Chapter 6
Edward Quan ·
“Xiaowan, I only thought that, with a baby on the way, marriage was the best ending.”
“Best for whom?”
Mom couldn’t answer.
I rolled my suitcase out.
Zhou Xu was still waiting downstairs. He immediately opened his car door.
“I’ll take you to the station.”
“No need.”
“Su Wan, talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to say.”
He blocked my path.
“I know I was wrong. I changed the code back long ago. The apartment’s clean. If you don’t like gatherings, I won’t let them come again.”
He listed each item as though correcting the faults I’d identified.
But I no longer needed his corrected version.
“I’ve rented a place in Nancheng.”
He froze.
“Aren’t you in the dormitory?”
“I’m moving next week.”
“You’re really staying there?”
“Yes.”
At last, his expression changed.
Only now did he realize I hadn’t gone away to clear my head.
I truly didn’t want him anymore.
**9**
Six months later, the project I led officially launched.
It performed beyond expectations. The company decided to establish a new project team.
Mr. Song handed me the appointment letter.
“Six people. Pick them yourself.”
I looked at the names for a long time before turning the page.
My salary had risen. Rent no longer swallowed half my income.
I moved into a one-bedroom apartment with a balcony. It wasn’t large, but it was full of sunlight.
Dad called the day I signed the lease.
“Your mother’s looking at your WeChat Moments again.”
“She isn’t on my friends list.”
“She uses my phone.”
I was quiet for a moment.
“Will you come home for New Year?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“She’s already buying your favorite foods.”
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to find out about me through Zhou Xu anymore.”
The line went still.
“If you want to know how I’m doing, you can ask me directly.”
After a long silence, he said, “All right.”
Before New Year’s Day, my former boss came to Nancheng on business and asked to meet.
She wanted me back.
Planning Director. Twenty percent more than my current salary.
“The company didn’t handle what happened appropriately.”
She pushed the contract toward me.
“We worked together for years. There’s no need to keep dwelling on it.”
I closed the contract.
“I’m not coming back.”
“Because of Zhou Xu?”
“It has nothing to do with him.”
“Because I fired you?”
I met her eyes.
“Even now, you think it was merely something you handled inappropriately. I worked overtime for a month on that project. When the trouble came, you didn’t give me so much as a day to explain.”
“I was under pressure too.”
“And I have the right to choose.”
I pushed the contract back.
“I’m not coming back.”
Snow began falling as I left the café.
It rarely snowed in Nancheng. People along the street took out their phones.
I stopped for a while and received a friend request from Mom.
The verification message was one sentence.
*I never asked before. Are you doing well now?*
I accepted.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Zhou Xu came to Nancheng the day before New Year’s Eve.
He stood in my company’s lobby with a suitcase beside him. A coworker mistook him for a client and took him to a meeting room.
He stood as soon as I entered.
“I’ve come to take you home.”
“I never agreed to go back.”
“Your parents are waiting.”
“I’ll contact them myself.”
His fingers tightened.
“What about me?”
“We’re no longer together.”
He lowered his head. After a long time, he said, “I sold the apartment.”
I said nothing.
“Your things were everywhere. Every time I went home, I remembered you standing in the doorway.”
His eyes reddened.
“When they set off the confetti, I really thought it was just a joke. I thought you’d get angry, shout, and we’d have a fight like before. When you moved out, I thought you’d return. I said those things at the blind date because I was scared you’d really be with someone else.”
He looked at me.
“I always thought you’d never leave, whatever I did.”
For the first time, he was right.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t known I would be hurt during those five years.
He’d simply been certain that however much it hurt, I would stay.
“Su Wan, I know I was wrong now.”
“Mm.”
“Can we start again?”
“No.”
His tears finally fell.
“Don’t you love me anymore?”
I thought for a moment.
“When I left, I still did.”
He went rigid.