Chapter 8: We Must Break Up

Xie Yuchen knew that the broken surveillance camera was just an excuse the pet hospital manager used to brush him off.

Catching a glimpse of someone in the crowd of onlookers holding up a phone to record, he worried it would affect his future "hunting" and had no choice but to leave, feeling deeply unwilling.

Jiang Yuan had wanted to call him back to make him pay up.

But on second thought, Xie Yuchen likely wouldn't admit to the debt. It was better to leave professional matters to the professionals; hiring a lawyer to file a lawsuit would be much less of a headache.

After leaving the pet hospital, Jiang Yuan had just sat in the driver's seat when she heard someone calling her.

"Y-Yuan-Yuan, wait a moment!"

Jiang Yuan turned her head and saw Zhou Yawei hurrying over in high heels, a flash of confusion in her eyes.

Zhou Yawei didn't know Jiang Yuan's name; she only remembered that Xie Yuchen had just called her "Yuan-Yuan."

She walked to the car door, clutching her phone with both hands. Through the half-lowered window, she met Jiang Yuan’s questioning gaze and gathered her courage. "My name is Zhou Yawei. Can we add each other on WeChat?"

Seeing that Jiang Yuan didn't react, Zhou Yawei quickly added, "I want to get to know you, is that okay?"

Jiang Yuan saw a hint of nervousness on the other woman's exquisitely made-up face.

She picked up her phone from the center console and said softly, "Should I scan you, or will you scan me?"

Zhou Yawei’s eyes lit up, her tone full of pleasant surprise: "Then I'll scan you!"

"Alright." Jiang Yuan opened her WeChat QR code.

Within seconds, the two became WeChat friends.

"I'm heading off now." Jiang Yuan greeted her and started the car to leave.

Zhou Yawei stood where she was, watching the car drive away before she finally looked away.

**

Perhaps it was because she had slapped the deadbeat freeloader, but Jiang Yuan was in a great mood.

Unfortunately, this good mood didn't last long.

After waking up from her nap, Jiang Yuan received a call from Fu Jinxing, asking her to have dinner with him tomorrow night.

Although Jiang Yuan really didn't want to have any contact with him, she still agreed.

Let's make it tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night, she would confess to Fu Jinxing that she wasn't the woman from five years ago.

Or perhaps, just break up with him directly?

A grey magpie flew near Jiang Yuan’s house, deliberately slowing down. Seeing her window open, it immediately flapped its wings and flew inside.

"Yuan-Yuan, the bird is here!"

It landed on Jiang Yuan’s shoulder and folded its wings. "Yuan-Yuan, are you unhappy?"

Jiang Yuan tilted her head to look at it, amused. "You little birds can even tell if humans are happy or not?"

The grey magpie replied, "I don't know about other humans, but I can feel it with Yuan-Yuan."

"How amazing." Jiang Yuan extended her hand, and the grey magpie obediently hopped into her palm.

"I have a troublesome matter," she said. "I was ignorant before and pretended to be someone's girlfriend."

The grey magpie blinked.

Jiang Yuan looked at the little creature in her palm, feeling a bit ridiculous for pouring her heart out to a bird.

The next second, the grey magpie said earnestly, "So, does Yuan-Yuan not want to be that person's girlfriend anymore?"

Jiang Yuan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You actually understood!"

The grey magpie grew proud. "Of course! I am the smartest bird in our family."

Jiang Yuan reached out a finger and tapped its little head. "Indeed, you are smart."

The grey magpie said, "Then Yuan-Yuan should tell that human to go find someone else to be his girlfriend!"

"I know," Jiang Yuan sighed. "But this human is very scary. I'm afraid if he gets angry, he might wipe me off the face of the earth."

The grey magpie was very serious. "Don't be afraid, Yuan-Yuan! I'll call my family and friends to protect you! If that human dares to bully you, I'll peck his face to shreds!"

Jiang Yuan actually thought that was a pretty good idea.

But since she was the one who had been in the wrong first, that wouldn't be appropriate.

The next evening, the sunset was as brilliant as molten gold. A vast expanse of soft orange light spilled across the horizon, and the city's skyscrapers seemed to be draped in a golden veil.

Fu Jinxing had sent his assistant, Qiao Ze, to pick up Jiang Yuan.

The black Bentley drove through the traffic, and Jiang Yuan sat in the back seat with a worried expression.

There was a traffic jam on the way, and she looked at the person in the driver's seat. "Assistant Qiao, why did your boss suddenly ask me to dinner today?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ze wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"Miss Jiang, wasn't this a request you made to Mr. Fu?"

"I requested it?" Jiang Yuan was bewildered.

Qiao Ze looked at her through the rearview mirror. "You requested that Mr. Fu spend New Year's with you half a month in advance."

Jiang Yuan: "..."

So it was a mess of her own making.

Qiao Ze dropped Jiang Yuan off at the private room of the Western restaurant. "Miss Jiang, I'll be going now. Mr. Fu will be here a bit later."

"It's fine if he doesn't come," Jiang Yuan blurted out.

A strange look appeared on Qiao Ze's face.

Realizing she had said the wrong thing, Jiang Yuan quickly tried to make amends. "I meant that if he has urgent business, it's okay if he doesn't come."

Qiao Ze replied, "Mr. Fu will come."

Having been by Fu Jinxing's side for many years, he understood him well.

As long as it was a request made by Jiang Yuan, Fu Jinxing would do his best to satisfy her.

Qiao Ze guessed it was because Fu Jinxing felt guilty about what happened five years ago.

At that time, he had been drugged by someone, lost his senses, and caused Jiang Yuan to lose her innocence...

The Western restaurant Fu Jinxing had booked was on the 88th floor. Jiang Yuan stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, quietly overlooking the glitzy scenery of Yunjing City.

About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door of the private room.

A waiter pushed the door open, and a man wearing a dark wool suit walked in with long strides.

Fu Jinxing sat at the dining table. Seeing Jiang Yuan standing there, staring blankly at him, he frowned and said, "Not coming over to sit?"

"Oh, coming." Jiang Yuan sat down opposite him.

Fu Jinxing handed her the menu. "Order whatever you want to eat."

Jiang Yuan absentmindedly ordered a few dishes.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

Perhaps because she had things on her mind, Jiang Yuan didn't have much of an appetite. "That's enough."

Fu Jinxing gave her a deep look and ordered a few more dishes.

After the food was served, Jiang Yuan started eating immediately.

Fu Jinxing watched her, his brows slowly knitting together.

"Jiang Yuan."

The room was filled with melodic light music. Hearing her name, Jiang Yuan paused in the middle of eating her foie gras.

She lifted her eyelids to look at him. "What is it?"

"You today..." The man paused, then spoke again, "You've been a bit strange these past few days."

Whenever they dined together before, she would always take dozens of photos first, sometimes even asking him to help.

Jiang Yuan put the unfinished foie gras back on her plate.

She sat up straight and looked directly at Fu Jinxing with her clear eyes. "Actually, I have something to tell you."

The man's expression also turned serious. "What do you want to say? About getting married?"

Jiang Yuan had hinted at it to him before.

He admitted that in these five years, he had never forgotten the absurdity of that night.

But the thought of marriage had never crossed his mind.

When he found Jiang Yuan, he even felt that she wasn't a good fit for him.

"No," Jiang Yuan denied quickly, gathering her courage. "I don't want to get married; I want to break up."

Hearing this, Fu Jinxing’s brows furrowed even tighter. He asked in a deep voice, "Didn't you always want to get engaged before?"

Jiang Yuan was secretly thankful that she had awakened before the engagement.

She explained solemnly, "That was just a momentary impulse. I've thought about it carefully, and we must break up."

Fu Jinxing looked at her for a long time. "What is the reason we must break up?"