The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Qi Mingfeng, Who Do You Think You Are…

After dinner, He Xian pulled Qi Mingfeng along for a walk in the residential compound to help digest their meal.

The compound offered high privacy, and since it was night, Qi Mingfeng did not refuse.

A light rain had fallen during the day, and the night breeze carried a hint of coolness, making the smell of damp earth particularly pleasant.

Qi Mingfeng was in no mood to appreciate the scents; his mind was occupied by the XB course, and he was hesitating, unsure of how to bring it up.

Lost in thought, he suddenly felt He Xian’s arm wrap around his waist.

Qi Mingfeng startled: “What is it?”

He Xian frowned at him: “What are you thinking about? You almost walked straight into the flower bed.”

Qi Mingfeng only then realized there was a planter beside him, bordered by bricks only a few inches high. He quickly stepped aside and said to He Xian, “Thank you.”

He Xian: “Tell me, what kind of trouble have you run into now?”

Qi Mingfeng hadn’t figured out how to mention the classes yet, but his mind raced: “That surge of traffic this morning—did you buy that promotion?”

He Xian admitted it candidly: “Since you want to do it, then do it well.”

Qi Mingfeng cupped his hands in a flattering gesture: “Thank you, President He. You truly are my benefactor.”

Amused, He Xian pushed Qi Mingfeng’s hands down: “No need to thank me for such a small thing. Let’s go, we’ll head home after walking a bit longer.”

Qi Mingfeng continued to follow He Xian. As they neared the front door of the house, He Xian spoke again: “What exactly do you want to say? If you don’t say it before we go inside, then don’t say it at all.”

Qi Mingfeng rubbed his nose: “How did you know…”

He Xian: “You can’t hide anything.”

Qi Mingfeng gave a strained laugh and steeled himself: “I previously enrolled in an online XB Classroom run by XB University in E Country. It’s two classes a week, two hours each. Since I’m staying at home lately, I thought I might as well attend the classes.”

He Xian: “From what time to what time?”

Qi Mingfeng’s smile grew even stiffer: “8:00 PM to 10:00 PM.”

He Xian was clearly dissatisfied: “I work during the day and only spend a few hours at home in the evening. Now that you’re back, you’re going to leave me in an empty room?”

The air went silent for a moment.

Qi Mingfeng whispered: “It’s only two nights a week.”

He Xian knit his brows: “If you’re bored and want to go to school, why not find a local university for a master’s degree? With your grades, which school wouldn’t take you? If you don’t want to go out, enroll in an online one. Why do you insist on an E Country course?”

They happened to stop right where the streetlight’s glow met the shadows. He Xian’s handsome face looked exceptionally foul in the dim light: “Are you still thinking about going abroad?”

Two years ago, after Qi Mingfeng heard the recording of He Xian talking to someone else, he was completely disillusioned and decided to break up.

Or rather, He Xian had never treated the relationship as a normal romance in the first place; he simply decided to leave He Xian.

He Xian had been right about one thing.

If He Xian hadn’t been promoting him all those years, he likely wouldn’t have risen to fame so quickly.

He had a fair amount of money; even after paying the contract termination fees, the remainder was enough for him and Qi Huan to study abroad.

With the help of someone with an agenda, the contract termination was unusually smooth. For a singer of his caliber, the entire process was completed in just one day.

Qi Mingfeng went back to He Xian’s house, packed all his belongings, left behind all the gifts He Xian had given him, and placed the recording pen in the most conspicuous spot on the living room table. He then drove toward the airport in the middle of the night.

But he hadn’t expected that halfway there, He Xian would chase after him in a car, overtaking him with an almost suicidal recklessness. With a piercing screech of tires, He Xian swerved his car horizontally in front of his.

At 3:00 AM, there were only their two cars on the deserted road. The air was cold, the streetlights were cold, and the metal car bodies were cold.

Only He Xian, stepping out of the car, was a pillar of fury, his aura seemingly capable of burning everything around him to ashes.

Qi Mingfeng was startled by He Xian’s move to block the car. He opened the door to scold him, but He Xian beat him to it, slamming a document onto the hood of the car and asking fiercely.

“Qi Mingfeng, what is the meaning of this?”

It was his contract termination agreement with the company.

Qi Mingfeng looked directly into He Xian’s eyes, which were practically spitting fire: “As you can see, He Xian, I’ve terminated my contract.”

He Xian: “You terminate just because you say so? Is your work finished? Do you have any sense of responsibility at all!”

Qi Mingfeng sneered: “Thanks to you, I haven’t had any work for months. Expired contracts weren’t renewed, and there were no new shows, no new endorsements, no new albums. So, my termination won’t cause any extra losses to the company.”

He Xian was momentarily speechless.

He was a workaholic himself, and just now he had simply been saying whatever came to mind.

Qi Mingfeng knew He Xian had a bad temper and had followed his lead for years, rarely arguing and never intentionally making He Xian unhappy.

But he wasn’t made of clay. When you give your heart and soul to someone and they don’t even value it—even trampling it into the mud behind your back—it’s hard not to feel resentment.

He said softly: “You don’t care at all. Then again, who would care about the ‘work’ of a music player?”

When He Xian had returned home, he saw the recording pen on the table at a glance.

Aside from Qi Mingfeng, no one could enter or leave his house freely; Qi Mingfeng must have put it there.

The two had been in a cold war, and he had thought it was a little trick by Qi Mingfeng to make peace. But after clicking play, the first sentence filled him with panic.

He hurriedly called Qi Mingfeng.

It wouldn’t go through.

He called Qi Mingfeng’s assistant—the company was his, and he had personally handpicked the manager and assistant for Qi Mingfeng; they were all his people. To his surprise, he learned the news of Qi Mingfeng’s termination.

In the end, after using some “methods,” he found out that Qi Mingfeng was about to go abroad on a flight that night.

He Xian hardly thought twice before chasing after him based on the location sent by the assistant.

Even though he knew that only he and Qi Mingfeng could enter his home freely, and that the recording pen was most likely left by Qi Mingfeng, he still held onto a shred of hope.

Maybe it wasn’t Qi Mingfeng.

Anyone else would do—he wouldn’t care who had snuck in—just let it not be Qi Mingfeng.

But when he heard Qi Mingfeng mention the “music player,” his heart sank completely.

He Xian frustratedly kicked a tire: “Which idiot gave you that recording?”

Qi Mingfeng spoke indifferently: “It’s not important.”

He Xian: “Can’t you tell those were just words said in anger?! Come back with me first.”

He reached out to pull Qi Mingfeng as he spoke.

Qi Mingfeng took a step back, dodging He Xian’s hand.

He looked at the man before him whom he had loved deeply, his heart throbbing with pain.

Four years of emotion isn’t something that disappears just because you say you don’t love anymore; it’s like a song—even if he closes his mouth and puts down the microphone, the echoes still ring through the arena.

Qi Mingfeng let out a long breath and gave a strained smile: “He Xian, you’ve already sent your brother abroad, and you’ve gotten everything you wanted. I… at the very least, I treated you with all my heart for four years. Leave me a little dignity.”

He Xian stepped forward and grabbed Qi Mingfeng’s arm. Feeling the trembling through his grip, he tried his best to ignore the stifling sensation rising in his chest: “Isn’t it just about a public status? If you want to go public, we’ll go public.”

Qi Mingfeng tried to shake off He Xian’s arm with force, but he couldn’t: “Thank you for the charity, President He, but I don’t need it anymore. If there’s nothing else, President He should go back. I have a flight to catch.”

He Xian: “Qi Mingfeng, are you even a man? Running abroad the moment you hit a little trouble. Can’t I compensate you for whatever you want?”

Qi Mingfeng shook his head: “He Xian, I had plans to go abroad a long time ago. Now… it’s time to get back on track.”

When Qi Mingfeng said this, He Xian remembered that when they first got together, he had seen an application form for E Country at Qi Mingfeng’s place.

But he hadn’t cared, because he was certain he would make Qi Mingfeng stay in the country for him.

Now that Qi Mingfeng intended to go abroad, it seemed he was dead set on separating from him.

The stifling feeling and panic in his chest grew stronger. He Xian attributed this emotion to the fact that he had personally come to chase Qi Mingfeng, yet Qi Mingfeng had rejected him repeatedly and even shaken him off.

He said angrily: “Back on track? You call leaving me ‘getting back on track’? Qi Mingfeng, who do you think you are?”

Qi Mingfeng’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked down at the hand gripping his arm: “In President He’s eyes, I am nothing. So, can you let go of me now?”

He Xian let go of him as if he had been burned, and even pulled open the car door for him: “Qi Mingfeng, if you have the guts, then really get lost! Get lost and never come back! I want to see what kind of person you can become after you leave me and return to your so-called ‘track’!”

Qi Mingfeng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, as if he were swallowing all the joy and pain of these past years.

He didn’t look at He Xian again, got into the car, and left.

Two years flashed by, and Qi Mingfeng hadn’t become much of anyone after all. Instead, he even had to beg He Xian to agree to let him take an online class.

How unyielding he had been then only highlighted how pathetic he was now.

Of course, he still had the thought of going abroad.

This matter had become an obsession in his heart. He knew there was no medicine for regret in this world, but he couldn’t help but wonder: if he had listened to the Teacher and gone abroad back then, would he have ended up where he was today?

But he couldn’t admit it.

He said decisively: “I just really like the content of the XB course. Besides, I’ve signed a contract with you; I will definitely stay by your side.”

He Xian: “What if I don’t agree?”

If He Xian didn’t agree, then there was nothing he could do.

He cherished this opportunity and the escape route the Teacher had left him, but human life is paramount. Qi Huan was still lying in the hospital; he couldn’t abandon Huan for his own future.

Qi Mingfeng felt a sense of loss but forced himself to brighten up: “President He surely has his own reasons for doing things. Since President He doesn’t agree, then let’s forget it.”

He Xian looked at Qi Mingfeng’s forced smile and felt a bit soft-hearted: “I don’t know who spoiled you. When you’re happy, it’s ‘He Xian, He Xian,’ and when things don’t go your way, it’s ‘President He, President He.’ You don’t even know how to say something nice.”

Qi Mingfeng: “…”

He Xian pinched his face: “Don’t you know how to act spoiled and beg me?”

Qi Mingfeng had never thought the term “acting spoiled” could have anything to do with him. The part about “begging He Xian,” however, he understood.

He found a suitable angle and bowed deeply to He Xian: “I beg—”

Before he could finish, he was pulled up forcefully by He Xian: “Am I dead? Why are you bowing to me?”

Qi Mingfeng: “Then what does President He want… mmm…”

The grip on his waist tightened, as if trying to press him into He Xian’s flesh.

Just as he was about to lose his footing from a lack of oxygen, He Xian pulled back slightly, but remained pressed against his ear, whispering: “Have you learned how now?”