"Damn!"
The always refined and scholarly Shen Minghan couldn't help but complain, "What's the use of saying all this embarrassing stuff in front of me?"
After finishing, he coughed several times, completely choked by the smoke filling the room.
Before he arrived, Wei Feng had already told him that Han Luoli's identity had been revealed to the girl, who couldn't accept it for the time being and had run away.
"Heh… she won't even listen to me now…" Han Luoli's eyes were cold and desolate, reflecting his bitter melancholy as he pondered over this thorny issue, trying to figure out how to solve it. He racked his brains, only to realize: love was even harder to deal with than deceitful business wars.
Shen Minghan let out a light sigh, not bothering with the man who had turned into a smokestack any longer. He plunked down opposite him and began to speak.
"Luoli, Xiao Er is young and very naive. The trust she had in you is now the same extent to which she can't accept you. This is something you should have understood long ago. Moreover, as she gradually recollects, she'll realize just how much we all excessively kept her in the dark."
"I know."
Shen Minghan sighed again, "She isn't someone who is greedy for vanity or clings to the powerful… Luoli, if possible, I hope you can heed this piece of advice from your older brother, take some time to cool off, both of you. After all, if she accepts your identity, it means accepting everything about you, including… the dangers."
…The room was silent for a long time.
Han Luoli idly leaned against the back of the sofa, his long fingers holding a cigarette that had burned down to the end.
The man, usually cold and imposing, now retracted all his presence, lying back with his eyes closed quietly.
He couldn't help but think to himself: He had gone to great lengths to hide her from the world, wanting to protect her and to provide her with the safest and most comfortable environment. But he also realized that whether he kept her hidden or revealed his identity, she was always going to suffer unwarranted harm.
And most of that harm came from him.
But…
After a long while, Han Luoli's face, as cold and stern as a bronze mask, finally spoke, "I don't want to be apart from her for even a second, and I won't!"
…
The next day in the dormitory.
Gu Xiaoer finally woke up, her head aching. Although her eyes weren't gritty anymore, they were swollen like a big goldfish's.
"Xiao Er, you really look like a resentful woman…" Ai Le scratched at his short, bedraggled hair, his eyes still red with bloodshot lines from lack of sleep the night before.
Gu Xiaoer sneered and made a mournful face, "You're actually right…"
"What happened? What on earth happened last night when you went to deliver the documents?"
"Last night…" Gu Xiaoer's face turned pale as she sat on the bed fiddling with the hem of her clothes, "Last night, I ran into Han Luoli…"
Since the statement was abrupt and disconnected, Ai Le didn't understand and banged the table, saying hatefully, "Did you catch him with another woman? Just like with Lu Tianze back then?"
"No…" Lu Tianze was nowhere comparable to Da Luoluo.
"Then what is it, madam? I'm begging you to tell me, I've been tormented all night. You went barefoot, you're not going to work at Shenghan, I'm so anxious I'm getting ulcers!"
In saying that, Ai Le even lifted his lower lip, clearly displaying a sore the size of a bean.
"I'm sorry Lele, I unexpectedly fell asleep last night," Gu Xiaoer was filled with guilt.
"Then tell me, what on earth did Han Luoli do? Dammit, if he did something that wronged you, I'll roll up my sleeves right now and go settle the score with him!"
Lele… would you still say the same if you knew his identity?
Gu Xiaoer looked at Ai Le's indignant expression with a bitter smile and sighed, "He didn't do anything, he signed the document the headmaster gave him… but then, he tore it up."
"Damn it, what's he on about, doing that on purpose? How are you supposed to get the document to the President of Shenghan now!" Ai Le cursed and, upon seeing Gu Xiaoer's increasingly piteous face, her eyes widened, and then widened some more until they were the largest they could be, "Gu Xiaoer, don't tell me what you're implying is…"