The mountain-and-water resort was exceptionally quiet. Aside from the occasional passing waiter, there was only the natural scenery where mountains and water merged into one. At this moment, the lingering glow of the setting sun bathed everything in warmth, giving Guan Xing and Hua Ruobing a sense of transcendental comfort.
They ordered a few light dishes, along with a pot of clear hibiscus tea. The faint fragrance of hibiscus drifted gently through the air, filling the small private room with sweetness and happiness—at least, Hua Ruobing had already fallen into this dreamlike reverie.
Guan Xing remained silent the entire time, simply listening attentively as Hua Ruobing spoke softly about her own stories—little anecdotes from her childhood, moments from when she was very young. Perhaps because she already regarded Guan Xing as her lifelong partner, she was willing to share these secrets from the depths of her heart with him.
"Guan Xing, didn't you say you had something to tell me? What is it?"
His prolonged silence finally made Hua Ruobing uneasy.
Guan Xing lifted his head and looked at Ruobing, pure as water and beautiful as a flower. His throat felt as if it were blocked by a chill. He coughed lightly a few times, straightened his posture, and said calmly, "Yes… there is something I need to tell you."
He gave a helpless smile and continued, "It could also be considered a story—just like the story of you and me. One filled with a kind of tragic, delicate beauty."
"That was my first month working at Feiyang. One night after getting off work, when I returned home, I found a woman drunk and collapsed outside my apartment door—"
Everything about Sun Yiran slowly unfolded through Guan Xing's narration, appearing before Hua Ruobing one detail at a time.
The smile on Hua Ruobing's face seemed to freeze. Perhaps realizing she looked terrible, she forced a smile instead, but that only made Guan Xing even more afraid to face her. Hua Ruobing had begun to cry.
"The third time we met, out in the suburbs—it felt like fate. She cast everything aside, willing to wash away her former glamour and become a simple, home-loving woman for me. And little by little, I was moved by her. Or perhaps she was simply a woman no man could refuse."
Her tender face was streaked with tears, her eyes reddened. Yet there was no sobbing—only a faint glimmer of helpless sorrow shimmering quietly as she looked at Guan Xing. Even Hua Ruobing herself didn't know whether what she felt at this moment was heartbreak or being touched. This story truly was deeply moving.
A quiet breeze blew gently. The two of them sat there in silence. Guan Xing had already said everything he needed to say, having imagined countless possible reactions. Yet he hadn't anticipated this kind of stillness, nor did he know how to break the oppressive silence.
The sky gradually darkened.
Hua Ruobing finally stood up and said softly, "Guan Xing, take me home. I'm tired."
There were no extra words—no shouting, no accusations. At this moment, the two of them felt like strangers. Though only inches apart, it was as if an entire horizon lay between them as the car moved forward.
"Go back early. No woman wants her man not to come home at night. She should be a good woman."
There was no attempt to hold him back, no invitation. What surrounded Hua Ruobing now was no longer her former icy aloofness, but a detached, drifting calm.
"Ruobing—" Guan Xing called out.
"That's enough. Don't say anything more. You should go back now. Be careful on the road."
She gave Guan Xing no chance to speak further and had already turned away. Watching her lonely figure disappear, Guan Xing felt a sharp pain in his heart. He knew Hua Ruobing's heart must hurt even more than his—only her pain was being forcibly suppressed deep inside.
When he returned home, Sun Yiran was reclining on the sofa watching television. Seeing the gloom and worry on Guan Xing's face, she gently stood up, walked over, took his coat, and asked softly, "You told her?"
"I did. But Ruobing's reaction was strange—she didn't say a word, and instead urged me to come home early," Guan Xing said weakly as he sank into the sofa, unable to understand it.
Sun Yiran leaned closer and smiled. "It's alright, hubby. If she truly loves you, she'll come looking for you on her own. She just hasn't figured it out yet. Or maybe she's crying somewhere alone. Women… they're all rather pitiful."
She herself was also a pitiful one—having to fight for another woman on behalf of the man she loved. Though jealousy gnawed at her, her heart had already been split in two. She knew that even if Hua Ruobing truly left, her husband would never again be whole.
Holding Yiran's soft, delicate body, her gentle fragrance gradually soothed Guan Xing's restlessness. Yet Hua Ruobing—what choice would she ultimately make?
For three consecutive days, Hua Ruobing never appeared before him again. Even Qin Yunlu had disappeared from the infirmary since that night. Aside from employees coming in for medical treatment, the place felt much quieter. From time to time, Sister Fang would ask why Manager Hua hadn't shown up for several days.
The first person to sense that something was wrong was Cheng Yunya.
Early one morning, when Guan Xing walked into the infirmary, he saw Cheng Yunya sitting in his seat, twirling a ballpoint pen in her hand. Her face was filled with urgency, and her mood seemed quite poor.
"Morning, Miss Cheng," Guan Xing greeted her as usual. Despite being troubled by Hua Ruobing's situation, his relationship with Cheng Yunya remained normal.
"What kind of morning is this? Guan Xing, hurry over here. I've got something urgent to talk to you about." She didn't stand up, only pointed to the chair across from her, signaling him to sit.
Guan Xing vaguely guessed the reason, but smiled casually and asked, "So early in the morning—what urgent matter does Director Cheng have? Feeling unwell?"
She shot him a glare and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm perfectly healthy. I'm asking you—Ruobing and Yunlu haven't shown up for days. Did you make them angry? Huh? That's not right—Ruobing is your girlfriend. Why would she be angry with you too?"
So it really was about those two women. By now, they all knew that Sun Yiran was by Guan Xing's side, so naturally they no longer dared to act as casually as before. After all, no matter how you looked at it, Guan Xing was a married man now.
Guan Xing's expression didn't change at all. Pretending ignorance, he smiled and asked, "What's wrong with Ruobing and Yunlu?"
"You don't know? Hmph, you'd better confess quickly. In the past, whenever your name came up, they were more interested than anyone else. Yesterday, I mentioned you casually, and they immediately shut up and made excuses to leave. Is that normal?"
"What's so abnormal about that? Talking about people behind their backs isn't nice, of course they'd avoid it," Guan Xing said matter-of-factly.
A sharp glint flashed in Cheng Yunya's eyes as she shouted, "You bastard, don't make me angry! Who are you calling gossipers? If you were innocent, why would you be afraid of us saying anything bad? Tell me—did you bully them?"
"Why would I bully them? Weren't you the one who told me to go after Yunlu?"
"Oh—so you really went after Yunlu, and Ruobing found out? That's why they're both ignoring you now?"
Women truly had vivid imaginations. In just a moment, she had already constructed her own explanation.
The light in her eyes turned strange. With a mischievous smile, Cheng Yunya looked at Guan Xing with blatant disdain. "Doctor Guan, you really aren't a good person. So you really made a move on Yunlu. Looks like you're planning to make me offer myself to you too, huh?"
That thought nearly made Guan Xing faint.
"Oh right—did Yunlu agree to be your girlfriend yet?"
Her earlier anger instantly turned into a mix of shyness and excitement, like a young woman newly stepping into love. On her face, Guan Xing saw both anticipation and unease.
Guan Xing was nearly speechless. He took a deep breath—this woman's imagination was truly something else.
"You should go ask Manager Qin yourself about that. And don't forget what you promised me," he said.
The moment he said this, Cheng Yunya could no longer sit still. She jumped up and shouted at Guan Xing, "Hmph, dream on! There's no such cheap deal in this world. I need to think this through properly!"
With that, she turned and fled in a hurry.
Guan Xing let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she had misunderstood. Otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known how to explain the strange behavior of Ruobing and Yunlu.
What Guan Xing didn't know was that because of this misunderstanding, Cheng Yunya herself had fallen into a girlish dream of tangled emotions. Perhaps the three great beauties of Feiyang had all lost their hearts to Guan Xing alone. Whether it was love or misunderstanding, at this moment, no one could really tell.
The reason Cheng Yunya had said such things in the first place was indeed because Guan Xing had a way of bewitching women's hearts. His sunny, handsome face, tall and well-built figure, cold and aloof aura, and the trace of loneliness at the corner of his eyes—every gesture of his was capable of stirring a woman's emotions.
But words were just words. They were all friends—the three women of Feiyang. Knowing full well that Guan Xing was Ruobing's boyfriend, how could Yunlu possibly let herself fall into such a situation? Cheng Yunya firmly believed it was impossible.
But what if it were true? Would she really throw herself at him for free?
At this moment, Cheng Yunya clutched her head, cupped her face, and sat behind her desk with a pained expression, completely unaware that things were not at all what she imagined.