WT Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Departure – A Kiss from the Abyss, Brutal and Pious…

Under the umbrella, Jiang Quanyu was slightly stunned in place.

His hand holding the umbrella clenched tightly, the sound of snowflakes falling on the umbrella traveled all the way to his palm, an imperceptible yet deafening soft sound.

Amidst the falling snowflakes, Wen Shixi quietly said, “From childhood to adulthood, for Dad, for you, I played the piano for many years. After you left, I thought I would no longer have any expectations for life, but no matter how desperate I was, I couldn’t give up my piano. Now, I want to use it to find a life that belongs to me.”

He looked at Jiang Quanyu’s face, his eyes calm.

“Although I’m still very confused and don’t know what I should do, maybe I’ll play the piano anywhere in Vienna, perform with all kinds of musicians, I’ll be fine, I’ll try to be happy every day, and live like this.”

So, Jiang Quanyu, don’t stay in that deep sea named after me anymore.

The sky sank into the night, the stars disappeared without a trace, leaving only the fluttering snowflakes, falling with the breeze.

In Jiang Quanyu’s eyes, Wen Shixi, holding flowers and talking about the future, was especially serene and peaceful.

In the silence, Jiang Quanyu did not speak.

The man’s silence seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and even standing quietly in place at this moment was extremely difficult.

After a moment, Jiang Quanyu, with the sound of snow falling, walked up to Wen Shixi.

In the cold twilight, the umbrella handle that had been held tightly, still had residual warmth, the only warm thing at this moment and place.

Jiang Quanyu took Wen Shixi’s hand and slowly handed the umbrella to Wen Shixi.

The edge of the umbrella blocked the falling snow, gently protecting the young man holding the bouquet.

Jiang Quanyu’s gaze was gentle and wandering, finally looking at the snowflakes in Wen Shixi’s hair.

The next second, Jiang Quanyu walked away.

The sound of leaving footsteps was especially chaotic, gradually moving away on the paving stones.

Wen Shixi was stunned for a moment, watching Jiang Quanyu’s figure suddenly turn and leave, his lips slightly parted.

As it moved further and further away, the figure kept shrinking, flickering in the intervals of the streetlights, with a hint of hurriedness.

Wen Shixi lightly pursed his lips, then, holding the remaining warmth on the umbrella, he suddenly called out.

His voice pierced through the snow, questioning the departing figure.

“Jiang Quanyu.”

“…Will you destroy my future again?”

As the sound waves spread, the man stopped abruptly.

The sea breeze howled, surrounding his hair.

The sea breeze constantly brushed over that fleeing figure, and then blew towards Wen Shixi not far behind him, but in the end, it couldn’t bring him anything.

The figure blurred by the snowflakes seemed distant and indifferent, yet filled with burning sorrow, as if trembling slightly.

After a moment, Jiang Quanyu moved his feet again.

Step by step, the figure disappeared into the coast intertwined with night and snow.

–

It had rained for several days in the harbor city, but suddenly turned to snow this evening.

Chen Jiale received a call and arrived at the hotel suite where Jiang Quanyu had been staying before nightfall. The road conditions were chaotic, and it took him a long time.

On the upper floors of the hotel, Assistant Gu was waiting in the living room at the entrance of the suite.

When the assistant saw Chen Jiale, he stood up and said meticulously, “There is a meeting scheduled at ten o’clock to communicate the next quarter’s investment plan with the Washington business unit, but President Jiang has not left the room. I knocked on the door, but he didn’t respond.”

At this moment, inside the large room, separated by a wall, everything was shrouded in impenetrable darkness.

A tall figure stood by the window, in the very center of the darkness, quietly watching the world outside the window.

His eyes were filled with the broken snow flashing past the window, but could only reflect a blurry scene.

It took Jiang Quanyu a long time to recover his hearing from the prolonged deafness.

Then, every sound that poured towards him was intertwined with what Wen Shixi had said to him tonight.

Amidst the terrifying heartbeat, Jiang Quanyu’s only thought was that he should have locked Wen Shixi in the room, not allowing Wen Shixi to see or do anything.

As long as he broke those legs that could run around at will, Wen Shixi would have no way to leave.

As long as Wen Shixi’s every breath obeyed his orders, Wen Shixi would never be able to leave him.

Cages, chains, it didn’t matter.

Or, just kill Wen Shixi…

His chaotic eyes suddenly sharpened, covered with heavy violence.

As long as Wen Shixi stayed by his side, he could do anything.

But in the end, Jiang Quanyu didn’t do anything.

Even… he ran away.

He stood in the darkness, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Memories were so far away that they couldn’t be examined, leaving only the melody constantly echoing in the hollow silence around him.

From his childhood, whenever darkness fell, before Jiang Quanyu fell asleep, his mother would sing to him, coaxing him into a dream little by little.

After his mother passed away, for many years, Jiang Quanyu could only rely on the player, listening to those classical music his mother loved to fall asleep.

But no matter how expensive the player was, for many years, it could not play the sound that could truly put him at ease.

Until, an inconspicuous adopted son was thrown to the old house like a burden.

At the same late-night hour, the moment the sound of the piano came, Jiang Quanyu lay in bed and slowly opened his eyes.

Because he was young, the songs Wen Shixi played were very simple, the timbre was immature and dry, and the rhythm was also very chaotic.

For Jiang Quanyu, who had been listening to classical music for many years, this kind of “music” was no different from noise.

But as time passed, Jiang Quanyu endured this sound for a full three years.

Snow lightly fell, Jiang Quanyu gently closed his eyes in the long memories.

He had endured it for a full three years, but perhaps, those every night was not only endurance for him.

The noise from Wen Shixi, like companionship, told him at every moment when the stars lit up that the world was not only scrutinizing him, but also someone was moving forward in loneliness with him.

He listened to the piano sound from the beginning of crooked and twisted, becoming more and more pleasing to the ear, but gradually heard from the piano sound, the loneliness and fear of a child.

Chopin’s own paper roll recordings were as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack.

Then the cross-border contact and price negotiation with the seller, every step was not smooth.

But such a gift can let that noisy idiot see the truth, Jiang Quanyu felt it was worth it.

But Jiang Quanyu really did not expect that when Wen Shixi knew that he could not get Jiang Yan’s approval, he would cry for so long.

Regret mixed with irritability, like an unsolvable mystery, constantly expanding in his heart.

Until he lowered his posture, went to the piano room to coax Wen Shixi, and heard Wen Shixi ask him.

“If I continue to play the piano, will brother still come to see me?”

Jiang Quanyu didn’t understand, why did he obviously destroy Wen Shixi’s hope, but Wen Shixi still wanted him to come?

Why didn’t Wen Shixi blame him, nor stay away from him?

For a moment, the heavy shell attached to the cold world revealed a crack.

Jiang Quanyu thought, maybe there really is someone in the world who doesn’t comment on his every decision, criticize his every choice, just looks at him like this, expecting his arrival.

His lightly moving eyebrows instantly turned into an eager desire.

What he wanted, that thing that only belonged to him, maybe didn’t need to wait for many years, he could have it from now on.

“You have to play for me, then I will consider it.”

Just play for me.

In the broken and blurred memory, Jiang Quanyu could hardly recall how Wen Shixi had agreed to him at that time?

Did Wen Shixi say: Yeah, I’ll only play for you.

But today, why is Wen Shixi saying again that he has decided to go to Vienna with Cheng Xuan…

Is the dependence that started from deprivation so unreliable?

He should be angry, but why can’t he be angry with Wen Shixi like this?

He can understand every piano sound of Wen Shixi, and he can hear in that symphony, every note of Wen Shixi is full of devotion to music.

He must lock Wen Shixi up, but in a trance, he suddenly… couldn’t do that.

If seven years ago, he had not withdrawn Wen Shixi’s study abroad application, would they be different?

If that day, he had not heard Wen Shixi’s piano sound, and everything after that had not happened, would they be happier now?

At least… Wen Shixi would be happier, right?

In a tangled mind, he recalled what Shen Chuji said when he left the psychological clinic for the last time.

“If you insist on getting close to Wen Shixi, whether it’s you or him, it will be very painful.”

“I just want to remind you again, make a choice that is good for both of you.”

In the night, Jiang Quanyu quietly closed his eyes.

From beginning to end, he just wanted Wen Shixi to stay by his side.

It took him a full seven years to return to the place where Wen Shixi was.

In the unbearable unease, a dull pain came from his chest, and his limbs gradually became cold.

Jiang Quanyu sank into a vague and splitting pain, gently asking himself, is it such an unattainable wish that he just wants one person?

Outside the door, Assistant Gu frowned and stood for a while, hesitating, gently knocking on the door.

Assistant Gu: “President Jiang, are you asleep? I contacted Washington, and they said they can postpone the meeting to the afternoon. Considering the time difference, it will be around one o’clock at night. Is this arrangement okay? Or, if you are not feeling well, do you need me to notify the doctor to come over now?”

As the voice fell, in the silence, there was still no response from inside the room.

Jiang Quanyu was isolated in the immovable water pressure, the sound came across the water, but only a vague echo remained.

Outside the door, Chen Jiale leaned on the sofa not far away, seeing that Jiang Quanyu still did not answer, he shook his head at Assistant Gu from afar.

“Forget it, don’t call him.” Chen Jiale said, “Let’s call it a day, cancel the meeting, and you go back to rest.”

The snow stopped in the late night, the shaking snow outside the window gradually disappeared, that motionless world, like being pressed the pause button by a pair of hands.

Everything became exceptionally dark after falling into silence.

The figure by the window walked back to the bed step by step, sitting on the soft edge of the bed.

Jiang Quanyu was like returning to countless similar late nights in the past, he could only sit quietly in such darkness, in the time that would not flow, listening little by little to the wreckage from himself.

Time was like slow crawling, when the sunrise came, the morning light slanted into the window, shining on the figure who had been sitting by the bed for a long time.

The phone made a prompt sound, a series of to-do items displayed in the center of the screen.

Each of them was something that as the head of the Jiang family, he had to complete, the future he had personally chosen for Wen Shixi.

In the morning light, Jiang Quanyu looked calm.

He seemed to have become accustomed to this kind of life, after gently closing his eyes, he stood up from the bed.

Washing up, putting on a suitable suit, perfectly buttoning every button, turning back into the Jiang Quanyu who was not shaken by anything.

Then, in the silence, he walked out of the door that had been closed all night.

Outside the door, Chen Jiale was sleeping soundly on the wide sofa.

Jiang Quanyu walked to the sofa and reached out to pat Chen Jiale on the shoulder.

Chen Jiale was drowsy, his eyes opened a crack, looking at the neatly dressed person beside him.

“Morning.”

Jiang Quanyu: “Get up.”

Chen Jiale wanted to sleep for a while: “What time is it?”

Jiang Quanyu: “Seven fifteen.”

“So early?” Chen Jiale wailed: “What are you getting up so early for?”

“Work.” Jiang Quanyu said.

A life composed of endless meetings, negotiations, weighing the pros and cons, is full of unreachable distances.

In the sunshine, on the highest floor of a high-end office building, Jiang Quanyu flipped through the documents in his hand, signing one name after another.

In addition to the investment industry in Washington, the approval for the construction of the amusement park officially arrived today, all contracts were signed and entered the process, and the entire president’s office was extremely busy.

A few minutes before the meeting started, Jiang Quanyu sat in the large office chair, looking at the amusement park plan in his hand.

The most beautiful stretch of coastline along the coast was specially reserved by him for holding holographic ocean symphony concerts.

His steady gaze lingered on the drawing, lightly looking at the area painted with blue background.

Various voices stirring in his mind stirred up a slight feeling of nausea.

Until the meeting ended, Chen Jiale waited at the door of the conference room, saying to Jiang Quanyu who was coming out: “Let’s go to lunch, go together?”

Jiang Quanyu looked calm and walked past Chen Jiale: “No, you go.”

Having suffered from prolonged torment, Jiang Quanyu had long become his own doctor.

In Jiang Quanyu’s experience, his current condition would cause him to vomit as soon as he ate, so instead of forcing himself to eat and enduring an extra portion of gastrointestinal discomfort, it was better to just stay like this.

Chen Jiale watched that figure walking away, his brows slightly furrowed.

The office building on Monday was especially busy, in addition to the officially launched amusement park project, there were also many sub-industry projects that needed to be planned or followed up.

Work was endless, money and numbers were no different, and could no longer bring any joy or sense of accomplishment.

Until nightfall, the stars filled the coast.

Jiang Quanyu answered the international conference that was postponed yesterday. Since morning, he had been working for more than ten hours.

All the assistants had returned to the hotel to rest, the entire floor of the office building, from the office area to the president’s office, was quiet, with only dim lights remaining.

Jiang Quanyu recorded the key points while speaking from time to time, and after formulating the investment direction with other participating employees, the overloaded brain finally stopped running at the moment the meeting ended, and stopped in the tinnitus.

At this time, a call tone rang.

Jiang Quanyu answered the phone, gently said “Hello”, then, in the long silence, gently closed his eyes, and finally ordered: “Yeah, any amount of money is fine, buy it.”

The phone hung up, and the world surged into a dark color again.

Not long after, a sound of footsteps, passed through the office area, came to Jiang Quanyu’s office.

Jiang Quanyu looked up and saw Chen Jiale walking into the room, holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“Finished?” Chen Jiale asked.

Jiang Quanyu watched Chen Jiale walk to the small refrigerator, take out ice cubes from inside, and take two glasses from the coffee table in the reception area.

Chen Jiale’s hands were full, and he walked to the desk: “Last time on the cruise, didn’t you drink a bottle of my 55-year limited edition Macallan? Let me show you whatGreat stuff my family has in stock.”

Chen Jiale originally called Shen Chuji, wanting to ask what happened.

But Shen Chuji was extremely unreliable, saying that he had already prescribed sleeping pills to Jiang Quanyu, and told Chen Jiale not to worry.

As someone who knew Jiang Quanyu well enough, Shen Chuji believed that Jiang Quanyu knew what he was doing.

In the light, Jiang Quanyu watched Chen Jiale pour wine into the glass, and raised his hand to pull his bow tie.

The liquid slowly flowed in, causing the ice cubes to jingle.

Jiang Quanyu gently breathed out and asked, “You’re planning to drink in my office?”

Chen Jiale: “Wen Shixi has booked a flight to Vienna tomorrow, I think you need to drink a little wine.”

The anxiety that had been lingering in his mind for the whole day was revealed by Chen Jiale at this moment.

After undergoing endless nibbling, a sharp dagger was finally inserted into his heart.

Chen Jiale pushed the glass to Jiang Quanyu: “Drink it, I stole it from my brother’s wine cabinet, maybe there is only this bottle in the entire Linggang, the 81-year limited edition Macallan.”

–

When the moon was in the center, Wen Shixi collapsed on the bed, feeling that he didn’t have any strength left in his body.

Because his uncle was going to take back this house, he had to pack up all his things before he left.

He was busy all day, went to the bank to reissue the lost bank card, sorted out all the items in the house, packed his luggage, contacted a moving company to handle those large pieces of furniture that he couldn’t take away, and only just finished all the items.

Among all the things that could not be taken away, the only thing Wen Shixi was reluctant to part with was his piano.

But he couldn’t take the piano to Vienna with him, nor did he want his piano to lie in the warehouse of the moving company, until it became scrap, and he didn’t have time to pick a suitable pianist who wouldn’t treat his piano as a worthless gift, and would always treat it well.

The phone rang, Wen Shixi answered the phone, and after the person on the other side finished speaking, he was slightly surprised: “So soon, there is a buyer?”

The price was negotiated very smoothly, the other party offered a good price, and the call ended quickly.

Wen Shixi lay on the bed, stunned for a moment, and got up from the bed.

He walked out of the bedroom, stood in the moonlight, and looked at his piano.

His luck seemed to suddenly improve, he met a seller who offered a straightforward price and knew a lot about pianos.

It’s just that he thought he would have to wait for a while, until he landed in Vienna and started his new life, then he would receive such a call.

Wen Shixi took a step and walked to the piano.

Opening the cover, his fingertips gently stroked the keys.

Reluctance lingered in his eyes, filled with deep nostalgia.

At this time, the doorbell rang not far away.

Wen Shixi turned his head and looked towards the entrance in confusion.

He walked to the door and looked out from the video doorbell.

Half of Chen Jiale’s face appeared in the camera, winking at him.

Wen Shixi was puzzled, grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

The moment the door opened, Chen Jiale, supporting a figure, stumbled in: “Help me, help me, I can’t hold him.”

Wen Shixi was stunned, and quickly supported the two.

Then he looked up and saw that the person Chen Jiale was supporting on his shoulder was Jiang Quanyu.

The smell of alcohol hit his face, mixed with cold air.

Wen Shixi quickly asked, “Why are you here, what’s wrong with Jiang Quanyu? Alcohol?”

Chen Jiale directly supported Jiang Quanyu and walked into the room, and after seeing that the room was almost empty, he stood in place for a moment.

Then, while continuing to walk inside, he said: “Your brother drank too much, I can’t find his room card, I can’t send him back to the hotel.”

Wen Shixi was stunned for two seconds, and quickly caught up with Chen Jiale’s figure: “Hey, no, then take him back to your house, wait! Hey!”

The last time Chen Jiale came, he turned around Wen Shixi’s house twice, and now he knew his way around and dragged Jiang Quanyu all the way into Wen Shixi’s bedroom.

Wen Shixi was going crazy looking at the bandit who broke into his house.

“Chen Jiale!” He followed behind and saw Chen Jiale throw Jiang Quanyu directly on his bed.

Chen Jiale stood up: “I can’t take him home, I stole my brother’s wine, I have to hide in a friend’s house tonight.”

Chen Jiale left Jiang Quanyu and walked towards the door, walking very fast: “I’m leaving, you take him in for a day, anyway, you have been brothers for so many years, just help him with a small favor, you don’t want tomorrow’s headlines, it’s Jiang Group’s President drunk in the street in the middle of the night, this kind of explosive news, right.”

As Chen Jiale spoke, he walked to the living room.

Wen Shixi chased out: “Then what does it mean for you to put him here, I have nothing to do with him anymore, aren’t you afraid that I will just throw him on the street?”

Chen Jiale walked to the entrance, and when he heard Wen Shixi’s words, he turned around.

He looked at Wen Shixi’s tightly frowning eyebrows, thought for a while, and casually said: “Then throw him away.”

Then, Chen Jiale walked away very smartly. When he went out, he even thoughtfully closed the door for Wen Shixi.

Wen Shixi listened to the sound of the door closing, the whole person stood in the living room, stunned for a moment in place.

In the silence, he turned his head in inexplicable confusion, looking towards the bedroom.

Wen Shixi’s bedroom was filled with the smell of his pheromones.

In the faint scent of snow, the man on the bed frowned slightly, then slowly relaxed.

Alcohol was churning in the empty stomach, confusing the brain, Jiang Quanyu sensed the familiar smell, and the heart that had been tightened for the whole day, relaxed little by little in the irresistible peace of mind.

Like those nights listening to Wen Shixi’s piano sound, salvation finally came to his side.

Not long after, Wen Shixi, holding a bottle of ice water, came to the door of his bedroom.

He leaned against the door and looked at the man on the bed.

Wen Shixi had never seen Jiang Quanyu drunk.

Jiang Quanyu seemed to have nothing to do withLoss of attitude since birth, he could always maintain that unchanging poker face, doing everything flawlessly.

But at this time, Jiang Quanyu had no resistance, lying on his bed like a rascal.

Wen Shixi crossed his arms: “Jiang Quanyu, can you still hear me?”

The person on the bed heard the sound, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his lips slowly opened and closed.

Because of the distance, Wen Shixi couldn’t hear Jiang Quanyu’s murmur, he thought for a moment and got up to walk to the bed.

The edge of the bed sank, Wen Shixi approached Jiang Quanyu’s face, and whispered, “What are you saying? Say it again.”

As he approached, the familiar breath was close at hand, and Jiang Quanyu slowly opened a slit in his eyes.

For Jiang Quanyu, the person he had been sitting empty for many years and could not see was right in front of him at this time.

Seeing that Jiang Quanyu was not talking again, Wen Shixi was about to get up and leave.

At this time, a hot palm suddenly raised, grabbing the figure that was about to leave.

The man used all his strength to grab the person he must not lose, and with a strong pull, pulled the person straight onto the bed.

Wen Shixi was pulled, his waist was also wrapped, almost turned over, lying on the soft bed on his back.

Immediately afterwards, the approaching body hung directly above, controlling his hands and pressing them firmly on the bed.

At the moment when their eyes met, Wen Shixi saw a blurry abyss in Jiang Quanyu’s slightly opened eyes.

The figure sank, lips met.

A kiss from the abyss, brutal and pious.

A yearning fit, like sinking into a big dream.

Jiang Quanyu frowned all the time, his unwillingly closed eyes flashed with dark light, gazing at Wen Shixi’s stunned eyes.

The deep kiss was like grinding on the tip of a knife, cutting open wounds on the skin, embedding itself into the deepest part of the heart with bloody pain.