Chapter 6

“I'm full. Dad's waiting for me at home. I'd better go.”

I practically fled. It wasn't until I reached the main gate that my racing heart began to settle.

I touched my burning cheeks and muttered, “Honestly. You've lived twice, and you still can't handle a few sweet words.”

When I got home, Dad was already waiting in the living room.

“Tiểu Ngôn, how was dinner?”

I nodded. “It was fine. I think we're a good match.”

His face lit up with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Before he could ask any more questions, I escaped to my room and said I had to study. At the word “study,” he left me alone without another question.

After Tạ Tử Kỳ and I started dating, he came to see me almost every day. We read and studied together.

When he realized how much I was struggling, he even taught himself the material for my major so he could patiently explain it to me, little by little.

He never asked me why.

Whatever I wanted, he did his best to give it to me. Whatever I wanted to do, he supported me wholeheartedly.

Lục Bỉnh Kiệt had been nothing like that in my last life. Whenever I wanted to study, he'd filled my head with nonsense about how learning was pointless. However much I studied, he'd said, I'd still have money to spend.

Tạ Tử Kỳ was true to his word. Like a knight, he stayed by my side and protected me.

As time passed, I stopped seeing Lục Bỉnh Kiệt on campus. According to our classmates, he'd taken an extended leave to start a company. Bùi Tiểu Tiểu had gone with him.

9

One morning, I went to class as usual. As I passed the library, I spotted Lục Bỉnh Kiệt huddled in a corner.

The moment he saw me, he stumbled over and grabbed my hand, crying.

“Tiểu Ngôn, I'm sorry. I was wrong! Forgive me. Will you be my girlfriend again?”

I pulled my hand away.

“I thought Bùi Tiểu Tiểu was the only one you loved. Does she agree with you asking me out?”

He stared at his empty hands, a dazed sadness on his face, and sobbed.

“Tiểu Ngôn, I know you're still angry with me. It was all my fault. I didn't understand my own feelings. I don't like Bùi Tiểu Tiểu at all. You're the one I've always loved!

“I'm a bastard. I hurt you. I deserve to be hit!”

He slapped himself across the face.

I looked at him calmly.

“Angry with you? No. Now please move. My boyfriend's waiting outside.”

His face darkened.

“Boyfriend? Since when do you have a boyfriend? That guy you had dinner with at the hotel?”

But he quickly smiled again.

“I know, Tiểu Ngôn. You're with him to make me jealous, aren't you? I've thought it through. You're still the one I love most. Let's get back together.”

He moved closer, trying to embrace me. I shoved him away and stared him down.

“Lục Bỉnh Kiệt, didn't you say I had nothing to offer besides money? Why come looking for me now?”

He choked up and couldn't answer. After a moment, he licked his lips and spoke hesitantly.

“I... I started a company, but it went bankrupt. Now I owe two million yuan. The creditors are coming to the university to find me.

“There's no other way, Tiểu Ngôn. Help me pay them back! Two million is pocket change to you. You spend more than that in a month, don't you?”

So that was why he'd come. He'd run out of money.

But I wasn't his ATM. What did any of this have to do with me?

In our previous life, he'd naively believed his success was all down to his own hard work. That was why he had chosen Bùi Tiểu Tiểu without hesitation this time.

Unfortunately for him, the world didn't work that way. Reality had slapped him hard.

By the time he understood and came back to me, it was too late.

“Tiểu Ngôn, I know you still like me. I was too stupid to appreciate how good you were to me. I've come to my senses now. You're the only one who's ever truly cared about me.”

When I remained silent, he kept trying, hoping to soften me.

“Bùi Tiểu Tiểu never really loved me. The moment my company went bankrupt, she left and went chasing after some rich man. She's a slut. I must have been blind to like her!”

His voice was full of resentment.

I listened in silence. He was pathetic.

10

A familiar voice called my name from behind me.

“Tiểu Ngôn.”

I turned. As expected, it was Tạ Tử Kỳ.

“What are you doing here?” I asked with a smile.