Chapter 152: Let's Just Die Together

Wu Wenjing's nails dug into Zhao Fuhe's face, and under the latter's horrified gaze, she ripped the tape off her face with a sharp tear.

The lower half of Zhao Fuhe's face was entirely numb. "You... why am I here?"

The man behind her pulled over a chair. Wu Wenjing raised her hand and slapped Zhao Fuhe hard across the face, a gentle smile still lingering on her features: "Why? That's a question I should be asking you. Things aren't over yet, what were you planning to do at the airport?"

Too afraid to admit that she was trying to run away, Zhao Fuhe stammered, "I was just, just seeing a friend off."

"A friend?" Wu Wenjing let out a mocking laugh. Sitting down in the chair, she kicked Zhao Fuhe hard in the chest, then looked at the man behind her and said, "Interrogate her properly."

The man nodded, stepped forward, and turned the suitcase Zhao Fuhe had been holding before she lost consciousness completely upside down. From inside, he pulled out a bank card—brand new, clearly recently issued—along with a transaction slip showing the exact amount of one million.

Seeing them pull out her newly issued bank card, Zhao Fuhe guessed that they already knew everything. She hurriedly dropped to her knees in front of Wu Wenjing. "I just wanted to start my life over. I promise I won't talk about what happened back then. Let me go, please let me go. I'll leave the country... I'll never come back again."

Wu Wenjing pinched her face, her nails sinking deep into the flesh: "Let you go? I went to so much trouble to rescue you from the underground city, and it wasn't for you to just up and leave!"

"I'll return all the money you gave me back then, just let me go, I'm begging you to let me go," Zhao Fuhe pleaded, still on her knees.

Wu Wenjing's nails gouged a mark into her face. Zhao Fuhe frowned deeply in pain, not daring to scream out loud: "Didn't I tell you to stay put and not cause me trouble? Disobedient children never come to a good end!"

The man behind her stepped forward, kicked Zhao Fuhe to the ground, and began beating her as she pinned her down.

Wu Wenjing sat in the chair, closing her eyes to listen closely, without the slightest intention of stopping him.

Zhao Fuhe's screams echoed continuously. "Spare me, please spare me, I know I was wrong, I'll listen to you, I'll do whatever you say."

Far from arousing any pity or hesitation in Wu Wenjing, her pleas for mercy only sounded noisy and grating. She pressed her temples, her crimson-painted fingernails flicking lightly: "Cut out her tongue."

Zhao Fuhe stared in absolute horror and terror, her eyes fixed on the dagger in the man's hand. "No, don't... don't... ah!"

On the damp and gloomy wall, a fresh splash of blood bloomed.

"Ugh~~"

Emerging from the basement, Wu Wenjing covered her mouth and retched. The man behind her hurriedly stepped forward to support her. "What's wrong?"

Wu Wenjing waved a hand. "I'm fine. The air down there must not be very good. Have someone watch her closely. Once everything is settled, dispose of her. We can't let Gu Pingsheng find her."

The man stroked her waist. "Consider it done. You can trust me."

"You're getting more and more reckless lately. Have you grown tired of living if someone sees you?" Wu Wenjing cast him a reproachful, side-long glance.

"That old man trusts me so much, how could he ever suspect me? Tonight... come to my room, hmm?" the man said with a meaningful smile.

"We'll see. I've been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple of days, I'm going to the hospital for a check-up first," Wu Wenjing said.

"I'll go with you."

After a brief pause, Wu Wenjing didn't refuse.

***

At Yihe Zhixia.

From the moment Wen Zhihai received the call from the front desk to seeing Gu Pingsheng in her office, less than ten minutes had passed.

When he walked in, Wen Zhixia was looking over a financial report, and Gu Youzhi was lying on the table playing with Legos. The scene of the two of them together was harmonious and serene.

"Daddy." Seeing him arrive, Gu Youzhi put down the Lego in his hand and stood up from his little stool.

Gu Pingsheng picked him up with one arm. "Did I interrupt Mommy's work?"

The little fellow answered in a clear, crisp voice, "No."

"Good boy." Gu Pingsheng pinched his smiling cheek. "Go play, I'm going to chat with Mommy for a bit."

Gu Youzhi nodded obediently.

Wen Zhixia looked at the man walking toward her with a complex expression in her eyes. Three years ago, the thing that hurt her most was him and Zhao Fuhe kissing and going to bed together; now...

She did not believe that Zhao Fuhe had any reason to lie at this point, especially since these were words Gu Pingsheng had told her from the very beginning—that there was nothing between him and Zhao Fuhe. It was just that back then, she refused to believe him.

She had only believed what her own eyes had seen, and her trust in him had long since plummeted to zero.

The three-year gulf between them, though seemingly unraveled and resolved, brought her no great joy; instead, her heart was filled with a complex tangle of emotions.

She was already with Xu Qichen, and Xu Qichen treated her very well.

How was she supposed to face Gu Pingsheng now?

Amidst her hesitant and wavering gaze, Gu Pingsheng's heart remained tightly suspended, wondering more and more anxiously what on earth Zhao Fuhe could have said to her.

Sometimes Gu Pingsheng felt that if she were the type to blow up at the slightest provocation—venting whatever dissatisfaction or unhappiness she felt—it would be easier to handle. But Wen Zhixia was like a stubborn jar of sealed wine, keeping everything hidden deep inside. Unless you pushed her to the absolute brink, you would probably never see her lose her temper in this lifetime.

He wanted to ask her directly, but hesitated. What if... Zhao Fuhe hadn't said anything at all? If he brought it up like that, would she let her imagination run wild and jump to bad conclusions?

Gu Pingsheng: "Today you—"

Wen Zhixia: "Today you—"

They spoke at the exact same time, and fell silent at the exact same time.

"What were you going to say?" Gu Pingsheng asked, sitting down opposite her desk.

Wen Zhixia bit her lip. "How do you have time to come here today? Is the project finished?"

Gu Pingsheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you... caring about me?"

If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, Gu Pingsheng would have found it hard to believe that she would suddenly show concern for his affairs. After all, after a separation of three years, the fact that she wasn't picking fights with him or glaring at him already felt like a novelty.

"I asked you a question, so answer it. Why are you turning it back on me?" Wen Zhixia glanced at him, her voice flat.

Something's not right...

Gu Pingsheng felt that something was a bit off about her.

He crossed his long legs, propped his arm on the chair, leaned forward slightly, and fixed his deep, dark pupils on her, as if he wanted to see right through her soul.

Wen Zhixia's hand pressing on the report curled inward, folding a slight crease into the corner of the page, and she stood up. "I want to step out for a moment."

Gu Pingsheng's eyes lifted slightly. "Are you hiding from me?"

Wen Zhixia paused slightly. "I'm going to the restroom."

Gu Pingsheng retracted his legs and stood up. "I'll go with you."

Wen Zhixia frowned. "I'm going to the restroom, why on earth would you go with me?"

"I've been stuck in the room too long, I'm going out for some fresh air." His excuse came readily, and as he spoke, he took her hand and led her out.

Along the way, they occasionally ran into employees who watched the two of them walking one after another toward the direction of the restrooms, their eyes carrying a greater or lesser degree of gossip.

Still, nobody thought too much of it. After all... if they really wanted to do something, an empty office or a conference room would be the best choice. With people constantly coming and going in the restroom, wouldn't the target be way too obvious?

How could outsiders possibly fathom the rebellious and rule-defying nature deep in Gu Pingsheng's bones? In front of others, he was a handsome, refined, and promising young president; behind the scenes, he was a lawless rogue who wouldn't hesitate to do anything.

Wen Zhixia stood before the washbasin, staring dazed at the mirror in a trance. The entanglement of emotions regarding the three of them kept her heart in knots.

She was never someone who liked to look back. When she decided to let go three years ago, she had prepared herself never to turn back—otherwise, she wouldn't have married Xu Qichen. But... reuniting three years later, Gu Pingsheng's relentless pursuit and obsession, coupled with the unravelling of various misunderstandings, had inevitably stirred up a sense of confusion within her.

She couldn't make up her mind about what to do anymore.

While she was lost in thought, a tall, slender figure approached from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. She jumped in fright, but before any cry of surprise could escape, a hand covered her mouth. A pair of narrow, smiling eyes locked onto hers in the mirror. "Xiaxia, you're... a bit off today. What are you thinking about? Me?"

Wen Zhixia pulled his hand away and straightened her clothes. "Why did you come in here? This is the women's restroom. If someone sees you later, do you still want any face?"

She tried to push him away, but he pressed her back against the wall, lifting her delicate chin with his hand. His thin lips parted: "Let me state this in advance—I didn't have anyone follow you. Whatever I say later, don't use that little imaginative head of yours to pin groundless labels on me."

After laying down this precautionary groundwork and paving the way, he finally asked: "You saw Zhao Fuhe today. What did she say to you?"

Wen Zhixia met his deep gaze for a few seconds before looking away. "...She didn't say anything."

"If she didn't say anything, why won't you look at me?" Naturally, he didn't believe a word of it.

She lowered her gaze and bit her lip. Her lips were a little dry, and she remained silent.

Gu Pingsheng pinched her chin and lightly nipped at her lower lip. "Xiaxia, speak."

He waited two seconds, but she still didn't open her mouth. Deciding to press further, Gu Pingsheng cupped the back of her neck and kissed her straight on the lips. "Perhaps you'd prefer me to kiss you into speaking, hmm?"

Their lips and teeth intertwined, their breaths merging. Hearing footsteps from outside the restroom, her nerves tightened, and she instinctively tried to push him away. But he held her too tightly, and she was no match for his strength. When he finally pulled back just a fraction of a distance, she said with an angry glare, "Someone's here."

The very next second, however, she was pulled back into his embrace, shadowed and relentlessly pursued in a lingering, shifting kiss.

When she was nervous, her eyes would widen completely. She didn't dare fight back anymore for fear of making a bigger commotion, her exquisite face burning bright red as her entire body went rigid.

Gu Pingsheng's thin lips brushed against the corner of her mouth with a light chuckle. His lips grazed her cheek and reached her ear, lightly kissing her earlobe as his voice dropped to a sultry, husky rasp that drilled straight into her ear canal: "What are you afraid of? If someone sees us, I'll just tell them that I... seduced you, hmm?"

Knowing full well how sensitive her ears were, he deliberately teased her, and using the word "seduced" in that low, deep voice suited the moment to perfection.

Wen Zhixia's breath hitched. Even the tips of her ears were dyed pink, and her body lost all its strength.

Halfway to the door, the footsteps outside paused upon seeing the "Under Maintenance" sign standing at the entrance. The person muttered in mild dissatisfaction, "Why is it under maintenance all of a sudden? Now I have to go downstairs."

With that, the click of high heels faded away.

The tension in Wen Zhixia's nerves snapped. Gu Pingsheng pressed his cheek against hers and chuckled softly. "So scared?"

Wen Zhixia raised a hand and shoved him away. Because she used too much force, though he didn't stumble back two steps, she nearly lost her footing entirely.

Gu Pingsheng's hand shot out with lightning speed to steady her, and his smile widened even further as his thin lips spat out two wicked words: "Weak knees?"

Wen Zhixia glared at him. "Did you come here today just to look for trouble for no reason?"

"My wife and child are both right here, am I not even allowed to come?" he wiped the corner of his lips, asking with a lingering, reluctant amusement.

Hearing this, Wen Zhixia took a deep breath and said flatly, "Gu Pingsheng, let's... leave it at this." She said, "We ended three years ago. Qichen and I are already married. Even if there were misunderstandings back then, I can't hurt him."

"You can't hurt him, so you're going to plunge a knife straight into my chest instead? End? Who the he—" He suppressed the impending curse, swallowing it back down. "I didn't say it was over, so it's not over!"

As long as she didn't talk about separating, he would give her whatever she wanted, and no matter how she provoked him, he would never get angry with her. But the moment "separation" or "divorce" was mentioned, it was as if he could instantly sprout a full coat of sharp defense quills.

Wen Zhixia bit her lip. "Can't you ever talk nicely?"

Gu Pingsheng cast a sidelong glance at her, his expression darkening. "There's no room for discussion... Wait, what did you just say? A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

As his aura cooled down, he finally caught up to the words he had previously brushed past.

Wen Zhixia lowered her gaze, her fingers pinching the hem of her clothes.

"Speak!" Every time they parted on bad terms, she always insisted that he had been entangled with other women. Every time he asked, she wore that expression as if he should already know the truth in his heart. Gu Pingsheng sometimes felt the urge to beat someone up.

When Wen Zhixia stammeringly recounted what she had witnessed with her own eyes three years ago, Gu Pingsheng felt the sudden urge to throttle her right then and there. He glared at her viciously, staring her down with unblinking intensity for a long, silent moment.

If he had gotten angry and yelled at her, Wen Zhixia could have accepted it out of habit. But seeing him stand there without saying a single word, staring at her with pitch-black, fathomless eyes, sent a chill running down her spine, making her subconsciously take a step back.

"What are you backing away for?" Gu Pingsheng asked, his laughter devoid of any warmth.

The coldness of his chuckle made Wen Zhixia's hair stand on end, and she lifted her foot, intending to walk right out the door.

Before she could move, however, he scooped her up in a horizontal carry and directly pinned her against the washbasin, his long legs tightly pressing against her knees. His dark eyes burned with sharp, chilling intensity: "I asked you a question, where do you think you're running?"

"Don't... talk to me like that." She had never seen him look this way, and fear began to bloom in her chest.

"How the hell am I supposed to talk to you?!" If the person standing before him hadn't been her, given the sheer fury raging in his heart, he would have seriously considered ending her right then and there!

"You're unbelievable! I told you countless times that I never touched any other woman, and you didn't believe a single word. But the moment you get an answer from Zhao Fuhe, you turn right around and tell me you can't hurt that sickly weakling! You are incredible! Wen Zhixia, you really are something else!"

If it had merely been the clearing up of a misunderstanding, he wouldn't have been this furious. What he hated was that even after knowing it was all a misunderstanding, she still talked to him about breaking apart—all because of some guy named Xu Qichen!

He had never suffered such humiliating, gut-wrenching treatment in his entire life!

"You... keep it down." If someone walked past right now while he was shouting like this, they would hear everything.

Gu Pingsheng was thoroughly laughed to anger by her this time. "I must have raised an ungrateful wolf. Even if you had a single shred, a tiny fraction of me in your heart, you wouldn't have the leisure to care about anyone else at a time like this."

Lowering her gaze, Wen Zhixia murmured, "I just... didn't want to make things a bigger mess."

"Sometimes I think I should just strangle you right here and let us die together!" He clenched his fists. To all appearances calm, his arms were actually trembling.

He was truly, deeply hurt by her.

In his wildest dreams, he never would have imagined that even after knowing the truth, she would still choose without a moment's hesitation to stand on Xu Qichen's side.

Then what was he in her heart?

Some dispensable trash that could be casually thrown away?

Meeting his eyes, which were stained with a profound and heavy sorrow, Wen Zhixia's heart ached in response. "Gu Pingsheng, don't be like this."

He caressed her cheek, asking in a low whisper, "How do you want me to be? Xiaxia, what do you want me to do? How can you be so cruel? You say you don't want me, and just like that, you throw me away, hmm?"

He had always accused her of being soft-hearted, but reality was telling him just how hard this woman's heart truly was.

Even after clearing up the misunderstanding, she still intended to abandon him.

Gu Pingsheng walked out. He didn't slam the door, he didn't roar, and he didn't lose his temper again. Without a single word, he picked up Gu Youzhi from the office in his arms and left.

The little fellow wanted to ask, "Where's Mommy?", but upon seeing the redness at the corner of his daddy's eyes, he suddenly swallowed his words.

He obediently pressed his face against Gu Pingsheng's shoulder, watching Mommy standing frozen down the corridor.

"President Wen, President Gu left his jacket behind. You should go take it to him," the assistant said, walking over and handing Gu Pingsheng's coat to Wen Zhixia, adding in a low voice, "President Gu is actually... really quite good."