Xu Zeyuan’s eyes were wide open. He took off his mask, showing his face without any disguise. His expression was somewhat ferocious, his face flushed, with veins bulging at his temples.
He seemed to harbor an intense hatred toward Shu Nian.
Using words as weapons to inflict pain on her.
Every syllable he spat out, every word he uttered, was extreme. It was as if he had run out of options, had reached a dead end, and wanted to make Shu Nian feel humiliated too. He wanted to transfer all his emotions onto her.
He hoped to see some disturbance appear on her calm expression.
To find some satisfaction in that.
The gentle and sunny image he had cultivated in public was completely overturned at this moment.
But Shu Nian couldn’t understand where his emotions were coming from.
From the beginning until now, Shu Nian never felt she had done anything wrong to Xu Zeyuan. At least at this moment, standing in front of him, listening to his barrage of accusations, she didn’t feel embarrassed.
She was just too shocked by the words he could say to respond.
Getting together was his suggestion.
Breaking up was also his suggestion.
After reuniting, he had proposed getting back together.
Shu Nian hadn’t given an ambiguous answer; she had seriously refused. Then she had gone on living her own life, not actively bothering Xu Zeyuan, just spending time with the person she liked.
Yet this became his reason to attack her.
Shu Nian had never been spoken to so harshly to her face before. She lowered her head, her lips drawn into a straight line, using her other hand to pry at his fingers, struggling with effort to break free.
His grip showed no sign of weakening, squeezing Shu Nian so hard she felt like her bones might break.
But she still didn’t make a sound.
The more calm Shu Nian appeared the angry Xu Zeyuan became.
He stared at her face, speaking words that may not have passed through his mind, completely lacking in decency: “If I had known you were this kind of person, why would I have bothered? I should have just slept with you earlier, instead of letting that murderer have the advantage.”
Hearing these words, Shu Nian’s movements stopped.
Seeing that her expression had finally changed, Xu Zeyuan felt a surge of satisfaction, though his mood remained inexplicably blocked: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Xu Zeyuan.” Shu Nian looked up and asked softly, “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying it precisely because I know.” Xu Zeyuan said word by word, “Making me look like an idiot, recording shows outside while still thinking about you constantly, fuck.”
The words had barely fallen.
Shu Nian suddenly raised her other hand and slapped him across the face with all her strength. The corners of her eyes reddened, her features tensed, and her appearance still seemed to lack any aggression, yet her entire body was bristling with thorns. Her fear dissipated in this moment, her tone cold.
“You’ve insulted me.”
Because of her unexpected action, Xu Zeyuan’s head jerked to one side, and the strength in his hand unconsciously loosened. He was stunned for several seconds, then pushed his tongue against his cheek and laughed angrily: “Am I giving you too much face?”
Shu Nian seized the opportunity to break free from him, acting as if she hadn’t heard his words, and walked over to pick up her phone.
This slap brought some rationality back to Xu Zeyuan.
As if feeling wronged to the extreme, Xu Zeyuan raised his voice: “Shu Nian, what did I do wrong? Just because I broke up with you back then?”
Shu Nian examined her phone; one corner of the screen had already cracked and several fracture lines had appeared. She sniffled and walked toward the recording studio while turning on her phone.
Xu Zeyuan followed her, his tone extremely agitated: “You think you were the only one who was upset? I was upset too, okay?”
“…”
“You didn’t communicate with me, you didn’t tell me what happened, I heard everything about you from other people,” Xu Zeyuan said. “And such things aren’t pleasant to hear. When I heard those words, I also felt humiliated.”
Shu Nian tightened her grip on the phone and refuted him: “I didn’t feel humiliated.”
“If you didn’t feel humiliated, then why didn’t you come to school?”
“…”
“Breaking up with you was an impulse. I kept calling you afterward, but you didn’t answer. Isn’t that too unfair to me?”
Shu Nian didn’t want to say more to him and quickened her pace.
Xu Zeyuan stopped following her and stood in place. He stared at her back and suddenly blurted out: “Your current boyfriend, A He, does he know what happened to you?”
Hearing this, Shu Nian turned back and said calmly: “He’s different from you.”
“Different from me?” Xu Zeyuan laughed. “So he knows?”
“…”
“Different because the situation now is also different from before,” Xu Zeyuan’s eyes were dark and gloomy, speaking as if he had nothing left to lose. “What if the situation becomes the same?”
Shu Nian withdrew her gaze and repeated: “He’s different from you.”
“I heard from Ruan Xitong,” Xu Zeyuan’s tone was light. “You have some mental problems?”
“…”
“Your boyfriend can accept it now, but can he accept it for a lifetime?”
Shu Nian looked at him expressionlessly: “What are you trying to say?”