Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
So serious?
Xiang Wan looked at Xie Wanwan’s pale face and realized that there were some hints in her sentence.
“It’s not that they refused to let you go out,” explained Xiang Wan, “you gotta be clear about this. The problem is your safety. If you have to go out, then you must let Tang Yuanchu follow you.”
“No.” Xie Wanwan spoke very fast. “I need my freedom.”
“… You’re too stubborn!”
“I’d rather die.”
Here it goes again!
She was so rejective of protection.
Was it because she hated Tang Yuanchu so much?
However, Xiang Wan did not think so.
She deliberated over for a moment. “Could you tell me the reason why you must go out alone?”
Xie Wanwan’s face turned even paler. She opened her mouth, then shook her head slowly. “I just hate it when someone is loitering near me…”
“How about we change it to another detective?”
“No!”
“…”
Xiang Wan scrutinized Xie Wanwan’s obstinate expression and glanced at Bai Muchuan before showing Xie Wanwan a smile. “How ’bout this? Let’s talk just between ourselves without them.”
Her instinct as a woman was telling her that Xie Wanwan had a reason for behaving like this, and she didn’t want others to know about it.
Xiang Wan suggested that both of them could talk privately, but she didn’t pin many hopes that the latter would agree to that.
Xie Wanwan pondered over the idea for a moment and nodded.
“Alright.”
The two of them then proceeded to go to Xie Wanwan’s bedroom.
The condition of her bedroom was so much better than her living room.
It was clear she didn’t throw a fit in her bedroom. It was clean, neat, and tidy. Everything was neatly arranged… which was a stark contrast to the situation outside. Xie Wanwan did all that to ‘chase’ the detectives away.
Xiang Wan sighed in her head.
The two of them then sat down on the sofa, facing each other. Xie Wanwan, however, chose to stay quiet.
Xiang Wan knew that she had to take the initiative to start the conversation. “Is it okay for you to tell me what you have in mind?”
Xie Wanwan bit her lower lip, her eyebrows tightly knitted together, her eyes started to get reddish, and her expression seemed especially torn.
This was the first time Xiang Wan saw her like this.
Xiang Wan saw Xie Wanwan as a woman who perceived the world as a cynical place. Although Xie Wanwan portrayed a lovely public image, she had an unbridled temper and arrogance as displayed when she showed how much she disliked to be restricted. She was always a little sarcastic or ironic towards people or matters, and she lived her life in a relatively straightforward manner.
There was almost nothing that Xie Wanwan didn’t dare to talk about.
Why did she become like this now?
Xiang Wan chewed over this in silence.
The discussion on psychological problems that she discussed with Zhan Se that day came to mind.
She noticed that this was actually a challenge.
A challenge to what she was studying now—psychology.
She had been learning this from Zhan Se for months. She thought that maybe she should try to make Xie Wanwan open up to her.
The thought of this filled her with eagerness. Her heart was pounding, and her gaze was severe and intricate.
“Wanwan…” She softened her tone as she called her.
Xie Wanwan was clearly taken aback by this form of address.
Xiang Wan ran her fingers through her hair and smiled gently. “Do you know why I call you Miss Xie but not your name? This is because your name sounded the same as mine… If I call you Wanwan, I feel awkward since I have a feeling that I’m talking to myself. Well, Wanwan… it seems that we have an affinity with each other.”
Indeed.
Xie Wanwan revealed a smile too.
However, that smile only persisted for an instant since she seemed down again the next moment.
“The sound of our name is the same, yet my life is not as good as yours.”
Xiang Wan responded, “Why do you say that?”
“You have Bai Muchuan.” Xie Wanwan was direct about this, and she looked at the direction of the window. “I’m not jealous, I’m just greedy.”
“…”
Xiang Wan kept quiet.
Thus, the bedroom remained silent for a moment.
Xiang Wan puffed a sigh and smiled at her. “You can have it too.”
“Have what? Have Bai Muchuan?” Xie Wanwan raised her eyebrows with interest. “Don’t tell me you’re giving him up?”
“No, I mean, you can have the love of your life as well.” Xiang Wan’s gaze was friendly, sincere, and gentle while she looked at her intently. “Dwelling over too much on one thing is not good. I feel that your feelings towards him are no longer love but regret?”
Xie Wanwan smiled coldly. “Me? Regret what?”
“You regret that throughout all these years, you chose to become Bai Muchuan’s best pal… Right at the beginning, you have already determined that both of you will only be friends, which led to him doing the same, and this became difficult to change. When both of you became friends, I’m not in the picture… You have lots of chances, but you felt that you let the chances slip by, and you’re remorseful about it.”
Xie Wanwan replied, “You seem to know me well?”
Xiang Wan paused for a moment before showing a smile. “Human nature is usually like that. One may not love the person, but… they love things that they lost.”
This sentence was very profound, merciless, and went straight to the heart.
However, for Xie Wanwan, this was the best way to communicate with her.
She knew a lot and experienced a lot. There was no point beating about the bush when talking to her. All the polite talk was meaningless to her.
“What you said sounds right yet… it also sounds not right.” Xie Wanwan crossed her legs, stroked her nose, and asked her in a lazy tone.
“Is it okay if I smoke?”
Xiang Wan shrugged. “It’s your home.”
Xie Wanwan smiled and got up on the sofa to get a cigarette. After lighting the cigarette, she opened the windows and just stayed there. Her remarkable figure and the way she smokes made her seem melancholic. Every puff of smoke seemed like a story, floating in her soul…
Xiang Wan looked at her in silence and said nothing.
By choosing to smoke, that meant Xie Wanwan wanted to confide in her.
She was waiting…
Waiting for Xie Wanwan to talk.
“Well, you got it wrong…” Xie Wanwan opened her mouth to talk, although she sounded hesitant. “I didn’t regret my choices. I did think about what you’ve said earlier. Even if the heavens gave me a chance to start over, I wouldn’t tell him that I like him…”
Xiang Wan was puzzled. “Why?”
She turned to look at Xiang Wan.
Then, she let out a sudden peal of laughter.
“I’m not worthy of him.”
Xiang Wan made a guess. “Is it because of your past?”
Xie Wanwan kept quiet.
Not everyone dared to face their own tragic past.
“If I console you that whatever happened in the past was over and that it’s something that you could not control, you might feel that I said it because talk is cheap, right?” Xiang Wan continued, “But well, I really do think that way. Also, I believe that any kind people out there would say that.”
Hur! Xie Wanwan laughed. “Kind people? I thought they went extinct?”
