Chapter 85: Forgetting the Past

Xia Ling felt that she had just woken up from a really long dream. It had battle noises, messy lights, limitless fog, as well as a fearsome devil holding a green medicine bottle in his hand. She desperately ran and ran for an unknown period of time before she tripped and fell down a cliff, descending into an abyss of darkness.

She woke up in shock all of a sudden.

What came into view was a handsome man's face.

As she stared into his deep and silent eyes filled with concern, clarity returned to her mind.

Where was she? She wanted to speak, but she panicked as she realized that she was still mute.

"Don't worry Xiao Ling, the doctor has already checked out your throat and concluded that there is still a chance of recovery. Trust me, I will definitely make sure that you are cured." He attempted to comfort her with his warm voice.

She stared at him with uncertainty. Is that so?

"Yup, I swear on it," he said smiling warmly as though he could read her mind.

Her racing heart then began to slow down.

"Write down whatever you wish to say," he said as he passed her a writing tablet.

Xia Ling took the tablet and began to write on it with her beautiful handwriting.Where am I? How long has it been?

"You remained unconscious for an entire day. You're on my turf now. You're very safe." Li Lei roughly informed her of what had happened while she was unconscious. "I sent people to destroy Pei Ziheng's properties. Today, when the stock market opens to quote the stock prices, the Pei Family's stock prices will drop drastically. I even prepared much negative news for him. This will teach him a lesson."

As she heard that man's name, it was as though a sword had been driven into her heart.

That night, he had spared zero thought for her as he forced the medicine down her throat cruelly and mercilessly, destroying all hopes and fantasy she ever had for him. She was not sure if Pei Ziheng loved Xia Ling, but she was certain that he had no feelings for "Ye Xingling" at all. The life of Diva Xia Ling had ended and was all in the past. At that moment, she was "Ye Xingling" and had...

Nothing to do with him.

I would like to get a few days' rest. She informed Li Lei via the tablet.

She needed time to bury all her memories of that man. From that moment on, as he hit the high road, she would cross the log bridge. The rocky and stormy life, love and death she had experienced had become the past.

Li Lei brought her back to the condo and she locked herself in to lick her wounds.

Li Lei was extremely worried and visited her every day to cook her meals, bring her tea and water, as well as water the plants and feed the fishes. He never disturbed her and often found it extremely hard to leave after silently accompanying her.

Finally, the day arrived when she tugged at Li Lei, who was delivering lunch. I would like to go out for a walk, she wrote.

"Xiao Ling?" Li Lei was taken by surprise.

She beamed at him and began to write: Thank you for showing concern for me during this period of time. I'm totally fine, don't worry.

He was gladder than her. "It's great that you are fine. Come, let's go out for a walk."

They did not walk too far out and merely circled around the community garden within the condominium slowly. Sunshine shot through the clear sky and the birds' chirping from the trees were like music to the ears. Having been cooped up in her house for so many days, this made her feel as though she was reborn. Even after her reincarnation, she was unable to escape her memories of Pei Ziheng. It was only at that very moment when she decided to carve him out of her memories and start afresh.

It was all because of the warm-hearted man in front of her.

As they walked in the midst of the greenery and flower fragrance, Li Lei's shoulders brushed against hers occasionally. Finally, she did not dodge.

They walked to an electronic advertising board.

Several different kinds of advertisement appeared on the board alternately. One of them was about the Four Seasons Restaurant's annual event that would be held at the beginning of summer, where one could get to try the head chef's specially crafted ice-cream.

She stopped and looked up at the advertisement.

The illuminating light from the electronic advertisement board was reflected on her face and she recalled that she had a sweet tooth in her previous life, ice-cream being her favorite. She had been dying to try out the head chef's specially crafted ice-cream from that restaurant, which was said to be extremely good. This particular type of ice cream was only available once a year at beginning of summer and only the luckiest girl of that night had the opportunity to try it.

It was said that whichever girl got to taste that ice-cream would live to a ripe old age in conjugal bliss with the love of her life.

Being deeply in love with Pei Ziheng in the past, Xia Ling had attempted to convince him to try it with her. However, he let her down gently, as though she was an ignorant child. "Xiao Ling, didn't you promise me that you wouldn't reveal our relationship?" Those who tussled for the ice-cream were mostly couples, and he couldn't risk being found out by others.

She felt downhearted, but she did not persist.

As a result, she had never tasted that particular type of ice-cream even though they were together for over ten years.

As she continued to stare at the advertisement, lost in thought, a gentle and attractive male voice spoke out unexpectedly. "Do you like ice-cream? I'll bring you there."

She turned around and met Li Lei's sparkling eyes.

It should be too late already. She wrote that down subconsciously. Having yearned for it in the past, she spared no effort to research on the restaurant. Every year, at the beginning of summer, the dinner seats were always in great demand. All of the seats would be reserved many months before the actual event, thus it would be impossible to get a reservation with just one week in advance.

"I will handle it," he said with a smile on his face.

She wasn't sure how he managed it, but he really brought her to the Four Seasons restaurant that night.

Four Seasons was a luxurious French restaurant, located in the downtown district of the city, where a family averagely spend up to tens of thousands yuan per meal. Rows of expensive cars could be seen parked inside the car park near the entrance, including Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and so on.

Li Lei parked his modified Land Rover into a parking lot and walked over to open the door for Xia Ling like a gentleman.

"After you, my lady." He smiled widely as he stretched out his arm, hinting at Xia Ling to take it. The dress code for the Four Seasons annual event dinner was formal wear, thus he was in a light-colored suit. With his perfectly done tie and glistening cuff-links, he was well-dressed like a gentleman and had a graceful bearing. With his handsome looks, girls nearby who were passing through repeatedly turned to look at him.

Xia Ling was chipper and took his arm.

She was as stunning as he was gorgeous, wearing a light aqua blue fishtail dress, with mini diamonds embedded at her dress collar. Her black shiny hair was shaped into a gorgeous bun, with some baby hair coming loose. This was a different kind of charm, which could intoxicate others.

He led her into the restaurant and they took their places.

What surprised her was that he not only managed to get a reservation in such a short time, he actually got them really good seats, which were right beside a huge French window. Looking down from the nineteenth floor, the many tiny glistening city lights created an extraordinarily beautiful view.

A waiter brought them the menu and politely asked for their orders after bowing.

Li Lei hinted the waiter to pass the menu to Xia Ling without taking a look at it. "Order whichever dishes you like."

The menu for ladies was different, it only had the dishes names without the price.

Xia Ling had been thinking about visiting this restaurant day and night in her previous life, thus she had done research on their menu countless times, even to the point where she could memorize it. Since a long time ago, she had already decided which dishes to order if she could visit the restaurant with Pei Ziheng — Escargots in red wine is a must, being Pei Ziheng's favorite dish. Lemon flavored oysters; he is very picky about lemons, but it's said that the restaurant's one is fine. Filet mignon, which is known for its uniqueness, he will definitely like it...

As she stared at the menu, she got a little lost in thought. At the moment, the things she was thinking of no longer had any use.

She looked down at the menu, slowly picked out her favorite dishes, and pointed them to the waiter. Cabbage salad with caviar, Buttery mushroom soup, Foie gras fried scallop, Grilled lamb chop... Every single dish no longer had anything to do with that man.

After she finished ordering, she asked Li Lei what else to add to their order with her gaze.

"Our tastes are really similar. You will definitely like the Pan-fried lobster, and I heard the stewed veal is not bad as well," he said as he smiled at her. He casually added a few more dishes and a bottle of table wine before asking the waiter to send the orders to the kitchen.

Xia Ling returned the smile. Indeed, all the dishes he ordered were very suited to her tastes.

Not long after, her face froze.

She caught sight of—

Pei Ziheng.