Chapter 63

The phone rang again, and Ke Xin was thrilled.

“Tang Tang, the phone!” She pushed the phone forward again, not only extending it but also shaking it, afraid Wen Tang wouldn’t see it. She even dared to urge Wen Tang: “Hurry up and answer it!”

However, Wen Tang didn’t immediately pick up the phone as Ke Xin hoped.

The phone continued to ring, but she remained still, staring at it in a daze.

If she didn’t answer soon, it would hang up again!

Ke Xin was anxious but couldn’t push too hard. She almost wanted to answer the call herself!

The once-pleasant ringtone now seemed like an urgent call to action.

After a long wait, to the point where Ke Xin nearly thought the call would be missed again, Wen Tang finally reached for the phone, pressed the answer button, and held it to her ear.

When the call connected, Wen Tang didn’t say anything.

She gestured for the crowd around her to stop and moved to a quiet corner of the set.

On the other end of the line, Zhou Jingyu was silent for a long time. The mutual silence persisted until Wen Tang stood in the quiet corner, at which point Zhou Jingyu sighed.

“Tang Tang, it’s been half a month since you suggested taking a break. Do you think this time is enough?”

Zhou Jingyu’s voice was low and solemn as he spoke to Wen Tang.

Wen Tang felt a lump in her throat.

“Not enough.” Wen Tang replied stubbornly.

Who else would act like him—his girlfriend says she needs a break, and he doesn’t even try to persuade her, just leaves her hanging for half a month.

Now that he’s finally reaching out, what’s the point? It’s too late for anything he has to say!

People like him deserve to be single for life and never find a girlfriend!

She wouldn’t easily forgive him!

Though she thought this way, she couldn’t bring herself to hang up on him. She held the phone tightly, feeling a deep pain.

It was as if all the pain accumulated over the past half month of thinking their relationship had ended exploded the moment she received Zhou Jingyu’s call. Wen Tang felt an overwhelming sense of grievance, so deep that she couldn’t express it.

It felt like tears were on the brink of falling from her eyes.

Zhou Jingyu wasn’t angered by Wen Tang’s stubborn response. On the phone, he apologized: “I’m sorry, Wen Tang. I just felt that such an important matter shouldn’t be dealt with over the phone. At the very least, we should meet and discuss it face-to-face.”

Wen Tang found it laughable.

She didn’t believe it at all.

He must have wanted to break up all along. Otherwise, why hadn’t he responded to her for the past half month? If he had wanted to talk face-to-face, he could have come to see her. How far could the distance between Lake City and Lingcheng City be? Even if it were on the other side of the world, he should have made it in half a month!

Wen Tang pressed her lips together, remaining silent.

Zhou Jingyu sensed Wen Tang’s silent resistance.

After a pause, he finally spoke up to explain, “Wen Tang, I was abroad for twenty days and just returned today.”

Wen Tang was taken aback.

Twenty days ago, they hadn’t yet broken up, and she hadn’t known anything about it.

She remembered that at that time, she had been wavering and gradually distancing herself from Zhou Jingyu. Later, when Zhou Jingyu tried to initiate conversations, she mostly ignored him.

In such a situation, how could she have known anything more?

Wen Tang felt a surge of bitterness and asked in a slow voice, “… You were abroad?”

She also felt it was utterly absurd, not understanding why she felt this way, as if she had been possessed by some evil spirit. She had been so eager to distance herself from him and break up. Perhaps it was her pride; she just wanted a simple, happy relationship. Why did it have to be so complicated, with talks of family honor and responsibilities?

Returning to think about it, the gap between the wealthy and ordinary was immense, especially since her own father was a murderer.

She had become indifferent and just wanted to break up.

But after actually separating, she felt deeply hurt and distressed.

As for Zhou Jingyu being abroad, he didn’t answer further, only saying, “Wen Tang, come out. I’m at the filming location but can’t get inside.”

Wen Tang was stunned.

She instinctively looked toward the filming location, unable to believe it, and asked again. “Where are you?”

“There are too many people at the entrance. I’m at the bookstore around the corner from the Hengyuan Hotel.” Zhou Jingyu replied.

Wen Tang said, “Wait for me.” and hurriedly left.

The filming location had a main entrance, but actors usually didn’t use it. It was reserved for fans, paparazzi, and journalists. They had a separate, less-known back entrance. Wen Tang exited through that.

She didn’t even have time to put on a mask.

Fortunately, it was a hot day and the streets were mostly empty. Most people had either returned to their hotels or gone home, leaving only a few passersby who barely noticed her.

Wen Tang knew where the bookstore was, so she headed straight there.

In just a few minutes, she reduced the travel time significantly by both running and walking.

She finally arrived at the hotel, passed it, turned the corner, and saw Zhou Jingyu.

She hadn’t seen him for a month, and upon seeing him, she realized just how much she missed him. His outstanding appearance and refined demeanor drew the attention of the few people on the street.

Wen Tang stopped in her tracks.

At the same time, Zhou Jingyu looked over at her.

As they locked eyes, tears welled up in Wen Tang’s eyes.

She didn’t know why she was crying, but seeing Zhou Jingyu in front of her made her want to cry uncontrollably.

After a month of feeling trapped and thinking Zhou Jingyu’s lack of contact meant he truly wanted to break up, she had been tormented.

She had already regretted it, but she just didn’t want to admit it.

She didn’t want to admit her mistakes or try to reconcile; since he hadn’t responded to her messages, what more could she say?

With this mindset, Wen Tang had stubbornly held out for half a month.

Yet, seeing Zhou Jingyu made her break down.

Standing at the corner, she remained silent, did not move closer, and tears streamed down her face. She looked extremely aggrieved and heartbroken. Unbeknownst to her, silent tears were even more powerful than loud crying.

Zhou Jingyu felt his heart tighten. Before seeing her, he had planned what to say, fearing she would be stubborn and insist on breaking up. Not contacting him for half a month had made him worried, but being abroad, he couldn’t come back. He wanted to give her more time to calm down.

He understood her.

If he had returned immediately upon receiving the breakup message, he might not have even managed to see her.

When Wen Tang was stubborn, she was truly stubborn.

Wen Tang remained still, allowing Zhou Jingyu to walk up to her.

He approached her, stood a couple of steps away, and then opened his arms.

Without hesitation, Wen Tang stepped forward and threw herself into his embrace!

Then she began to cry.

She had been aggrieved before, but now, in Zhou Jingyu’s arms, smelling his familiar scent, she felt even more aggrieved.

She clung to Zhou Jingyu and cried, her tears soaking his clothes without concern.

She cried for a long time, longer than she ever had while holding a man, and all in public, disregarding her image.

But she didn’t care. She just wanted to release her emotions to Zhou Jingyu.

Zhou Jingyu held her close, wrapping his arms around her, protecting her from curious gazes.

After a long while, Wen Tang finally stopped crying.

With tearful eyes, she looked up and started questioning him: “Why did you come only now?”

In her mind, it was all Zhou Jingyu’s fault, and she was entirely blameless.

She was being domineering and unreasonable.

Zhou Jingyu sighed deeply, feeling extremely reluctant to see her cry for so long. He said, “Didn’t you say we needed some time apart?”

He didn’t have any tissues with him, so he used his thumb to gently wipe away her tears. His tenderness was palpable as he looked into her tear-streaked eyes and asked, “Look, it’s already been half a month. Isn’t that long enough?”

He even had the mood to tease her!

Wen Tang couldn’t help but chuckle through her tears.

She had been crying loudly and intensely just moments ago, but Zhou Jingyu’s teasing successfully broke the somber mood, making her laugh. All the sadness seemed to disappear.

Wen Tang felt embarrassed about her sudden change from crying to laughing, and she blamed Zhou Jingyu for it! She punched his shoulder and said, “Stop teasing me! I’m still angry!”

Her expression was both fierce and cute.

The funniest part was that her eyes were still wet with tears, and her makeup was a mess from crying.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Jingyu couldn’t help but smile. His heart ached for her.

He held her waist and leaned down, softly comforting her in her ear, “I’m not teasing you, it’s all true. I’ve been waiting for you to come to terms with things on your own, but I was also afraid you’d still choose to break up.”

His tone was helpless as he continued, “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in almost a month.”

He felt her distance keenly, but she was always busy with filming, and Zhou Donghai’s sudden illness and the company’s internal strife made it impossible for him to manage everything.

Hearing this, Wen Tang should have felt sorry for him, but instead, she felt a small, inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

After all, it was all because of her.

Wen Tang grumbled and hugged him tightly. As she clung to him, she realized he felt thinner than before.

Concerned, she looked up and asked, “Have you lost weight?”

Zhou Jingyu shrugged it off. It didn’t matter much if a man was a bit thinner or heavier.

But he still wanted to comfort her. He kissed her forehead and honestly said, “I missed you so much that I lost my appetite and couldn’t sleep.”

He paused and added, “I was afraid you’d abandon me, so naturally, I lost weight.”

Wen Tang: “…”

So is it her fault?

She hadn’t expected this answer.

It turned out that the composed Zhou Jingyu also experienced sleepless nights and loss of appetite.

He could also be scared?

She wanted to laugh.

But she felt that laughing at this moment would be inappropriate, so she tried hard to suppress it.

Her shoulders shook, and her face turned red.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Jingyu helplessly said, “If you want to laugh, just go ahead. Don’t hold it in. You’ll only make yourself worse.”

Since he had said so, Wen Tang didn’t hold back.

She buried her head in his chest and laughed heartily, “Hahahahahaha!”

Zhou Jingyu stroked her head, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction as if he had regained something precious.

After Wen Tang had laughed enough, he said, “Since I met you, it seems I’ve rarely gone to bed on time at ten.”

He was simply stating a fact.

After all, when they were together, there were always intimate things to do after turning off the lights, and she always insisted on keeping them on until after ten. When she was filming, she would often contact him in the middle of the night, causing her schedule to be reversed.

To Wen Tang’s ears, it sounded like her boyfriend was helplessly complaining about the trivialities of their life.

Wen Tang: “…”

What’s with this inexplicable sense of pride?

Please stop, I’m laughing again.

She looked up into Zhou Jingyu’s eyes, filled with affection and helplessness, and saw a trace of a smile.

Sorry.

I really can’t help it.

Wen Tang showed no remorse and giggled uncontrollably, “… Ahhahahahaha!”

°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°

Author’s note:

The fastest reconciliation between the main characters in history.

In the previous chapter, they broke up.

In the next chapter, they reconcile.