Face Blindness (34) (continued)

[Xi Zhengqing's Heartbreak Value +5]

The place Xin Hexue and Pei Guangji chose to meet was the sky garden restaurant where Mrs. Xi had previously invited him to dinner.

The restaurant was close to the film studio, so Xin Hexue chose it for convenience.

Xin Hexue chose the restaurant, and Pei Guangji reserved the table.

On the outer terrace, the greenery was fresh, and the clouds at sunset tinged a stretch of sky red. Water flowed clear through a small fountain, sparkling in the light.

When Xin Hexue arrived, he lifted the curtain leading to the terrace, and the soft light of the setting sun fell across his upper body.

The sunset light played across his dark eyes, which reflected Pei Guangji's figure.

"Good evening."

Pei Guangji rose from his seat and, with a restrained gentlemanliness, pulled out the wicker chair opposite him for Xin Hexue.

Xin Hexue lowered his eyes, avoiding Pei Guangji's gaze, and sat down. "Thank you."

Pei Guangji parted his lips, but in the end said nothing. He returned to his seat and pushed the menu toward Xin Hexue. "See what you'd like to eat."

A waiter came over to the table, ready to take their order.

Xin Hexue opened the menu and gave it a single glance, then pressed his lips together slightly. He closed it and said to Pei Guangji, "I have to return to the set at seven to film. Whatever you wanted to see me about, say it clearly now."

In fact, there was plenty of time to finish dinner.

There was only one reason Xin Hexue had said that: he didn't want to have dinner with him.

Pei Guangji's throat went dry, and he choked up for a moment. He turned his face away as if to avoid it, but still told the waiter, "We won't be ordering for now."

The waiter nodded, brought them a pot of black tea, and left.

Xin Hexue kept his gaze lowered, his hands clasped together and his elbows resting on the table. His shirt cuffs were pushed up slightly over his forearms, exposing his fair wrists.

It was the posture of someone quietly waiting for the other person to speak.

He asked softly, "What did you want to ask me?"

Pei Guangji realized that Xin Hexue seemed to have been avoiding his gaze from the moment they met.

"I've realized that the memories I'm missing seem to involve only you." Pei Guangji asked a little urgently, "Did something happen between us before?"

Xin Hexue kept his eyes lowered and shook his head. "No, nothing. Nothing happened."

Pei Guangji reasoned, "But you recognized me on the cruise ship that night. That means you already knew me, and you were shocked at the time."

Xin Hexue turned his face away. The setting sun shone on him, and his bangs cast a faint shadow that partly obscured the emotion in his eyes. "You're Zhengqing's childhood friend. It's only natural that I know you."

"And, and..." Xin Hexue seemed to have just remembered the explanation Xi Zhengqing had given. "Zhengqing asked you for a favor before, so I could stay in a villa you owned."

He looked too flustered, as though he hadn't answered anything, nor explained why his expression had changed when he saw Pei Guangji that night.

He hurriedly added, "So I know you. We're... friends, ordinary friends."

That attitude only made it look as though he was trying to cover something up.

It seemed their relationship had originally been something out of the ordinary.

Pei Guangji fell silent for a moment, then spoke hoarsely. "But there are still a lot of things that belong to us in the villa."

Those items that came in pairs and looked so full of affection.

Just looking at them and touching them filled Pei Guangji with warmth and pleasure.

"I didn't have time to take everything with me when I left." Xin Hexue had withdrawn his hands from the table and looked as though he couldn't sit still. "You bought those things in the first place. Throw them all away."

Throw them away like trash.

Pei Guangji felt as though the thing holding him up had been pulled away, his heart a swollen balloon suddenly punctured.

He had bought all those things.

Watching the young man's reactions throughout, Pei Guangji finally understood.

When his childhood friend had arranged for his boyfriend to stay at his villa, he had most likely come between the two of them.

Otherwise, why would Xin Hexue be so resistant to him?

Otherwise, if they were the lovers, why would Xin Hexue discard those matching items like worn-out shoes?

It meant he had bought all those things against Xin Hexue's wishes.

He was the one who had forcibly come between the two of them.

Pei Guangji knew he would completely lose his reason during his Rut. He had gotten through his most recent Rut at the villa with the clothes the young man had left behind, and that made him afraid to think too deeply about whether he had done something unforgivable to Xin Hexue during a previous Rut. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become dependent on the cool fragrance lingering in the clothes.

And now, all his wrongs had been forgotten. Everything should return to normal, and Xin Hexue was going to get engaged to Xi Zhengqing.

[Pei Guangji's Heartbreak Value +1]

[Pei Guangji's Heartbreak Value +1]

[Pei Guangji's Heartbreak Value +1]

Xin Hexue didn't know exactly what Pei Guangji was thinking, but he could roughly guess half of it. He was quite satisfied with the upward trend of Pei Guangji's Heartbreak Value.

Forty more to go.

Soon, this suffering would come to an end.

Xin Hexue looked at Pei Guangji, his eyes holding a trace of nearly imperceptible tenderness, like an executioner's pity.

Xin Hexue stood up. "I have to go back."

The moment he stepped away, Pei Guangji rushed forward and took his hand almost instinctively. The force made Xin Hexue turn around, and their eyes met. Pei Guangji placed a hand on Xin Hexue's shoulder, his large hand gripping it as though to restrain him.

His voice was hoarse, like that of a traveler who had journeyed through the desert for a long time without seeing rain. "Is there really... no way to salvage this?"

Xin Hexue looked straight at him and slowly, belatedly shook his head.

It was nothing less than a tender death by a thousand cuts.

"Let me go, Mr. Pei. I have to go back."

Pei Guangji's grip loosened. His large hand was gently brushed off the young man's shoulder and slipped down.

He stood there, distraught.

Xin Hexue left without looking back.

He had clearly already lost his memories of the two of them.

Yet Pei Guangji felt an uncontrollable sense of oppression. Pain welled up endlessly from deep within his heart, and the emotions were so intense that they even affected his stomach, making it churn with sourness and burn.

The memories in his brain had vanished, but his subconscious and body were still reacting instinctively.

In a corner no one noticed, a hidden camera quietly took several photos.

Only an hour later, they reached the top of the Star Network's trending list.

#Pei Corporation's head's first love? Suspected breakup

Pei Guangji had only recently taken control. Most people outside the Core District thought Mr. Pei was still in charge, and were baffled when they clicked on the story.

[Doesn't that old geezer have a bunch of mistresses? He's got kids running all over the place, and his eldest son is already in his twenties. Now he's breaking up with his first love?]

[You rich people really know how to play.]

[Wait, don't you look at the pictures with the scoop? That's obviously not Old Mr. Pei. That's the eldest young master.]

[So? What does Shennong Pharmaceuticals' eldest young master dating have to do with me? @Nuwa Bionic Manufacturing, hurry up and release a companion bionic for me. How long have you been promising it? Do you really want me to die alone?]

[Did nobody notice how pretty the guy whose hand he's holding is? Even though you can only see him from the side, he's an Omega, right?]

[What a gorgeous profile. Beautiful...]

[He looks a little familiar.]

[Did they break up? Who's the other guy? Why does this scoop have no beginning or end?]

[Five pictures to start with, and the whole story's made up.]

It didn't matter whether people on the Star Network believed it, as long as Pei Guangji and Xi Zhengqing noticed.

[Xi Zhengqing's Heartbreak Value +5]

Xin Hexue received messages from Xi Zhengqing.

[Xi Zhengqing: Did you meet him?]

[Xi Zhengqing: I don't mean I'm reading anything into it. I'm just worried you haven't had dinner yet.]

[Xi Zhengqing: When you finish work tonight, I'll pick you up. Shall we get a late-night snack?]

Xin Hexue replied briefly: [Okay, I'll wait for you.]

Then he sent Pei Guangji messages in a flustered tone.

[Mr. Pei, it looks like someone posted photos of us meeting just now online. Could you clear things up?]

[I don't want people speculating about our relationship.]

[Zhengqing will misunderstand if he sees them. Could you do me this favor?]

Xin Hexue hadn't received a reply from Pei Guangji yet. He guessed the other man might be looking at the Star Network's top story.

The messages he had sent showed how urgently he wanted to distance himself from Pei Guangji.

[Pei Guangji's Heartbreak Value +5]

It was a while before the other man sent a reply.

[Pei Guangji: I've already had someone take down the articles those marketing accounts posted without checking, and the trending topic has been locked. Don't worry.]

[Pei Guangji: I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you.]

The Heartbreak Value was still thirty-five short.

Xin Hexue's lips curved up. He paid the balance to the paparazzo who worked part-time as a private detective, the fee for cooperating with him to take the photos and leak the story.

Of course, it was Xi Zhengqing's money.

Pei Guangji felt as though he had stepped through the surface of a glacier and fallen into a hole in the ice. The cold seeped in everywhere, and the heavy, icy water was pulling at him, dragging his dead shell and soul down, down without end.

The thick smell of alcohol filled the living room.

Empty bottles lay scattered in every corner. The ethanol had numbed his nerves, yet seemed to have made his mind clearer.

Pei Guangji hadn't cleared away the things Xin Hexue had left behind.

If he lost those too, the empty villa would be as cold and bare as a hospital morgue.

It was as if a piece of his heart had been gouged out. Every beat churned the bright red flesh, wet and bloody, dripping and dripping.

Flowing onto the floor.

"Drip, drip."

He realized he wasn't bleeding. He had slipped off the sofa, and the kitchen faucet hadn't been turned off tightly, so water was flowing onto the floor.