Chapter 197 — A Sorrowful Past

"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...

After that, Xiaofen dropped out of school too. Every day she stayed at home, her mind wandering. Kang Jingming had treated her so, and still she could not forget him, still fantasizing that he might change his heart... Ah, Wenwen and I have tried to talk sense into her many times, but she simply will not listen..."

"Damn it!" Kang slammed his fist against the roof of the car, his face flushed red, his chest heaving; he was plainly beside himself with rage. "That bastard Kang Jingming!"

"The car... the car... the car isn't mine, it's borrowed..." Wei Zhao broke into a sweat. Looking at the dent Kang had punched into the roof, he was somewhat speechless. Miss Chen won't kill me, will she? What a mess.

Hearing Wei Zhao's words, Tang Zhi immediately felt a touch of contempt. Your own brother is furious beyond measure, and you are still fretting over the car? You rich young master, with all your money, do you really care about a little repair fee?

Kang seemed not to hear Wei Zhao at all, and went on pounding the roof with one fist after another. Wei Zhao was ready to weep but had no tears; when this fellow's strength burst out, it really was considerable...

It seemed that once they got back, he must have Uncle Qing take the car for repairs at once, and not let Miss Chen see it, or he was dead for certain... She would probably never lend him her car again.

But how was he to explain it to Uncle Qing? Hmm, he would just say he had run into enemies of Gu Pengzhan and been attacked. After all, that day when he spoke of those two unlucky yellow-rank experts, Uncle Qing had been present too. He would say Li Cihua had sent men to do it. Haha, he was a genius. So Wei Zhao mused.

Kang was caught up in a most furious emotion. He seemed to see a frail young girl stumbling after a taxi, gazing in despair at the man and the beautiful woman inside...

She screamed herself hoarse, wanting to hold back the man in the taxi, but there was nothing she could do...

Just as her heart was breaking, a truck came driving up and knocked her down.

And the man in the taxi, cold-blooded, did not even get out of the car, but simply drove away. And Xiaofen, collapsed in a pool of blood, still clung in her heart to that loathsome man.

Kang Jingming! Kang's face twisted. Had it been anyone else, Kang would not have taken it so hard, but this man was his own second cousin... the second cousin who had looked down on him since childhood, who had mocked his family...

"Phew..." Kang let out a long breath, looked at the roof panel he had caved in... and felt a little embarrassed. "Leader, I got a bit carried away..."

"Forget it, it is nothing." Wei Zhao had already thought of a solution. He smiled and said to Kang, "So, what are you thinking?"

The question Wei Zhao asked was in fact the very question Tang Zhi wanted to ask! She had finished recounting Xiaofen's situation and was waiting for Kang's answer! Xiaofen was no longer a virgin; this matter could be taken lightly or seriously. If Kang did not mind too much, it could be glossed over. The crucial question was Xiaofen's leg: would Kang accept a disabled person?