"You think I care about this amount of money? What I want is the ring. No matter how much money you offer, I won't exchange it. Give me my ring, or I'll call the police." the woman said angrily. "I'm sorry, the ring is really lost. Even if you call the police, it's impossible to get it back. All I can do is apologize. Even if you report it, the most I can do is compensate you for your loss," Wang Wenbin said gloomily. In fact, he felt extremely guilty; after all, it was a witness to their love and their last memento."Fine, one million. You will compensate me one million now," the woman said coldly."One million?" Wang Wenbin widened his eyes, then continued, "Don't lie to me; that ring isn't worth one million.""But to me, that ring is worth ten million, even a hundred million. No matter how much money you offer, I won't exchange it. I'm telling you, I only want that ring. Give me my ring back," the BMW woman said, visibly agitated."I'm sorry, the ring is already lost. Even if you were to kill me, I couldn't find it for you. Maybe you can tell me where the ring was bought, and I'll try to buy an identical one to make up for it," Wang Wenbin replied sincerely."Haha, if you buy another one, do you think it's still the same ring as before? Do you think all I want is just an ordinary ring? For me, that ring represents my husband. Wearing it gives me peace of mind; it makes me feel he hasn't really died, that he is still with me," the BMW woman said emotionally."But…the ring really is lost, and there's nothing I can do. If I had a way, I definitely wouldn't stop looking for it," Wang Wenbin said.The BMW woman looked at Wang Wenbin coldly, suddenly burst into tears, turned around to face the wall, and squatted in the corner, crying with her back to him."This…" Wang Wenbin panicked. He reached out to try to comfort the woman but felt it was inappropriate. He wanted to say something to console her but didn't know what to say. It was extremely awkward; the woman's crying left him at a loss, even more so than discovering he had lost the ring.
This is the hospital's emergency exit, basically the staircase entrance. The hospital has elevators everywhere, so this emergency exit is practically empty—only Wang Wenbin and the BMW woman are inside.
The BMW woman is crying very sadly. Wang Wenbin can feel that she is on the verge of breaking down.
Just as Wang Wenbin was struggling to endure her crying, the woman suddenly stopped, stood up from the floor, turned her back to Wang Wenbin, took out a tissue from her bag to wipe her tears, and then turned around to look at him.
At this moment, she had returned to the posture of the domineering female CEO she had before, as if the woman who had just been crouching and about to collapse with tears wasn't even her.
"The ring is lost, so it's lost. If the ring is lost, it's also my fault. I should never have pawned the ring to you. If I hadn't been in a rush to come to the hospital back then, I would never have given you the ring. Of course, it's too late to talk about this now. I don't care if you really lost the ring or hid it yourself; you must compensate me for it. I don't know how much it's worth now, but it cost 88,000 when I bought it, and you must pay me back this amount," the BMW woman said coldly.
"88,000? That expensive?" Hearing this number, Wang Wenbin's head felt like it was spinning.
"If you don't believe me, you can go to a shop to check the price of a similar ring, or I can go back and find the receipt from when I bought it," she added.
"No, I believe you," Wang Wenbin quickly said. He could tell that she was certainly not someone who would deliberately trick him, and besides, this matter was his fault. Moreover, the significance of the ring was undeniable.
"Then pay me. Will you give me cash or transfer?" the BMW woman asked coldly, clearly showing she did not like Wang Wenbin.
Wang Wenbin remained silent, then took out his wallet, emptied all the cash and coins onto his hand, and handed them all to the BMW woman. He said, "This is 2,283.50."
"What do you mean?" the woman asked, frowning.
"This is all my belongings. This money is from yesterday's business revenue and what I saved to buy stock today. In short, this is all the money I have on me. You take this first, and I… I'll leave you an IOU for the rest. I promise I will pay you back. Give me… a year, and I guarantee to repay it all within that year. All the money I earn every month will go to repaying you," Wang Wenbin said.
After hearing Wang Wenbin's words, the woman laughed coldly again, looked at him, and said, "I've never met someone as shameless as you. I have your phone number saved on my phone. I will investigate your personal information thoroughly. Stay at home and wait for the court summons. We'll see each other in court."
After speaking, the woman strode directly past Wang Wenbin toward the hospital room, her demeanor extremely cold. From start to finish, she didn't touch the stack of money Wang Wenbin had been holding out to her.
"I…" Wang Wenbin turned to look at her graceful back, feeling deeply depressed. He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
Wang Wenbin slumped against the corner of the wall, the same place where the BMW-driving woman had just cried. He took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and drew smoke in deep puffs. Then he took out his phone, found the contact saved as "BMW Woman," and sent a text message: "I apologize to you again. I really didn't mean to lose your ring. No matter what, I still hope you can forgive me. I will definitely compensate you for the ring, but I hope you can give me some time because I really cannot come up with that much money at once. If possible, I hope you will allow me to pay in installments. I can pay you interest according to bank rates. If you cannot accept this, then… then you can sue me, and I will bear all the consequences. My name is Wang Wenbin, and my ID number is…"
After sending this message, Wang Wenbin also sent the woman a photo of the front and back of his ID card.
Then he stood up and, smoking as he went, started walking down the stairs, storey by storey, without taking the elevator."I couldn't even pay back the money originally, and now there's even more added. Well, it's fine anyway; after all, having more debt doesn't weigh you down. It's not so bad." Wang Wenbin muttered to himself as he walked, more like mocking himself. "When a person dies, they're gone; if they don't, they live for tens of thousands of years. I've already gone through the worst things in these years, so why care about this?" Wang Wenbin smiled, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he walked step by step out of the hospital.