Weakness Trap - Chapter 28.2

“I just tore up the gift I prepared for her,” Yu Qingluan wanted to say something, but as she opened her mouth, tears fell like hailstones, hitting the tips of her feet, the ground, creating ripples that blurred the festive red and the city’s gray.

“I worked on it for so long.” Yu Qingluan took a deep breath, but couldn’t exhale.

The cold air, sharp enough to sting her lungs, remained trapped inside as she kept gasping for more.

“Every day, every single day, I embroidered. I just wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how much I adored her.” Yu Qingluan widened her eyes, almost watching her own tears fall.

She leaned on her knees, her blurred vision unable to recognize her own reflection on the ground.

In it, she looked like a mess hair disheveled as if unwashed for a week, face smeared with muddy rainwater.

Her clothes were stained all over, utterly wretched.

But none of it was as pitiful as the expression she wore now.

Eyes wide open, like an abandoned dog left trembling in the wind, wagging its tail, still foolishly hoping for its owner to return.

Yu Qingluan clenched her jaw, her brows furrowed tightly, tears streaming down the creases, merging with raindrops before crashing to the ground.

She grimaced, her teeth chattering, occasionally biting her tongue, but she felt no pain.

She didn’t even feel the sorrow in her heart only a slight feverishness in her head, a stifling sensation, as if she had inhaled water sharply through her nose.

Only the tears kept pouring out, unending.

“I just wanted to receive the same love from her.” Yu Qingluan finally buried her head in Zeng Lan’s chest and broke into loud, heart-wrenching sobs.

“I loved her so much, yet she got married without saying a word.”

“Lanlan, sis, I really.” She was truly in agony.

Yu Qingluan trembled from head to toe.

Zeng Lan glanced at the figure in the distance and sighed.

“Let’s go back.”

Yu Qingluan nodded faintly, then allowed herself to be encircled, her ears covered, and led away from the street.

No matter how desperately Yu Lingxue screamed behind them, she did not look back.

Yu Lingxue screamed until her voice grew hoarse.

Screamed until she collapsed, sitting on the ground.

The surrounding crowd stared at her in shock, but she paid no heed.

This once-in-a-lifetime moment of disgrace losing face on the streets, revealing her wretched state,

Yu Lingxue didn’t care.

She only hated that Yu Qingluan wouldn’t stop and listen to her explanation.

“Xiao Niao, Xiao Niao, I was wrong, don’t go.”

She wiped her tears, crying even harder than Yu Qingluan, blood now staining the corner of her lips.

She choked, as if trying to cough out her shattered heart and send it to the one who had already left.

But it was too late.

Yu Lingxue opened her tear-filled eyes, her vision blurred, her mind echoing with the poem Yu Qingluan had left in her confession letter:

You are the bright moon, I am the mist;
The mist fades with the moon, leaving only dew behind.①

It was still the Spring Festival, not yet past the first lunar month.

Outside, folk songs and mountain tunes resounded, festive drums thundering through the air.

All because of that one glance from you,
I’ve thought of you morning and night ever since.②

Lanterns hung in clusters, strikingly red, mingled with traditional oranges and yellows, blooming like persimmons across the streets and alleys.

Yu lingxue’s hands were stained crimson, her lips were smeared with red, and her vision was filled with nothing but that overwhelming shade of scarlet.

There was no trace of Yu Qingluan to be found.

Only the poem echoed relentlessly through Yu lingxue’s mind:

“My soul follows you without regret, enduring endless longing’s bitter torment.”③
“Who can I confide in about this bitter longing? Far and wide, I know not where you are.”
“Leaning by the door, I dwell on your parting words; climbing high, I gaze until the ends of the earth fade from sight.”

Raindrops beat down upon her hair, forcing her to bow her head, extinguishing everything within her.

As Yu lingxue closed her eyes and began to collapse, someone seized her by the shoulders and pulled her back.

“Should, should the engagement banquet proceed?” Yan Lanshen’s subordinate hesitated.

“It will,” Yan Lanshen narrowed his eyes, gazing into the distance.

There, flickering lights and shadows blurred everything nothing remained distinct.

“Have the medical staff attend to her. Then get her changed,” Yan Lanshen turned and commanded.

When Yu lingxue opened her eyes, she saw that it wasn’t even time for the engagement banquet to begin.

Dazed, she sat up and suddenly opened her hand the tightly clutched fragments of the embroidered piece were gone.

“Qingluan?” Yu lingxue ignored the IV needle in her hand. With practiced ease, she pulled out the catheter, disregarding her weakness or the alarming fever burning through her, and leaped from the bed to frantically search through drawers and cabinets for the fragments she had gathered.

“I put them away for you,” Yan Lanshen stood at the doorway, holding out a box.

Yu lingxue jolted upright. Despite her injured foot and bare feet, she rushed toward Yan Lanshen.

Or rather, toward the box in his hand.

She cradled the box, opened it, and meticulously examined the fragments inside.

Confirming they were indeed from Yu Qingluan’s embroidery, Yu lingxue unconsciously shed tears. Clutching the box as if possessed, she repeatedly murmured Yu Qingluan’s name.

Yan Lanshen’s patience finally snapped. He grabbed Yu lingxue’s wrist, took the box back, and forced her to look up.

Yu lingxue struggled to reclaim it, but Yan Lanshen held it high, just out of her reach.

“Didn’t you hear? She said she’s breaking up with you.”

When Yu lingxue had run out earlier and listened to Yu Qingluan’s tearful accusations, Yan Lanshen had been nearby, witnessing the entire scene.

“So what!” Yu lingxue mustered strength from somewhere and snatched the box back.

“She broke up with me are you satisfied now?” Stumbling, Yu lingxue crouched down, clutching the box desperately.

“Satisfied? What does this have to do with me?” Yan Lanshen’s words tore Yu lingxue’s heart into shreds once more.

Yes. Yan Lanshen was detestable. Everyone involved in this was detestable.

But what had she herself done?

Nothing.

She had done nothing, said nothing, and even let Yu Qingluan overhear the confessions she made to her mother.

That was why Yu Qingluan had burst into the lounge and torn up the love letter meant for her right before her eyes.

Yu lingxue fell silent, her tears dried up. Her eyes burned and itched as if inflamed.

Covering her face, she couldn’t resist scratching, suddenly reminded of Yu Qingluan’s allergy to cold air.

So this was what it felt like.

Every winter, Yu Qingluan had endured this agony.

Now it had transferred to her.

It was the punishment she deserved.

Back at the hotel, Xiang Yan was pacing anxiously outside the room, clutching his phone. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Yu Qingluan.

“My god, A Niao, what happened to you? Did someone hit you?” Xiang Yan hurried over with a towel when he saw Yu Qingluan.

“Just a breakup.” Yu Qingluan’s voice was completely hoarse. She took the towel and still managed to politely thank Xiang Yan.

Xiang Yan could tell she wasn’t handling the breakup well she seemed on the verge of losing it and glanced at Zeng Lan for reassurance.

Zeng Lan gave her a meaningful look, signaling that everything was under control.

“Oh, right.” Yu Qingluan took out her phone and sent a message to Yu Shuhua.

Yu Shuhua immediately called back, and Yu Qingluan answered.

“Mom, it’s nothing, I just.”

Yu Shuhua had already heard from Zeng Lan and had no idea how things had come to this. She was worried her daughter might do something rash.

Thankfully, both Xiang Yan and Zeng Lan were there to keep an eye on her.

“I’m just heartbroken.” Yu Qingluan wiped away her tears and forced a smile.

“Really, Mom, I’m fine. I’ll be back in a few days, or maybe.”

She paused.

“I’ll discuss my next steps with Lanlan.”

Yu Lingxue was gone.

Yu Lingxue wouldn’t be staying with her in Chucheng anymore.

So why should she hold on in Chucheng?

As her mother had said, as Zeng Lan had envisioned.

She needed to move forward, taking her embroidery with her.

The legacy of her ancestors.

“Well, that works. Focusing more on your career is always a good thing.” Yu Shuhua hung up, still deeply concerned.

Xiang Yan handed her a cup of warm water.

“Thank you.” Yu Qingluan took it and took a small sip.

The water wasn’t scalding, but it still stung enough to make tears well up in her eyes.

“She’s really engaged?” Xiang Yan’s heart ached as she silently cursed Yu Lingxue.

Yu Qingluan nodded.

“I went to see it. The venue was incredibly lavish, like a European palace… completely out of our league.”

Yu Qingluan thought that perhaps her relationship with Yu Lingxue had been a mistake from the start.

She was just an ordinary person, while Yu Lingxue was a wealthy heiress.

Their worlds were entirely different.

Just as Yu Qingluan could never understand why anyone would need an arranged marriage.

But for Yu Lingxue, was marriage just another routine affair?

“I didn’t see her fiancée. I just, I just wanted to see her.”

“At the time, all I thought was that I needed to say goodbye. Maybe I still wanted to keep some dignity. But do you know what she said when I got there?” Yu Qingluan took a large gulp of hot water, finally feeling a bit of warmth return to her body.

Both friends watched her intently.

“She actually said that my coming to Hong Kong was a burden, that I shouldn’t have come.” Yu Qingluan took a deep breath.

“Are you kidding me? If I hadn’t come, I would’ve been kept in the dark forever! Did she plan to keep seeing me after her marriage, making me the other woman, continuing this game of hers?” Yu Qingluan’s head throbbed with anger.

She had cried her tears; now it was time to vent her rage.

Once all the bitterness was let out, she and Yu Lingxue would be truly done.

“I can’t believe she’s like this?” Xiang Yan didn’t hold back, joining Yu Qingluan in cursing her out.

She had always thought Yu Lingxue was no good.

“Always standing you up before, treating you like a pet she’d play with whenever she felt like it. And now she wanted to hide this from you? To say that after you traveled all the way from Chucheng to Hong Kong, worried sick about her, that you shouldn’t have come?”

“Who does she think she is? Damn it, it’s the Spring Festival should you really be here in this unfamiliar place looking for her? Should you be away from your family, crying and falling sick over her during such an important holiday? Has she ever considered any of this? You came because you were worried about her and her sister. Does she have no conscience at all?”

Xiang Yan grew more agitated as she spoke, venting all the frustrations she had held back over the past year.

Yu Qingluan, who had been wrestling with her thoughts, could no longer contain her anger. Joining Xiang Yan, she poured out all the humiliations she had endured by lowering herself unnecessarily.

The two of them spent a full two hours venting their frustrations.

Finally feeling relieved, Yu Qingluan let out a sigh.

She wasn’t much lighter at heart, but at least she felt a little better.

She no longer had to think of that person and suffer so much that she had to curl up and resort to self destructive behavior just to cope.

“Thank you, both. It’s so good to have you,” Yu Qingluan hugged her two close friends and finally managed a genuine smile.

“I’m okay for now.”

“That’s good to hear,” Zeng Lan patted her back.

Xiang Yan, though a bit shy, still hugged her back.

“Let’s get some rest early. Are you two sharing a room? The hotel is fully booked, so I’ll squeeze in with you.”

“That works,” Xiang Yan had a twin room, while Yu Qingluan originally stayed in a single.

Just enough for three beds.

The next day, Zeng Lan took her two younger friends around Hong Kong City, heading to a mountain far from the city center.

While buying tickets, Xiang Yan pulled Yu Qingluan, who was still low on energy but forcing herself to perk up and move on to look at the travel guide.

Zeng Lan stood in line to purchase the tickets.

After buying the tickets, she noticed a woman, fully armed with sunglasses, a mask, and a hat pulled tightly over her face, approaching her.

Zeng Lan frowned, still on guard.

The woman, upon seeing her, slightly lowered her sunglasses.

“Hello, I’m looking for Yu Qingluan.” It was Yu Lingxue.