Wei Yumeng's hand holding the cotton swab trembled, and the expression on her face froze. She looked at Zhan Mohan, caught off guard.
After a long pause, she finally managed to ask, "You... are you really decided?"
"This matter needs a decision. Grandfather would not allow such an ugly thing to happen to the Zhan family."
Zhan Mohan could not allow his father's past to repeat, nor could he allow his grandfather to suffer such a blow. The Zhan family was built by his grandfather, and he would absolutely not let it be ruined because of him.
Wei Yumeng listlessly let her shoulders droop. She was truly tired of explaining, and no longer wanted to. Since he didn't believe her and insisted on divorcing her, so be it.
She didn't have the habit of clinging to others. If a person didn't love you, staying by their side would only lead to further embarrassment.
"Alright, since that's the case, I won't argue anymore. You won't believe me anyway."
But this did not mean she would let this matter fester. She could not bear false accusations; she would investigate this thoroughly and prove her innocence.
As Wei Yumeng turned to throw away the cotton swab, her eyes reddened. She held back her tears, but a sharp ache surged in her nose.
In the past, it was always she who brought up divorce with Zhan Mohan, and she hadn't felt much about it. Now, he was the one proposing it, and so resolutely. She was, to some extent, unwilling to accept it.
But she was not the type to beg him.
She raised her hand and wiped the corners of her eyes, forcing a calm demeanor.
"I'm going out for a bit."
Zhan Mohan made no sound, letting her leave the ward.
Wei Yumeng left the hospital and first called Xin Ran.
Xin Ran was not surprised to receive her call. He knew Wei Yumeng's character too well. The reason she hadn't asked him at the time was that she hadn't yet recovered her senses, and now she should have processed it enough.
His voice was as gentle as ever, as if nothing had happened between them.
"Yumeng."
"Let's meet."
"Okay, where do you want to meet?" Xin Ran agreed readily.
"At the cafe in Harmony Plaza. Book a private room."
Their situation was already known to reporters, so she couldn't meet Xin Ran openly anymore, lest they demonize it further.
"Okay."
After hanging up, Wei Yumeng let out a long sigh, then took a taxi to Harmony Plaza. When she arrived, Xin Ran was already there.
Seeing Xin Ran again, she could no longer treat him with the same composure she once did, as if he were just a friend.
Wei Yumeng walked up and sat down. Xin Ran asked her, "Would you like something to drink?"
"Orange juice," she said, afraid that coffee would keep her awake at night.
Xin Ran said to the server, "Orange juice."
After the server left, silence fell between them again. Wei Yumeng pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Tell me about that day. What exactly happened?"
Xin Ran took a sip of his coffee. "What happened? Don't you know?"
"My feeling is that nothing happened between us."
After she got out of bed, aside from feeling dizzy, she felt no physical discomfort.
Xin Ran let out a scoff. "That only proves I was very gentle with you and didn't hurt you."
"Xin Ran!" Wei Yumeng shouted at him in anger. She had never seen this side of Xin Ran. In her memory, he had always been a kind and sunny big boy who had helped her a lot. He had also suffered his parents' scolding and Zhan Mohan's antagonism because of her.
She remembered all his kindness to her. Even if she couldn't repay him, she would consider him a lifelong good friend.
But what was the situation now? I considered you a good friend, and you wanted to sleep with me.
Xin Ran reacted to her shout, his expression annoyed.
"Yumeng, why are you so insistent on distancing yourself from me? Even if you feel nothing happened, does Zhan Mohan believe it? Even if I went to explain to him, it would only make him think we were deceiving him together. Your relationship with him cannot continue. From the beginning, it was a mistake. I was just helping you end it."
"I don't need this kind of ending. Even if I'm not with Zhan Mohan, I don't want him to misunderstand me this way."
Wei Yumeng still couldn't forget the look on Zhan Mohan's face when he saw her and Xin Ran lying in bed—anger, coldness, disappointment, confusion. Every subtle expression of his was etched in her mind, unforgettable.
The thought of Zhan Mohan's expression sent a dull ache through her heart, as if someone were pulling at her heart, suffocating her, making her incredibly miserable.
Xin Ran frowned, his hands clenched tightly on the edge of the table.
"Are you afraid of him misunderstanding you, or do you simply not want to leave him!"
Wei Yumeng's expression faltered. Xin Ran's words made her feel as though the deepest secret in her heart had been seen through.
Xin Ran sneered, lowering his head. "You think you're the only one who knows you've fallen for Zhan Mohan? Anyone with eyes can see it. Your supposed secret is no longer a secret. Your feelings for him far exceed your expectations."
Wei Yumeng's previous anger was doused by Xin Ran's words, like a bucket of cold water, chilling her to the bone.
She thought she had hidden it well, only to have it seen through by someone. But it didn't matter. She forced a strained smile and looked at Xin Ran.
"But he can't see it."
Even Xin Ran, who only met her occasionally, could see that she liked Zhan Mohan. Yet, Zhan Mohan himself couldn't.
For her, this was either good or ironic.
Xin Ran was almost speechless with Wei Yumeng. "Give up, Yumeng. Your marriage to him was a transaction from the start. Zhan Laoye just believed in fate, thinking you could help him recover. As for Zhan Mohan, his spending so much time with you is simply because he's in an emotional drought."
At this point, Wei Yumeng looked up in surprise. "You know about Jiang Siyu?"
Xin Ran shrugged and scoffed. "Their affairs weren't much of a secret. It caused quite a stir in Pengcheng back then, though the Zhan family managed to suppress it. It wasn't hard to investigate."
"So, you planned it all, just to trap me, to make me pretend to have a relationship with you, so that Zhan Mohan would divorce me?"
Xin Ran stated again, "It wasn't pretend between us. It's just that you didn't feel it yourself."
"Even if you don't admit it, I will investigate this matter thoroughly." She would prove her innocence.
Xin Ran didn't want to argue with Wei Yumeng about these matters. He steered the conversation back to Zhan Mohan.
"Did Zhan Mohan say anything?"
Wei Yumeng took a deep breath, turned her face away, and said reluctantly, "He wants a divorce."
"Did you agree to it?" Xin Ran asked somewhat impatiently.
Wei Yumeng frowned. "Xin Ran, what good would it do you if Zhan Mohan and I divorced? I've always considered you my best friend, yet you stab me in the back."