Chapter 288: How Did It Come to This
For a moment, the air was frozen.
Hong Xiaodan's entire face turned cold, and the grape she had just pinched with her fingertips fell back into the fruit plate.
For quite a while, neither spoke. Chen Feng waited for her to explode, yet she remained calm, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.
Earlier, he deliberately used disrespectful words to provoke her, hoping it would lead to a big fight, and they could part ways forever.
But he clearly underestimated Hong Xiaodan's patience, her tolerance towards him.
Her eyes gradually turned red, and a mist began to form. Finally, Chen Feng sighed and said, "Okay, I said the wrong thing, I apologize."
He really didn't want to hurt her. After all, she was his admirer, and a wealthy beauty at that. Even though he wasn't very fond of her, she was still a beauty, and as a man admired by her, it was truly hard to be ruthless to her.
No matter what, she was now just a humble pursuer, trying all sorts of ways to please him and deepen their relationship. What malice could she possibly have towards him?
Technically speaking, even if she often bothered him nowadays, he shouldn't say such disrespectful things to her.
"You don't need to apologize. The one who really should apologize is me," Hong Xiaodan said nasally, "I know I've been bothering you a lot lately, and I know it's bad, even degrading. Because I know you already have someone, yet I keep sticking to you relentlessly. What else could it be but degrading?
But even knowing this, I still can't resist wanting to see you every day. I don't know what's wrong with me; I just can't control myself. If you have any good solutions, please tell me. Actually, I also dislike the current me. I know you're not my perfect match, but I just want to be close to you, to be intimate."
Chen Feng couldn't handle her confession, so he immediately said seriously, "There's a simple solution you can try, which is to start interacting with other men. As long as you find someone new, this problem will naturally be resolved."
Hong Xiaodan sneered and said, "Like your friend Qin Zhen, right?"
Chen Feng froze, wondering if he and Qin Zhen had been that obvious just now.
Hong Xiaodan quickly switched topics, curiously asking, "Doesn't your friend have a girlfriend? Did they break up?"
"Uh, yes. He's single now." Chen Feng replied somewhat awkwardly.
Hong Xiaodan shook her head, "I'm not suitable for him. He's completely not my type, plus he's your friend. It feels weird to move from you to your friend, don't you think?"
Chen Feng thought, it is a bit weird, but such things happen often in reality.
However, since both Qin Zhen and she claimed they weren't suitable, Chen Feng couldn't force them together.
"I wasn't talking about him. You can definitely look for other men. The world is so big, there are tons of outstanding men, you really don't have to stubbornly hold onto me. Honestly, I'm not as great as you think."
"Then find me someone your age, self-made billionaire, somewhat handsome, gentle-tempered, with no bad habits."
Hong Xiaodan said this with a slightly provocative look at Chen Feng.
"Isn't your requirement too high?" Chen Feng looked at her speechlessly.
Hong Xiaodan raised her chin slightly, "Is that too high? I'm just using your standards. You just said there are many outstanding men in the world."
Chen Feng paused and said, "You know your standards actually exceed mine, right? I'm currently supporting several women, unable to satisfy even one or two, which definitely counts as a bad habit."
Hong Xiaodan rolled her eyes at him, "How many truly rich men nowadays don't have women outside? Besides, you're still single, which is way better than those married men messing around. I know about you and Sun Xiaorui and Liu Ying; it's mutual, not a bad habit, and not illegal. This situation is fairly common in society, and it seems pretty normal to me."
Chen Feng was somewhat impressed by her moral view. He himself couldn't confidently say that keeping several women was normal.
This behavior certainly shouldn't be encouraged, it should be criticized, harshly criticized!
(This book uses the male lead Chen Feng as a negative example for description and criticism. Dear readers, remember: a novel is a novel, reality is reality, let this be a cautionary tale.)
Chen Feng couldn't resist asking, "If I were to marry you... don't get excited, I'm just using it as an example. If we got married, would you also allow me to keep women outside?"
Hong Xiaodan stared at him, firmly saying, "Yes."
Chen Feng was shocked. Her generosity completely challenged his worldview.
After all, she was a wealthy beauty, a highly educated modern woman, not some ignorant woman without support. Yet she allowed her husband to have mistresses?
It really was worldview-shattering!
"As long as you marry me, I can give you the greatest indulgence. But there are definitely conditions. First, as we discussed when we were dating, I'm the only child in my family. If we have children, the first boy must take my surname and enter the Hong family genealogy.
Additionally, the women you keep outside must be known to me, and they must have my prior approval, with no more than two in total. Furthermore, if you have children with them in the future, those children can only inherit a limited part of your wealth, no more than 10% of all your assets. The remaining 90% must be inherited by our children.
If you can agree to these conditions I stated, then after we get married, I will allow you to have other women outside, as promised."
To be honest, Hong Xiaodan's offer was quite tempting to a wealthy man, even for a moment Chen Feng considered agreeing.
But he quickly regained clarity. After all, he wasn't truly a licentious man, nor one who only thinks with his lower half. Although Hong Xiaodan was beautiful, she wasn't his type. Wu Mengting was much better, the type Chen Feng truly liked.
Not to mention, he had already promised Wu Mengting a half-year period. When the time came, he'd be ready to settle down and marry her, to live a normal family life.
Chen Feng's demeanor quickly returned to normal, and he nodded calmly, saying, "Alright. I've noted what you said, and if I change my mind in the future, I'll come to you."
Seeing his attitude, Hong Xiaodan couldn't help but feel even more defeated. This was the greatest concession she could think of, yet Chen Feng didn't immediately agree, nor did he seem moved.