Defeated By Love

Translated by Fairy_Dust

If you enjoy the novel then please think about showing the novel some support by buying a Ko-fi~

Xie Ruhe paused for a few seconds before he “en’ed” again. 

Shu Nian’s guilt dissipated a little and she said: “Then I’ll bring the cake over to you later.” 

Xie Ruhe asked: “At what time?” 

“I’m outside right now…” Shu Nian said and suggested. “How about I go and buy it now?” 

Xie Ruhe’s voice was obviously brighter: “Okay.” 

Shu Nian pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at the time. She added. “I usually spend a little more than an hour out, it’ll be around 7 o’clock then. It’s going to take a while; you should eat first.” 

Xie Ruhe didn’t respond to her words. Instead, he repeated: “Today is December 31st.” 

Such words and emotions gave people the feeling that he was trying to save some face by not directly saying “today is my birthday”. 

“…” Shu Nian said. “Then wait a bit, I’ll try to be as quick as I can.” 

“Okay.” 

Shu Nian looked up after hanging up the call. It was then she remembered that she was talking to Xu Zeyuan before. He also seemed to have said something along the lines of “let’s get back together”. 

Xu Zeyuan’s expression was a little unnatural. He glanced at her phone and asked: “Ah He?” 

Shu Nian dropped her head and looked at the top of her shoes. She didn’t answer his question nor did she bring up what he had just told her: “Go back. I have something to do, I’ll be going first.” 

But Xu Zeyuan didn’t want to pretend nothing had happened. He clenched his fists and reminded her in a stiff voice: “Shu Nian, you haven’t given me an answer to the words I just said.” 

“What words? Do you mean the part where you said you regretted it?” Shu Nian looked up at him and calmly spoke to him: “I told you, it’s normal to break up. This is your right in a relationship.” 

Xu Zeyuan opened his mouth. He wanted to say something. 

However, the next moment, Shu Nian tightened her lips and said: “But that doesn’t mean I am all right with it.” 

That sentence was like a slap on Xu Zeyuan’s face. It made everything he had just said seem like a joke. He was speechless and stepped back from her. There was a mocking smile on his face. 

Shu Nian said no more: “Goodbye.” 

Xu Zeyuan suddenly opened his mouth and whispered: “If you didn’t want to break up at that time, I wouldn’t have broken up with you but you didn’t say anything.” 

“…” 

“You didn’t like me that much.” 

" "

“…” 

Shu Nian appeared thin and small. She was wrapped up in a big coat and her chin was hidden away in a scarf that seemed as if the wind could easily blow it away. Her face turned pale. She didn’t expect him to say such a thing. She paused for half a minute before she recovered. 

In fact, she didn’t want to bring up the past at all. She had always classified her breakup with Xu Zeyuan as a “peaceful breakup” and a “good meeting and parting”. 

Even if she met him again, she expected him to pretend that nothing had happened between them and that he wouldn’t go out of his way to bother her. Shu Nian also never intended to blame him. 

She didn’t want to think of the things from the past. 

She just hoped that what was in the past could stay in the past.  

In the end, he blamed her. 

Shu Nian suddenly became very angry. She dug her nails in the palms of her hands and recounted everything she saw or heard at the beginning of their break-up. 

“Shu Nian is too pitiful.” 

“She’s been missing for so many days, I feel… What do you think…?” 

“Xu Zeyuan is also quite miserable. He chased Shu Nian for so long but he didn’t get to do anything yet…” 

At that time, Xu Zeyuan may have thought that the decision was pretty unimportant. It made his situation much easier but it confirmed all the speculations the others had at that time. 

It made Shu Nian live under everyone’s sympathetic gaze. Due to their behaviour, her scars were uncovered again and again. In those days where she needed someone the most, she could only rely on herself. 

Xu Zeyuan’s face changed. 

Shu Nian couldn’t go on. She stared at him and her voice trembled: “So when you heard all those words and broke up with me after, the real reason was that I didn’t like you that much?” 

Not too far away, a car was parked by the road. 

In the car, Fang Wencheng looked at his phone in boredom. He didn’t know what kind of problem Xie Ruhe had. He made him drive near where Shu Nian lived like he didn’t have his own business to take care of.  

Even if they could so coincidentally meet Shu Nian, Xie Ruhe would not get out of the car to see her. But it wasn’t the first time that Fang Wencheng had to foolishly follow her and leave after watching her for a while.  

This time though, they happened to witness Shu Nian and another man talking by the sidewalk. 

Fang Wencheng could recognise that man as Xu Zeyuan, a singer who recently gained a lot of popularity. 

From the moment they saw that the temperature in the car became extremely low. Fang Wencheng was afraid to speak. Not long later, Xie Ruhe couldn’t control himself and called Shu Nian’s number. He spoke in a stiff tone which made him sound extremely unhappy.  

After hanging up the phone, he began counting in a dull manner. His voice was very low but in the narrow space, Fang Wencheng could hear him clearly. 

“It’s been a minute.” 

“Two minutes.” 

“Three.” 

“Three minutes and a half.” 

“…” 

After a while, Xie Ruhe didn’t continue to count. He muttered. “Is she unhappy?” 

Hearing that, Fang Wencheng looked out the window. From their perspective, only Xu Zeyuan’s back and half of Shu Nian’s face could be seen. They were quite far away so he couldn’t see Shu Nian’s expression at all.  

If there are any errors in the text then please kindly ping me on discord in the ‘report typos’ channel or leave a comment down below!

Thanks for reading!