Huo Xinya stamped her foot and turned away.
Once Ye Yiyi understood, her face also turned bright red, "Senior brother, what are you even thinking about? That’s so vulgar, and you’re not even embarrassed!"
"It’s because you won’t sleep with me," Chen Nan said helplessly.
"Blaming us when it’s your own thoughts that are impure," Huo Xinya shyly pulled Ye Yiyi’s hand and ran towards the kitchen, "Sister, let’s go make breakfast and ignore him."
Chen Nan gave a bitter smile, at a loss for words.
After breakfast, Ye Yiyi went back to Huitian Group, and Chen Nan went to school with Huo Xinya.
But just as he arrived at the classroom, Lan Yuqin caught him.
"Mr. Chen, come to my office!" she said harshly at the doorway before turning around and walking away.
Seeing her fierce look, Chen Nan knew he had really angered this tigress with his repeated skipping of classes.
Resigned to his fate, Chen Nan stood up to go to the office.
But just as he left the classroom, he received a call that made his heart tremble—it was from Li Xiao.
Since they had broken up that day, they hadn’t been in contact, and sometimes Chen Nan really regretted it; he didn’t lack feelings for Li Xiao, and often thought of her during the quiet of the night.
Looking at the familiar name, Chen Nan hesitated for a moment before answering, "Hello, Xiao Xiao, are you doing okay?"
Li Xiao’s voice was the same as before, unchanged, but her tone no longer clung to him as in the past, she asked, "And you? You must be doing pretty well too."
After hesitating for a long time, Chen Nan said, "After all, we are still friends, and if there’s ever anything you need from me, just ask."
"No need, because soon someone will be there to protect me, thanks for your kindness."
Li Xiao was silent for a while, and Chen Nan didn’t know whether she was covering her mouth to stifle sobs. A full half-minute passed before she continued, "Before making this call, I hesitated for a long time. I didn’t know whether I should tell you this."
Chen Nan felt her tone was off and quickly said, "What is it? Just tell me!"
Li Xiao’s voice trembled, "I... I’m getting married. Will you come and give me your blessing?"
Chen Nan stiffened, and the phone dropped with a "clatter" to the ground.
A piercing heartache!
He only now realized that he couldn’t let go of Li Xiao.
In the past, he never initiated contact, not because he didn’t care, but because he knew she would not leave him, thus he was fearless; now seeing he was about to lose her, he only then realized she had long taken root in his heart.
The unattainable is always tantalizing, and the beloved are fearless.
From the perspective of love, this is a kind of self-deprecating mentality, crudely speaking, it is relying on someone else’s affection and disregarding them, a shrewdness deep in the bones.
Chen Nan felt that he was truly despicable.
Li Xiao had once been utterly devoted to him, even willing to be a secretly kept lover, yet he had never declared his love for her.
Now that she was about to become someone else’s bride, he only then realized that there were not just him but many men who liked her. If she wanted to marry, she could do so at any time— it was not that she had no suitors, but she had him in her heart and was unwilling to attend to other men.
"I guess I have truly broken her heart this time for her to marry so quickly!"
The more Chen Nan thought about it, the more he felt unworthy, and he quickly picked up the phone from the ground, surprisingly finding it unbroken and the call still ongoing.
"Are you still there?" Chen Nan asked.
Li Xiao replied with just one word.
However, Chen Nan didn’t know that she had tears streaming down her cheeks, dampening her wedding dress.
"Who are you marrying?"
"A classmate from university," Li Xiao said after a pause, continuing, "He has been pursuing me since our school days and has always treated me very well. Every time I spoke a word to him, he would be overjoyed and always replied with at least three."
Chen Nan said, "So, you are marrying him?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Li Xiao counter-asked.
Chen Nan became a bit agitated and said, "But do you like him?"
"I like you, but would you marry me? You wouldn’t, and you wouldn’t even call me unless I called first."
Hearing her say that, Chen Nan felt even more remorseful.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Nan said, "Xiao Xiao, I know I’ve wronged you, and I have no right to say anything, but I still have to say it, you shouldn’t marry someone you don’t love."
"The person I love doesn’t want to marry me, what other option do I have except to marry someone who likes me?"
Li Xiao said with a bit of self-mockery, "You might find it laughable, but that’s just how pathetic I am, Li Xiao. Having lost your embrace, my life has no meaning, marrying anyone is the same, I don’t even care about myself anymore, why should you bother?"
"What are you talking about, I hope you are happy!" Chen Nan said.
Li Xiao’s voice choked up as she said, "If you really cared about me, wanted me to be happy, you wouldn’t have let me go in the first place!"
"That day, I was wrong, and I regret it now."
"Regretting only after losing it is a bit too late." Li Xiao took a deep breath and said, "Chen Nan, you don’t need to say these useless things anymore. I called you today because I had promised that I would invite you to my wedding. Now that I’ve made the call, whether you come or not is up to you."
Chen Nan fell silent.
He knew if he continued to say those things, Li Xiao would definitely hang up the phone. He gritted his teeth and said, "I’ll come, of course, I’ll come."