Chapter Thirty-Six: Liberation
In the crowded crowd, people who brushed past me seemed to be in two different worlds with me. In my world, there was only me and Tong Chen at this moment, so I shuttled through the bustling crowd just to find another person in my world. The store that took large head stickers finally appeared in my line of sight, and Tong Chen's back also appeared in my line of sight at the same time. She stood silently, quietly looking at the large head sticker we had taken together before, and now both of us were immersed in our own worlds. I controlled the excitement in my heart and slowly walked towards Tong Chen.
"Boss, can I cut out a few stickers from this sheet and give them to me? Or I can pay for it." When I was still a few steps away from Tong Chen, Tong Chen suddenly pointed at the large sticker we took and said to the boss.
"No need to bother the boss, I've got it!" I said suddenly as I walked up behind Tong Chen. She heard my words and her body trembled slightly. At this moment, our two worlds began to merge together, quietly sensing each other's presence. The two of us stood there in silence.
"Ding Ning! Or should I still call you Tong Chen!" After a while, Tong Chen slowly turned around, her eyes welling up with tears and a smile on her face as she looked at me. Seeing this scene, I rushed forward without hesitation and hugged her tightly.
"Kang Jian, don't be like this, let's find a place to sit for a while." Tong Chen silently stayed in my arms for a few seconds before gently breaking free. Then we silently walked out and chose a bar on the fourth street of Xuefu.
"I didn't expect... I didn't think I'd still be able to see you this time I came back." Tong Chen said to me after we sat down, unexpectedly taking the lead in speaking.
"Yes. Maybe heaven pitied me!" I said with a hint of resentment in my tone.
"Kang Jian... you must hate me now!"
"Do you think I should hate you?" Tong Chen heard this sentence and just looked at me calmly.
"For so long, I've been dreaming of this moment. Now I really want to know the reason why you left without saying goodbye?" I didn't want this conversation to end in silence, nor did I want to continue some meaningless dialogue with Tong Chen, so I chose to get straight to the point. After finishing speaking, I kept staring at Tong Chen who was lowering his head, time passed second by second, but when waiting for an answer that had been expected for a long time, it seemed too long.
"I... was... pregnant back then." Tong Chen fell silent for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to say to me.
"Pregnant......" I muttered these two words in a low voice, and then my brain slowly reflected on Tong Chen's answer that shocked me so much.
"This is the reason you left me!? Why didn't you tell me! This matter concerns me too, right? Such a big thing, why did you have to keep it from me!" I found it hard to believe that this was enough of a reason for Tong Chen to leave me, and so I blurted out one question after another.
"The reason I didn't tell you... is because... the child I'm carrying isn't yours!" Tong Chen's voice was not loud, but each word was like a hammer hitting my brain. At this moment, my mind was completely blank, and I stared woodenly ahead, refusing to believe that this was true.
The phone rang at the right time, but my mind was still stuck in the blow that Tong Chen gave me just now. If it wasn't for Tong Chen's timely reminder, I might not have reacted to answer this call forever.
"Hey! Kang Jian! Where have you run off to, why haven't you come back yet? I'm starving!" Qin Ke's voice came from the phone. And at this moment, I was once again staring blankly ahead.
"Hey! Pighead! Why aren't you saying anything!!?" Qin Ke Yi yelled impatiently on the other end of the phone.
"Hello...... I'm busy now...... talk later." I still maintained a wooden expression, a dull gaze, and subconsciously brushed off Qin Ke before hanging up the phone.
"Is it Qin Keyi? I heard Zhao Lijia mention that she's really pretty and nice..."
"Whose child is it!!?" I suddenly interrupted Tong Chen's evaluation of Qin Ke Yi with a heavy tone.
Tong Chen reacted after a few seconds, sighed and said to me, "Do you still remember that one Christmas, some of our company's staff organized a party?"
"Remember! You didn't come back that night, and later you told me you went to Zhao Lijia's place!" I started to try to calmly accept this reality, calmly listening to Tong Chen tell me the rest of the story.
"Hmm! Right! But that night I didn't actually go to Zhao Lijia's place! Instead..." Tong Chen said, starting to hesitate.
"What is it?" I asked eagerly.
"But instead... I went out with a pilot who had been chasing me for a long time." Tong Chen said quietly, her expression calm. And at this moment, I wasn't ready to bring up his matter, but just kept looking at Tong Chen and listened to her continue speaking.
"That day, I actually didn't plan to care about him, but unexpectedly I drank so much wine later, and my impression of him was not bad before, so..." At this point, Tong Chen raised his head and looked at me.
"This is also why I didn't let you touch me after that. When I woke up, I really regretted it and felt disgusted with myself... especially when I found out I was pregnant later, I couldn't forgive myself even more... so I chose to leave this place... leave you. Kang Jian! I'm not worthy of your love anymore! We can't be together again! I won't forgive myself!"
After hearing Tong Chen's words, I felt strange that I suddenly became very calm in facing and accepting this problem. My heart kept asking myself, is this really the answer I've been waiting for a long time? Is everything going to end like this?
"What are you planning to do from now on? Where have you been all this time?"
"After I left, I went to Shanghai. A friend of mine introduced me to a job as an office clerk in a foreign company."
"So the things you said about you and your boyfriend were all lies to deceive me? Your acting skills are really good! If I hadn't gone to Zhao Lijia's place today, I might have been fooled by you forever!" I said with some agitation.
"Be well! I really don't dare to face you! Don't blame Zhao Lijia, she has always regarded you as her best friend. It was me who made her deceive you, and she also feared that you would be hurt."
"You think that's it, just walk away and my hurt will be less?" I shouted at Tong Chen somewhat out of control. Everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing and stared at us strangely. Seeing Tong Chen look around, I realized my loss of composure, so I controlled my emotions again.
"Tong Chen... if I said I don't care, can we still be together?" I asked Tong Chen after thinking for a long time.
"Can you really not care?" Tong Chen fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and asked me. At this time, I also suddenly asked myself this question in my heart, I began to hesitate, and I also started to suspect the motive of the words I had just spoken.
"Can't we still be friends?"
"Kang Jian! Can you accept me as your friend? Will we be like friends? Grow up, don't be childish anymore, forget about me." Tong Chen said after slowly standing up and looking at me, "Kang Jian! You will be happy! I admit that being with you is also very happy, very joyful. But... it's a pity I'm not lucky enough! ...Goodbye..." Tong Chen said the last three words with a sobbing tone, then quickly walked out of the bar, leaving only me sitting there, recalling everything Tong Chen had just said. After a while, I suddenly felt unwilling to let Tong Chen leave like that, so I quickly stood up and rushed out of the bar, searching for Tong Chen's figure again in the crowd on the street.
Tong Chen had long disappeared into the crowd, so after searching for a long time, I finally gave up and stood alone in a daze. But at this moment, my mood was not as heavy as I had imagined, and instead, I felt a sense of relief, perhaps it was true that my persistence with Tong Chen was just my persistence with an answer.
