Chapter 38: Chapter 38 - Respect Love

Chapter 38: Respect Love

It was raining the morning Wei Chu drove Su Le to the airport. Su Le was wearing a pair of light coloured jeans matched with a light coloured shirt, and her hair that was usually tied up was let down today. Her hair flowed past her shoulders and it was a little curled at the bottom. It gave off a different vibe.

Wei Chu watched Su Le as she obtained her boarding pass before walking through the departure gate. On the way to the airport, Su Le had constantly smiled when she talked, but Wei Chu felt that Su Le was waiting for something, and she would get her answer when she returned from S City.

A good friend had once told him that if someone who liked Su Le was not determined when pursuing her, he would be exhausted.

He did not find pursuing Su Le to be an exhausting task in the period of time he was doing so. Instead, he felt hope and pleasure. And the more he got to know Su Le better, the more he felt that such a woman was hard to come by. Other people might have described her as the type of woman who was strong and wouldn’t suffer from any harm. However, in his eyes, Su Le was no different from any other woman. She was smarter and more perfect than the others.

As a man himself, he hated men who would hurt a woman whom they were supposed to protect just for another weak woman, and use the excuse that she was strong and thus would not be affected.

Actually, that was the most shameful and disgraceful excuse a man could ever use. Because the man was afraid of being criticised of having no morals or conscience, he would use the excuse that the woman was too strong, and he thus could be with another woman proudly while hiding his unfaithfulness.

“You are strong, but the other woman is weak and can’t live without me. Therefore, I must be with her to look after her.”

Since he was also a man, Wei Chu understood the shameful thoughts that men had. However, he was unwilling to act like that. Even if the person he loved became even stronger, she would still be the only woman in his heart. If there were to be another woman who appeared very weak and pitiful in front of him, it didn’t matter or concern him because the one he loved was Su Le alone.

When he drove away from the airport, Wei Chu received a call from Tan Wei. She invited him to eat lunch together. He accepted her invitation.

—————-

On the plane, Su Le was sitting next to the aisle, all the way on the right. Opposite from her, on the left side of the aisle, sat a male and female. The young lady was resting her head against the young man’s chest, fast asleep. Meanwhile, the young man carefully and gently supported the girl with his right hand, flipping through a magazine with his left hand. All his movements were very light and gentle.

Su Le revealed a smile when she saw the scene before her. She always believed that love was beautiful. She was just skeptical about how long love would last. Remembering to Chen Xu’s reaction when he found out she was going to S City, as well as his hesitation, Su Le was unsure if she should feel uncomfortable that another woman also liked Wei Chu, or moved because the people around Wei Chu had such a good impression of her.

While she flipped through an uninteresting magazine, Su Le propped up her chin against her hand and thought. What if Wei Chu still had some vague relationship with other women when she returned?

After thinking it through, Su Le felt that she was fretting over unimportant things. After all, no matter what happened in the end, nothing would change even if she thought about it now. As a woman, all she could do was treat herself well now.

—————-

At 1pm, Wei Chu and Tan Wei were seated inside a Western-style restaurant. This was the best Western restaurant in the city. The decor was elegant and their chefs were hired from abroad, all skilled enough to be the head chef in any restaurant. To be honest, Wei Chu wasn’t interested in the salads and steaks, but he respected the woman’s choices. Thus, he cut his steak indifferently while listening to the piano music that was currently being played. He was thinking about the text he had received from Su Le. She said she had just arrived at the hotel. He wondered if she had eaten lunch yet.

“You seem preoccupied. Is there something wrong?” Tan Wei asked when she noticed that Wei Chu appeared to be worried about something. Then, she asked sadly, “Or am I interrupting your work?”

“Sorry,” Wei Chu apologised as he felt that he was not being polite.”I was just lost in my thoughts for a second.”

“It’s not common for our great God Wei to be lost in his thoughts,” Tan Wei smiled as she teased him. “I should let the others know of this matter.”

Wei Chu didn’t mind and responded, “It’s likely that the majority of men will have this problem when they are in love.”

Tan Wei’s smile stiffened for a moment and she accidentally cut her steak messily, “You … and your girlfriend’s relationship seems very good.”

“I worked very hard to pursue Xiao Le,” Despite his current status, Wei Chu did not feel that pursuing a woman was anything to be embarrassed of. “She’s very independent and most of the time, I feel like I can’t help her much so I can only treat her even better. As her boyfriend, I am not very competent.”

“You are very competent and very good,” Tan Wei’s expression darkened a little. She remembered Su Le; Su Le did seem to be an independent woman, and it didn’t seem that she had gotten close to Wei Chu because of his money or some other motive. Tan Wei thought that if Wei Chu’s girlfriend was someone shallow, maybe she would discard her morals and fight for him. However, his woman was excellent. Also, she and Wei Chu appeared to be well-matched. A man like Wei Chu was supposed to be someone who could choose from many women but he was actually very traditional and stubborn. Once he set his heart on someone, it would be very difficult to change his mind.

With such a man, the woman he loved would be very happy, while the women who loved him would face much difficulty. Tan Wei had been secretly in love with him for a few years, but Wei Chu had never given her any hope. Neither were they in an ambiguous relationship. He would always do what he should be doing and never crossed the boundaries. A man like him often made others love him, but also hate him at the same time.

“Thank you for your compliment,” Wei Chu smiled as he nodded in thanks.

“If you were my boyfriend, I might pray to God to thank him for giving me such a good boyfriend.” Tan Wei smiled while looking at Wei Chu. Her words were a bit suggestive. “Unfortunately, you became another woman’s boyfriend.”

“Don’t joke around. I will keep myself pure for my Xiao Le.” Wei Chu sipped some red wine and felt that his throat was somewhat dry.

“What if I wasn’t joking?” Tan Wei asked, watching every movement of the man who looked like he was from a painting. “What if I said I have liked you for a long time, and that I like you more than how your current girlfriend loves you?”

Wei Chu put down his cutlery, wiped his mouth, and looked at Tan Wei with a solemn expression before replying, “Sorry, but I love Su Le.”

Tan Wei’s face paled and she smiled bitterly. “Everyone says that you’re elegant but you actually don’t leave any leeway when you do things. You’re not even tactful in the slightest when rejecting women.”

“Being tactful in this situation could lead to misunderstandings. Tan Wei, you know that I don’t like to remain ‘elegant’ in situations like these.” Wei Chu glanced at the pale Tan Wei and carried on speaking, “I can only say thank you but apologize.”

“You’re speaking so heartlessly. Are you afraid that I’ll waste my time and carry on having hope, or are you afraid that your girlfriend will get suspicious?” Tan Wei also put down her cutlery, “I can tell that she doesn’t really worry about these things. Or perhaps, she doesn’t even love you.”

“Whether or not she is suspicious, cares, or even loves me, that is her choice and freedom. I only know that I do not want to give her the opportunity to harbour any suspicions. Neither do I want to do any experiments to test whether she cares about me or not. I love her. Thus, I’m not willing to make her worry more because of me.”

After Tan Wei heard this, her face became even more pale and unsightly. It was like she had finally received her sentence for a trial. “You like her to the point that you can’t even bear to let her feel any doubt or sadness?”

“Given I can’t bear with it, it represents the respect I have for this relationship.” Wei Chu lowered his eyes slightly and avoided looking at Tan Wei’s deathly pale face.

“Wei Chu, you sure are cruel.” Tan Wei then leaned against her chair and did not speak any more.

At this moment, Wei Chu’s phone started ringing. He glanced at his phone. It was from Su Le. He hurriedly picked up his phone, “Su Le, have you eaten yet?”

Tan Wei looked at the man opposite her. He was smiling so warmly simply over a phone call. It felt like the feelings she had for him in her heart were drowning and couldn’t breathe.

—————-

Su Le pushed a meal box away slightly while staring at the scenery from the car window, “I will be very busy later. I am currently eating from a meal box in a car. It doesn’t taste bad and it’s free as well.” After hearing the piano music in the background, Su Le asked out of curiosity, “You’re eating Western food?”

“Yes, with my high school friend, Tan Wei. You have seen her a few days before. We have a few things to discuss so we’re eating together today.” From Wei Chu’s tone, it sounded like he was declaring something rather than explaining it out of guilt.

Su Le gradually gained some understanding in her heart and started to smile while asking, “You don’t really like Western cuisine, right? How was the taste of the food?”

Wei Chu couldn’t help be allow his lips to curve upwards because he wasn’t actually expecting Su Le to notice that he didn’t like Western cuisine. “It’s alright. I’ll bring you to try it next time.”

“It’s fine. Why don’t you spend some time and cook me some fish in chilli oil instead?” Su Le replied as she spooned some peas into her mouth. After chewing them, she said, “I can’t talk anymore, I have almost arrived at my destination. I still need to finish the rest of the meal box.” She hung up the call after she had finished speaking.

An employee that was near her apologised, “Miss Su, I’m very sorry about today. We’ll treat you to a better meal tonight.”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Today is a busy day and I have also arrived a little late,” Su Le wiped her mouth with a tissue before grabbing the carton of milk on the side to drink. “The food tasted very good.”

The staff member sighed in relief when they noticed that Su Le really did not mind. After all, Su Le had been specially invited but due to problems with the timing, they could only let her suffer with a packed lunch. But they never thought that this author, who looked so young and beautiful, would be so amicable.

—————-

After shutting his phone, Wei Chu’s smile still remained on his face. Then, he started pondering over the ingredients for the fish in chilli oil that Su Le wanted to eat. The seasoning packets that were sold in the market did not taste authentic. Besides, he was worried about the hygiene. Perhaps ut was better to wait for Su Le’s return. He would make it for her then.

Seeing Wei Chu act like this, Tan Wei gave up completely. She barely managed to smile and stood up, “I still have some work to do so I’ll leave first. Keep in touch!”

“Ok, goodbye.” Wei Chu did not even mention things like giving her a lift. Even though this action was not gentlemanly, he didn’t want to have any misunderstandings with the other party over something artificial like his image.

He subconsciously opened his phone again and stared at the screen. His wallpaper was a photo of Su Le. She was smiling so radiantly in the picture.