Chapter 37: No More Longing to be Sent to Mount Wu

A gentle breeze drifted by.

It brushed through Ai Qian's hair.

Her lips moved, but she didn't know what to say. A strange, inexplicable emotion was gnawing at her heart, leaving her almost breathless.

All she could do was grip Jiang Chen's arm tightly and say in a trembling voice, "Jiang Chen, believe me. I will make it up to you in the future, I promise."

Jiang Chen remained noncommittal.

"You were asleep, so you didn't see that movie, but I still remember a question from it."

"...What question?"

"How do you say goodbye to someone you don't want to lose."

Ai Qian froze.

Jiang Chen said softly, "For a long time, I didn't want to think about that question, but time eventually pushed the answer in front of me."

Ai Qian's eyes trembled violently. She gripped Jiang Chen's arm even harder, tears welling in her eyes.

"Not every encounter leads to a result, but every encounter has meaning. So, there's no need to be so obsessed with the final ending. Even in movies, not every ending is a happy one, is it?"

"I won't!"

Unable to hold back the crystal tears any longer, they burst from her eyes. Ignoring everything else, Ai Qian threw herself into Jiang Chen's embrace in a panic.

"Jiang Chen, I'll listen to you from now on. I'll do whatever you say! Didn't you say it yourself? That after graduation you'd make so much money and buy me a beautiful big house? Those were your promises! Have you forgotten them all?!"

Ai Qian cried out desperately, her tears falling like rain.

The gaze of the others on the rooftop was drawn toward them.

"Making a girl cry like that... why are there so many scumbags these days?"

A round-faced girl who was sketching expressed her indignation.

"You can't speak without investigating. That guy isn't a scumbag; he's a 'simp'."

The girl sitting next to her remained unmoved, possessing great composure. She continued to focus intently on her work, her brush moving steadily across the drawing board.

"A simp? How is that possible?!"

The round-faced girl, whose level of seriousness clearly paled in comparison to her close friend, shifted from indignation to astonishment. She peered curiously toward Jiang Chen and Ai Qian.

In her impression, "simps" were a group of undignified creatures who wagged their tails for scraps of affection.

How could a girl throw herself into someone's arms, wailing and refusing to let go?

"Bifu, you don't know him, do you?"

The girl, who was young but possessed a remarkably steady temperament, continued to nonchalantly flesh out her work. She had obsidian-black eyes, a delicate nose, and skin as smooth as milk—it was unclear how she maintained it, but it was flawless, pale as snow, and seemingly as delicate as paper. Her thick hair was tied in twin tails, swaying slightly in the rooftop breeze.

She looked like a girl stepped out of a manga, painting the scenery, unaware that she herself was the most beautiful scenery at this moment.

"Li'er, are you saying you know her?"

Hearing her friend's words, Luo Li'er—who had aggressively fought her way onto the school beauty shortlist just as a freshman—couldn't help but roll her eyes cutely.

"Jiang Chen? He's a 'legendary figure' at this school. You can't tell me you've never even heard of him?"

Upon hearing this, the round-faced girl named Bifu widened her eyes in shock. "He's *that* Jiang Chen?!"

Luo Li'er, who caused countless upperclassmen to toss and turn in their beds dreaming of her, glanced over.

"That's the one."

"Then that girl... is she his ex-girlfriend, Ai Qian?"

"Most likely."

"But didn't everyone say Jiang Chen had been simping for Ai Qian this whole time? Why is he now..."

Yao Bifu found it inconceivable and difficult to understand. What she saw before her eyes was a complete departure from the school rumors.

"It's simple. This senior probably realized she's unhappy with her current life and started missing his goodness."

Luo Li'er was young, yet she seemed to understand relationships quite well. She didn't look much longer, returning to her studies.

Yao Bifu, however, kept peeking.

Jiang Chen stood there as still as a wooden stake. Only when Ai Qian's sobbing gradually subsided did he reach out and slowly push her away from his embrace.

Ai Qian struggled violently, clutching his waist and refusing to let go. Through her tears and sobs, she cried, "I won't let go!"

Looking at her smudged makeup, Jiang Chen smiled. "How old are you now, still crying like a baby? Did you bring a mirror? Look at yourself; aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

Ai Qian didn't care. Seeing that Jiang Chen's tone had softened, she thought she had moved him, and a flicker of joy rose in her heart.

"I don't care! I'm going to cry! Who told you to abandon me?"

This tactic of acting spoiled had always worked perfectly in the past, but now it had lost its effect.

"Ai Qian, even if we can't be lovers, we can still be friends. You don't have to do this. With your qualities, you will surely meet someone you like who likes you back in the future."

Hearing this, the joy that had just begun to bloom in Ai Qian's heart vanished instantly. Her face turned pale, and she shook her head in terror.

"No! I don't want anyone else! I only want you!"

Jiang Chen's expression remained calm as he slowly, but firmly, pulled her hands away from his waist.

"Jiang Chen, do you really have to treat me like this?"

Ai Qian's voice trembled as if she had suffered a massive shock. She pointed a finger toward the edge of the rooftop.

"You won't get back together with me, right? Then do you believe I'll jump from here?!"

Cry, make a scene, then threaten suicide.

These were the innate skills of a woman, mastered almost without effort.

Jiang Chen frowned slightly. He was indeed worried that Ai Qian might do something irrational in a moment of impulse, but he had no intention of yielding to her threats.

If he yielded this time, it would never end.

The reason he had intentionally called Ai Qian here today was to end things exactly where they had begun.

"I have said all I have to say."

Ai Qian stared in disbelief, then gritted her teeth.

"If you dare walk away, you can just wait to collect my corpse!"

Although she couldn't hear the conversation clearly due to the distance, Yao Bifu realized from their movements that the conflict between the two had reached a boiling point.

The school's famous "simp" did not compromise; instead, he turned and left with an air of dominance.

Ai Qian watched that heartless silhouette, her hands clenched so tightly that she bit her lip until it bled, but in the end, she lacked the courage to "die for love."

As she watched Jiang Chen disappear through the rooftop entrance, she seemed to lose all strength, collapsing onto the ground, soul-crushed.

It was only then, while she was still clinging to her fantasies, that she finally realized she had truly lost something precious—something she could never get back.

"A grown man treating a girl like that... how hateful."

Yao Bifu instinctively sided with the women, condemning Jiang Chen's coldness.

"You can't blame him entirely. They had already broken up. Once a breakup happens, there are no more responsibilities or obligations to one another."

"Li'er, how can you say that?" Yao Bifu was dissatisfied.

"I'm just stating the facts."

Luo Li'er remained objective, continuing to draw on her board.

"Hayao Miyazaki once said that when the person accompanying you needs to get off the bus, no matter how reluctant you are, you should be grateful, wave goodbye with a smile, and remember that they have accompanied you as far as they could."