Once Upon A One Night Stand

In J City, as in five years ago, men were wrapped in the suits of elites but were longing for getting laid. Women tied up their hair but were trying to look for fun. It was a materialistic world full of money as well as a sex city nurtured by desires.

The streets in the early morning were as noisy as during the day. But the night hued the city with an intriguing vide.

Today was the most special day for Li Han. It was the same day five years ago, the car that carried Shu Tian had an accident. He would uncontrollably become irritable whenever he thought of this. He didn't want to do anything or say anything. All he wanted was to stay alone.

Tonight, when he came back drunk, he was stopped by a black Land Rover at the door of the villa.

He stopped the car steadily without hitting the Land Rover. Ling Junze got out of the car angrily and opened the door of Li Han's car. He immediately found the smell of alcohol inside the car. Angrily, Ling Junze grabbed Li Han's collar and pulled him out, and said, "Drunk driving? Are you crazy?"

Li Han couldn't stand steadily and fell back. He leaned against the car and sounded colder because of the alcohol, "Get out of the way."

"You will be so drunk on the same day every year. Do you really have to do this? It takes you a year to recover from the stomach hemorrhage, and now you drank so much again. Do you want to die?" Ling Junze was really angry and came here today to check on Li Han because Li Han would be like this every year.

But he couldn't believe that Li Han would drive back by himself when being drunk.

But Li Han didn't seem to care about how angry Ling Junze was and repeated coldly, "Get out of the way."

Unexpectedly, Ling Junze punched Li Han in the face.

He was angry but more disappointed actually when he hit Li Han. He couldn't even remember the last time he hit someone, but at this moment, he really couldn't help it.

He couldn't bear to see Li Han become so depressed like this. His comfort, companionship, and persuasion were all useless to Li Han. The last thing Ling Junze could accept was that Li Han was hurting himself.

Being punched hard on the left cheek, Li Han looked angry. But he didn't resist or fight back as if he couldn't feel the pain and was just taking it.

Then, Ling Junze stopped and carried Li Han to the side of the tree trunk and said, "Li Han, can you fucking be sober? Shu Tian is dead. No matter how you torture yourself, she can't come back. She can't be alive again even if you die. Do you understand?"

Ling Junze was shouting in anger.

For the past five years, Shu Tian had been missing. Although her corpse was not found, the police announced that the car had been seriously damaged during the oil leak explosion. It was easy to guess what happened to a human during the accident. There was no way for her to get away with it.

But Li Han didn't believe it and would lose control whenever he heard any word related to death. Shu Tian seemed to be a switch in his life, controlling everything about him.

Five years was long enough for him to return to his normal life.

Sure enough, Li Han was enraged by Ling Junze and reacted violently as he pushed Ling Junze away. "She's not dead!"

"If she is still alive, why there wasn't any news about her in the past five years? Why did she come to you? How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?" Ling Junze shouted so excitedly that the blue veins on his neck could be seen. After Shu Tian's accident, for Li Han's feelings, no one had told him the truth straightforwardly, but Ling Junze thought it was time to let Li Han face the reality because Li Han couldn' get rid of the past. As time went by, Li Han had been increasingly convinced that Shu Tian was still alive.

It was late at night, and a cold wind came, blowing directly into the desolate, bone-chilling area of Li Han's heart.

Li Han leaned weakly against the trunk, looking dejected as if he was the king who lost his empire or a prisoner who just got caught. He said sadly, "She's just disappointed in me and doesn't want to come back to me again."

He would rather believe that Shu Tian didn't love him than accept the fact that she was dead.

Ling Junze didn't speak and only felt despair and depression.

He let go of Li Han and sat down on the wet lawn and was panting because of the fight just now, and his clean clothes were stained with mud. Ling Junze sounded hoarse, "It's been five years, Han. You should learn to move on. Shu Tian's body hasn't been found yet, but she needs a place to live. Last week, Fu Qingtong showed Lin Xi a cemetery. Shu Tian's parents went to see it. We've been there too. When she was alive, she hoped that you could take her home, but her wish hadn't be fufilled. If you really miss her, you should go and have a look."

Li Han paused. For these years, Shu Changlei and Ye Lihua had not prepared a tombstone for Shu Tian because they were unwilling to believe that their daughter had passed away, but now they agreed... Li Han felt that his persistence had dissipated with the wind, leaving behind a withered reality. It was so ridiculous.

It was as if someone was whispering in his ear, "Look, even Shu Tian's parents have admitted it. What do you have to lie to yourself?"

Ling Junze left after that and knew that Li Han had taken it seriously. But he couldn't decide what would Li Han do. So, he left Li Han alone.

Li Han sat on the grass in a daze. In the distance, a night patrolling security guard passed by. He thought Li Han was some tramp and attempted to use the flashlight to drive Li Han away. When he came closer and saw it was Li Han, he immediately apologized respectfully and walked away.

But from time to time, the guard looked back out of curiosity. It was cold at night, and Li Han was trembling slightly. His trousers were stained with grayish-yellow mud, which made him look lonely and dejected in the cold wind in the early morning.

"It's so late. What is such an extraordinary man doing alone in the grass?" The guard was confused.

Then he shook his head and thought that maybe the rich had their troubles too.

Li Han had been sitting there for a long time until the sky turned light and the smell of alcohol disappeared. The cemetery and Ling Junze's words weighed heavily on his mind.

He had been avoiding the truth for these years. No matter what others said, whether strangers or Shu Tian's parents, he just didn't believe that Shu Tian was dead.

There was an inexplicable force that kept him going.

He took out his private phone and there was only 5% battery left. He called his assistant, "Book me a ticket to London."

It was 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, and the assistant was obviously confused, "Mr. Li, you don't have any scheduel to England recently..."

"Personal travel." He interrupted in a hoarse voice and continued, "The lastest flight. I have to leave as soon as possible."

Hanging up, he thought of the crowd in London Eye, the sound of Big Ben piercing through the clouds and the flocks of white pigeons by the Thames.

He needed to relax and heal the wounds in his heart. If he had to move on, he wanted to begin with getting close to the crowd.

However, he did not expect that this trip would lead his life in another direction.