This might be the first time a real problem occurred between Xiang Ning and Xu Tingsheng in this life. It was a pretty big problem too.
If one looked at it from a pessimistic viewpoint, it was enough to break the two of them up.
Also, she could not tell her parents about this matter. If she did, it might very well leave a permanent mark on the record in the sense of the term. Xiang Ning spent some time coming to terms with it before calling Lu Min.
In the summer holidays before she graduated from junior high, Xu Tingsheng had caused her to prematurely meet her best friend from university in her previous life. The two had established a strong relationship over the internet and phone calls over the past year. The Tianya love expert Lu Min who had never ever been in a relationship even when she graduated from university in her previous life had become Xiang Ning’s love counsellor too.
Xiang Ning sobbed as she recounted what had happened to Lu Min over the phone.
“That’s too much. A love cheat! Scumbag!” Lu Min scolded indignantly.
“Right!” Xiang Ning expressed her agreement, saying, “Let’s scold him together for a while to calm me down.”
“Bastard! Love cheat! Scumbag…” Lu Min was very chivalrous.
“Do you have any other adjectives?”
“Messed you up and threw you away!”
“Not really, right? He didn’t mess me up and didn’t throw me away.”
“...Boring. You’re even standing up for him. Scold him yourself then.”
“Dirty ruffian. Mega liar, fooling little girls...started fooling from the age of fourteen. Sick pervert. Even been fooled by him to this extent…”
“This...it can’t be considered scolding someone!” Lu Min said, “It’s too loaded.”
“Sigh,” Xiang Ning said, “Minmin, say, what should I do then?”
“What do you yourself think? What are you thinking now?”
“I’m guessing what he could be thinking.”
“Guessing? You wouldn’t be trying to understand him, right? Shouldn’t you scold him hysterically before demanding to break up?”
“No way! It’s not like that. I feel that he still likes me. I like him too.”
“What do you mean no way? That’s what all normal people should do, okay?”
“What do normal people do?”
“When normal people encounter this kind of thing, they should be very upset and cry.”
“I am very upset. I’ve cried too.”
“The problem is that not only should you cry, you also have to cause a scene while you are at it, on the verge of breaking down and overwhelmed by fury, rushing over to have a big fight with him. Scratching his face, breaking through his lies, ripping him to shreds...and then you break up with him.”
“Is it like this?”
“Of course it’s like this. Even if it feels like your heart’s being cut by a knife, you still must resolutely break up. Then, you remind yourself everyday, thinking about just how much of a scumbag he is. It’s like this, anyway. I’ve advised breakups like this a few hundred times on Tianya already.”
“Yes, you said this before. Xu Tingsheng knows too. When I told him about it, he said, oh so Lu Min’s left the mountains. No wonder China’s divorce rate has risen again.”
“...” Lu Min felt so helpless, “We’re talking about you now.”
“Me? I feel that there’s no need to think and remind myself everyday of how much of a scumbag he is. Shouldn’t I think about his good points instead?” Xiang Ning considered it and said, “From what you said, I don’t seem like a normal person.”
“...” Lu Min was rendered speechless as she only asked after a while, “What do you intend to do then?”
Xiang Ning said, “Anyway, I’m also done being upset. If he’s willing, I’ll let him coax me a bit.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah.”
“What if he isn’t willing then? If he frankly admits that he did it on purpose, what will you do?”
“He won’t.”
“But what if he does?”
Xiang Ning felt awkward for a bit before she said, “In that case, I’ll think of a way to chase him back. Actually...well, I’m a bit thick-skinned.”
“...” Lu Min felt as if heavenly thunder was rumbling, “Heavens, you...why would someone in this world think that?”
“Because I’m reluctant to let it end,” Xiang Ning said.
Hearing this, Lu Min no longer said anything.
Xiang Ning continued, “I know that he definitely liked me before. I like him too. Now, if he suddenly hesitates now, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t like me anymore, right? It may be that I haven’t given him enough confidence. I thought about it. I’m little, insensible, and only ever let him dote on me. So, as long as I change a bit, we can definitely still be very happy.”
“But what if he actually doesn’t think that and really did it without thinking?” Lu Min finally asked, her voice already no longer as forceful as before.
“Then, as long as he still likes me, and I like him. Actually, he can be allowed to think wrongly, right? It’s always him working harder usually. Now that something came up with him, it’s up to me to work a little harder,” Xiang Ning said.
As Lu Min said nothing, Xiang Ning pressed, “What is it, Minmin?"
“Xiang Ning,” Lu Min said in a tone that did not fit a seventeen-year-old girl like her.
“Hmm?”
“You’ll definitely be very happy!” Lu Min said, “I’ve seen too many people who only know how to begrudge others and look at the negative side of things when facing problems. Myself included. You’re different, though. It’s like you naturally tend to look at the positive side of things. Maybe even you yourself don’t know just how magnanimous and brave, how resolute you are inside.”
“What? Why are you suddenly praising me…” Xiang Ning was taken by surprise.
“It’s true. The way you look at many problems-other may all find you silly. You yourself won’t feel anything about it. But the truth is that that is a person’s magnanimity and courage that comes from their very bones. Xiang Ning, you’re wonderful.”
“Huh…”
“What is it?”“Him, that bastard, scumbag, love cheat...that’s what he said too.”
“Ha, you’ve had your fill of scolding, right. Go on then. Just do what you want,” Lu Min considered it and said, “If you really feel a little wronged, relax. We agreed on it. After the university entrance examinations, we’ll attend the same university. I’ll help you to get even in the future.”
“Right. Oh, he’s here.”
……
Xu Tingsheng had received a call from Mr Xiang, asking if Xiang Ning had arrived.
Xiang Ning had been conversing with Lu Min at the time. Thinking that she should have arrived and feeling worried, Mr Xu had called Xu Tingsheng.
Only then did Xu Tingsheng learn that Xiang Ning had come to Libei.
He ran out, circled around and found Little Xiang Ning sitting at the bottom of a little hilly slope.
She turned to look at Xu Tingsheng, the tearstains on her face still yet to dry as there was a mist in her eyes.
Feeling guilty, Xu Tingsheng stopped in his tracks, at a loss for what to do. He knew that Xiang Ning had definitely seen and surely knew.
She stood up and looked at him, raising her slender arm and wiping her tears as she said, still sobbing a little, “Dirty ruffian, mega cheat...aren’t you coming over to coax me now?”
Just this sentence.
Xu Tingsheng’s entire heart felt like melting.
This was Xiang Ning.
When they had fought in his previous life to the point of breaking up, she had lied and said that she had lost her wallet, wanting Xu Tingsheng to accompany her in looking for it as only then could they break up. It was that same Xiang Ning.
When she had heard the rumours about Xu Tingsheng and Apple in school, she had gone home and said: I’m so scared that it’s true. So, I didn’t call. I came back to find you. It was that Xiang Ning.
It was that Xiang Ning who would wait for Xu Tingsheng for three years, saying that she always thought he would come back.
In the eyes of some, she might seem childish. Actually, this was only because she had a sort of magnanimity, courage and resoluteness that others did not possess and even she herself was not cognisant of.
She always tended to see the positive rather than the negative side of things.
…...
She was Xiang Ning, Xu Tingsheng’s sunlight and ocean.
This was why despite having met many people in this life and the last, the person Xu Tingsheng was firmest about, loved the most...was Xiang Ning.
“Girl, you’re wonderful.”
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