‘What happened?’ Mrs Qiao asked.
‘Mum, I’m hungry,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said and picked up her bowl of food. ‘Let’s eat.’
‘Last night you and Jiao Wu…’ Mrs Qiao said.
‘Mum, dad, don’t talk about him,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘Big sister deserves better than him.’
‘Qiao Jie!’ Mr Qiao said. ‘Eat dinner.’
Outside the Qiao Mansion, Gu Jiao Wu received a call from Li Lam. He agreed to meet her at a restaurant to get answers.
At the restaurant, Gu Jiao Wu sat opposite Li Lam at a table.
‘What do you want?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘Can’t I call you to eat a dinner with me?’ Li Lam asked.
Li Lam poured wine into a gla.s.s.
‘I’m not here to eat dinner with you,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu wasn’t impressed by the steak dinner set out in front of him. If he wanted to eat dinner, he would eat dinner with Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘I know,’ Li Lam said. ‘You came here because you want to ask questions. It’s only fair if I get to ask you questions too. I asked to meet you here, because I wanted to treat you a dinner to thank you for helping me at the party.’
‘I’m here because I want you to answer my questions,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘I know what questions you want to ask me,’ Li Lam said. ‘If you want my answers, at least eat the slow cooked steak.’
Li Lam cut her steak and ate while Gu Jiao Wu didn’t touch the food or wine.
‘Where is Chu Da?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Don’t say you’re Chu Da.’
‘Why won’t you believe I’m Chu Da?’ Li Lam asked.
‘It doesn’t matter how much a person undergoes plastic surgery,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘They can’t hide who they are on the inside. I can feel you’re not Chu Da.’
Li Lam didn’t think she would lose to a feeling.
‘I’ll answer your question if you answer my question first,’ Li Lam said. ‘Who’s the woman you disappeared with last night?’
‘If I answer your question, will you tell me where’s Chu Da?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘After you find Chu Da, will you choose to be with Chu Da?’ Li Lam asked.
‘No, I won’t choose to be with Chu Da,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘If you don’t want to be with Chu Da, why do you want to find Chu Da?’ Li Lam asked. ‘You still haven’t answered my first question.’
‘The woman you saw last night is my wife,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Isn’t she your ex-wife, Qiao Tan Yuan?’ Li Lam asked.
‘My relationship with my wife has nothing to do with you,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘But Chu Da has the right to know,’ Li Lam said. ‘If you loved Chu Da, how can you forget Chu Da so quickly and be with your ex-wife…’
A waitress interrupted, and she put the bill on the table.
‘I’ll pay for dinner,’ Gu Jiao Wu said to Li Lam. ‘I don’t have a habit of letting women pay for dinner.’
‘But you have a habit of breaking women’s hearts,’ Li Lam said. ‘Thank you for meeting me for dinner. In the future I won’t disturb you.’
‘Wait, you haven’t answered my questions,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Li Lam looked like she was withholding important news, but she left the restaurant without answering Gu Jiao Wu’s questions. He walked to his car, and thought about what Li Lam meant when she said he had a habit of breaking women’s hearts. Then he thought about Qiao Tan Yuan, and he wanted to see her so he drove back to the Qiao Mansion. But he stayed in his car outside the Qiao Mansion. He wondered what Qiao Tan Yuan was doing. Was Qiao Tan Yuan playing with their daughter or was she taking a bath? He remembered taking a bath with Qiao Tan Yuan last night, and he was immediately aroused.
Earlier, Qiao Tan Yuan booked new flight tickets to Denmark for her and Xiao Bao. Distance would help her forget Gu Jiao Wu, and he couldn’t hurt her again.
When Qiao Tan Yuan heard a car outside her home, she walked to the window and saw Gu Jiao Wu’s car. She didn’t know why he came back late at night, and why he looked lonely from a distance. He didn’t come inside her home like she expected, but drove off again. She shook her head, told herself to forget him and not to worry about why he looked lonely. If she had set her mind on moving on with her life then she needed to let go of the past.
End of Chapter Eighty-Five