Chapter 4

I hadn’t seen him smile so brightly in years.

At home, in bed, even when I carved time out of my hectic schedule to take him somewhere to unwind, he always looked cold and sullen.

I’d almost forgotten how happily he’d once smiled with me.

[This girl I just met is really friendly. She even wants to go drinking with me tonight. What do you think, bro? Should I go?]

Two minutes later, he recalled the message.

[Wrong person.]

I knew it was deliberate. But I was busy reviewing contracts and had no time for him.

Only when I’d finished work did I remember to delete him on WeChat.

I’d meant to do it the day I blocked his calls. Somehow, I’d kept him there until now.

The instant his pinned chat disappeared, a hollow space opened in my chest.

Then came an immense sense of relief.

Pei Qingyan had been right. I was moving out of that shabby place very soon.

I just hadn’t expected him to arrive before the movers.

I still had six months’ rent paid on the old apartment. I couldn’t reach the landlord, so I simply left the lease as it was.

“You’re throwing all this away?”

Pei Qingyan looked at the pile, his eyes dark.

My gaze settled on it too.

Everything there was something I’d bought for Yu Jingchen—some things for us as a couple, others just for him.

“Yes. I don’t want any of it.”

I spoke quietly. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Qingge, you haven’t lost your habit of throwing things away.”

I paused.

“What?”

Pei Qingyan smiled gently, but there was a faint sadness in his eyes.

“Forgotten how you threw away all those love letters from your senior? More than a dozen. I haven’t forgotten. You were the first girl I ever liked. I cried for days.”

He said it calmly, with a faint smile. My eyes widened.

“I didn’t…”

Silence settled between us. His attempt at a casual smile slowly stiffened. He asked again, his voice hoarse.

“You weren’t the one who threw them away?”

I was about to say no when my phone rang. An unfamiliar number.

Frowning, I swiped to answer. Yu Jingchen’s voice came through, gritted but triumphant.

“Guess what I found. I almost believed you were letting me go this time. Very convincing, Meng Qingge.”

“Blocking my calls, deleting me on WeChat—if you’re so tough, why plant a tracker? What’s this thing inside my bracelet? I knew you…”

My brow tightened. Something flickered in Pei Qingyan’s eyes. He reached into the pile I was throwing away and picked up the record.

“Oh, there was one thing you didn’t throw away back then. This record…”

Yu Jingchen went silent for a second. Then I heard his voice tremble uncontrollably.

“Meng Qingge, who’s that man talking over there?!”

I pressed my lips together and ended the call.

Pei Qingyan’s long fingers still held the record.

“You know this record?”

Something seemed on the verge of breaking through. I stared at the man in front of me.

Pei Qingyan raised his eyebrows and turned the record over.