Being "Crushed" - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Hearing his words, Song Yuhan’s tears surged even more violently. She vented her frustration by pounding on his shoulder while angrily asking in a muffled voice:
“What use is it to say these things now! Why, why did you leave without a word back then? Do you know how heartbroken I was! Why did you leave me… why…?” Her emotions were too intense, and her words came out broken and halting, taking a long time before she barely managed to finish. By the end, she was crying uncontrollably, only sobbing left.
Lu Sifang didn’t dodge. He let her vent freely on his body but was trying hard to catch her questions when suddenly he froze, completely confused, not understanding what she was talking about. In a panic, he suddenly grabbed her fists pounding on his chest, his cold, stern face filled with disbelief:
“I left you?”
His phone and cards were destroyed in the heavy rain that night. After that, he had no energy to care about them anymore. But he clearly remembered it was she who disappeared without a word and was seen being intimate with another man… Instead, he was the one pitifully abandoned on a cold rainy night, his heart shattered.
As for leaving without notice… He was too young back then, stubborn and prideful. His strong pride wouldn’t let him sink so low again, nor could he accept the fact that she had “fallen for someone else.” Just then, Lu Xiubin insisted on sending him abroad. He bit his teeth and swallowed all of it…
He didn’t want to question why she did that, nor face the painful scene of her happily appearing with another man. So he chose to run far away, not to disturb her, nor to wish her well.
He threw himself into a foreign country with no relatives or friends, endured five years of hardship and wounds, numbing himself with one competition after another…
Why on earth did she think he was the one who abandoned her?
But Song Yuhan was crying too hard, as if trying to vent all her grievances from those years. Between sobs, she mumbled something incoherent. Lu Sifang didn’t hear clearly and didn’t dare to ask more to avoid upsetting her…
Seeing that coaxing her was impossible, he felt anxious and bewildered. On impulse, he forcibly pulled her down into his arms, letting her tears soak his clothes without restraint.
That spot on his chest, wet from her tears, should have felt cool, but somehow it felt like a burning pain seared into his heart.
Despite that, he still refused to let go. Song Yuhan leaned weakly against his chest, quietly crying. No one knew how long passed, but her sobs gradually weakened… She became so emotionally drained that she grew faint and helplessly slumped in Lu Sifang’s arms, eventually losing consciousness.
Seeing this, Lu Sifang could only temporarily set aside his tangled thoughts. He carefully carried her over and laid her on his bed, tucking the blanket around her to keep her warm… After finishing, he let out a silent breath and sat by the bedside, staring blankly at her tear-streaked face.
He had never seen Song Yuhan so emotionally unrestrained before. She was always elegant and aloof, with an innocent and shy little girl hidden inside, always obedient and quiet.
The first time she cried like this was because of him…
Just thinking about this made his heart ache almost to suffocation.
Gazing at her beautiful face, still wet with tears even in sleep, he couldn’t help but reach out to smooth her troubled brows. But just as his fingers were about to touch her, he hesitated, afraid to wake her. In the end, he only mimed the motion from a short distance, tracing the outline of her brows and eyes.
In five years, he had dreamed countless times of her… always dreaming of her walking away hand in hand with someone else. He never imagined one day she would lie in the very bed he had used, and he could only silently watch those swollen eyes and feel unbearable heartache.
Lu Sifang, you’re really a bastard.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a soft knock at the door. He immediately got up and quietly walked to the entrance, gently opening the door a crack. Outside was Zhou Shangqing holding several large boxes of dinner, peeking in like a sneaky thief—quite a comical sight.
Seeing him finally appear in this stealthy way, Zhou Shangqing quickly retreated and flashed a clever smile, raising the food boxes and whispering, “Brother Fang, do you still need to eat…?”
Lu Sifang was momentarily stunned, suddenly remembering he had indeed asked Zhou Shangqing to buy dinner. He nodded, took a meal box, and went back inside, closing the door behind him.
Zhou Shangqing looked puzzled, scanning him from head to toe with a meaningful expression. “Ahem, what’s going on here?”
“Stop talking nonsense, go eat in your own room,” Lu Sifang pushed him out.
Zhou Shangqing protested unhappily, “But… your room is the biggest, why not eat there? Why disturb your precious manager’s mealtime…”
“One more word and I deduct your salary.”
Hearing that, Zhou Shangqing immediately shut up, his face full of a ‘wrong guess’ expression. But thinking about what Lu Sifang was about to go through, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
Bro, you didn’t want me to say that, remember?
Back inside, Zhou Shangqing grinned wickedly, eagerly opened his dinner — a strong aroma quickly spreading around.
“Hehe!”
“You’re crazy…”
“Yeah, snail noodles are my medicine! Wherever I go, I can’t be without it, or I’ll get lovesick!”
Zhou Shangqing drooled while Lu Sifang was dumbfounded, forced to retreat in defeat, even abandoning his own dinner…
After the door closed, the strong smell was blocked outside. Lu Sifang quietly breathed out but then stared blankly at the floor, suddenly feeling absurd and nowhere to go.
He irritably scratched his thick black hair, not knowing exactly what he was afraid of. But every time he thought about that pale, broken, tear-stained face in the room, his heart clenched painfully…
He also remembered his earlier impulsive, embarrassing words. Now fully sober, he felt his face burning. But Song Yuhan’s attitude was really unusual…
Could it be that what he thought he saw back then actually hid another truth?
After Lu Sifang left, Song Yuhan’s sleep was restless, and she soon woke up.
Suppressing her headache, she sat up and looked around. It seemed she was alone in the large suite. Her eyes fell on the bedside table where a meal quietly waited, apparently left for her.
Her heart jumped suddenly. Only then did she realize whose bed she was in, and she blushed as she got off the big bed filled with Lu Sifang’s scent. Just as she was feeling flustered, the door clicked softly open and closed again, followed by slow footsteps.
She unconsciously held her breath, listening to the footsteps coming closer, her heart inexplicably growing more tense.
Lu Sifang, having finally made up his mind, tiptoed into the room and looked up, immediately seeing Song Yuhan standing at the bedside staring blankly at him… He froze, his expression stiffening instantly.
Their eyes met. Song Yuhan caught the surprise and embarrassment in his eyes, so she looked away and cleared her throat lightly.
Seeing this, Lu Sifang blinked, then pretended nothing had happened and relaxed his posture. But his face still showed some embarrassment as he awkwardly said, “You woke up and didn’t make a sound?”
Song Yuhan twirled her fingers and looked at him innocently, “I just opened my eyes, sorry…”
“That’s nothing to be sorry about. Just in time…” He straightened his back and nonchalantly walked over to help open the dinner packaging. “Since you’re awake, you should eat something.”
Adults maintain their dignity by lightly glossing over things. Both of them tacitly agreed not to mention the earlier incident again.
He didn’t mention it because he didn’t want to touch her painful memories and make her sad; she didn’t mention it because crying so miserably in the arms of a former crush was really embarrassing…
“No, no thanks… I don’t have an appetite.” She said this and was about to leave, “I’ll go back—”
“Where are you running off to?” He stopped her dominantly, handing her the dinner. “Don’t think about leaving until you finish this.”
Song Yuhan: “…”
She looked down at the neatly presented crab roe noodles in her hands, then glanced at the now-empty packaging bag, puzzled. “Why is there only one bowl of noodles? Aren’t you going to eat?”
Lu Sifang lowered his eyes, looking away quickly, “I’ve… already eaten.” After that, he went off to exercise indifferently, either genuinely wanting to work out or trying to distract himself…
Song Yuhan nodded slowly. After working all day and just expending so much emotional energy, she was indeed a bit hungry. She sat on a sofa nearby and started eating the noodles slowly.
With food in hand, her gaze was still frequently drawn to the “scene” before her. At first, she would sneak glances for a few seconds then solemnly look down. But after noticing how focused Lu Sifang was on his exercise, apparently not noticing her staring, she no longer hid it, openly fixing her gaze on his waist, faint muscle outlines visible under his thin shirt.
“Are you satisfied with the view?”
He suddenly spoke, startling Song Yuhan, who blinked in confusion. Perhaps due to her earlier exhaustion, her mind was still foggy, so she instinctively nodded…
“Hmm.”
“Hmm?”
Lu Sifang was stunned. His push-up froze mid-move, shocked by her response, not knowing whether to go up or down next…
Realizing what she’d just done, Song Yuhan’s eyes widened, her face flushing with shyness and regret. She quickly looked around, flustered, searching the carpet for a hole to hide in. Then, accidentally inhaling some chili powder, she choked and said, “I, I’m full…”
She coughed while hurriedly tidying the table, waving at Lu Sifang, and preparing to escape again, “I, I really have to go now!”
But just as her hand was about to reach the door handle, only a step from victory, a large figure blocked her path. Trembling, she swallowed nervously, shrinking beneath the shadow of the man in front of her, not daring to raise her head.
Yet, she still heard his questioning voice:
“What exactly did your ‘hmm’ just now mean, hmm?”