Chapter 95 What If I Say I Regret It?

Chapter 95: What If I Say I Regret It?

Among the packed crowd, aside from colleagues, she didn’t spot a single familiar face.

Only the seats near the back door were empty, perhaps reserved for someone who hadn’t shown up.

She frowned slightly and averted her gaze.

After she turned around, someone sat up straight from under the table.

The man beside him watched the handsome guy who had suddenly bent down to pick up a pen, smiling meaningfully. He leaned in and whispered, “Bro, you’re that die-hard Qin Shuyi fan, right?”

All three questions on that note were about the same person—if that’s not true love, what is?

Who would have thought such a handsome guy could be so infatuated? What a woman she must be!

Ling Jue didn’t deny it.

The man wanted to ask more, but Ling Jue glanced at him.

The look was so cold and distant that the man shivered and shut his mouth, embarrassed.

The host on stage asked if the note’s owner was willing to share their story but received no response, so they decisively moved on to the next one.

While the next audience member’s story played in his ears, Ling Jue’s eyes were fixed on Qin Shuyi’s back, lost in thought.

The anchor points of his life were all tied to Qin Shuyi. Once you’ve tasted a vibrant world, loneliness becomes unbearable.

In the past, it was all his fault—he’d let his bones be broken and start anew. But Qin Shuyi, don’t you fall in love with anyone else.

…

A gaze that followed her like a shadow persisted from behind. After finishing her second virtual suicide note, Qin Shuyi turned around once more.

Still, no one was there.

But on that empty table, she spotted a forgotten piece of paper and a pen.

She smiled at her own paranoia.

Turning back, she raised her hand when the host invited volunteers for the death experience.

…

Hospital.

Outside the ward, Chi Yu checked the time on his phone, his figure tinged with a hint of loneliness.

Jiang Tingyu opened the ward door and stepped out, noticing his action. She pursed her lips.

“Thank you for today.”

Professor Jiang had suddenly fallen ill at home. The caregiver, unable to reach Jiang Tingyu, had turned to Chi Yu for help, since he’d been to their house before.

“I’m starting to understand you a bit,” Jiang Tingyu said with a helpless, bitter smile. “Sometimes, sacrificing part of your life for work is truly a doctor’s unavoidable reality.”

She had returned to the country early after receiving an offer from Mingli Second Hospital and was now a full-fledged internal medicine doctor.

When her father fell ill, she was in the operating room.

She had never understood why Chi Yu was always so busy, why there were so many “can’t get away” and “sorry” moments. But now, finding herself in the same position, she finally understood that a lack of companionship and no time for extra emotions weren’t just excuses.

Chi Yu said, “It’s not your fault.”

Professor Jiang’s illness had struck suddenly. Even as his daughter, she couldn’t abandon her work to be with him every moment.

After a pause, he added, “And it wasn’t in the past, either.”

He had indeed made many mistakes—he was genuinely busy, and he truly hadn’t been attentive enough to her emotional needs.

Jiang Tingyu gave a slight, wry smile.

Look at them—finally able to understand each other. After so many detours, time and distance had ultimately healed the wounds they once inflicted on each other.

But the person who loved her was no longer there waiting.

Outside the ward, the two leaned against the wall, silent for a long time.

She didn’t know what time it was when Chi Yu checked his phone again.

Jiang Tingyu looked at him. “Did you have plans with Miss Qin today? I heard you took time off.”

Chi Yu lowered his eyelashes. “I promised to go with her to a lecture.”

But during their relationship, Chi Yu had never taken time off.

Jiang Tingyu’s lips parted, then closed again.

After a minute of silence, her eyes glistened with unshed tears, though she still tried to smile. Her voice held a trace of resentment and a quiet challenge to fate.

“Don’t you think it’s unfair? You learned how to put work aside for love from me, but in the end, I’m not the one who gets to enjoy that kindness.”

Chi Yu’s lips tightened, his expression a mix of pity and melancholy. “Perhaps timing really is everything between people.”

Just like when Qin Shuyi had gently tried to reject him during their first meeting, saying the timing of their acquaintance wasn’t quite right.

Between two people, a little earlier or a little later—the slightest shift could lead to a completely different outcome.

Jiang Tingyu met his eyes. “What if I say I regret it? Can we start over?”

…

Qin Shuyi lay in a coffin filled with flowers.

Jiang Mulan was her partner—one playing the deceased, the other the mourner.

As Jiang Mulan delivered her beautiful, warm, yet sharp and humorous farewell speech, Qin Shuyi’s mind flashed through the highlights of her brief life.

Her parents, her aunt, Youyou, Uncle Jiang, Jiang Yuzhou, her friends, Princess, Dr. Chi, and… Ling Jue.

Each of them brought a different color to her life.

Ling Jue had once said he would be the most vivid stroke in Qin Shuyi’s life. Qin Shuyi had to admit that while Ling Jue wasn’t indispensable, he was indeed brilliant and dazzling.

Many of her life’s firsts were experienced with Ling Jue.

Racing, bungee jumping, skydiving… each moment became a frozen frame in her life, flashing back in these final moments.

Dr. Chi was the opposite. He and Qin Shuyi were both emotionally reserved—like a spring breeze blowing into her life, soothing her soul and relaxing every part of her being.

But the intense, thrilling relationship ended because it wasn't right.

Will the tranquil, gentle one, like a quiet spring rain, gradually become that ever-deeper mark on my life, taking over everything?

Perhaps it's time to think about the next step.

After all, life has to keep moving forward.

...

Since Chi Yu wasn't there, Qin Shuyi went to dinner with colleagues after the lecture.

It made up for the get-together she'd missed last time.

Jiang Mulan raised an eyebrow, "What's up with your date? A last-minute cancellation?"

Qin Shuyi shook her head, "An older relative of his suddenly fell ill, so he went to help take care of them."

"A relative?"

Qin Shuyi paused, "His teacher."

Jiang Mulan, ever perceptive, said, "Not *just* a teacher, then."

Qin Shuyi recalled the message Chi Yu mentioned on WeChat and nodded, without being cryptic, "Might also be his ex-girlfriend's father."

Chi Yu hadn't gone into great detail, but he had told her about his relationship with Jiang Tingyu after they ran into each other at the dessert shop that day.

They had also talked about the mentor he deeply cared about.

The connection between Professor Jiang and Jiang Tingyu wasn't hard to guess.

"Given their past as mentor and student, and with a sick elder involved, it's easy for ties to linger," a colleague chimed in, stroking his chin.

"Aren't you going to see what's going on? What if they rekindle their old flame?"

Qin Shuyi chuckled, "If that really happens, I can only respect and wish them well. We're just seeing each other, not boyfriend and girlfriend. Either party has the right to call it off."

She doesn't own Chi Yu; she has no grounds to restrict him.

"Besides, he said he's already moved on. I believe him."

"You believe him just because he said so?"

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