…

“Ai Jiang, I really like you, and I really want to know where I went wrong. You can’t just break up with me out of nowhere…”

“I decided to be with you with a lifelong commitment. I take this relationship seriously, and I can’t accept such an inexplicable result.”

Facing He Che’s polite words, Ai Jiang repeated the same sentence throughout, “I feel like we’re not suitable.”

Her phone in her pocket kept vibrating. Ai Jiang knew that Xia Wan’an and Song Youman must be asking about her situation. Several times, she had wanted to leave, but He Che stopped her each time because she hadn’t explained herself clearly.

In her urgency, Ai Jiang’s tone became slightly heavier. “He Che, I don’t like you anymore. I’ve never liked you. Can that be the answer?”

As Ai Jiang’s words settled, she heard Han Zhijin’s voice from behind her. “You go to MIX first, just mention my name, and you should be fine. I might be a little late…”

From Han Zhijin’s words, Ai Jiang inferred that he was probably on the phone.

As Han Zhijin’s voice approached, Ai Jiang also heard his footsteps.

If Han Zhijin saw her and He Che entangled like this, her carefully maintained image in front of him for so many years would completely collapse.

Seeing that He Che was still holding her wrist and showing no intention of letting go, Ai Jiang narrowed her eyes. The next moment, she reached out, tore a hole in her T-shirt, leaned against the wall, and forcefully pulled He Che towards herself, causing his body to press against hers. Then, she panicked and said, “What are you trying to do? Let go of me! If you keep doing this, I’ll scream…”

As the words spilled out of Ai Jiang’s mouth, large tears immediately welled up in the corners of her eyes.

He Che was obviously stunned by this sudden change in Ai Jiang’s demeanor, and for a moment, he didn’t react at all.

“Let go of me! I don’t know you! Don’t do this, please!” Ai Jiang cried even more pitifully.

Han Zhijin, who had hung up the phone, heard her voice, rushed over, and upon seeing the scene before him, he immediately reached out and pulled He Che away from Ai Jiang. He clenched his fist and delivered a fierce punch to He Che’s face.

He Che, completely unprepared, was hit with such force that he staggered backward several steps until he collided with the wall and came to a stop.

His glasses fell to the ground, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of his lips.

However, even so, his demeanor remained refined and elegant.

He fixed his gaze on Ai Jiang for quite some time, then raised his hand, touched his bloody lip, and after seeing the blood on his fingers, he suddenly laughed.

“I accept the answer you’ve given me.”

“Very well, I acknowledge it.”

As He Che spoke, the smile on the corner of his lips deepened, appearing more like self-mockery.

Seemingly unwilling to say more, he took a step and walked toward the exit of the restroom.

As he passed by Ai Jiang, she seemed to be frightened, shrinking back like a startled bird.

Upon witnessing this scene, Han Zhijin stepped forward, positioning himself between He Che and Ai Jiang.

He Che suddenly smiled again, “Not saying it is my final act of tenderness.”

Not exposing your true self is my final act of tenderness, not for your sake, but for the love I once wholeheartedly gave.

Today, you’ve been so cruel to me, but someday you’ll find that you can’t reach such heights.

After uttering those words, He Che didn’t spare another glance at Ai Jiang. He simply walked away. 

His glasses were lying on the ground in front of him. Ai Jiang had bought them for him, but he didn’t stop to pick them up. Instead, he stepped on them, deforming the frames and shattering the lenses.

Once He Che had left, the area near the restroom became extremely quiet.

Perhaps due to feeling guilty, Ai Jiang was a bit unsure. She sneaked a glance at Han Zhijin and started crying even more pitifully while wiping her tears. “I didn’t know who he was; I didn’t recognize him at all.”

“After I came out of the restroom, he grabbed me and said things I couldn’t understand at all… I told him I didn’t know him, but he still wouldn’t let me go…”

Ai Jiang cried as if she had suffered a great injustice.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Han Zhijin finally spoke.

“No, I’m not…” Ai Jiang’s tears continued to flow.

“Don’t cry anymore. Wan’an and Youman are still waiting for you. Um, I’ll wash my hands and then go back with you…” Han Zhijin said and walked to the sink, quickly washing his hands.

On the way back to the private room, Han Zhijin looked at Ai Jiang, who was still sniffling and wiping her tears. After struggling for a while, he couldn’t help but ask, “Ai Jiang, do you really not know that person?”

“I don’t know him.” Ai Jiang shook her head. “I really don’t know him. To this day, I still don’t understand why he said those things to me.”

Pausing for a moment, Ai Jiang continued with a timid and helpless look, “He even pushed me against the wall and tore my clothes…”

“Tore my clothes…” When Han Zhijin heard these words and saw the torn clothes on Ai Jiang’s shoulder, he suddenly felt like he might have overthought things.

If she really knew that person, there was no need for her to tear her own clothes, right? However, what that person said seemed to have a deeper meaning…

Thinking of this, Han Zhijin changed the topic. “Maybe he mistook you for someone else because what he said sounded like something you’d say to a heartless partner.”

Without waiting for Ai Jiang to respond, he continued, “Well, forget about him. Thankfully, I went to the restroom; nothing serious happened. If something had happened, Wan’an and Youman would definitely blame me…”

…

11 o’clock at the airport.

After returning from his business trip, Assistant Zhang, who had just entered the car, habitually asked, “Mr. Han, where to?”

“Home.” Han Zhijin hardly hesitated and uttered a single word.

Assistant Zhang didn’t say anything more, he just stepped on the gas pedal and drove towards the city.

Halfway there, while waiting at a red light, Assistant Zhang picked up his phone and glanced at WeChat. He saw a familiar figure in the photos posted by Han Zhijin on his Moments and couldn’t help but speak, “Mr. Han, it looks like Madam is with Young Master Zhijin.”

Han Zhijin remained silent but locked his gaze onto Assistant Zhang.

Assistant Zhang quickly handed his phone to Han Zhijin. “Take a look, Mr. Han. In this photo, at this place, leaning on the arm of the girl in white who is sleeping soundly, doesn’t it look like Madam? She’s quite interesting; she went to a bar like MIX and instead of partying hard, she’s sleeping?”

T/N ramble:
… Where did all the good men go? To b*tches like this.
Ai Jiang has a reason for why she is what she is, judging by the length of this novel and an atypically not-so-annoyingly-stupid author, we might get a reasonable explanation of Ai Jiang’s selfish behaviour.

I can’t deny I was judging her when I was editing this portion, and who am I to judge a person’s suffering when I’ve lived a mostly comfortable life, not in luxury but a life I am immensely grateful of. 

But there’s nothing to be admired of her character, neither her fickleness, manipulativeness, nor her extortion of other people’s wellbeing and affection for the benefit of only herself. 

You disagree? Bite me… kidding. But please, do share why you think so otherwise. If you have that kind of mindset, I would be really curious about what you think.

If you want to share your opinions, just put them in the comments.

If you’ve read this far… ㅇㅅㅇ
It’s  up to you whether you read T/N rambles or not, what has more importance are the T/N notes because it’s where updates, edits, schedules are noted on. T/N ramble are just my ramble, it ain’t necessary to the story.