The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Qi Mingfeng, Aren’t You Angry?

The hashtag hung conspicuously on the trending searches. Even if he didn’t click on it, the entertainment accounts he followed on his homepage had already pushed the images and the incident right in front of him.

The frozen frame captured the moment He Xian had just stepped out of his car. Taking his second step, his tall, broad-shouldered, and long-legged figure was outlined by a black haute couture suit. His hair was meticulously styled. He already possessed sharp, rugged features, and with his current expressionless face, he seemed difficult to approach. Yet, it was precisely this “thousand-miles-away” aura that was most attractive.

Standing next to He Xian was the person Qi Mingfeng would never forget in this lifetime: Ruan Zhiyan.

Ruan Zhiyan wore a suit identical in style to He Xian’s, though the tone was brighter. He was waving, a look of familiar intimacy on his face, reaching out as if to touch He Xian.

The subsequent photos showed them walking side-by-side into the venue; one even captured Ruan Zhiyan leaning in to whisper something to He Xian.

It seemed that because he hadn’t gone to the gala, He Xian had found Ruan Zhiyan to be his male partner instead.

Qi Mingfeng almost laughed out loud.

Every photo felt like a resounding slap in the face. Ruan Zhiyan was clearly telling him how good his relationship with He Xian was, warning him to give up any thoughts of complaining. Meanwhile, He Xian hadn’t changed at all—he was as consistently protective of Ruan Zhiyan as ever.

For a brief moment, he had actually thought He Xian might take his side.

His hands trembled involuntarily; he could barely hold his phone.

And it was the new phone He Xian had just bought for him.

Qi Mingfeng took several deep breaths, trying his best to calm down.

Right. He and He Xian weren’t even in an unequal romantic relationship anymore.

He was just after the 200,000 yuan He Xian gave him every month. He just needed the money.

He shouldn’t get angry over Ruan Zhiyan anymore.

Having been away for two years, he didn’t know how far things had progressed between Ruan Zhiyan and He Xian. If he clashed with He Xian because of Ruan Zhiyan and He Xian told him to get out again, Qi Huan’s medical expenses would vanish.

Qi Mingfeng turned off his phone, cooked himself a bowl of noodles, and went back to the workspace to watch his XB courses.

He was the type of person who became very immersed in whatever he was doing. The headphones he wore were not the low-quality ones he used in D City, but a pair he had left in the workspace from before; the noise-canceling effect was top-tier.

Thus, when his headphones were suddenly snatched off, he nearly screamed in fright.

Turning his head to see it was He Xian, he breathed a sigh of relief and said good-naturedly, “You’re back?”

He Xian’s expression was strangely complex.

Regret, anxiety, and a trace of barely perceptible caution.

Hearing his words, a muffled syllable escaped He Xian’s throat: “Mm.”

Qi Mingfeng glanced at the time and remarked with surprise, “Only 9:30? So early.”

He Xian didn’t speak, he just stared at him intensely.

Qi Mingfeng had assumed He Xian wouldn’t be back from the gala until at least 11:00, so he had planned out his study schedule.

If he had to accompany He Xian to do something else now, he would have to squeeze time out from elsewhere another day, and he still needed to think of other ways to make money.

He looked longingly at the paused course, then turned back to He Xian. “I still have half an hour left of the lesson. Why don’t you take a shower first? I promise I’ll go accompany you as soon as I finish this half hour.”

He Xian didn’t move, yet he didn’t pull him away either. He asked abruptly, “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

Qi Mingfeng blinked, grabbing the phone on the desk. Sure enough, there were several missed calls from He Xian. He said apologetically, “Sorry, I accidentally put it on silent. I’ll definitely pay attention next time.”

He Xian stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, “The trending searches—do you have nothing to say?”

Qi Mingfeng: “Trending searches?”

He Xian’s heart gave a heavy thud. A certain sense of wishful thinking made him regret speaking, wanting to quickly change the subject, but in the next second, Qi Mingfeng said with a smile, “Are you talking about the search with you and Ruan Zhiyan?”

He Xian’s pace of speaking quickened involuntarily. “Yes, I can explain…”

But Qi Mingfeng shook his head. “It’s okay, I understand completely.”

An absurd emotion enveloped He Xian, like the ground suddenly vanishing beneath his feet. He asked incredulously, “Understand?”

Qi Mingfeng: “Yeah, it’s normal for you to have a male partner when attending a gala.”

He Xian: “But that was Ruan Zhiyan.”

It wasn’t just anyone.

It was Ruan Zhiyan.

In the past, every appearance by Ruan Zhiyan would upset Qi Mingfeng. Furthermore, he had trended with Ruan Zhiyan, so many photos had been taken, and the captions from the marketing accounts were incredibly suggestive.

But he hadn’t even invited Ruan Zhiyan; Ruan Zhiyan had latched onto him on his own.

The moment he saw the trending searches, he wanted to call and explain. Given the frequency with which Qi Mingfeng checked his phone for news about Zhou Zhiqi, he didn’t believe Qi Mingfeng wouldn’t see it.

The calls indeed didn’t go through, so he didn’t even stay for the gala, driving straight home for fear of finding the house empty again.

However, Qi Mingfeng’s reaction was simply too calm.

So calm it felt as if he didn’t care at all.

“I know, I’m not illiterate or face-blind,” Qi Mingfeng, thinking about his unfinished lesson and unable to tell He Xian to get out and stop bothering him, said tactfully, “Go take a shower, you’ve had a long day. I’ll join you in a moment.”

As he spoke, he gripped He Xian’s arm to push him out.

But He Xian shook him off. “Qi Mingfeng, aren’t you angry?”

Qi Mingfeng: “…”

See, He Xian actually knew everything.

He knew he hated Ruan Zhiyan and that being close to him would make him angry, yet he repeatedly allowed and used Ruan Zhiyan to hurt him.

The corners of Qi Mingfeng’s mouth pulled into a slight arc. “I’m not angry. I trust you.”

He didn’t have the luxury of being angry.

He was the one who should be angry, yet He Xian was angrier than he was. He Xian narrowed his eyes and glared at him for two seconds before turning around and slamming the door shut as he left.

When Qi Mingfeng returned to the bedroom, He Xian wasn’t there.

He simply grabbed his old tablet and continued listening to the course. But even as it approached midnight, He Xian still hadn’t returned.

Thinking of the medical fees he absolutely had to obtain, Qi Mingfeng planned to go coax He Xian, but he couldn’t find him after checking every room in the house.

He called He Xian again, but the other side was powered off.

Qi Mingfeng didn’t know where He Xian had gone.

Because He Xian was narrow-minded, he didn’t have many close friends in his circle. His old phone contacts were stored on his phone; since that phone was smashed two years ago and his WeChat account was destroyed—coupled with Ruan Zhiyan’s interference—his already fragile social network had shattered completely.

Even if that phone hadn’t been destroyed, he didn’t have the contact information of He Xian’s friends.

Ruan Zhiyan was a veteran in He Xian’s social circle. Furthermore, when they were dating, He Xian had used his celebrity status as an excuse to keep their relationship hidden to maintain a “single” persona, so those people never took him seriously anyway.

Never mind.

Once He Xian turned his phone on, he would see the calls. He had tried, and there was truly nothing else he could do. He couldn’t exactly call the police, could he?

In short, whether he was angry or not felt wrong, and he couldn’t do anything about it regardless.

Better to just sleep.

He was truly exhausted today.

…

Waking up the next morning, Qi Mingfeng habitually tried to move the arm from his waist, but his hand met empty air. There was no familiar warmth beside him.

He Xian hadn’t come back last night.

Or at least, he hadn’t come back to the master bedroom to sleep.

Qi Mingfeng fished out his phone; there were no replies or missed calls from He Xian either.

He let out a yawn, got out of bed, and went to finish today’s work.

He had almost finished the XB courses. There were still lessons from a few bosses to finish, and he had two demo orders. He needed to handle these remaining transactions first.

He liked to finish what he started.

At 7:30 AM, Auntie Sun knocked on his workspace door on schedule to call him for breakfast.

Before he could sit down, He Xian walked into the dining room wearing a whole set of new clothes, but with slippers on his feet, looking as though he had just returned from outside.

Qi Mingfeng recognized the clothes as a brand Ruan Zhiyan liked. He secretly felt lucky he hadn’t fought with He Xian over Ruan Zhiyan last night. Since their relationship was so good, losing his temper would have been a fool’s errand.

However, after spending a night with his childhood friend, He Xian’s face didn’t look triumphant. Instead, it was as cold as ice; if one didn’t know better, they would think the He Corporation was about to declare bankruptcy.

Qi Mingfeng acted as if he didn’t see it and tried to talk to He Xian.

But He Xian ignored him. His eating speed was so fast it looked like he was heading into battle. He didn’t ask for the usual morning parting kiss and didn’t say a single word throughout the meal, leaving for the office immediately after eating.

For the next few days, He Xian remained like this.

He would return every morning in a different set of clothes, but he was nowhere to be seen the rest of the time.

Qi Mingfeng worried whether his contract with He Xian would be affected and racked his brains for a way to coax him.

However, before he could think of a solution, good news arrived first.

The bar owner called him to say that Qi Huan, who had been in a coma, had finally woken up.

With vast amounts of money poured into the hospital, he finally heard an echo.

It was currently 1:00 PM. It took three hours to get from C City to D City, plus the time to get to the high-speed rail station and the hospital—the one-way trip added up to four hours.

Since He Xian wasn’t coming home at night, if he left quickly to see Qi Huan, he could be back before He Xian returned for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Qi Mingfeng immediately booked a ticket. As he was about to leave, he turned back to his room, changed into the old clothes he wore when he arrived, put his SIM card back into his old phone, and sent Auntie Sun a message saying she didn’t need to come today. Only then did he rush toward D City.

When he arrived, the bar owner was in the ward telling jokes to Qi Huan.

Qi Huan had been in poor health since childhood, and his features were soft. Coupled with his long-term illness, lying on the snow-white hospital bed made him look extremely pitiable.

Seeing him, the smiling Qi Huan’s grin grew even brighter. He even tried to lift the covers to get out of bed. “Brother! You’re here!”

Qi Mingfeng couldn’t help but reveal a genuine smile, quickly stepping forward to press him back onto the bed. “Lie down quickly. You’re still sick, don’t move around.”

Qi Huan leaned obediently against the headboard, his eyes curving. “I’m already much better. Brother Jiu said you’ve been very busy lately. Brother, you’re already working so hard, a phone call would have been enough. Why run all this way in this heat? You’ll have to work overtime when you go back.”

Hearing this, Qi Mingfeng cast a grateful glance toward Brother Jiu—the bar owner.

While he was in C City, Brother Jiu had been keeping an eye on the hospital for him, and now he was even helping him find excuses to hide the truth about him and He Xian.

“Hah, what nonsense. If I were the one lying here and you knew I was awake, could you not come over?”

After saying that, he spoke to Brother Jiu. “Boss, thank you for your hard work during this time.”

“Why say that to me? We’re life-and-death friends. If it weren’t for your kindness in helping me out back then, the grass on my grave would be tall by now.” Brother Jiu patted Qi Mingfeng on the shoulder. “You two brothers chat. There are things to do at the bar, so I’ll head back… Hey, hey, sit back down, don’t see me out. You haven’t seen each other in so long, there’s really no need. Go back, Huan needs someone to take care of him here.”

At Brother Jiu’s insistence, Qi Mingfeng only walked him to the door before returning to sit on the stool by the bed.

Seeing Qi Huan, who was awake and smiling gently at him, Qi Mingfeng felt an urge to cry.