What’s the funniest, saddest thing about being in a relationship?

I posted a photo with my boyfriend on Weibo, and the comment section exploded the next day.

A group of people rushed in and called me a green tea who was pestering other people’s boyfriends.

I thought I had mistaken the person, so I deleted the post, but soon more people sent me private messages:

“You’re pestering a man who has a girlfriend, and you’re even posting pictures of him to please yourself. Do you have any shame?”

“Feeling guilty? Didn’t your parents teach you what is honorable and righteous?”

I have never heard such an ugly humiliation in my twenty years of life. I was so angry that I was shaking all over and tears came to my eyes.

But she still forced herself to type with her shaking fingers: “You got the wrong person. This is my boyfriend! Please apologize to me.”

The other party threw a photo at me and said, “You won’t cry until you see the coffin, right? I’ve never seen such a shameless woman.”

In an instant, my mind went blank.

The scene of the photo should be in a KTV box, and the room is filled with ribbons and balloons.

There was a huge three-layer cake on the table, and a couple was kissing intently under the encouragement of the people around them.

The girl has brown curly hair and a beautiful profile.

And boys——

Even though the light was dim, I recognized the familiar face at a glance.

My boyfriend, Yu Chen, who is gentle and considerate in everyone’s eyes and loves me so much.

1

I sat at the table, shivering all over.

After a long while, I finally regained some strength and typed slowly:

“I don’t know where you got the photo, but Yu Chen and I have known each other since our freshman year, and he was the one who pursued me.”

“Keep quibbling. We’ve been childhood sweethearts for more than ten years. You don’t think you can really get promoted by just sticking your nose in while we’re in a different place and pestering him, right?”

I didn’t want to read any more messages from the other party, so I quit Weibo and planned to ask Yu Chen directly.

Just as I put away my phone, someone patted me on the shoulder from behind.

Turning around, I saw my roommate with a worried look on his face: “Ningning, are you okay?”

I shook my head and reached out to wipe my eyes, only to find that I was crying.

“It’s nothing… I just watched a drama and it ended badly, so I feel a little sad.”

I didn’t want to make her worry, so I made up an excuse and stood up. “It just so happens that I don’t have classes this afternoon, so I’ll go study with Yu Chen.”

“Go ahead, you annoying little couple, you only know how to provoke us singles.”

She laughed and teased, not seeming surprised.

At the beginning of my freshman year, I met Yu Chen, a tall and handsome guy who happened to be in the same college as me, at a club activity.

He approached me in a very confident and open manner, expressing his affection for me without any reservation, and pursued me for a whole year.

When I left school for the winter break during my sophomore year, I was walking on the side of the road dragging my suitcase when I was knocked down by a speeding electric bike.

My knee hit the steps and blood soaked my pantyhose.

There was no surveillance on the path, and the man rode away quickly without stopping.

I was in so much pain that I was in a daze and almost subconsciously sent a message to Yu Chen.

He didn’t make me wait long. He came over, held me in his arms, and took a taxi all the way to the hospital.

After bandaging my wound, he took me to the high-speed rail station early the next morning.

Later he accidentally let it slip to me that he was already on his way to the airport that day.

Because he wanted to take me to the hospital, he missed his flight and wasn’t able to buy a ticket home until New Year’s Eve.

We were together in the second semester.

I have a mild temper and Yu Chen is also a gentle and considerate person. After dating for a year, we have never even had a quarrel.

In the eyes of everyone around us, we are a model couple.

But……

In a slight daze, I thought of those comments and private messages and shuddered.

“What’s wrong? Are you cold?” Yu Chen’s voice rang out.

I came to my senses and saw him in front of me, but the image of him kissing the curly-haired girl in the photo emerged in my mind.

In the dim light, his eyes and the smile on his lips were nonchalant, very different from his usual appearance.

The moment I saw it, I felt extremely unfamiliar.

Facing his worried gaze, I shook my head, closed the book in front of me, and whispered, “I want to go out for a walk.”

Yu Chen walked with me around the campus. After walking for most of the way, I finally plucked up the courage to ask him:

“Do you… have a childhood sweetheart?”

He paused and turned to look at me.

There seemed to be a flash of emotion in those usually gentle eyes, but it disappeared before I could make out what was going on.

“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

I bit my lip and whispered:

“A few days ago, I posted a photo of us hanging out on Weibo, and someone commented on me, saying that you are her boyfriend.”

“And then? What did you say to her?”

I don’t know if it was my illusion, but his voice seemed a little tense.

I didn’t think about it: “No, she said something unpleasant, so I blocked her.”

Perhaps because I didn’t want to worry him, I concealed the ugly insults that were pouring in.

“Just block him. That person is too paranoid.” Yu Chen smiled helplessly.

“She and I were not childhood sweethearts, but neighbors. Right after the college entrance exam, she confessed her love to me, but I didn’t agree.”

“She even tried to persuade my parents to force us to be together.”

“Later, she threatened me by cutting her wrists and knocked on my door with blood on her hands. I blocked all her contact information.”

I was terrified when I heard that, and when I thought about the tone of those private messages and comments, I felt that the girl was indeed terrifying.

“She also showed me a photo of you…”

I showed Yu Chen the kiss photo. He glanced at it and pursed his lips:

“The lighting is so dim. I’ve never been to a place like this. I guess she photoshopped the picture again.”

“I see…”

is that so.

“Baby, are you scared?”

Yu Chen suddenly lowered his head and came closer to me, looking into my eyes seriously.

“Don’t be afraid. Since you have blocked her, I promise that she will never harass you again.”

2

Perhaps influenced by those comments and private messages, I haven’t been on Weibo for a long time.

Naturally, he did not block Yu Chen’s crazy childhood sweetheart.

My life is still the same as before, with classes, meals, and dates, nothing seems to be different.

But I began to lose myself involuntarily, paying attention to Yu Chen’s every move, eyes and expressions, and then comparing them in my mind with the sharp-looking man in the photo.

Is it really the same as Yu Chen said?

Is that photo…Photoshopped?

Yu Chen seemed to notice that I was in a bad mood, so he made plans with me in advance to go to a hot spring homestay in the suburbs for two days during the Qingming Festival.

But just as I put down my luggage at the B&B and was about to go rent a yukata with Yu Chen, his cell phone suddenly rang.

Yu Chen took out his phone, glanced at it quickly, frowned slightly, and then said to me:

“Go rent a yukata first. I’ll take a call.”

“Whose phone is this?”

“My mother is looking for me. Maybe something happened at home.”

“…”

I stared at him as he clenched his phone, turned around and walked out of the side door in the corridor, and I didn’t come to my senses for a long time.

Although he tried to avoid my sight, I still caught a glimpse of the phone screen.

The caller’s number clearly had no notes, and the city displayed was City G.

But I know that Yu Chen’s hometown is not there.

In an instant, something flashed through my mind and my fingertips began to tremble.

I forced myself to calm down, opened my long-unused Weibo account, and clicked on the homepage of the account that sent me a private message.

The IP address shows that she is in City G.

It was as if all my strength had been drained away from me. I staggered and held onto the counter beside me.

I don’t know how long it was before Yu Chen came back after making the call.

He was walking in a hurry, and when he saw me, he looked apologetic:

“I’m sorry, baby. Something happened at home. I have to go home. I may not be able to accompany you these two days.”

I bit my lip hard and looked up at him, trying to find any flaws in the face that I loved so much.

But no.

His expression was helpless and apologetic, still as gentle as before:

“Baby, don’t be angry. I’ll call your roommate to come and keep you company, okay? I’ll pay for it.”

My throat felt like it was blocked by a ball of cotton, and every time I opened my mouth I felt a suffocating feeling.

“No need…” I finally said with some difficulty, “You should go back. Things at home are more important. It’s okay to date another day.”

Yu Chen said okay, bent down and kissed me on the cheek, then turned around and left in a hurry.

I stood there, watching his back disappear from my sight.

I don’t know how much time had passed before the phone in my pocket vibrated and I came back to my senses.

On WeChat, Yu Chen transferred a thousand yuan to her: “Baby, ask your roommate to come over and play with you. It’s my fault.”

I bit my lip, returned the money, packed my luggage and went back to the dormitory.

My roommate was very surprised when he saw me: “Didn’t you and Yu Chen go to the hot springs? Why are you back? Did you have a fight?”

When she spoke the last few words, she raised her voice and had an incredible expression on her face.

Of course, in everyone’s eyes, it is impossible for Yu Chen and I to quarrel.

However–

I shook my head: “He has something going on at home, so he has to go home.”

Then he climbed onto the bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

When I recalled some previous details from my memory, I suddenly realized that this was not the first time that Yu Chen ran out to answer the phone while dating me.

Just like this time, he acted very naturally and just said it was a call from home, or from roommates or friends, and I never doubted him.

Even when we were in class together, I would occasionally see him lowering his head to reply to WeChat messages.

I asked it once, and Yu Chen just casually clicked on an emoticon package and sent it out, then closed the dialog box.

Then he turned his head to look at me and smiled:

“Nothing, my cousin is about to take the high school entrance exam, so she asked me to go home and bring her a present. What would you like to eat for lunch, baby?”

I am naturally gentle and introverted, and not good at expressing my emotions.

But Yu Chen is my first love.

I also put 100% of my heart into this relationship.

I always thought he was like that, so I never had any other guesses.

However, once the seeds of doubt are planted, one suddenly realizes that everything was wrong.

My heart felt like it was being pulled by a huge hand, with countless thumbtacks rubbing into it, and a cold and sharp pain surged up.

I took a deep breath, held back my tears, opened Weibo again, and sent a private message to that account: “I want to talk to you.”

3

The other party quickly replied to me: “What are you talking about? My boyfriend came to see me and started to pester me again, right?”

When the word “boyfriend” came into my sight, my heart felt like it was stabbed.

So, was it really her call that Yu Chen received in the hot spring hotel just now?

After the initial suffocating pain passed, I gradually calmed down.

Ignore her harsh words and continue:

“You said he was your boyfriend, but he told me that he had a female neighbor who was so persistent that she forced him to fall in love by slitting her wrists.”

“?”

After I sent this question mark, it took a long time before she sent me a string of letters, “Add WeChat to talk.”

I quickly added the other party’s WeChat.

Her profile picture is a selfie. At the beach under the sunlight, a girl with long curly light brown hair is holding a bunch of sunflowers with a bright smile.

The most important thing is that face is exactly the same as the one in the kissing photo.

“Yu Chen’s plane will land in half an hour. I’m at the airport. We can talk things out in this half hour.”

She said,

“Let me start first. My name is Li Huaiyue, and Yu Chen and I are neighbors. We grew up together as childhood sweethearts.”

“He told me he liked me when we were in high school. I liked him, but I wanted to focus on my studies, so I didn’t agree.”

“After the college entrance examination, he confessed his love to me again, and we have been together ever since.”

“All my friends and our high school classmates know that he and I are in a relationship.”

“However, Yu Chen did tell me that he had a girl in college who was clinging to him and couldn’t be driven away no matter how much he scolded her.”

“We were classmates and had contact in student work, so we didn’t want to make things too awkward. I even had a fight with him over this.”

I looked at the message she sent me, and somehow I felt like laughing.

But as I laughed, tears began to fall.

With my vision blurred, I opened my phone’s photo album, sent several photos of me and Yu Chen, and then said:

“He started pursuing me during my freshman year and pursued me for a whole year. During the winter break of my sophomore year, he delayed his return home because he had to take me to the hospital. We got together after school started.”

Li Huaiyue sent a string of ellipsis.

“He told me that he came home late during the winter break of his sophomore year because he helped the teacher move things and missed his flight.”

In the next half hour, Li Huaiyue and I sorted out the various anomalies in the past three years bit by bit, only to find that Yu Chen had been lying to both sides and concealed it perfectly.

I never even doubted him, and Li Huaiyue always thought that I was a green tea girl who was pestering her boyfriend.

If she hadn’t accidentally seen my Weibo, I don’t know how long we would have been kept in the dark.

At the end of the conversation, Li Huaiyue and I both fell silent.

At the top of the screen, the words “typing” flashed for a long time, but no new messages were sent.

Finally, she told me, “Yu Chen’s plane has landed. I’ll go pick him up first and contact you in the evening.”

“good.”

I put away my phone and picked up the Lina bear beside me. Suddenly, I remembered that Yu Chen had snatched it several times to help me set the alarm clock, so I subconsciously threw it away.

In fact, the matter was very clear. While he was in a long-distance relationship with his childhood girlfriend, he was also dating me in college. He was having the best of both worlds without affecting either.

No wonder when I mentioned that I wanted to go back to my hometown with him during the winter vacation two months ago, he firmly refused.

I guess he was afraid that once I went there, the lie he had kept for so long would no longer be revealed?

I stared at Lina Bear lying on the bedside for a while, then silently picked it up and rubbed it in my arms.

It was not until ten o’clock in the evening that Li Huaiyue sent another message.

She said that Yu Chen went to G City to find her because she called and forced him.

The two quarreled and then reconciled, and now Yu Chen is sleeping in a hotel outside their school.

“Before he left, he tried to kiss me, but I dodged him. When I thought about how I had wasted so many years on someone like him, I felt like throwing up.”

I didn’t know what to say. In fact, we didn’t know each other at all, and we were from different places, and it was very likely that we would never meet in our lives, but because of Yu Chen’s behavior, we were mistakenly put on the same side.

After thinking it over again and again, I finally just sent a comforting emoji of a cat patting its head.

Li Huaiyue never replied to me.

I didn’t take it seriously, put down my phone and went to wash up.

When I came back after cleaning up and climbed into bed with my phone, I found that she had sent me another message five minutes ago.

“I’m sorry for asking my friends to scold you that day.”

4

Yu Chen stayed in G City for three days, and Li Huaiyue and I kept in touch.

“His acting is so good that if we hadn’t already connected, we wouldn’t have noticed the flaw.”

On the day he left G City, Li Huaiyue sent me another message:

“At the airport, I mentioned you to him again and told him about the private message I sent you on Weibo. Guess what he said?”

“Ha, he said that picture was photoshopped by you because you were having a paranoid attack.”

I was a little speechless: “Why does he always use this excuse?”

“The scumbag thinks he is right.”

She sent me an emoji of a cat holding a knife, “We can’t just let him go. He must pay the price.”

When Yu Chen came back, I was waiting for him at the south gate of the school. These three days were enough for me to hide my emotions and adjust my expression to be natural enough.

He didn’t notice the flaw, but apologized to me: “Sorry, baby, I said I would play with you.”

I smiled gently and tolerantly: “It’s okay, there is still a short vacation next month.”

But, there is no next month.

April 23rd is the one-year anniversary of Yu Chen and I’s relationship. I have already discussed with Li Huaiyue that I will give him a big gift.

When I came out of the library that day, I was messaging Li Huaiyue with my head down and accidentally bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

As I apologized, I raised my head and Fang Le’s handsome and thin face came into view.

She pursed her lips, didn’t respond, walked past me, and left in a hurry.

When I was a freshman, Fang Le and I were in the same college, our dormitories were adjacent, and we were not too close.

She came from a poor rural family and applied for the school’s inspirational scholarship.

As the class monitor at the time, Yu Chen was the one who submitted the list. But when it was finally announced, Fang Le’s name was not on it. Instead, it was given to another boy.

Yu Chen said that it was because when Fang Le’s information was handed to him, the registration period had already passed.

Fang Le also complained to the school, but there was no follow-up.

When she was in her sophomore year, she transferred to the School of Computer Science with a top ten grade in the college, moved to a new dormitory, and never contacted me again.

I turned my head and looked at Fang Le’s hurriedly receding back, recalling the fleeting emotion in her eyes when she saw me just now.

Like… disgust and contempt.

I lowered my head in a daze, only to find that Li Huaiyue had sent me several messages on my phone, asking me what was going on, because I hadn’t replied.

On the way to the cafeteria, I briefly told her about the incident with Fang Le.

“Fang Le? Why does this name sound familiar?”

Li Huaiyue pondered for a long time, then sent a message,

“By the way, Yu Chen mentioned to me that there was a girl who pretended to be poor and wanted to apply for a scholarship. The information she gave him was forged, and he rejected it after he found out.”

I stopped and stood there in a daze.

Yu Chen’s explanation to the school was that Fang Le submitted his information late.

But what he told Li Huaiyue was that Fang Le had forged the information, which he rejected.

My heart was pounding and I felt like I had discovered something crucial.

It took him a while to calm down before he told Li Huaiyue about it.

I don’t know if it was because she was too excited, but she called me directly, her voice was full of excitement:

“We need to find some evidence! – Do you want to talk to Fang Le?”

“She seems to… dislike me.”

“Why would she hate you for no reason? It must have something to do with Yu Chen’s grandson.”

Li Huaiyue said,

“How about this, on the day of the anniversary plan, you find a way to invite her over. When she sees the scene, the misunderstanding will definitely be resolved. Then we can discuss this matter with her.”

I asked Fang Le’s former roommate to tell her that Yu Chen and I wanted to invite her to our anniversary party.

As expected, Fang Le rejected it.

So I went to her again and asked her earnestly to come:

“Yu Chen said that there are some misunderstandings between him and you that need to be clarified. He feels guilty and embarrassed, so he asked me to come to you.”

Fang Le stared at me dimly: “Really?”

She pulled the corners of her lips and smiled mockingly, “Then I’ll go.”

5

In the following week, I privately contacted all the classmates who had a good relationship with Yu Chen.

Even several graduate school seniors and counselors wanted to prepare a big gift for him and celebrate in person.

My roommate sighed:

“Ningning, you are really a model girlfriend. They all say that Yu Chen is loyal and considerate, but I think you treat him better.”

“……yes.”

After I answered, I was distracted for a moment, then changed my clothes and went downstairs.

Yu Chen was waiting for me downstairs in the dormitory to have lunch together.

After we got our meal in the cafeteria and sat down, he suddenly asked me with a smile, “I heard that the baby prepared a surprise gift for me?”

I suppressed my disgust and chuckled, “Who told you that? How can it be considered a surprise?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. They only told me this. The details will be kept secret no matter how I ask.”

He was halfway through his words when the phone on the table suddenly rang.

I glanced and it was Li Huaiyue’s number.

Yes, before going downstairs, I sent her a message saying that I was going to have lunch with Yu Chen. She probably did it on purpose.

Yu Chen glanced at the phone screen and his expression changed instantly.

He subconsciously looked up at me, and I followed suit, showing a puzzled expression: “Whose phone is it? Why didn’t you answer it?”

“Nothing, my cousin, probably had another fight with her parents.”

He hung up the phone, put the phone upside down on the table, and put a piece of fried hairtail on my plate.

“I’ll contact her when I get back. Let’s eat first.”

“What if it’s an emergency? You should call your cousin back.”

As I was about to pick up his phone, the moment the screen lit up, Yu Chen snatched it away.

I stared at him, trying my best to hide the mocking smile on my lips and make myself look aggrieved:

“What are you doing? You stopped me from going to your house before, and now you’re worried that I’ll contact your cousin – have you ever thought about letting me contact your family?”

Yu Chen’s lips turned pale, and for the first time, that handsome face shed the gentle mask in front of me, revealing a despicable corner.

He forced a smile:

“Why do you think so? Ningning, I just think she’s a little girl and doesn’t know how to talk. I’m afraid she might upset you.”

As he spoke, he reached out to tidy up the loose hair around my ears and deliberately softened his voice.

“I’ll take you home during summer vacation. Stop being angry, okay?”

As he moved, his fingertips brushed the skin on my cheek, and a feeling of nausea suddenly came over me, and it took a lot of effort for me to suppress it.

After returning to the dormitory, I talked about this with Li Huaiyue. She first laughed at Yu Chen’s confused look, and then said:

“Actually, I understand you… On the day he left G City, he hugged me tightly at the airport. I cried at that time, and he thought I was reluctant to let him go.”

“Maybe I’m the only one who knows that I can’t bear to part with the past. Yu Chen and I have known each other for ten years, and I don’t know why he treated me like this.”

“He started pursuing you in his freshman year. At that time, our long-distance relationship had just begun.”

I raised my hand to wipe the corners of my eyes, only to find that I had also shed tears.

Even though I have fully understood what Yu Chen has done and have decided to retaliate, I still feel genuinely sad when I think about it.

I remember the winter break during my sophomore year when I broke my leg and cried because of the pain.

He carried me in his arms and rushed into the hospital. When the doctor was bandaging my wound, the hand he was holding was shaking slightly.

The first time we went to a movie after we fell in love, we sat in a corner, and Yu Chen didn’t put his arm around me until the end of the movie.

The lights came on, I turned my head to look at him and found that his ears were red.

Is it all acted out?

Li Huaiyue also told me that during self-study class in high school, they slipped out of the back door of the classroom and sat side by side on the stands in the playground, looking at the distant sky. The fiery red sunset dyed the sky red, and was swallowed up little by little by the buildings and mountains.

After the college entrance examination, Li Huaiyue went to the mountains for a barbecue with her classmates. When she was making a fire, charcoal ash blew all over her face. Yu Chen pulled her aside, helped her wipe her face clean little by little, and then bent down to kiss her.

That was their first kiss.

Li Huaiyue’s ten years and my three years, both of us gave our whole heart to someone who was not worthy.

Not worth it.

It’s not worth it.

On the evening of the anniversary, before the sun set completely, I took Yu Chen to the busiest South Playground in the school.

Under the bright lights of the basketball court, all the people I invited have arrived and formed a circle around the basketball court, including Fang Le.

There were people playing ball and jogging at night nearby, and they all turned their eyes over here to some extent.

Yu Chen smiled helplessly: “Baby, what surprise have you prepared?”

Several of his close friends also joined in the fun: “Yes, yes, let me wish you a happy first anniversary first!”

I smiled and shook my head, and said gently, “I brought a friend to see you.”

After saying that, I turned my head and looked at a corner of the crowd.

Everyone’s eyes looked over and fell on Li Huaiyue, who was holding a large bouquet of flowers and wearing a mint-colored skirt.

Yu Chen’s face suddenly turned pale.

6

Others didn’t know the truth yet and were still making a fuss: “The surprise shouldn’t just be this bouquet of flowers, right?”

“Of course it’s not the flowers, but the person who sent them.”

Li Huaiyue walked up to me, holding the bouquet of flowers, and stood side by side with me.

I continued,

“Let me introduce you all. This is Li Huaiyue, Yu Chen’s childhood sweetheart of ten years, and also his long-distance girlfriend of three years.”

The scene suddenly became very quiet.

The last ray of light from the setting sun was swallowed up in the sudden darkness. More street lights lit up in the playground, making the place look like a drama stage.

“On this one-year anniversary of my relationship with Yu Chen, I feel that no matter what gift I prepare for him, it is not enough to repay him for the hard work he has put in over the past two years, hiding things from both sides, and lying all the time.”

“After all, it’s very hard to hide it from your childhood sweetheart and long-distance girlfriend while pursuing your college classmate and dating both of them at the same time.”

As I said this, I took the bouquet of flowers from Li Huaiyue.

She took two steps to Yu Chen and looked at him with a smile:

“Yu Chen, you told me before that there was a female classmate in school who you had never spoken to before, but she kept chasing you and you couldn’t get rid of her no matter how much you scolded her. What was her name? I think her name was Xiang Qiuning?”

I answered:

“You also told me that you had a childhood sweetheart named Li Huaiyue who had been in love with you for a long time, but you rejected her confession and blocked all contact information.”

“Now that Li Huaiyue and Xiang Qiuning are here, tell me, which version is true?”

These words were so powerful that more and more people gathered around the basketball court, looking at Yu Chen with surprise and contempt.

His face was ashen, his lips trembled, and after a long while he said, “…No.”

Li Huaiyue asked without giving in:

“What’s not? Is it that the facts she said are wrong, or the facts I said are wrong, or do you, Yu Chen, also think that you are a piece of shit?!”

“Do you still think you are quite capable? You are lying to both sides. No wonder you refused Ningning’s request to go home with you. You also rejected my request to visit you at school. Do you have any shame, Yu Chen?! We have known each other for ten years. If you were even a little bit sincere—”

At the end of her speech, her eyes were red and her voice trembled a little.

From the fact that Li Huaiyue found a bunch of people to scold me on Weibo, it can be seen that she is actually impulsive and irritable.

I firmly believe that if it weren’t for the constraints of the law, she would have probably rushed up and stabbed Yu Chen.

Those beautiful eyes were now filled with sharp and strong emotions. Yu Chen seemed unable to bear it, so he turned his gaze away and looked at me.

There was almost a hint of pleading in his voice: “Ningning.”

“Don’t call me that, it disgusts me.”

I looked at him very calmly, my eyes swept across his eyebrows inch by inch, bit by bit, as if I wanted to make a final closure and cut off those memories of the past.

“Yu Chen, I have never done anything out of line since I was a child. Dating with you was the worst thing I did. Without knowing it, I was moved by the love you showed me and became the third party in another relationship.”

“But I don’t feel ashamed, even if I say this in front of everyone today – because you kept me in the dark from the beginning to the end.”

“You may have always thought that you were very smart, and even felt smug about the fact that you played me and Li Huaiyue around. The reason why I invited the counselors and classmates here today is to let everyone see with their own eyes that you, who have always been an excellent student, class monitor, and student leader, actually have a questionable character, corrupt morals, and are emotionally unfaithful.”

Yu Chen’s face suddenly became extremely embarrassed. He looked at the counselor who was standing at the side of the basketball court with a serious expression. Without even looking at us again, he turned around, walked through the crowd, and left in a hurry.

I didn’t chase after him, I just stood there.

On a spring evening, the wind carries a hint of moist warmth that surrounds me.

Amid the suppressed noisy discussions, Li Huaiyue handed over the bunch of sunflowers in her arms and said, “Congratulations on regaining our freedom.”

7

That night, things exploded on the school confession wall.

In the next few days, public opinion continued to ferment, but it gradually changed from condemnation of Yu Chen, the scumbag, to questioning me.

“Xiang Qiuning and Yu Chen have been dating for such a long time, but she really didn’t know anything about it? Why do I feel like she is the one who knows the truth, but she just jumped out to be the good guy when she couldn’t cover up the matter anymore.”

“I think so too. You see, when they were talking, Yu Chen was always very nice to Xiang Qiuning. Even if she knew, she would pretend not to know.”

“That little childhood sweetheart is really pitiful. She has been kept in the dark the whole time. She looks like someone with a quick temper but a simple mind. I guess she fooled me.”

My roommate saw these comments, took screenshots and sent them to me, and his lips trembled with anger:

“It’s obviously that bastard Yu Chen who is not a good person, how come you are the bad guy because you bravely exposed his true face?”

I was silent for a moment: “It’s understandable. You are impulsive. Don’t quarrel with them.”

My roommate nodded, patted my shoulder and said, “Ningning, don’t be too sad. It’s not worth it for that kind of person.”

How could I not be sad?

I left the dormitory and found Li Huaiyue in a nearby coffee shop. After sitting down, I mentioned a few words about the contents on the confession wall.

She got anxious:

“Why are you blaming the victim again? You and I were both deceived by that scumbag, why are you trying to sow discord between us? I’ll submit an article to your school—”

I reached out and stopped her from reaching for her phone:

“No need. Once the rumors die down, no one will mention this anymore. Besides, when I proposed this idea, I guessed it would go this way.”

“It’s okay. Compared to me, Yu Chen is the one who can’t survive in school after his true identity is exposed.”

In everyone’s eyes, Yu Chen has always been a gentle, polite, and well-educated academic master.

After the incident was exposed in public, he turned around, left the playground, walked straight out of the school, and has never returned until today.

“The counselor came to see me yesterday.”

I’ll get back to the point.

“The college has already removed Yu Chen’s class monitor and other student leaders from their positions, but regarding the cancellation of the previous evaluation and the impact on the list of guaranteed admissions to graduate school, they said that relationships are private matters after all, and they can’t handle it this way.”

“What do you mean by private affairs? Are you planning to elect such a two-faced scumbag as the representative of your academy?”

Li Huaiyue complained unhappily, and felt a little depressed.

“We exposed this matter in front of so many people, hoping to punish him, right? Now, what effect will it have on him if we dismiss him from his position as a student leader without causing any harm?”

I didn’t respond, but Fang Le’s voice suddenly rang out from the side: “So, I’m here to help you.”

Before going out, I contacted her specifically and made an appointment to meet here.

Fang Le sat down next to me and got straight to the point:

“When I was a freshman, I applied for an inspirational scholarship. Because my parents didn’t understand, I didn’t get the required information until the deadline. I rushed to send it to Yu Chen that day. I also sent him a message on WeChat, but he didn’t reply. It was not until the list was released that he said that my information was sent late.”

“Of course I wasn’t convinced, so I did my own research and found out that the guy who got the scholarship had always been close to Yu Chen and even treated him to a meal after the list was released. And that guy came from a well-off family, so logically, he shouldn’t be eligible to apply for this scholarship.”

“Later, the teachers in the academy talked to me and said that I had a bright future and there was no need to ruin it for a scholarship. I knew that this matter would definitely not work out.”

“After I changed my major in my sophomore year, I worked part-time in a coffee shop and heard the boy talking to his friend. He said his parents agreed to buy him a new car if he could win an award.”

When he said this, Fang Le’s eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp look.

“He also said that Yu Chen was a truly loyal brother. Without further ado, he asked his aunt, who was a teacher at the academy, to help him.”

Li Huaiyue on the other side was stunned for a moment: “Yu Chen has a relative who is a teacher at the university? He never told me.”

“You didn’t tell me that either.”

Li Huaiyue and I looked at each other and suddenly realized that the gentle and affectionate boyfriend in front of us was just one of Yu Chen’s many masks.

Furthermore, his true face is still hidden in the dark, like an iceberg under the sea. If a corner of it is not revealed this time, it will probably never be discovered.

Fang Le said that she was well aware that she was outnumbered and had to rely on school for graduation. She had originally planned to report the matter to the school after her graduation defense.

But now, since Li Huaiyue and I are planning to make a fuss about Yu Chen’s qualification for admission to graduate school, she is also going to bring this matter up to add another weight to the scale.

Soon, Fang Le and I sorted out the information, wrote a real-name report letter against Yu Chen, and submitted it directly to the school’s General Academic Affairs Office.

Just in case, we uploaded this report letter to Weibo and tagged the Z City Education Bureau.

After the incident became a big deal, the school launched a re-investigation into the selection of the inspirational scholarship.

It was eventually confirmed that Yu Chen had abused his position as class monitor and his relatives’ teaching positions to seek improper benefits for personal gain, and his previous awards and honors were revoked, his eligibility for admission to graduate school was cancelled, and a demerit was recorded in his file.

His aunt, who worked at the school, also lost the qualification to be selected as associate professor because of this incident.

As for the boy who forged information for scholarship selection, he also received the punishment he deserved.

Public opinion in the school quickly changed direction. No one discussed the previous relationship anymore. Instead, everyone started talking about Yu Chen’s favoritism.

And the person who said I was a 30-year-old last time soon posted to the confession wall again, saying that I was using public power to settle personal grudges and taking advantage of school rules and regulations to vent my personal anger, and also said that I was the most vicious woman.

This time, even many onlookers couldn’t stand it anymore and blamed this person in the comment section.

Li Huaiyue also submitted an article on the confession wall:

“I say this lowly animal, who I don’t know whether he is a man or a woman, is responsible for cracking down on privilege and favoritism. Maintaining a fair order is the duty of every citizen. Who could be as dark as you think? He even uses public power to take revenge on private interests. Does that scumbag Yu Chen deserve it? Wasn’t he the one who did this or what?”

The man was so rebuked that he couldn’t utter a word in rebuttal.

A few days later, someone found out through account association that the contributor was Yu Chen’s secondary account.

The last time I saw Yu Chen was at the beginning of final exam month.

By then the turmoil had subsided and Li Huaiyue had returned to City G to prepare for her exam.

On my way to the library, I ran into Yu Chen. He was dragging two suitcases and looked much gloomier, exuding a sense of dejection.

I heard before that after the school made the decision, he applied for a one-year leave of absence, retaining his student status, and planned to return to school next September.

When he saw me, he stopped in his tracks, and his once gentle and clear eyes were filled with turbid anger and resentment.

He asked me in a hoarse voice: “Have I ever done anything wrong to you?”

“Haven’t I been good enough to you in this year together?”

“Even if you found out about Li Huaiyue’s existence, why didn’t you tell me? I can compensate you, and we can part ways amicably. Isn’t the purpose of dating to be happy? If you team up with Fang Le to report me to the school, what will you gain?”

I was amused by his self-righteousness:

“Is it not okay to be happy? Yu Chen, we’ve known each other for three years, how come I didn’t realize you were so shameless? You lied, played two girls at the same time, and abused the little power you had, so why do you blame others for exposing you?”

He looked at me with a gloomy face. I don’t know if it was because he had lost a lot of weight, but his slightly sunken face, coupled with his gloomy expression, looked a little scary.

I couldn’t help but take a step back vigilantly and hold the phone in my pocket tightly.

But Yu Chen ended up doing nothing.

He dragged his suitcase and left the school without saying a word.

I took two steps forward, then stopped for some unknown reason and turned to look at his receding figure.

The orange-red light of the setting sun shone through the gaps between the branches and leaves, and somehow reminded me of many scenes and fragments of my past love life, making me feel a little dazed.

The joy and excitement at that time were real.

The sadness and disgust after learning the truth are also real.

Anyway, these are things of the past.

I still have a long life ahead of me and everything is unknown. The only thing that is certain is that Yu Chen and I will most likely never have any intersection again.

8

After the final exam, Li Huaiyue took the initiative to send me a message and asked me if I wanted to visit her hometown, City N.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Z City, and I went there last time. You’ve always wanted to come to N City, so I’ll treat you as… making up for the guilt I felt for scolding you during our first online meeting.”

I said helplessly, “I’ve already apologized, why do you keep bringing this up?”

“I can’t help it. I can’t get over it. I think about it in my dreams at midnight and I’m so embarrassed that I can’t sleep. I don’t care. You have to give me a chance to make it up to you.”

I promised Li Huaiyue.

That summer, she and I sat in an antique dessert shop in the southern suburbs of N City, using a small spoon to stir the lasagna in the bowl in front of us.

Li Huaiyue suddenly sighed:

“In fact, after I found out about your existence and Yu Chen made up that story, I was fantasizing about how I would hold his arm when we met, how I would show off to you, how I would beat up the mistress, and how I would warn you not to get close to my boyfriend again.”

“In fact, after adding him as a friend, I found out that if there is any mistake, it is the man’s fault. You have been kept in the dark by him. What responsibility do you have?”

I hesitated for a moment and told her about my encounter with Yu Chen at school that day.

As expected, Li Huaiyue was pissed:

“Dating for fun? You can’t even be loyal and devoted, what nonsense are you talking about? I’d be happier if I gave him a slap in the face, but he let me do it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve already scolded him for you in person.”

Looking back, arguing with Yu Chen in front of him that day was actually not something I would have done based on my previous personality.

In the two months since we met, I have been more or less influenced by Li Huaiyue.

After that, we didn’t say anything else and quietly finished the cake on the plate.

Li Huaiyue said she would take me to the riverside to watch the fireworks show. After a short rest, we set off.

That night, we stood by the river, leaning on the railing, and watched the entire magnificent fireworks display.

Amid the sounds, a moist and slightly cool night breeze blew over from the river.

She stood in the wind and said to me with a smile:

“Yu Chen is a hypocritical and promiscuous person with twisted values ​​and many evil deeds. The only good thing he has ever done is probably that we met by accident.”

I curled the corners of my lips: “Yeah, I think so too.”