Chapter 10
The mall wasn’t far from Jiang Cheng’s company. He had just moved the headquarters back from Beijing in the past two years, and I had never visited before.
Carrying the clothes I bought for him, I wandered into the company.
To my surprise, as soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I saw him and Xie Chuan together.
There was an obvious tension between the two, a sense of confrontation in the air. Caught in the middle, I suddenly didn’t know whether to advance or retreat.
“Gu Qiao, I need to talk to you,” Xie Chuan spoke first.
His voice was low, as if he was suppressing countless emotions:
“Let’s talk.”
Bracing myself, I followed him to the café in the office building.
“I’m sorry. I only just found out about what happened back then…”
His voice choked, trembling slightly.
I gripped the cup in my hand and smiled generously:
“It’s okay. I wasn’t very mature back then either. Maybe there was a more dignified way to part.
“Now we’re both doing well. Look at you, you have everything.”
I let it go with a lighthearted joke.
Xie Chuan looked at me, emotions surging in his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked hoarsely:
“I have everything… Qiaoqiao, could you… come back?”
I froze, unable to react for a moment.
After a pause to compose myself, I replied calmly, “Xie Chuan, we both have choices that suit us better now.”
“Xu Wei and I-she’s just helping me deal with my family…” he hurried to explain.
“But she seems to really like you.”
He said indifferently, “What she likes is only the benefits I can bring her. I’ve never been able to forget the girl who sat on the back of my electric scooter and dreamed about the future with me…”
I shook my head and smiled noncommittally, “We were too young and naive back then. If it were now, I definitely wouldn’t date a poor boy.”
That’s why young love is the most sincere. At that age, you don’t weigh pros and cons, and you have a kind of fearless courage born of ignorance.
Xie Chuan’s voice was hoarse, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with red:
“All these years, I’ve worked desperately to make money, just hoping that one day I could be worthy of you…”
He struggled to suppress his emotions, his chest trembling with the effort:
“From eighteen to twenty-eight, I’ve only ever loved one person named Gu Qiao. She lit up the dim, lackluster youth of a poor boy, but that poor boy still couldn’t hold on to the girl he loved, no matter how hard he tried…
“How many decades does one have in life, Gu Qiao? I don’t want to miss you again. Please, come back, okay?”
I never expected Xie Chuan to say these things to me. I had thought that our fate was simply to become familiar strangers.
We’re all adults. After being apart for so long, it’s best to meet again with dignity.
After all these years, I never thought he would one day ask to get back together.
Two people who once loved each other so passionately now only feel a deep sense of unfamiliarity.
I swallowed all the emotions in my heart. “Xie Chuan, we…”
“Qiaoqiao, don’t reject me so quickly. Please, think it over, okay?”
His eyes were red, and his tone was pleading.