Chapter 274

Xia Xi glanced around the room casually and met Xu Yanfeng's gaze, who was sitting on the sofa.

She slipped both hands into her coat pockets, her face calm but her fingers gradually tightening, she averted her gaze, gave a low cough, thinking how to break the silence, when Xu Yanfeng spoke first: "Work all done?"

Xia Xi hummed, still turning her head away, not looking at him.

The room had the heater on; Xia Xi felt a bit warm, she took off her wool coat and hung it on the nearby coat rack, then walked over slowly, put her bag down, and sat on the long sofa not far from Xu Yanfeng.

She lowered her head slightly, her long hair falling to cover half her face; Xu Yanfeng couldn't see her expression and asked directly: "Why?"

Worried she might not understand, Xu Yanfeng spoke more clearly: "Why did you team up with Zhou Du to put on that act for me?"

Xia Xi pressed her lips; during dinner, the lipstick on her lips had been rubbed off, and her lips were blanched from pressing them.

She lacked confidence, not knowing how much Zhou Du had told Xu Yanfeng, making it hard for her to perform.

She believed Zhou Du wouldn't volunteer information to Xu Yanfeng, but Xu Yanfeng, having navigated the business world for years with meticulous thinking, Zhou Du was no match for him—he could have wormed the truth out of him in a few words without Zhou Du even realizing.

"Is this question really that hard to answer? Do you need to think this long?" Xu Yanfeng stared at her, his gaze carrying a scrutinizing tone, enunciating each word: "Are you just trying to figure out how to lie?"

Xia Xi: "……"

She hadn't said anything yet, and Xu Yanfeng already slapped a "lying" label on her.

No wonder Zhou Du was so devastated.

Xia Xi lifted her eyelids and looked at him, unaware herself, her eyes holding a hint of wariness. Whether in the past or now, she had always acted boldly and decisively; when had she ever been so timid and hesitant.

It's all because she was forced.

Xu Yanfeng rested his chin on one hand, eyebrows slightly raised, appearing patient: "Huh? Why aren't you speaking?"

His voice was very soft, a hundred times gentler than when he faced Zhou Du.

He already knew Xia Xi hadn't betrayed him; she and Zhou Du were just putting on a fake show. She had never liked anyone else.

He didn't know whether, in the six years since they'd parted, she had met someone she liked; according to his guess, it was likely she hadn't.

Xia Xi's silence lasted a bit long.

Knowing she couldn't avoid it, she weighed her words, her tone slow, almost sputtering out two characters at a time: "Because... I... want... to... break up with you."

Xu Yanfeng: "?"

Once she got started, the rest came more smoothly; Xia Xi took a breath and said quickly: "I was afraid I couldn't break up cleanly, so I got Zhou Du to cooperate with me in acting out a scene to make you give up."

The silent one became Xu Yanfeng.

He seemed to have heard a cold joke, tugging at the corner of his mouth, unable to laugh, his tone tinged with mockery: "You think I'd believe that?"

Xia Xi unconsciously picked at her fingers; when at a loss, people always want to find something to do.

"Xia Xi, you still won't tell me the truth even now?" Xu Yanfeng seemed a little angry, but didn't give her a cold face, just his eyes grew dim: "Why do you want to break up with me? You admitted last night that when we were together, you were sincere."

Xia Xi pressed her tongue against her teeth, feeling an inexplicable helplessness hard to explain.

She felt her language-organizing system had gone on strike: "I..."

She uttered the word "I" for a long time but couldn't squeeze out a decent explanation.

To prevent her from wriggling out, Xu Yanfeng preemptively shut down the conversation: "What you've admitted can't be taken back; don't pretend it never happened."

Xia Xi's temple twitched; she changed the subject: "You weren't drunk last night, were you?"

Xu Yanfeng scoffed: "I have a good memory; I didn't black out."

Xia Xi had nothing left to say.

"Don't believe me?" Xu Yanfeng said slowly, "Do you need me to help you go over every little detail of last night?"

He deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the four words "point by point."

"No need!" Regarding last night, Xia Xi didn't want to recall it.

"Xia Xi, stop changing the subject and answer my question properly."

Xu Yanfeng's mind was crystal clear; he wasn't going to be fooled by her.

"There's no big reason; I just want to break up."

"Do you not like me anymore, are you bored of me? Or are you pregnant and worried I won't take responsibility?" Xu Yanfeng listed possible reasons for her.

"I back then..." Even if she were lying, Xia Xi didn't want to say anything bad about him; she denied the last option he'd listed: "I still didn't know I was pregnant."

Hearing her rule out the later options, leaving only the former, Xu Yanfeng couldn't believe it: "You're breaking up because you don't like me anymore, you're bored?"

Xu Yanfeng reviewed everything she'd said from beginning to end; thus, when she was with him, she had been sincere, but later she stopped liking him and feared he would cling, so she devised that method to sever ties completely.

"Is that possible?"

Everything about it seemed absurd; he didn't think Xia Xi would choose such a way of handling things.

He even wondered if it was because her family had been hit by successive misfortunes and she didn't want to drag him down. But that didn't fit her personality either.

Xu Yanfeng frowned; he clearly saw a path through the fog, but a section was missing in the middle.

"It's just like that, no other reason." Xia Xi really didn't want to keep talking; she stood up, looked out the window, "When I pursued you, it was because I liked you; being together was sincere too; later... later I realized we weren't compatible, I didn't really like you anymore."

Xu Yanfeng lifted his head, his Adam's apple moving, his face earnest as he asked: "Where are we incompatible?"

"Can't you stop asking?"

"No." Xu Yanfeng also stood up, facing her, insisting she give an answer.

Right now, Xia Xi felt like she was being roasted over a fire; it seemed if she didn't answer, he would insist on a showdown to the bitter end.

How should she answer to stop him from keep asking?

Must she say, "Our personalities don't match; you're always cold, you speak little, everything is initiated by me, over time I'd get tired, I can't feel how much you like me, so I don't want to keep this relationship."

All nonsense.

Although he was cold, he was gentle toward her; he was quiet and reserved, but in her presence he always responded; his affection for her never came from words, it was hidden in his actions.

When they were dating, she always teased him, calling him 'baby,' praising his cuteness; he would always respond speechlessly, at a loss, only able to step back and negotiate with her, asking if they could keep this just in private.

He was so good, she couldn't find a single fault.

Meeting Xu Yanfeng's misty, deep gaze, Xia Xi felt a faint ache in her heart; at times like this, lies are bound to hurt, she had already hurt him enough, she didn't want to add another wound.

"It's late, the kids are all tired." Xia Xi blinked, her throat dry, "You should go back."

After saying that, Xia Xi went around Xu Yanfeng, walked toward the bedroom, raised her hand to knock, and heard Xu Yanfeng's footsteps receding behind her, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

He left.

He finally left.

Xia Xi tilted her head to look at the doorway; she should have been glad he didn't keep questioning her, but for some reason her heart felt even more blocked than before.

She didn't see his back, and didn't know whether he was sad when he left.

Xia Xi lowered her gaze, lightly tapping the door twice.

Zhou Du quietly pulled the door open a gap over a foot wide, cautiously poked his head out to look, didn't see that big Buddha, and asked in a low voice, "Did the Xu guy leave?"

Xia Xi: "Mm."

Only then did Zhou Du fully open the door, let out a breath, his gaze inquisitive as he fixed on Xia Xi's face: "How did your talk with him go?"

"Not well." Xia Xi, utterly exhausted, slowly shook her head, "The conversation was fragmented; I spent the whole time thinking how to make that outrageous lie sound a bit more believable to fool Xu Yanfeng. But he's really hard to deceive."

Zhou Du nodded vigorously, deeply empathizing.

I suppose Xu Guanshan, knowing his son was too clever to be fooled by ordinary talk, arranged such a script for Xia Xi back then.

"Zhou Du, do you know?" Xia Xi's eyelids drooped, her voice lacking strength, "After returning to the country, Xu Yanfeng's father looked for me."