After a while, the door opened again, and Li Zeliang came out again, threw his handbag and umbrella to her, and said coldly: "Shen Xieyi, the car to pick you up is parked at the door, take your pity and get out of here."
When he turned around again, he heard Xie Yi calling "A Yan" in a crying voice and then pulling his sleeve.
As soon as she uttered the name, tears rolled down her cheeks.
His steps stopped.
"The first time you spoke to me was when I caused you to get injured and lose your place in a competition. You didn't blame me, and asked me if it hurt. That time, you lent me clothes to cover up your ugliness on a snowy day, but I caused you to have a high fever for a long time. You didn't blame me, but just told me not to be so careless as a girl in the future. When I ran away from home in my senior year of high school, you took me to the classroom. Later, your counselor found out, and you didn't blame me even though you were scolded. When I first arrived in Germany, I had a severe toothache but didn't dare to go out alone. You delayed the exam to take me to see a doctor, and you didn't say anything to me. I have made so many mistakes in the past, and you forgave me. You said that no matter what I do, you will not be angry."
She cried incoherently: "Ayan, don't think about regretting it. I remember you must have said that to me. So I lied to you like that, and you knew it but you let me lie to you. You didn't get angry, and you said sorry to me, over and over again. But today you just let me go and you just didn't want me anymore." After Xieyi finished speaking, she was already sobbing and had completely returned to the way she was when she was sad as a child.
"So, you must be blaming me in your heart, blaming me for making you like this, for making you lose your right leg, and for lying to you. But, I really didn't mean to do that. I didn't mean to let you see me when I committed suicide, so that you would come to save me. I have always thought that it would be great if I could exchange it back, give you my leg, as long as you can stand up and walk well, as long as you don't feel so much pain, and be as healthy as other people. But why are you so cruel to not want me and drive me away? Ah Yan - why don't you want Xie Yi? Why?"
Every word she cried out pierced his heart, and his chest hurt so much that it almost bled. No one could remain unmoved, even a heart of stone would be warmed. He turned around emotionally and hugged her in his arms, saying distressedly: "Xieyi, stop talking. Don't cry, don't cry."
Xie Yi buried her head in his chest and continued to cry, "That day, I really asked them about the car accident without telling you. If I didn't ask, you would never tell me in your life. At that time, I regretted it to death. If I hadn't been so willful at that time, A Yan wouldn't be like this. I can't tell whether it was pity or something else. I only know that I made up my mind at that time that I wanted to be with A Yan, to be together forever, and never let A Yan be sad for me again. But, I really can't figure out whether this is because of guilt or love, I can't figure it out..."
These words were like a torture of conscience to Li Zeliang. He hugged her tightly and said repeatedly: "I know, don't say anymore, don't say anymore, just be free."
Xieyi lay on his chest and sobbed for a long time.
Li Zeliang lifted her face and wiped away her tears with his fingers, but tears rolled out of her eyes again. His fingertips touched the tears, burning his heart. He closed his eyes, rested his chin on top of her head, and once again tightened his arms to hug her.
Snowflakes fell on the two people's hair, shoulders, and eyelashes, and gradually stopped melting.
"Xie Yi, Xie Yi, Xie Yi, Xie Yi..." He muttered her name while lowering his voice, his tone as gentle as possible, "Don't cry, you are not allowed to cry. I know what you said, I know everything."
"You knew everything and yet you still asked me to go away." She cried so hard that the logical sequence in her mind became confused.
"I was possessed by the devil." He blamed himself.
"You also threw my stuff away."
"I was wrong."
"It's so cold, and you won't let me into the house."
"I didn't go into the house either."
"You were only in there for a few minutes."
"Okay, then you'll make me stand for half an hour longer," he said.
"I'm not as cruel as you." She rubbed her tears and snot on him.
"Yes, no one is more cruel than me," he agreed.
At night, Xieyi insisted on massaging his legs. She said mysteriously, "I learned a trick today, and I will definitely improve gradually. From now on, your legs are mine, and only I can touch them."
She immediately went to boil some Chinese medicine for foot bathing, and after a while, sweating profusely, she brought back a full bucket of water. After preparing the dry and wet towels and stools, Xieyi squatted down and reached out to touch his leg.
"Forget it, just paint freely." Li Zeliang blocked her hand.
"Do you think I'm not as gentle as others?"
"no."
"You are my Ayan, right?"
"right."
"That's good. The leg is yours, and you are mine, so what's the big deal if I touch my right leg?"
Xieyi then continued the action. Li Zeliang hesitated for a moment, but finally followed her. Then, Xieyi rolled up his trouser leg and gently soaked his right leg in the warm medicine.
"Is it hot?" Xieyi asked while rubbing it.
He shook his head.
Then, she took a towel soaked in hot water and rubbed it from bottom to top. After a few times, she put down the towel and put her hands together, rubbing it from the broken part to the knees little by little to promote blood circulation. When the water temperature dropped, she wiped his legs dry with a thick towel, laid them flat on the bed, and repeated the process again.
"Xieyi, there are some things that you didn't ask me, but I should tell you about those things that happened back then." Li Zeliang suddenly said.
Xie Yi saw his facial features and his mouth, and had a vague premonition of what he was going to say, so she stopped him immediately: "I don't want to hear it, and I don't want to know. Whatever you did back then, it's all in the past, and I don't want to know the slightest bit."
"You don't mind?" He looked straight at her.
"I said I didn't mind at all, but that was a lie, but..." She paused, "I care about you more. I'm afraid that you'll be sad, that you'll be upset, and that I'll lose you. As long as I can be with you, nothing can stop me. I also believe that Dad will definitely forgive me."
As Xieyi spoke these words word by word, her hand touched the skin of his leg in the water. She did not cry, but her eyes were unusually firm.
He looked at her for a long time, his eyes were complicated. After a long time, thousands of words finally turned into two words, simple but heavy words: "Thank you."
Eventually, she believed him.
The heating in the room was turned on very high, so after a while, Xie Yi was already sweating profusely, but she still did not forget to ask: "Did I hurt you?"
"No." There was a fleeting hint of shyness in his smile.
"Ayan, I've discovered something," Xieyi said with a grin, "You usually act very arrogant in front of me, but you become shy only when I touch your legs."
Facing Xie Yi's frank words, his eyes narrowed slightly, "I am more than just easily shy."
"what else?"
"And I'm particularly easily aroused." As he said this, he propped up his upper body, raised his head and kissed her.
"The massage...is not over yet."
"That's enough for today. We can temporarily change the next item to something else." He had a new suggestion.
"But the doctor said..."
"What the doctor said is bullshit. I know my own body well." His voice was a little hoarse, and his hot lips began to slide down slowly.
"Then this time..." Xie Yi bit her lip, "Can I take the initiative this time?"
He paused and looked at her.
Xieyi felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, her face flushed red, and she explained, "I'm really not worried that your legs will hurt, I just wanted to take the initiative." He was clearly trying to cover up his mistake.
Then she went to turn off the lights.
"Actually, I have something to tell you."
"What?"
In the darkness, Xieyi leaned over and groped for his right leg. Her fingers wandered along that straight, slender leg, all the way down, and when she went down a few inches past the knee, she felt empty, nothing. Her fingers stopped at the broken part, and then she kissed it gently.
“In the future, I will use my love to make up for what is missing here bit by bit.” Xieyi said.
Friday happens to be her birthday.
Since she was a child, her mother liked to celebrate her birthday according to the lunar calendar, and it became a habit over time. But it changes every year, so few people can remember the exact date. Xieyi walked to the study room by accident and flipped through the calendar on his desk. It was a blank page without any marks or creases. She felt a little disappointed. Did he forget? For a whole week, Li Zeliang was very busy with company affairs. This was a common phenomenon at the end of the year, and Lantian Bay was indeed a heavy blow to the Li family.
On Friday, he left in a hurry after getting up early in the morning. He even called Xieyi on the way to remind her not to forget the Li family's cocktail party in the evening. He insisted that Xieyi go as well, but he didn't mention anything about her birthday. Xieyi felt a little disappointed. It seemed that he really forgot about it. After the cocktail party, the day would be almost over.
Before leaving, she took the last chance to protest slightly: "I don't want to go."
However, in his eyes, this resistance was so weak that it could be ignored.
"It's not up to you." Li Zeliang said.
She looked at him sadly and had to get into the car obediently.
That day, Xieyi was wearing a light pink short dress that showed off her long legs. Li Zeliang had accompanied her to choose it the day before. Before entering the hall, Xieyi nervously reached out to hold his arm, and then pulled the hem of her skirt with her other hand in an unnatural way.
"Very good, no need to talk nonsense," he said.
"Didn't you forbid me to wear skirts that show my legs?"
"They can have a look once in a while."
"Why?"
"It seems that I am not such a failure as a person."
"What does your failure as a human being have to do with me?"
He glanced at her and said, "I don't have a hundred thousand whys, why should I answer you?"
She was about to retort with a frown, but she found that the waiter had already opened the door and the noise was coming towards them. She had no choice but to straighten her back, keep smiling, and walk in with him.
This was the first time that Li Zeliang brought a female companion to a formal occasion, so when this perfect couple appeared, everyone looked at them with sidelong glances.
Seeing so many people looking at him, Xie Yi felt a little nervous and said, "I want to run away."
"You dare." He grabbed her hand.
"If I leave, will you be embarrassed standing here?"
"What do you think?" He kept smiling, greeting people and answering her in a low voice.
"Then tell me in public that you love me, and I won't run away." She said with a chuckle.
"Are you itchy?" He raised his eyebrows.
"If you're mean to me again, I'll kiss you right there." She tried to intimidate him with her bluff.
"Do you dare?" He laughed lowly.
She said stubbornly: "Why should I be afraid? Didn't I kiss you in the elevator of your company?"
"Oh, I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. The camera in the elevator captured the scene of you hugging me and kissing me very clearly. The things are still in my drawer. I'll play it next time and we can reminisce about it."
"… "
It turns out that old ginger is still spicy.
After walking a few steps, Li Zeliang slowly stopped, turned sideways to face her, and even closed his eyes.
"What for?" Xie Yi asked guiltily.
"Aren't you going to kiss me right here and there?"
Xieyi's cheeks immediately flushed, and she left him and ran away quickly. So, it goes like this, if you want to be mean to others, you need to have the capital. No wonder she was bullied by him before, and she is still the same now.
Halfway through, Xieyi went to the bathroom and met someone at the door. He hesitantly called out, "Shen Xieyi?"
Xieyi turned around and saw a slightly plump middle-aged man, and felt a little suspicious.
"I'm Uncle Hu, your father's good friend. I used to have a big dog at my house. You've been here before and you liked to play with it, do you remember?" the other person said.
"Ah, the big dog's name is Hualian." Xieyi suddenly remembered that he was particularly impressed by the enthusiastic big dog in his family, so he nodded and greeted him hurriedly.
Lao Hu teased her, "How sad. You don't remember the people, you only remember the dog."
Xie Yi smiled and said, "Uncle Hu, you are still so interesting."
Old Hu looked Xie Yi up and down again, "When I saw you standing next to Li Zeliang just now, I thought you looked familiar. It turns out it was you."
Xie Yi suddenly lowered her head in embarrassment. She was in public with Li Zeliang, and they were all from the same circle. If any of her old acquaintances from the Shen family saw her, they would definitely poke her in the back.
But he didn't expect that Old Hu nodded again and again, "Okay, yes, you two are a good match. I have discussed you and Xiao Li with your father before. Such a good childhood sweetheart is worth cherishing. I heard yesterday that Xiao Li would bring his fiancée to the annual meeting, and I remembered that at that time, you two had been studying together, had a good relationship, and were well-matched. It was just that you encountered some twists and turns later. It's a pity. I didn't expect that the person Xiao Li brought today was really a good match for you."
Xie Yi was speechless. It turned out that he insisted on bringing her here because he really wanted to introduce her formally to other people.
"Congratulations! You must treat me, your elder, to candy."
"Okay." Xieyi smiled shyly.
He said with more emotion: "Let the grudges of the previous generation go. Xiao Li is a good guy, but he was young and hot-tempered back then, and met your sister who was ignorant."
"My sister?" Xie Yi asked back.
"If it weren't for Xie Qing, how could your family have come to this point?"
"Uncle Hu, can you explain it more clearly?" Xie Yi's face suddenly changed.
"Don't you even know?"
Freehand shaking his head.