Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Under Qin Zhenzhen’s contemptuous gaze, three hundred thousand suddenly seemed far less important.

I fell silent.

Song Jingyuan was still waiting for me. He beckoned me over, and I answered absently.

When he noticed my distraction, his expression darkened.

He even forgot to pay attention to Qin Zhenzhen, the woman he was currently infatuated with, and stared at me with a deep frown.

Only when the comments mentioned the heroine again did he seem to remember what he was doing.

Right in front of Qin Zhenzhen, he yanked me into his arms.

As he intended, Qin Zhenzhen’s eyes reddened with anger.

All at once, the whole thing felt unbearably pointless.

I braced my palm against his chest and pushed until there was an arm’s length between us.

Then I rummaged through my pocket for a long while, finally produced a ring of keys, and tossed it in front of him.

“I only came today to return the key you left at my place.” I forced myself to sound as though I had let go, but my voice trembled.

In truth, I had no idea what the key opened. Song Jingyuan’s front door used fingerprint recognition. But I was betting he did not know what it opened either.

Someone nearby snickered. One of Song Jingyuan’s friends, no doubt. I knew they had always looked down on me. Like the floating comments, they probably thought I was playing hard to get again.

Nameless anger shot through me. I raised a hand and pointed at Song Jingyuan.

“A good ex should act like he’s dead. Stop bothering me for no reason, do you understand?”

The moment I finished, I spun around and fled without daring another glance, leaving a room so silent you could have heard a pin drop.

I ran all the way out of the building. Only after pressing myself against an outside wall did I dare choke out my sobs.

It was fine that Song Jingyuan had dumped me.

But choosing Qin Zhenzhen truly hurt.

I had only been seventeen when Qin Zhenzhen took my parents and drove me out of the Qin home. Half the poverty, hunger, and bullying I had suffered since then had been her doing.

I was still waiting to save enough capital so I could turn my life around, return in triumph, and slap every one of them in the face, just like the heroines in short stories did.

How could Song Jingyuan have become Qin Zhenzhen’s protector?

I bit hard on my lip, terrified of making a sound, but the sorrow was too much. My whole body hitched with suppressed sobs.

At the sight of me, even the comments fell silent.

【Whoa. Why does the supporting girl suddenly seem kind of pitiful…?】

【Yeah. If this keeps up, I might actually start feeling sorry for her.】

What did they mean, kind of pitiful? My life had always been pitiful.

At last, I could not hold it in.

After a bubble of snot escaped my nose, I burst into full-throated wails.

I crouched down, buried my face, and sobbed as though the sky were falling. When I finally looked up, someone was holding out a tissue.

The man before me had one hand clamped over an ear. He studied me with a complicated expression.

“Do you really love him that much? Enough to torture yourself over him?”

It was Song Jingyu, Song Jingyuan’s younger brother.

When I did not answer, he crouched and wiped the tear tracks from my face.

“I used to think you did nothing but eat and chase money. I never knew you could love someone this sincerely. You even forced yourself to curse my brother in public so he could let go.” His tone was awkward. A flush slowly climbed to the tips of his ears. After hesitating for a long moment, he said, “Qin Ruxue, date me instead. I’ll definitely treat you better than my brother did.”

When I merely stared at him, he scratched his head, embarrassed.

“If you date me, you’ll be my girlfriend. I would never let people bully you whenever they pleased. Whatever my brother gave you, I’ll give you too.”

“A hundred thousand a month?”

“Yes.”

“All right. We’re dating now.”