Chapter 730: I Licked You for Years, and Only When I Stop Do You Say You Love Me?

"Turns out that love was buried all along. I was the one who never chose to face it."

Xiang Shan poured out everything in her heart in a breath of relief, neither servile nor overbearing, deep emotion in her eyes.

Father Leng was rather surprised, and then his heart began to waver.

"Xiang Shan," he said.

"Hm?"

"I can't give you that pure love anymore. I'm not the me I used to be, and you're not the you you used to be. We've both changed, and we want different things now." Father Leng gazed deeply at Xiang Shan.

But Xiang Shan didn't cry. She smiled at Father Leng. "I know, which is why I'm not here to win you back this time."

Father Leng was astonished. "Then you're…"

"I'm here to see you off," Xiang Shan said earnestly to Father Leng. "You have your choices, and I shouldn't hold you back. I like you, but liking you doesn't mean I have to be with you. Even if we're not together, I'll still like you."

Her face was full of smiles. She was clearly no longer a young girl, yet she had the look of the girl she once was. "I really, really like you, but because I like you, I can't be with you.

"I know I'm very immature, even a bit childish. The me right now isn't good enough, and I don't deserve you. Even if the two of us got back together, you'd still have to put up with me.

"Even if you stayed now, or I left with you, our ending might not necessarily be good. But if I let you go, our ending might not necessarily be bad either."

Compared to the Xiang Shan who had once humbly begged him, this Xiang Shan made Father Leng feel much more at ease.

Her love wasn't so heavy anymore.

"The fact that you can realize that means you've already improved a lot."

"It's not just that I need to improve. I need to be even better, and when that time comes I'll be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. No—maybe by then it'll be you sighing and regretting why you didn't agree to get back together with me back then!" Xiang Shan smiled like a flower, radiant and bright.

"Perhaps." Father Leng nodded, feeling that talking with Xiang Shan had become much more relaxed.

In the past, even though Xiang Shan had bowed her head to him, it had given him a very oppressive feeling. Now it was much more comfortable.

Her attitude had changed, and his view of her was gradually affected as well.

"Can we text each other from now on? There's still a lot at the company I need to consult you about."

"Sure, as long as you don't casually write me love letters or send me cheesy romantic lines." Father Leng thought for a moment, then added.

Xiang Shan gave a humph. "Then you're thinking too much. Apart from you, my suitors never stop. I might fall for someone else real soon, and when I send you my wedding invitation, don't you dare chicken out and not come!"

"I'll definitely come, and I'll give you a big red envelope too, as long as you don't mind your ex-husband attending your wedding," Father Leng replied.

"Then if you get married, tell me first. I'm definitely going to outshine everyone there, so don't be afraid of me and your darling being in the same place." Xiang Shan smirked.

"We'll see. I have to go." Father Leng paused and changed the subject.

"Okay, but before you go, can you agree to one request of mine?" Xiang Shan said.

"What request?"

When Father Leng asked, Xiang Shan broke into a long, deep smile, and then spread her arms.

Her eyes were fixed on Father Leng with utter sincerity.

"Can you give me a hug? A hug between good friends. From now on we won't disturb each other, won't entangle each other. Our fate ends here."

Father Leng's eyes were locked firmly on her.

For at least a dozen seconds, then he broke the ice with a smile.

He spread his arms toward Xiang Shan. "Okay!"

Then he took Xiang Shan into his embrace.

Xiang Shan breathed in the scent of Father Leng deeply, that lemongrass scent so very deep, as if in that moment she had returned to her younger days.

"Really so generous, hugging just like that. And change your perfume, would you? Some cologne would suit you better. You're not young anymore, you're about to become a decrepit old man, and you're still spraying lemongrass perfume."

Father Leng just smiled and said nothing.

Lemongrass wasn't the scent he liked.

It was the scent she liked.

When they were young, she had complained that he acted old before his time, that the Gucci cologne smelled way too pungent, that hugging him was super uncomfortable and didn't smell good.

So every time, she would frown and dodge his hugs.

Later she bought a bottle of perfume, a niche brand, but it was her favorite lemongrass scent.

Spraying lemongrass perfume every day had become a habit of Father Leng's.

Just like whether love still existed or not, it wasn't just something you said out loud—it had long since become a habit, a reflex he could not help but.

"Okay." He smiled.

"Goodbye!" There was still longing in Xiang Shan's eyes, but she waved at Father Leng.

Father Leng made the same gesture to her, and under Xiang Shan's gaze, he began walking toward the boarding gate.

The moment Xiang Shan saw Father Leng turn around, her eyes slowly reddened.

She knew what his leaving meant, but she was content with it, and willing.

When Xiang Shan returned to where Jiang Muye and Leng Ruoli were, she saw their surprised expressions.

"Where is he?" Leng Ruoli asked in astonishment. "You didn't catch up to my dad?"

"It's not that I didn't catch up to him. I let him go," Xiang Shan said with a smile.

"Why? Mom, don't you love my dad very much? Why let go now? Just go with him." Leng Ruoli grew agitated.

"It's precisely because I love him that I have to let him go. I know marriage isn't about how much you love someone and how far you can go. He and I need to work things out, but working things out until we're black and blue is worse than separating."

Xiang Shan smiled bitterly. "When I watched him about to leave, I knew that I was no longer qualified to hold him back.

"If only I hadn't been so outrageously wrong back then, I wouldn't be in this situation now.

"Back then I made him lick my boots for so many years, made him watch my moods for so many years, and I kept blaming him all the while. Then he suddenly stopped licking, and I started itching.

"Isn't that just being cheap?

"Any man with self-respect wouldn't turn back for me.

"Leng Qihua just loved me too much, loved me until he had no dignity left. Now he's reclaimed his dignity and walked away without a second thought. Why should I still be a stumbling block for him?

"Some feelings aren't something you can patch up just by lightly saying 'sorry, I was wrong.'

"All that 'broken mirror made whole' stuff only happens in dramas.

"But what we're acting out is life, not an idol drama."

Xiang Shan's words made Leng Ruoli's heart ache a little, and she felt somewhat dejected.

"Mom, I really don't want you to regret this…"

"I won't regret it. Didn't I see him off? Then I won't regret it. After all, I did everything I should have done. If he doesn't accept it, then I'll definitely respect his choice."