Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The rustle of a plastic bag behind the door jolted me awake.

A man in a black shirt was crouched beside the trash can, furtively rummaging through something.

“Who is it?”

The man froze, then slowly turned around.

It was Lin Hanyan. He was still wearing a mask, and several spots on his face were bandaged.

I rubbed my aching forehead. I’d forgotten he still had a key to the rental.

The couple’s rings, cups, watch, keepsakes, and all the other things I’d thrown into the trash can that afternoon had been pulled back out by him and arranged neatly on the floor.

“What are you taking those for?”

At that, Lin Hanyan lowered his eyes. I couldn’t read his expression.

“I came by one last time to pack up a few things and take them with me.”

“They’re all worthless junk. They actually caught your eye, Young Master Lin?”

I sat up in bed and took the chance to scan the room for anything else important.

Since it had come to this, I planned to go back to school and live in the dorm again. I was going to terminate the lease here.

Lin Hanyan held that cheap silver couple’s ring in his hand, his thumb gently rubbing over it. His voice was low and desolate.

“Luoluo, I know you don’t believe me, but I was sincere. I really only trusted you…”

“No one has ever loved me that honestly before. I don’t want to miss my chance with you.”

I waved a hand and lowered my head with a scoff. The scene from that afternoon flashed through my mind again, dripping with irony.

“Sincere about what? Did you make me bring food over after you two finished screwing because you loved me? Should I be thanking you for it?”

“I can explain what happened with Shen Zhu! Nothing ever happened between us. Even being with her was just something I agreed to offhand before.”

“And I was planning to break things off with her anyway. I’ve already realized that the person I truly love is actually-”

“There’s no point discussing this anymore.”

I cut him off coldly, my gaze indifferent.

Water dripped from the bathroom into a bucket. The knee-high faucet had been leaking for years. To save a little on the water bill, I’d always kept a plastic bucket beneath it.

The money saved amounted to only a few coins. Love that wasn’t genuine was laughable the moment it was spoken aloud.

The instant the lie was exposed, sincere or not, there was already an uncrossable chasm between us.

“Actually, Lin Hanyan, when you used my brother to get close to me, did you ever think that the boomerang might one day come back for you too?”

“What do you mean?”

I didn’t answer. I only frowned, opened the door, and gestured for him to leave.

When he saw the resolve on my face, a wounded look flickered through his eyes. Then he swept everything on the floor into his bag in one go and stood up.

“Stop pretending you have depression.”

“Because every time there is one more person like you in this world, the stigma around depression gets worse, and it becomes even harder for real patients to get help.”

There would be one more person like Jiang Qiluo.

After a long silence, the man in front of me slowly nodded.

Then Lin Hanyan took a bag of pork ribs and lotus root from behind the door. He had seen the message I’d sent about adding a dish.

“Can you make lotus root soup for me one last time?”

“No. Your family’s chef will make it better.”

“I only like yours.”

“Luoluo, why can’t you just believe me once and give me another chance?”

His voice was already choked with emotion.

I had never imagined that Lin Hanyan, now restored to his lofty identity as the Crown Prince of Qingcheng, could wear such a pleading expression.

At this moment, nothing fit the rules of his poverty role-playing game anymore.

Whether his words were true or false, I remained unmoved and silent.

He understood that I was rejecting him. He tried to take my hand, but in the end, his arm fell back to his side.

Before he left, Lin Hanyan’s eyes were rimmed red as he turned back to look at me.

“Do you still love me?”

“No.”

“Can you love me again?”

“I can’t.”