Fatal Desire

Chapter 162 I love my aunt, and I love you too.
Qin Fanghao bit her straw and drank. "President Zhou is looking for her. You didn't know about this?"

"I know." Song Xi's eyes flickered with understanding. "He can walk now?"

Qin Fanghao nodded: "She just fully recovered yesterday and flew to France early this morning. Her escape and his pursuit are more exciting than a TV drama."

Song Xi seemed to be deep in thought. She took out her phone and glanced at it, but there was no message from Fu Guanyue.

Luo Xiao arranged for Fu Guanyue and Fu Minghui to leave Paris a few days ago, so they should be fine. Zhou Ji'an will most likely be disappointed.

"Tell me, how did they end up like this, when they were a perfect match? I remember when they got married, it was a wedding of the century, which caused a sensation in high society." Qin Fanghao sighed.

Song Xi put down her phone. "I don't know. Only they themselves probably know the reasons."

Qin Fanghao leaned closer to Song Xi and whispered, "Hey, I think the group chat has split into two factions."

"Which two factions?" Song Xi became interested.

"One group feels sorry for President Zhou, thinking that his deep affection is short-lived." Qin Fanghao deliberately paused for a few seconds. "The other group thinks that Fu Guanyue is ungrateful. President Zhou was in a car accident for her and almost became disabled. What more does she want? Tsk tsk tsk, this world."

Song Xi found it absurd and laughed speechlessly: "Zhou Ji'an's car accident is Zhou Ji'an's business. What does it have to do with Fu Guanyue? It's not like she was the one who caused the accident."

"So, Miss Fu is clear-headed and carefree. She got divorced and disappeared completely," Qin Fanghao said. "After the Fu family fell, she left without any worries. Whether you love someone or not and whether you are suitable to spend the rest of your life together are two different things."

Song Xi raised an eyebrow slightly: "Is the great star Qin feeling so sentimental today?"

"There's no way around it. I recently took on the role of an artsy young woman. This character faces a husband who cheats on her, a mistress who comes to provoke her, parents who favor sons over daughters, and relatives who are bloodsuckers. I need to prepare myself before I can get into character."

Qin Fanghao abruptly changed the subject, his fox-like eyes gleaming, and asked gossipily, "How are things between you and your brother?"

Song Xi pondered for a few seconds, then said casually, "My aunt and uncle already know."

"What!" Qin Fang was shocked and almost slammed his fist on the table.

Song Xi took her hand, calming her restless nerves: "Auntie has overcome that major hurdle."

"I knew it! Your aunt is such a good, such an outstanding woman, she would definitely understand you!" Qin Fanghao became a huge fan of Song Yunyu the moment he first met her in his first year of high school. It's no easy feat to survive so easily between the Zhao and Xiao families.

Song Xi couldn't help but laugh: "My aunt cares about me more than I imagined."

After returning to China, she often wondered what would have happened if her aunt hadn't ended up with Zhao Zongting. As she grew older and more mature, she gradually came to understand her aunt.

After her parents passed away, it was her aunt who supported her.

Before she was eight years old, she and her aunt depended on each other for survival. After she turned eight, they gradually distanced themselves from each other's lives for the sake of the other.

Although family ties took a detour and went a bit further in those years, their starting point and their destination were the same.

When it comes to independent thinking, Song Xi has long established his own set of behavioral guidelines and value judgments, which he will not easily waver from.

After fifteen years of ups and downs, Song Xi is no longer the timid little girl who first arrived at the Zhao family.

As time went by, she became an individual with an independent personality and a strong sense of self.

This is her growth, her most precious transformation over the years. "By the way, weren't you building a team of women's health research experts?" Qin Fanghao suddenly remembered. "I have a friend who wants to join. She just graduated with her doctorate and is very interested in the new drug that Morningside recently released."

“Fine,” Song Xi said readily. “You can push it to me.”

Morningside's blockbuster drug, targeting a specific subtype of ovarian cancer, has entered pivotal Phase III clinical trials or received market approval, causing a stir in the capital markets. Many people have contacted Shang Shixu about it, so he's been so busy lately that he hasn't even been able to speak to Meng Weixian.

After saying goodbye to Qin Fanghao, Song Xi sent a message to Zhao Yansen, saying that she was going back to the old house that night and had asked Uncle Liao to pick her up.

The night was still and quiet. Under the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley, several elderly men were chatting and fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans to cool off. The dim streetlights illuminated the simple tiled eaves of the courtyard house, casting a warm and soft glow on this century-old residence.

Song Xi did not return to his own room in the west wing, but went straight to the master bedroom in the east wing.

Most of the items here have been moved out, leaving only a few pieces of understated luxury furniture standing silently.

She drew back the curtains and stepped onto the balcony. The night breeze caressed her face, and the gloom in her heart seemed to dissipate, leaving only a clear and bright feeling.

Back in her bedroom, she turned off the lights one by one, leaving only the vast starry sky above. Lying on her back in bed, she gazed at the starry sky above her, and at those two stars that shone brighter than the others.

He stared at it for a long time.

When Zhao Yansen pushed open the door, he saw her lying quietly in the darkness, lost in thought.

He approached the bedside, his deep voice particularly clear in the night: "Planning to move back?"

Hearing the voice, Song Xi sat up and watched him approach step by step in the dim light. She subconsciously scratched her brow bone and said, "I'm not moving."

"Did you hear my conversation with your aunt?" Zhao Yansen leaned against the headboard, his strong arms pulling her into his embrace.

Based on the time the driver reported when she left the hospital, she most likely overheard the argument.

"Mmm." Song Xi didn't deny it, and leaned on his broad chest to look up at him. "Don't take what your aunt said to heart. That wasn't her intention. She was just too worried about me."

“I know.” Zhao Yansen’s large hand tightened around her waist. “She wants me to back down.”

Song Xi played with his beautiful, slender fingers, seemingly lost in thought: "Aren't we aunt and niece alike? When I go crazy, I'll say hurtful things out of spite, and when Auntie is overly worried, she'll magnify the harm you've done to me."

In fact, Song Yunyu was not entirely wrong. The damage he caused to Song Xi back then was irreversible.

“No.” Zhao Yansen cupped her face in his hands, his fingertips gently tracing her eyebrows and eyes. “You are unique.”

Song Xi nestled against his chest, her peach blossom eyes gazing at him with ripples of affection. "Zhao Yansen, I miss you so much. During those years abroad, I thought of you every single day. To stop myself from thinking about you, I had to keep myself busy... studying, starting a business. Except for the time I spent in therapy, I didn't have time to cry."

She paused, then said earnestly, "I love my aunt, and I love you too."

There is no inherent hierarchy or value distinction between familial love and romantic love.

Song Yunyu and Zhao Yansen were both indispensable figures in her life.

It is people who connect people to the world.

If a person lives in this world with no other attachments but himself, what difference is there between him and a walking corpse?
(End of this chapter)