They laughed and talked as they arrived at the diner, which was still bustling. The three of them lined up to order their meals and took their seat with their meal cards.
"Ordered the hot and sour cabbage again?"
After sitting down, Qin Guanglin asked Sun Wen curiously, "Did you guys get back together?"
He just got his paycheck and had just broken up, he should be pretty well-off. Why only eat meat for one day?
That didn’t seem like him.
"No, get back together for what?" Sun Wen grinned and glanced at the menu on the wall, "Saving money."
"It doesn’t need to be that tough, with not even a bit of oil." Qin Guanglin was somewhat incredulous. "I think you’ve got a ’demon.’"
Last month he was irritable about eating cabbage, but now he went and ordered it himself, Qin Guanglin figured there must be some issue.
But since Sun Wen didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t ask further, standing up to grab three bottles of Coke, "Here, you want a straw?"
"Don’t want it, it’s too prissy."
Sun Wen, like he was opening a beer bottle, used chopsticks to pry against the Coke glass bottle, not with a bang, but just the hissing of escaping gas, and feeling somewhat disappointed, he tossed the cap aside and took a couple of gulps.
"Have you and your girlfriend never had a fight?" Sun Wen toyed with the Coke bottle as he asked.
Remembering a time they argued, Qin Guanglin had asked how to console, and Qin Guanglin said they never fought.
"Fight?"
Qin Guanglin paused and chuckled, "How could I possibly get... It was her, she’d blush just from holding hands, or when teased a bit, she’d blush so easily."
"..." Sun Wen was speechless, "I meant fighting as in arguing."
"Oh, then no."
"Not even once?" Sun Wen stopped what he was doing, "Think carefully."
"Not even half a time," Qin Guanglin shook his head without even having to think.
"How did you manage that?"
"Maybe, probably, perhaps..." Qin Guanglin pondered for a moment, looking up at Sun Wen, "Why argue?"
Sun Wen was stunned.
Why?
"Everyone does something for a reason, a goal. Arguing is the same," Qin Guanglin tapped the table gingerly with his index finger, continued pondering, "What about you? Why do you argue?"
"How would I know?!" Sun Wen frowned, "Didn’t I tell you about it yesterday? What do you think?"
"Hmm..."
Qin Guanglin fell into deep thought.
Indeed, there was no reason.
To argue and break up over hesitating between mildly spicy and medium spicy?
Although there were previous built-up grievances, the level of spiciness such a trivial matter shouldn’t be a trigger.
"The starting point of an argument should be dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with certain actions or habits of the other," Yu Le pushed his glasses and looked at the two, "The goal of an argument should be seeking correction from the other person."
"Dissatisfaction and correction." Qin Guanglin thought about it and nodded affirmatively at Yu Le, "Yes, that’s it."
"But can’t things be talked out nicely?" Yu Le voiced the question of a singleton.
Qin Guanglin also looked toward Sun Wen, "Yeah, can’t you just talk it out?"
"..."
Sun Wen shook the Coke bottle and remained silent as he pondered.
"Just imagine, I mean imagine." He spoke after a moment of thought, "Imagine if your girlfriend argued with you over a meal, and you were sitting in my place at the time, what would you do?"
"Me?" Qin Guanglin frowned and thought for a moment, shaking his head, "No, she wouldn’t get mad over something like that."
The two of them had always been accommodating. He Fang originally cooked or ordered food according to his taste, and later he also tried spicy food for her sake.
Such things wouldn’t be an issue.
"I said imagine!" Sun Wen was frustrated, "Of course, I know it wouldn’t happen. Pick a hundred couples, and probably ninety-eight wouldn’t argue over this trivial thing."
"Oh, imagine..."
Qin Guanglin lifted his head and thought carefully.
If Teacher He suddenly started a fight and threw chopsticks and left, he would definitely follow up to ask why.
Because she sneezed and he didn’t notice... That reason was too far-fetched; there must be a real reason.
Like...
"Ah." Qin Guanglin suddenly sighed.
"What’s up?" Sun Wen asked.
"I would make the same choice as you, finishing the hotpot alone, then packing up and going home, and then..."
He hesitated and continued, "And then talking things over properly, and if that didn’t work out, then perhaps breaking up..."
Qin Guanglin reflected on the scenario, struggling to utter the final word.
Thinking about it now seemed fine, but he certainly wouldn’t want it to happen at the time.
"Why?" Sun Wen licked his lips, "You’re just imagining this once, I’ve experienced who knows how many times before I finally decided to break up."
"Because the love was gone." Qin Guanglin looked at him sympathetically, "Such things happen because there’s no more feeling."
"..."
"To argue for the sake of arguing is worse than letting her go." He paused, seeing Sun Wen’s dazed expression, he hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Being together is because of feelings, and if the feelings are gone, staying together has no meaning, it will only become harder, and letting her go... At least one person will feel better."
At least one person will feel better, but that person wouldn’t be Sun Wen, nor would it be him.
Sun Wen’s lips quivered twice, but he didn’t speak.
A long time later, when the waiter had already brought the food, he finally shook his head, "It’s not right."
"What’s not right?"
"There are still feelings." Sun Wen stared intently at the hot and sour cabbage in front of him, "Would you argue with a stranger?" he finished looking towards Qin Guanglin, then turned to Yu Le, "Would you?"
"...Seems like I wouldn’t." Yu Le was a bit slow to react.
"Just like you guys were saying, arguing stems from dissatisfaction, with the goal of wanting the other to correct." Sun Wen seemed to have an epiphany, "That’s very true, really, I understand now."
"I of course wouldn’t argue with a stranger because there’s no relation," Qin Guanglin felt he was being stubborn, "What do you understand now?"
"I understand everything."
Sun Wen took a deep breath, pulled out his disposable chopsticks and snapped them, preparing to eat.
There were indeed feelings, otherwise why would they have gotten together in the first place?
Arguments stemmed from dissatisfaction, and not because she didn’t notice him sneezing, that was just an excuse.
He had been so foolish.
Not just during that hotpot incident, but over the past half year, each argument was mostly for the same reason.
So obvious, yet he only realized it now.
So foolish.
"I think you don’t really understand." Qin Guanglin clicked his tongue, "Don’t tell me you’re thinking of getting her back?"
"Maybe I will."
"Seriously thinking of getting back together?" He was just idly asking, not expecting Sun Wen to actually consider it.
Already at this stage and still thinking of reconciling?
Indeed, love is blind.
"Gotta try, but not now."
Sun Wen had found the cause of the issue, but he was not yet capable of solving it.
Money was at the root of most problems.