Chapter 28: The Severing of Ties

[Gu Xue: Please, please, please, please—]

[Gu Xue: Reply to me, reply to me, reply to me, reply to me—]

[Gu Xue: Ruoyu, Ruoyu, Ruoyu, Ruoyu—]

As Zhou Ruoyu stared at the relentless stream of messages from Gu Xue, he took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but feel a growing concern for his ex-girlfriend’s mental state.

Yet, he mused, a day had finally come when she would actually compromise with him.

‘Ha…’

A complex wave of emotions rippled through Zhou Ruoyu. It wasn’t entirely a secret delight; perhaps there was a touch of sadness too. After all these years together, Gu Xue still couldn’t conjure up a better reason than his PhD studies. It was truly a situation that left him both amused and exasperated.

After a long silence, genuinely fearing what his ex-girlfriend might do next, Zhou Ruoyu could only continue typing his reply in silence.

[Zhou Ruoyu: Stop spamming my texts. Seriously, stop. If this continues, I’ll block you!]

[Zhou Ruoyu: If your computer mouse is broken, just contact the female clerk at the electronics store in the neighboring complex. I’ll send you her number in a bit. She can come to your place to service it. She’s far more professional than I am, and you won’t have to worry about the safety concerns of a male service person coming over.]

On the other end of the phone, Gu Xue stared at the familiar tone of the messages. She quickly began typing her own replies.

[Gu Xue: You finally replied! What’s been going on with you these past few days? Why haven’t you called me even once!]

[Gu Xue: I have you, and that’s enough. I don’t need to spend money to find someone else to help. Just come back quickly!]

[Gu Xue: What’s wrong with you, anyway? Why do you seem so utterly baffling lately…]

‘Oh, my goodness…’

Zhou Ruoyu couldn’t help but give a wry smile, witnessing the machine-gun speed of her messages. He knew it was true; hiring someone else to fix a computer cost money. His ‘poor, tormented ex-boyfriend’ status, however, was far more convenient.

Not only did it spare her the usual paranoia that any male service person harbored ill intentions, but it also came without any cost. She could even fret impatiently, chastising him for his slowness while he toiled away at her computer.

‘Baffling? Ha… Very well, then. Let it be as she says.’

[Zhou Ruoyu: You’re right, Gu Xue. I’ve become utterly baffling lately! Not just now, but tomorrow too, and forever after!]

[Zhou Ruoyu: Because I realize I’m not good enough for you. I can never be the perfect boyfriend you envision. I can’t do it!]

[Zhou Ruoyu: And I no longer wish to be kept in the dark!]

[Zhou Ruoyu: Therefore, I won’t be coming back!]

****

Staring at the relentless stream of messages from her ex-boyfriend, Gu Xue froze in place. Her fingers grew stiff, trembling uncontrollably, until her phone clattered against the table with a soft thud. Even the noise failed to snap her back to full awareness.

‘Ruoyu… Ruoyu said he won’t be coming back… What does that even mean?’

‘He… doesn’t want me anymore? He’s just… abandoning me like this?’

‘Does he really… not want any connection with me anymore?’

Gu Xue suddenly found it difficult to breathe, a suffocating pressure building in her chest. It felt as though a dagger was slowly, painstakingly, carving away at her proud heart.

“Aaaaaahhh—!”

After a prolonged moment, she let out a furious, exasperated scream into the empty air. Then, she slammed her fist onto the table, snatched up her phone, and began typing with frantic speed.

[Gu Xue: Why! I don’t understand! Can’t you just tell me the reason clearly? What do you mean you’re not good enough for me? Don’t use such excuses to mock me! What exactly did I do wrong? Tell me, and I can change! Don’t talk to me like this, and don’t ever mention breaking up again!]

[Gu Xue: Break up? I won’t agree to any breakup!! Zhou Ruoyu, you are my boyfriend! In this lifetime, I’m the only one who gets to dump you! What right do you have to dump me!]

[Gu Xue: You…]

Gu Xue wanted to type so many more words, but by the third message, the interface already displayed a notification: ‘Message failed to send.’

Gu Xue paused, stunned. Then, she frantically switched to WeChat, then QQ. Each time she tried to send a message, a red exclamation mark appeared.

‘Blocked…’

‘I’ve been blocked?!’

****

The sight of that red exclamation mark was like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing Gu Xue’s impotent rage.

Her eyes vacant, she suddenly felt utterly lost. Running her fingers through her somewhat dry hair, Gu Xue slumped onto the bed, devoid of strength.

‘Ruoyu…’

‘So… what exactly happened?’

‘Nothing… nothing at all seemed to happen, yet that man, who was once so gentle with me, why did he suddenly become so cold?’

His coldness was so profound that Gu Xue felt as if she no longer knew him.

“Ruoyu… Ruoyu…”

She murmured his name softly, her mournful voice echoing through the silent room. It seemed, however, that no matter what she said, her boyfriend would never hear it.

‘No… that’s not right!’

After a long while, as Gu Xue agonizingly pondered what could have possibly gone wrong between her and Zhou Ruoyu, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. It was a conjecture that sent a chill down her spine.

Ruoyu had always listened to her, so why would he suddenly break things off now?

Gu Xue believed she understood Zhou Ruoyu intimately. He would never resort to such cold treatment; his nature was too gentle, too kind-hearted to be so cruel. Moreover, they had four years of shared history!

The only possible explanation was…

‘Could someone be influencing Ruoyu from behind the scenes?’

‘Perhaps some malicious person approached him, then ceaselessly spoke ill of me in his presence, manipulating my Ruoyu, and making him break up with me!’

As for why such a person would exist to sow discord between them, Gu Xue couldn’t quite fathom it. The more plausible explanation seemed to be…

‘Did I acquire a love rival?’

‘Yes…’

‘That’s it!’

‘There must be some manipulative woman, poisoning Ruoyu’s mind with lies about me and leading him astray!’

‘No, this won’t do. I can’t just sit here and wait!’ Since she was blocked on all chat apps, she would… she would just go directly to his place!

‘Yes, I must talk to Ruoyu face-to-face and make things clear. I absolutely… I absolutely must make him come back to me!’

Gu Xue took two deep breaths. Then… she quickly searched through their old WeChat chat history. She had been to Zhou Ruoyu’s rented apartment before, yes… it was… in this very complex!

Gazing at her ex-boyfriend’s home address, Gu Xue furrowed her brow, her resolve firm. ‘Tomorrow, I must go to Ruoyu’s house and talk to him properly, face-to-face!’

‘We can definitely mend our broken relationship. Absolutely!’

‘Oh, and I need to dress up nicely,’ she thought. ‘Mmm… I need to… hold onto Ruoyu tightly. Ruoyu loves schoolgirl uniforms the most. I need to… prepare for a decisive victory!’

****

At his company, Zhou Ruoyu let out a long sigh, having blocked all of Gu Xue’s contact methods. The world, he felt, had become considerably more peaceful.

‘Excellent. With this, she’ll probably give up, right?’

‘Hmm…’

This newfound tranquility lasted for perhaps a minute or two, until Zhou Ruoyu suddenly remembered that Gu Jiachen was coming to visit him tomorrow.

‘Damn it!’

An adult’s breakdown often occurs in an instant!