Chapter 30 – We"ll Be Strangers The Next Time We Meet
When Chen Meimei"s scandal became global, Lan Jinyao received a call from Agent Vivi. To her surprise, the woman who"d always had a poisonous tongue didn"t ridicule her for the first time and instead encouraged her to rest for a few days. She also told Lan Jinyao that it would help if she forgot the unpleasantness of the past and welcomed a new future. Then, the next call she received was from Old Chen who told her not to be unhappy as he would find someone better for her. Following that was a call from Chen Meile, saying that after Lan Jinyao had calmed down for a few days, she would introduce her to someone else.
When Fu Bainian called, it was already the seventh call she"d received since being stood up at the wedding. Lan Jinyao glanced at the name flas.h.i.+ng on the screen, then pressed reject. When the phone rang again, she added his number to her blocked list.
"Fu Bainian, what I suffered was all because of you. Why are you calling me? What more do you want?"
After she"d blocked his number, she still felt that it wasn"t enough and turned her phone off. After that, she lay in bed like a corpse and motionlessly stared at the white ceiling.
She lied in bed from morning until night before she rubbed her starving stomach. Although she felt hungry, when she placed her hand on her stomach and touched a ma.s.s of flesh, she became depressed.
It seemed that fat people would feel even worse when they were hungry, like every cell in their body was burning.
Lan Jinyao felt slightly dizzy, so she finally got out of bed and left her apartment. Half an hour later, she was sitting in a bar and holding a bottle of alcohol. Curling up in a ball in a dark corner, she"d consumed around two to three bottles which were scattered about the table.
Her vision was already impaired which was resulting in everything being doubled and blurred.
She felt someone sit beside her. Moreover, it was a man in a suit.
She held up her gla.s.s as she said to the man, "What do you want? Do you want to hit on me? Don"t you see how fat I am? My weight could crush you, you know. Most men…will immediately look disgusted once they see me; they don"t get near me by even half a step! Hahaha, they are indeed wise!"
Lan Jinyao didn"t want to cry, as that would cause her to be too ugly. But, she couldn"t control herself. She felt so vulnerable, like a fish out of water.
"Chen Meimei, look at yourself. You"re totally different from your normally optimistic self. The previous Chen Meimei was thoughtless and wouldn"t bother being sad over any man. It"s not like you were never rejected by Fu Bainian before. That time, even if people would laugh at you, you still bravely charged ahead. Where did the you from that time go?"
Lan Jinyao abruptly hugged him and started crying. She wanted to say that the Chen Meimei from back then had long since disappeared. She wasn"t as brave as Chen Meimei had been. She was Lan Jinyao; the Lan Jinyao who would retreat into her sh.e.l.l at the tiniest of injuries.
"Don"t cry anymore. As long as you no longer like Fu Bainian, you"ll show him he was wrong by becoming the greatest person on earth. One day, you"ll be able to meet a person who truly loves you."
Chen Zetao patted her back, his tone gentle.
"Let go of her!"
Lan Jinyao heard a familiar voice that sounded much like Fu Bainian"s voice. She looked up but could only see a blurred figure; she couldn"t clearly see the person"s face.
The man who"d been hugging her remained composed as he calmly said, "Fu Bainian, how dare you still appear in front of her after what you"ve done?! Does playing around with someone"s feelings really make you feel happy?"
A whoosh was heard as a fist smashed into Fu Bainian"s face.
"Who do you think you are?! This is an agreement between Chen Meimei and myself! I never thought that things would turn out like this."
"You never thought it would turn out like this? Or, you didn"t take Chen Meimei into consideration from the beginning?"
The two men argued, simultaneously using their hands and feet to fight each other. Lan Jinyao stood up with difficulty and staggered as she walked out of the bar. The two men quickly moved to follow her.
Lan Jinyao managed to make it to the road before she started throwing up. Supporting herself by leaning on the trunk of a big tree, she heart-wrenchingly emptied the contents of her stomach.
A man with a face covered in black and blue bruises stood not far behind her and stared at her.
Seeing the scene before him, Fu Bainian remembered that night back in the Maldives. Chen Meimei was also vomiting on the side of the road, but at that time, she"d had him beside her.
If he and Chen Meimei hadn"t gotten that marriage certificate, things wouldn"t have turned out like this, and that wedding never would"ve happened.
He walked closer to Chen Meimei to explain his actions. "Chen Meimei, I"m sorry! That day, it was my fault for standing you up!"
After throwing up, Chen Meimei felt sober. Paired with the cold breeze of the night that was caressing her body, the buzzing in her head had also disappeared.
She smiled at Fu Bainian. "It doesn"t matter. However, I said it to you before that if you were to come, I would tell you a secret. But, you didn"t come that day, so I"ve decided not to tell you."
In fact, it didn"t matter anymore whether she told him or not since Fu Bainian had reneged on his agreement with her. He was an intelligent person, so he would"ve known how hurt she"d be if he didn"t come. Perhaps, it was as Chen Zetao had said, he actually knew, but he just didn"t care. Chen Meimei wasn"t a part of his plan, so even if he"d promised her that he would definitely come, he could still stand her up in the end.
At this moment, Lan Jinyao felt that she"d been wrong; this man wasn"t worth her time at all. The only affection he"d ever given to her was to the Chen Meimei of the past.
"I"ll send you home."
He reached out to help support Lan Jinyao, but she shoved him away.
"There"s no need. Fu Bainian, if I could, I wouldn"t ever want to see you again, but you and I know that"s impossible. So, let"s just pretend to be strangers in the future, okay? I have a good memory, and I don"t want the bad memories of the past to linger."
This was a side of Chen Meimei that Fu Bainian had never seen before. Her voice was cold and caused him to clench his fists before loosening them a few minutes later. He could only say, "Then, take care of yourself."
Lan Jinyao sneered. "Nothing will be worse than it is now. Just mind your own business from now on!"
Fu Bainian stared at the plump figure gradually disappearing into the distance. He suddenly felt that his heart was empty like he"d just lost something important.
However, he"d never loved this woman!