Chapter 40

Feng Chengze, at his age, experienced the feeling of being “speechless” for the first time.

Ji Qingyu was still waiting for his answer. Her expression was serious, without any bitterness or grievance. She just wanted an honest answer, yes or no.

“What do you think?” Feng Chengze found that in extremely absurd situations, people don’t get angry; instead, they laugh. “No. I have no emotional entanglements with her, and we haven’t really talked much.”

He suddenly became very curious about what was going on in her mind. Because in this world, no one associates him with Luo Xuan. Although there was only a four-year age difference, he always felt he was not in the same generation as his brother’s friends and classmates.

The stone in Ji Qingyu’s heart suddenly fell. She knew little about Feng Chengze’s past. If his ex-girlfriend suddenly appeared, she wouldn’t be angry, just bewildered. But in this brief silence, an even more absurd and melodramatic thought entered her mind. She looked at him incredulously, “So, is it Feng Yu’s ex-girlfriend?”

Is she just unable to get past the words “ex-girlfriend”?

Feng Chengze realized that this conversation couldn’t be postponed until they got back. It seemed she wanted his “immediate answer,” so he said helplessly, “No, as far as I know, although they have been friends for many years, they have never been together, never dated.”

Although the elders of the Feng family were more concerned about Feng Chengze’s love life than Feng Yu’s, this did not mean that the Feng family completely ignored Feng Yu.

Not to mention that Feng Jinglin was a strict father; even the gentle Zheng Mingyue would not allow her son to become a playboy with a rich romantic history.

Who Feng Yu dated could be hidden for a while, but not forever. Moreover, Luo Xuan was also part of this circle. If they were really together, with so many eyes watching, it would be impossible to hide. However, whether they had any private flirtations was unknown.

Ji Qingyu sensed something was off. She asked Feng Chengze if it was his ex-girlfriend, and he straightforwardly said no.

Why did he add more words after saying “no” when she asked if it was Feng Yu’s ex-girlfriend?

“Actually, I don’t know what’s going on between them either.” Feng Chengze put his glasses back on. “She and A Yu have been classmates since kindergarten, but A Yu has many friends and often hangs out in groups. She’s not special. Frankly, I was surprised. If it weren’t for finding out that it was her car that forced you to stop, I wouldn’t have thought of them together.”

If there was a suspect, he wouldn’t have gone to great lengths to investigate an old case from five years ago.

Feng Chengze suddenly dropped such a big piece of news that Ji Qingyu was stunned and didn’t react for a long time. “She… she forced me to stop?”

But…

She suspected the woman in the red dress might have something to do with Feng Chengze because his behavior was strange. In the restroom, although Luo Xuan’s expression was also odd, she could clearly feel that there was no malice in the frequent glances she gave her.

“Yes.” Feng Chengze unlocked his phone and handed it to her. “Look, there’s specific information on it.”

On July 2nd…

Feng Yu was indeed taking Ji Qingyu home to meet his parents, which was not a secret among his friends. Everything was fine. At that time, Feng Yu, who was sitting in the car, saw Ji Qingyu nervous and anxious, and held her hand to comfort her. His parents were very nice people. She had also met his brother. It was just a simple meal.

The car drove smoothly on Songjing Road. The couple in the back seat whispered sweetly. The driver was also paying attention to the road ahead. Suddenly, he saw a sports car speeding towards them in the rearview mirror, seemingly about to collide. He quickly turned the steering wheel and braked. The tires screeched against the asphalt, making a sharp, piercing sound, but it was too late.

The aggressive sports car grazed the sedan, denting the door. The driver was terrified, but fortunately, no one was hurt, just frightened. A woman exited the sports car’s passenger seat and opened the door. Feng Yu got out of the car afterward.
…

Ji Qingyu stared blankly at the line of text on the phone screen. The words began to twist before her eyes, and she struggled to recognize them.

A few minutes later, the woman named Luo Xuan got into the sports car, feeling aggrieved and sad. Another car came chasing after them. The driver was their mutual friend. Feng Yu got into that car to chase after Luo Xuan.

‘So, what should I do sitting in the car?’ Ji Qingyu thought in confusion.

There were also fresh fruits in the car that she had asked a friend to buy from the orchard. Feng Yu told her that his mother loved them. Weren’t they going to meet his parents?

She had considered many possibilities for breaking up with Feng Yu, including the possibility that he might fall in love with someone else. Five years later, when everything settled, nothing would be unacceptable. But at this moment, her heart still felt empty. These five years were a long river, an empty valley. The things that happened and the feelings experienced became echoes, drifting into her ears very faintly. Her palms were cold, and her mind was blank.

She felt nothing, no emotions at all.

Feng Chengze saw her looking down at the phone that had long gone dark. He looked at her profile with a complex expression. All along, she hadn’t been that eager to know what happened five years ago. She went with the flow, accepting things as they came. If someone told her, she would listen with interest, but she had never actively asked about his progress.

So, at the venue, he hesitated about whether to tell her.

“You…” He wasn’t good at comforting others, and his words might seem pale.

His words pulled Ji Qingyu back to reality. She raised her head blankly and asked him in a very light tone, almost as if talking to herself, “He likes someone else, so why did he pursue me?”

Feng Chengze could tell that she wasn’t being sarcastic; she was genuinely confused—

He, Feng Yu, could leave me alone in the car to chase another woman on the day we were supposed to meet his parents, so why did he pursue me? Why did he say you would marry me? And why did he want to introduce me to his parents?

Maybe there was a misunderstanding.

Feng Chengze swallowed these words. They were not in the past; if there had been a misunderstanding, she and he wouldn’t have started. She wasn’t someone who would make wild guesses. Just now, when she had doubts, she would definitely ask and expect a clear answer. Was there a misunderstanding? For her, there wasn’t.

Apparently, Ji Qingyu had also figured this out.

She asked herself, does it matter if Feng Yu likes that woman? Is that the point? Just because he doesn’t like her, or doesn’t like her that much, does that make it forgivable for him to leave her to chase someone else on the way to meet his parents?

He knew how nervous and uneasy she was, but he still did it. This could only mean that, at that moment, the emotions of that woman named Luo Xuan were more important to him than those of his girlfriend.

The reason didn’t matter, nor did any possible difficulties. That wasn’t her concern and had nothing to do with her. She only needed to consider one thing: to accept or not to accept.

If she accepted, she had to be prepared for this to happen a second, third, or many more times in the future.

Accept it?

Ji Qingyu thought, I don’t want to accept it.

“I’m feeling a bit stuffy,” she said, reaching for the door handle. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll just get some air and come back.”

With that, she pushed open the car door and got out. In her haste, her handbag, which was on her lap, fell to the ground. She mechanically squatted down to pick it up, looking at the bit of dust on her handbag, frowning, feeling utterly annoyed.

What was she annoyed about? She repeatedly asked herself. This was just a normal part of life; the end of a relationship was even more common…

She just couldn’t help but wonder, would the version of her sitting in the car be very sad and scared?

In that version of her, how did she spend that day?

She picked up her handbag, and when she stood up in a daze, she was embraced.

Feng Chengze raised his hand, gently stroking her soft hair. His voice was low but very reassuring, “It’s all over.”

He couldn’t say anything particularly comforting. He was always used to looking at everything rationally and calmly. Now, it was just the noise of the shoe dropping that startled her, but she would soon realize that it was all in the past. He wanted to cover her ears so she wouldn’t hear or be frightened, but she had already stopped him before he could reach out.
He should have been an observer, able to analyze this drama rationally.

Did A Yu like Luo Xuan? He didn’t think so. Although A Yu had a long-standing friendship with her, A Yu’s personality was such that he couldn’t hide his feelings for a woman. Just like when he fell for Ji Qingyu, he repeatedly mentioned her in front of the family, wanted to bring her home to meet his parents, and even quickly thought of marriage.

But when he felt the wetness on his shirt’s chest, his calm and composed expression stiffened. He looked down at her sharply. She leaned quietly in his arms, and no one but him would know she was crying.

Ji Qingyu didn’t want to cry at all. She genuinely believed that this matter wasn’t worth shedding tears over. Five years later, everything had changed. She had become someone else’s wife, had children, and she gladly accepted this arrangement. She was even actively working on building a relationship with her current husband. Now, being told that she and her ex-boyfriend didn’t break up peacefully, that she might have gone through something excruciating back then…

So what?

Even if she should be 80% sad, being transported five years into the future had diluted it to only 20%. She couldn’t angrily break up with Feng Yu again or rely on this insufficient emotion to heal from a breakup again.

No one could be blamed, and no one could be blamed anymore, so she could only stare blankly in this awkward and confused state. She really just wanted to get some air. When she got back in the car, she would calmly tell Feng Chengze : I know, but it’s all in the past. Let’s leave it at that, as you said, everything is normal.

But he got out of the car.

Feng Chengze lowered his head and gently kissed her hair. Perhaps his words “It’s all over” had brought her tears. He didn’t plan to say anything more but still felt his chest burning.

When people are hurt, their mood is usually not great, and they feel inexplicably stuffy.

After shedding a few tears, Ji Qingyu quickly composed herself in his embrace. But she noticed something: Feng Chengze was holding her so tightly, with a restrained force, that she could hardly breathe. Just as she was about to remind him that she was okay and he could let go, the sound of a car approaching became clearer and clearer, stopping not far away. The driver seemed to have an urgent matter to attend to, hurriedly getting out of the car without even turning off the engine, but then immediately stopped, causing quite a commotion in the relatively quiet parking lot.

Feng Chengze still didn’t let go of her, holding her tightly as if he were the one needing comfort now.

“Someone’s coming. Let go,” Ji Qingyu reminded him softly. As she spoke, she peeked over Feng Chengze’s broad shoulder, unintentionally looking in the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, she froze, her pupils constricting. The man who used to be elegant had changed a lot, almost unrecognizable. He was wearing a shirt and trousers he rarely wore, his once lazy and easygoing expression now overshadowed by gloom. From a distance, they unexpectedly locked eyes. After a brief moment of astonishment, he looked at her in a daze.