Chapter 58 – Contemplation

Xiao Fang watched everything clearly from inside. Having grown accustomed to such a gentle Fei Xiangnan, he had momentarily thought of him as a grass-eating rabbit. But in reality, Fei Xiangnan had only ever shown his rabbit ears to him. This was the real him, his true self.

Fei Xiangnan nodded in satisfaction. “A life sentence for your crimes might be a bit difficult, but don’t worry, I’ll find enough evidence to make sure you stay inside comfortably.” Fei Xiangnan’s words were like the whisper of a demon. Wu Quanwu trembled all over. Just a dozen days ago, he was an agent everyone wanted to curry favor with; now, a life sentence awaited him.

Fei Xiangnan glanced at the two of them, then turned and walked to the door of the inner room and opened it. Xiao Fang, who was sitting inside watching, was startled and looked at him with some shock.

Fei Xiangnan forced himself to ignore that look and commanded coldly, “Come out.”

Xiao Fang stood up, suppressed his complex feelings, and followed him out. The two men outside were equally astonished to see Xiao Fang. Everything had been witnessed by him. Director Wang looked at Xiao Fang’s protruding belly and recalled Fei Xiangnan’s brief words. It was no wonder a life sentence was what awaited Wu Quanwu. If Fei Xiangnan hadn’t held back, Wu Quanwu probably wouldn’t have survived the next few decades.

The two came out and stood before them. Fei Xiangnan commanded without emotion, “Before you go in, shouldn’t you give him a proper apology? If he’s not satisfied, I’ll have to consider doubling your sentence.”

Wu Quanwu’s portly body trembled visibly. He looked up at Xiao Fang. Despite his unwillingness, there was more fear than anything else.

“I’m sorry, Xiao Fang. It was my ignorance that led me to do such a wicked thing. Thank you for sparing my life.” Wu Quanwu had put on a full display of submission.

But Fei Xiangnan frowned in dissatisfaction. “Just because of ignorance? It seems your self-assessment is still not objective enough.”

Xiao Fang looked at Wu Quanwu with a complex expression. If he had caught him himself, he would have definitely given him a good scolding. But in Fei Xiangnan’s hands, the feeling was completely different. The man before him was no longer Wu Quanwu, but a person who had been completely coerced. To end it so hastily, how could this person ever come to his senses?

“If you hadn’t been so stubborn and had been willing to discuss it with me, I definitely wouldn’t have filmed Warmth. But wouldn’t I have considered the other resources you found for me? I’m not the type of person who forgets old friends after gaining benefits. Even though I wouldn’t have stayed at that company for long, if you had ever done anything for my benefit, I wouldn’t have forgotten you,” Xiao Fang said slowly.

Wu Quanwu’s body jolted, and he looked at Xiao Fang in astonishment.

Xiao Fang ignored his expression and continued, “Actually, your professional skills are not bad, you just value profit too much. If you could have listened to reason, maybe I would have taken you with me when I left. You respect your mother but don’t love your wife, which led to her leaving you. You can’t blame anyone for that. In the end, you even beat the children who have always respected you just to vent your anger. You didn’t learn a single thing your mother taught you. Is that how your mother treats her grandchildren? From beginning to end, you were blinded by meager, immediate benefits, which led to you being deserted by everyone. A person like you can’t hate others. When you get old, your children will never be able to love a father like you. You have only yourself to blame. You reap what you sow.” Xiao Fang’s voice wasn’t loud, but his words struck a chord in Wu Quanwu’s heart, like a heavy punch that woke him up.

“That’s not true,” Wu Quanwu’s hoarse voice tried to deceive himself, but his heart could no longer be fooled. He had been deceiving himself all along, and by the time he finally understood, he had already fallen off a cliff.

A flash of surprise appeared in Fei Xiangnan’s eyes. This approach would completely prevent him from ever getting back on his feet. Decades of time, unable to even feel hatred, only able to live in constant regret.

“Take him away,” Fei Xiangnan gestured. Two bodyguards came forward and dragged the man away. The rest of the bodyguards left in an orderly fashion, leaving only Director Wang. He felt a despair he had never experienced before.

Fei Xiangnan didn’t say anything more and went straight back to his seat.

Xiao Fang understood his intention. After settling others’ accounts, it was his turn.

“I… I…” Director Wang couldn’t even speak properly.

Xiao Fang gave him a complicated look. “You can go first. Everything that happened today…”

“I don’t know anything!” Director Wang answered with a strong survival instinct, then stood up and left without looking back. On the way, he stumbled, perhaps because he was walking too fast or his legs had gone soft. He left in a very disheveled state. With a loud bang, the wide office was left with only two people.

Xiao Fang took a deep breath and turned to look at Fei Xiangnan, not knowing how to begin.

“Am I that incompetent in your eyes?” This time, it was Fei Xiangnan who brought it up first.

Xiao Fang pouted. He didn’t mean that at all. “No, I just don’t want to be so weak. I don’t want to be protected by you all the time. I also want…”

“What do you want? You were almost killed! If I had been a second later, do you want me to guess what your ‘own ideas’ were while facing your memorial tablet?” Fei Xiangnan had never been so angry when talking to them, but hearing Xiao Fang’s words, he was furious. In his opinion, was this something he could be stubborn about solving?

Xiao Fang’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red, but he didn’t think he was wrong. “If… if I continue to be so weak, I can’t give you any help and will only become your burden. I… am not wrong.”

Fei Xiangnan almost exploded. Not wrong?

Clang! Fei Xiangnan stood up abruptly, the chair behind him falling over without warning.

“Not wrong? I see nothing but loopholes!” Fei Xiangnan had no outlet for his anger and could only kick the fallen chair again. “You talk a big game, but in reality, you didn’t leave anyone any way out. Did you have any leverage on him? You pushed him to his limit. Did you ever think about leaving a way out for yourself? Wife and children gone, all money lost! If it were you, what would you do? Ignorant, stubborn, self-righteous!!!”

Xiao Fang clenched his fists, his lips trembling, but he couldn’t find any fault in what was said.

“Before, at the company, it was because I was by your side that they didn’t do anything out of line. Do you really think they were giving you face? Stubbornly insisting, regardless of the consequences, stupid and self-unaware!” Fei Xiangnan had never said such harsh words to Xiao Fang, but this time he was truly terrified. The home he had worked so hard to get, if he had been just a little bit later, everything would have been gone.

Fei Xiangnan paced around anxiously. Seeing the motionless Xiao Fang, the fire in his heart burned even hotter. He didn’t even want to stay here any longer. He quickly brushed past Xiao Fang and left the office without looking back.

Bang! The office door was slammed shut.

Xiao Fang collapsed onto the sofa, stubbornly holding back his tears. It was all just because he was too weak, nothing else. If he hadn’t gotten into trouble today, Fei Xiangnan would have definitely praised him. It was all because he was too weak.

The moment Fei Xiangnan left the office building, he called his friend Zhang Yuanxiao. “Come out, let’s drink!” His tone was very unfriendly.

Zhang Yuanxiao lazily refused, “No thanks, I tired out my baby last night. I need to stay home and give him a massage.”

Fei Xiangnan took a deep breath. “Half an hour, at the old place. If you don’t come, we’re not friends anymore.” He hung up and drove off with red eyes.

“Who was that?” Ruan Tan asked tiredly. He really wanted to sleep, but this large bee kept buzzing in his ear.

Zhang Yuanxiao pouted. “Fei Xiangnan. He must be really angry this time. He asked me to go drinking.”

Ruan Tan’s eyes lit up. “Then hurry up and go!”

Ignoring his lover’s mournful gaze, Ruan Tan decisively kicked him out of the house. In fact, even if Ruan Tan hadn’t kicked him out, he would have gone to check on the situation. After all, it had been a long time since Fei Xiangnan had been this agitated. Thinking about how virtuous his own wife was, Zhang Yuanxiao smiled with satisfaction, feeling very happy.

***

After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Yuanxiao finally heard the shocking news.

“What? He was almost hacked to death by his agent?” It was the first time Zhang Yuanxiao had heard of a revenge plot daring to target President Fei’s spouse. They must have a death wish.

“And he calls this being independent. Heh,” Fei Xiangnan took another gulp of wine.

Zhang Yuanxiao looked at his friend helplessly. No wonder he was so angry.

At a time like this, as a good brother, he shouldn’t just agree with his friend’s feelings, but rather help him sort things out, so the little couple could make up quickly and not bother him.

“You can’t say that. I think there’s a type of person who is naturally very guarded. In short, they lacked a sense of security as a child, so as an adult, they always try to arm themselves. Think about it, your family is not a place an ordinary person can survive in. While you were away these few days, Xiao Fang got into trouble. Do you really think your grandfather didn’t know? He was testing Xiao Fang. If Xiao Fang had given in then, could he hold his head up high in front of your family? It’s just that he only graduated a few years ago, his ideas are a bit naive, and he didn’t leave himself a way out. If you talk to him properly, he’ll understand.”

Fei Xiangnan raised his dazed eyes. “I married him, not for him to fight with my family. I just want him to live well. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Hey, see, you yourself have this kind of thinking. You need to put yourself in his shoes. He feels that marrying you isn’t about being protected by you all the time. He also wants to become someone you can rely on, right? You two are just too considerate of each other and usually don’t think about your own problems,” Zhang Yuanxiao said, taking a small sip of red wine.

He had to say, Fei Xiangnan had made the right choice this time. If it had been Xiao Qi, he would have been crying his eyes out. But what about Xiao Fang? These past few days, he had been incredibly strong, arguing against a crowd, killing it on all fronts, terminating his contract and fighting back. He was simply too decisive.

Fei Xiangnan looked at the various bottles of wine on the wall cabinet, lost in a daze. “But the result of him protecting me is that I almost lost him.” If this had really happened, he really didn’t know how he would go on living.

Zhang Yuanxiao patted Fei Xiangnan’s shoulder. “This is the problem you two need to solve. You guys are treating each other too much like outsiders. Between a married couple, whatever problems you have, you should support each other and go through them together. It’s not about me hiding things from you, and you hiding things from me. If that happens, the feelings will change.”

Fei Xiangnan was shaken. “I don’t want to separate.” Once he had chosen this person, it was for a lifetime.

It was only because he was drunk that he would say such honest words. Zhang Yuanxiao felt that there was no need to drown his sorrows in alcohol anymore. It would be better to send him home to solve the problem directly.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you home.” Zhang Yuanxiao supported Fei Xiangnan by one arm.

“I’m not going back,” Fei Xiangnan resisted.

“If you don’t go back now, Xiao Fang is going to be crying while hugging Da Bao. You cruel husband, you cruel father!”

“He’ll cry?” Fei Xiangnan was once again lost in a daze.

“Yes, yes, he’ll cry. The kind where his eyes get all swollen!” Zhang Yuanxiao patiently persuaded.

Fei Xiangnan immediately stood up straight and strode out of the bar.

Zhang Yuanxiao nodded, then suddenly remembered that this guy was drunk. He immediately chased after him. “Let’s take a taxi back, we can’t drunk drive!”

Xiao Fang didn’t stay in the office for long. Que Jiang came to pick him up and take him home.

“The boss went drinking,” Que Jiang reported. Xiao Fang was stunned for a moment, then just said, “Oh,” not knowing what else to say.

Que Jiang drove, his eyes fixed on the road. “He’s just worried about you. When he called me this morning, his voice was trembling.”

Xiao Fang clenched his fists. He knew, of course, but…

“This time, it was my misjudgment.”

“Huh?” Xiao Fang looked at him in surprise.

“I didn’t mitigate the risk for you. Actually, to be blunt, I wanted to test your abilities. I didn’t expect to cause such a big disaster. I haven’t seen the boss in this state for a long time. I was still trying to tell him to relax, but when he said you almost died, sigh, it’s my fault.” Que Jiang sighed. After this incident, he would go and receive his punishment. He was still too immature.

Hearing this, Xiao Fang’s heart completely tightened. If it had been him, he might have gone crazy. This had nothing to do with outsiders; it was he who had been too self-righteous. “It has nothing to do with you. The one who misjudged was me.”

“You are a married couple. Even if you want to do something, you shouldn’t hide it. That way, both of you will lose heart. To the boss, you are the most important person. He cherishes you, so you should cherish yourself even more. The same goes for the boss. There are too many problems between you two.”

Xiao Fang knew. They both had too many defenses up. This couldn’t go on. He didn’t want Fei Xiangnan to face those things alone either. Now, it was the other way around. People really have a hard time seeing their own faults. He had to apologize to him, for making him worry. When he was on the brink of death today, he should have thought about his feelings.

“Thank you, I know what to do now.” At this moment, Xiao Fang’s eyes saw through the confusion, and he looked forward to seeing Fei Xiangnan with an incredibly urgent feeling.