Was it love at first sight?
Despite having been through life’s ups and downs together, the love that she regarded as remarkable was all a lie. How quickly could she trust a new man in her life? She did not believe in love now! She would not like to be in a relationship either.
She took another sip of her wine and interrupted Lan Fei’s confession. “I do not intend to date anyone. Let me get straight to the point. Would you like to be my second husband? What are your conditions?”
Lan Fei stared at her blankly, unable to comprehend what was going on. His face grew red the more he thought about it. “You… what you are asking me for is disrespectul for my feelings towards you. I like you, and it is without any conditions…”
Gu Xijiu stirred the wine glass in her hand, and asked idly, “You do not have any conditions? Are you not planning to make me like you?”
Lan Fei stared at her blankly again. “Of course I would like you to like me. I believe that someday, you will fall in love with me.”
Gu Xijiu laughed. “I will not like anyone, so I cannot fulfill your condition.” She would not trust any of them! She would not love again!
Lan Fei stared at her blankly, as if he did not expect Gu Xijiu to be so harsh. He kept silent for some time and said, “Since you do not like me, why did you agree to meet me here? And why do you want to take me as your second husband?”
Gu Xijiu tapped the hairpin in her hand softly against the wine glass and said indifferently, “I was, in fact, thinking of having two husbands. I will grant you with all the privileges of a second husband but I do not plan to be in a relationship with you.”
Lan Fei had met with all kinds of women, but Gu Xijiu was the first he encountered being as straightforward. She appeared as a youthful lady, but within her words and deeds was a sense of despair towards relationships of the world. What had she been through?
He looked at her, and said in a half-joking manner, “What if I would like to utilize the privileges of a husband?”
Gu Xijiu took in a gulp of wine, and said indifferently, “Once you are my second husband, you definitely could…”
Lan Fei was speechless. “I never expected you to be such a realistic lady.”
Gu Xijiu laughed. “I have always been realistic. It is just that you did not realize. This is the downside of love at first sight. You only get to know me on the outside, but never understand who I really am. I am probably only attractive on the outside, but inferior in all other places…”
Lan Fei could not hold back his frustration. “Xijiu, do not look down on yourself… You must believe that you are the best!”
Gu Xijiu looked upwards and smiled. “Of course I am the best! I am the one and only in the world!” Everyone was the one and only because there was only one you.
Gu Xijiu was always confident, but she was overwhelmed by a feeling of rejection and feebleness lately. She swirled her wine glass. “Alright, let us not talk about these unnecessary things. Let us drink!”
He grew more interested in Gu Xijiu! The two of them drank together. Lan Fei also spontaneously serenaded Gu Xijiu and asked her to sing for him as well.
He pointed at the moon in the sky and said, “Xijiu, on a night with a full moon such as this… on a season of reunion… such a beautiful night would need a celebration full of dancing and singing…”
Gu Xijiu looked at the moon in the sky. It brought her many memories from the past. However, she hated the full moon at the moment. Everything beautiful that happened in the past was now poison to her.
A saying arose within her mind, ‘This beautiful day was not the same as last night.’ Who else could she be thinking about?