FORTUNATELY, I MET YOU

41-45

Chapter 41: Spreading Poison
When Cheng Xi walked out of the main lobby of the hospital, it was already very late. She was unbelievably tired, both physically and mentally, and the hand that had been bitten by Chen Jiaman had been throbbing this whole time. It probably wouldn't recover anytime soon.

She clutched her arm, and just as she was about to start squeezing it to try to relieve the pain, a person suddenly appeared in front of her.

She stopped. "Lin Fan? You never left?"

"Nope."

Cheng Xi didn't know what to say; perhaps it was because of her grief and indignation, but she had completely forgotten about him.

But Lin Fan couldn't help a smile from creeping onto his face. "I'm kidding." His voice was warm, almost tender. "The banquet at the Lu household just ended. I was a bit worried about you, so I came to see how you were doing."

Cheng Xi paused, a slight desire to cry suddenly welling up in her heart. It was at this moment that she realized that she, too, felt wronged and unwell.

"Lin Fan......"

"I'm here."

"I want to drink. Will you accompany me?"

"Okay."

And so, the two went to go drink at an alley near the hospital. There was a famous night market in that area. At this time of the night, the yellow streetlights illuminated a simple and quaint street market suffused with a wonderful smell.

In the cold night, Cheng Xi's white breaths marked the air. As the warmth from her breath dissipated, a slender, long arm reached out towards her.

In its palm was a few offered sweets, a bunch of laughing squirrels wrapped in colorful wrappers. "For you."

Cheng Xi took one of the squirrels. "This sort of candy is so hard to find nowadays. You..."

Lin Fan smiled. "As long as you keep an eye out, you'll always be able to find some." In fact, it had really been quite difficult for Lin Fan to find the candies. After leaving the hospital, he'd driven aimlessly through the streets, trying to satisfy his sudden craving for candy. And perhaps only the cloying sweetness of that childhood candy could make him temporarily forget about the bitterness that had tainted his heart and mouth.

He spent the whole night searching, but when he finally found them for sale, he suddenly lost the desire to eat them. It was possible that the only reason he couldn't forget about them was solely because she had always liked them.

Without her, even the sweetest thing in the world would taste bitter.

Cheng Xi understood the meaning of his words. She looked at him, her expression somewhat conflicted.

"What is it?"

"The way you say it makes me feel like I'm misunderstanding something."

"Misunderstanding what?"

"Misunderstanding that you like me." She laughed with a relaxed tone, but her actions belay her palpitating heart.

She didn't want to play guessing games with him anymore; some things were better said early and outright.

Luckily, Lin Fan didn't disappoint her this time. He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp before saying, "Yes, I do like you, and I have for quite a while. Ever since high school, I've always thought that it would be wonderful if you were to be my wife."

He looked at her, his voice calm, his expression tinged with relief.

Cheng Xi gaped.

Lin Fan chuckled bitterly at her response. "Do you think that I'm overestimating my own capabilities, that I'm a toad trying to get together with a swan? You're pretty, outstanding, kind, generous, and considerate—everyone likes you, but what about me?" He clasped his hands together and buried his face in his hands out of grief. "I don't have a good background or a complete family, and mine even has an odd and reclusive temperament. But even despite all this, Cheng Xi, I still want to love you. I worked hard and studied even harder, leaving everything to go abroad in order to make myself a better person, a person more compatible with you. But I always seem to be late, always unable to catch up to you..."