Volume 1, Chapter 48: Please Don't Leave

I paused for a moment of reflection, then smiled and said, "I like a girl who is capable of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual attraction, and mutual support."

Lin Feifei rolled her eyes, curled her lips, and retorted unhappily, "What you said sounds great, but it's completely meaningless."

I stubbed out my cigarette, shook my head, and said, "I'm being serious. Whether it's love or marriage, it's a complex science, and it depends on the joint efforts of both people. Love requires cultivation from both sides. I think love should be like a balance scale; only by keeping the scale balanced can love last. Think about it, if you treat love like a balance scale, life will constantly add things to both ends. Whichever side bears more will sink first, so I think the best state is to maintain balance."

A glint of light appeared in Lin Feifei's eyes. "That makes sense. I thought you would tell me what kind of woman you like, such as having a great figure or a certain kind of personality."

I smiled wryly. "Liking someone is a feeling. If you strictly follow a template to search, you might never find the person you truly like in this lifetime. I think, at the end of the day, people who can walk together to the end must share matching values and be able to hold a conversation. If two people have nothing to say to each other, life is so long, how boring would that be!"

"Then you and Kuang Li had a nine-year relationship marathon that finally ended. Don't you find it a pity?"

I pursed my lips and smiled. "It's all in the past now, nothing to pity or not to pity. At the very least, it made me see clearly that she and I were not a match. Since we weren't a match, and I originally had nothing to begin with, how could I speak of losing anything?"

Lin Feifei's eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. "You're quite carefree, but I don't think she necessarily is."

I was taken aback. "What do you mean? I already made it clear to her today that I won't get involved."

Lin Feifei smiled shrewdly. "That's just what you think. I feel she won't give up so easily."

"Not necessarily, right? With a person as proud as she is, after being rejected by me once, how could she still lower herself to beg me?"

Lin Feifei blinked playfully. "That's not certain. Good people care about their pride, but shameless people care about nothing."

"I hope your sixth sense is wrong this time."

"Hmph, then do you want to bet on something?"

Seeing her so confident, my own emotions were ignited, and I said with a cheeky grin, "Alright! If I lose, I'll lose myself to you."

Lin Feifei rolled her eyes. "Let's forget about that then. I couldn't possibly afford to support you."

I feigned grievance. "I eat very little."

Lin Feifei raised her delicate eyebrows. "I eat a lot, is that fine!"

"..."

With that, she gave me an exasperated look, then smiled cunningly and said, "How about this! If you lose, you have to agree to one request of mine. No matter what it is, as long as I say it, you have to agree. How about it?"

I instinctively tightened my blanket around me. "I can sell my talents, but I won't sell my body."

Lin Feifei's face fell, and she looked at me speechlessly. "Rest assured, even if you were given away for free, I wouldn't want you."

"Let's not speak too soon. Without practice, there is no right to speak."

"Get lost! I'm talking about something serious!"

I smiled. "Alright! Then if you lose, you also have to agree to a condition of mine!"

"Name it!" Lin Feifei looked at me with a look of certainty.

"If you lose, you also have to agree to a condition of mine. But we need to have a time limit. How about just tomorrow for a full day?"

Although the matter with the warehouse had not been resolved yet, we certainly wouldn't be staying much longer. Besides, I was afraid of complications, especially since I had now realized that Kuang Li was a woman who would stop at nothing.

Lin Feifei nodded and extended her slender hand. "Deal, it's a promise."

I also reached out, feeling the softness in my hand, and smiled. "Deal."

...

I thought I had the victory in the bag, but to my surprise, Kuang Li's call came in the next morning.

Even though I had deleted her long ago, over the span of nine years, many things were engraved in my bones and could not be forgotten just like that.

I hesitated for a moment and directly hung up the phone. After waiting for a moment, the call didn't come through again, and only then did I heave a sigh of relief.

However, the moment I let out that sigh, the hotel's landline suddenly rang.

"Hello, Mr. Yu. There is a lady named Kuang Li who says she is a friend of yours and is waiting for you downstairs."

Damn it!

I cursed inwardly in my native tongue. This woman was truly like a lingering ghost. I had already said everything that needed to be said; what else did she want?

Upon hearing Kuang Li's name, Lin Feifei's gaze involuntarily turned toward me, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile resembling a little fox.

I was furious. I took a deep breath and spoke into the phone, "Please have her take the call."

"Certainly."

Soon, Kuang Li's voice came through the receiver.

"Hello, Yu Bin..."

Before she could finish her sentence, I impatiently interrupted her. "Everything I needed to say to you yesterday, I already said. Why are you still looking for me? I am not going to help that guy, so let him put that idea out of his head!"

There was silence on the line. Just as I was about to hang up, Kuang Li's low voice sounded, "Actually, it's not me who came to look for you; President Zhang wants to see you."

I was stunned, failing to react for a moment. "President Zhang? Which President Zhang?"

"The one you pulled out of the fire. She said she wants to thank you in person."

I fell silent for a few seconds before speaking, "There's no need to thank me. In that kind of situation, anyone would have gone to save her—oh right, except for you and Chen Zheng."

Kuang Li didn't care at all about my sarcasm. "You should still go see her. She said she must see you."

To be honest, I hesitated a little. I hadn't expected any reward from her, but since she insisted on seeing me, there was no harm in meeting her. Who knows, maybe I could make an additional friend for the future.

"Is she still in the hospital?"

"Mmm."

"Just tell me which hospital and which ward she's in."

Hearing that I had agreed, Kuang Li made no effort to conceal the excitement in her voice.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll text you the address and room number."

As I reached for pen and paper, I said to her, "Just tell me over the phone. I'm afraid your text message might get blocked by the system."

"..."

After Kuang Li gave me the address, she fell silent again for a few seconds, then asked with a hint of grievance and unwillingness, "Are you really not going to come down and see me?"

Having been through so much, my heart was now harder than a butcher's knife. Just as I was about to speak, Kuang Li suddenly added, "If you really don't want to see me that much, I'll leave."

"Don't leave," I blurted out instinctively.

Lin Feifei's eyes widened in shock as she stared at me blankly.

Kuang Li hadn't expected me to say that either, and her voice instantly filled with pleasant surprise.

"You don't want me to leave?"

I glanced at Lin Feifei, met her murderous glare, and finished the rest of what I wanted to say.

"Don't walk away—run."