At that moment, the waiter arrived with the dishes, and Mengqi naturally let go of Song Jiaping's hand.
Mengyao saw this scene through the all-glass door as soon as she arrived at the restaurant's entrance.
Mengqi held Song Jiaping's hand, and Song Jiaping was naturally wiping her tears.
Seeing a scene even more intimate than the photos with her own eyes, Mengyao's heart, which was already bleeding, felt as if a gaping wound had been torn open, bleeding profusely.
When did they get together?
How close was their relationship?
How long had their secret affair been going on?
A series of questions popped into her mind, making her feel as if sharp needles were piercing her heart.
He knew that her elder sister was married, yet he was still dating her sister alone. How deeply in love were these two?
Her heart broke, and tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision.
"Mengyao, why are you here? Aren't you going into the restaurant?" Hong Jiaxi, who had just arrived, saw Mengyao as soon as he got out of the car and reached the restaurant entrance.
Mengyao didn't speak, didn't look at him, and just shook her head.
"Are you okay?" Hong Jiaxi noticed she was crying and felt a pang of heartache.
Mengyao didn't speak, didn't look at him, and just shook her head.
"Are you okay?" Hong Jiaxi noticed she was crying and felt a pang of heartache.
Mengyao wiped away a tear, forcing back the fresh tears, and looked at Hong Jiaxi with feigned lightness, saying, "Are you done eating? Why aren't you inside the restaurant?"
Hong Jiaxi nodded, indicating he was finished. Seeing her like this, he glanced into the restaurant and noticed that Song Jiaping and Mengqi had only just started eating.
"Did they do something to betray you? I'll take you inside to confront them!"
Mengyao's heart felt heavy, and she stopped him, saying, "No, their relationship has nothing to do with me. If you have nothing else, accompany me to the riverbank."
"Okay, get in my car." Hong Jiaxi was, of course, very willing. He drove her to the viewing area by the river.
When the dishes were all served, Song Jiaping and Mengqi ate some first, then took out a letter from his pocket.
"Miss, I have one more thing to trouble you with."
Mengqi saw the letter in his hand and asked in confusion, "What era is this? You're still writing letters. Is it a love letter? For me?"
Song Jiaping smiled slightly and said, "Miss, you're joking. If I were to write you a love letter, your husband would definitely not let me off."
Mengqi asked awkwardly, "Then who is it for?"
"Please help me deliver it to Mengyao," Song Jiaping said, clutching the letter tightly. "Over the years, I pursued her, yet deliberately kept my distance. I always owed her an explanation and an apology. Everything I want to say to her is in this letter."
"If that's the case, why don't you give it to her yourself? Why ask me to deliver it?" Mengqi asked.
Song Jiaping didn't know how to answer her, his words becoming a bit stammered. "I don't dare to face her. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself if I see her, I..."
"Alright, stop explaining. Give it to me, I'll deliver it to her for you," Mengqi said, extending her hand.
Song Jiaping solemnly placed the letter in her palm and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
Mengqi put the letter in her bag and said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure it gets to my sister."
Song Jiaping seemed to have finished all his tasks and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You clearly like my sister so much, why can't you reconcile with her? You're so strange."
Song Jiaping said calmly, "I don't want to drag her down. She deserves someone better to cherish her."
Mengqi heard the calm but firm tone in his voice and knew that persuasion would be useless.
No one could explain matters of the heart, and she didn't want to get involved in their relationship.
After Mengyao got out of the car, the river breeze rushed towards her, blowing her hair and the hem of her clothes.
But she couldn't feel the cold; she just wanted to walk to the viewing platform to relieve her inner turmoil.
The two people dating in the restaurant just now were her elder sister and her ex-husband, which made her feel utterly helpless.
Hong Jiaxi followed her to the viewing platform and draped his jacket over her shoulders, saying, "It's windy, be careful not to catch a cold."
"I'm fine," Mengyao said, returning the jacket to him. "I suddenly feel like drinking. Go buy me some alcohol."
Hong Jiaxi looked at her, wanting to comfort her, but felt that it was better not to say anything.
Seeing him standing still, Mengyao said, "I know you can't drink while driving, you don't need to accompany me. I can drink by myself."
"I'm not worried about that. I can drink with you. At worst, I'll find a designated driver." After saying that, Hong Jiaxi went to find a convenience store nearby to buy alcohol.
Mengyao watched the river view alone for a while and then sat on a leisure chair by the viewing platform, still feeling that what she had seen earlier was unreal.
Hong Jiaxi returned with a dozen beers and some snacks, saying, "There aren't many shops around here, so this is the best alcohol and snacks I could find."
Mengyao threw a bag of snacks at him, saying, "You eat these, I just want to drink."
As she spoke, she opened a can of beer and started drinking.
Hong Jiaxi ate the snacks she threw at him, not stopping her, and watched her drink can after can.
Mengyao didn't know how much she had drunk. As the river view in front of her blurred, she suddenly stood up, wanting to climb over the railing of the viewing platform and walk directly to the riverbank.
Hong Jiaxi quickly hugged her from behind to stop her, saying, "Mengyao, don't do anything rash just because Song Jiaping and Mengqi are together!"
Mengyao turned back with a silly smile and said, "Jiaxi, I won't do anything rash. I just lost my second brother, how could I not cherish my life? I just want to... walk by the river..."
Hong Jiaxi looked at her flushed cheeks and lips from drinking, and his heart stirred.
"If you want to go to the riverside below, there's a staircase here. The guardrail you're trying to climb is too high, what if you fall?"
She broke free from him, her voice slurred with drunkenness, "Stairs? Where are the stairs? I... I'll take the stairs..."
Hong Jiaxi pointed to the stairs behind him and said, "It's the way we came up just now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mengyao was already standing on the guardrail, and in the blink of an eye, it was unclear how she had climbed up.
Mengyao walked on the guardrail like a tightrope walker, her arms spread wide, swaying as she moved.
Hong Jiaxi was terrified, afraid she would fall. He was tense and ready to pull her down at any moment, but he didn't dare to provoke her.
He tried to maintain a strong and calm demeanor, saying, "The place you're walking is not the stairs. Come down first, and I'll take you to a place with stairs."
Mengyao suddenly stopped moving on top and said, "The view is better from here. Why do I just want to hold onto him? But he's not someone I can hold onto, yet I'm still unwilling to give up... Why have I made myself so miserable, why?"
Hong Jiaxi seized the opportunity, tightly hugged her legs, and forcibly pulled her down from the guardrail, saying, "That's because you fell into his trap. He's a con man who specializes in deceiving women!"