Pampered By All In Different Planes

"She didn't want to come back, so I let her be free."

Until the secretary, bewildered, walked out the door, that sentence from Lu Peijin still echoed in his mind.

Snapping back to reality, the secretary thought it seemed this time, Mr. Lu had truly been hurt.

A man who never smoked, always calm no matter the circumstance, was now surrounded by madness, breakdown, and emotions about to explode.

Feelings are truly an elusive beast.

The secretary shook his head and continued with his work.

*

Compared to the calm yet crazy situation here.

Su Zhiruan had spent several wonderful days with her grandmother.

The location was one she had long chosen—where spring was warm, the seasons distinct, the cost of living affordable, and the pace of life slow.

Here, every household grew many flowers, competing in their beauty. The moment her grandmother arrived in this small town, she immediately fell in love with it.

"Ruanruan, are we really going to settle down here?" Grandmother, looking at the property deed in her hand, still couldn't believe they had bought a house here.

Su Zhiruan looked at the house. She was very satisfied with this large flat; it was secure, the rooms were spacious, square, bright, and beautiful—expensive was its only fault.

But after all, in a small city, the prices weren't high. She had bought this house for two million and paid in full for a car as well.

"Grandma, just settle in peacefully, this is our home now," Su Zhiruan said, looking out at the bright flowers outside the window, breathing in the fresh air, feeling much better.

"Good, good, good!" Grandmother was delighted, wandering around and quickly babbling as she picked her room—it was an east-facing sunroom with a large windowsill perfect for growing flowers. It wasn't the largest room, but it was the best for her plants.

"Grandma, I've bought a lot of parcels. We can decorate our home together. This afternoon let's go out and get familiar with the surroundings," Su Zhiruan said with a smile, patting a pile of parcels beside her, holding a box cutter in her other hand, and started to open another two parcels as she spoke.

"To be able to live here in my old age is truly a blessing!" Grandmother was very happy.

She lovingly watched Su Zhiruan, watching her open parcels.

As one grows old, all one wants is to see their child happy and smiling every day. Some might say children also need to venture out, but the older generation still feels the best life is to have children stay close and happy.

Su Zhiruan was busy all day long, and in the evening, she gratefully ate the dinner made by her grandmother and then lay comfortably in bed to rest.

The season was neither cold nor hot; wearing pajamas, she lay in bed with the window slightly open, occasionally feeling a night breeze.

She was holding her phone, scrolling through short videos.

"Ruanruan, Grandma is going to sleep now! You should sleep early too!"

"Ok!" she quickly responded.

Afterward, she turned the volume down on her phone quite a bit.

However, just as she resumed scrolling through short videos, a call appeared at the top end of her phone.

She looked closely; it was Lu Peijin!

Just as she was about to answer, she saw that the other party had hung up.

Su Zhiruan sat up, feeling a bit conflicted about the call. It could have been a mistake, but it could have been something else too. What if the kids were sick?

Thinking this, she decided to call Lu Peijin back.

Watching her phone ring with a "beep beep," she unexpectedly felt a bit uneasy.

Then, the call was answered.

"...Hello?" Su Zhiruan tentatively asked.

There was no sound from the other end.

She brought the phone closer and could only hear faint breathing sounds from the other end, and if she listened more carefully, she could hear the sound of water flowing.

She grew more puzzled and continued, "Is this Lu Peijin?"

The other end still gave no answer.

But oddly, they hadn't hung up either.

Thinking it might have been accidentally answered and nobody was actually there, Su Zhiruan added, "If there's no one there, I'm going to hang up now."

The other end still gave no answer.

Su Zhiruan hung up the phone, puzzled, but soon she pushed the matter out of her mind.

On the other end of the phone was Lu Peijin.

If anyone had seen him at that moment, they would have been shocked!

Lu Peijin's eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and he was in an especially bad state.

Bottles were piled up like mountains on the table, the remaining alcohol flowing everywhere, even the floor was covered in liquor mixed with cigarette butts, making it hard to imagine to what extent he had been drinking and smoking.

Lu Peijin even thought that at that moment, he resembled a tramp.

During the day, he maintained his persona, caring for the child at home, meticulous in handling matters at the company.

But when he returned home at night, he even began to despise his own room.

He began to feel afraid of his bedroom.

In there, the moment he opened his eyes, she would disappear.

He dared not return to that room anymore.

Instead, the room that still held her scent became his daily sanctuary.

Lu Peijin had never thought that it was just a transactional relationship, a sponsorship relationship.

But he could fall into it so deeply.

When Su Zhiruan was there, he felt his life gradually filled with vitality, with human emotions.

But now, she didn't want him anymore.

She didn't want him...

Each word felt as if it was a knife carving into Lu Peijin's heart.

He lifted the bottle and drank it down in one gulp, the scent of the alcohol trickling down his neck.

But at that moment, he knew nothing, his consciousness unclear, he longed to hear her voice.

Even though he was afraid, even if just for a second.

The moment he dialed Su Zhiruan's number, he regretted it.

Love was hard to express.

But from the beginning, this relationship was destined to end.

He frantically hung up the phone.

But the next second, he saw her calling back.

After a moment's thought, longing for that warmth, he answered the phone.

Her voice was soft, still familiarly gentle, she was still her.

But without her, he, Lu Peijin, seemed to have turned into a monster, timid, weak, crazy, yelling within his heart, urging him to start over, even resorting to methods she would dislike to keep her.

Yet, Lu Peijin couldn't bear to do it.

Lu Peijin was human only when Su Zhiruan was around, capable of tears, capable of laughter.

Lu Peijin was a monster, without her he lacked a refuge for his soul, lacked a heart, and became utterly monstrous.

He tilted his head back, had drunk much alcohol, and was still pouring it down.

The more he drank, the more pain he felt deep within.

The calm of the day could no longer suppress the monster of the night.

He wanted to set her free, but who could give him freedom, give him love?

Lu Peijin felt waves of desolation in his heart, a widespread desolation.

Afterward, he felt his consciousness blurring even more, his heart aching intensely.

In the last moment before he collapsed, he heard a noise outside.

"It's bad—Mr. Lu has fainted!!! Call an ambulance!!!"