“Then why did the two of you break up?” Lin Xiaowan asked.

Song Zhiyi, who was holding her glass of coffee, looked as beautiful as an oil painting. She smiled and replied, “We found that we were more suitable to be friends and broke up peacefully.”

Lin Xiaowan nodded as she thought to herself, ‘Friends? Earlier, you said, ‘He must still blame me’. What are you trying to say?’

Lin Xiaowan remained silent and waited for Song Zhiyi to continue speaking.

“I was with Brother Huo when I was in the second year of junior high school,” Song Zhiyi said with a smile on her face as though she was reminiscing about some sweet memories, “He was very famous in school. When he confessed to me, a group of his followers were there. I was so scared that I couldn’t speak at all. I thought he was going to look for trouble with me…”

“However, despite his fierce reputation, he had always accommodated me. We were together for seven years. Every time we had an argument, he’d come up with different ways to coax me. It was as though he had no bottom line when it came to me.”

Lin Xiaowan quickly calculated in her mind.

Song Zhiyi and Huo Zheng were together in the second year of junior high school. If they were together for seven years, it meant that they had broken up when they were in university. Seven years was really a long time.

On the contrary, from the time Lin Xiaowan met Huo Zheng to the time of her death, it had only been four years.

Song Zhiyi and Huo Zheng were together for seven years before they realized they were not suitable for each other and decided to break up. However, they could still be friends after that. Did Huo Zheng realize that his ex was more suitable after four years with Lin Xiaowan?

Lin Xiaowan did some calculations again.

Huo Zheng was 26 years old this year. He should have been 20 or 21 years old when they broke up. That meant that he and Song Zhiyi broke up about five to six years ago.

‘Don’t tell me they have been in contact over the past five or six years?’

Lin Xiaowan felt disgusted thinking about this.

Song Zhiyi continued to say unprompted, “Back then, he was very different from now. He still had the passion of youth. When he liked me, he wanted the whole world to know about it. He knew I didn’t like eating breakfast so he brought me all kinds of food every morning just to coax me to eat. Even his family’s chef at that time knew my taste in food.”

Song Zhiyi covered her mouth and laughed coquettishly before she said, “I’m sorry. I’ve said too much. I don’t know why, but when I see you, I’m reminded of the past.”

Lin Xiaowan smiled insincerely as she thought to herself, ‘Said too much? Didn’t you deliberately say all those things for me to hear? If it weren’t because I believe women shouldn’t make things difficult for women, I’d hit you.’

Lin Xiaowan punched Song Zhiyi twice in her mind, but she remained calm outwardly.

Song Zhiyi was slightly irritated when she saw Lin Xiaowan’s indifference. Then, she continued adding fuel to the fire and said, “You’re actually a little like me in the past. I used to like sweet drinks as well. I also liked to dress childishly. It was innocent and cute.”

Song Zhiyi paused, pretending to be calm before she continued to say, “When Brother Huo told me about it, I didn’t believe him. Now that I’ve met you, I realized he was telling the truth.”

‘F*ck you.’

Lin Xiaowan smiled and listened to Song Zhiyi. When Song Zhiyi left, she could not help but feel both angry and sad. Huo Zheng was her first love. He had always been calm and rational when he was with her. In fact, she did not think there was anything wrong with the way they got along before this. She even liked the calmness of their relationship, thinking that it would make their relationship long-lasting. However, now that there was a comparison, it had roused her dissatisfaction.

Lin Xiaowan had never met Song Zhiyi in her previous life, but she just remembered that she had seen Song Zhiyi’s phone number in her previous life. At that time, she did not hear her phone so Song Zhiyi’s call ended up becoming a missed call. She did not have the habit of returning calls from unknown numbers. Moreover, if it was something important, the other party would likely call again.

She wondered if things would be different if she had answered the call in her previous life. Alas, she did not have the answer to her question

…

When Lin Xiaowan returned home, she began to look for her household registration book. She did not plan to marry Huo Zheng. She wanted to find her household registration book and other important documents before she broke up with Huo Zheng.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Huo Zheng did not love her at all. He likely only wanted to marry her because she was obedient and sensible, and he was also ready to settle down.

Meanwhile, the aunt at home; the domestic help, saw Lin Xiaowan turning the house upside down as she looked for something angrily. Seeing how Lin Xiaowan hammered the couch twice as though she was venting her anger, she concluded that Lin Xiaowan failed to find what she was looking for.

After the aunt put the dishes on the dining table, she helped Lin Xiaowan scoop a bowl of rice as she said, “Dinner is ready.”

Lin Xiaowan turned her grief and indignation into appetite. In the end, she ended up eating two bowls of rice.

The aunt was so shocked, and she quickly refused when Lin Xiaowan asked for a third bowl of rice. She asked worriedly, “Aren’t you full?”

Lin Xiaowan was indeed very full. After eating, she lay on the couch, unable to move.

The aunt did not know whether to laugh or cry when she brought Lin Xiaowan a digestive pill.

Lin Xiaowan was too lazy to move now so she gave up on her search. Apart from her household registration book, Huo Zheng also kept her passport and other documents that she rarely used. She thought that he likely kept them at the old house.

…

After returning from his business trip, Huo Zheng went directly to the company. He only returned home late at night. When he returned, he found that the lights in the living room were on, and the sound of laughter could be heard from the television.

Lin Xiaowan had fallen asleep, curled up on the couch lazily like a kitten in front of the television. As though she had heard Huo Zheng, she woke up and groggily turned the television off before she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“You’re back.”

When Huo Zheng tried to carry Lin Xiaowan back to the room, she looked at him in disgust and pushed him away before she told him to stay away from her.

Huo Zheng silently took a seat next to her, wondering what he had done to make her unhappy.

Lin Xiaowan cleared her throat. She looked into Huo Zheng’s deep and dark eyes as she said, “I have something to tell you.”

She thought about their time together, and for a moment, she could not bring herself to say the words ‘break up’. She could not help but feel frustrated with herself.

‘Perhaps, I should ask about Song Zhiyi first? However, what can I change by asking? The two of them broke up five or six years ago. Even if he clarifies things, will I still be able to continue living with him as though nothing happened?’

Lin Xiaowan knew she could not do it. She had to admit that she was jealous of Huo Zheng’s passionate and undisguised love in the past. She was also bothered by his seven-year relationship with Song Zhiyi. In short, there was a huge obstacle standing between her and Huo Zheng.

Huo Zheng looked at Lin Xiaowan hesitating to speak and could not help but feel slightly anxious. He was about to reach out and hug her when he suddenly froze.

“I don’t want to marry you.”

Lin Xiaowan did not mince her words and directly expressed her thoughts.

“Qingqing…”

Huo Zheng looked at Lin Xiaowan in disbelief.

Lin Xiaowan glared at him. “Stop calling me Qingqing. Qingqing, Qingqing. I’m so sick f*cking sick of hearing that every day. Don’t you have anything better to say?”

Huo Zheng frowned. “Don’t swear.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Lin Xiaowan retorted.

Huo Zheng was in a terrible mood. After all, he discovered that his wife was about to run away as soon as he returned. He really had no idea what went wrong.

Just like that, the two were in a stalemate.