Lilith stood stiffly in place, her expression even more embarrassed. Thomas tried to persuade her, but Lilith could not listen at all. In fact, she did not care about Thomas’ comfort or even Xin Qianyu’s ridicule. After all, if you planned to steal someone’s boyfriend, you must be prepared to be spat on by the main chick. What she cared about was Su Zhong’s reaction.
And Su Zhong’s reaction was — no response.
In Lilith’s vision, Su Zhong should have clearly said, “Xiaoyu, don’t think too much. Lilith and I are really just friends.” This would have made Xin Qianyu more angry and accelerated the formation of a rift between Su Zhong and Xin Qianyu. However, Su Zhong did not react at all, which made things difficult.
Lilith decided to add fuel to the fire. Seeing that it was about time Xin Qianyu and Su Zhong were expected to reach the hotel, she called.
Lilith guessed well. When she called, Xin Qianyu and Su Zhong had already returned to the hotel.
Su Zhong answered the phone in the hotel room and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Lilith faked a choked voice and said, “It’s just that I’m very worried. Would you and Xiaoyu quarrel because of my situation?”
“No,” Su Zhong said. “We’re fine.”
Lilith was taken aback, and said, “Well, that’s good, then can you help me explain to him that you and I are just ordinary friends?”
Su Zhong said, “Okay.”
Lilith was relieved. As long as Su Zhong explained to Xin Qianyu, it would be easy to make Xin Qianyu angry.
After hanging up the phone, Su Zhong said to Xin Qianyu, “Lilith asked me to explain to you that she and I are just ordinary friends.”
Xin Qianyu was not stupid. Even using his toes, he knew Lilith had bad intentions. On his computer, he browsed through the overseas project documents sent by his grandfather and said indifferently, “I see.”
Su Zhong was plainly aware of the coldness.
In the past, Xin Qianyu always looked at him when he talked to him, very earnestly and with yearning. But now, Xin Qianyu was paying more attention to the computer. Su Zhong was a little at a loss. He turned and asked, “What are you doing?”
Xin Qianyu raised his head and said to Su Zhong, “Oh, by the way, I should tell you this. The old man asked me to be the president of the group’s overseas division.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Su Zhong nodded and said, “I also planned to tell you that I’ll be carrying out new research. For this reason, I’ll probably stay in the United States for one more year.”
Lfjglcu Ve Itbcu’r kbgvr, Wlc Hljcse kjr rajgaifv. “Ycf sfjg? Qts jcbatfg sfjg?”
“Dfmjerf atf gfrfjgmt tjr j cfk vlgfmalbc, jcv kf cffv wbgf alwf jcv vjaj.” Ve Itbcu gfqilfv, atfc jvvfv j yecmt bo mbcoerlcu afgwr ab fzqijlc atflg gfrfjgmt.
Wlc Hljcse vlv cba ecvfgrajcv atf gfrfjgmt. Lf bcis ecvfgrabbv “bcf sfjg”. Lf kjr ajxfc jyjmx jcv rjlv, “Ktfc lo atfgf’r jcs cfk vlgfmalbc lc atf gfrfjgmt joafg atja, klii sbe rajs obg jcbatfg sfjg?”
Su Zhong said, “This probability is very low.”
Su Zhong would never say anything with complete certainty. He said that the probability was very low, which basically meant that he would not.
But Xin Qianyu could not listen to such ambiguous remarks now. He laughed grimly. “You didn’t tell me this when you came to the United States. You only said one year. One more year is needed now, and you don’t plan to discuss it with me. With you staying year after year, you might even get your green card by then and forget that you still have a boyfriend in Asia, right?”
“My memory isn’t so bad,” Su Zhong said. “I won’t forget.”
“Then do you remember that you promised to only go to the United States for one year?” Xin Qianyu’s voice suddenly rose, like the sound of a tightly drawn string. “I don’t think you care about me at all! What’s the point of us doing this? Why don’t we just break up?!”
Su Zhong did not expect that after just a few days, Xin Qianyu would mention breaking up again.
He was admittedly heartbroken but was also aware of something else. He learned from the counsellor and Lilith that the frequent mention of breaking up by his partner was not a good sign.
Su Zhong calmed down and looked at Xin Qianyu seriously.
Upon being looked at by Su Zhong, Xin Qianyu felt somewhat disoriented.
When Xin Qianyu mentioned breaking up earlier, he was also taken aback. After his astonishment, it gave rise to a kind of expectation. He looked forward to Su Zhong showing the fragile expression from the last time he mentioned the breakup.
He looked forward to seeing Su Zhong not being calm or composed and looking heartbroken.
And when Su Zhong looked at him calmly, Xin Qianyu’s whole body was as cold as being soaked in ice water.
Su Zhong said in a serious and calm tone like a researcher, “You don’t really want to break up, but you’re using this breaking up method to cause my anxiety, thereby alleviating your anxiety, or prompting me to make concessions, right?”
Xin Qianyu’s throat seemed to be pinched tight, and he could not breathe.
Su Zhong shook his head and said, “This is not going to work.”
Xin Qianyu’s mind was a mess and he did not know how to answer. If he could calm down, he would naturally understand that Su Zhong’s words were rational and reasonable. But now Xin Qianyu did not want any rationality or reason at all. What he wanted was for Su Zhong to tell him how much he cared about him.
Su Zhong said, again in a preaching tone, “Your behaviour will only hurt our relationship. If you have anything to discuss, don’t use a breakup as a threat.”
Su Zhong’s calm and gentle attitude was sharper and more hurtful to Xin Qianyu than any verbal abuse or disputes. Xin Qianyu, who was being foolish because of anxiety, was simply a joke compared to the methodical and honest Su Zhong.
“Are you dissatisfied with my situation in the United States?” Su Zhong frowned, like an IT engineer looking for bugs in the code. “If this is the case, we can discuss it instead of breaking up. Breaking up won’t solve anything…”
Xin Qianyu’s mind was in a state of chaos, and Su Zhong’s incessant chatter made his mind explode with pain. Xin Qianyu interrupted him. “Even when I mention breaking up, you still won’t change your mind, isn’t it?”
“These two things are not related at all…”
“I’m asking you. Even when I mention breaking up, you still won’t change your mind, isn’t it!” Xin Qianyu emphasized the words “isn’t it”. He gritted his teeth and said, “Isn’t it? Answer me, isn’t it!”
“Yes.” Su Zhong replied, “I hope you understand that breaking up won’t solve any problems…”
A string in Xin Qianyu’s mind suddenly snapped.
In an instant, he had no headache, no battle between heaven and man, no anxiety, only a kind of deathly silence.
His eyes lost their lustre, but they became more indifferent. He looked as calm as Su Zhong.
“Forget it,” he said in a mechanical tone. “Let’s break up.”
Su Zhong was taken aback.
Xin Qianyu said, “This time I’m serious.”
Xin Qianyu did not know how he suddenly hardened his heart and made such a decision.
Su Zhong clearly did not know how things had turned around so quickly and reached this point. His brain was overloaded again, and he could not function at all, becoming a beautiful piece of wood again.
Xin Qianyu waved his hand. “I believe you’ll respect my decision, right?”
Right then, Su Zhong recovered slightly, turning his head like a robot. “What?”
“Respect my decision,” Xin Qianyu said. “You’re such a person, aren’t you? Reasonable and principled. Since I seriously proposed a breakup, I believe you’ll respect it too.”
When Xin Qianyu mentioned the word “respect”, Su Zhong had to nod. “Well, I respect your decision.”
Xin Qianyu’s heart cooled down completely.
Su Zhong was indeed a reasonable and principled person. This was indeed the case with breaking up. If one party resolutely wants to break up, the other party should respect it.
Su Zhong still felt something was wrong, and his heart felt like a piece had been dug out. “Are you determined to do this?”
“I am.” Xin Qianyu mustered up great courage to answer, but his head hung down and he did not dare to face Su Zhong directly, lest he soften his heart when he saw Su Zhong’s face.
Perhaps to prevent his own mind from becoming obsessed with Su Zhong again, he immediately issued an order of expulsion. “Please leave.”
Su Zhong abided by social norms. After the other party issued an expulsion order, he nodded and left.
However, every step of Su Zhong’s journey was extremely difficult, as if carrying a mountain on his back. He could not help but look back at Xin Qianyu, but he could only see Xin Qianyu’s determined back.
Step by step, he grew further and further away from Xin Qianyu until the door closed, and his view was completely cut off.
That was the last time Su Zhong saw Xin Qianyu.
Until two years later.
well atleast SZ escaped getting beat up inside a plastic
also damn, SZ didn’t see XQ in TWO WHOLE YEARS??? if XQ doesn’t have a new bf that treats him right next chap im calling bluff cause….
Yeap. Mission abort 😂
he did it, cant wait to see how the author is going to approach the next stept
Thank you for the chapter.
😘
😬
I have been anticipating for this day to happen and it hurts a little. I feel bad for our MC. I feel like I’m the one going through the break up and the two years gap makes it even more painful to imagine. Damn, our boys are really gonna go through some character development. It would be great if our MC finds someone better along the way and makes SZ jealous.
Finally!!!! Now, give me the real fluff and character development
Su Zhong’s character design just screams “autistic” to me. You have to understand, neurodivergent people don’t process the world the same way as neurotypical people do.
Thank you for the update.
Two whole years, wow