Chapter 312: Do You Know Why I’m Mad?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Her small and slightly pointed chin was hidden in her scarf. That looked warm, but her face and the tip of her nose were red from the exposure to the cold.
Wei Zilin took a step forth and gently brushed the snow from the top of her head and her shoulders. It had only been a short while, but the knuckles on the back of her exposed hands were already red.
“Let’s get into the car first,” Wei Zilin said. He was slightly confused. When he had seen her Weibo earlier, it seemed pretty clear that she was going to give the cake to someone… probably him.
So why did she eat it herself?
He planned to ask her in detail once they arrived at their destination.
Turning around, he opened the car door himself, allowing Xu Moyan to enter before he walked to the other side and entered the car there.
Not long after they began driving, Wei Zilin looked at Xu Moyan from the corner of his eye. However, she did not look like she was in any mood to talk. Her head was lowered, and for some reason, she looked quite depressed.
He opened his mouth and was about to say something when he was suddenly interrupted by his phone ringing.
His phone was on the glove box between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat. Xu Moyan turned her head slightly and saw Shen Zongyi’s name written on the screen.
Wei Zilin saw it too. Picking up the phone, he pressed “accept” with his long fingers. “Hello.”
While Wei Zilin was on the phone, Xu Moyan finally dared to turn her head a little more and sneak a peek at him. However, Shen Zongyi seemed to say something that made Wei Zilin’s expression turn solemn. In fact, he looked almost angry.
“I got it.” Wei Zilin did not say anything throughout the entire call until he ended with those three words, hanging up immediately after.
“Are you still busy? You can drop me off here and I can get back on my own m. We haven’t left the compound yet, so it’s safe,” Xu Moyan said.
However, Wei Zilin did not reply. He just drove out of the compound, his expression still dark, as though he was throwing a tantrum.
The silence ensued until he had driven a long way away, such that Xu Moyan would never be able to get back on her own. It was snowing, so not many cabs were roaming about, and more importantly, it was Valentine’s Day, so plenty of people were celebrating outside. That meant a serious shortage in available cabs.
Finally, he said, “Actually, if you have any questions, you can just ask me directly. You really don’t have to make any blind guesses.”
“What?” Xu Moyan did not react immediately, turning to face him subconsciously and then freezing there for a long time.
“I mentioned it before. I saw your post on Weibo before boarding the flight, but I turned off my phone after I watched the video. That’s why I don’t know about anything else on the internet.” Wei Zilin did not look at her, however, his eyes fixed straight ahead, as though he was completely focused on his driving.
His side profile was uncharacteristically cold, and with the snowy night to add on to that, she somehow felt completely cold despite the heating in the car.
“Shen Zongyi just called to tell me. I had no idea that they posted some BS about Liang Wenyin and me on the internet,” Wei Zilin said, his voice extremely stern. If she did not look at home, he would sound like a warrior of justice in a television drama, or a high-ranking monk, or a martial artist in a sect.
“The truth is, I had no idea she went to G City, and I definitely did not arrange to meet her there. Aside from the few words we exchanged for work back at the very beginning, I’ve been avoiding her ever since I found out about her feelings.” Wei Zilin paused, pursing his lips slightly before he continued, “You saw it before. I have no reservations when talking to her. Since I didn’t accept her feelings then, I definitely won’t start now.
“Maybe to her, it wasn’t a coincidence that she went to G City and stayed in the same hotel as I did, but I knew nothing about it. Shen Zongyi mentioned that there were pictures online about her and me leaving the hotel one after the other, but I had no idea. When I left the hotel at noon, I didn’t see her at all. Besides, I was heading to the factory then, not to lunch. Perhaps she had orchestrated these coincidences and flukes so people would think we’re dating on the sly and trying to hide it.
Xu Moyan (TN: raws say Zheng Yuntong, probably a typo) thought that Wei Zilin was angry, but why? Could it be, she thought, because he felt that Liang Wenyin had set him up and was making everyone misunderstand?
She did not doubt Wei Zilin’s words. He did not need to lie, and he had no reason to lie to her. To Wei Zilin, if it was true, then it was true, and vice versa. What reason would he have to lie?
Besides, what right did she have to necessitate Wei Zilin lying to her?
What she did not know was that Wei Zilin was indeed angry, but not for the reason she was thinking. At the very least, that was not the only reason he was angry.
Wei Zilin was practically livid right now, partly because Liang Wenyin dared to pull such a petty trick on him. He did not believe that Liang Wenyin was completely innocent. Since the very first time he met her, he knew that she was a crafty woman.
As for everyone else misunderstanding them, he did not mind in the slightest. Liang Wenyin would be outed eventually, anyway. No, he was angry that Xu Moyan had somehow misunderstood him too.
Now he was beginning to understand why she had clearly already made a chocolate cake, only to end up eating it herself.
Perhaps she had in fact gathered up the courage to give it to him. That thought made him considerably happy.
However, because of that completely unverified piece of news, Xu Moyan had actually jumped to conclusions without even asking him, suspecting him of having someone else. That made his mood plummet down to the depths again, undoing the little cheer he felt earlier.
Wei Zilin had never felt so conflicted before. This woman next to him had really thrown a wrench into his emotions. He had found out that she really did care for him, which should make him ecstatic, but the way she suspected him ruined his mood again.
“Am I really that kind of scum to you?” Wei Zilin asked suddenly after a pause.
That question gave Xu Moyan a shock, and she immediately shook her head profusely. However, she was so surprised that she forgot to reply.
After a bout of head-shaking, she finally realized that Wei Zilin had been staring straight ahead the whole time, and he might not have seen what she was doing. Hastily, she said, “No, I don’t think that.”
She frowned. “I’d never.”
“Then why did you doubt me?” Wei Zilin’s expression darkened in displeasure. His tone actually sounded somehow hurt.
He was hurt because she wrongly accused him of something he did not do.
When Xu Moyan heard that, she felt pretty upset too. Lowering her head guiltily, she said in a weak voice, “Sorry.”
However, Wei Zilin did not respond to her apology, continuing, “If I did start dating, I wouldn’t hide it, and I won’t sneak around like it’s a sin. Why should I have to hide my girlfriend? Going all the way to G City and leaving the hotel separately, just to misdirect others? If we’re dating, I’ll be completely open about it. I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
“Sorry.” Xu Moyan lowered her head even further, her tiny voice filled with guilt and shame.
Wei Zilin could not stay angry at her then. Even if he was still mad, her pitiful tone would be enough to calm him down.
He sighed helplessly. “I’m pretty upset, and you can tell that I’m angry right now. But do you know why I’m mad?”
Xu Moyan lowered her head wordlessly, and Wei Zilin did not say anything either, as though waiting for her response. As long as she did not reply, he would not say anything more.
Xu Moyan took a deep breath and said, “Because… I didn’t trust you?”
“That’s right. Am I really that untrustworthy? Do you think I’m the kind of man who wouldn’t give my girlfriend the chance to stand tall once we start dating?” Wei Zilin pursed his lips and then grimaced in self-deprecation and disappointment, chuckling ironically. “I thought we were friends. We haven’t spent too much time together, but after a few meetings, I thought you would know me better than that.”
“Sorry, I’m really sorry.” Xu Moyan obediently lowered her head and apologized. “It’s just, I was stunned when I saw the report, and I couldn’t think logically. Back then, I—”
It was not that she did not trust him, she just did not have faith in herself. She had already been hesitant and uncertain, torn between her urge to confess to him and her fear of his cold refusal.
When she was at her most conflicted and insecure, a post like that was nothing short of the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her heart was already under a ton of pressure, so she could not think rationally once she saw that news report.
To him, he might have been disappointed because his friend did not trust him. To her, however, it meant that the man she liked was dating another.
When Zheng Yuntong was at home, she resisted and did not dare to express it. Once Zheng Yuntong left, however, she felt worse the more she thought about it, and she could not help but weep. Even so, she held back and made sure not to cry too loudly.
As a result, just as she was beginning to cry, she received Wei Zilin’s call.
The pressure in her heart was still bottled up. Now, Wei Zilin was telling her all this, and the thought that he was not dating Liang Wenyin after all ma Dr her heave a sigh of relief. At the same time, though, she was beginning to lose her hold on the pent-up pressure from before.
Wei Zilin’s words were like her release, like the tiniest of cracks in a gigantic dam.
Tears dripped onto the back of her hands, one after the other. In the face of Wei Zilin’s accusation, she covered her face with her hands, grateful that she had not put on any makeup. Otherwise, it would have been disgraceful for her makeup to smudge all over her face.
“I was just too upset. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just don’t have faith in myself. You’re wonderful, too wonderful in fact, which is why I don’t dare to tell you that I like you. I’m scared you’ll reject me coldly, just like you did with all those other women. You said we’re friends, right? That makes me really happy, but I feel like I should be grateful that we’re even considered friends. I’m afraid you can tell that I like you, and I’m afraid that I can’t hide it well enough. That way, we might not even stay friends anymore.” She covered her face with her hands, sobbing.
