Chapter 298: Never meeting again (1/2)
Chapter 298: Never meeting again
Tang Yufei had actually been spot on in quite a number of things.
For example, Apple. Xu Tingsheng had been alone with her the longest before. The two of them also shared the closest relationship. This meant that it was most possible for something to have happened between the two of them. Yet, in reality…nothing had happened.
There had virtually been not a single situation of this kind at all.
Xu Tingsheng had been unable to resist Li Wan’er and had also acted inappropriately with Lu Zhixin before. Yet, he had just not done anything towards Apple with whom he was the closest.
The reason was actually just like Tang Yufei had said. The responsibility was too great. He was afraid of it, so afraid of it that he couldn’t think of anything else. If Xu Tingsheng had laid a hand on Apple, he would surely marry her…
He would accompany and protect her during her most difficult times. Yet, he was still not ready to completely accept this weighty responsibility.
Therefore, separated by distance, Xu Tingsheng could think whatever he liked about Apple, with her even having appeared in his dreams before. Yet, when they were together, he would restrict himself carefully to the point that he was virtually able to act completely naturally, without much rashness at all.
It was similar for Wu Yuewei.
Of course, the interactions between the two were just as pure as they had been back in junior high. Nothing remotely questionable had ever occurred between them.
If something like that really did happen, the answer would be the same as for Apple. He would be afraid, would restrict himself. Things were the same for this girl as well. If he laid a hand on her, he would have to marry her. He would marry her.
As for Lu Zhixin, she was different from Apple and Wu Yuewei.
For Apple and Wu Yuewei, if Xu Tingsheng were really to request it of them, they would give it to him. As for Lu Zhixin, she was independent and clear-headed. She was actually better than he was at controlling the situation.
Thus, Xu Tingsheng would occasionally dare to let loose the reins on himself and mess around with her without reservation, feeling assured in the knowledge that nothing would happen. Even if something were to happen, it would probably be her stomping him dead or calling the police…
As for Li Wan’er, hers was the most unique case.
If not for her having said that line back then, he would already have been unable to hold himself back…it could be said that Xu Tingsheng had a mindset that many other men had. Facing Li Wan’er at the time, he had virtually not thought about the concept of responsibility at all.
She had experience, had been married before. With that, the mental burden on him was much lower.
Also, it could not be denied that in terms of age and various other aspects too, Li Wan’er was really the most alluring one amongst all the women Xu Tingsheng had met, the one who most induced him into committing a crime.
Xu Tingsheng was able to resist those he thought to be young girls, but it was very difficult for him to resist Li Wan’er.
Li Wan’er had actually used this word very accurately: Bully.
Li Wan’er had said, “Bully me, Xu Tingsheng. Bully me however you like.”
Just these words alone were enough to cause Xu Tingsheng’s blood vessels to swell…
Coupled with her expression and tone…
And that satin-like material of the clothes she was wearing…
Her cousin’s taste was actually rather bad. The special underwear that she had chosen were very base indeed. Yet, some articles of clothing were actually more crime-inducing the baser they were. At times like this, who would care about intricacy, elegance? The baser the better.
Such ‘base’ clothing, worn by the elegant, gentle Li Wan’er who was akin to a descended goddess…
There was an incomparably vast discrepancy between Li Wan’er’s expression and what she was wearing.
She looked embarrassed, on tenterhooks, distressed, also bearing a humiliated feeling of accepting whatever was forced upon her as the tear stains on her face had still yet to dry…
Her clothing was beguiling, lascivious, shameless…
If this had happened half a month ago, Xu Tingsheng would not have hesitated any further at all. It was not that he would not be intending to accept any responsibility whatsoever. It was just that it would not be this serious at the end of the day…
However, this half a month had seen the occurrence of the greatest, most blissful event of Xu Tingsheng’s life ever since his rebirth. He knew how Little Xiang Ning thought about him now. His Xiang Ning was going to come back.
As for Apple, she seemed to have completely walked out of the shadow of depression.
Xu Tingsheng was currently making preparations for welcoming Xiang Ning back to his side.
……
Li Wan’er leaned rather dazedly against the bed, looking at Xu Tingsheng who was leaning back against the head of the bed and breathing deeply in and out, in and out.
She finally took that blanket and covered her own body.
Li Wan’er had used up all her courage.
It was actually two people that she had to face and resist. One was Xu Tingsheng, in front of whom she had to discard her self-respect and shyness. The other was she herself, the she of back then who had persisted in her original stance of being unable to accept actions like these.
Another voice inside her, the voice of her original stance, was already resounding lightly, talking about her, rebuking her, “What are you doing, Li Wan’er? Utterly shameless…”
“Am I being utterly shameless? …But I really like him, and he’s going to leave. I want to fight for something for myself for once, and if it’s wrong, then so be it,” Li Wan’er defended herself thus.
Only she herself was well aware that if the alternative was letting this person before her go just like that, with them having no further contact at all in the future, she would really rather…end up the subject of society’s endless scorn.
Had Xu Tingsheng not been going to leave, had she not seen that plane ticket, also considering her mental preparation from the previous experiences between them, including that time where something had nearly happened…it would have been totally impossible for Li Wan’er to do this.
She was a reserved, mild, even overly modest woman who was used to living as such.
Having lived a mild life for so many years, even holding herself back already come completely naturally to her.