News from Taiwan

Chapter 76 Let's Talk
"What are you talking about?" Shen Huaizhou bent down to meet Jiang Guier's gaze. "If you want to ask about the studio, then don't ask. That's my own business. The choices I make are all well-considered decisions, and I won't change them easily. If you want to ask me why I helped you so much..."

He looked at Jiang Guier and said, word by word, "You don't understand this problem yourself?"

"No, how would I know?"

Jiang Guier said urgently, "I know you have your own thoughts, and I respect and understand your arrangements for your studio. But what I want to say to you is that if it is because of me that you made this decision, then I feel that I have a responsibility."

"You have no responsibility; this is my business and has nothing to do with you."

"Of course there is!" Jiang Guier exclaimed anxiously. This was the sentence she hated to hear the most. He had done so much behind her back, but now he was trying to brush her off with the excuse that it had nothing to do with her!

“Shen Huaizhou, you have always been a calm person in my eyes. You shouldn’t be so impulsive. Your studio, which you’ve put so much effort into, shouldn’t be mortgaged because of me. Even though you mortgaged it to Lu Qingqing’s people, the relationship is different when interests are involved.”

She took a deep breath. "I'm very grateful to you for helping me go to Taiwan and for helping me find my great-grandfather, but if all of this requires you to gamble everything you've done, to use the studio you've worked so hard to build and the foundation of your business as a stake, I can't accept that..."

"So what can you accept?"

"It's not a matter of whether I accept it or not. Why didn't you tell me that your studio was going to be mortgaged to Lu Qingqian?"

Shen Huaizhou tightened his grip on the car door slightly, his gaze still fixed on Jiang Guier's face, his tone anything but gentle, "Nothing to say, let's move on."

Why is there nothing to say?

Jiang Guier raised her voice slightly, her eyes swirling with guilt, grievance, and anger. She wasn't angry at Shen Huaizhou, but more at her own belated realization. "Shen Huaizhou, are you out of your mind? I didn't know that going to Taiwan would make you mortgage your studio. You still have the nerve to tell me? There's nothing to say. This is a bit of bullying."

Shen Huaizhou's expression shifted between light and shadow, as if he was trying his best to suppress his emotions. He said calmly, "I've already said, this is my own decision, and it has nothing to do with you."

These distant words instantly ignited Jiang Guier's pent-up emotions. She looked up at him abruptly, her eyes reddening, her tone stubborn and argumentative, "How could it be unrelated to me? I'm the one who started this whole thing, I'm the one who caused it. What right do you have to make decisions for me and bear all the consequences for me?"

Shen Huaizhou sighed, "Jiang Guier, everyone's life choices are independent. I chose to help you voluntarily, and I should bear the consequences. I don't need you to feel guilty, nor do I need you to pay the price."

"But relationships are never a one-sided self-sacrifice!"

Jiang Guier almost shouted these words in a low voice. Her chest heaved violently, each word clear and forceful, filled with stubbornness. "What era are we living in now? The kind of silent sacrifice and waiting that our parents did is no longer popular. Do you think that doing all this silently and bearing everything alone is good for me? Have you ever thought that what you're doing, this kind of sacrifice, is a burden and a shackle for me?"

This was the first real argument between the two, and every word they said touched on the core of the issue.

Shen Huaizhou sighed again. He was a little helpless with Jiang Guier. "I never thought of using sacrifice to bind you. Think of me in a better light. I'm not that bad. I just don't want your obsession to leave you with regrets. I'll help you with what I can, right? Your life is yours, and my choices are mine. The two can overlap, but they don't have to be tied together. I don't want you to change some of your existing ideas because of your guilt, and I don't want my feelings for you to be mixed with debt and compensation. It should be pure, not complicated."

He saw things very clearly. Life is a journey of self-cultivation. He protected Jiang Guier for a while willingly and never thought of her repaying him. He also did not want this pure feeling to turn into a favor that needed to be repaid.

As a man, it's normal for him to feel that he should solve problems for the people he likes.

But Jiang Guier has her own principles and beliefs. She has always touted herself as a modern woman who should be independent and self-reliant. She nodded vigorously, trying to suppress her emotions that were about to erupt. "You're right, I won't argue with you, but you can't separate us so cleanly. We can help each other, but the premise is honesty. You've kept your sacrifice a secret from me, which seems like a kind of fulfillment, but it's actually a disguised denial. Maybe in your eyes, you think I, Jiang Guier, am not capable of bearing the consequences of my own choices. At the same time, you feel that if I had to face these things before I went to Taiwan, I might not have dared to go to Taiwan. In short, you just don't trust me."

She was a little angry. She had never been a pampered, dependent young lady. In her family, despite the high pressure from her domineering mother, she was able to choose her own path. She pursued her career as a news anchor, and even dared to go to Taiwan to search for her relatives, her great-grandfather, and the reasons behind the grudges of the previous generation. She had always been independent and resilient. She could accept companionship, but she couldn't accept this kind of one-sided so-called sacrifice. True affection was never about one person providing all the support while the other felt at ease; it was more about standing side by side and supporting each other equally.

She is not someone else's dependent, nor can she not live without anyone. She can live a more fulfilling life, and she can take responsibility for all the decisions she makes.

"I'm not denying your abilities; I believe you have the capability."

Shen Huaizhou's tone softened, "I just don't want you to be burdened with pressure before you go to Taiwan. Searching for relatives is already tiring enough, and I don't want to add another burden to your burden."

"You're wrong. Concealing things is more damaging than pressure."

Jiang Guier turned her face away, refusing to look at him. "Shen Huaizhou, the education I received is the same as yours. I believe that emotionally, we are independent individuals. A good relationship is about mutual support, not self-indulgent sacrifice, and certainly not one-sided support. Your actions, which seem to be for my sake, actually cut off my right to share the burden with you. It's fundamentally unequal."

"No, I just want you to be freer."

"Shouldn't freedom be based on honesty?"

The two held firm to their own opinions, neither willing to back down even slightly, each believing they were acting in the other's best interest. Yet, their extreme gentleness and their own independence led to a fierce confrontation.

The car was parked on the side of the road in the residential area, and the atmosphere between the two became increasingly tense, with them mostly remaining silent.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with young couples these days? Talk things out calmly, don't fight like this," a kind-hearted aunt sitting nearby advised.

"Oh dear, it's only when you're young that you argue. When you get old, you won't argue anymore. It's nothing serious."

"So being young is good."

The words of those around them, which were meant to offer advice, broke the tense standoff between the two.

Shen Huaizhou was the first to come to his senses, concealing the contemplation in his eyes, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, it was my oversight, it won't happen again."

Jiang Guier pursed her lips, "So... it's still related to me, isn't it?"

Yes, it's related. It's all because of you.

Shen Huaizhou's almost shameless words made Jiang Guier chuckle, "Alright, you haven't said what's going on yet."

"I thought you wanted to argue with me, and you even forgot about the important matter," Shen Huaizhou teased. "Princess, please come down."

The double entendre made Jiang Guier burst out laughing. "Okay."

She took Shen Huaizhou's hand, jumped out of the car, and landed steadily.