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Home/ The Selfish Gene/ Chapter 42

Since it was a private club, the security was usually very tight, let alone on such a special occasion as today. All the guests needed to undergo identity verification before being allowed to enter, and the thick black iron door would only open when a car arrived. This also meant that it was impossible for someone without an invitation letter to enter alone.

After I walked out of the side door, I looked around for a moment and found Ji Chenfeng not far away.

He was wearing a black down jacket, holding the phone in his left hand and his right hand in his coat pocket, leaning quietly against the courtyard wall covered in withered vines. Due to the cold, his ears were flushed red.

I was running so fast just now, but when I really saw him, my pace slowed down and every step was extremely difficult.

“Chenfeng…” I calmed down my rapid breathing and walked towards him. I hung up the cell phone that was still on call, and softly called out his name from my throat which was sore due to the cold wind.

He raised his head and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, looking at me calmly…or rather coldly. At that moment, it was clear that my surroundings were safe, but I felt like I was under attack. The skin, tongue, and internal organs were all tangled together, causing a piercing pain. I had no resistance to this unknown attack, and even breathing seemed to have become painful for me.

“Let’s go in and talk. I can explain everything.”

There are people and traffic all around, so it’s not a good place to talk. I wanted him to go in with me to the courtyard and find a deserted corner to explain the engagement matter first. Afraid that he would refuse, I reached out to grab his hand, but felt a strange touch through his down jacket.

“……What happened to your hand?”

Startled, I quickly pulled up his sleeve to check, only to find that his right hand had been casted with a solid plaster from his palm to the forearm. However, a week ago, his hand was still intact.

I thought about the few missed calls on that day and guessed, “Is this why you called me that day?”

“No.” Ji Chenfeng denied without pausing for a second. With a gentle tug, he broke free from my shackles and put his hands back into his pockets. “Let’s go, don’t you want to talk somewhere else?”

He was really angry.

Curling my fingers, I retracted my hand and hung it by my side, saying to him, “Come with me.” 

After saying that, I turned around and walked towards the villa gate.

In front of the villa, there was a large garden covering an area of over 2000 square meters, with several tall camphor trees located near the courtyard wall. Roughly speaking, the trees are also a hundred years old.

Stepping on the snow with Ji Chenfeng and walking to a hidden corner, I twirled my hair irritably and focused on the key points.

“Gu Ying and I are just a fake couple, we are just acting. She has a boyfriend, but her parents don’t agree, so they can’t be together openly, and I… need her as a cover to deal with my family. We won’t really get married. The marriage between the Sang and Gu family is just a business marriage driven by interests. After two years of resource exchange and profit depletion, our engagement will naturally be terminated.”

Ji Chenfeng listened to me quietly without any sign of being convinced. His expression remained the same and his dark eyes looked very gloomy. His whole person seemed to have blended into this cold snowy sky.

I swallowed my saliva and felt that my body was losing every bit of warmth. A huge sense of fear shrouded me, almost making me breathless. And I don’t even understand why I feel so afraid of Ji Chenfeng.

There was just a vague idea in my heart— if I didn’t do something, he might disappear, and I won’t be able to catch him.

This unease prompted me to take a step forward and embrace him, holding him tightly. Gripping the fabric on his back, I said hoarsely: “Doctor Ji, don’t you believe me? I really didn’t lie to you. I can take you to confront Gu Ying face to face. Nothing will change between us. I completely belong to you and no one can take it away…”

“Come with me.”

I froze all over, thinking if I heard wrong. I have already explained it so clearly, so how could you still make such a ridiculous request?

However, Ji Chenfeng’s next words completely dispelled my self-deception.

“Don’t get engaged to anyone else. Come with me and leave now.” He hugged me back with one hand and tightened his grip slightly. “As long as you leave here with me, I will pretend that nothing happened.”

Leave here together? Abandoning more than forty guests and running away from marriage holding hands with a man in front of the Sang and Gu family?

Even if there is a choice, this option is unlikely to be adopted by me.

This is terrible, extremely terrible.

“No!” I pushed him away suddenly, unable to understand why he would force me to do such a terrible thing, and even more afraid that he would drag me out the door regardless. If anything happens today related to Ji Chenfeng, the consequences will be unbearable for me.

I can’t let this engagement party become a joke in the entire Hong City business circle, absolutely not.

“I can’t do it.” I took two steps back and distanced myself from Ji Chenfeng.

Because of this action, the ice in Ji Chenfeng’s eyes suddenly shattered. He seemed to be finally convinced that I was just a hypocritical liar, and his indifference that served as a defense collapsed. His face showed disbelief and anger at being deceived after suddenly learning the truth.

“You can’t do it?” His eyes turned red, “If you can’t do it, why make a promise so easily?”

According to the Bible, don’t those who say that they would never leave each other also get divorced? People’s hearts are fickle, so what does a promise mean?

“I’ve already explained to you that all of this is fake. There’s nothing between Gu Ying and me. The banquet is about to start, and I don’t have much time to argue with you here. I’ll call a car to take you back first. I will explain it to you in detail when I get home tonight. If you are still angry by then, you can punish me however you want, okay?”

I softened my tone, thinking that Ji Chenfeng would fall for this trick, but as soon as my hand touched his arm, he reacted violently and waved it away.

My fingers were burning with pain, and I looked at him in shock. Then, the string that had always been tense in my mind was shattered by the disgust that appeared in his eyes.

Disgust? How could he look at me like that? I gave him everything I could. Do you hate me just because I faked an engagement with a woman without telling you?

What is that string? Maybe it’s rationality. I don’t know, maybe it’s my “mask”. My internal organs were entangled together again, and in pain, I did not take back my hand. Instead, I changed my target and grasped the hem of his clothes with all of my strength.

“What the hell are you…” I gritted my teeth and wanted to ask him what exactly he wanted me to do that could satisfy him, but at this moment, a third person’s voice rang in the secluded corner.

“Don’t pretend. I know it was you. I checked that villa and it’s the property of your Shi family. Now if you tell me that what happened that day has nothing to do with you, who the fuck are you kidding?”

The snow crunched under the feet. Zheng Jieyuan stopped about three meters away from Ji Chenfeng and me, and the person following him also stopped.

“You got drunk and were thrown into the mountains as a prank. What does it have to do with me? Do you have evidence that I did it? There are so many people in the Shi family, and I am not the only one who can get the key to that villa.” The second person spoke lazily, and there was no doubt that the voice belonged to Shi Hao.

The guest list this time was drawn up by Sang Zhengbai and Gu Ying’s parents. I knew that the Shi family was invited, but I didn’t know that Shi Hao was also here.

I stood frozen on the spot, thinking that Zheng Jieyuan was easy to fool, but Shi Hao would definitely cause trouble. Fortunately, the trunk of the camphor tree was very thick, and coupled with poor lighting under the shade, the two of them did not notice the presence of me and Ji Chenfeng.

“Besides your Shi family, who else hates me so much? Have you ever told anyone else that you’re on me… in me…” Zheng Jieyuan hesitated, unable to speak.

“What happened to you? What are you talking about?” Shi Hao deliberately said with some bad intentions.

Ji Chenfeng glanced at the two people in the distance, held my hand, pulled it apart bit by bit, and said in a voice that could only be heard by each other: “Are you afraid that they will know about my relationship with you?”

I wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, so I could only shake my head and plead with him in a softer voice: “Don’t…”

Ji Chenfeng stared at me for a long time, as if it was the first time he had the opportunity to observe me so carefully.

“You never let people around you notice our relationship. Whenever someone finds out about me, you panic and shift away.” He let go of my hand and raised the corners of his lips sarcastically, “She is your legitimate fiancée, while I’m just your secret lover who can’t see the light of day. So…who are you really playing with?”

My throat felt tight and I didn’t know how to answer his question. Without waiting for me to say anything, Ji Chenfeng took a deep look at me and turned around decisively. Without any scruples about Shi Hao and Zheng Jieyuan, he strode past them and headed towards the gate.

I had just taken two steps to catch up when I was stopped by Zheng Jieyuan who heard the noise.

“Sang Nian?”

No, I can’t go.

Ji Chenfeng’s figure was getting farther and farther away. I forced myself to retract my gaze, took a deep breath, and turned to Zheng Jieyuan.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation.”

I will just coax him at night, right now, I have to deal with the engagement party first.

When Zheng Jieyuan saw me, he immediately ignored Shi Hao and ran towards me: “No, no, you didn’t disturb me, I have nothing to say to someone like him. Sooner or later, he will pay back what he owes me, but today is your big day. Let him go for now, and I will settle the score with him next time.”

Behind him, Shi Hao sneered and glanced at Zheng Jieyuan with a smirk, his gaze fixed on my face.

“You’re quite busy today.”

Taking out the cigarette case from his pocket, he took one out and put it between his lips. He clicked the lighter and leaned forward slightly, igniting the cigarette butt.

“Who is that?” He breathed out white smoke from his mouth, held the cigarette between his fingers, and pointed towards Ji Chenfeng’s disappearing figure.

The alarm bells rang loudly in my heart, and there was a hint of warning in my tone: “Don’t worry about my business.”

After looking at him for a moment, I shifted my gaze and left with Zheng Jieyuan, returning to the main building.

Although the engagement was fake, the banquet was real. At noon, there was a meal with the guests, and in the evening, it was a family dinner for the Sang and Gu family. It wasn’t until after nine o’clock in the evening that I was able to escape.

Because I was drunk, I couldn’t drive, so I had to ask Tang Bian to take me to Fly City.

“Young Master, why are we going there so late at night?” He muttered, “It’s so messy there.”

I took off the ring on my hand and put it into my coat pocket. I didn’t say anything to him, and just urged him to hurry up.

As soon as the car stopped, I staggered out of the car. Tang Bian wanted to help me, but I pushed him away and told him to wait in the car.

No one had cleaned the snow on the long steps for a while, and it had long been trampled into solid ice. Without holding on to the guardrail, it was impossible to walk. The guardrail was icy and wet, and every step I took, I had to stop and blow hot air into my frozen palms.

After stopping and walking like this for a while, I finally arrived at the door of Ji Chenfeng’s house. Before knocking on the door, I tidied up my appearance, and thought about how to coax him later. After confirming everything, I knocked on the blue iron door.

As if he knew it was me who was coming, without asking, footsteps came from behind the door, and then with a creak, Ji Chenfeng pushed open the dilapidated door.

He opened the door, looked at me expressionlessly for a while, then turned around and went back into the house, leaving me alone outside the door.

The smile that had just been pulled up lost its only audience, making it difficult to maintain and withering quickly like an epiphyllum. I entered the house, closed the door, took off my shoes at the door, and stepped on the tatami in my socks.

The narrow living room was only lit by a dimly lit orange light, casting a false warmth over the furnishings inside.

The bedroom door was open, and it was very dark inside. It didn’t look like there was anyone else there. Is Yan Shanhua still in the hospital? Ji Chenfeng said that she still needed to undergo some examinations. Did she need to be admitted to the hospital for that examination?

“Don’t be angry with me. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t mean to lie to you…” I said while taking off my coat, trying to make up for my relationship with Ji Chenfeng by lowering my posture.

As for how low…it depends on Ji Chenfeng’s needs.

“I’m so cold, won’t you come and give me a hug?” My fingers fell on the buttons of my suit pants, and I extended an ambiguous invitation to him.

He stood across the low table from me, and his expression on his face did not waver at all.

“This trick doesn’t work every time, Sang Nian.”

After a pause, I felt a moment of embarrassment, as if I was using my body to make a deal with him.

Frowning, I picked up the jacket beside me rather disappointedly and brushed off the non-existent dust on it.

If you don’t do it, then you won’t do it. Who cares?

“When I was cleaning up my mother’s room today, I found these.” He pointed to the low table in front of him and asked me, “Do you know what these are?”

After his reminder, I realized that there was something on that table. Upon closer inspection, the blood all over my body froze from head to foot.

On the small table, there was a thick stack of paper spread out, each with different contents written on it. The handwriting was neat and beautiful, sharp and powerful…

Letters.  

Over the past three years, Ji Chenfeng has written letters to me. The letters that should have been given to me, but were hidden by Yan Shanhua… those letters.

I had told Yan Shanhua to hide it, so why was it found by Ji Chenfeng?

“This is…” Even though I had rehearsed countless times in my heart, I still couldn’t predict the development of such a thing.

Ji Chenfeng walked to the cabinet by the wall, opened a drawer, and took out about twenty neatly stacked envelopes with different designs.

“And these, do you know what’s written on them?” He threw the envelopes containing the greeting cards at my feet and asked a question that he already knew the answer to.

My vision blurred for a moment, and I stumbled back unsteadily, looking down at a greeting card that slipped out of an envelope at my feet. On the white cover, there are three changes of the lunar phases printed on it, which looks like a Mid-Autumn Festival greeting card. But even so, it’s impossible for me to know what’s written in it. It’s completely unfamiliar to me.

“Sang Nian, you didn’t receive my letters at all, and these greeting cards are not your replies to me, right?”

I looked up blankly, not knowing how to face Ji Chenfeng’s sharp questioning.

The glass of the skyscraper collapsed suddenly, and what lay before me was no longer an untouchable, quiet and harmless blizzard, but a complete disaster.

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