“Breakup, breakup? So you’re free now? Then hurry up and date me!”

Su Yuejin practically skipped over to his side. Lin An slowly raised his head, but he didn’t even want to look at her. Su Yuejin, standing in front of him, was smiling especially brightly.

“Can you be quiet for a while?” Lin An looked a little tired.

Only then did Su Yuejin notice his expression. She froze for a moment, and the smile on her face faded. Her voice softened too. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you... not like her?”

Lin An only gave a bitter smile. “Actually, I would’ve liked her too.”

...I’m the kind of kid who grew up starved for love too. So whenever someone treats me well, I can’t help but fall for her.

“But didn’t you still deliberately make her break up with you? When you were asleep, I looked through your chat history. You sent those messages on purpose, didn’t you? Saying you wanted kisses, and getting mad, saying what kind of relationship doesn’t even let you touch her? Obviously when I kissed you, you didn’t even want it and pushed me away. But with her, you deliberately acted like some kind of creep.”

“You really know the most, huh.” Lin An replied irritably.

“Then why are you sad? Want me to hug you and comfort you?”

“Don’t touch me.” Lin An took a step back.

“Then talk to me. I’ll help you sort it out.”

Lin An let out a light sigh. “Luo Shuishui is a really good person. She’s good to everyone. She was good to me too. Very gentle. So gentle that sometimes, I’d even imagine a future with her.”

“But her future was never something I could reach. Giving up early and cutting my losses in time is better for both of us.”

“Why do you suddenly have no future with her again?” Su Yuejin looked confused.

“She’s actually really low-key. That day when I walked her home, her parents came to pick her up. That car...” Lin An paused. “I looked it up after I got back. Guess how much it cost?”

“The car? What, a few million?” Su Yuejin threw out a number cautiously. For her family background, a few million was actually nothing much.

“Twenty-seven million,” Lin An answered softly.

“What?!” Su Yuejin went completely blank for three or four seconds. Her lips parted slightly, and the shock on her face was impossible to hide. It took her a long while to recover.

What shocked her wasn’t the twenty-seven-million car itself.

It was what kind of family could casually drive a car worth twenty-seven million.

“You weren’t misled by something...?” That was the only possibility Su Yuejin could think of.

“I’m not mistaken. And there were other little things too. One day we went out for hotpot. She insisted on treating me and wouldn’t let me refuse. Then she went to the restroom and handed me her phone to pay. She told me the unlock code was also the payment password. But after I paid, do you know how much money was left in her bank account when the deduction message came?”

The look on Lin An’s face was especially complicated. Or maybe just helpless.

“How much?”

“...More than eight million.”

Su Yuejin suspected Lin An was just making up some random excuse to mess with her, but she had no proof.

“Then she really shouldn’t even be at this school. With conditions like that, what school couldn’t she get into?”

“I didn’t ask her, and I don’t really know. I just realized that she and I... aren’t really the same kind of people. No matter what, her future shouldn’t be me.”

“She’s that rich and you’re not hurrying up to cling to her while she likes you? Even if you just shook her a little and some money fell out, it’d be enough to live on for years.” Su Yuejin teased him.

Lin An only shook his head helplessly. “That’s not the only reason. There are other reasons too. But in the end, we’re not suitable for each other. In some ways, we just can’t walk the same path. If there’s no future, then short pain is better than long pain.”

“So that’s why you’ve been all gloomy? How about we go drinking tonight?”

“I really don’t like going to bars. Actually, I wanted to find a chance tonight to talk to you properly too, Su Yuejin. We’re not suitable either.”

“How are we not suitable? If I say we are, then we are! Stop acting like you know everything, okay?” Su Yuejin huffed.

But she was much more proactive now. She wanted to take control, because she felt like she had already figured Lin An out. She knew what kind of person he was now.

But she still liked him.

She just liked him.

“I should head home first. I’ll contact you later.”

Lin An felt there was no point saying all this to her here. He’d go home first and ask for advice. A lot of the time, Xu Qinghuan’s advice was always right, clear, and rational.

Lin An had always listened to Xu Qinghuan.

“Okay, go ahead. I’ll wait for you later.”

“Mm.” Lin An nodded lightly and walked toward the garden exit.

What Lin An didn’t know was that after hearing his footsteps, someone outside the garden hurried away. They moved very, very fast, ran into the teaching building, and hid behind a wall as if afraid of being discovered.

Luo Shuishui unlocked the door with her fingerprint. Her parents were sitting on the soft sofa watching TV. Her mother was nestled in her father’s arms, sitting on his lap, looking especially obedient.

Luo Shuishui’s family actually lived in a villa district.

“Shuishui’s back?” Her mother turned her head.

Luo Shuishui nodded lightly. Her mother’s face was a little red. She moved her father’s hand away, got out of his arms, and sat on the other side of the sofa.

Luo Shuishui’s mother was a very beautiful woman, and she looked especially young. The kind where she was clearly already in her thirties, but looked at most like a girl of twenty-five or twenty-six.

Her father was about the same. He looked no older than thirty. That was probably because both husband and wife took good care of themselves. Time hadn’t left many traces on them.

But her mother quickly noticed the trace of gloom on Luo Shuishui’s face. She had Luo Shuishui sit beside her, her voice gentle. “What’s wrong, Shuishui? You look unhappy.”

“Mom, I... I want to ask something.”

“Go ahead, Shuishui.” Her father leaned over with concern, and there was worry on his face too.

“If... I mean if... the boy I like in the future doesn’t have parents, and his family doesn’t have much money, and he’s always relied on himself... would you and Dad think that’s not suitable?”

Her parents both seemed to freeze for a moment.

Her mother smiled instead. She looked beautiful when she smiled, and especially gentle too. “Sweetheart, if that boy is smart, truly likes you, treats you well, and is gentle with you, then none of that really matters.”

“That’s true,” her father chimed in from the side. “When I first met your mom, your dad was a total broke bum.”

Her mother smiled helplessly and pinched his cheek. “You, honestly.”

“Really?” Luo Shuishui asked softly.

“Of course. But Shuishui, if you ever do have a boy you like, you have to tell Mom and Dad, okay?”

“No way! If my Shuishui starts dating right now, I’m going to break that boy’s legs!” her father blurted out urgently.

Then her mother grabbed his ear and gave it a light tug. “Did you forget how old we were when we got together?”

Her father immediately started begging for mercy and admitting he was wrong, but he clearly hadn’t changed at all.

Her mother rolled her eyes.

“Don’t scare the child. If it’s dating, then Mom and Dad won’t exactly encourage it, but we won’t completely forbid Shuishui from dating either. It’s just that Shuishui is still young, and the boys she meets are young too. None of you are that mature yet. So if you do like someone, you have to tell us. Mom and Dad won’t do anything to him. But at the very least, we need to find out what kind of boy he is before we can feel at ease. Understand?”

“I know.” Luo Shuishui nodded lightly.

When Lin An got home, he noticed a fragrant smell in the air. He walked over to the kitchen and saw Xu Qinghuan in an apron, softly humming a tune.

“Hm?”

“We’re having hotpot tonight! I bought ingredients!” The pink apron on Xu Qinghuan looked especially cute. Her hair was tied up casually in a ponytail. Her eyes were bright, and her skin was fair and tender.

The kitchen fan hummed as it vented the smoke. The kitchen was slightly warm, and it drove away the deep autumn chill clinging to Lin An. Looking at the red broth rolling in the pot, he suddenly smiled.

“But I need to go out for a bit after six.”

He answered honestly.

“Where?” Xu Qinghuan’s eyes turned especially alert.

“To see Su Yuejin. I’m going to make everything clear with her.” Lin An looked into her eyes and spoke seriously.

“You still dare go see her?!”

“It’s not like that. I can’t just let her keep clinging to me forever. I’ll go make things clear. Worst case, I’ll say it more harshly. She’ll give up eventually.”

That was why Lin An had agreed to go.

What he wanted to give Su Yuejin wasn’t hope.

It was complete, final despair. A clean break.

It was scumbag behavior.

Su Yuejin was probably already getting ready. Probably already waiting for him. Maybe she was even thinking about what clothes to wear, what movie to watch later, what might happen after the movie, imagining all those possibilities.

But all Lin An wanted was to show her a side of himself she absolutely wouldn’t like, maybe would even hate, and make her disappointed.

But Xu Qinghuan only let out a cold laugh. She grabbed his collar with one hand and made him bend slightly, so he could hear her words more clearly.

“My foolish otouto, if you go see her now, you’ll be walking right into her trap and getting completely crushed.” Xu Qinghuan narrowed her eyes, her smile especially sinister.

“Why?”

“Because she has no shame. Sure, little brother, you’re smart. But she knows what you’re going to say when you go see her this time. All she has to do is act dumb and refuse to listen. Because she’s dumb, she fears nothing. Honestly, I’m more worried that if you go, you won’t even make it back.”

“That’s definitely not happening.”

“She’s in that crazy, head-over-heels stage right now, busy moving herself with her own feelings. Nothing you say will work. What you really need to do is leave her hanging for a few days. Let her restless heart calm down first, then go do what you need to do. That’s when it’ll actually work.”

“As for tonight, you’re not going. I said so. Stay home and eat hotpot with me.”

There was still some hesitation in Lin An’s eyes. He was the type who took promises pretty seriously. He was thinking... wouldn’t this be kind of bad?

But what Xu Qinghuan said next made him feel that if it was bad, then so be it.

To hell with Su Yuejin.

Xu Qinghuan tugged on his collar and pulled his head lower. The girl rose onto her tiptoes and lightly bit his earlobe.

“And then... eat me.” Her voice carried a trace of seduction. It was soft and sweet, delicate and cute, yet it seemed to slip through his skin and melt into his blood, so clear he could hear every word.

Those few soft, adorable words traveled through his blood straight to his heart.

And his heartbeat missed half a beat.