"No, Grandma."

Su Xiaoyue gently shook her head.

Grandma Su’s eyes softened as she gazed at her granddaughter like a cherished treasure. She waited quietly for the question.

"Grandma... I want to ask about Mingxin and me."

Su Xiaoyue voiced her thoughts, her expression unusually troubled.

Before Grandma Su could speak, Tianquan Su burst out, "What? Did that brat dare hurt Xiaoyue?" His voice trembled with rage. Of course they knew about the relationship—he’d refused to meet Yun Mingxin, grumbling that his "precious jade cabbage had been snatched by a wild boar."

*Thwack!*

A sharp slap landed on his head before he could rant further. Grandma Su withdrew her hand, smiling sweetly. Tianquan Su froze—he was genuinely terrified of his wife.

"You’re asking about Mingxin, child? I haven’t seen him often," Grandma Su began gently. "But his eyes... only a pure soul shines that brightly."

Su Xiaoyue nodded in agreement. Hearing Mingxin praised made her lips twitch upward despite herself.

"But Grandma—he broke up with me!"

"*What?*" Tianquan Su’s face darkened. "I say we should—"

*Thwack!*

The heavy smack made Lu Wei flinch. Su Xiaoyue didn’t even blink.

Grandma Su’s gentle gaze turned razor-sharp. "*I said* he’s a good boy! Now—go inside!" Her command brooked no argument.

Tianquan Su shot Su Xiaoyue a pitiful look before shuffling indoors.

"Now, child," Grandma Su’s voice softened again, "tell me why you parted."

After Su Xiaoyue finished her story, Grandma Su sighed faintly. "You can’t blame him. Unreturned effort... it wounds deeply." She paused. "I’d hoped he might have more patience. Perhaps he could’ve changed you."

"You’ve always worried me most. To see you care for someone... it made me so happy." Her fingers brushed Lu Wei’s arm. "But bottling things up? It breaks people."

"Broken?" Su Xiaoyue frowned.

"Xiaoyue—" Lu Wei stepped forward, her voice low. "I’m sorry... I never knew I caused your breakup." She’d thought they’d quarreled. Because of *her*, Xiaoyue had refused Mingxin’s invitation.

Su Xiaoyue only shook her head again.

Grandma Su patted Lu Wei’s hand. "It wasn’t just you. Xiaoyue’s always been this way. Had Mingxin asked *her* first, she wouldn’t have hesitated." She turned to her granddaughter. "You were the real problem."

And it was true. Su Xiaoyue struggled with connections. Had Mingxin invited her directly to the comic con, she’d have agreed. His casual mention hadn’t counted as an invitation.

"Xiaoyue, I’m glad you came to me," Grandma Su murmured. "But your answers lie within. Let me tell you my story."

"In my youth, my family was wealthy. Your grandfather? My father despised him." A tender smile touched her lips. "I married him anyway. And look—he built the Su empire from nothing." She drifted into memory, warmth in her eyes. "I chose hardship... and never regretted it."

"Listen, child—I read people well. Mingxin’s exceptional. If I were fifty years younger? I’d pick him over that old man inside." She stroked Su Xiaoyue’s hair. "But you... you fear he’ll resent you now. So you won’t act."

"I only wanted him happy," Su Xiaoyue whispered. "I thought... if he left, I’d feel happy too. But I don’t. I feel..." Her voice cracked. "*This*."

Grandma Su’s eyes lit with quiet joy. A breakup shouldn’t bring happiness—but her granddaughter’s raw emotion did. This was progress.

"You’re our only treasure," she said firmly. "Your mother’s greatest wish was your happiness. But you never understood what that meant. It broke our hearts." She squeezed Su Xiaoyue’s hand. "Now you feel uncertainty. Pain. *This* is how happiness begins. Chase what *you* want. Whatever happens—we’ll stand behind you."

Su Xiaoyue’s eyes blazed with sudden clarity.

*What did she want?*

To know him deeper.

To understand why distance made her chest ache.

Why his sadness pulled her hands toward him.

Why his joy warmed her skin.

"I know now," she said, her voice carrying a new warmth that startled the others. Su Xiaoyue always scored lowest in Chinese—her reading comprehension never cleared one-third marks. She aced exams only by memorizing templates and neat handwriting. Shuimu’s top rank came easily *without* Chinese.

She’d spent years searching for what made her different.

Yet among all who’d known her since childhood... only Yun Mingxin showed her she could feel like anyone else.

Perhaps it began with that chance meeting.

He taught her selfish longing.

And the ache of goodbye.

Su Xiaoyue left with her answer—and a dazed Lu Wei trailing behind.

...

Grandma Su watched the empty doorway long after they’d gone.

Tianquan Su appeared beside her, silent.

"Our legacy rests on her shoulders," he murmured.

"Nonsense! What about Suxing?"

"Oh—right. Xiaoyue’s cousin." He chuckled. "I put him in the company, starting as a toilet cleaner. He quit after a week."

Grandma Su’s laughter rang out, unrefined and bright. Tianquan Su stared, charmed.

"Wife—"

"Hmm? Calling me old now?"

"*Never!*"

"Then spit it out."

"...Thank you. For choosing me back then."