Blinded by Lust chapter 36

Unexpectedly, after all the back-and-forth, Wu Bie still had to drive to the so-called business center to replace his SIM card. The process wasn’t complicated: hand over his ID, cooperate with the staff for verification, and it was done.

“Sir, your SIM card replacement is complete.”

Wu Bie said “thank you” and took the card from the staff. After hesitating for a while, he still didn’t have the courage to put the card into his phone.

“What’s the matter? Is there a problem, sir?” The staff noticed his inaction and asked.

Wu Bie snapped out of it, smiled, and shook his head. He borrowed a SIM ejector tool from the staff, inserted the card, and after waiting a few seconds, a second SIM icon appeared next to the signal bar. After turning on mobile data for the second SIM, logging into various apps became easy.

After entering the verification code, Wu Bie’s finger hovered over the “Confirm” button. He couldn’t imagine what he might see after pressing it. Maybe he would see his old chat history with Huo Zhanyan or the messages Huo Zhanyan sent after he lost his phone. None of it was anything he wanted to see.

The staff couldn’t stand it any longer. Wu Bie looked as if he were constipated, probably too embarrassed to ask for help.

“Sir, should I help you? Are you trying to log into WeChat?”

Urged by the staff, Wu Bie hurriedly entered the verification code. As he watched the spinning circle, his heart raced. The next second, another verification prompt appeared.

“Huh?”

The staff explained, “Since this is a new phone, you’ll need friend verification. Send this code to one of your WeChat contacts.”

After holding his breath and building up the mental resolve, only for another issue to arise, Wu Bie almost lost it. He reluctantly messaged someone, asking them to help with the verification. When WeChat finally logged in, he was caught off guard as unread messages popped up one after another, with Huo Zhanyan’s pinned message being the most prominent.

The staff chuckled, handing the phone back to Wu Bie. “How long have you not logged into WeChat? You’ve got so many messages!”

Wu Bie responded with a bitter smile, said nothing, and walked out of the hall with his phone. The place was crowded, and Wu Bie, afraid he’d lose his composure, found a quiet corner.

Luckily, it was a new phone, so despite the flood of messages, it didn’t freeze. Wu Bie’s heart didn’t race uncontrollably either. He quickly browsed through messages from others, most of which were work-related. He had already replied to them when he returned to the company, except for a message from Chen Xian. The only remaining unread messages were from Huo Zhanyan.

Even without clicking on the message, he could see the last unread one—an apology from Huo Zhanyan.

“Wu Ge, I’m sorry.”

Wu Bie had heard “sorry” so many times lately that he had become numb to it. His finger twitched, and he clicked into their chat.

He paused for a moment and then scrolled up. Besides apologies, there were messages about Huo Zhanyan worrying about his situation on the ship. Every word felt familiar, just like the tone Zhanyan had always used.

But as he scrolled, the history suddenly stopped. That’s when Wu Bie remembered it was a new phone—there were no old records.

At that moment, he couldn’t describe what he was feeling. On one hand, he was relieved—No records meant peace, and he wouldn’t have to face the past. On the other hand, his heart felt heavy, as if it was fate. Everything with Huo Zhanyan seemed fake, including their history—leaving no trace.

Wu Bie remembered why he got the new SIM card in the first place. He was someone who hated dragging things out. Without hesitation, he dialed Huo Zhanyan’s number. The call connected quickly.

“Hello! Wu Bie!” Huo Zhanyan’s voice was filled with barely concealed joy.

It was the same WeChat account, but the voice sounded so unfamiliar. Huo Zhanyan was undeniably a man.

“Wu Ge, you replaced your SIM card?” Huo Zhanyan asked excitedly.

Wu Bie ignored his question, took a deep breath, and said, “Are you done yet? Didn’t I make myself clear yesterday? What the hell do you want?”

Huo Zhanyan sounded a bit disappointed but wasn’t scared by Wu Bie’s outburst. Him calling to confront him was something he had expected.

“Did you receive the flowers?”

There was noise in the background on Huo Zhanyan’s side, but Wu Bie was too angry to care.

“I told you to stop sending those damn flowers! If you don’t get it, I’ll say it again. You and those stupid flowers better never appear in front of me again!”

Maybe he had spoken too forcefully because Wu Bie felt short of breath after his rant. His breathing quickened, and the heat rushed to his face, leaving his neck and ears burning.

The phone line went silent for a moment. After a long pause, Huo Zhanyan spoke hoarsely, “Wu Bie, you never used to get angry with me, and you never said such harsh things.”

Huo Zhanyan dared to bring up the past, making Wu Bie wish he could pull him out of the phone and punch him again.

Before he could respond, Huo Zhanyan calmly said, “I can’t agree to your request.”

Wu Bie’s fiery temper flared up, and anger shot straight to his head. “What the hell do you want?”

“If I don’t show up, you’ll eventually forget about me. I just hope you can forgive me.”

Wu Bie gritted his teeth so hard he felt like he could crush his molars. “In! Your! Dreams!”

With that, he angrily hung up the call. Fuming, he stared at the phone screen, clicked on Huo Zhanyan’s profile picture, and immediately blocked and deleted him.

He didn’t care what Huo Zhanyan wanted to do. As far as he was concerned, he wanted no connection with him whatsoever.

After replacing his SIM card, Wu Bie drove back to the company. As soon as he got out of the elevator, he noticed another bouquet of flowers at the front desk. Looking at the flowers, he felt nothing inside.

“Mr. Wu, you’ve got more flowers,” the receptionist said with a mischievous smile.

Wu Bie, gripping his car keys, pointed to the flowers. “Throw them away. And the ones in my office too. If more flowers come in later, just refuse them.”

“Huh?” The receptionist was surprised. Wu Bie was usually easygoing, without the airs of a boss, always smiling, especially with women. It was rare to see him look this upset. Reluctant to joke any further, she muttered softly, “Throwing them away seems a bit of a waste.”

“Keep them if you want,” Wu Bie replied as he walked into his office without looking back.

A short time later, the receptionist came knocking with the cleaning lady. The receptionist pointed at the flowers on his desk and instructed, “Take these away.”

As she spoke, the receptionist sneaked a glance at Wu Bie’s face. He was staring indifferently at his computer, clearly determined to have them thrown out.

After the receptionist and the cleaner left, Wu Bie glanced at the office door. Water stains remained on the desk, and the faint scent of flowers still lingered in the room, reminding him of Huo Zhanyan’s presence.

Annoying.

A loud rumble of thunder echoed, and the sky outside turned ominously dark as if a heavy storm was approaching.

Already in a foul mood, the oppressive weather only made things worse. Wu Bie felt more and more that he didn’t belong on land. When he was on the ship, he’d seen all kinds of extreme weather. Rain just meant more work, bustling and busy, never feeling this stifling.

Wanting to distract himself, he grabbed a manual on sailing from the bookshelf. The text was long and dry, and it took some effort to focus on.

Suddenly, a sharp “plop” and the sound of rushing water interrupted his reading. He looked up to see large raindrops striking the floor-to-ceiling windows. The raindrops quickly gathered into streams, flowing down the glass. He hurried to the window, where a thick layer of mist now blanketed the city, and the rain was pounding relentlessly toward the ground.

“So heavy,” Wu Bie muttered, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already past 4 p.m. He could almost hear the commotion outside as employees prepared to leave early. Their company only required clocking in, not out, so with rain like this, many were likely planning to head home early.

Before Wu Bie could step out to see for himself, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Chen Xian stood by the door, holding the handle. “Want to join me?”

Wu Bie was about to agree when Chen Xian added, “I’m going to pick up Ah Xue from work. He went to a meeting for his boss, and now it’s over, so he’s heading straight home.”

“Not going.” Wu Bie thought, even if he got washed away by the rain, he wouldn’t go pick up Shen Jixue after work.

Chen Xian, knowing what the answer would be, didn’t push further. He just reminded him, “Head home early, then. Come over tonight for dinner. We’re making hotpot.”

Wu Bie waved him off, signaling for Chen Xian to leave. But Chen Xian left the door wide open, and Wu Bie could hear the sounds of people packing up and getting ready to go home. Maybe he should just head home too.

The crowd dispersed quickly. While Wu Bie was still lingering, the sounds outside faded away. When he ran out to check, only a few people remained working overtime.

“Seriously! No organization, no discipline. Then I’ll leave too.”

One advantage of taking the elevator now was that the rush was over. Those who were leaving had already left, and the remaining few were still working. Wu Bie leisurely took the elevator down. The underground parking lot was darker than usual, the dim sensor lights flickering faintly, with two of them malfunctioning and producing a soft buzzing sound.

“Guess all my property fees went to the dogs,” Wu Bie cursed under his breath. He pressed his car key, and the headlights flashed twice. He quickly got into the car, and as the headlights came on, the parking lot brightened a bit.

Wu Bie started the car but didn’t drive off immediately. Feeling the craving for a cigarette, he lit one up. As he took the first puff, the white smoke briefly obscured his vision. In the corner of his eye, something seemed to move in the shadows.

“Huh?” Wu Bie squinted and glanced around. The silent parking lot was filled with private cars, but no one else seemed to be around.

Was it a trick of the eye? Wu Bie couldn’t be bothered to check. He finished his cigarette, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and then drove quickly out of the parking lot. The engine was loud, and so was the rain. After driving for a bit, the noise became unbearable, so he rolled up the windows.