Chapter 155: Chapter 0155: Drawing a Clear Line
Huo Tingxiao’s gaze fell on Pei Zhao’s legs, his eyes carrying a chill.
“So you suddenly ca back to have pay off my debt?”
The smile on Pei Zhao’s face was faint.
“Paying off a debt, what an idea. Then do tell, how do you plan to repay it?
Huo Tingxiao, my legs are useless, I will never stand again in my life, I have to rely on a wheelchair every day.”
The tone of Pei Zhao’s speech and the expression on his face did not match at all, quite ordinary, as if he were talking about soone else’s issues.
On the surface, Huo Tingxiao was calm, but inside, a storm was raging.
“Why so tense? Could it be, you think I want you to compensate with a pair of legs?
Just kidding, why are you still as serious as before?”
A joke? Huo Tingxiao didn’t feel at all like Pei Zhao had made such a fuss just to joke with him.
“Pei Zhao, about what happened back then…”
“Let’s not talk about the past, everyone needs to look forward, Axiao, I’ve long accepted the fact that I’m disabled now, you should accept it too.”
Pei Zhao’s words seed to give Huo Tingxiao’s heart a heavy pound, the dull ache spreading from his heart to his limbs.
If Pei Zhao had been hysterical, Huo Tingxiao might have had a way, but instead, Pei Zhao gently reminded Huo Tingxiao, what he owed Pei Zhao, he might never be able to repay in this lifeti.
“I will do my utmost to compensate you.”
Word by word, very solemnly spoken from Huo Tingxiao’s mouth.
Pei Zhao shrugged his shoulders.
“Compensation? How to compensate? No amount of compensation could get back on my feet.
Your so-called compensation is just to make yourself feel better.
But, Axiao, I am not feeling better.
So, I don’t want compensation.”
Huo Tingxiao was stunned, Pei Zhao’s implication was that he preferred to see him guilty, even in pain!
“Okay, I respect your choice.”
Pei Zhao spoke unhurriedly, shifting the topic onto Huo Tingxiao.
“I just saw you with your wife, it seems you have a good relationship.”
At the ntion of Mu Lan, Huo Tingxiao’s eyes sharpened subconsciously, showing an involuntary defensiveness.
“It’s fine.”
This tension piqued Pei Zhao’s interest, Huo Tingxiao, who always maintained composure even when the sky was falling, was now so nervously concerned about a woman.
“A career and family both flourishing, truly enviable, unlike , in this condition, which woman wouldn’t turn away?
I wonder from which family your wife is, she doesn’t look like that Shen… what was it?”
The chill in Huo Tingxiao’s eyes didn’t fade; he spoke:
“Have you been abroad all these years?”
Pei Zhao raised his eyebrow, so protective over this wife? Interesting, very interesting.
“Why, are you very interested in my experiences over the last few years? Don’t worry, in the future we will have plenty of ti to talk.
After all, I plan to stay in Sea City for a while, if I adapt well, I might choose to settle back in the country.”
Settling down… Huo Tingxiao was silent.
Just then, Mu Lan, who had just co out of the restroom, saw Lin Yize at the corner of the corridor; he stood there as if waiting for soone.
Furrowing her brows, Mu Lan holding onto her gown, showed no intention of greeting him.
“Mu Lan, do you have a misunderstanding about ?”
Lin Yize blocked Mu Lan’s path, his tone full of helplessness.
Mu Lan stopped and looked up, her eyes eting Lin Yize’s, filled with indifference.
“Senior, I still address you as such because I’m truly grateful for your care during our school days, but that’s all there is to it.
To , Senior is just a friend. Apparently, you don’t seem to think so.”
A hint of awkwardness appeared on Lin Yize’s face.
“Did Mr. Huo tell you sothing? Mu Lan, I’m very sorry for causing Mr. Huo to misunderstand, but I…”
Mu Lan cut Lin Yize off, her words clearly defending Huo Tingxiao.
“Huo Tingxiao hasn’t said anything, and it has nothing to do with him.”
Lin Yize frowned.
“Then… why did you misunderstand ? Haven’t we always been good friends?”
Good friends? Mu Lan let out a cold laugh.
“Indeed, I thought we were always just good friends.
Because my understanding of you was still stuck in our high school days, but I forgot that people change, more or less.
Or perhaps, it’s not that you have never changed, it’s that I never really knew you.
No matter which it is, if you really want to press the matter today, then I think it’s necessary to make things a bit clearer.
I don’t believe that there can’t be friendship between n and won, or appreciation, but ambiguity, for soone married like , really isn’t appropriate.
And the ambiguity I’m talking about isn’t the so-called ambiguity seen by others, as I’ve never been soone who cares much about other people’s opinions.
But if you, as the concerned party, have a different interpretation, that I cannot accept.
If saying that I agreed to have dinner with you, or that I had so close interaction with Aunt Yun, or that, to repay a favor, I went with you to the masquerade ball as your companion, led you to have different expectations and thoughts about …
Then let make it clear to you now, I never, never thought there could be anything beyond friendship between us.”
Lin Yize stood there, stunned. He hadn’t expected Mu Lan to be so direct!
“Mu Lan, did I do sothing to pressure you? If so, then I apologize.”
Mu Lan stared deeply at Lin Yize before suddenly laughing.
“Mr. Lin, you really don’t need to do that.”
Mr. Lin? She was actually calling him Mr. Lin.
“Mu Lan, why have you suddenly… If it wasn’t sothing Huo Tingxiao said, why would you misunderstand like this? I really did just think of you as a friend; I haven’t…”
Mu Lan stared deeply at Lin Yize and said calmly:
“Then can you say, you don’t like , that you have no other thoughts about ?”
Lin Yize choked up, unable to speak. He liked her, he had other thoughts about her, for so many years, in his heart, she was the only one he liked from the beginning to the end.
“I…”
Mu Lan didn’t an for things to turn out this badly, but so things needed resolution.
“I’m sorry, I can’t be friends with soone who harbors other illusions about , as we wouldn’t be on equal footing.
All my responses to you were based on a stance of friendship.
I don’t want to hurt you, but I must make clear my position.
If any of my actions led you to misunderstand before, I apologize.
But from now on, I think… it’s unnecessary to continue our friendship.
Of course, I’m very grateful for your help at the birthday banquet earlier, but that’s all I feel.”
Lin Yize watched Mu Lan silently, his heart sinking as he heard her words.
So she wanted to set clear boundaries now, turning them into strangers from now on?
“Mu Lan, are you doing this for Huo Tingxiao? Is that it?”
Reviews
All reviews (0)