Accidental Love

Gusts of cold wind blew across the entrance of the hospital, almost as if they were reminding the people standing there that they had to part.

Yue Xingzhou looked at the pouring rain and was just about to rush out to the parking lot when Qin Lezhi took out an umbrella from her bag. She opened it and held it over his head.

After exchanging a charming glance, Qin Lezhi smiled, took his arm, and walked toward the parking lot together.

The ten meters of distance took them several minutes to walk. When they stopped in front of Yue Xingzhou's car, Yue Xingzhou whispered, "Well… I have to go now."

Qin Lezhi still held his arm tightly and leaned on his chest. She said flirtatiously, "Why can't you stay with me for a little longer? When I wake up tomorrow, I'm scared that this will all be a dream."

Yue Xingzhou licked the corners of his lips, not knowing where to look.

After a while, he finally raised his arms and wrapped them around Qin Lezhi.

Crowding under a small-sized lady's umbrella, the raindrops fell onto Qin Lezhi's neck. She shivered in coldness, but her hands refused to let go of Yue Xingzhou.

"Are you cold?" asked Yue Xingzhou.

"Not with you beside me." Qin Lezhi hugged Yue Xingzhou even tighter.

"Please," said Yue Xingzhou, "I really got to go back. Still have to go to work tomorrow morning."

Hearing this, Qin Lezhi let go of Yue Xingzhou, and when she looked up at him, she saw that his eyes were covered in mist. His whole body was weak to the point that the rain seemed to be melting him away.

She hooked Yue Xingzhou’s pinky with hers and shook it gently. “Xingzhou, I hope you will seriously consider what I said to you today. I can give you everything she can give you and also things she can't."

She let go of him and continued, "My uncle is still waiting for me. I'll see you later."

Yue Xingzhou stared at Qin Lezhi blankly as she got into a fancy Rolls-Royce. His eyes gleaming under the dim parking lot lights.

He turned around and slowly approached his car.

In the darkness of night, he couldn't see much clearly. After taking out his keys and pressing the unlock button, he felt something hard on the car handle as he tried to open the door.

When he found out what it was, his heart started racing and his blood surged. Instantly, his mind turned blank and he was so nervous that he felt as if his nerves were about to burst.

——

Three forty-five in the morning.

The rain probably stopped already, and the continuous honking sounds from the busy street became sharp and clear.

Zheng Shuyi was lying flat on the bed, looking at the ceiling. In the chaos, her mind was buzzing, and her heart was empty as if all the oxygen in her body got pumped out.

After she got back home, she found herself a cardboard box and dumped everything Yue Xingzhou gave her in there.

For things that she had already used and couldn't return, she wrote down a list and placed it into the box, planning to return the cash in equal value.

She didn't forget to include the price for one of Song Lelan's concert tickets which were intended for both of them to go watch together. She placed it on the very top.

Right now, she was just patiently waiting for Yue Xingzhou to come to look for her.

Before long, the doorbell rang.

From what Zheng Shuyi knew about him, he must be soaked in rain right now, standing pitifully outside the door, waiting to explain everything to her, and asking for her forgiveness.

She could even expect what he would say. Probably starting with "Please listen to me" first, and then he would tug on the corner of her clothes just like when he confessed his love to her.

Thinking of this, Zheng Shuyi laughed quietly.

These all felt like a dream.

As she got up from the bed, she felt that everything had already drained out of her. Still, she tried her best to be strong and appeared in front of Yue Xingzhou.

There was only one light that was lit in the hallway. Even though it was dark, she could clearly see Yue Xingzhou's face.

He was holding a blue lace umbrella in his hand. His hair was soft but definitely dry, and there was no trace of water on his shirt.

Different from Zheng Shuyi's imagination, he bent his back and lowered his head.

After glancing at Zheng Shuyi, he immediately looked down.

"Shuyi…"

Zheng Shuyi lifted her chin, and when she was about to say what she had prepared, she heard: "Let's break up."

Zheng Shuyi: "……?"

"I love you very much and want to be with you forever, but this kind of life is too tiring for me. I can never see when this will end. It's not even possible for me to buy a house in the city. I…"

"Wait,“ Zheng Shuyi got back to her senses and interrupted him quickly, "what do you mean?"

"Shuyi," He frowned, gritted his teeth, and said everything he wanted, "we have to be realistic! She isn't from an ordinary family. Her uncle drives a Rolls-Royce with a straight numerical license plate. There's only one such car in the entire city! I want to save twenty years worth of tiring work and reach my maximum potential, so I… I think we will be better off to just be friends."

Zheng Shuyi almost passed out on the spot and was an inch away from dying.

So, after all this time, she was ditched before she could even speak?

"Yue Xingzhou," Zheng Shuyi squeezed the words out of her mouth while clutching the door frame tightly. She said word by word, "Did you bring my phone up?"

"Yes, yes it's right here."

Yue Xingzhou still didn't dare to look into her eyes. Glancing at her face, he looked down again and immediately took out the phone

Zheng Shuyi snatched her phone back, took a deep breath, and kicked the cardboard box out of her door.

"Who in the hell wants to be your friend!”

——

The sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the hallway. Leaning against the door, she could still feel the vibration. She rubbed her chest, again and again, to make sure that she won't pass out.

After a while in silence, she heard the sound of some footsteps outside the door.

Zheng Shuyi couldn't hold back her last bit of curiosity to see if Yue Xingzhou was still worthy.

So she turned around and looked through the peephole. In disappointment, she saw that Yue Xingzhou squatted down next to the box and started digging for something.

The box was filled with gifts from Yue Xingzhou: ceramics, decorations, books, and miscellaneous gadgets.

After a while, he found what he wanted and placed the item in his pocket, leaving everything else in the box behind.

What! No way!

Zheng Shuyi was stunned. She blinked in disbelief.

If she saw it right, Yue Xingzhou took the most valuable item that he gave her, the golden brooch1A brooch is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments?!

At this moment, her overwhelming anger overcame all her chaotic emotions, ripping through all the love she accumulated for him over the past few years. She saw the bloodiest side of Yue Xingzhou's true wickedness. There was nothing that she had to feel reluctant about, and the most affectionate memories of the time she spent with him were vaporized on that instant.

Zheng Shuyi threw herself on the bed and started punching the pillows, but no matter how hard she tried, that unforgivable scene still would not disappear from her mind.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she would think of Yue Xingzhou's disgraceful look that made it seem like it was her fault the whole time, making her restless until the sun was fully up.

But she only asked for a half-day off and still went to work in the afternoon.

She could afford to lose a scum, but she couldn't afford to lose her job.

——

"We received a call from Mingyu Bank saying that the interview will be postponed to three o'clock in the afternoon next Thursday." The editor-in-chief, Tang Yi, called her into the office. "But the topic needs to be readjusted. Give me a new interview outline as soon as possible." She said so without even looking up from her computer.

"Sure."

Tang Yi raised her eyebrows as she heard Zheng Shuyi's lifeless voice. "This shouldn't be anything unusual, right? Look, your career has been more successful than most people already, mostly because you are pretty. Do you know how many other reporters tried to do the interview? He was either in meetings, didn't feel like pick up, or too busy for interviews. If you are mad with just a simple delay, what are you going to do when you get rejected for an interview in the future?"

"I'm not mad. In fact, I still have to thank Shi Yan," Zheng Shuyi said calmly, "Or else, I would never have found out that my boyfriend, no my ex-boyfriend, cheated on me."

"What? Ex-boyfriend already?"

Tang Yi pretended to be shocked, but when she said the last word, the ending sounded pitched upward, and the corners of her mouth curled up. It was almost like the words "that's so funny" were written all over her face.

"…"

"Oh," Tang Yi covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud, "should I not be so happy about this?"

Zheng Shuyi didn't have the strength to argue with her, so she just said, "It's alright, just that your laugh exposed all your wrinkles."

Tang Yi's face instantly changed and looked back at her computer coldly while pressing on the wrinkles on her face. "I told you before. That boyfriend of yours wasn't even close to being good. A person like you can easily find someone much better."

"Then what kind of boyfriend do you think I can find?" Zheng Shuyi once again thought about what happened last night, and she said to herself, "One that owns a Rolls-Royce?"

"Why not?" Tang Yi stood up and stuffed a pile of documents into her arms. "You have a degree, a beautiful appearance, a decent job, and a bright future. Which man won't want a girlfriend like you?"

• 1A brooch is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments