[Marriage Before Love vs. Rekindled Romance]
On the eve of Lu Heng's wedding, his friends insisted on throwing him a bachelor party.
Before the drinks even arrived, news broke that two hours earlier, his fiancée, Zhao Huaiyin, had gone after her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, who was about to leave the country. She got into a fight with her future father-in-law, and in the struggle, they tumbled down the stairs.
"Damn, how many more embarrassing scenes is Zhao Huaiyin going to cause? Hasn't she humiliated herself enough? If she only embarrassed herself, that'd be one thing, but now she's dragged Lu Heng into it too."
"Is she going to show up to the wedding in a wheelchair tomorrow?"
"Lu Heng, you really don't mind?"
Lu Heng sat in the middle of them, taking a casual sip of wine amid their laughter and banter. He said only four words: "Business is business."
Five years into their marriage.
When Zhao Huaiyin pushed open the study door, Lu Heng immediately turned his phone facedown on the desk.
Zhao Huaiyin had just come home from work. Her white silk blouse was tucked into a pencil skirt, and she looked so elegant and sophisticated she could have gone straight to film a corporate promotional video. Yet she came over with a silly smile and teased him, "What are you looking at? Something you don't want me to see?"
Lu Heng put an arm around her waist and drew her onto his lap, burying his face against her neck. His voice was low. "You can look all you want... What would you like to see?"
Zhao Huaiyin started giggling as his hair tickled her, and soon she had forgotten all about what she had just seen.
Of course, she had no idea that the screen of the phone lying facedown beside her husband showed a photo of her with her ex-boyfriend, Pei Xiuliang.
Lu Heng had no idea when this strange obsession had taken hold of him. He was certain his wife loved him deeply, of course. But in the quiet of night, he couldn't stop himself from going through Zhao Huaiyin's old posts from her student days, over and over, watching her romance with Pei Xiuliang like an outsider.
Then he would doubt himself again and again, and reassure himself again and again: of course his wife loved him more. There was no trace of her ex left in her heart.
After countless days and nights of torment, Lu Heng finally made up his mind. He would bring Pei Xiuliang back to the country, drag him out of Zhao Huaiyin's memories and turn him into a living, breathing person. Then he would go from the moonlight in her heart to an ordinary grain of rice, from the cinnabar mole she cherished to a mosquito bite.
During his five years abroad, Pei Xiuliang dreamed of the past countless times.
In his dreams, the muscles in his cheek twitched and tears streamed down his face. His handsome features twisted as he said, "If Heaven insists on tearing us apart, then I'll tear Heaven apart."
Zhao Huaiyin reached out to touch his tear-streaked cheek. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed her words. At some point, she too had begun to weep. She smiled faintly, though her smile was full of bitterness, and in the end, all she did was slowly shake her head.
After waking, Pei Xiuliang would stand by the window smoking all night. He had dreamed of the past, but not quite as it had been.
In reality, Zhao Huaiyin was the one who would have torn Heaven apart rather than let them be separated. He had only shaken his head in cowardice.
On nights like that, Pei Xiuliang regretted it again and again. He should have said yes to Zhao Huaiyin and run away with her. Even if she regretted it later, even if they became a bitter couple, even if their love became tangled up with resentment and regret, they should have stayed hopelessly entangled for the rest of their lives.
When he was clearheaded during the day, Pei Xiuliang went back to holding himself in check, forcing himself not to see her.
That lasted until he received an invitation to collaborate from back home. It was like someone offering a glass of water to a man dying of thirst.
Pei Xiuliang couldn't resist the temptation. He wrote countless emails refusing the offer, but in the end, he accepted. He told himself he wouldn't ruin her marriage or her happiness. He only wanted to see her one more time, just once.
At least, that was what he truly thought then.
At least, that was what he truly believed he thought then.
2024.12.3 Screenshot saved
Theme: Many begin well, but few see things through
