Chapter 17: Humiliating Oneself to Seek Reconciliation

The two of them wandered around the shopping mall until dark before returning to school, carrying large and small bags.

Who would have thought that just as they reached the foot of the dormitory building, a black shadow suddenly darted out from a dark corner on one side and blocked their path.

"Ah—"

Gu Lianxing let out a startled cry, and Shen Ci was also taken aback, but when she saw clearly who was in front of her, her expression instantly darkened, and impatience welled up in the depths of her eyes.

Li Xiao's expression was gloomy, his gaze icy as he stared fixedly at Shen Ci.

"Li Xiao?" Recognizing that it was Li Xiao, Gu Lianxing said irritably: "Are you sick? Blocking the entrance of a girls' dormitory in the middle of the night, who are you trying to scare to death?"

But Li Xiao turned a deaf ear to Gu Lianxing's angry rebuke, instead looking at Shen Ci and questioning her with an angry tone: "Why did you move dorms? Are you hiding from me?"

Shen Ci couldn't help but let out a subconscious sneer, which caused Li Xiao's eyes to turn three degrees colder.

"Giving carnivals to other guys? And someone in the same dorm as me, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

The aura around him was wrapped in a palpable sense of agitation; one could feel he was trying his best to restrain himself, but judging by the tone of his voice, he was clearly on the verge of losing control.

Shen Ci lifted her eyes slightly, looking at him with undisguised disgust: "Li Xiao, we are already over. Anything I do has nothing to do with you, and it is certainly not your place to question me here!"

"I don't agree!" Li Xiao roared with bloodshot eyes, his eye sockets then becoming moist, and he shook his head at Shen Ci with an expression of unwillingness: "I don't know what I did wrong, or what my mother said to you! I only know that I like you, and I don't agree to breaking up with you."

As he spoke, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he reached out abruptly and gripped Shen Ci's slender shoulders, saying: "You have someone else, don't you? Otherwise, how could you bear to give carnivals to others?"

"Why do you refuse when I try to transfer money to you, but are willing to take other people's money? Is other people's money more fragrant than mine? Easier to spend than mine?"

"You just need to say how much you want, and I can give it to you, any amount!"

"But don't break up with me. You just need to make things clear with that person; I don't mind, I really don't mind!"

By this point, Li Xiao had actually shed all his pride, his tone choked with sobs, and he was so humble he seemed to be in the dust. Even Gu Lianxing, who had wanted to open her mouth to persuade him, was moved, looking at Shen Ci with a desire to speak up for Li Xiao.

Only Shen Ci remained completely unmoved by Li Xiao's deep affection. She just looked at him quietly, because she had never seen Li Xiao reveal this side of himself before.

He seemed so fragile he could break at a touch; unless one had a heart of stone, who wouldn't feel heartache or be moved?

But Shen Ci only felt that Li Xiao was abnormally fractured at this moment.

Because the face that surfaced in her mind was that cold, hard face sitting in the back seat of a luxury car. She had cried out and clawed at the window frame for an explanation, but hadn't received a single apologetic glance back from him.

Until the car window slowly rolled up, trapping her fingers in the window gap, dragging her entire body for several meters, and finally throwing her onto the side of the road in a disheveled state.

She could still remember the acrid smell of the exhaust fumes hitting her cheeks as that car sped away.

And looking at Li Xiao's face now, filled with deep affection, Shen Ci only wanted to tear off his hypocritical mask.

She forcefully pushed away the arms Li Xiao had clamped onto her shoulders and said, still calmly: "I've already said it, we are over."

The light that had originally been burning in the depths of Li Xiao's eyes was visibly extinguished after Shen Ci finished saying those cold words.

He looked ashen, staring at Shen Ci in despair: "Why? Why treat me like this?"

He thought that as long as he lowered his posture and humiliated himself, Shen Ci would have a change of heart.

But he had already humbled himself into the dust; he had never been so subservient to anyone in his life, so why was she completely unmoved?

Gu Lianxing stood to the side, her pretty face twisted into a knot with anxiety.

But Shen Ci clearly did not want to waste any more breath, turning sideways to bypass Li Xiao and walking quickly into the dormitory building.

Seeing Li Xiao looking so dejected, Gu Lianxing couldn't help but feel he was pitiful.

Even if he really had some defect in that area, he could go get treatment; after all, andrology medicine was very advanced now, and it wasn't some incurable terminal illness.

He really didn't deserve to die.

"Li Xiao, calm down first." Gu Lianxing said softly to comfort him: "Although I don't understand what happened between you and Shen Ci, I feel that Shen Ci is definitely not someone who makes trouble for no reason. Do you have proof for what you just said about her having someone else? If not, that's slander, it's defamation! How can you ask for a reconciliation like that?"

Li Xiao turned his head to look at Gu Lianxing, his heart, which had been in a mess, actually recovering some rationality because of these words.

"I said the wrong thing, didn't I?" he muttered.

Gu Lianxing sighed: "Don't open your mouth and say things without factual basis. Even if you have doubts in your heart, you should get to the bottom of things before drawing conclusions."

Thinking of how Shen Ci had been mocked and ridiculed by several former roommates at the small restaurant today, with their words basically attacking her by saying Li Xiao didn't want her anymore, Gu Lianxing still felt she should help clarify things for Shen Ci: "She didn't move dorms to hide from you; it's because her previous roommates ganged up to bully her."

Li Xiao was stunned upon hearing this; he hadn't known about this.

"She... she never told me about these things."

Gu Lianxing shook her head helplessly: "If her relationship with her roommates was good, how could she not mention anything about them at all?"

Li Xiao was led along by Gu Lianxing's words, lowering his head in distress and self-reproach.

It was his own lack of care for Shen Ci; he hadn't even known she was being bullied.

"You should go back first, calm down and sort things out yourself, and don't be so impulsive next time."

Having said this, Gu Lianxing bypassed him and also entered the dormitory building.

Returning to the dorm, Shen Ci was tidying up her things; the dorm had already been cleaned spotlessly by a few junior students.

"Wow, so clean!"

Gu Lianxing deliberately made an exaggerated reaction, walking to Shen Ci's side with a beaming smile and saying: "Shen Ci, it's good that I have you. If I had moved in by myself, I wouldn't have known what to do."

Shen Ci smiled, appearing completely unaffected by Li Xiao from just a moment ago: "Hurry and make the bed, tidy up your things, and then hurry up and shower and get to bed, otherwise the lights will go out in a while."

Seeing that her state was still okay, Gu Lianxing relaxed slightly.

But she didn't say anything more. Although she had witnessed the whole process and really wanted to say a few words for Li Xiao because she could feel that Li Xiao really liked Shen Ci, she still held back.

She had known Li Xiao since she was a child; although they couldn't be called very close friends, they had known each other for a long time, so she could offer some well-intentioned advice.

But Shen Ci was different. Although they hit it off immediately, they had just met, so she had to grasp the sense of boundaries and not interfere too much in Shen Ci's private affairs.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====