"My son, why are you calling me? Have you proposed yet? When's the wedding? Your mother and I are waiting for your wedding banquet!" Liu Yifeng asked with a smile.
To his surprise, a dejected voice came from the other end of the line, "Sigh, don't even mention it!"
Liu Yifeng rarely heard Lu Fei sound so dispirited. He put away his smile. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"The wedding is off. I've already transferred all the money back to your account," Lu Fei replied, dodging the question.
This made Liu Yifeng extremely anxious. "What on earth happened? If you consider me your brother, you have to tell me!"
"I must have been blind to ever look at Wu Qian. When you all advised me that Wu Qian wasn't suitable for me, I didn't believe you, thinking I had found true love.
So when she agreed to my proposal, I was as happy as an idiot.
Even when her family asked for such a high bride price and demanded a house in her name, I didn't say no.
I was still immersed in the joy of becoming a groom and a father.
But do you know what I discovered today when I went to find Wu Qian to give her family the bride price?"
At this point, Lu Fei was struggling to suppress his anger and inner humiliation.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yifeng knew it wasn't a simple matter. He quickly asked, "Calm yourself down first, and tell me slowly!"
On the phone, Lu Fei chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I always thought Wu Qian just had a bad temper, but that she wasn't a bad person.
But I never expected that she had been with another man behind my back, and that the child she was carrying was also his.
I've been cuckolded all along, and she took me for a fool, wanting me to be the one to take care of her child and let him call me father. I'm such an idiot, to have been deceived by her for so long, especially when I treated her with all my heart."
Liu Yifeng could never have imagined that this Wu Qian could do something so outrageous. He had only thought she was materialistic and didn't care much for Lu Fei before.
But he never imagined she would do something so shameless; it completely shattered his worldview.
However, this was not something to be taken lightly. "How did you find out about this? Are you sure the child isn't yours?"
"I didn't know at first. When I went to find her, she was on the phone in the bedroom and didn't hear me come in.
So I went to the bedroom to find her. I was about to tell her that I had gathered the bride price, when I overheard her and that man flirting. He even said something about me raising his son and sleeping with him in the future.
I was so angry I almost had a stroke. Then she discovered me, hastily hung up the phone, and said she was joking with a friend. She took me for an idiot! In a fit of rage, I slapped her and broke up with her," Lu Fei said, growing more and more furious.
If it were another man, he might have even had murderous intentions.
Liu Yifeng could understand Lu Fei's feelings. As his brother, he could only comfort him. "It's good that you found out in time. Otherwise, after you got married and the child grew up, that would have been a true blow."
"Wu Qian is too cruel. I treated her so sincerely, spent all my earnings on her, and never flirted with other women. How could she bear to betray me and make a fool of me, leading me around by the nose?" Lu Fei felt a pang of pain at the thought.
He thought that as long as he was good enough, he could keep Wu Qian by his side. He never expected that Wu Qian wouldn't be satisfied and would get involved with another man. The thought of her being intimate with another man made him feel incredibly disgusted.
"Where are you now?" Liu Yifeng knew Lu Fei must be feeling terrible and wanted to keep him company for a few drinks.
"I've been sitting in a park outside all day. I don't want to go back because there are still a lot of her things in the apartment I rent, and I'm afraid if I go back, I won't be able to resist smashing the place to pieces!" Lu Fei said, exhausted both physically and mentally.
After discovering this in the morning, he had come to a park in a daze and sat on a bench, lost in thought and suffering alone for a long time.
The events of today had been too great a blow to him.
His three years of relationship had been wasted. Fortunately, he hadn't mentioned the proposal to his parents yet, or they would have been upset if their future daughter-in-law had fallen through.
"You won't be able to sort this out by yourself. Take a few days off from work, buy the earliest train ticket, and I'll pick you up when you get here. Then, Qiangzi and I will have a good drink with you," Liu Yifeng also knew that Lu Fei, in his current state, would likely make many mistakes at work. It would be better for him to take a week off than to be fired for errors. Besides, the three brothers hadn't had a proper get-together in a while.
"Would that be too much of a bother for you? You both have important things to do!" Lu Fei asked.
"If you still consider us brothers, don't be so formal. With what you're going through, how could Qiangzi and I stand by and do nothing?
If it weren't for the fact that I have to pick up and drop off my son, I would have come to you directly."
After hearing Liu Yifeng's words, Lu Fei was deeply touched. He immediately stood up. "Okay, I'll head to the train station now. I'll buy a sleeper ticket, and I should arrive around ten tonight."
"Do you have any money on you? If not, I'll transfer some to you. Remember to eat something when you get to the train station. Don't punish yourself for someone who isn't worth it!" Liu Yifeng said.
Lu Fei nodded. "Don't worry, I have money. I'll eat something soon. I'll hang up now. We can talk more tomorrow!"
"Oh, right. Wu Qian will definitely call you again. No matter what she says, don't believe her, and don't give her any more chances, understand?" Liu Yifeng was afraid Lu Fei might soften his heart and reconcile with Wu Qian, given how deep his feelings for her were.
Lu Fei immediately rolled his eyes. "Do you really take me for an idiot? After what this woman did, even if she knelt before me, I wouldn't forgive her, let alone reconcile. From now on, we're done."
Hearing this, Liu Yifeng was relieved. "That's good. Call me when you're close, and I'll drive to pick you up."
"Got it. You go get busy. I need to go to the train station now." Lu Fei said, and then got up and went to the train station.
There was no high-speed rail to Haicheng yet, so he had to take the train, which took seven or eight hours.
It was not yet two o'clock. If he could buy a ticket around 2:30, he would arrive at ten in the evening.
After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifeng immediately called Qiangzi, asking him to pick up Lu Fei together that night and then have supper at a roadside stall.
Qiangzi was confused. "Isn't Lu Fei going to his girlfriend's house for the proposal? Why is he suddenly coming back?"
So Liu Yifeng briefly explained Lu Fei's situation to him. After hearing it, Qiangzi was furious. "What? How could this Wu Qian do something so shameless?"