Chapter 41

Tonight, Wang Li still didn’t stay overnight with Zhu Hongyu. She went out with her boyfriend Qian You to watch a movie and enjoy some private time together.

Since there were too many leftovers from yesterday’s lunch, neither of them had finished their meals, so Song Haowen and Zhu Hongyu continued eating in the evening.

Having consumed too much Baijiu (Chinese white liquor) the previous night, Song Haowen only wanted a bit of red wine tonight. Despite Zhu Hongyu having a high alcohol tolerance, she wasn’t fond of it. She accompanied him with just a small glass of red wine.

During dinner, Zhu Hongyu told him that she had made up her mind. Tomorrow, she planned to write a letter to her family, informing them that she wouldn’t be going home for the New Year.

Additionally, she would explain that she intended to end her relationship with her current partner. At the same time, she planned to write a separate letter to her partner, expressing her apologies.

Song Haowen thought that Zhu Hongyu’s decision was good, and there was nothing more to add. In his previous university life, such situations were not uncommon.

People are generally practical; if there is no more emotional connection and no significant material interests at stake, forcing a relationship doesn’t lead to happiness.

However, whether breaking up or getting divorced, it’s always unfair to one party in such situations. Emotions are truly difficult to explain.

In fact, the biggest harm that Tan Shishi did to Song Haowen in his past life was not because she suddenly broke up on the eve of their wedding but because she developed a new love interest during their relationship, humiliating him in the process.

This was something any man would find hard to accept. In his past life, he harbored deep hatred towards Tan Shishi and refused to forgive her. Yet, facing Zhu Hongyu’s “heartlessness” now, he felt it was understandable.

This was not only the wisdom of Song Haowen as an experienced person but also the clarity of an outsider.

“Sis, I’ll be going back to our hometown in a few days. Are you okay living here alone?”

“It’s okay. Don’t Wang Li and Qian You still come during the day? And at night, I’ll ask Wang Li to keep me company.”

“That’s good. I’ll only be away for a little over a week. I’ll be back soon.”

After dinner, Song Haowen persuaded Zhu Hongyu to rest. He himself had almost stayed awake the entire night the previous night and was already extremely tired.

However, when Zhu Hongyu returned to her room, she didn’t immediately rest. She reflected on her past experiences, the sweet and bitter moments of her first love, silently shedding tears for a while. Then, gritting her teeth, she picked up a pen and wrote a breakup letter to her partner.

The next morning, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tian Yuxi had no classes. She went to the office to visit Song Haowen. Since he was about to buy a ticket to return to his hometown the next day, he took her out for shopping and also bought some New Year goods.

They hadn’t seen each other for more than a week, so she had a lot to say. From English training to family matters and recent events involving Tian Nana, she wanted to share everything with him.

After having lunch together on the street and exchanging New Year gifts, Song Haowen bid farewell to Tian Yuxi and returned to the office with bags in hand.

In the evening, Tian Yuxi rushed back to the office, bringing gifts from her parents and Tian Nana for Song Haowen. Along with Zhu Hongyu, Qian You, and Wang Li, they bid farewell to Song Haowen at the office.

Later that night, Tian Yuxi intended to stay with Zhu Hongyu to accompany her and, in the early morning, see Song Haowen off to the train station.

Song Haowen didn’t want to trouble everyone this way. The winter mornings in Beijing were exceptionally cold, with temperatures often dropping to minus fifteen or sixteen degrees Celsius, occasionally even reaching below minus twenty degrees.

Many people would shiver at this moment when transitioning from the warm indoors to the cold outdoors. Therefore, he intentionally woke up early the next day, donned a blue cotton military cap, wrapped a woolen scarf around his neck, wore a green military coat, and stepped into leather cotton shoes.

Afraid of disturbing them, he didn’t even have breakfast at home, leaving a note and quietly heading out with two packages. He hailed a taxi at the intersection and headed straight to the train station.

When Song Haowen enrolled at Beijing University, he only had a little over 15,000 yuan with him. In just five months, through market stalls and singing gigs, he had accumulated over half a million yuan in his personal account.

In Beijing, this was considered quite wealthy. At this time, an ordinary courtyard house in Beijing cost only four or five thousand yuan.

One yuan, according to his standards from his past life, without considering real estate and other lucrative industries, was equivalent to at least two or three million yuan.

His over half a million yuan was like having over a hundred million in funds.

Cars were still quite expensive at this time. A regular small car, bought with a ticket, often cost over ten thousand yuan, equivalent to buying a top-notch luxury car worth two or three million in his past life.

Typically, a county government compound would only have a jeep. However, for Song Haowen, buying a car ticket was feasible, money wasn’t an issue, but considering his young age and lack of qualification for a driver’s license, he temporarily gave up on the idea of buying a car.

Moreover, at this time, small cars had poor comfort and lacked technological appeal, which reduced his interest.

For this trip back home, he took a sleeper bus from the 36th branch. Although it took a long time on the road, he wasn’t in a hurry, as there were still four or five days until the Spring Festival.

In this era, it was a slow-paced time, and what people had the most of was time. Compared to horse-drawn carriages and steamships, buses were like high-speed trains or airplanes from his past life.