Chapter 26

  "You should be lucky that the person he's marrying isn't you. He doesn't deserve to be with someone like you. If I were him, I'd have the decency to completely disappear from your sight. And yet, he has the nerve to call you and tell you about his wedding news? How shameless! - By the way, do you think there's any other reason why he called?"

  "He said he wanted to see me again before getting married."

  Zheng Wei slapped the table with force "This is simply shameless! Who would dare to make such a request? You must have refused him, Ruan Ruan!"

  Ruan Ruan leaned back in her chair and said, "Wei Wei, what you said is right, only a crazy person would go... but I want to go."

  Zheng Wei looked at her with an incredulous expression. "You want to go see him? Why? What can you do after meeting him? No, you can't be foolish. Even if you don't plan on wanting Wu Jiang, you still can't find Zhao Shi Yong. Have you forgotten how he treated you in the past? A man who is irresponsible for a moment will be that way for his whole life. Moreover, you have a child, what would happen to the child if you go with him?"

  Ruan Ruan understood Zheng Wei's excitement, she lowered her head and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to abandon my husband and child to elope with him. You've forgotten that he's also getting married soon. I just want to go see him because when he left before, it was too sudden and I feel like there are still many things in my heart. Let's just meet up in S city and then return to our respective places."

  Zheng Wei was stunned. She had thought that Ruan Ruan's heart was like the water in an ancient well, but it turned out that she had only hidden her turbulent emotions in a place where they couldn't be seen. "What can we do by seeing each other again? You're usually rational, can't you understand this?"

  Ruan Ruan looked up at Zheng Wei with a tear rolling down her cheek, something she hadn't done even when she lost her child. "I didn't think I'd see you again, nor did I think about what would happen if I did. It's been four years and I've been doing fine, thinking I had forgotten him. But when I received his call, I suddenly felt my blood run hot and my heart beat again. Despite all his flaws and the pain he caused me, he was someone I loved. Besides Zhao Shi Yong, I couldn't love anyone else. Zheng Wei, I've been rational for too long. If I have to spend the rest of my life like this, before I get old and wrinkly, before he becomes someone else's husband, I want to take a good look at him. Then I can come back, give up, and continue being a good wife and mother until I die. Can you understand?"

  Zheng Wei lowered her head and fell silent, even if she didn't understand, she wouldn't feel desolate. Love is a fierce fire that can incinerate oneself, whether one is clever or foolish, once fallen in love, they become moths. Everyone knows that rushing forward will turn them into ashes, but what's the difference? A hundred years later, regardless of whether we've been burned or not, we'll all become dust.

  "When are we leaving? Is the ticket fixed?" She convinced herself that Yuan's decision might be right.

  Ruan Ruan wiped away her tears and smiled, saying "I'll take the train to go. Just like those weekends in the past, I'll take a three-hour train ride to see him. This is also the last time. I'm leaving tomorrow."

  "Will Wu Jiang mind about that?" Zheng Wei was somewhat worried.

  Ruan Ruan said "I'll just say I'm going to see a friend, he won't ask any further questions."

  Zheng Wei's phone was vibrating in her bag, and she picked it up to find that it was Old Zhang, a classmate she hadn't seen in a long time. Old Zhang wasn't exactly the top student during school days, but after graduation, he somehow managed to thrive in society. Unlike many of his fellow classmates who went on to work for big companies, Old Zhang started out doing small-time trading of building materials, just trying to make ends meet. However, with his quick wit, extensive social connections, and being a straightforward person, he was able to build up a good network in the construction industry, which meant making more money. Over the years, Old Zhang's business had grown bigger and bigger, and he now looked like a small boss. He started school later than Zheng Wei and her friends and even repeated a year, so now he was almost thirty years old but still looked like a carefree young man. His girlfriends were constantly changing, just like a revolving lantern, and he couldn't seem to settle down.

  Zheng Wei and Old Zhang had always gotten along well, and over the years they hadn't lost touch. Every now and then, they would go out together to have a few drinks. During Zheng Wei's string of failed blind dates, Old Zhang even jokingly promised her that if in ten years he was still unmarried and she was still unwed, they might as well just live together - after all, it would be better than letting good resources go to waste on outsiders.

  Old Zhang said "I just saw someone on the first floor of the left bank whose back looked very much like yours when you were with clients, I was about to call out to you but when I turned my head that person was gone. Are you at the left bank now?"

  Zheng Wei said "Then you shouldn't have mistaken me I was eating on the second floor with Ruan Ruan."

  "Just in time, I've just had a drink and there's nothing but alcohol left in my stomach. Otherwise, I'll go over to each table for you?" Old Zhang was not polite at all.

  "Wait a minute." Zheng Wei covered the phone and smiled at Ruan Ruan, "It's Old Zhang, that guy is also on the Left Bank, he says he wants to have dinner with us, what do you think?"

  Ruan Ruan said, "What's the big deal? I haven't seen Old Zhang again since graduation. Hurry up and call him over."