Because I Cannot Hurt You

Han Huizhong and Han Tian felt as if they were struck by lightning. The rest had bewildered and shocked expressions as if they were hearing the impossible.

Xia Liqin sharply gasped. She still remembered how disappointed she was in An Guoting. But to think that the reality was the opposite?

"You don't know who you are standing in front of," Han Huizhong spoke in a low, threatening voice. "That is my daughter you are talking about. You think I will believe that shit?"

Kong Quan said, "That is the truth. That is what I had heard. I have no reason to tell lies about your daughter. I didn't even know her. I understand your feelings. Even I felt quite complicated at that time. A woman was threatening to kill herself only because she wanted to sleep with Mr. An."

Han Tian clenched his jaw. "It's impossible! Zongying hated An Guoting! She misunderstood him for sure, but it never got cleared. She had no reason to...ask what she did. It's preposterous. It doesn't make any sense!"

Zhiyuan slowly said, "I think that's what Uncle An can only say. But for now," he looked at Kong Quan, "What happened then?"

He softly sighed. "They saw me and froze. Miss Han was taken aback. But she didn't let go of the knife. Even I tried to talk to her, but she just didn't want to listen. She only kept asking Mr. An to fulfill her wish. She didn't care about my presence. At that point, he took me out of the room and told me to be quiet about this. I shouldn't tell anyone what I saw or what I heard. I was stunned. I couldn't understand. He was being threatened, but he asked me to keep silent. He said he will handle it somehow. But he begged me not to leak that to anybody."

"Then?"

"Then nothing. Mr. An offered me money to keep my silence, but I didn't take it. I said we should take her to the hospital, but he shook his head and said that he will look after her. I couldn't do much as I was just a waiter. But I felt bad for him because to me it looked like he was the one suffering a lot more than Miss Han, even though she was the one crying and bleeding."

Kong Quan took a deep breath. "Then the next morning when I came to work, I saw her again. But her demeanor was completely different. Exactly opposite to how she was the previous night. She was smiling and looked happy. But when I saw Mr. An behind her, he looked even more miserable than before. I realized that he gave into her demand even though he clearly didn't want to.

That's why that night weighed so heavily on my conscience. I felt I should have done something to stop her. But it was something too personal between them, and I was just a part-time waiter. I felt too powerless to step in that matter. But when I saw Mr. An like that - lifeless and in grief, I felt extremely pathetic at myself. I really, really should have done something…" his voice trailed off.

Yunru gently nodded. "I still appreciate you coming all the way here…"

He faintly smiled. "It's the least I can do."

Then he glanced at Han Huizhong and said, "I don't know what the situation is... but I feel I was called here to clear Mr. An's name. You are misunderstanding him. Or maybe you misunderstood him for all these years…I understand it's hard for you to listen. I have a daughter myself. But closing your eyes to the truth isn't going to help you or your family. You should be really thankful to Mr. An. He protected Miss Han's reputation. If it had been someone else instead of me and had exposed this, it would have become terrible for her."

Han Huizhong seemed haggard.

"You understand, right? The news of a woman…" he hesitated, "threatening a man at knife point to spend a night with her wasn't something you would have wanted it to be out in the world. It's harsh, but people would have labeled her as a wanton sort of a woman. I don't think you could have been able to bear that as a father. No parent should," he sadly shook his head.

"That's why I respect him. I didn't personally know Mr. An. But I was stunned to see that a man who was forced to give in still thought and cared about her reputation in society. He begged me not to tell anyone because I didn't accept his money. Someone else wouldn't have really bothered after being threatened like that."

Kong Quan turned towards Zizi, and his gaze was sympathetic. "I am really sorry you had to hear that, dear."

Zizi didn't respond.

"If I am correct, you must be her and Mr. An's daughter. I can tell that from the resemblance."

From what Kong Quan could understand, he felt that this truth was kept from Zizi...or maybe from everyone. He sadly sighed and went away.

There was dead silence so much that one could hear the clock ticking.

Caihong could hardly speak as her voice was choked with the big drops spilling from her eyes. "D-Dad!" She helplessly exclaimed. "How could you hide something that big from us?" 

"You have really gone senile, old man!" Shuang said she wiped her cheeks. "You are an idiot. Will you at least tell now what exactly happened?"

An Guoting shut his eyes. Then he slowly opened them and faced everyone.

He fixed his sight at Han Huizhong as he spoke, "You know, Mr. Han. I don't visit Zongying's grave every year because I miss her, or because I feel guilty. Now you know it. I have nothing to be guilty about because I didn't touch her out of my own will. But it's precisely because I was forced to touch her without my will that I went to meet her.. To let her know even after her death that I, An Guoting, really, really hate Han Zongying from the bottom of my heart."