Chapter 44: Mr. Xie, long time no see

Du Henian suddenly fell silent, as if his whole being had entered a state of blankness.

After a long while, he asked in a strained voice, “Not Si Jiahe? Then who is it?”

He couldn’t imagine who Tang Man had suddenly decided to get engaged to, someone who could replace Si Jiahe in such a sudden manner and accomplish what he hadn’t been able to do in the past two years.

“It’s someone you know.” Tang Man opened the box and placed it on Du Henian’s lap, stuffing the spoon into his right hand before saying, “Xie Li.”

“Xie Li.” When he first heard this name, Du Henian felt it was very unfamiliar. It took him a while to react and recall who Xie Li was.

Tang Man’s phone contact had always been Assistant Xie. Even when addressing him, she wouldn’t directly call his name. Du Henian really couldn’t remember who Xie Li was for a moment. He pondered for a while before meeting Tang Man’s gaze and recalling.

He couldn’t help but laugh, a somewhat indescribable smile.

Holding the spoon in his hand, he suddenly said, “Tang Man, you make me feel like a joke.”

“A joke that’s been alive for two years.”

Tang Man didn’t say anything. She also didn’t know what to say.

The lean meat congee in the box was still warm. Placing it on the knees for a long time warmed up a spot, enough to make one sweat.

However, Du Henian felt his bones aching. He couldn’t help but shiver a little, feeling that in a place like a hospital, even in the middle of summer, one could feel a chill, making one’s heart involuntarily turn cold. He couldn’t help but touch his own hand, not even feeling any warmth. Perhaps the intense stomach spasms from earlier had caused him to temporarily lose his sense of temperature.

The two of them sat in silence for a long time.

Tang Man looked up at the IV bag. Only half of the solution was left. She felt her nose becoming uncomfortable again. She could only say that she and hospitals really had incompatible auras in this lifetime, but she still had to come here for various reasons, most of which were not her own.

“I see you’re fine now, much better. After you finish the drip, go back and rest.” Tang Man stood up and said to the silent Du Henian, “Drink the congee quickly too. When it gets cold, it will have a fishy smell, and you definitely won’t be able to eat it. Eating some now to warm your stomach is good.”

Only when he heard these words did Du Henian finally raise his head, looking at Tang Man standing in front of him in a gorgeous outfit. There was an indescribable coldness on her bright face.

Tang Man’s eyes were not phoenix eyes, but they were slightly upturned. So when she lowered her eyelids and looked at someone, there was naturally a hint of disdain, and her face would naturally carry a trace of superiority that she herself was unaware of. Perhaps the word “superiority” wasn’t quite appropriate to describe it. He thought for a moment. Maybe using the phrase “casual aloofness” was more fitting.

Because of this disdain, many people felt that Tang Man was unapproachable. At that time, Du Henian also thought so. Previously, in that sunlit corridor filled with a faint tobacco scent, his first impression was that this girl was not easy to approach.

He felt his stomach starting to ache again. “Are you leaving?”

“Mm.” Tang Man nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and glancing at her wristwatch. “After you finish the drip, go back and rest early.”

She paused, her gaze falling on Du Henian’s pale and weakened face. “I remember you don’t like to drink. In the future, drink less. Drinking on an empty stomach is not good for your health.”

During the earlier consultation, Tang Man had overheard about Du Henian’s frantic and irregular decadent lifestyle recently: drinking on an empty stomach, irregular diet, and smoking. She smelled the cigarette scent on him, not heavy, so he probably hadn’t been smoking for long.

Du Henian didn’t respond to her, but instead looked at Tang Man for a few seconds and suddenly spoke, but on a different topic. “Why did you suddenly get engaged?”

He didn’t believe that Tang Man would love that man named Xie Li so much. A person who had known Tang Man for nearly ten years and had never been together before was suddenly getting engaged now, in just a month’s time. If it was about love, he couldn’t believe it no matter what.

He didn’t believe that Tang Man could fall in love with someone, to the point of being willing to choose to get engaged for him in such a short time and have the idea of marriage.

Tang Man smiled, “Everyone gets engaged and married. I just did it a bit earlier.”

“What about Si Jiahe?” Du Henian himself was surprised. He never thought there would be a day when he could mention this name so calmly.

“That’s already in the past.” Tang Man said, “Du Henian, you’re just feeling unwilling now. In life, there are many likes. Since you were able to like me, you may like someone else in the future. You just like my type.”

Most of the likes in life are very shallow, and many people’s love is also very shallow. They begin with money, with appearance, with personality, but these things all change. So likings and love become shallower and shallower, and love eventually shatters, turning into a puddle of broken glass on the ground.

Du Henian suddenly grabbed Tang Man’s hand, burying his face in her palm, not saying anything more.

How did it suddenly become like this?

Like Si Jiahe.

Tang Man sighed helplessly, “Du Henian, you also know that we’re not suitable.”

But Du Henian acted as if he hadn’t heard her words and spoke straight, as if he had fallen into his own thoughts.

“Man Man, I used to think about our future. I thought about us getting engaged, getting married, living in the same house. We would become husband and wife. If you wanted to have a child, we could have one, a girl or a boy, it wouldn’t matter…”

“If you didn’t want to have a child, that would be fine too. With time, we could travel everywhere. I would take a lot of time to accompany you, to be with you. We would have a lifetime…”

“But now, why have we become like this?”

The man couldn’t help but start crying silently again, causing the IV needle beside him to tremble along with him. Tang Man was afraid that the needle in Du Henian’s hand would cause blood to flow back. She didn’t dare to make big movements and could only whisper to coax Du Henian not to get too emotional. Otherwise, his stomach spasms would act up again, and she wouldn’t be able to do anything.

The two of them tugged and pulled at each other. Du Henian cried silently, but it was still noticeable that he was crying. The doctors and nurses on duty inside couldn’t help but glance at them several times, feeling that the scene was too ridiculous.

It was just a stomach spasm. How could this man cry like this? It was really true that you can’t judge a book by its cover. They never expected him to act so spoiled with his girlfriend.