Chapter 2
Passersby kept turning to stare at us.
Liang Moyang had no choice but to pull me into his Maybach.
I cried while poking and touching everything like someone who’d never seen a nice car before.
“Don’t get snot all over my car,” he said in disgust.
So I put my hands obediently on my knees and cried.
Liang Moyang laughed.
“Why does he say you can’t take a hint? You understood that just fine.”
Between sobs, I told him everything about Xie Lindao and me.
Liang Moyang was speechless.
“Does that average guy think he’s a celebrity? Afraid dating rumors about you will cost him followers?”
“And you—have some self-respect. Is he worth all these tears?”
Trying to salvage my pride, I insisted, “I’m crying over the two million. My two million! Waaaah…”
Liang Moyang rolled his eyes, a restrained little gesture of helplessness.
“There’s no two million. It’s one million, and only if you actually get that guy away from her.”
“And I’m still not being your dog, real or pretend. But we could try another kind of relationship.”
That perked me right up. I hurriedly wiped away my tears and snot with a tissue.
“Yes! What kind? How about a domineering Beijing golden boy forcing his love on a sweet, innocent girl?”
Liang Moyang clicked his tongue.
“In your dreams.”
“A sweet, innocent girl chasing a domineering Beijing golden boy—that’s more like it.”
“Whatever you used to do for that guy, do it for me from now on.”
I wasn’t getting to be the innocent girl swept up in a forceful romance.
But the thought of breaking up Ren Cen and Xie Lindao still filled me with hope for the future.
I knew Ren Cen was only using Xie Lindao to make Liang Moyang mad.
After all, she and Liang Moyang were famous childhood sweethearts with an epic love-hate relationship. Who knew how many times they’d broken up and gotten back together?
Every breakup was spectacular, but they always made up in the end.
Sometimes Ren Cen would feel like posting the gifts Liang Moyang bought to make peace after a fight, and strangers would flood the comments.
“Oops, I’ve wandered into the royal court.” “Nobody loves as hard as rich people.” “This humble servant is here to watch the young master and mistress in love.”
I just couldn’t understand what Xie Lindao was thinking.
The last time he’d come to see me, he’d walked straight into Ren Cen and Liang Moyang having a breakup fight.
Furious, Ren Cen had marched over to Xie Lindao right in front of Liang Moyang.
Her beautiful face was set in a defiant pout.
“Hey, can I add you on WeChat?”
I’d been genuinely worried.
I knew Xie Lindao hated trouble. He would definitely turn her down.
But Ren Cen was a girl, after all, and a proud one. Being rejected in public would humiliate her.
I was racking my brains for a way to secretly persuade Xie Lindao to play along for the moment,
when he nodded and said, “Sure.”
Then he took out his phone and added her.
I still remembered how I’d felt.
Strangely, it wasn’t hurt. It was shame.
Shame at my useless empathy.
Because after adding him, Ren Cen had glanced at me. “What are you staring at? He’s not your boyfriend. Am I not allowed to add him?”
Fortunately, that shame didn’t last long this time.
Liang Moyang interrupted my memories.
Not only did he want me to use my Xie Lindao routine on him,
he also forbade me from contacting Xie Lindao in any way.
So, for the first time in all the years we’d known each other, I went more than twenty-four hours without messaging Xie Lindao.
Then I stared at my phone and imagined an epic drama in which he bitterly regretted losing me and did everything to win me back.
…That was how it worked in all the novels I’d read, anyway.
I told Liang Moyang what I’d been imagining.
He spent three full minutes laughing with all the assurance of old money.
When he’d had enough, he said, “He’s busy taking Cen-Cen on dates. When would he have time to think about you?”
Then he told me to get in his car and drove me to a restaurant that cost 2,899 yuan per person.
We waited in the car for less than ten minutes before Xie Lindao and Ren Cen came out.
The dazzling heiress, every inch a pampered beauty, was standing so close to my tall, handsome childhood friend.
Ren Cen glanced at Liang Moyang’s car.
Her previously expressionless face suddenly broke into a sweet smile.
Still smiling, she turned to Xie Lindao.
Then she rose onto her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth.
Liang Moyang’s face darkened.
He got out and slammed the door. Without so much as looking at Xie Lindao, he pulled Ren Cen aside to somewhere quiet.
I didn’t care what they were fighting about.
I just stared at Xie Lindao.
After that kiss from Ren Cen, he’d frozen completely.
A few seconds later, he raised his hand and touched the corner of his mouth.
As though he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
I wanted to cry.
Why was this how he reacted when Ren Cen kissed him?
Disbelieving. Flattered beyond words.
Once, I’d thought he was asleep and secretly held his finger just to take a photo.
He’d shaken me off and told me to stop being crazy.
Of course I knew Ren Cen was beautiful and rich. I couldn’t compare with her.
I knew my limitations.
But we’d known each other so long. Didn’t that count for enough to earn me a response that hurt a little less?
Within minutes, Ren Cen stormed back, took Xie Lindao by the arm, and left.
Liang Moyang returned to the car with a storm cloud hanging over him too.
He looked at me, pulled out a pack of tissues, and tossed it over.
“If you’re crying, wipe it up. Don’t get my car dirty again.”
I touched my face. Dry.
Great. I couldn’t even cry anymore.
Watching the two retreating figures, I asked Liang Moyang,
“Why does Ren Cen need another guy to make you jealous?”
Liang Moyang let out an irritated breath.
“Her parents are busy. She… doesn’t get much love.”
“We’ve known each other for years. I’ve been the one playing with her since we were little.”
“I only thought of her as a friend before. Last year she suddenly said she liked me, and that’s when we got together.”
“She wants me to answer every message instantly and spend all my free time with her.”
“I’ve done my best, but it’s still not enough.”
I honestly didn’t know what to say.
An heiress who could casually buy a bag worth two years of my living expenses.
With a boyfriend whose family matched hers and whose looks could rival a celebrity’s.
A boyfriend doing his best to treat her well—and she still didn’t think it was enough.
One crook of her finger, and she’d taken the person I could never catch, however hard I chased him.
She kissed him casually in the street, just to get a little more attention and love.
I couldn’t name the emotion churning inside me.
Hatred? Disgust?
Neither.
I could even understand her.
She was simply a beautiful girl with lots and lots of money who needed lots and lots of love.
I just suddenly felt even smaller than I’d realized.
Liang Moyang reached over and snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Why are you spacing out? Get to work.”
“Didn’t I say to do whatever you did for him, only for me?”
“Come on. Get out with me before they’re gone.”
I came back to myself.
“You’re not expecting me to kiss you in front of Ren Cen, are you?”
“I’ve never done anything like that to Xie Lindao.”
Liang Moyang raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.
“Then what did you do?”
“Just… comfort him. Show I cared.”
“Oh, you know how to comfort people? Go on, then. Comfort me.”
Obviously, I thought.
Comforting people and understanding them were what I did best.
My parents had always fought, sometimes taking it out on me.
But whenever they finished telling me how hard things were for them, I couldn’t hate them at all.
After all, if I’d been in their shoes, I probably wouldn’t have done any better.
I thought for a moment, looked Liang Moyang in the eyes, and spoke with complete sincerity.
“I don’t think you’re someone who makes empty claims.”
“If you say you’ve treated her well, then you must have done your very best.”
“Maybe you’ve been so good to her that she sees how precious you are. She’s afraid of losing you, so she keeps testing whether you’ll leave.”
“I don’t want to tell you how to handle your relationship. I just want to say…”
“Don’t let her kissing Xie Lindao hurt you so much. She’s serious about you. I can feel it.”
“And if treating her so well has made her afraid of losing you, that isn’t exactly your fault either.”
Liang Moyang listened quietly until I’d finished.
A long silence followed.
Then he suddenly smiled.
“Get out,” he said.
I was rather speechless.
“I’m not getting out and playing your pathetic admirer. How embarrassing.”
Liang Moyang clicked his tongue.
“I’m treating you to a nice meal. What are you thinking?”
The secret thrill of getting a free treat instantly diluted my heartache.
I couldn’t help giving him a radiant smile.
“Thank you, boss!”
Liang Moyang stared at my face for several seconds before turning away.
“Pretty white teeth. No wonder you’re such a smooth talker.”