Xu Nanfang walked out of the hotel lobby slowly. He still had the tall back, broad shoulders and thick chest of many years ago, but he walked unsteadily. I deliberately slowed down my pace and walked behind him, knowing that at this special moment, there needed to be a proper balance between us.
Nan Fang was particularly careful when he went down the stairs. He stepped down with his right leg first to stand firmly, then slightly raised his body to the side and slowly moved his left leg. But I just stood there staring at him, trying to restrain myself from going up to help. People passing by turned around and saluted us. That look seemed to say, "Tsk tsk, this person, he doesn't even want to help!"
"Where are we going to watch the show later? What are we going to watch?" I really couldn't stand the gazes of others, so I walked up to Nanfang, pulled his arm, and asked him.
"You'll know when you get there." He grinned, revealing his white teeth, as if smiling but not laughing, and then stopped a taxi at the hotel entrance. The waiters on both sides hurried forward to open the door for him. "Come in." Nan Fang nodded, and I followed him into the car with doubts in my heart.
The car was stuck in traffic on the Third Ring Road for a while, and after about half an hour, it stopped at a quiet community near the West Third Ring Road. Nan Fang got off the car and looked up. There were three words "Furong Garden" written on the marble sign at the door. It was clearly a residential area. I had a bad feeling in my heart and stopped involuntarily. "What are you taking me to see?"
"Don't be anxious, wait, you will know soon." Nan Fang looked at me strangely, with a faint glow in his eyes.
He found a stone slab in the garden pavilion and sat down, patting the seat next to him and saying, "You're tired, take a rest." I looked up and saw that his forehead was indeed covered in sweat. I took out a tissue from my bag, handed it to him, and sat down next to him.
I didn't know what he was up to. Just when I was about to ask, I heard him ask softly, "Do you know him?"
"Who?" I was surprised, but I knew who he was talking about.
Nan Fang sneered and gently slid his fingers through the ends of my hair. "Do you know about his past? Do you know who he was with and what his history was?"
Ah! He actually found out so much. Suddenly, I felt a spark in my heart. Did he come here just to talk about this? No, I have already decided to follow my heart.
"Can you really accept it?" He stared into my eyes, looking very puzzled.
"Yes, I accept."
"I heard that Wang Biyun has a child."
My heart skipped a beat and I almost jumped up. "What? Are you asking about us?"
"It's 'them.' It seems you are still unaware."
"No, of course I know. Wang Biyun has remarried, and it's not surprising that she's a mother. Nan Fang, there's no possibility between you and me, please don't make trouble." I shook off his hand, stood up, and ran towards the gate of the community. Suddenly, a little girl in a white shirt and pink skirt came out from nowhere, bumped into me, fell to the ground, and started crying. I was stunned, and quickly squatted down to pick her up. Only then did I realize that this was an extremely cute little girl, with crystal clear skin, pink hands wiping tears, looking at me with great grievance, her nose twitching, and her two pigtails dangling.
"Little sister, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I apologized to her.
At this time, a middle-aged woman who looked like a nanny ran over from a distance and asked, "Oh, oh, Yunyun, where did you fall?" Then she took the child's hand and took her from my arms.
The middle-aged woman looked the child up and down, and was relieved to see that she was fine. But the little girl started to cry even more coquettishly. It seemed that the little princess was difficult to deal with. The middle-aged woman looked embarrassed, "This child has a bad temper and is hard to comfort."
I apologized to them helplessly. I didn't know when Xu Nanfang came over and took out a bow-knot hairband from his pocket to coax her, and then she was silent.
"She is the one I'm waiting for." Nan Fang looked at the little girl and smiled, as if talking to himself.
My heart skipped a beat. He came fully prepared, even having gifts to please little girls.
"Dear little princess," Nan Fang held one knee, bent down, leaned forward, and asked with a smile, "Little princess, tell your uncle and aunt how old you are."
The nanny saw that the child had stopped crying and that Nan Fang and I did not look like bad people, so she smiled at us and waved her arm, "Tell this uncle, how old are you?"
The little girl raised her head, her dark, bright eyes staring towards the south, and smiled, "Four and a half years old."
Nan Fang stretched out his hand towards her, "Come, shake hands." The little girl seemed very satisfied with the communication between an adult and her, and stretched out her hand obediently.
"Come on, tell uncle, what's your name?"
The little girl smiled shyly, turned around and hugged the nanny's thighs, hiding behind the adults. After a long while, she gently uttered three words, "Li-Yun-Shang."
Ah! Suddenly, a surge of blood rushed up my spine and I took several steps back, feeling dizzy. Could it be...
"Is your mother's name Wang Biyun?"
Hearing these three words, the little girl suddenly poked her head out from behind the nanny, smiled, and nodded. When the nanny heard Nan Fang mention Wang Biyun, she asked half-doubtfully, "Ah, do you know Yunyun's mother?"
Nan Fang nodded, "It's her friend from out of town. She came to Beijing and came to see Sister Biyun. She just called and said she was still at work, so she's waiting here."
Although I had only seen her in photos, I still remembered her appearance clearly. I calmed down and realized that this girl looked very similar to Wang Biyun... .
Ah! No! I really didn’t expect that Li Shuming’s ex-wife actually had such a big daughter? Her surname is Li, she’s four and a half years old, and even her name has the word “yun” in it… ..
Before I could think further, I heard Nan Fang asking, "Where's Dad?"
The little girl shook her head in confusion. The nanny looked at us with doubt and hostility, then nervously pulled the child's hand and hurried away.
This is clearly his child!
In a flash, my chest felt like a sharp weapon had dug a big hole in it, and my internal organs were separated from my chest. I couldn't catch them with my hands, and they fell bloody all over the ground.
"Quilt," Nan Fang patted my shoulder gently.
He was clearly doing this on purpose, clearly trying to sow discord. I couldn't control myself anymore, I screamed and pushed him away, "Why?"
Nanfang probably didn't expect me to be so angry. He stumbled and fell to the edge of the flower bed. I seemed to hear the sound of hard objects hitting the concrete platform. I turned around quickly and saw him lying on the ground, supporting his body with his backhand, his face pale.
"Ah!" I was really scared.
He sat up slowly, lowered his head, pressed his left leg, and uttered a heavy sigh. I saw that his whole posture was extremely awkward, there was something hard sticking out of his trouser leg, and his left lower limb was obviously deformed.
I had never seen such a situation before. I was so frightened that I was speechless. I squatted down, at a loss, not knowing what to do...
Finally, with the help of the community security guard, we hailed a taxi and left.
A light drizzle began to fall from the sky, and the raindrops splashed on the glass windows, leaving comet-like traces. Soon, white mist covered the entire glass.
On the way back to the room with Nanfang, I felt my head getting heavy and my mind went blank. I could only hear him apologizing to me, "I'm sorry, Qinqin, I didn't mean to do that. I really didn't mean to take you to see..."
He just took me to see the truth, what's wrong with that
I felt dizzy and my legs were weak. I didn't know whether I was supporting him or he was supporting me. When I returned to the room, I saw red blood stains on his pants. I suddenly felt distressed and couldn't believe that I had so much strength.
I felt angry and resentful in my heart. I hated him, was mad at him, and also at myself.
Nan Fang fell down on the sofa, gently lifted his broken leg and placed it on the small round table. The protruding hard object seemed to be about to burst his pants. He reluctantly took off his coat to cover it, put away his painful look, and gently called my name, "Qiu Qiu."
I woke up from my dream and came to my senses. "Should we go to the hospital?"
He shook his head in self-mockery, his eyes full of tenderness and love, "I can handle it myself. But you—"
"Let's go to the hospital."
Someone rang the doorbell, and I ran to open the door. The waiter brought us an umbrella, put it down, and asked us, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Nan Fang waved his hand, signaling the waiter to leave. He was more stubborn and obstinate than before. "Qinqin, I realized that I was wrong. I shouldn't have taken you there today."
"Someone has to tell me the truth. Thank you, South."
"How can I feel at ease with you like this? Why don't you go sit in the restaurant outside for a while? After I'm done..."
I knew he didn't want me to see it, to avoid embarrassment. I forced a smile and said to him, "I'm fine. I'll go back first. Take care of your wound."
"Don't let your imagination run wild. I'll call you tonight."
… ..
I wandered aimlessly on the street, the water drops on my umbrella looked like stars in the sky, and tears quietly covered my cheeks.
I remember that a year ago, Li Shuming swore to me that his past with Wang Biyun had long since disappeared, and there was no entanglement between them. Most importantly, he clearly said that they had no children. I carefully recalled the rainy night when I first went to Shuming's house, and tried my best to recall every expression on his face.
Oh, I remember now. At that time, when he answered me, there was a hint of hesitation in his clear eyes.
It turns out that things that are too beautiful are not real.
I fell into deep despair, marveling at how close I had come to making the biggest mistake of my life.
Whether I can accept that he has been married before and is even the father of a child is another matter, but I will never tolerate such deception. I always think that he is a broad-minded person who can tolerate so many secrets in his heart. How can he not be "broad-minded"? He will be able to show it out!
What is fake is fake after all, even if it once looked very real.
I don't know how long I walked, until I answered the call from Nan Fang, and suddenly I felt cold all over. I still wanted to go back, even though I hated the house where he and Wang Biyun had conceived a little life.
I went back to Li Shuming's house to pack my luggage. My back felt cold. A window was blown open by the wind, and the cold wind came in like a knife, sweeping away the warmth. It felt like something in my body was hollowed out. I felt weak and dizzy. For a while, I couldn't move my hands and feet. I fell to the floor. My nose felt sour. All the grievances came up and drowned me. My heart was in pain. (To be continued)