Day broke.
Song Zhen awoke with a splitting headache.
Seeing the messy sheets and the blooming Blood Lotus Flower, his head felt like it had exploded.
This was the first time he had drunk to the point of blacking out, with absolutely no memory of it.
He checked his body and found no clothes, no wounds.
What on earth had happened?
He traced the call to his secretary.
Secretary: "Boss, you're awake? Do you need me to bring you breakfast?"
While pressing his temples, Song Zhen urged, "What happened to my room? What happened last night?"
The secretary recalled carefully and explained, "Your room? When I brought you back last night, Miss Gu was sitting in front of the apartment building waiting for you. Xiaoruan's due these days, and I was worried she could go into labor at any moment, so I asked Miss Gu to stay and take care of you."
Song Zhen: "Miss Gu? Zhouzhou?"
Secretary: "Yes. She said it was Miss Xinfei who called her, worried you might do something rash after your heartbreak, and asked her to come over to comfort you."
Song Zhen: "..."
He looked at the Blood Lotus Flower on the sheets, his face deathly pale!
His sin was enormous!
Media University.
Song Zhen purposely arranged the meeting place at a cafe inside Media University.
He booked a private booth.
The time he had agreed upon with Gu Xinzhou was eleven in the morning.
Of course, he called her, but she didn't pick up at first.
He texted her saying he wanted to meet, and it was a long time before she replied, finally agreeing to come.
Song Zhen ordered her favorite chestnut cake and a cappuccino in advance for Gu Xinzhou.
In his memory, he remembered everything this young girl liked.
Gu Xinzhou arrived looking pale.
She was dressed very conservatively.
With the onset of autumn, she wore a scarf as if she was very sensitive to the cold.
Her small face was drained of color, her once bright and beautiful glass eyes now filled with helplessness, confusion, and a faint fear.
Seeing her, Song Zhen felt a sharp pain in his heart!
To him, Gu Xinzhou had always been like his little sister, his best friend, his family.
He could share all his troubles with her.
She was always his most loyal listener.
But last night, drunk, he had done such disgraceful things!
"Zhouzhou, you... please sit." He pushed the cappuccino towards her and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"I have." Gu Xinzhou spoke softly, barely daring to meet his eyes: "I have classes this afternoon, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
Song Zhen interlocked his hands on the table and said, "Zhouzhou, I apologize for what happened last night."
He took a check and a box of medicine out of his pocket and handed them to her.
Gu Xinzhou didn't speak, just timidly looked at those items.
Song Zhen explained: "Zhouzhou, you're still young, you'll meet a man you truly love someday.
And I've always been in love with your sister, you should know this.
This money isn't anything else; it's compensation I'm giving you, hoping you'll accept it and also hoping you'll forget what happened.
Because... it's for the best for both of us."
Song Zhen was more rational.
His mother had taught him from a young age always to be a faithful man, devoted to his wife, and to fill her life with love and responsibility.
His mother also taught him that a marriage without love was a tragedy, to not marry a woman if he didn't love her, or else it would just harm her.
Song Zhen stared intently at Gu Xinzhou.
If out of responsibility, he could marry her and be faithful to her.
But...
She was still young, and she didn't love him at all.
Two people, without mutual love, forcefully bound together by an accident, it would be a harm to her.