Chapter 261: See You Again in the Next Life_2
Upon returning home, Chen Feng first went to freshen up, then came back and lay down on the bed, falling asleep quickly. He had drunk most of a bottle of Moutai earlier, and its aftereffects were still quite strong.
The next morning when he woke up, it was just the crack of dawn, and Sun Xiaorui, lying next to him, was still asleep.
Chen Feng first went to the bathroom, then returned to lie down on the bed again.
At this moment, Sun Xiaorui woke up groggily and asked, "Brother Feng, are you getting up for your morning exercise?"
"Not yet, you go back to sleep," he replied.
After Sun Xiaorui murmured an "okay," she went back to sleep. Chen Feng turned his body and checked his phone; it was a little after five in the morning. The screen also displayed an unread text message.
Chen Feng clicked on it instinctively; it was from Shen Lin, sent around two in the morning.
He had already deleted and blocked her on WeChat, which was a way for him to express his stance to her, but he hadn't blocked her phone number.
[Chen Feng, I've thought a lot, reminiscing about all those years we spent together, the happiness, the quarrels, and the pain. But I never regretted meeting you, knowing you, and marrying you. I have always been grateful for the happy times you gave me in those years. I'll never forget them in my lifetime.
I think I finally understand why you were the one who proactively filed for divorce. Back then, your work wasn't going well; you were sensitive and fragile inside with a strong sense of pride. And just when you needed my encouragement and comfort the most, I quarreled with you and gave you the silent treatment, causing you further hurt and deep disappointment in me.
I deeply regret treating you that way, but I never meant to hurt you. I just couldn't bear to see you wallow and lose your drive. I hoped that through our quarrels and me giving you the cold shoulder, you would pull yourself together, but clearly, my method was foolish and directly ended our marriage.
When you first brought up divorce, I was very angry and upset, but still, I planned to give you an extra two months. Unfortunately, you didn't accept it, and my pride wouldn't allow me to soften further, ultimately leading to the most foolish decision. In this failed marriage of ours, my mistakes were the majority. I was the one who destroyed my own happiness.
I thought after leaving you, I'd be happier. But in the past six months, I haven't been happy at all. Even though I thought you were a jerk at that time, I still found myself thinking about you frequently. Many times I resolved to move out of the apartment we rented, but in the end, I never left. Because there were too many memories there; I was afraid that by moving out, the most beautiful memories of my life would slowly fade away.
I'm sorry, Chen Feng, I'm in so much pain now. I don't know what you'll think after reading my message—maybe you'll also think I'm a jerk, right? When you needed me the most, I smothered you with family cold violence, making it worse. And now that you're successful and wealthy, I regret divorcing you.
I feel like such a clown right now!
If there is a next life, I hope to meet you again, preferably on a sunny afternoon, when you are in your prime and I am in my youth. By then, I will never let you disappear from my life; I will hold onto you tightly, hold onto our love and marriage. I will grow old with you and accompany you for a lifetime.
Chen Feng, I'm sorry, see you in the next life if fate allows!]
At first, Chen Feng felt relatively calm while reading it, but after all, she was a woman with whom he had lived for five or six years, married once, and as he kept reading, he couldn't help but feel emotionally stirred. By the end, even if he had little emotion left for Shen Lin, he still felt a wave of emotion stir, his eyes growing warm.
Even though Chen Feng suspected Shen Lin was deliberately being sentimental, trying to make him recall their beautiful and happy past to use emotion against him, he had to admit that Shen Lin's move was not something he could entirely ignore.
After all, they did love each other back then, and it was the golden years of their lives.
Chen Feng sighed silently, uncertain whether he should respond to her long message.
Then... he suddenly realized something was off. The long part before was one thing, but the later part, especially the last sentence "see you in the next life if fate allows"—what did that mean?
No! It can't be?
The more Chen Feng thought about it, the more uneasy he felt and the more his heart raced.
He struggled in bed for a few seconds, finally muttered "shit!" and immediately got up and out of bed.
Sun Xiaorui was startled awake by his "shit," opened her eyes in confusion, and looked at Chen Feng, who was standing by the bed and dressing rapidly.
"What's wrong? Are you going out for exercise?"
"Yeah. Go back to sleep," he replied casually.
Chen Feng gave a perfunctory response, then pulled on pants, didn't even put on socks, grabbed his phone, and rushed out of the room.
Sun Xiaorui looked puzzled, staring blankly for quite a while. She glanced outside the window, noticing that it wasn't even daylight yet.
Chen Feng jogged down from upstairs, dialing Shen Lin's number as he quickly ran to the entrance hall to put on his shoes.
By the time he opened the villa's door and got out, the call hadn't gone through, automatically hanging up.
He dialed again, quickly heading to the garage, opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and started the car rapidly.
He pressed the remote for the villa gate.
The second call still didn't get through.
Chen Feng could only accept it, put down the phone, and steered the car towards the villa's gate.
Ten minutes or so later, Chen Feng arrived once again at the gate of the residential area where he and Shen Lin had rented for years.
It was nearly 5:30 in the morning by then, and quite a few people were already up, making the street lively.
But Chen Feng was in no mood to pay attention, driving straight to the entrance of the community.
The security here was decent, with two on shift. The one on duty now was a middle-aged man in his forties named Liu, a former soldier who had been working here for several years. Chen Feng and Shen Lin had lived here for a few years, so they knew him.
Chen Feng leaned out from the car window, calling out, "Brother Liu, could you raise the barrier, please?"
As he spoke, Chen Feng handed over a hundred bucks. It would have been best to offer a pack of cigarettes, but since Chen Feng didn't smoke, he didn't have the habit of keeping cigarettes in the car.
In the early morning, not many people were passing through the community, so Liu first recognized Chen Feng, then swiftly took the large red bill, smiling, "It's you. Haven't seen you for a while. I heard you divorced your wife. Are you trying to win her back now?"
Chen Feng didn't have time to explain, urging, "I have an emergency, please hurry."
Seeing this, Brother Liu wasn't angry, considering he was paid, and instead smiled as he quickly raised the barrier.
Chen Feng stepped on the accelerator and drove into the community, parking quickly under the apartment building they once lived in, then jumped out and ran to the building's entrance, skillfully punching in the passcode and swiftly heading upstairs.