"Not much," Nie Ziming smiled slightly, "Just took a few puffs."
Xia Qiqi knew he was lying to her.
She didn't want to expose Nie Ziming either.
She knew Nie Ziming didn't want her to worry about him.
The only thing she had to do now was to let Nie Ziming believe her. She said, "Ziming, no matter what happens, I will never marry Xiao Nanchen. His threats are useless. Our marriage is our own marriage. Even if I am disowned by the Xia family, I will not leave you."
Nie Ziming looked at Xia Qiqi.
At that moment, Xia Qiqi did not see any change in Nie Ziming's eyes.
Even.
There was some desolation.
He smiled desolately and said, "I'm sorry, Qiqi, I flinched."
Xia Qiqi looked at Nie Ziming.
Stared at him with wide eyes.
She always felt that in the past two days, she had heard many earth-shattering things.
She was always wondering if there was something wrong with her ears.
Rather than everyone around her had changed.
"I'm sorry, I don't have your courage. I decided to compromise," Nie Ziming said word for word.
"What does compromise mean?" Xia Qiqi's eyes instantly turned red.
Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at him without even blinking.
She was afraid of missing any of his expressions, which would cause her to miss a lot of information.
"Let's break up," Nie Ziming said very clearly.
It didn't sound like he was joking.
Moreover.
When did Nie Ziming ever joke with her?
Xia Qiqi's tears slid right out of her eyes and fell down her cheeks, "Why?"
"I don't want you to go to jail, nor can I accept you losing everything because of me."
"But I don't care about any of that. If Xiao Nanchen wants me to go to jail, I'll go to jail. If he wants me to pay him back a leg, I'll pay him back. If he wants me to be disowned by the Xia family, I'll leave. I don't care about any of that!"
"But I do!" Nie Ziming's emotions suddenly became agitated.
Clearly a person who would never lose his temper was now exceptionally angry at her.
He said, "Xia Qiqi, you're not me. You'll never know how I feel! I'm an orphan. I don't have parents. I know what it feels like to be alone and destitute. I know exactly what it feels like to have nothing. I don't want you to experience these things. I don't want you to experience these things because of me."
"I won't be alone. I'll still have you, won't I?" Xia Qiqi looked at him, her face full of expectation as she looked at him.
Everyone else could advise her to be with Xiao Nanchen.
Except Nie Ziming couldn't.
If even Nie Ziming was advising her.
Then what was she still persisting for?
"I can't give you that much. I can't stand to see you go to jail. I can't let you lose a leg. I also can't let you abandon your family ties and be with me." Nie Ziming's eyes also turned red. He said, "Call me a coward, but my upbringing and experiences don't allow me to not care at all. I'm sorry."
Nie Ziming sounded very distressed.
What made him distressed was obviously not their feelings.
But rather, the duck that was about to arrive in his mouth had somehow flown away.
He hadn't even thought that at this point, Xiao Nanchen would go to this extent.
He should have expected it earlier.
Back at the Xia family villa, he had heard Xiao Nanchen talking to his friend on the phone about chasing Xia Qiqi back, otherwise he wouldn't have proposed to Xia Qiqi so quickly either.
No matter what.
He had only been using Xia Qiqi all along. He already had someone he liked. He didn't want to lose himself so quickly.
If it wasn't for Xiao Nanchen, he probably would have dragged it out for a year or two.
Thinking back now.
If he had known earlier that Xiao Nanchen would use such a despicable way, he should have married Xia Qiqi before Xiao Nanchen returned to the country.
He was very clear that Xia Qiqi liked him.
As long as he opened his mouth, Xia Qiqi would marry him immediately.
Up until now.
Up until now, it had suddenly fallen through.
The reason it fell through wasn't because he voluntarily gave up. How could he voluntarily give up?
It was because last night, Xia Zhenghai and Xiao Qiang had come to find him.
They offered him terms for an exchange.
Twenty percent of Xiahui Bank's original shares.
It wasn't a question of how much the shares were worth. Rather, it was the identity of a Xiahui Bank shareholder.
From the very beginning.
He had approached Xia Qiqi to get close to Xiahui Bank.
Temptation this big.
He couldn't refuse.
So he agreed.
He had agreed because he didn't want to harm Xia Qiqi.
He had accepted the shares because he hoped to continue repaying the Xia family's kindness.
After all, in the eyes of outsiders, he was someone who had been nurtured by the Xia family.
He had done enough to play the role of a good person.
The only thing he could do was let go of Xia Qiqi.
Seeing Xia Qiqi's distress at this moment.
His heart seemed to sting a little.
Probably.
It must be dissatisfaction.
Compared to the shares, marrying Xia Qiqi would have given him an even greater chance of getting the entirety of Xiahui Bank!
"Qiqi..." Nie Ziming's eyes tightened.
At this moment, Xia Qiqi suddenly put her arms around his neck and heavily pressed a kiss onto his lips.
She was truly afraid that he would push her away.
So she wanted to prove that there were still feelings between them.
Xia Qiqi's rashness caused Nie Ziming to panic for a moment.
The next second.
He vigorously pushed Xia Qiqi away.
Xia Qiqi stumbled back several steps and looked at Nie Ziming with red swollen eyes, "So...determined?"
Nie Ziming lightly pursed his lips together.
The pain in his heart was really increasing little by little.
"Nie Ziming, were the feelings between us really that fragile?"
"Compared to your happiness, nothing else has any worth to me. Even if it makes me suffer more than death, I still won't hurt you." Nie Ziming was very determined.
"How do you know that what I have now is happiness? Nie Ziming, how can you not feel that being with you is happiness ?! Being with you is what does not hurt me!"
"You will understand in the future."
"I will never understand in my whole life!" Xia Qiqi fiercely said, "Nie Ziming, I will let you know how unhappy I am with you rejecting me! I will let you know how deeply your rejection hurts me!"
Having said that.
Xia Qiqi turned around and left.
She truly left decisively.
Nie Ziming watched Xia Qiqi's back as she left. His fists clenched tightly.
His eyes turned cold.
One day, he would return all the humiliation he was suffering now doublefold.
One day.
He would make sure none of those who could control his life would have good endings.
