The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 501 - 447 He Once Cooked for Me

Chapter 501: Chapter 447 He Once Cooked for Me
Su Yingluo is a clever person, and upon seeing Bai Chengxi’s attitude, she guessed what was going on. Still, she asked innocently, "What is this?"
"Open it and you’ll know." Bai Chengxi leaned against the chair, his gaze icy, and there wasn’t a trace of patience or tenderness in the way he looked at her.
He realized that when she decided to go her separate ways and head to the M country, she was no longer the Su Yingluo he knew and liked. It turned out that their values and outlooks on life had such great differences and insurmountable gaps.
The woman he wanted was like a clear spring, transparent to the bottom, serene and light like the drifting clouds, gentle and pleasant like a small bird. He thought he could adapt to her dominant personality, and he even considered marriage to constrain her recklessness, but all his efforts burst like a bubble the moment she stepped on the plane. At that time, he felt as though he had been through a cycle of reincarnation, and the many years of affection collapsed in an instant, the pain was unimaginable.
Because the pain was so intense, only after it settled did he become indifferent and detached. His feelings for Su Yingluo had long since vanished, and even resentment had been digested by time. Now, Su Yingluo was just a passerby, a stranger, at best an old acquaintance.
He was grateful for the help she gave to his career many years ago, and he had also given her a generous return, even considering marrying her. But she didn’t give him that chance. In this world, many opportunities only come once, and once missed, they’re gone forever.
Under Bai Chengxi’s intense gaze, Su Yingluo reached out for the bag and her face collapsed upon seeing the contents. The items inside were evidence collected by Bai Chengxi, undeniable proof that left no room for her to argue.
Before coming here, Su Yingluo was actually prepared to be exposed, but she wasn’t the least bit scared, because she believed Bai Chengxi wouldn’t really do anything to her.
"Since you already know, then I might as well tell you the truth." Su Yingluo tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her face calm as she looked at the man sitting across from her: "I love you, so I absolutely won’t allow you to marry any other woman. If you want to get married, I’m willing to marry you. Whatever you want to do, I’ll be with you. Chengxi, since I returned to the country, I’ve always been showing you my true heart, but you, you just pretended not to hear. You and that young journalist are just fooling around, there’s no need to take it seriously, right? Do you know how scared I am? Scared of losing you, scared that you’ll be with someone else."
Bai Chengxi looked coldly at Su Yingluo as she spoke, tears streaming down her face. Her performance now seemed more like acting. Perhaps what she said was true, but she had played so many roles that even she couldn’t distinguish what was real anymore, right?
All he felt was disgust and irony.
"Alright." Bai Chengxi suddenly tossed the cigarette case on the table. "I said before, maybe I owed you something in the past, and whatever you did to me didn’t matter. But when you set your sights on my wife, don’t blame me for disregarding the feelings from the past."
Bai Chengxi stood up, looking down at her with contempt: "Su Yingluo, I’ll say it once more, stop deluding yourself. I don’t love you anymore. I stopped loving you ten years ago. The person I love now is Zhuo Yuqing, she is my wife. Everything you do is utterly disgusting to me, and it only makes me despise you more."
Su Yingluo’s face was a picture of shock as she looked at him; she couldn’t believe he would say such heartless words. Seeing him about to leave, Su Yingluo hurriedly rushed forward, hugging Bai Chengxi tightly from behind: "Chengxi, I love you. I really do love you so much. I know you love me too, our twenty years of affection can’t just vanish like this. You’re lying to me, aren’t you?"
Bai Chengxi forcefully broke free from her grip and left without a word, his silhouette not showing a hint of attachment.
"Chengxi." Su Yingluo stubbornly wanted to follow, but the two bodyguards who had always been outside blocked her way, speaking coldly: "Miss Su, please enjoy a cup of coffee here. It’s not suitable for you to go out right away."
Su Yingluo angrily rebuked: "What right do you have to stop me? Who gave you the courage?"
The two bodyguards stood immovable like iron towers, completely ignoring her yelling.
Bai Chengxi walked out of the coffee shop’s back door and got straight into the car parked outside. He had bought the coffee shop a long time ago but never visited it since. Now, he realized just how foolish he had been in his youth, that some people are simply not worth waiting for, and some things are destined to be abandoned.
Bai Chengxi sat in the car and casually instructed his assistant: "Sell this coffee shop at a low price."
"Okay, Mr. Bai," the assistant responded and then asked, "Where to next?"
What next?
Bai Chengxi glanced outside the window, thinking that what comes next would be the real test for him.
～
For the Nth time, Su Yingluo rushed from her seat to the door, but again the two bodyguards stood their ground, immovable. She couldn’t get out, and she knew this was Bai Chengxi’s way of preventing the journalists from obtaining evidence of their meeting, which would complicate matters for him. Su Yingluo snorted coldly. He was always so thorough, wasn’t he?
Since she couldn’t leave, Su Yingluo decided to wait calmly for a while. Just as she was about to return to her seat, she suddenly saw a familiar figure approaching. Su Yingluo’s eyes brightened, and a triumphant smile curled on her lips.
Zhuo Yuqing had come out of curiosity. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Bai Chengxi, but her professional instincts were getting the better of her. She, too, wanted to find out if this was Su Yingluo’s doing.
Bai Chengxi’s bodyguard recognized her and immediately greeted her respectfully: "Madam."
Zhuo Yuqing nodded slightly: "Where is Bai Chengxi?"
"Mr. Bai has already left." The bodyguard told the truth, but then suddenly realized that Su Yingluo was in the private room; he was eager to explain when the door of the private room opened, and Zhuo Yuqing and Su Yingluo faced each other.
She was slightly taken aback, not expecting Su Yingluo to still be here.
"Miss Zhuo, isn’t it?" Su Yingluo was the first to speak, "Let’s talk."
Zhuo Yuqing felt there was nothing good to talk about with her, but she also clearly knew that if Su Yingluo was really scheming behind the scenes, then she was targeting herself, and a confrontation was inevitable sooner or later.
Zhuo Yuqing said: "Okay."
The bodyguard seemed to think it wasn’t appropriate and warned with a vigilant face: "Madam, perhaps you should ask for Mr. Bai’s opinion first?"
"No need, just wait here for me, I’ll have a word with Miss Su and come out," Zhuo Yuqing reassured the bodyguard with a gesture and walked into the private room, closing the door behind her.
Su Yingluo sat down on a chair, leisurely crossing her long legs, and skillfully lit a cigarette between her fingers.
"Miss Zhuo, how old are you this year?"
Zhuo Yuqing sat down on a nearby chair, accustomed to Bai Chengxi’s smell of smoke; she found other people’s smoking somewhat choking.
"Twenty-five." Zhuo Yuqing glanced at her indifferently.
Su Yingluo, thinking that she was already thirty-four, nearly a decade older, looked at Zhuo Yuqing’s skin—fair, delicate, radiant with youthful vigor; whereas she had to use expensive skincare products and visit the beauty salon weekly. Despite her careful maintenance, she couldn’t withstand the onslaught of time, and in terms of looks, she wasn’t as naturally beautiful as Zhuo Yuqing, who was pure and lovely, like a lotus flower emerging from water.
However, Su Yingluo didn’t pity herself, because she had the halo of a star and hefty savings, something Zhuo Yuqing, a poor little er, couldn’t compare with.
She could help Bai Chengxi in his career, be his capable right-hand man, while Zhuo Yuqing could only be a vase. A vase, no matter how long you look at it, you will eventually tire of it, but a right-hand man is indispensable at any time.
"Miss Zhuo, you know about my relationship with Chengxi, right?" Su Yingluo took a drag from her cigarette and stylishly blew a smoke ring.
Zhuo Yuqing smiled slightly: "I know, my husband has told me. He said you’ve known each other since your teens and lived in the old district together for three years."
Her smile was shallow, and the word "husband" successfully relegated Su Yingluo’s "Chengxi" to the dust; the difference in closeness of their relationship with Bai Chengxi was evident just by the terms of address.
Su Yingluo’s brows knitted; she hadn’t expected Bai Chengxi to even tell Zhuo Yuqing about the time they lived together, which she had hoped to use to provoke her.
"Chengxi is a great cook, isn’t he?" Su Yingluo asked casually, glancing at her slender fingers, "I remember that year I got sick and suddenly craved braised fish. It was already two in the morning, so there was nowhere to buy it. Chengxi downloaded a recipe online, went to the kitchen, and cooked for me. It was his first time cooking, but he was a natural. The fish he made was on par with high-end restaurants. Since then, whenever I was too busy to cook, he would often take over the kitchen."
Zhuo Yuqing thought to herself, so that was when Bai Chengxi had learned to cook. Thinking that he had cooked for Su Yingluo, she couldn’t help but feel jealous, though at this moment, she naturally couldn’t let Su Yingluo see that.
Zhuo Yuqing said: "Chengxi’s cooking skills are indeed very good. He takes care of the cooking at home since I don’t know how. He once said he wouldn’t let me cook, claiming kitchen fumes are bad for the skin."
Zhuo Yuqing had never been one to play mind games. She hadn’t thought she would say such a thing, but it seemed that to protect her love, she could also be sharp and snarky: "Miss Su, your skin looks a bit yellowish. Could it be from cooking back then?"
When Su Yingluo heard this, her complexion unnaturally darkened. It seemed that Bai Chengxi was very protective of her, never letting her cook, whereas her frequent makeup and late nights indeed took a toll on her skin. Compared to the fresh-faced Zhuo Yuqing, she had to rely on thick makeup for cover.
"Miss Zhuo, as far as I know, you and Chengxi haven’t known each other for very long, have you?" Su Yingluo still had confidence in the twenty-year relationship she shared with Bai Chengxi.