Let's Break Up

Chen Shu's figure paused at his words. He suddenly looked up at Duan Chengcai, his gaze turning somewhat cold.

"Don't look at me like that. Am I wrong?"

Duan Chengcai tilted his head and looked at him, the corners of his mouth curved in a sneer, his eyes so dark that no light could penetrate them:

"Chen Shu, do you think that just because your life is glamorous now, the events of your past life no longer exist? You're just deceiving yourself."

"...Don't persuade me to be good. I've long since had no way back."

After speaking, Duan Chengcai let out a light, self-destructive laugh, pushed Chen Shu aside, and went downstairs to leave. His heavy, staggering footsteps gradually faded, as if he were born with shackles on his feet, walking further and further down this path of no return.

He wasn't bound by the System; he just happened to encounter a space-time rift as he was dying in his last life, which led to his strange rebirth with his memories intact.

However, in this life, Duan Chengcai seemed to have chosen an even worse path for himself. He drove Chen Chuyao to the point of slitting his wrists and being hospitalized, and had huge fights with Zhuang Yifan. In the eyes of outsiders, he was already a complete scoundrel.

Perhaps even Duan Chengcai himself had forgotten that in his past life, he was someone who valued affection more than life itself...

And Chen Shu had no right to persuade him to be good. He could only watch helplessly as Duan Chengcai left. Leaning against the cold wall behind him, as if all strength had been drained from his body, he slowly slid down, unable to stop himself. He closed his eyes silently, the dim light and shadows of the hallway unable to hide his pale, ashen complexion.

In fact, Duan Chengcai was right.

He indeed wasn't this glamorous in his past life.

Chen Shu suddenly realized that the one-year limit he had set was actually meaningless, just a waste of time. Since they were destined to break up, what difference did it make whether it was sooner or later? Why deceive himself? Dragging it out would be bad for both him and Zhuang Yihan. It would be better to end it cleanly and quickly.

He slowly straightened up, no longer remembering how he walked out of the hallway. He only knew that Zhuang Yihan had been searching for him outside like a madman. It wasn't until the two accidentally met at the top of the stairs that the gloomy and anxious expression on the other's face finally eased.

Zhuang Yihan was startled when he saw Chen Shu, then immediately stepped forward, gripped his shoulders, and asked, "Where did you just go? I called you, but you didn't answer."

Chen Shu looked at him in silence, only regaining a trace of familiarity after a moment. "...Nowhere. I just went to the restroom. My phone was on silent, so I didn't hear it."

Zhuang Yihan finally breathed a sigh of relief at his words. "Next time you go somewhere, let me know in advance. I was looking for you for a long time."

After speaking, he briefly explained what had just happened, but without going into too much detail. He only said that Zhuang Yifan's friend was injured and hospitalized, so Zhuang Yifan was staying at the hospital to keep him company.

Chen Shu nodded and didn't ask for details. "Let's go back then. Didn't you want to go to the supermarket? We can go buy some groceries and cook dinner at home tonight."

As the end of the year approached, the supermarket was much livelier than usual. People were coming and going, packed like sardines in a can. Everywhere you looked, there were bright red lantern decorations.

Zhuang Yihan rarely went to the supermarket and had no idea what to look for when buying New Year's goods. His shopping style could be described as completely random. He would toss products from the shelves into the cart without looking, buying whatever the shopping guide recommended. He might as well have had the words "rich fool" written on his face.

Chen Shu was originally picking out vegetables, but in the blink of an eye, the shopping cart was piled high. He rummaged through it roughly and found a jumble of health supplements, and even a can of milk powder for the elderly. He couldn't help but ask, "What are you buying milk powder for the elderly for?"

Zhuang Yihan replied, "For your father to drink. To help him with his calcium. Isn't he in poor health?"

Chen Shu was stunned for a moment before realizing who Zhuang Yihan meant by "father." He lowered his head, compared the dates on two boxes of vegetables in his hands, and put the fresher one into the cart. After a moment, he found an excuse, "Put it back. I'm not going back to my hometown this year, so I have no way to deliver it."

Not going back to his hometown? Does that mean he's going to spend the New Year with him?

Hearing this, Zhuang Yihan felt he had guessed the answer. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve up slightly as he tried to act nonchalant. "Alright. If it really doesn't work out, I'll find someone to mail it later."

Chen Shu said, "It's too remote over there, and delivery services aren't well-developed. Let's talk about it next year."

Zhuang Yihan's "filial piety" had nowhere to go, so he had no choice but to put the can of elderly milk powder back where it was. Chen Shu continued to buy vegetables. He wasn't a picky eater, so he chose all of Zhuang Yihan's favorite things, putting a pile of boxes, big and small, into the cart—enough for three days without repeating a dish.

Zhuang Yihan glanced over, picked up a box of cocktail cucumbers from inside, and tossed it back. He wasn't wearing a suit today, but a black casual sweatshirt. He leaned lazily on the shopping cart, showing none of his former composure and maturity, looking more like a college student just starting out. He even sounded a bit childish when he muttered, "I don't like to eat this."

Chen Shu was puzzled. "Don't you like fruit?"

Zhuang Yihan: "Cucumbers aren't fruit."

Chen Shu: "It's called a cocktail cucumber."

Zhuang Yihan: "I don't care, I just don't like it."

Chen Shu: "..."

Fine then.

Chen Shu felt it was a bit of a shame because the box of cucumbers looked quite fresh. He couldn't believe he hadn't discovered this quirk of Zhuang Yihan's in his past life: he could eat cucumbers, but not cocktail cucumbers; he could eat blueberry jam, but disliked blueberries.

Although Zhuang Yihan returned the can of milk powder, he kept the rest of the health supplements. After all, not being able to deliver them now didn't mean he couldn't deliver them in the future. This resulted in them having five large, heavy shopping bags when they checked out at the cashier.

Zhuang Yihan: "You go wait in the rest area outside for a bit. I'll carry these things to the car and then come find you."

Chen Shu looked down at his bandaged hand, feeling it probably wouldn't affect his movement. "It's too heavy. I'll go with you."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's not like I can't carry them. It'll just take two trips."

Zhuang Yihan had no intention of letting him carry anything. After speaking, he directly picked up two shopping bags and headed to the temporary parking spot outside. Chen Shu had no choice but to sit in the rest area and wait for him to return. With nothing to do, he lowered his head and looked through the shopping receipt, which was over a meter long.

"Hello, do you mind if I sit opposite you?"

Hearing the voice from above, Chen Shu replied "Be my guest" without looking up. However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly seemed to realize something and looked up, only to see a man in a sharp suit pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite him. The man wore a faint, mask-like smile. Who else could it be but Jiang Xi?

"..."

Chen Shu slowly sat up straight, leaning back into his chair. His tone was intriguing. "President Jiang, what a coincidence. How do you have time to visit a supermarket today?"

Jiang Xi's demeanor remained composed, provided one ignored the subtle apprehension and scrutiny in his eyes as he looked at Chen Shu. He smiled slightly. "It's nothing. I just happened to see you and Yihan on my way, so I dropped by to say hello."

Yihan?

Chen Shu idly fiddled with the receipt in his hand, wondering if Jiang Xi had come today just to spite him. But the other man had likely miscalculated. With a faint smile, he said, "Then President Jiang should have come half a minute earlier. President Zhuang just stepped out, otherwise, you two could have met."

Jiang Xi answered with a question of his own, "You two have been together for so long, why is your form of address still so distant?"

Chen Shu showed no sign of anger. Instead, he nodded along with his words, giving one the frustrating feeling of punching cotton. "It is distant, indeed. It can't compare to the bond you and President Zhuang have from growing up together."

Jiang Xi's expression changed imperceptibly at his words. He looked up and stared at Chen Shu, as if trying to discern whether the other man genuinely didn't care or was just forcing a smile. However, after a few seconds, he realized with frustration that Chen Shu truly seemed unbothered.

"You're quite self-aware."

Jiang Xi suddenly spoke in a chilling tone. Since he couldn't keep up the act, he didn't bother trying. After speaking, he leaned slightly closer to Chen Shu, the corners of his mouth lifting into a curve that would seem very kind to an outsider. Yet, he spoke the most venomous words in the gentlest tone, creating an extremely fractured and contradictory feeling,

"Chen Shu, do you know something?"

"What?"

"In our circle, there are many poor students like you who, after receiving a few small favors from their sugar daddy and hearing a few sweet nothings, think they can really marry into wealth and change their lives. In reality, in everyone else's eyes, they're just a buffoon."

"Do you think Zhuang Yihan loves you very much and treats you very well?"

Chen Shu raised an eyebrow faintly, noncommittal.

Seeing this, Jiang Xi took it as a tacit admission and sneered, asking with immense sarcasm, "Do you know his past? Do you know all his friends and business partners? Has he ever brought you to a public event and formally introduced you to others as his boyfriend? Do those friends of his see you as a pampered lover, or as Zhuang Yihan's officially acknowledged partner?"

And most importantly,

"Has he told you how much he used to love me?"

"..."

Chen Shu slowly raised his eyes to look at Jiang Xi, and in the other's deliberately lowered voice and dark eyes, he glimpsed endless ridicule and malice:

"What, Zhuang Yihan likes you so much, but he hasn't even told you about this? Are even Fang Yiting and Xue Miao treating you like a fool?"

"Everyone in the circle knows that Zhuang Yihan was madly in love with me, while you are just a little lover he's keeping."

"I knew Zhuang Yihan when he was seventeen."

"I was the first person he ever loved in his life."

"He says he wants to draw a line between us, but when I fell into the water and was in danger, he was still the first one to jump in and save me."

Jiang Xi asked softly, word by word:

"Chen Shu, what do you have to compare with me? What do you have to compete with me?"

The cruelty of time lies precisely in this: the one who came early couldn't make it to the end, and the one who came late couldn't arrive any sooner. Jiang Xi wanted to tell Chen Shu plainly: you are the latecomer, and you will never be the first.

Back when Zhuang Yihan was seventeen, Jiang Xi had already reached out and saved him like a messiah. Long before Chen Shu was struggling to climb out of the mountains because of poverty, Zhuang Yihan had already placed Jiang Xi in his heart.

This was a memory that could not be erased, because too many people knew about their past. Even if the parties involved had long forgotten, there would still be countless people around them to remember it for them...

After saying all this, Jiang Xi finally fell completely silent. He waited quietly for Chen Shu to get angry, for Chen Shu to go crazy, for this source of Zhuang Yihan's "happiness" to be destroyed by him. However, after a long silence, Chen Shu only asked a random question:

"Zhuang Yihan is coming back soon. Aren't you leaving?"

"..."

Hearing this, the curve of Jiang Xi's lips stiffened and then gradually fell. He looked coldly at Chen Shu, finally realizing that the other man might have some skill to have climbed to his current position. The phone in his pocket suddenly rang, as if urging him on anxiously, but Jiang Xi didn't even look at it, directly cutting off the call before letting out a low laugh.

"Chen Shu, you win."

He pulled back his chair, stood up, and left.

Just then, Zhuang Yihan walked in from outside. From a distance, he saw someone who looked a lot like Jiang Xi sitting opposite Chen Shu, saying something. His expression changed instantly. However, by the time he hurried over, the man had already disappeared into the crowd, leaving only Chen Shu sitting in his original spot.

Zhuang Yihan felt his heart skip a beat, overcome by a strange sense of foreboding. He subconsciously looked at Chen Shu and asked, "Who was that person just now?"

Chen Shu glanced in the direction Jiang Xi had left. "You mean that person? President Jiang. He happened to be shopping at the supermarket. We ran into each other and chatted for a bit."

Zhuang Yihan didn't expect it to actually be Jiang Xi. His face instantly turned exceptionally ugly, but he couldn't be bothered with settling scores right now. He grabbed Chen Shu's arm and asked nervously, "Did he say anything to you?"

Chen Shu paused, then slowly shook his head. "He didn't say much. He just asked where you went. I said you were outside parking the car, and he said we could get together next time if there's a chance, then he left."

Zhuang Yihan was a bit skeptical. "Is that really all he said?"

Chen Shu found it a little amusing. "What else could he have said?"

Zhuang Yihan's heart instantly relaxed. "He's a complicated person. Stay away from him in the future. Let's go home. My car got scraped by someone outside just now, so I was delayed a bit."

Chen Shu nodded without saying anything more and left the supermarket with Zhuang Yihan. By the time they drove home, the sky had already begun to darken. The weather was severe, and the streets were cold and empty of pedestrians, who were probably all at home preparing for the New Year.

Zhuang Yihan was a master at business, but asking him to cook was a bit of a challenge. So, dinner was basically all cooked by Chen Shu, with Zhuang Yihan only responsible for washing vegetables and handing things over. Even so, they ended up with a splendid spread of four dishes and a soup.

"I never knew you could cook."

Zhuang Yihan set the bowls and chopsticks at the table and sat down to eat with Chen Shu. He tried a bit of every dish and was surprised to find that the taste was extraordinarily amazing, and even more remarkably, it suited his palate perfectly.

Chen Shu smiled, holding his bowl. "Children from poor families have to grow up fast. Is it that strange that I know how to cook?"

Zhuang Yihan muttered, "I just didn't expect it to be this delicious. You should teach me in the future. Once I learn, I'll cook for you too."

Chen Shu didn't respond to his words, instead ladling a bowl of steaming fish maw chicken soup and handing it to him. "If you like it, eat more. I didn't have enough time today. The soup would probably taste better if it were simmered longer."

Zhuang Yihan took it and had a sip. "It's already delicious. Why are you being such a perfectionist?"

"Because I always feel that what I do isn't good enough, so I don't dare to bring anything that isn't good enough before you..."

Chen Shu, sitting opposite him, suddenly said this, which was rather out of character. Zhuang Yihan subconsciously looked up and found him gazing intently at him. His eyes seemed exceptionally gentle under the light, as if they pierced through time, yet they inexplicably gave one a sore feeling:

"Zhuang Yihan, this is the first time you've eaten a meal I've cooked."

Zhuang Yihan didn't understand the meaning behind this sentence and could only nod. "It is the first time."

'In my past life, I cooked for you many times, but you never ate it once.'

Chen Shu's Adam's apple bobbed for a moment, but he ultimately swallowed the words back down. He smiled at Zhuang Yihan, his eyes a little red, and suddenly asked half-jokingly, "Would you believe that I learned to cook for you?"

Zhuang Yihan couldn't help but laugh at his words. "Even if you want to make me happy, you have to come up with a more believable reason. You cook so well, you must have been learning for a long time. We've only known each other for half a year."

Chen Shu didn't refute him. He seemed to have some difficulty breathing, taking a soft breath. "Yeah, we've only known each other for half a year."

After speaking, he put some food on Zhuang Yihan's plate. "Let's eat. The food is getting cold. I have something to tell you after we finish."

Zhuang Yihan was a little puzzled. "What is it that you can't say now?"

Chen Shu didn't explain, only saying, "We'll talk after we eat."

Zhuang Yihan paused at his words. The food in his mouth suddenly became tasteless. In fact, ever since meeting Jiang Xi at the supermarket that afternoon, he had felt a strange sense of unease, as if something bad was about to happen. Chen Shu's abnormal behavior undoubtedly confirmed his suspicions.

Sometimes, Zhuang Yihan really hated his sixth sense. He put his bowl and chopsticks on the table and looked fixedly at Chen Shu. "Are you afraid I'll lose my appetite if you tell me now?"

Chen Shu didn't answer.

Zhuang Yihan's hand on the table clenched uncontrollably before slowly relaxing again. He said in an emotionless tone, "Just say what you need to say now. Otherwise, if I keep it bottled up, I won't be able to eat either."

The harmonious and warm atmosphere from before suddenly cooled because of this sentence. Time ticked by, second by second, and an uncomfortable silence swirled around them. Even the steaming hot food on the table slowly lost its warmth, but neither of them took the initiative to speak.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shu finally moved. He first shifted his numb legs before looking up at Zhuang Yihan. His voice was very soft, and his eyes held their usual faint smile, but it couldn't hide his seriousness.

"Let's break up."

Zhuang Yihan's eyes shot up at his words, his gaze dark and sharp. "What did you say?!"

Chen Shu repeated himself:

"Zhuang Yihan, let's break up. Let's not see each other again."