Chapter 160

Chapter 160

◎Kicking the Scumbag to the Curb◎

Zhou Yu knew that Chi Xingyao was working on a project and that she wouldn’t have time to meet or date him during this period. So, he deliberately called her at a time when she might be busy.

Before he could complain about how they hadn’t seen or talked to each other for days, she directly said, "We’re done."

Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment, then immediately became furious: "What do you mean! Are you blaming me for being too clingy? I just complained a few times that you didn’t spend time with me, and now you want to break up?!"

Chi Xingyao said directly, "Xu Shanshan."

Hearing this name, Zhou Yu’s heart skipped a beat, but he still wanted to struggle: "What Shanshan? We’re talking about us, why bring up someone else?"

Seeing him still being stubborn, Chi Xingyao said, "Did I forget to tell you that my house has surveillance cameras? Let’s break up amicably. If you keep pestering me, I’ll have to call the police and let them settle how much you’ve taken from my house."

At this point, Zhou Yu didn’t dare to be stubborn anymore. He even started recalling where the surveillance cameras in Chi Xingyao’s house were. He clearly remembered carefully observing and not seeing any cameras before he dared to act.

But he was also afraid that she was telling the truth and that things would escalate. However, he felt too embarrassed to admit it outright, so he blustered into the phone, "If you want to break up, then break up! Why are you throwing dirt at me? Fine, let’s break up, as if I care about you!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Chi Xingyao glanced at the phone and shook her head helplessly. Her colleague, who was sitting next to her, swiveled her chair over and asked, "What happened?"

Chi Xingyao put down her phone: "We broke up."

Her colleague handed her a pack of snacks: "What were you saying about the police and taking things from your house?"

Chi Xingyao: "I found out he was stealing, so I broke up with him. Consider it a lesson learned."

Her colleague laughed: "You’re lucky you found out about his issues before getting married. If it were after marriage, that would be a real headache. These days, a marriage certificate doesn’t guarantee anything. In serious cases, that piece of paper can lead to disaster."

Chi Xingyao also smiled: "I never intended to marry him. I didn’t even think about it. I just wanted someone to accompany me."

Her colleague swiveled her chair while eating snacks: "Then you were mistaken. Most men aren’t worth it. They’re after money and looks. The dumb ones want your money and your looks, and they’ll also try to manipulate you, acting like they’re morally superior. The smart ones? They’ll take your money, your looks, and maybe even your life."

Chi Xingyao: "So why bother getting married?"

Her colleague: "Because most people are just ordinary. They come from similar backgrounds and settle down together. The law keeps them in line, so you get ordinary, mundane marriages. But once they have something to risk it all for, that’s when you see true human nature. If you want companionship, raising a child is better than relying on a man. Men come and go; they’re never really yours. But a child is always yours. Raise them right, and they’ll be your partner in everything."

Chi Xingyao thought to herself, even a child is their own person. How could they belong to anyone? And what child wouldn’t want to be born into a happy family with both parents? Bringing a child into a broken family just for companionship—how unfair is that?

But her colleague’s words did tempt her a little.

Ever since she found out that her family had come to accompany her during the time when the Ghost Gate opened, Chi Xingyao couldn’t wait to leave work. Even if her work wasn’t finished, she preferred to take it home.

On her way home by subway, Chi Xingyao suddenly realized something: she might not be suited for relationships. It wasn’t that she couldn’t find time or didn’t want to try. It was just that she didn’t care enough because it wasn’t someone she truly loved. That’s why she couldn’t make time.

Love—or the lack of it—is obvious.

After hesitating for several days, Chi Xingyao sat on the floor mat by the coffee table and said to the air, "Finding true love is too hard. I’ve decided that if I haven’t met someone I truly love by the time I’m thirty, I’ll become a single mother through IVF. By then, I’ll have money and time, and I can devote all my time and love to my baby. Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, do you think that’s okay? If yes, give me an even number. If no, give me an odd number."

After saying that, she shook the dice in her hand and rolled them onto the coffee table.

The two dice spun around and stopped. One showed an odd number, and the other showed an even number. Just as Chi Xingyao thought her family members disagreed, the die with the odd number seemed to move on its own, and with a click, it turned into an even number.

Chi Xingyao looked at the two dice showing even numbers on the coffee table, and her eyes slowly turned red. She knew that no matter what decision she made, her family would always support her.

Since Chi Xingyao was no longer an option, Zhou Yu didn’t dare to pester her anymore. So, he turned all his attention to Xu Shanshan. But when he went to find Xu Shanshan, she looked at him and asked directly, "Who is Chi Xingyao?"

Zhou Yu frowned, his irritation visibly increasing. "A woman who’s been bothering me. Did she tell you something? Shanshan, do you trust me or some stranger?"

Xu Shanshan looked at him, her eyes filled with disappointment, and sent him some photos and gift receipts. "The one who’s been bothering you—you watched movies, ate meals, took smiling photos, and even cooked in her kitchen together? She bought you so many gifts, including the shoes you’re wearing now, right, Zhou Yu? It’s bad enough to be two-timing, and now you’re badmouthing her after being caught."

Seeing Zhou Yu’s twisted expression, Xu Shanshan said coldly, "Let’s just act like we never happened. Erase me from your life. I’ve ended up as the other woman, Zhou Yu. You’re disgusting!"

After saying this, Xu Shanshan turned and walked away. Zhou Yu instinctively reached out to stop her but got slapped by Xu Shanshan. "If you don’t stop bothering me, I’ll post about you on the school forum."

Zhou Yu’s expression also turned cold. "Who do you think you are? Your cursed luck scares everyone away. If it weren’t for your looks, why would I be with you? I’m scared you’ll curse me!"

Zhou Yu, furious, lashed out at Xu Shanshan, calling her a cursed jinx, a bringer of bad luck, someone even her roommates avoided, and classmates steered clear of. He tried to hurt her with every word.

Seeing the look in Xu Shanshan’s eyes that seemed like she wanted to devour him, Zhou Yu sneered, "I wonder who’ll be able to handle your cursed luck!"

After throwing insults, Zhou Yu walked away. Xu Shanshan stood there, frozen. She’d been with Zhou Yu for nearly six months. When he chased her, he told her not to believe in superstitions and would even kiss her forehead gently when she talked about her past.

But now, the kindness she’d shown him became the weapon he used to hurt her.

Xu Shanshan wiped her tears quickly. Zhou Yu was her first boyfriend, and he ended up being a cheater. She told herself he wasn’t worth her tears, but they kept coming.

She just wanted a normal life, a simple romance. Why was it so hard?

Xu Shanshan was starting her senior year of college. She didn’t live in the dorms, as Zhou Yu mentioned—her roommates avoided her, scared to even talk to her.

But they were kind. Instead of badmouthing her, they asked her to move out.

Xu Shanshan got it. Who wouldn’t be scared after so many accidents in one semester?

College was meant to be a new beginning, but someone wouldn’t let her move on. Soon after the semester started, her military training photos were posted online, and she was oddly nominated as the department beauty. Then someone made a post listing how she was cursed to bring bad luck to everyone around her.

Her father died in a car accident, her mother from a heart attack. The uncle who adopted her lost half his hand in an accident, and her aunt nearly drowned after falling into a river while riding her bike home. The rumors of her cursed fate had long circulated in her hometown. At first, they didn’t believe it, but after a series of misfortunes, they sent her away in fear.

She was taken in by her grandparents, but within three years, both passed away, further cementing the belief in her cursed fate.

Throughout high school, she was pointed at and avoided like the plague.

She thought college would be a chance to start over, but someone posted all her past on the forum.

At first, her roommates were kind, dismissing it as superstition. They even sympathized with her for losing her family early and shared food and supplies sent from home with her.

But in the first semester, three roommates had accidents—one nearly got into a car crash, another broke her leg falling down the stairs, and the third fell out of bed, chipping her teeth and nearly disfiguring her face.

These seemed like normal, everyday accidents—who doesn’t have minor mishaps in life? But with her reputation as a cursed jinx, and three out of four roommates having accidents while she remained unharmed, it was hard to ignore.

Even though her roommates were kind, they didn’t want to risk their lives. Instead of driving her out with harsh words, they asked her to move out, which, compared to the cold and hot violence she endured in high school, was already gentle and kind.

At first, few took the forum post seriously, with many even treating it as entertainment. But after these incidents, the belief in her cursed fate became widespread.

Gradually, no one dared to interact with her. At first, they wouldn’t even speak to her, as if just being near her would bring misfortune.

Later, when no accidents happened to her classmates, they went from avoiding her to simply ignoring her, at least not pointing at her and telling her to leave.

She got used to being alone—attending classes alone, eating alone, going to the library alone, and even completing group projects by herself—until Zhou Yu started pursuing her.

She asked Zhou Yu why he wasn’t afraid of her when everyone else was.

Zhou Yu said it was all superstition, and he wanted to see just how cursed she was. He dared her to try being with him.

She was tempted and thought, why not? Though at first, she kept her guard up, always prepared for Zhou Yu to leave her.

But month after month passed, and Zhou Yu remained unharmed, she started to look forward to the future.

But it ended in this way.

Xu Shanshan even thought it would be better if Zhou Yu had been driven away by her supposed "hard fate," as it would at least prove that his initial pursuit was sincere, rather than being a premeditated deceit from the start.

Xu Shanshan originally thought this matter was over, but she didn’t expect Zhou Yu to open a thread on the forum, saying he had personally verified that her fate was indeed hard, nearly getting run over by a car. The post even had a picture of his leg in a cast.

For the past two years, few had mentioned this issue. Everyone had their own studies and lives, and bystanders would just enjoy the drama without following it closely, so the posts about her "hard fate" had faded away.

Now that Zhou Yu brought it up again, some people remembered and dug up the old posts. Whether she had "cursed" her relatives or not, they didn’t know, but her "cursing" her roommates and boyfriend had been verified at school. Many users tagged her in the replies, asking her to share her schedule so they could steer clear of her classes.

Xu Shanshan wasn’t a weak person. If she were, she would have been crushed by the ridicule and sarcasm over the years. She fired back with her main account in the thread, "The one I curse is a scumbag like you who plays with two hearts!"

Some users caught wind of the drama and tagged her, demanding details.

Xu Shanshan outright exposed Zhou Yu’s cheating and added that when they broke up, Zhou Yu was fine, but as soon as she exposed his true colors and dumped him, he had an accident. She could only chalk it up to karma.

Zhou Yu directly accused her of lying and spreading rumors in the post, claiming that he broke up with her because she had "cursed" him, and now he was being falsely accused of cheating.

Xu Shanshan had never seen anyone more disgusting than Zhou Yu. She had pictures of Zhou Yu and Chi Xingyao, which Chi Xingyao had sent her to inform her of Zhou Yu’s infidelity, but she couldn’t share them on the forum without permission, nor did she want to expose everything just to prove herself.

For a moment, she was trapped, unable to advance or retreat. She could even imagine that if she remained silent and let Zhou Yu slander her, he would continue to spread rumors.

After some thought, Xu Shanshan reached out to Chi Xingyao and even forwarded her the link to the thread: "I’m sorry, I didn’t want to drag you into this, but Zhou Yu is too disgusting. Can I share one of the pictures you sent me? I’ll blur out your face."

Chi Xingyao was at work. She didn’t dislike Xu Shanshan. Although they hadn’t met, after Xu Shanshan contacted her and explained the situation, she stayed composed and rational, not causing a scene and even expressing gratitude for the info. So Chi Xingyao had a good impression of Xu Shanshan.

After briefly reading the post, Chi Xingyao said to Xu Shanshan, "I don’t have an account on your campus forum to reply. If you trust me, give me your account, and I’ll say something to him."

Xu Shanshan thought about it and gave Chi Xingyao her account and password.

After logging in, Chi Xingyao directly replied to the post: "Zhou Yu’s cheating doesn’t need anyone to prove. I’m one of the girlfriends he cheated on. Borrowing Shanshan’s account to say something: Zhou Yu, if you don’t want to see the police, I suggest you apologize. Otherwise, this post already has over a hundred comments, and slandering others is a crime. Also, it seems you didn’t remember what I told you before. I still have videos of some things you did, and I can sue you at any time. Don’t test me."

Of course, there was no video. She didn’t own pets, so she hadn’t set up cameras at home, but Zhou Yu had stolen things before, and he was already guilty, so he wouldn’t dare confront her.

Zhou Yu was cowardly. He knew exactly how much he had stolen from Chi Xingyao—a few necklaces and bracelets, which he had sold intermittently for about ten to twenty thousand yuan. That amount was enough to land him in jail for a year or two.

If he went to jail, his life would be ruined, so he instantly caved and apologized, even regretting his impulsiveness. Why couldn’t he control himself after returning? The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and in the end, he couldn’t hold back and posted, making things even more embarrassing.

Everyone was surprised by the twist, speculating that Zhou Yu had some serious leverage in the other party’s hands, otherwise why would he apologize so smoothly.

But people had already lost any good impression of him. Cheating, breaking up, and then slandering the girl—it was truly disgusting.

It was a shame he had already graduated with a master’s degree. If he were still in school, it would have been social death.

Xu Shanshan didn’t expect Chi Xingyao’s words to make Zhou Yu kneel down and apologize. She was very grateful: "Thank you, and I’m sorry. Although I really didn’t know Zhou Yu had a girlfriend, my existence must have hurt you. I’m truly sorry."

Chi Xingyao: "What does it have to do with you? You don’t need to carry the scumbag’s mistakes on your shoulders. You’re also a victim, so no need to apologize. In the future, we should both be more discerning and not be blind again."

Xu Shanshan replied with a nodding emoji, thinking to herself, how could that scumbag Zhou Yu be worthy of such a good girlfriend? With such a good girlfriend, he still cheated—so greedy and stupid.

Seeing the post filled with apologies and comfort, telling her that staying away from the cheating scumbag would bring good fortune, Xu Shanshan smiled. Although the internet could be hurtful, sometimes, through the internet, she could also receive warmth. At least through the internet, she wouldn’t "curse" others.

Just as she put down her phone, Chi Xingyao sent another message: "Sorry if this is too forward, but I want to ask, is what the post says about your 'hard fate' true or false? If it’s slander, I suggest you find a lawyer to sue. Such statements shouldn’t be left unchecked."

Xu Shanshan smiled and replied, "It’s true. I do have a 'hard fate,' and since childhood, I’ve 'cursed' those close to me. Although I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, what the post says is true."

Chi Xingyao said, "Then do you need a master? If your fate is problematic, you can find a master to see if it can be resolved."

Xu Shanshan didn’t know how the topic jumped to this, but she still replied, “I think it’s just fate and can’t be changed, and I’m already used to it.”

Chi Xingyao: “You know how I caught Zhou Yu cheating?”

Xu Shanshan tilted her head, looking even more puzzled, but she followed the topic: “How did you find out?”

Chi Xingyao: “Some time back, my place was haunted, so I invited a Taoist to check it out. The Taoist confirmed there were ghosts in my house, but they were relatives visiting me during the Ghost Festival. I’m the only one left in my family, and they were worried about me, so they came to see me. They also told me Zhou Yu was cheating and stealing from my house. That’s how I got the upper hand on him.”

Xu Shanshan was stunned and didn’t know what to say for a while: “No way.”

Chi Xingyao smiled: “It’s true. So, want me to hook you up with the Taoist and see if he can help change your fate?”

Xu Shanshan pursed her lips, hesitating but very tempted.

The Taoist, who was being talked about, was currently being pulled by his aunt to watch the kids bring someone home to meet the folks while munching on sunflower seeds.

Ji’s mother didn’t have any elders left, but she had two brothers and a younger sister. She was the third in the family.

Today, the youngest son of her eldest uncle was bringing his girlfriend home.

The eldest uncle had two sons, the second uncle had two daughters, and the younger aunt was unmarried. The family was small and always got along well. They weren’t picky about their kids’ partners, as long as they had good character; they didn’t care much about social status.

So when the youngest son of the eldest uncle found a female celebrity, the family didn’t object. They even called the cousins to come back and meet the star.

Unfortunately, Ji’s eldest brother was busy, the second sister couldn’t leave the lab, and the third was still abroad. The only one available was Ji Nanxing.

The aunt sat elegantly, holding a teacup in one hand, her exquisite and glamorous manicure accentuating her slender fingers. Her hair gleamed under the bright lights, making her look like a refined lady. Yet, she was whispering to Ji Nanxing: “Think she’ll spill the tea or just dodge me?”

Ji Nanxing smiled: “Maybe she doesn’t even know the gossip in the industry.”

She might not know as much as he does, since he had a Taoist group with a quite famous Taoist in the entertainment industry who occasionally shared some gossip with them.

The aunt snorted: “Impossible. She’s not a big star, kind of mid-tier, but she played the third female lead in ‘The Legend of Qingyao.’ Wouldn’t she know the dirt on the leads from the same set?”

Ji Nanxing wasn’t much into the entertainment industry and asked: “What gossip?”

The aunt smiled and whispered to Ji Nanxing: “I heard Xue Yang got with Yu Weichi during that show!”

Ji Nanxing looked confused, the names sounding familiar but he couldn’t match them to faces.

Seeing his expression, the aunt pinched her nephew’s handsome face: “Don’t get too wrapped up in your studies. Take a break from homework, watch some dramas, variety shows, or anime. If not, collect some merchandise. What merch or figures do you like? I’ll get you the whole set!”

Ji Nanxing knew what merchandise was, thanks to Jiang Tangtang, the young girl who was a fan. He had to understand even if he wasn’t interested. But he brought the topic back: “Their names sound familiar.”

The aunt said: “Yu Weichi, the film emperor, though these days the title doesn’t mean much. But you must know his wife, Xi Jiangyue!”

Ji Nanxing knew her well because Xi Jiangyue was a national icon. She debuted early and starred in several national hit dramas during her prime. Later, she got married and had children, releasing a drama every two or three years, but each one was a masterpiece, and her fame never waned.

But Xi Jiangyue died a few months back. The news he saw said she committed suicide due to depression.

The aunt continued to explain the relationship: “Xue Yang played the female lead in that drama, and Xi Jiangyue’s husband played the male lead. They fell in love on set, and Xue Yang hooked up with Yu Weichi, even provoking Xi Jiangyue to her face, which worsened her depression and led to her suicide.”

As Ji Nanxing listened to his aunt’s gossip, he fiddled with his bead bracelet, but his gaze fell on his cousin’s girlfriend.