On the afternoon of the 17th, the weather in Jinzhou was clear.
People came and went inside the airport. At the entrance stood a group of people waiting for arrivals. Among them, a young man stood out like a crane among chickens, attracting the attention of the vast majority. Just from the back view, one could tell that his appearance could definitely rival international male models.
Unfortunately, the other party wore a mask, sunglasses, and a bucket hat, covering himself so thoroughly that one couldn’t make out at all what he looked like.
A few minutes later, a slim woman with red permed waves came out of the airport with the crowd, dragging a white suitcase.
Upon seeing the person, Jiang Yuanye waved: “Sister Cheng, over here!”
When Cheng Yuan saw the “fully armed” Jiang Yuanye, her brows and eyes twitched.
“Why are you wrapped up so tightly?”
As she spoke, Cheng Yuan raised her hand to lift his bucket hat, only to be stopped by Jiang Yuanye raising both hands to press it down, as if this hat was his last layer of shame cover.
Cheng Yuan: “.....”
Jiang Yuanye explained helplessly: “I’ll explain after we get in the car.”
As he spoke, he took the other party’s luggage and then led her toward the parking lot across the road.
“How’s Xiao Hao doing lately? She hasn’t caused you any trouble, has she?” Cheng Yuan turned her head and asked with a smile.
Jiang Yuanye was paying attention to the traffic on both sides of the road. Upon hearing this, he replied: “She’s doing quite well. She recently took on a primetime drama with Tencent”
Cheng Yuan slightly raised her eyebrows: “Did you pull strings for her again"
Jiang Yuanye knew Cheng Yuan didn’t want to trouble him, and he smiled as he said: “No, I just gave her an audition opportunity. In the end, she got the role because she did well herself.”
Cheng Yuan didn’t believe this: “If you weren’t an investor in that drama, I’d believe that.”
Jiang Yuanye gave a dry laugh.
Cheng Yuan sighed lightly: “Yuanye, Xiao Hao’s not a little kid anymore. You don’t need to help her with everything.”
Jiang Yuanye had just opened his mouth to speak when Cheng Yuan interrupted him: “And don’t use lines like ‘Xiao Hao is my little sister’ or ‘all because of me’ to brush me off. What you owed me, you already paid back years ago. You don’t need to keep doing this anymore. After all, you have your own life to live.”
“Sister Cheng, these two things don’t conflict, right?” Jiang Yuanye didn’t understand this sentence.
Cheng Yuan looked at him like he was an idiot: “You like Xiao Hao?”
Jiang Yuanye immediately shook his head: “No, how could I? I’ve always treated her like my little sister.”
“Then that’s fine.” Cheng Yuan took out her phone, her fair fingertips swiping several times on the screen, not sure what she was looking for. “Yuanye, you’re already twenty-seven. Haven’t thought about finding a girl to date… Look, check this out.”
Jiang Yuanye lowered his head slightly and saw the tabloid headline: “Famous idol and a certain entrepreneur’s secret romance exposed! Already five or six years.”
Jiang Yuanye: “.....”
Seeing the other party’s expression that was both speechless and unsurprised, Cheng Yuan knew he actually knew about the rumors. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “Even though I know you mean well, it’s really unnecessary, Yuanye. You’d better find a chance to clarify it quickly. Don’t get tied up too deeply. If one day you meet someone you truly like, and they see this kind of news, won’t they misunderstand your private life as being messy?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yuanye finally reacted a bit: “You’re right.”
Cheng Yuan: “……”
She widened her eyes, seemingly having picked up on something from Jiang Yuanye’s words. Just as she was about to ask, the traffic light turned green.
Helplessly, Cheng Yuan had to hold back her words until they crossed the street.
A minute later, Cheng Yuan finally blurted out what she had been holding in: “You have someone you like?”
Jiang Yuanye was slightly stunned. He didn’t expect Cheng Yuan to guess it so quickly. He didn’t hide it and nodded: “Yes, we’re together now.”
Cheng Yuan: "... Huh?'
At that moment, the phone in Jiang Yuanye’s pocket suddenly vibrated.
Jiang Yuanye took it out and saw the contact name was “Baby.” For some reason, his heart skipped a beat.
He hesitated for a few seconds but still picked up. “Hello.”
The other side was silent and said nothing.
Jiang Yuanye thought the other person might be in an elevator or underground garage causing bad signal, so he called out a few more times.
Cheng Yuan, who had already noticed the contact name when he answered the call, now looked very excited and couldn’t help but speak: “Is it her?”
Her voice wasn’t too loud or too soft. In the noisy street, it shouldn’t have stood out, but as the many sounds surged past his ears, Jiang Yuanye’s heart suddenly began to beat very fast.
At the moment when his heartbeat reached its peak, Zhou Chaosheng finally spoke, his voice sounding a bit cold: “Who’s next to you?”
Jiang Yuanye’s pupils slightly contracted. He quickly gestured for Cheng Yuan to keep quiet, placing his index finger to his lips.
Cheng Yuan instantly understood what he meant and shut her mouth, her gaze revealing guilt and a trace of curiosity.
Jiang Yuanye’s lips moved slightly. The palm holding the phone was soaked with cold sweat. His whole body felt like he was standing on a bungee jump platform, about to leap from a great height—nervous and uneasy.
“Speak.” Zhou Chaosheng spoke impatiently.
Jiang Yuanye panicked and instinctively lied: “No, no one, just a passerby.”
While speaking, he nearly bit his own tongue.
It’s over.
He lied to Zhou Chaosheng again.
Realizing this, Jiang Yuanye’s mind went completely blank—so blank that he couldn’t distinguish whether hiding it from Zhou Chaosheng or lying to him was more serious.
Cheng Yuan, standing next to him, frowned slightly after hearing that sentence. She spread her hands, as if asking “why?”
Jiang Yuanye saw it, but at this point he couldn’t care about that anymore. Since the lie had already been told, he could only keep going with it. Otherwise, he’d have to start explaining from “why did he come to pick someone up but didn’t tell the other person,” and by then, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn’t be able to wash it clean.
Call it guilt or call it cowardice—either way, he absolutely would not let this small matter affect his relationship with Zhou Chaosheng.
Jiang Yuanye, who had already spent a large sum of money a day earlier to bribe all the media and paparazzi, took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
---
Unlike the clear and sunny sky of Jinzhou, more than a thousand kilometers away in Kyoto, the sky was overcast. In less than a while, light rain began to fall, and the drizzle quickly blurred the view outside the glass window.
Hearing the words "just a passerby" from Zhou Chaosheng, he lowered his eyes, monitoring the live footage transmitted by the bodyguard.
In the footage, the young man had wrapped himself up tightly, wearing casual sweatshirts paired with jeans. His tall frame was holding a woman's suitcase, standing in the busy street, holding his phone while talking.
Beside him stood the actual owner of the suitcase—Cheng Yuan.
Looking at this scene, Zhou Chaosheng felt an intense irritation.
The cold, rainy feeling seemed to seep into his heart, sticky and chilling, like thousands of ants gnawing at his heart.
Disappointment. An indescribable kind of disappointment.
He could understand the other person's unwillingness to openly admit their relationship. He could tolerate the other's avoidance and retreat, and even accept that the other person might not like him as much...
But, but...
But it really hurt.
"Just a passerby?" he chuckled lightly, but there was no hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Yes." Jiang Yuanye's voice sounded somewhat guilty, and he quickly changed the topic. "Why did you suddenly call me?"
Zhou Chaosheng pressed his dry lips together. "Jiang Yuanye, do you really like me?"
Jiang Yuanye was stunned for a moment. "Of course..."
As if reaching the limit of what he could bear, Zhou Chaosheng finally lost control of his emotions. He suddenly stood up and swept everything off the table. With a loud crash, he shouted through clenched teeth, "Then why are you hiding from me and going to the airport to pick up another woman?! Jiang Yuanye, is this your way of liking me?"
Jiang Yuanye paused in silence before answering, "...Were you monitoring me?"
After the disappointment, a sense of helplessness wrapped Zhou Chaosheng's heart, like a dense spiderweb trapping him in an airtight cocoon. He could hardly breathe, feeling as though all his emotions were smothered in a cotton-like haze.
"Even if I was monitoring you, shouldn't you explain why you lied to me?"
Jiang Yuanye panicked, no longer focusing on the surveillance issue. He quickly explained, "I... I didn't mean to, I just didn't want you to misunderstand..."
Zhou Chaosheng laughed in anger. "Didn't want me to misunderstand?"
"Jiang Yuanye, don't you think your words are funny? You think not telling me would prevent me from misunderstanding? Why don't you think about how I’ve treated you?"
Jiang Yuanye fell silent.
Zhou Chaosheng's heart was once again painfully stabbed. His fingers tightened around his phone, turning white, and his voice trembled. "Jiang Yuanye... do you really like me?"
"Are you still acting? Or do you want to take revenge on me?"
Jiang Yuanye seemed unable to bear such accusations. His voice carried some frustration. "Why do you always question whether I like you? Can't you see it? If I didn't like you, would I give you my time? Do you think I'm so cheap and stupid that I'd put everything on the line just to get back at you?"
Zhou Chaosheng didn't expect him to argue so forcefully. Clearly, it was the other person who had made a mistake, and all he wanted was an explanation and a promise. He just needed the other person to soften their voice, apologize, and say, "It’s not like that, Chaosheng, I really like you, I won’t do this again, I’m sorry, please forgive me." That would be enough.
But why did the other person say this? Was being kind to him something the other person really hated and felt wronged by? He had said he would take turns, but the other person was unwilling. Why bring this up now? It made it seem like he had done something wrong.
Zhou Chaosheng’s anger, which had just subsided, flared up again because of the other’s words. "Yes, I can't see that you like me. Isn’t that your problem?"
"How can you..."
Zhou Chaosheng interrupted him, mocking coldly. "So you were just playing with me, huh?"
Jiang Yuanye fell silent for a moment, then his voice became hoarse. "You really think that of me?"
"Shouldn’t I think that way?"
The emotions in Zhou Chaosheng’s heart reached a peak after those words. He sharply questioned, "From the very beginning, who took advantage of my amnesia to pretend to be my boyfriend? Who confessed to me, chased me, then hid it from others? Who lied to me and picking up another woman at the airport?!"
"Jiang Yuanye... Don't you think what you've done makes me suspect something?"
"I..."
Jiang Yuanye froze, seemingly not expecting Zhou Chaosheng to have such intense emotions and dissatisfaction.
Feeling the other’s unsaid words, Zhou Chaosheng was no longer willing to listen. He felt tired—tired of arguing, tired of the relationship, and tired of his heart.
A sincere heart, like all the things he had thrown in anger earlier, fell to the ground with a dull thud. Because it was fragile, when it hit the ground, it shattered into countless pieces.
It was too messy, too pitiful.
Just like their relationship.
"Jiang Yuanye..."
"Let’s break up."