118. You'll Know Once You Try It

                                    

                                          
JingYuan grabbed Tao Qi in a stranglehold and coldly said, "In all the years I've been alive, I, Mu JingYuan, had never hit a woman before. You're quite something, Tao Qi."
All Tao Qi could feel was the air in her chest slowly draining out of her. The handsome man before her eyes twisted into a face as terrifying as an evil ghost's. Never had she ever felt death looming this close to her. She'd never realised the male lead could be this scary. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind that this man wanted to kill her. Perhaps he'd snap her neck in half with his bare hands! No! She's the female lead, the protagonist! How can she die?
Just as she could sense the death reaper waving her over, Mu JingYuan gradually loosened his grip. He stared down at Tao Qi as she hacked and coughed and did her best to catch her breath.
"You think you can die this easily?" he said, voice steeped in ruthlessness. "It'd be the easiest thing ever to have you dead, but you must always pay the price for what your actions and words. Isn't it so? Getting strangled would be too easy a death for you."
At the end of JingYuan's speech, YiHan finally snapped out of his daze. "JingYuan," he said after a long blink. "Can you step out for a moment? I need to have a word with Tao Qi alone."
"Impossible," JingYuan replied without hesitation. "HanHan, I can promise to do anything you want me to do, but I would never allow anything that would put you in danger's way. It's clear to everyone that this woman holds a big deal of ill will towards you. Even if it's not me, even if it's Chen Feng, we couldn't let you two be alone in the same room."
Chen Feng promptly nodded in agreement.
JingYuan walked over and knelt before YiHan. "HanHan," he said to the man in the chair, "all she speaks are lies and fantasies. There's nothing worth listening to. Why don't you go rest up first? I'll help you ask any and all questions you wish to ask. How about it?"
YiHan looked back at the man in front of him. Love and concern were etched into the older man's face. He could see his reflection in those dark eyes. This man was never one to wear his heart on his sleeves, but a simple sentence cursing YiHan out was enough to fan the flames of his anger into a blazing inferno. And even when the man's seething, JingYuan would still speak to YiHan in a soft and gentle tone.
Everything's different now. The heart of the man YiHan had never been able to acquire was now in his hands. A car accident happened to TianYang and he saved XueQing, but he didn't die. Conversely, Feng Qun who was supposed to have killed YiHan was now dead and he'd died in a snap. There's nothing in this world that is destined to happen. Everything can change. YiHan shouldn't continue dwelling in the shadows of his past life, even if it's just so this man before his eyes wouldn't worry. Since he'd started over again, he should cherish what he had before him and do his best to not let this man show this much worry ever again. He should use all his strength and power to protect the man kneeling before him, to protect his family. That is what a man should do.
YiHan let out a soft exhale and gave JingYuan a smile. He reached out and cupped JingYuan's face. Then, he kissed the man on the lips.
"Fool," YiHan whispered. "I'm not made of paper. Do you think I can't even handle a few words? We're all here. Let's see what she has to say. You know, sometimes, gibberish could provide us with an unexpected lead."
JingYuan's one hand that hadn't touched Tao Qi rose and held onto YiHan's wrists. All he knew was his HanHan's smile was so kind and warm that it brought tears to his eyes. His eyes were glued to YiHan's face, mesmerised to the point where a "yes" just slipped out of his mouth.
"How could this be? Why?" Tao Qi gasped, face full of disbelief. "By now, you should've been broken apart by constant arguments. Why did this happen? Why don't all of you follow the plot? I am the protagonist here! I'm the one who should be with Mu JingYuan! I'm the one who should stand at the top of the world! Just what went wrong...?"