Tang Zheng was stunned for a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t know either. My mother and her mother used to be good friends. I was a few years older than her and had brought her along to play since I was young. I watched her grow from a little girl into a tall and graceful lady. Unknowingly, my heart was moved. Even the parents of both families often joked that they would let her marry me when she grew up. I always thought that she should be my wife, but that year, she met Xu Baohan and everything changed. She happily told me that she had fallen in love with someone else and even brought Xu Baohan home…”
Tang Zheng gulped down a mouthful of red wine hastily, “At that time, I even had the thought of crippling Xu Baohan, but no matter how much I confessed to her, woo her, she wouldn’t agree. I wasn’t willing to let it go. I thought she should be mine and I treated her so well since she was young, but in the end, she said she only treated me as her older brother. My mother advised me to forget about it, but after that incident at the Zhuang family, I found an opportunity…”
An Lan turned the cup in her hand with mixed emotions. “So now that things have come to this, are you still unwilling to let it go, or do you still like her?”
Tang Zheng was stunned, but then he said angrily, “Is that important? What’s important is that I feel like a fool. I hate her, and I hate Xu Baohan.”
“If I were you, I would wait until her father is in jail and her family’s company collapses before reaching out to help her. Only when she is in despair, when she completely hates Xu Baohan, and you reach out to her, will she truly be grateful to you, and only then will she truly hate Xu Baohan,” An Lan suddenly said, “But you forced her to leave Xu Baohan for her family. She wouldn’t be grateful to you, she would only feel even more guilty towards Xu Baohan.”
Tang Zheng’s body trembled slightly. “So… was I wrong?”
“You were wrong,” An Lan said bluntly, “You forced a person you didn’t like to date you, but you didn’t have the courage to bear the consequences. After that, you still hated her for not loving you. Why would she love you? Was it because you helped her? That was just gratitude. Gratitude is hard to maintain a relationship for a lifetime. You’re asking for it.”
“Are you speaking up for Zhuang Tianya?” Tang Zheng’s face was full of sarcasm. “Didn’t you say that Zhuang Tianya got close to Xu Baohan again? You should hate her. The two of us dating will definitely be a blow to them.”
“I would never use such a method.” An Lan shook her head, “Those who can be easily tempted shouldn’t be cherished. I don’t need to be with someone I don’t like just to annoy them. This method is stupid. Besides, I heard you say that a woman like Zhuang Tianya isn’t qualified to be my opponent.”
She stood up after saying that. “And to be honest, you really don’t have a good eye for liking such a woman, Mr. Tang.”
Tang Zheng was annoyed. “Why did you ask me out today?”
“To understand Zhuang Tianya’s true purpose and character.” An Lan shrugged and took out a few bills from her wallet. “I’ve already understood it.”
Tang Zheng was stunned for a moment before he laughed in anger. “You used me.”
“That’s right, I used you. Anyway, haven’t you always been used by others?” An Lan nodded.
Tang Zheng was stunned. An Lan picked up her bag and looked at his injured appearance. She sighed. “Mr. Tang, actually, you’re not that annoying. Next time, be more careful.”
With that, she left in her high heels.
