Scumbag Falls for Fiance After Breaking Engagement(ABO)

Chapter 80 Wood Grain

　　When He Mingfeng appeared in public again, he looked haggard, as if he had been shot and seriously injured. He wore a long black cloak and a pair of leather gloves, with light blue stubble on his chin. His amber-like light brown eyes looked dull and empty, without any spirit under the gloomy winter sky.

　　The military hospital was surrounded by reporters. Shen Liangyue, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sat in front of the screen and watched the live broadcast. Soldiers holding guns fended off the reporters. In the short distance of a few hundred meters from the hospital entrance to the car, He Mingfeng was clearly walking in the center of the crowd and was the focus of everyone's attention. However, he lowered his eyes and ignored them. The corners of his cloak were fluttering in the cold wind, making every step he took seem particularly lonely, as if he was walking in a cold and desolate wilderness.

　　With just one glance, Shen Liangyue was sure that He Mingfeng must have been to the cemetery. His black cape might be mourning for their child. The reporters could not interview the marshal who got on the car and left. The TV station began to insert the old interview clips. He Jun, who looked much older, said coldly: "I don't know if he was shot, and I don't care. I only have one son now." The scene changed to He Zhijie's fake smile, with a familiar ironic smile on his lips: "My good brother, I hope you will be lucky and escape this disaster..."

　　This is He Mingfeng's "family"! The unfortunate marriage made everything go wrong. The father was not like a father, and the brothers were not like brothers. Shen Liangyue didn't know how much negative impact the broken family had on He Mingfeng, but he knew that He Mingfeng was now a homeless person, so the blow of losing a child was greater than Alpha imagined. Seeing He Mingfeng's appearance today, no one would question that he exaggerated his injuries. The lifeless dejection could be felt through the screen.

　　Shen Liangyue felt a little distressed. He didn't know if he had gone too far, causing He Mingfeng, who was unprepared, to suffer such a heavy blow. But at the same time, he felt relieved because the pain he felt when he lost his child was no less than He Mingfeng's. Alpha finally tasted this heart-wrenching pain. He really loved and hated him. Hate prevented Shen Liangyue from accepting He Mingfeng calmly, while love prevented him from being tempted by others.

　　"The Marshal will return to the front as soon as possible after arranging everything. The military will not respond to all rumors and speculations." Facing the media who kept asking questions, the secretary briefly said: "The Marshal will devote all his energy to the final battle against the Alliance.

　　We will be victorious before spring comes!"

　　Shen Liangyue turned off the TV. He walked to the French window with a feeling in his heart. Sure enough, he saw the car that had just appeared on the screen parked outside the gate. Would He Mingfeng come to see him? What would they talk about when they met? Shen Liangyue didn't know. He leaned his forehead against the cold glass and saw a hand with a cigarette sticking out of the rolled-down window of the car. The person in the car smoked one cigarette after another, and the cigarette butts fell all over the floor. As long as he smoked, Shen Liangyue watched quietly.

　　He Mingfeng didn't understand before why some people love each other but can't be together after all, but now he finally understands this feeling. He doesn't have the face to see Shen Liangyue again, and he can't beg for his forgiveness anymore. All the redemption is too powerless in front of the child's life. No matter how heartbreaking the "I'm sorry" is, it's too pale to say, as if soaking flesh and blood in ice water, it turns white, disgusting and useless.

　　The real pain is unspeakable, like a wedge driven into a piece of wood. No more force is needed, and the whole piece of wood will split along the existing grain. The matter of the child is like a wedge driven into their hearts. There is no need to blame or complain, and there is no way to talk openly. The hearts of the two people are broken along the scars of the past.

　　But is there a perfect heart in this world? Is there a tree without any wrinkles? Perhaps this is a more suitable metaphor for feelings than a broken porcelain cup. When a person is born, his heart is perfect, but as he grows older, the hurt he has experienced leaves all kinds of marks on his heart, just like the annual rings of a tree. Along with the cry of birth, growing up is a process of heartbreak. Life itself is full of flaws. Can people only die with a broken heart?

　　They couldn't find the answer for a while, with mixed feelings of love and hate, and a dilemma, they could only face each other in silence. After an unknown amount of time, the housekeeper knocked on Shen Liangyue's door, "Master, someone downstairs wants to see you."

　　Shen Liangyue's heart tightened, and he turned and ran downstairs, but after he stepped down the last step, his pace slowed down significantly. He stood outside the door of the reception room for a while before he stretched out his hand and pushed the door open. The secretary was standing in the room with a box in his right hand and a large bouquet of champagne roses in his left hand. Shen Liangyue was slightly stunned, and he couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or relieved.

　　"Your Excellency," the secretary bent over and opened the box, "the marshal asked me to bring you the snowball."

　　The cat poked its head out of the box and meowed as it came to Shen Liangyue's feet. Shen Liangyue held it in her arms and lowered her eyes and asked, "...Why?

　　"

　　"The upcoming battle is of great importance, and the Marshal may be afraid that he can't take good care of it."

　　Shen Liangyue nodded, and the secretary said, "These are the flowers the marshal sent you. I put them on the table."

　　"OK."

　　"Sorry to bother you, I'll take my leave now."

　　"...Wait!" Shen Liangyue pursed her lips and asked in a low voice: "When will you return to the front line?"

　　"I'll be leaving soon."

　　"So soon?! He...he has nothing else to say to me?"

　　"The Marshal didn't give any special instructions," the secretary adjusted his glasses, "I can pass on whatever you want to say."

　　Shen Liangyue opened her mouth, then sighed and said slowly: "...No, I have nothing to say."

　　The secretary's footsteps faded away. Shen Liangyue put the snowball back on the ground, walked to the table and took out the card clipped on the rose. He had received his love poems and his apology. Would He Mingfeng's last words to him be to keep him or to let him go? Was it "I'm sorry" or "I love you"? Shen Liangyue took a breath and looked down - there was not a single word left on the card, but Shen Liangyue instantly understood He Mingfeng's unspeakable sadness.

　　Now that things have come to this, there is no point in making excuses and it is too late to undo what has been done. It is better to remain silent.

　　The car outside the window had quietly left, and Shen Liangyue's heart was like that blank card, empty, white and chaotic. He looked at the card over and over again, as if he could read a lot of things from it. Even when the sun set in the west and the moon rose above the building, he still felt lost.

　　-

　　-

　　After He Mingfeng returned to the frontline, he worked tirelessly as if he was burning his life. The imperial army was aiming at the capital of the alliance. In this historic final battle, the marshal personally took care of everything, no matter how big or small, in the battle deployment. Only by putting all his attention into the battle preparations, he would not think of the lonely grave of the imperial star and Shen Liangyue's tearful eyes.

　　He once vowed to take down the capital of the alliance and plant a garden full of eternal red roses for Shen Liangyue, and Shen Liangyue also said that if he could do it, she would agree to any request made by He Mingfeng. But now, he is no longer qualified to ask Shen Liangyue to fulfill her promise, and this oath that seemed so sweet in the past may make Shen Liangyue embarrassed.

　　He will lead the Empire's army to capture the Alliance's capital and fulfill his responsibilities as a marshal. The best destination for a soldier is to die under the last bullet of the last war.