Chapter 197 — A Sorrowful Past
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Tang Zhi, haven't you seen what's in Kang's heart? Tell him about it." Wei Zhao was driving, yet he kept an eye on Tang Zhi and Kang. Seeing Tang Zhi hesitate, he naturally understood what she was worried about.
"But..." Tang Zhi wavered. Kang's feelings were plain enough to her. If Kang could stay by Xiaofen's side, then perhaps Xiaofen could recover. But Xiaofen's past was a wretched one; once she spoke of it, could Kang accept it?
"No more buts. Keep butting and Kang will die of worry," Wei Zhao said with a smile.
Tang Zhi sighed and began to speak, her voice quiet and mournful: "Xiaofen and I, and Liu Xinlan too, grew up together in the shantytown. We were very close. But when we were in the third year of junior high, a boy forced his way into Xiaofen's life..."
"Kang Jingming?" Kang clenched his fists, his expression shifting slightly. In truth, he had already guessed the gist of it; he only wanted confirmation from Tang Zhi.
Tang Zhi sat up front and could not see Kang's face, so she did not notice anything amiss: "Yes, Kang Jingming. I'm surprised you still remember the name..."
She had mentioned the name Kang Jingming only once before, to Liu Xinlan, and had never expected Kang's memory to be so sharp. It seemed he truly cared for Xiaofen...
As Xiaofen's closest friend, Tang Zhi naturally hoped Xiaofen would recover quickly and stop living each day in depression. She had consulted a doctor back then, and the doctor said Xiaofen's trouble was a sickness of the mind; the best cure was for her to begin a new romance and forget the old sorrow.
Tang Zhi did not approve of young love, but special cases called for special measures. If Kang and Xiaofen could truly come together, she would be glad to see it. Only, now that Kang knew the particulars of Xiaofen's situation, he might still...
But Wei Zhao, glancing in the rearview mirror, caught Kang's furious expression and felt a faint misgiving stir in his heart.
"Kang Jingming pursued Xiaofen ardently..." Here Tang Zhi could not help casting Wei Zhao a sideways glare. "Kang Jingming came from a good family, very rich. At school he was the sort of pampered young master whom a single call would bring a hundred answers. Xiaofen was young and ignorant, and so she was taken in..."
Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. Why are you glaring at me? I am no pampered young master... And I haven't even begun to court you... All those things you thought before, they really were misunderstandings!
"So they got together..." Tang Zhi went on. "At first the two of them were quite happy, but later Kang Jingming grew more and more distant from Xiaofen. Xiaofen asked him what was wrong, and he proposed that they break up..."
"Of course Xiaofen refused. By then she had fallen deeply in love with Kang Jingming... and she had already been... intimate with him..." At this point Tang Zhi's cheeks flushed faintly. Though she was eighteen and counted an adult, she was still a young girl after all, and speaking of such things embarrassed her. "She went to find Kang Jingming and demand an explanation, only to see him getting into a taxi with another beautiful woman. Xiaofen would not give up; she chased the taxi from behind, crying Kang Jingming's name, but he only turned and gave her a cold glance, and did not tell the driver to stop..."
Liu Xinlan and I tried to call Xiaofen back, but she would not listen. She kept stubbornly chasing that taxi, and just then a large truck came driving up and knocked Xiaofen down...
Even so, Kang Jingming did not get out of the car to see Xiaofen. He simply drove away. Within a few days he had transferred schools and was never seen again. And Xiaofen was left lame in one leg. From then on she could only limp when she walked, and she could not walk for long; ordinarily she had to sit in a wheelchair...