Chapter 58: Cruel, Not Foolish

Unless Gu Yuchen pretended not to know, or knew but didn’t care, or worse, found Li Chaomu adorable for it—tch, how much would he have to love her to indulge her like that?

“Why didn’t you make a move on the professor today?” Song Kairui asked casually.

He had seen it himself—Qi Yanjing’s hand wrapped around Zhixian’s waist. If Gu Yuchen had seen that scene before, he would’ve acted immediately. Today, though, it seemed like something had changed.

Just recalling that scene made Gu Yuchen’s gaze turn icy. He took a deep drag from his cigarette to calm himself before resting his hand back on the car window. “I was there to deal with the aftermath. It wouldn’t have been appropriate to start a fight.”

That would’ve been unreasonable.

He shifted the conversation abruptly, his sharp gaze landing on Song Kairui. “And you invited the professor? What kind of ethics does someone like him, taking advantage of the situation, even have?”

Song Kairui chuckled. When Gu Yuchen got angry, he lashed out indiscriminately.

When they arrived at Li Chaomu’s apartment building, Song Kairui parked and turned off the engine.

To their surprise, Li Chaomu was already waiting downstairs.

Song Kairui scrutinized her outfit. She was wearing a white dress with a trench coat over it. She looked stunning, no doubt. But he couldn’t understand why she was wearing a scarf in this weather.

It was already early May. Though Yannan’s climate was unpredictable—either unusually cold or unusually hot—it wasn’t cold enough at night to justify a scarf.

Gu Yuchen’s eyes darkened as he looked at her. The first time he saw Li Chaomu, she had worn a scarf of the same color, standing in the cold wind. That air of determination had made him want to figure her out.

If he and Zhixian hadn’t broken up, he might’ve felt nostalgic about the memory. Now, it only irritated him.

“You go down. I’ll wait in the car,” Song Kairui said, truthfully curious about their conversation.

Gu Yuchen stubbed out his cigarette and stepped out of the car.

Li Chaomu lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Yuchen. I acted impulsively and made you clean up the mess.”

Her voice was soft.

Standing across from her, Gu Yuchen spoke calmly. “Tell me the truth. Why did you do it?”

“To stand up for you. Last time, she splashed water on me—I didn’t mind. But she also splashed you. I can’t stand to see you being disrespected. Yuchen, do you blame me?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.

After her illness, she carried a constant air of fragility.

Unfortunately for her, Gu Yuchen wasn’t one to fall for such acts. Still, she was Li Chaomu.

Her reasoning sounded plausible enough. But he wasn’t a fool. Back when they were together, things had been great—until she left him without hesitation. Did she care if he got upset then?

She hadn’t cared before. Why would she suddenly care now?

Unless she thought of him as her savior.

“Chaomu, don’t play these mind games. There are plenty of people in our circle who do, and I know more than you do.”

Listening from the car with the window slightly rolled down, Song Kairui was amused. Gu Yuchen had been spoiled since childhood, but the one time he got dumped, he never looked back. Even if he still had lingering feelings, he wouldn’t take her back.

Though, who knew? Maybe Li Chaomu was an exception.

Gu Yuchen continued, “Were you using Zhixian to test my feelings for you now? Chaomu, you weren’t like this before.”

Li Chaomu’s expression flickered briefly but quickly settled. She lowered her gaze and said softly, “That’s because you used to love me wholeheartedly. I never had to worry about losing you to someone else.”

“You’re the one who walked away.”

Gu Yuchen had his pride. He wasn’t going to outright say he’d been dumped.

Li Chaomu didn’t want to revisit the past. She suddenly hugged Gu Yuchen, her voice trembling with sobs. “I’m sorry, Yuchen. I know it was my fault. It’s right for you to resent me. But when everyone else gave up on me, you were the one who helped me. The time I spent with you was the happiest in my life.”

Gu Yuchen let her hug him. After a moment of silence, he said, “You’ll always have a place in my heart, but it’s the memory of who you used to be. Even with you standing in front of me now, I don’t feel the way I did before.”

It was that lingering affection for the past that had magnified their good memories together, leading to him losing control and hitting Zhixian.

He pushed Li Chaomu away before she could say anything else, adding a warning, “Don’t pull those irritating tricks again.”

After saying his piece, Gu Yuchen got in the car and drove off.

Li Chaomu stood frozen for a while before letting out a cold laugh.

Even the version of her he held in his memories—that was still her. It all boiled down to his idealized perception of her. In the end, hadn’t he still stepped in to help her deal with the mess?

Song Kairui played a song in the car: “White Moonlight.”

He had deliberately chosen the track to suit the scene.

Listening to it, Gu Yuchen started feeling something was off. Irritated, he reached out and stopped the music.

Song Kairui couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Tsk, turns out the person in your heart is just a beautiful illusion. Even when the real deal is standing in front of you, it doesn’t work out, huh?”

“Man, I might’ve been a jerk, but I’ve never been a fool,” Song Kairui commented.

Gu Yuchen was once considered the best among their group of families in terms of reputation, so of course, he wasn’t lacking in certain qualities.

Pausing for a moment, Song Kairui decided to strike while the iron was hot and advocate for Zhixian and the professor’s budding romance. “If you’d just let go of your last relationship, you’d be even smarter.”

“Just drive.” Gu Yuchen’s grudge against Qi Yanjing was irreconcilable, like fire and water.

---

After her shower, Zhixian climbed into bed. Qi Yanjing, without saying a word, hugged her tightly.

“Were you scared today?” he asked.

Zhixian nodded. “Yes.”

She turned her head to look at Qi Yanjing, a bit surprised. “But let me tell you, that Zhou Qishi guy was really something. I was just about to call the police, and he vaulted over the bar, kicked two guys down, and they couldn’t even get up. He’s definitely trained.”

She paused, then laughed. “At the time, I was wondering whether I should still call the police. What if Zhou Qishi seriously injured someone? But luckily, those street punks surrendered right away.”

Qi Yanjing’s lips curved slightly. “What does Zhou Qishi do?”

“He just graduated. He wanted to chase his dreams, but his family froze his funds, so he ended up working at the bar.”

She pulled out her phone. “Let me check on him and see if he’s okay.”

Qi Yanjing rested his head against hers as she messaged Zhou Qishi:

“Did you get hurt during the fight today?”

Zhou Qishi replied quickly:

“Nope! Those guys were weaklings; I wasn’t scared at all. Back home, the guys watching over me were all 6’1” and built like double-door refrigerators, and I wasn’t fazed by them. These guys? Please. Just these jokers?”

He sent several variations of “Just these jokers?”

Top-tier mockery.

Qi Yanjing tilted his chin slightly. “Send him a red envelope.”

It was fortunate that kid had been there today. Otherwise, Zhixian would’ve been in real danger.

Even if they hadn’t physically harmed her, she would’ve been scared out of her mind.

Zhixian immediately sent Zhou Qishi a 1,000-yuan red envelope.

“Thanks for today. Buy yourself something nice to eat.”

Zhou Qishi responded with:

“Thanks, boss! Love you, love you! Sending you lots of hearts!”

A thousand yuan wouldn’t have even caught his attention before, but now, he was ecstatic.

Zhixian followed up:

“You’ve definitely had training, haven’t you? Are you a professional?”

Zhou Qishi didn’t hold back:

“Of course! My dad and grandpa had me learning all kinds of techniques and martial arts since I was a kid. Not to brag, but I’m better than most pros out there.”