Chapter 88

Everything was scorching hot, but Nie Lingbo’s words froze it completely.

Like a basin of icy water pouring down over him, even the wisps of lingering warmth didn’t rise.

Xi Heng felt cold to the bone, and puzzled, he looked at the woman he had loved for many years, feeling a dense pain in his heart:

“Why? Give me a reason.”

But Nie Lingbo didn’t cooperate with his request:

“Remember my words. You can leave now.”

Xi Heng didn’t want to leave. He felt rooted to the spot, wanting to stay here to demand an explanation from Nie Lingbo, or to defend himself.

At that moment, Jiang Nan happened to walk in, bringing messages from other alumni, inviting Nie Lingbo to the experimental center to see the students’ achievements.

Xi Heng watched helplessly as Nie Lingbo left the lounge. He wanted to reach out and grab Nie Lingbo’s wrist, but she dodged him.

Nie Lingbo turned to look at him, her eyes as sharp as the snowlight on a blade. Before Xi Heng could react, his instincts made him take a big step back, and he even stumbled due to his confusion.

Nie Lingbo didn’t stop, Jiang Nan followed her out, then turned back to warn Xi Heng coldly:

“Mr. Xi, control yourself.”

Behind the two, Xi Heng gradually regained his senses. His embarrassment, confusion, and anger mixed together. His face flushed red. Not waiting for the school’s anniversary dinner, he angrily left the university and drove to the company.

But Xi Heng didn’t expect that when he impatiently honked his horn at a red light on the way to the company, he turned his head and saw Song Pianxian chatting and laughing with a man in a cafe.

This scene in Xi Heng’s eyes was like pouring gasoline onto a fire. He opened the driver’s seat, abandoned the car on the road, and rushed into the cafe. Behind him were the continuous honking horns and the driver’s curses.

He rushed into the cafe as if catching a cheating spouse. He first glanced at the man, then questioned Song Pianxian:

“What are you doing here? Who is he?”

Before Song Pianxian could speak, the man stepped forward, blocking Song Pianxian:

“Sir, do you have a problem?”

“I’m not talking to you,” Xi Heng said stiffly, his attitude disdainful.

“Song Pianxian, explain yourself. What are you doing here with a man?”

The man seemed to sense something and turned to look at Song Pianxian with surprise:

“Pianxian, is this your…”

“No,” Song Pianxian denied categorically, stepping aside from the man.

She didn’t need a man to stand in front of her.

“I’m here meeting a friend. It has nothing to do with Mr. Xi.”

“Nothing to do with me?” Xi Heng laughed in anger. “Have you forgotten your identity—”

“What identity?” Song Pianxian interrupted him.

“You are—” Xi Heng was momentarily speechless.

Yes, what was Song Pianxian’s identity? What relationship did she have with him?

“I’ve already broken up with you,” Song Pianxian stated matter-of-factly.

After saying that, she smiled, pure and beautiful, the first time Xi Heng had seen her smile in days.

Song Pianxian tucked her loose hair behind her ears, her eyes, as clear as spring water, looked at him sharply, as if wanting to illuminate his indignity, incompetence, and anger with the purest and cleanest light.

Xi Heng almost trance-like realized that when he saw Song Pianxian like this, his heart uncontrollably throbbed with urgency, accompanied by a trace of pain, as if a gentle spring rain had turned into needles, falling all over his body.

“No matter who I’m with, you have no right to intervene.”

This almost whispered sentence from Song Pianxian was like a slap in the face, bringing Xi Heng back to reality all at once.

Feeling unsteady, Xi Heng’s body trembled slightly.

Unexpectedly to Song Pianxian, he didn’t say anything ridiculous, just pursed his lips, deeply glanced at Song Pianxian, and left without a word, his figure even looking somewhat embarrassed.

“Do you want to use the restroom again? Or should we go to another place?” Behind Xi Heng, the man considerately didn’t ask about Xi Heng’s identity, only inquiring.

Xi Heng stormed in like a tyrannosaurus, attracting the attention of many people. The waiters were ready to intervene at any moment. Song Pianxian nodded apologetically at the waiter, picked up her bag, and said:

“Let’s go, Cheng, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“There’s no need for you to treat me.” Cheng Yi quickly responded.

“It’s my way of being a good host. Don’t be polite with me.” Song Pianxian smiled.

The two joked as they walked to a restaurant. Cheng Yi was tall and handsome, while Song Pianxian was slender and beautiful. Together, they attracted the attention of passersby.

In the text, Cheng Yi is certainly not just any passerby. He is the male supporting character, a professional standby lover loved by readers.

As the saying goes, the male lead is loved by the female lead, and the male supporting character is loved by the readers. Cheng Yi comes from a wealthy family. His father took him to volunteer at an orphanage, where he met the female lead in their youth. 

He studied medicine, and both his studies and work were busy. This time he was transferred to the hospital in City S and only met Song Pianxian, his childhood friend, once.

After receiving the invitation, Song Pianxian thought for a moment and decided to come out. Cheng Yi was quite considerate of the original body. Refusing to meet would hurt his feelings, which was also unreasonable.

Of course, the most important reason was that Cheng Yi only regarded Song Pianxian as a Little Sister at this time. It was after seeing the original body’s pitiful state due to love that he felt pity and then developed feelings for her as a man.

Who would have thought he would run into Xi Heng like this? It seems that due to the plot’s irresistible force, the appearance of the male lead seemed to have a unique radar for the male supporting character. Moreover, Cheng Yi also triggered Xi Heng’s transformation, and Song Pianxian noted this as she walked.

Xi Heng returned to the company with a fiery temper and in a sorry state. He exuded an imposing aura that no one dared to provoke. He stormed into his office, opened the liquor cabinet, and started drinking glass after glass.

Alcohol stirred up waves in his body. Sometimes he saw Nie Lingbo’s cold and elegant face without mercy, and sometimes he saw Song Pianxian smiling beside another man, which made his eyes bloodshot and his chest feel suffocated.

He didn’t want to think anymore, but he was powerless to stop it. Xi Heng had no choice but to drink glass after glass to temporarily drive out the images of these two women from his mind.

As night fell, Bai Rong couldn’t reach her son, and Meng Yue didn’t dare to let Madam know that the CEO was completely drunk, stumbling and mumbling. Li Wan, following Bai Rong’s orders, went to the CEO’s office.

The heavy smell of alcohol and the bottles strewn about on the table indicated that something had happened here. Li Wan found Xi Heng on the sofa, her voice softened as she called out:

“Sir, Madam asked you to come home early.”

Xi Heng’s eyelids twitched, and he opened his eyes, blurred with drunkenness.

“It’s… It’s you again?” he sneered. “I agreed to give you a position, and now you’re here to monitor me?”

Li Wan’s smile became unnatural.

Her true educational background was only a college diploma, not even qualified for the front desk. It was all thanks to Bai Rong’s connections. Bai Rong ordered her to deliver messages and supervise Xi Heng. Would she dare not to obey?

Moreover, she also enjoyed this kind of life of wielding power under Bai Rong’s name. With Bai Rong’s authority, even the CEO had to be polite to her, except for tonight after getting drunk…

Li Wan’s gaze fell on the collar Xi Heng had opened.

This situation of a man and a woman alone together required some action, or it wouldn’t live up to the female supporting character’s ambition.

Li Wan tried her best to show her tenderness, serving tea and water, trying to massage Xi Heng’s temples, but Xi Heng’s response was flat, even repelling.

Finally, until she reluctantly remembered her former colleague Song Pianxian, who had successfully climbed up the ranks.

She hesitated, imitating the gestures and tone of her former colleague, tidying her hair behind her ears and smiling gently as she spoke to Xi Heng.

Xi Heng was dazzled by her, blurting out “Pianxian” in a daze. Everything spun around, and Li Wan exclaimed, opening her eyes to find herself in Xi Heng’s arms.

She looked at the approaching Xi Heng, smelled the strong smell of alcohol, and closed her eyes in his embrace as she had wished.

But the expressions and smiles of the original protagonist she imitated kept appearing in her mind.

She was unwilling, but she also clearly understood that what she had obtained through her poor imitation was something discarded by Song Pianxian.

After dinner, Song Pianxian said goodbye to Cheng Yi and drove to University S.

Ordinary students and graduates could only watch the university’s anniversary ceremony through broadcasts, but in the evening, there would be a grand fireworks display by the lake, which only graduates of University S could participate in.

In recent years, the control over fireworks had only increased rather than decreased. University S had obtained permission for the fireworks display, which was a joyous event throughout the city.

By the time Song Pianxian arrived, it was completely dark, and several roads around were congested with cars. It took half an hour to move ten meters, and both sides of the sidewalks were crowded with people.

Street lights, car lights, cellphone lights, neon lights, all twinkled in the thick night, forming a sea of stars.

The taxi driver said to Song Pianxian, “Are you also going to see the fireworks? Then there’s no rush. Even if it’s two streets away, when the fireworks go off, we can see them clearly here too.”

Song Pianxian smiled, “I’m here to meet someone.”

“Oh, a date? Then we can’t delay.”

A date? Not exactly.

How could it be a date when she didn’t even know where the other person was?

Perhaps Nie Lingbo had already returned home or was at another social event. The time of the Nie Family’s head was very precious.

Song Pianxian leaned closer to the car window and glanced in the direction of University S.

But what if.

What if Nie Lingbo was still there?

It was always Qing Lu who came to find her. Now that Qing Lu hadn’t thought of her for the time being, Song Pianxian thought she had to take the initiative.

“Driver, I’ll get off here.” Song Pianxian took out her phone to pay and smiled, “I’ll walk from here.”

Taking the initiative might make Qing Lu like her again.

Song Pianxian got out of the car and merged into the crowd surging towards University S.

The weather was still a bit cold now. Spring was supposed to be coming soon, but the chill lingered, especially in the early morning and evening.

Wearing a camel coat, Song Pianxian felt a bit thin in the night. She saw a chestnut stand on the side of the road with warm lights hanging over the chestnuts, making them look fuzzy.

She walked over and bought a bag of candied chestnuts, holding them in her palm. Sure enough, the chestnuts were warm, and she could smell the faint sweetness of caramel.

Song Pianxian walked to the gate of University S, showing her electronic graduation certificate to the envious eyes of the crowd and successfully entered the university.

Once inside the campus, there weren’t many people around. Suddenly, it became empty around her, like a handful of stars scattered in the sky, sparsely distributed.

This little star, Song Pianxian, slowly moved towards the lakeside. Would Nie Lingbo be there?

She didn’t know.

Along the way hung many lantern-like decorations. University S seemed to be celebrating a lantern festival, with lights shining everywhere, lantern strings and antique-style lanterns hanging from the trees, each one delicately crafted and charming.

Song Pianxian watched all the way and couldn’t help but be moved by the atmosphere. She saw many people taking photos and videos, so she took out her phone and sent Xiang Sixi a few pictures.

After putting away her phone, she walked for more than ten minutes and finally arrived at Yue Lake.

At this time, one side of the lake had been fenced off for installing the fireworks equipment.

Song Pianxian stood on the open lawn across from the equipment lake.

The lake surface quietly reflected the shimmering moonlight, while beneath it slept a moon.

Song Pianxian found someone from the Student Union:

“Excuse me, do you know where the alumni invited to the anniversary celebration are now?”

---

Come join the Discord, where all the cool kids hang out!

Please support us on Ko-Fi. You can now read extra chapters by supporting.

Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu

---

---