Lakefront Tea House.

With its antique-style decor and somewhat upscale furnishings, spending here cost several hundred per person.

The reason is simply that this tea house is located on the prime real estate of the East Lake shoreline.

From a private room on the second floor, one can clearly see the scenery of East Lake, with a panoramic view of the lake and mountains from the window.

However, neither of the two people sitting opposite each other at this moment had the heart to appreciate the beauty outside the window.

"Can you tell me about what happened back then?"

Chen Feng began somewhat tactfully.

Zhou Qianru elegantly peeled a tangerine, glancing at him lightly as if casually, with a hint of feigned ignorance: "What happened back then?"

Suppressing the indignation in his heart, Chen Feng sneered, "The matter of you leaving without a word, without even a goodbye message afterwards."

Zhou Qianru looked at Chen Feng with a hint of anger, but she didn't feel unhappy; instead, there was a vague sense of achievement. After all, so many years had passed, and this man still held a grudge against her, always remembering her in his heart.

"I remember that we agreed beforehand not to ask about each other's personal information, not to disturb each other's life, and not to involve emotions. Not to ask what shouldn't be asked. So, even if I left without saying goodbye, it can't be said that I was wrong, right?"

What Zhou Qianru said left Chen Feng momentarily unable to refute.

In fact, it was true that, during their second meeting at the hotel, Zhou Qianru had indeed set these ground rules for him, and he had readily agreed at the time.

Back then, they were in actuality just casual partners, even less than what some relationships between others might have entailed, considering they didn't even know each other's names.

Chen Feng just felt a bit resentful about how heartless and cold-blooded she was, without the slightest bit of human kindness.

Seeing that Chen Feng didn't argue, Zhou Qianru didn't push him but rather said with a slight sigh: "I really didn't expect to see you again, and I believe you feel the same. This time, when I contacted you, I believe you guessed what I meant."

After finishing, Zhou Qianru started to eat the peeled tangerine segment by segment, slowly chewing.

She ate as if Chen Feng didn't exist.

Seeing her act like this, Chen Feng couldn't help but feel irritated, so he picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and then said somewhat sharply, "I don't know what you mean. You'd better tell me straight."

Only then did Zhou Qianru turn her gaze back to Chen Feng, smiling slightly: "So many years have passed, and how come you're still as naive as back then? Your resentment towards me is entirely unnecessary. We were just fleeting visitors in each other's lives; no one wronged the other or was unfair to the other."

Hearing this, the anger within Chen Feng's heart subsided a bit, and he knew that indeed, he had been a bit small-minded.

Regarding their affairs back then, to be honest, he benefited quite a bit. She never asked him to be responsible, and she even paid for the hotel a few times. Chen Feng truly shouldn't bear any grudge against her.

Ultimately, he resented that she departed without farewells or human kindness, making him feel as if he was an object without any value to her, just discarded without any regret.

That feeling wasn't pleasant at the time, and even after so many years, recalling it still made him indignant.

"Alright, you're right. I just felt you lacked human warmth back then. Regardless, we had slept together many times, yet you didn't even leave a parting call or message, just vanished. At the time, I even thought something might have happened to you, worried for a while, and paid attention for a long time to reports about traffic accidents, unexpected incidents, and criminal cases, just in case something happened to you."

Zhou Qianru listened to Chen Feng's words, and after a moment of silence, she softly said, "Back then, my family had some issues. My father suddenly had a severe stroke and was hospitalized, and I stayed in the hospital with him. Eventually, after more than a month, he passed away.

My mom passed away when I was a teenager. Later, my dad never remarried, and we lived together depending on each other. When he passed away, I became an orphan without both parents, feeling extremely sad and depressed. Fortunately, at that time, Yanhong was always by my side, trying to cheer me up, taking me on trips, and introduced me to my current husband, which slowly helped me through that difficult period."

After hearing her recount, the resentment that had lingered in Chen Feng's heart for seven or eight years dissipated instantly, and he felt both joy and guilt.

The joy came from realizing that Zhou Qianru wasn't heartless nor truly discarded him like an old shoe; it was because she had lost her supportive father and wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

In such circumstances, it was fully understandable why she suddenly disappeared and stopped contacting him.

By the time she emerged from the grief and found a boyfriend, many months must have passed, making no sense for her to contact him anymore, nor should she.

Throughout these years, Chen Feng had been unjustly blaming her, always bearing grudges against her, was indeed small-minded which made him feel naturally guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the whole story, it was my misunderstanding."

Chen Feng sincerely apologized to her.

"You don't owe me an apology; you didn't wrong me, and of course, I didn't wrong you either. I invited you here this time because I was worried there might be some misunderstandings or any unrealistic ideas from your side. Do you get what I mean?"

Zhou Qianru's earnest words amused Chen Feng somewhat in his heart.

Even though Zhou Qianru didn't make it explicit, how could he not understand?

"I understand. You're afraid I'll bother you, aren't you? Rest assured, I won't disturb your happy life now, and even more so, I won't affect the relationship between you and your husband."

Chen Feng directly stated her concerns and expressed his stance.

He indeed had no intention to rekindle their past, not only because she's married now but also due to their noticeable age difference.

Back then, when he was barely twenty, she was around thirty, and it didn't seem an issue.

But now, with him at thirty and her nearing forty, despite good maintenance and style, she couldn't hide the fact that she's a middle-aged woman.

Chen Feng now didn't lack young and beautiful women, so there was really no need to mess with a married woman like her.

Zhou Qianru hadn't expected Chen Feng to be so straightforward and genuine, and it appeared as if he wasn't lying, which made her smile: "Very well. What's past has passed; things are different now, so let's not dwell on past things and look forward."

"Yes, I won't bring up past things again."

Chen Feng also gave her a concrete promise.

In fact, all these years, he never mentioned their past affair to anyone else.

Unlike some indiscreet men who brag to friends about their hotel encounters with some women.

All along, including with Zhou Qianru, he adhered strictly to confidentiality principles, never flaunting his intimate past with anyone.