Chapter 1 Peaceful Breakup

Chapter 1 Amicable Breakup

Liang Yuan walked out of the lecture hall and spotted Lin Haoda standing by the roadside.

He was carrying a worn-out messenger bag, munching on corn. People were coming and going all around, but only he kept craning his neck to glance this way from time to time.

A flicker of anger rose in Liang Yuan's heart, but he didn't let it show on his face. He declined his roommate's invitation to go to the cafeteria for dinner, and when he turned around, he forced a smile.

“Hao Da!”

He waved at Lin Haoda and walked over quickly, “What are you doing here?”

Lin Haoda wiped his mouth; his face was covered in sweat from the sun, strands of hair sticking to his cheeks.

“Liang Yuan.”

He paused for a moment, his mouth open, somewhat hesitant, “Can you give me back that hundred thousand yuan first?”

Liang Yuan was stunned for a moment, froze, speechless. After a long moment, he let out a sudden laugh:

“I thought we talked about this on the phone?”

His voice was gentle but flat, with a hollow, insincere quality.

Lin Haoda looked up at him and asked again, “What about fifty thousand? Can you do that?”

Liang Yuan's face darkened, “What's that supposed to mean?”

Lin Haoda adjusted his glasses and remained silent.

“It's not like I wasted it. The investment failed—what could I do?”

Liang Yuan stared at him, his handsome features covered with a layer of cold displeasure, “Besides, I never said I wouldn't pay you back. At least I have to wait until I find a job and have income… Otherwise, what do you expect me to do, live on thin air?”

“That's not what I meant,” Lin Haoda explained in a low voice. “My company recently offered an overseas assignment. I want to go for it. If I go, I'll need money for rent and essentials. I'm short on cash right now…”

Liang Yuan couldn't care less about his rambling. He cut him off impatiently with a sharp “Lin Haoda.”

“After all these years,” Liang Yuan said, looking down at the person in front of him from above, “Why are you always such a drag?”

Lin Haoda fell silent and blinked slowly.

He naturally looked younger than his years; standing there, he seemed even more like a naive student than Liang Yuan.

“We're already broken up.” Liang Yuan's gaze drifted into the distance. With his arms crossed, he clicked his tongue impatiently, “I don't want to repeat myself.”

“I'll figure out the money. Don't come looking for me again.”

As Liang Yuan turned to leave, he caught sight of Lin Haoda's bowed head and felt a flicker of reluctance. After all, they had years of feelings, and he still wanted to salvage some dignity.

“Don't worry,” he said with a frown, lowering his voice. “I won't forget how you supported me to come here and study.”

Would he really not forget? Lin Haoda asked himself.

He was thirty-two now. He had gotten together with Liang Yuan at twenty-four. At the time, they worked at the same company. Lin Haoda was Liang Yuan's boss, three years older, and always looked out for him at work and in life.

Later, Liang Yuan said he wanted to pursue further studies. No one supported him, but Lin Haoda let him quit his job to study full-time at home. It took Liang Yuan three or four tries to get into HKU. Plane tickets, tuition… Lin Haoda even topped up his meal card.

Lin Haoda’s parents died when he was young, so he grew up living with relatives. His only wish was to have a home of his own and someone to love.

No matter how hard work got, or how immature Liang Yuan acted, he gritted his teeth and carried on. Just as Liang Yuan was about to graduate, when he thought everything was finally looking up, he never expected their relationship to end so abruptly.

Liang Yuan cheated on him.

It happened during Chinese New Year. Liang Yuan came back for the holiday. One night, the circuit breaker tripped. Lin Haoda was in a meeting with his boss and couldn't step away, so he asked Liang Yuan to go downstairs to the property office to borrow a toolbox.

Liang Yuan slipped on his shoes and left, carelessly leaving his phone on the table. Lin Haoda felt his way to the kitchen in the dark to get water and heard a barrage of WeChat notifications.

In all those years, he had never once looked through Liang Yuan's phone. His friends called him the perfect boyfriend.

But in that moment, Lin Haoda's usually unreliable intuition screamed a warning. He stood in the pitch-black darkness, holding a cup of hot water, but his fingertips were ice cold, his eyes glued to the glowing screen.

Looking back later, Lin Haoda realized the signs had been there all along. Liang Yuan's coldness and distance over the past six months hadn't been invisible—Lin Haoda had just been making excuses for him, fooling himself.

Piercing a lie takes a second, but accepting betrayal takes a long time.

Lin Haoda didn't confront him or cause a scene.

His love—and his life—with Liang Yuan had been worn down by reality with little left to salvage. Cutting his losses seemed right; he didn't want a messy fight.

Lin Haoda spent two months quietly processing it. He had planned to be the one to break up after graduation, but Liang Yuan beat him to it, suggesting that since he'd stay in Hong Kong to work and long-distance had no future, they might as well part amicably.

Lin Haoda listened in silence and accepted it calmly. Then he remembered the bank card Liang Yuan had taken earlier—it held over a hundred thousand yuan he had saved for a down payment.

He asked Liang Yuan to return the card. The result, predictably, was what he expected.

But Lin Haoda wasn't sure if it was his constant patience and giving in that made Liang Yuan think he could walk all over him.

With that, Lin Haoda wiped his chin and said firmly, “Transfer me fifty thousand now. I don't have time to wait around for you.”

Liang Yuan whirled around, shocked. “Have you lost your mind?”

Lin Haoda pursed his lips and decided to go all in. “Liang Yuan, do you really think I don't know?”

Liang Yuan's face instantly changed. He looked away awkwardly and cleared his throat, ready to speak.

All of a sudden, a commotion broke out. A large crowd streamed out of the lecture hall. A teacher-like figure tried to keep order, repeating, “Stay in line! Watch the steps!”

But more students kept gathering. One after another, they shouted as if they'd spotted an idol, “Mr. Guan! Mr. Guan!”

The sun was blazing, and the crowd was buzzing.

Liang Yuan didn't want to be seen arguing. He lowered his voice. “Let's talk this out somewhere else.”

The two walked in silence, one after the other, through the corridor.

The wisteria bloomed dreamily, like purple-gold twilight. They passed countless smiling young couples—they were the only ones bearing the shadow of a broken love.

Lin Haoda had no time to enjoy the cascade of flowers. Liang Yuan ran into an acquaintance and nervously avoided introducing Lin Haoda. Finally, under watchful eyes, he bought Lin Haoda a cup of coffee in a transparent attempt to cover it up.

Lin Haoda understood: Liang Yuan wanted him to keep his mouth shut.

In fact, Lin Haoda felt there was nothing left to say. Liang Yuan was too selfish. They used to be lovers; now they were nothing.

Time to cut his losses. He hadn't done well before; he hoped it wasn't too late.

They crossed most of the campus and finally stopped on a lawn behind the teaching building.

It was noon, and not many people were around. Camphor trees and shrubs lined up neatly, and at the far end, they naturally formed a semi-private space.

"Fifty thousand yuan," Lin Haoda said directly. "Seven days. That's the bottom line."

"You can repay the remaining fifty thousand slowly, within half a year. As you wish, we'll part amicably."

"Lin Haoda." Liang Yuan opened his mouth and slowly exhaled. "How can I pay you back? You know I'm just a poor student; I have no money."

The ice cubes in the coffee cracked sharply as Lin Haoda's fingers gripping the paper cup slowly tightened.

Even now, he was still spouting nonsense.

"Is that so?" Lin Haoda lowered his head and took a sip of the iced coffee, smiling at Liang Yuan. "You have a Weibo side account. Since last December, you've been documenting your daily romance. Your new girlfriend—oh, her name is Sammy. Her family runs a business in Singapore, and she only came to HKU as an exchange student last autumn."

"She's spent a lot of money on you, hasn't she? Those sneakers and watches you flaunt—none of them were cheap."

Lin Haoda paused here and asked him, "Do you want me to go on?"

Liang Yuan's face instantly turned pale. He sucked in a cold breath, his lips trembling slightly. "You... how..."

Lin Haoda's gaze was calm as he met his eyes. "We've been together for eight years."

After a few seconds, he added, "Most of the time, you think you can fool me, but that's only because I let you."

"Lin Haoda!" Liang Yuan's emotions flared up, his eyes reddening. "Do you have to push me like this?"

Lin Haoda felt Liang Yuan was beyond saving.

"Think whatever you want," he said and turned to leave. Liang Yuan's eyes flickered, and he stepped forward, reaching out to grab Lin Haoda's arm—

"Cough, cough."

Suddenly, a few light coughs came from the other side of the bushes.

Liang Yuan jolted, as if shocked, pulling his hand back and stepping away. Lin Haoda turned his head, seeing a figure flicker through the dense gaps in the leaves.

Had someone been there all along? Lin Haoda thought for a moment, then uncertainly looked away.

No one spoke. Half a minute of silence passed, and then faint voices came from beyond the bushes.

Lin Haoda let out a long breath, outwardly keeping his composure, and quickly wrapped up the conversation: "I've said my piece."

Then he added, "Let's part amicably."

"And, congratulations in advance, Mr. Liang."

Without caring about Liang Yuan's reaction, he turned and walked back the way he had come. The grass gleamed like emeralds in the sun, rustling softly beneath his feet.

Lin Haoda had stood under the scorching sun for most of the day, waiting for Liang Yuan, and only now did he feel relieved. The sky was vast and clear, the fragrance of flowers filled the air, and even the sunlight seemed brighter.

He no longer had the energy to argue about right or wrong. Let it all end here.

He ambled slowly across the lawn, pulling out his phone to look at the map, when hurried footsteps came up from behind. Before Lin Haoda could react, a hand clamped down firmly over his mouth and nose.

"Lin Haoda." Liang Yuan's cold whisper came from beside his ear. "Did you think you could threaten me like this?"

Lin Haoda struggled wildly in his grip, his nose bumping painfully against something, tears instantly welled up in his eyes.

"Liang... mmph... Liang Yuan!" His struggles were in vain as Liang Yuan dragged him deeper into the woods. He had no choice but to yell, "Don't forget where we are!"

Liang Yuan sneered dismissively. "So what?"

Fear surged through Lin Haoda's heart. He bit down hard on the finger pressed against his lips. Liang Yuan yelped in pain and let go involuntarily. Lin Haoda scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.

Liang Yuan quickly caught up from behind him. Lin Haoda, who sat in an office all day, was no match for Liang Yuan, who went jogging every morning to show off his physique. The distance between them closed rapidly. At the critical moment, Lin Haoda's foot sank, causing him to stumble and lurch forward uncontrollably. In despair, the only thing he could do was to close his eyes.

But the expected pain—a bruised face or Liang Yuan pulling his hair—never came.

Lin Haoda landed firmly in an embrace, enveloped by the clean, pleasant scent of aftershave that washed over him like a tidal wave.

His mind went blank for two seconds before he abruptly opened his eyes.

Holding him was a pair of long, strong hands. The veins on the back of his hands were slightly raised, full of strength. The pads of his thumbs were dry and cool, pressing firmly against the pulse on the inside of his wrist, an unmistakable presence.

Lin Haoda instinctively struggled, but couldn't break free.

Just as he was about to try again, a voice sounded unexpectedly from above, somewhat helpless: "How do you always end up in trouble?"

Guan Junshan's voice was low and calm. After a brief pause, he called his name again.

"Lin Haoda."