After Saving My Possessive Best Friend, I Couldn't Escape (GL) - Chapter 48

Before the argument that led to them parting ways, Fang Zhile had planned to move in tonight, so she hadn’t ridden her recently bought second-hand bicycle. Now, she had to walk home on foot.

Her mind wasn’t focused on the road ahead. Fang Zhile walked briskly, without looking left or right, marching quickly forward. No matter how fast her two legs moved, she couldn’t keep up with wheels. Bicycles, electric bikes, and private cars carrying students home occasionally zipped past her. Soon, Fang Zhile was the only person left walking home with a backpack.

As summer turned to autumn, the days shortened and the nights lengthened. The most noticeable feeling was how the sky transitioned from bright to dim in just a few minutes.

One moment it felt like dusk, the next it was night. The color of the sycamore leaves was indiscernible, uniformly adopting the gray-green tint of twilight.

Branches jutted out horizontally, a few even sticking out and hanging over the pedestrians. Fang Zhile stopped and snapped off one of the intruding branches.

This area was desolate; there were hardly any people passing through. If the city were to calculate the average age of this zone, the residents here would all be eligible for retirement benefits.

“A place where even the sanitation workers don’t come,” Fang Zhile sighed, dutifully bending down to pick up roadside garbage bags, plastic bottles, and kicking away road barriers. “It’s like being exiled.”

After walking for a while, she finally reached a place with a few more people. Small vendor stalls stood at the entrance of several intersecting alleys. Fang Zhile fumbled in her pocket and handed over a handful of change. She walked in and out of the line of iron carts, emerging with egg rice rolls, hot dry noodles, stinky tofu, and fried small fish.

But before she could get far, a passionate roar pierced the clouds behind her.

“The city management is here—”

The vendors frying rice immediately turned off the fire, slapped the lids onto their woks, twisted the electric throttle, and shot off like rockets. A customer who had just paid but hadn’t received his food followed, unsure whether to chase after the vendor or wait.

Fang Zhile dodged left and right, careful not to obstruct any vendor. She shouted to the customer, “You can chase him, or you can wait! You’ll definitely get your food!”

The absurd commotion lasted only a few minutes in the desolate area. The vendors were clearly well-trained, fleeing quickly without leaving a trace—not even an eggshell on the ground.

In a place where sanitation workers rarely came, the city management was constantly driving around. Fang Zhile doubted the unified approach to improving urban environment and appearance.

But she wasn’t a real high school student. Her mindset remained remarkably calm throughout her walk. Even the stark contrast between her rundown cottage and the rest of the world didn’t breed any feelings of inferiority. Her slight cynicism merely fluttered in her mind before flying away.

However, Fang Zhile looked down at the food in her hands. The average price was around six yuan. Compared to the moving company that cost over ten thousand yuan a day, it was indeed hard to reconcile the two worlds.

She tore open the plastic lid of the hot dry noodles, stirred them with her chopsticks, and slowly ate, hiding behind a utility pole on the street corner. The feeling in her heart was complex.

Sometimes, people are creatures who remember pain but forget what’s good for them. Although people say scars heal and one forgets the pain, Fang Zhile was probably more sentimental than anyone else, believing that all her past experiences were gifts from fate, and she refused to forget even a tiny bit.

She remembered her childhood days of being dressed in fine clothes and holding Ye Yu’s hand at a bilingual kindergarten, spending every day playing and eating, carefree and utterly joyful.

She also remembered the day her family went bankrupt.

The school bag she carried for five years, which could hold several books, never changed until she was about to enter sixth grade. Only when it was truly falling apart did the sturdy, old bag stay in the storage room.

Later, when she graduated from college and started a company, she adamantly rejected the speculative “money-on-money” model. A fixed amount of assets always remained in her bank account. Even if the company went under one day, she could sell it, take the money, and retire—and, incidentally, support Ye Yu.

The thought of Ye Yu made Fang Zhile’s heart sink. The noodles in her mouth instantly became dry and tasteless. She had to bite into the stinky tofu, letting the fresh, spicy seasoning stimulate her salivary glands before she could swallow.

The food was down, but her stomach started to feel blocked. Fang Zhile let out a deep sigh, rubbing her stomach as she stared blankly ahead.

Fang Zhile, Fang Zhile, why haven’t you fixed that little flaw? You keep repeating it.

Honestly, if Zhou Meize had been in her place today, she would have instantly overlooked the casual spending and immediately understood Ye Yu’s concern. Why had she only focused on rejecting the gesture and forgotten that it was Ye Yu’s kindness?

The Ye Yu in the book had no memory of her life before transmigrating and was largely influenced by the experiences of the original shou protagonist.

Her current personality was already the result of a powerful struggle of her own consciousness. You should have more patience and perseverance. At the very least, you could show more respect and tolerance, right?

Fang Zhile felt regret, along with an indescribable sense of loss.

The food in her stomach refused to digest, causing continued discomfort. Fang Zhile rubbed her stomach and walked back, drinking a large cup of hot water to suppress the churning sensation.

The layout of her home was the same. Before moving, she had only covered or put away things that easily collected dust or weren’t often used, and packed her essentials into her backpack. Now, the two backpacks lay quietly on the coffee table.

One was Fang Zhile’s original blue backpack, similar to her well-worn branded bag from the past, both reflecting a certain scrupulousness born of poverty.

The other was one she had casually grabbed from a shelf while purchasing various supplies after transmigrating.

At that time, she had just mortgaged her house and taken out a loan. She had money in her pocket but didn’t dare buy a backpack over a hundred yuan. She had quickly adopted the persona of a poor person, not squandering a single penny.

She remembered the feeling of packing her everyday, personal items into the backpacks after the exam finished last night. It was like the night before a middle school field trip—joyful and eager for tomorrow.

At that time, she was excited to move and live with Ye Yu, to return to the good old days of being inseparable. What attracted her wasn’t the perfectly decorated apartment and bedroom, but the closeness and comfort of “living with Ye Yu.” Only when she was close to Ye Yu could she feel her purpose in this world.

Fang Zhile closed her eyes and collapsed onto the sofa. Her shoulder-length hair scattered across her face and neck, causing an irritable itch. She was like the school bag tossed aside after school, slumped on the sofa, ignored and motionless.

Forget it. If I can’t figure it out, I won’t. I’ll deal with tomorrow’s problems tomorrow.

A notification suddenly pinged on her phone. The cold stinky tofu beside her began to emit its alluring fragrance, startling her out of her quiet, self-absorbed state.

“Sister Zhishu is looking for me?”

Fang Zhile grabbed her phone, opening her eyes groggily. Seeing the message, she instantly sat up straight. “There’s news!”

[Zhishu]: [Image]

[Zhishu]: That family is now in a small town in the south. The economy is underdeveloped. The last time they appeared on public surveillance was a month ago.

The family, displaced by the Sun family’s forcible occupation of their house, was driven from the north to the south, eventually finding a place to settle.

Zhishu sent a few blurry screenshots with comparison data.

The family, who had once appeared in the newspaper, consisted of a couple and a small girl, the grandmother deceased and the daughter missing.

Zhishu’s company’s facial comparison feature was still under development, and the accuracy for the small girl’s face was only eighty percent. Given how quickly children grow and change, Fang Zhile didn’t dwell on the slight blurriness. It was enough that she found the family and knew they hadn’t been further harmed by the Sun family.

[laugh]: Thank you, Sister Zhishu. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.

[Zhishu]: You’re welcome. When is next time?

[laugh]: You decide?

[Zhishu]: We can eat anything. Can you find your boss?

Fang Zhile was surprised. How long has it been? Is Wei Youqing still missing?

[laugh]: I’ll give her a call and ask.

Fang Zhile called. Unexpectedly, instead of the predicted “The number you have dialed is switched off” or “The number you have dialed is currently busy,” the call connected smoothly.

“What do you want?” Wei Youqing’s voice was muffled, sounding either newly awakened or lacking sleep.

Fang Zhile, with the smooth tact of someone who had navigated the adult world for years, cautiously probed, “Boss, what’s going on with us?”

Wei Youqing was silent for a few seconds, then saw right through Fang Zhile’s intention. “Did Zhishu ask you to call me?”

“She didn’t. I asked her for help last time, and Sister Zhishu just helped me solve it for your sake. I said I wanted to treat both of you to dinner, but Sister Zhishu stopped talking.”

Fang Zhile quickly exonerated Zhishu from the situation and portrayed her as a hardworking, good wife who cut corners for her employee for her spouse’s sake.

Wei Youqing let out a long sigh. “Just treat her. I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else.”

“Wait,” Fang Zhile called out. “I won’t ask why, you adults can figure out your own issues,” Fang Zhile said in one breath, without pausing. “But Sister Zhishu has been sending me red envelopes almost every other day because she’s worried I’ll go find another job since the shop isn’t open and I have no income. Do you know why?”

Wei Youqing’s hand, poised to hang up, stopped at those words. Her breathing suddenly changed pace, and she remained silent.

Seeing her calm down, Fang Zhile gave her ample time to think. After half a minute, she continued, “She’s not worried about me not having a job. After all, we’ve only known each other a short time and met only a few times. But it’s obvious, the coffee beans in the shop are from last year, the disposable cups are from a style popular two years ago, and the shop has probably been open for only a countable number of days over the years. Even if you don’t care about being open or making money, she’s happy that you have your own business. So, she’s terrified that if I, your only employee, leave, you’ll never open the shop again.”

After the speech, Wei Youqing remained completely silent. The silence was so profound that Fang Zhile would have thought she had hung up if the call duration hadn’t still been ticking. Having delivered a model of earnest, heartfelt persuasion, Fang Zhile felt utterly drained of words.

Wei Youqing, however, gave an unexpected response.

“Do you really think a milk tea shop counts as a career?”

Fang Zhile choked. “Well, we sell quite a lot whenever we open. Everyone who’s tasted it says it’s good.”

“That’s because you came along,” Wei Youqing laughed self-deprecatingly. “Hiring an employee who doesn’t need training and brings her own recipes. Don’t you think that’s laughable?”

Fang Zhile thought, What’s so funny about that? She didn’t understand Wei Youqing’s self-deprecating mindset at all and directly exposed her. “But you manage the store’s location, the renovation, the equipment purchases, the daily ingredient sourcing, and the online marketing.”

“The biggest difference between a boss and an employee is that one takes care of everything, while the other only handles tasks within a fixed scope.”

Fang Zhile sighed. “Boss, I don’t quite understand you.”

Wei Youqing was not comforted. She gave a bitter laugh and whispered, “Even if a milk tea shop became a national chain, so what? This is all I’m capable of. She always wants a sesame seed to grow into a watermelon. How can I not feel pressured?”

Fang Zhile suddenly understood. It turned out the wife’s demands were too high. But then again, if Zhishu were the type of person who constantly pressured her partner to improve, they wouldn’t have only just started having problems after all these years of marriage.

“Sister Zhishu hasn’t forced you to do anything, right? Maybe you can both be honest with each other and discuss it properly?” Fang Zhile clutched her hair. She was extremely unfamiliar with this kind of interaction between couples and didn’t know where the boundaries were. Even different friends have thousands of ways of interacting, let alone couples.

Wei Youqing sounded low and simply hummed before falling silent again. Fang Zhile decided to wait with her.

A minute passed. Wei Youqing suddenly spoke. “But don’t you think life is short and the best time should be spent with the person you love? If you’re single, fine. No one wants you, so you wouldn’t understand our feelings. But we’re married. Even after marriage, she’s still busy with her own work, which makes me feel like marriage is pointless.”

Fang Zhile, who had kindly offered mediation, was slapped with the label “no one wants you.” She managed, for once, not to get angry. She patiently suppressed her temper and advised her to look on the bright side.

“Things haven’t changed before or after marriage. That’s great,” Fang Zhile said, being bluntly honest.

“You’re the same; you liked to play before marriage and still like to play after.”

Fang Zhile believed that Zhishu, a career-focused strong woman, paying such meticulous attention to Wei Youqing was a rare example in the market.

“How does the saying go? She could have cultivated the path of heartlessness, single-mindedly going through her studies and degrees, no, single-mindedly soaring to become one of the city’s top ten richest people. It was love that stumbled her, that blinded her eyes…”

“I didn’t stumble!” Wei Youqing yelled, furious. “She proposed!”

Fang Zhile said coolly, “Oh, so you didn’t want to take responsibility.”

Wei Youqing fell silent. Fang Zhile guessed she was probably too angry to speak. She took the opportunity to organize her thoughts, tracing the cause and effect of their argument back to the very beginning.

“The root of the problem is definitely that you were tempted by her beauty. Don’t deny that. Sister Zhishu is the most perfectly balanced mature beauty I’ve ever met, combining the ‘mature sister’ style with an ‘intellectual’ air.”

Wei Youqing ground her teeth but didn’t deny it.

“You pursued her on a whim, leading to a series of chemical reactions. You became a couple, but you kept delaying marriage, saying you weren’t ready. In reality, you weren’t ready to be controlled or restrained. You still wanted to return to your old life of casual freedom.”

Wei Youqing remained silent.

“Then, Sister Zhishu proposed to you. Love is love, so you agreed. After marriage, you discovered she has a strong career ambition and outstanding ability, while you lack ambition. Over time, as one person actively pushes forward and the other struggles to keep up, a distance and disagreement naturally arose.”

Wei Youqing gasped. “I take back what I said about no one wanting you and you not understanding. You are too… perceptive.”

Fang Zhile said she was being overly complimentary. “Just because I haven’t seen a pig run doesn’t mean I haven’t eaten pork. If you don’t explain yourself and continue to hide outside, I personally think it will severely damage your relationship. Would you be willing to hurt someone you genuinely love?”

Wei Youqing said coldly, “Who are you calling a pig?”

“It was just a metaphor. Please focus on the content after that. Thank you,” Fang Zhile said dispassionately.

This time, Wei Youqing used her silent treatment again and didn’t speak. “You should think it through yourself. I’m not going to reply to Sister Zhishu yet.” Fang Zhile waited for a long time, finally saying this.

In the end, before she hung up, Wei Youqing called out. Fang Zhile waited for her to speak. She heard Wei Youqing’s voice, raspy and stiff, as if her vocal cords were seizing up. “She… ask her to take my thanks.”

“I’m not doing your dirty work. Say it yourself,” Fang Zhile deflected the request like a ping-pong ball.

Wei Youqing was speechless. A few seconds later, she said, “Thank you.”

Fang Zhile wondered if she was hearing things. “What?”

“Thank you,” Wei Youqing said lightly and quickly, as if shedding a great weight. Her voice was noticeably more confident and focused. “I know what I need to do. Thank you for your concern these past few days.”

“The worst way to treat someone who cares about you is to avoid them,” Wei Youqing said. “I’ll figure out how to explain things to her.”

Hearing this, Fang Zhile let out a long breath of relief. Then, her heart suddenly tightened, and she frowned severely.

The worst way to treat someone who cares about you is to avoid them.

Wei Youqing had clearly figured things out, but that sentence somehow sounded harsh to Fang Zhile.

Even after Wei Youqing hung up and the stinky tofu had completely cooled, that sentence remained stuck in Fang Zhile’s mind, screaming insistently, echoing endlessly like an unavenged ghost.