Qin Xuanye had no desire to entertain Wei Miao, who was clearly enjoying the drama a little too much.
He turned to face Chen Liuyue.
Speaking each word deliberately, he said:
"Today, I'm not your brother-in-law. I'm your ex-boyfriend."
"Tao Liuyue, you asked me to come back to our old high school. Wasn't it to give me an explanation?"
"Why did we break up back then?"
Chen Liuyue smiled, her tone light and casual. "You're still hung up on what happened back then? You couldn't possibly still like me, could you?"
"Of course not!" Qin Xuanye retorted vehemently.
Even excessively so.
It was so obvious that even Wei Miao, the bystander, could sense something was off.
Qin Xuanye hadn't let go at all. In fact, he had buried his affection even deeper, transforming it into resentment.
Chen Liuyue's lips curved into a smile.
"So, what explanation do you want to hear?"
"Haven't you already heard from others that I dumped you because I started seeing someone else?"
Qin Xuanye's eyes reddened. "I want to hear the truth."
Chen Liuyue laughed again.
"You don't think that's the truth?"
Wei Miao suddenly felt rather superfluous standing there.
How had he become part of the play between this ex-couple?
Chen Liuyue was really something.
He shifted his feet, planning to slip away first.
Suddenly, Chen Liuyue walked past Qin Xuanye, quickly stepped beside Wei Miao, and naturally took his hand.
"Brother Wei, come on, let me show you around the school."
Qin Xuanye's eyes grew even redder.
It felt like a fresh wound was being added to a place that had already been stabbed.
"Chen Liuyue! So it's true you left me for another man back then."
"And today, you brought Wei Miao here to make me give up completely?"
Chen Liuyue didn't stop walking. As she passed by him, she said in a flat tone:
"Yes, I was the one who abandoned you first."
Qin Xuanye watched their retreating figures, clenching his fists in frustration.
He stood there hesitating for a moment, then mustered his courage and jogged to catch up with them.
Wei Miao couldn't understand her actions either.
"Do you want to get back together with Qin Xuanye, or do you want him to hate you to death?"
Chen Liuyue pondered for a moment, then said:
"He's my sister's fiancé now. How could we get back together?"
"Of course, I want him to hate me."
"Haven't you heard the saying? Hate lasts far longer than love."
Chen Liuyue was utterly calm and at ease.
Meanwhile, the system was going crazy!
The little system couldn't help but chime in: "Host, danger, danger! Qin Xuanye's favorability has dropped to -60%. If it reaches -100%, the mission will be judged a failure."
Chen Liuyue replied mentally: "Relax, it's not at -99% yet."
The system: "..."
No, you're the first host I've seen who plays with their own life so recklessly.
You really aren't afraid of death!
Qin Xuanye caught up with them, his red-rimmed eyes fixed on them as if they were an intimate couple, his gaze landing on their clasped hands.
"Are you... together?" His tone held a note of accusation.
He actually had no right to ask.
He knew it too, which is why his voice trailed off weakly by the end.
Wei Miao raised an eyebrow, his beautiful phoenix eyes lifting.
"No obligation to inform you!"
Chen Liuyue, on the other hand, smiled generously and said:
"Brother-in-law, seeing how happy you and Sister Ruanruan are makes me envious."
"So I'm pursuing Brother Wei now."
"When we succeed, you'll be the first to know. After all... you're a witness."
Qin Xuanye's straight back seemed to bend little by little.
His face looked haggard and pale.
He felt something clogging his throat, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.
Not an ounce of strength remained in his entire body.
That despair and panic of losing Tao Liuyue washed over him again, even more intense than before!!!
His head buzzed.
He could only hear their conversation.
Wei Miao: "Shall we go?"
Chen Liuyue: "Sure."
Sure.
She had really abandoned him again!
All those sealed-away emotions, stuffed into a corner, surged up violently once more, uncontrollably bursting from his chest.
More intense than ever before.
Qin Xuanye felt like a drowning man.
Knowing he would drown, yet still unable to resist approaching the moon at the bottom of the water.
The light in his eyes dimmed bit by bit.
Turning gloomy, morbid, and twisted.
Why?!
Why was it always so easy for her to just walk away, playing with his feelings as if nothing had happened?
At this moment, Qin Xuanye's mind was completely clouded by rage and hatred.
Duty, arranged marriage, Chen Ruanruan—all were thrown out of his head.
His eyes, his heart, were engraved with nothing but hatred for one name.
Liuyue.
Liuyue!
He wasn't going to let go!
He would get his revenge!
He would get back together with her and make her taste the bitterness of being abandoned!!!
Even if it meant death, he would possess that moon beneath the water.
...
As they walked, Wei Miao listened to Chen Liuyue introducing the school's buildings and landmarks.
Though his interest wasn't particularly high.
"Why did you break up with Qin Xuanye back then?" He was more interested in this.
Chen Liuyue released their clasped hands.
As the warm, soft touch left, a flicker of disappointment passed through Wei Miao's eyes, though he didn't show it.
"Are you unhappy?"
Chen Liuyue stopped walking, her gaze shifting to study him.
"I told you. I fell for someone else."
"Just like now."
Wei Miao's lips curled up in pleasure, but he stated with certainty: "A lie."
Chen Liuyue shrugged, her tone lazy.
"It is a lie."
"But why insist on chasing the truth? Maybe it would hurt a young girl's pride."
Wei Miao: "The Chen Liuyue I know isn't someone who gets hurt so easily. She's the one who hurts others!"
Chen Liuyue nodded:
"I admit you're right."
"But the Tao Liuyue from high school still had quite a bit of pride and a strong sense of self-respect. Why the breakup? Actually, it's quite laughable."
"She found out only a week after getting together with Qin Xuanye that he was going abroad to study."
"She had no money, and her family wouldn't support her studying overseas."
"She could barely manage the tuition for a domestic university herself, so... rather than have her pitiful pride exposed, she chose to let go with a show of nonchalance."
"Even after parting, she could confidently say, 'See? I ended it. It's not that my family background isn't good enough, that I can't keep up with you...'."
Wei Miao listened, a hint of jealousy unconsciously coloring his tone.
He asked somewhat pointedly: "Did you like him back then?"
Chen Liuyue rolled her eyes.
"If I didn't like him, why would I have agreed to be with him?"
"I'm not the type who gets moved by a persistent admirer's devotion and agrees to date them out of gratitude."
"If someone doesn't catch my eye, I wouldn't even give them a first chance."
"By the same logic..."
She slowly turned her head, looking directly at Wei Miao.
"I liked you from the very first moment I saw you!"
