Chapter 57 How Can Someone Be This Daring?

Chapter 57: How Can Someone Have So Much Nerve?

While clearing out her home after the breakup, Qin Shuyi didn't delete him for convenience's sake—to avoid losing chat history while checking past conversations—but simply blocked him instead.

Thus, they never re-added each other on WeChat.

But it was only now that Ling Jue discovered she still hadn't removed him from her blacklist.

A thunderstorm erupted in his mind, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

He read that message over and over countless times, as if trying to claw the words off the screen.

Something felt off; he vaguely sensed it but refused to believe it.

The soft murmur of voices came from the computer screen again.

The break was over, and a new online meeting room had started.

Executives from various regional divisions saw Master Jue sitting motionless, a layer of frost seemingly forming around him even through the screen.

Someone softly reminded him, "Ahem, Master Jue, the meeting has started."

But Ling Jue suddenly stood up. "Reschedule the meeting."

He left a room full of bewildered faces.

...

Special Assistant Li, having failed to deliver the gift and unsure how to report back, had planned to use the "delay" tactic and report tomorrow at work. Out of the blue, he received a call from his boss.

"Did she accept the necklace?"

Special Assistant Li stammered.

A cold chuckle seemed to come from the other end.

"You have her WeChat, right? Send her a message and tell her to come downstairs."

Messenger Li: "???"

So, boss, you haven't even re-added her on WeChat? he thought.

No, he cried out to the heavens, how can someone have so much nerve?

How can he be so confident about reconciling with an ex-girlfriend without even getting her contact information back?

If Assistant Li had ever wondered what was missing from his boss's otherwise perfect life, he now had the answer.

It was his romantic sense!

Remembering how decisively Qin Shuyi had rejected the gift, he shuddered and silently lit a candle for his boss in his heart.

...

Qin Shuyi came downstairs still in her pajamas.

The soft, milky-white fabric looked pure and innocent in the night, her black hair lazily draped over her shoulders. She wore light green rabbit slippers, making her seem completely unassuming.

But Ling Jue knew all too well the cold detachment hidden beneath that gentle appearance.

Qin Shuyi silently opened the passenger door and got in.

Neither looked at the other, and neither spoke, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Finally, Ling Jue broke the silence. "Why haven't you added me back?"

Her expression remained calm. "I think it's better for exes not to stay in touch."

Ling Jue tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "I thought we had started over."

Qin Shuyi pressed her lips together; her silence was answer enough.

Ling Jue asked, "Then what did that kiss under your building in S City mean?"

Qin Shuyi replied, "I refused it."

Ling Jue suddenly remembered that she had bitten him when he kissed her, but at the time, he thought it was playful teasing between lovers and it only made him more passionate.

"Why didn't you refuse the assignment from Ling Mufeng?"

Even knowing it was ill-intentioned, she still accepted it.

Qin Shuyi said, "I didn't want to put Boss Jiang in a difficult position, and this case isn't harmful to whoever takes it."

"What about the hug and the candy?"

Qin Shuyi replied, "Consider it my professional integrity."

She would have comforted anyone else the same way.

In the confined space, her gentle tone delivered one tender knife after another.

Ling Jue's eyes were bloodshot, but his voice remained calm. "So when I said we should try again seriously, you didn't consider it at all?"

Qin Shuyi finally looked up at him, her gaze inscrutable but her answer firm. "No. Our issues are rooted in our backgrounds and ways of handling things. No matter how many times we start over, it'll be the same."

"And besides, aren't you getting a fiancée?"

Ling Jue turned sharply toward her and quickly refuted, "That's a rumor Ling Mufeng spread. I'm not engaged."

Qin Shuyi met his gaze with clear eyes, her voice soft. "But Ling Jue, I didn't know that."

"You never explained it to me. I don't know why such rumors appeared, nor do I know how strained your relationship with your father really is. What are your future plans? What's your next step in countering this?"

"I..."

"You were going to say you'd handle it, right?" Qin Shuyi interrupted him.

"I believe you," she said calmly. "I believe you have the ability to handle things, and I believe you wouldn't let those bad things affect me."

"But being kept in the dark doesn't feel good."

"If we were still together now, I might be asked countless times about those news reports—what's really going on, whether your family or relatives don't approve of me. I wouldn't know how to answer, and I couldn't answer."

"Even though it concerns me, I feel like an outsider."

"I don't like that, Ling Jue. I prefer relationships that are simpler and more relaxed."

Marriage is like a three-legged race; if only one person rushes ahead, the result is both falling down.

Every word Ling Jue wanted to say caught in his throat. After a long pause, he managed, his tone labored, "If you want to know, I can tell you. Everything."

Qin Shuyi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked him, "Why do you want to get back together?"

Ling Jue paused. "We are good together."

"Do you love me?" she asked again.

Ling Jue remained silent.

"Does it matter?"

Qin Shuyi nodded.

She thought that for ordinary people, marriage might not always require love, but for herself, even if it wasn't profound, there had to be a little bit of love to support each other through the long years.

Ling Jue had no answer.

Qin Shuyi smiled and spoke for him, "Actually, I think you might like me a little."

Her unexpected candor took him aback.

Ling Jue looked at her, his gaze deep, a faint light flickering in his eyes.

Qin Shuyi sighed. "But I'm only guessing. If you don't say it, I'll never know the right answer."

She looked at Ling Jue regretfully. "You see, we're just not compatible."

Liking someone can't replace compatibility.

A long silence descended upon the car again.

Ling Jue's voice was hoarse when he finally broke the silence. "Nothing I say matters, right? You've already sentenced me to death from the start."

Whether he changed or not, Qin Shuyi had already stopped at the boundary line.

"I'm sorry," Qin Shuyi said.

He could afford a wide margin for error, but she couldn't.

She was timid and selfish, unwilling to place a bet so easily.

Ling Jue stared at the woman with downcast eyes, her fair and beautiful face illuminated by the dim light.

"You know what? If I'm unwilling to let go, no one in the capital would dare marry my woman."

Qin Shuyi was quiet for a beat. "I know."

After a moment, she asked, "So, are you?"

Ling Jue felt she had an innocent cruelty.

She clearly knew his thoughts and that he would never push her into a corner, yet she was forcing him to give a definitive answer.

"Qin Shuyi, I've never gone back to a woman before. Once at the bar parking lot, once in S City, and now is the last time. Three strikes and you're out."

Qin Shuyi slowly, gently nodded.

Ling Jue laughed.

But there was no joy in it.

"Qin Shuyi, you're something else."

----------------------------------------