132: Chapter 136: Past Fate (4) 132: Chapter 136: Past Fate (4) However, when he noticed her affection for him, he didn’t make his feelings clear.
He always seemed to think that Jian Anning was good enough, but something was missing.
It was like life was too bland, lacking that special seasoning that could convince him to commit to being with her.
It wasn’t that there were no men pursuing her, William for instance.
William, hailing from the northern part of Montreal, spoke with a thick French accent and persistently chased after Jian Anning.
Yet she seemed uninterested in William.
Other suitors also came one after another, but Jian Anning didn’t seem to show them any warmth either.
Because of this, Lu Jiayuan felt “very reassured” about his feelings for Jian Anning.
He knew he had the inherent shortcomings of a man; on one hand, he enjoyed what she gave him, while on the other, he wasn’t ready to offer her a commitment.
Maintaining the guise of close friends, he never called it out.
So, after much consideration, he decided to continue with the relationship that was more than friends but less than lovers.
Later on, Jian Anning joined the opera society and their relationship warmed up day by day.
He really liked the feeling of being with Jian Anning—simple yet comforting, as if a single glance was enough to understand each other’s thoughts.
He had thought that if their opera performance went smoothly, it would naturally lead to them being together.
But then, on the day of the performance, he met Cheng Tingting.
He had to admit, Cheng Tingting was slightly more attractive than Jian Anning.
Jian Anning’s beauty wasn’t the kind that stunned at first glance, but more of a gentle, ever-growing charm, particularly because she didn’t dress up much.
Of course, she couldn’t compare to the brightly dressed and heavily made-up Cheng Tingting.
And right from the start, he could tell that Cheng Tingting had a strong interest in him from the way she looked at him!
In this world, except for a few oddities like Yu Zexiao, most men, when faced with a woman, especially a beautiful woman showing interest in them, would feel quite complacent.
Maybe years later, when he saw Cheng Tingting’s true colors, Lu Jiayuan would be extremely annoyed with his past impulsiveness.
But at that moment, he was genuinely thrilled by this beautiful woman’s sudden interest in him.
Naturally, he didn’t follow through with his plan to confess to Jian Anning.
In the following days, sure enough, Cheng Tingting joined the opera society and started calling him “brother” here and there.
She was beautiful and sweet-talking, and her eyes, outlined with delicate makeup, always seemed to flutter in front of him, giving him a floating sensation.
Whereas Jian Anning, due to the pressure of heavy coursework, had no choice but to leave the opera society.
Although they still met frequently, things were not the same as before.
Moreover, Cheng Tingting would often tell him how Jian Anning was “gloomy,” “difficult to approach,” and “rigid.” The first time he heard this, Lu Jiayuan walked away, quite upset—he had, after all, spent time with Jian Anning and knew her character.
But lies, if repeated often enough, can come to be accepted as the truth, even if they are false.
Thank you to the generous “☆*:.淰１抹→微笑” for the reward~