admit that what you said reflects mainstream social values, but I really can’t accept it. Strictly speaking, I’m not a person with too many thoughts or ambitions. A hand pushing me forward from behind hasn’t brought me smoothness or pleasure; instead, it’s a burden. Jian Wei understood this very well, so she strongly invited you to invest in this project. Just like before, she used these deceptive methods to drag me into the battlefield she arranged, and then handed me a weapon to carve out a space she wanted… This makes me feel very oppressed!”
“The space she wanted? The space she wanted was for you, Zhaoyang, to become someone successful. You should understand this better than anyone else. You should also appreciate her good intentions… Old Jian indeed made some serious mistakes in your relationship. It was the old-fashioned idea of social status that destroyed you two kids!”
For some unknown reason, when I heard a third person, outside of Jian Wei and myself, give a fair evaluation of our relationship, I couldn’t control myself anymore. My eyes immediately felt hot and stinging. Our love was destroyed so unjustly. We loved each other deeply, yet were forcibly torn apart. If Jian Wei hadn’t gone to America, we probably would have married long before Yan Yan and Fang Yuan… The outside world always thought I was after Jian Wei’s family background, which was a cruel misunderstanding. I would rather hold my guitar and live a simple life, supporting her forever, but no one would believe that. So we suspected each other in the pain given by others, and suffered in our suspicions…
Tears streamed from my eyes, but it was so meaningless. We were already on a path drifting further and further apart, powerless to change anything… She should marry Xiang Chen properly, and I should also strive to marry Mi Cai… Those deeply felt loves of the past should have long rotted away in the river of time, never needing to resurface again!
I believe Jian Wei thinks the same way, so we have never tried to get back together… As for the Lukui company, I should also seriously consider whether I should withdraw. I don’t want to become a burden to Jian Wei, nor do I wish to interfere with Yang Congrong’s grand plans!
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