Chapter 273

They hadn't spoken to her for three days.

Because of the injuries on his face, Ruan Lin had to pause the promotion of his movie and rest at home. She tried to explain to him several times, but he would walk away as soon as she opened her mouth, leaving her at a loss.

Qin Zhixiu's concert tour was starting at the end of the month, and now he was entering the final adjustment period. Jiji had come back very late for the past few days, and today he was rarely back a little earlier. She went to call him for dinner, but he just gave a cold "Mm."

L… He Le looked at Li Yiquan uneasily. After Li Yiquan sent her back that day, he prepared dinner for the apartment, and then the next day, he and Mu Wei returned to the apartment, saying he was invited by Mu Wei, so she couldn't drive him away. Then the third day, the fourth day…

She had asked Mu Wei why.

"Don't you want to see him?"

"……Wei."

"I just want you to be happy."

She was speechless.

Watching L sit with them, she knew her greed was expanding terribly. She was becoming a woman she despised!

But, but…

"Why aren't you eating? Not to your taste? Try this." Li Yiquan picked up a piece of meat and put it in He Le's bowl, saying softly.

He Le shook her head and put down her bowl and chopsticks.

"Perhaps, I should leave."

All chopsticks stopped.

"Lele?"

He Le smiled at Qin Zhixiu, "I mean… I’ll find a remote place to live, and then you can come and see me when you want to, and when you don't want to see me, I won't be an eyesore to you. This way—"

*Crash!*

The bowl and chopsticks hit the wall, making a harsh, loud noise.

Author's Note:

"Reserve"

Lyrics: Xu Changde

Composer: Guo Zi

I have never resisted your charm

Although you have never been fascinated by me

I always look at you with a smile

My affection always easily overflows the bottom of my eyes

I once thought in the lonely night

You finally cared in my room

You closed your eyes and kissed me

Without saying a word, you held me tightly in your arms

I love you

I love you to the end

For the first time in my life, I let go of my reserve

Letting myself imagine everything about you and me

You love me

You love me to the end

For the first time in my life, I let go of my reserve

Believing that I can really love you deeply

I once thought in the lonely night

You finally cared in my room

You closed your eyes and kissed me

Without saying a word, you held me tightly in your arms

I love you.

I love you to the end.

For the first time in my life, I let go of my reserve.

I let myself imagine everything about you and me.

You love me.

You love me to the end.

For the first time in my life, I let go of my reserve.

I believe I truly can love you deeply.

Love you deeply.

Love you deeply.

☆, (7 Fresh Coins) Chapter 304: Shameless Greed

Shuddering with a tremor, He Lele looked at Ruan Lin, whose teeth were clenched tight, then looked at the broken porcelain bowl and the rice scattered all over the floor; her heart felt sour and powerless.

"Lele... what do you take yourself for? And what do you take me—take us for?" Ji Jie, whose gaze had originally been fixed on Ruan Lin, slowly turned to He Lele.

"I..."

"Find a remote place to live? See you if I want to see you? Not bother our eyes if I don't want to see you? Do you take yourself for an expendable pet? Or do you take us for a group of johns you have no choice but to deal with?!"

"Ji Jie!" Mu Wei barked.

He Lele looked at Ji Jie in shock. His questioning was like a sword and a blade, each word hacking at her heart. "I..."

"Did I say something wrong? Heh... yeah, how could I forget, you, Mu Wei, are different. Whoever you tell her to accept, she accepts. How could someone like you be the same as us! Heh..." Resting his elbows on the table, Ji Jie hid his sorrowful, bitter face in his palms.

"Ji Jie, I..." Looking around at everyone, at each face that fascinated her, at each man she both loved and hated, He Lele gritted her teeth and slowly spoke, "I truly do wish you were just a group of johns."

"If you were johns, I wouldn't be happy because of your existence, and I wouldn't become greedier with each passing day! I wouldn't have to look at your faces every night before I sleep, forcing myself to remember that one day I will lose the people before me! Every day, I live cautiously in a dream that could collapse at any moment, constantly warning myself not to sink into it, yet watching myself sink deeper and deeper day by day!"

"...Knowing how humble and ordinary I am, yet completely unable to control my own greed. Even knowing how shameless, despicable, and vile such greed is, I still can't control it!"

"I want... I want that man with the terrible temper who never pretends in front of me and is always aggressively trying to protect me; I want that man who treats me like family and makes me feel purely pained and at ease; I want... that man I can't understand or guess, yet who makes me rely on him like a god."

Ruan Lin, Qin Zhixiu, and Mu Wei were moved one after another by He Lele's words. A look of regret even flickered on Ruan Lin's face.

Li Yiquan lowered his eyes to look at the exquisite bowl and chopsticks. His handsome face and posture looked like a jade statue sitting quietly.

Ji Jie slowly moved his palms down, his eyes fixed intently on her lips, as if he were using his eyes rather than his ears to listen to her next words.

Looking back into his eyes, He Lele curled her lips bitterly. "I want that man who is so foul-mouthed I want to kick him, but after I kick him, he still holds me."

After a long while, Ji Jie finally "read" the language of her lips. He closed his eyes, his palms trembling slightly.

"Then what about him?" Mu Wei tilted his chin toward Li Yiquan. "For you, the one who is truly different is him, right?"

Hearing this, He Lele turned her gaze to Li Yiquan. Li Yiquan lifted his eyes slightly, only to be surprised to see the attachment and adoration she was showing for the first time without any concealment.

"L, you're right. I do like you. I like you as a whole, and I like everything you give me. But I... have nothing left to give you." She pointed to her heart. "Here, there is only a greedy, shameless heart—I am just a... shameless woman who wants to be a whore but still wants to build a memorial arch for her chastity. That is all."

With her weak yet inherently tough appearance, and that contradictory smile of self-loathing yet frank acceptance, the woman before them was clearly more crystal-clear than any woman they had ever met, yet just looking at her made them... lose their way.

Seeing her place her hands on the table and stand up, all the men stood up in a panic, standing in a row like generals seeing off their superior after a meeting.

He Lele was slightly stunned. "Whatever you have to say, let's talk after we eat. It'll get cold if you don't eat." She said to Ruan Lin, "Clean up what you broke yourself later."

After saying this, He Lele walked into the kitchen and served Ruan Lin another bowl of rice.

After dinner, everyone cleaned up.

"Go back. From now on... don't come again." Looking up at Li Yiquan with lingering attachment, He Lele said in a low voice.

"Tell the truth."

"..." He Lele hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she shook her head.

Li Yiquan sighed lightly. This woman... needs discipline. If he just went along with her, he probably wouldn't get her even in the next life.

Aggressively wrapping his arm around her waist, Li Yiquan brought He Lele to the center of the living room to sit. He looked at the men standing silently in various parts of the room, and before long, the four men sat down one after another.

"This apartment is nice. Do you mind if one more person pays the property management fees?"