╔═══ Author's note ════╗
Edited by Dymens
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When Xuan Mu saw her, his heart stopped. His ribs heaved as if bound by ropes; he struggled with regulating his breathing. Looking at her in distress; the pain he felt was like a cluster of sparks, drilling sharply through his abdomen.
The sigh was so agonizing that it made him cry, "BING SHI!!! What did you do to yourself!?" Xuan Mu yelled at Bing Shi, "You have to eat!!!" His eyesight got blurry from the tears, "Please....eat something...ANYTHING!"
Didn't she say she loved herself? Then why was she hurting herself now? Was it because of him? It had to be! He always complained about her happy behavior, but never did he notice that something was wrong. She hid her stress so well...
"I don't know, I try to eat, but I throw up every time," Bing Shi hid her face behind her weak bony hands, struggling to hide her tears.
"You have to eat, please. I'll leave you alone, just stop hurting yourself." When he saw how skinny she had become, he regretted his actions. She was all alone in a foreign country, and all he did was distance her from others. She was working hard for their future, while he... He acted selfishly, only thinking about his feelings; he never thought about what Bing Shi was going through. Hearing her happy giggles gave him the impression that everything was fine when it was not. He had done this to her.
"But you'll kill yourself! I don't want you to leave me..." It was not only her life now. She was always careful with his life, treasuring it as her own.
'His presence grew on me.'
'I got too attached to him.'
'I need him in my life.'
"I won't kill myself. Get something to eat right now. I'll watch you eat it," Xuan Mu said in an assuring tone. 'For her to be happy, I would gladly live in suffering. But how am I going to live without her?'
When she came back, she forced herself to eat. Halfway through the warm porridge she was consuming, she didn't even have time to run to the toilet and threw everything up right before his eyes.
He held his mouth, apologizing endlessly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Both of them started to cry together. Him more than her obviously, that was how painful it was to watch that moment.
Bing Shi was about to try to make a funny comment about it, pressing her lips into a tight line as she tried to hold back, "..."
"Stop it! Don't smile! Don't laugh!" Xuan Mu commanded with a broken voice, he knew her well enough she would have commented. Bing Shi stopped per his wish, she stood up emotionlessly and then went to clean after herself.
When she came back, she was about to smile at him.
"No, No. Stop smiling, please, I beg you," Xuan Mu's heart throbbed. He could no longer handle this heartbreaking sight. Yet, over the screen, he could do nothing.
Bing Shi smiled weakly anyway, "I can't stop it. It became a part of me." She attempted a smile but it was combined with a mixture of tears and mucus.
It was quite uncomfortable watching how she was forcing herself to not laugh at all – it was a part of her, exactly like her smile.
"Please, how can I help you?" he asked. Did she ever need help? It was like she never needed anybody. The so happy-go-lucky girl was just a facade. That thought excruciatingly tortured his heart.
"You are still so young. You should enjoy your life," Bing Shi didn't want him to end up like her.
"But how can I enjoy my life when you are hurting?" Xuan Mu whined in distress. He wanted to enjoy their life together.
"I'm not hurting," Bing Shi turned off the camera, "I'm fine."
"Bing Shi, switch the camera on! I need to see you eating! Do you want me to fly over and feed you myself?!" Xuan Mu raised his voice.
"..." Bing Shi turned on the camera and changed the topic, "Do you remember those novels I always talked about?" She started speaking as she blew her nose into a tissue.
Xuan Mu remembered them, but he was not into romance. He just heard about a bunch of ice cubes, CEOs, assassin women, and all crazy overpowered characters.
"They are illogical, but I find them inspiring. You are already better than me. So let's become a power couple?" she suggested, the corner of her lips curling up.
Bing Shi's mood switched instantly and how scary it was. She was a bad actress, but nobody could tell if she was really happy or just pretending. She wasn't acting. It was her way of self-defense, it became a part of her. But whenever she was laughing with Xuan Mu, that was her truest form of happiness.
"Sure, whatever you want. But first, try to get a bite of something." A power couple? She talked about it before. He liked the idea.
"Then I'm going to boil some sweet potatoes. I like them the most," Bing Shi stood up and was about to go to the kitchen when she stopped at his next words.
"You would even sell me for a bag of sweet potatoes," Xuan Mu pouted cutely.
"Not a bag, maybe a truck would do," Bing Shi giggled, he'd never forget to improve her mood.
"I'll buy you a plantation of sweet potatoes, just don't sell me," Xuan Mu rubbed his red eyes, getting rid of his tears.
"Deal!" Bing Shi agreed.
Xuan Mu's progress in becoming a powerful man was frighteningly fast. His potential was so tremendous that it even surpassed Bing Shi's expectations.
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Xuan Mu began with the man he hated the most, his father. He came from an influential family. But his parents were just the branch of the tree, the poorest and weakest members. They came to have some money only because of his uncle, who would sometimes visit his father to play golf.
His uncle, who had the highest status in the family noticed, how Xuan Mu's father was less capable than his son. Finding it interesting, he offered Xuan Mu a job in his company. A wholesale company that was among the largest in the country. From food, and drinks, to cosmetics, they had it all.
One of Xuan Mu's mottos: Never ask people for help. Instead, make them ask for help themselves. This way, they will be indebted to you, and soon, they'll listen to everything you say.
Did the motto have anything to do with Bing Shi? A little bit. After their war of minds, they ended with a tie as both of them had power over the other.
Also, Xuan Mu fell in love too fast. Well, who wouldn't? Especially his obsession. It clouded his mind. If not, he would've ended up as the winner.
Bing Shi could be convincing, but she had a weakness. She couldn't even give a handshake. In a world ruled by men, she wouldn't survive. She would still need to overcome her disgust from touching. But would Xuan Mu allow it?
No.
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
I'll continue sharing chapters up to the latest ones on the pirated sites.
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Thank you for standing by me. :)
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