Chapter 379: Volume 1, Chapter 379 — I Insist on Tasting the Bitterness of Love (19)

The speech was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

Ning Xun walked out of the room, clutching his phone tightly, his long legs striding forward as he passed by them.

Wuzihang followed up and asked, "Brother Ning, where are you going?"

Ning Xun: "Having a meal."

Everyone's faces lit up with joy.

They had been cooped up in the room for several days, and finally thought to go out for a meal.

Ning Xun, having left the club, wandered aimlessly down the wide road; the honking of passing cars intermittently sounded, mingling with pedestrians' laughter and chatter.

He walked into a park, stopped, sat on a bench, lifted his phone slightly, the screen lit up, and a text message came into view.

【Ning Xun, you're immature and lack a sense of security; being with you gives me only a feeling of suffocation.

Let's break up; I never want to see you again in this lifetime, so you don't need to come looking for me.

But I still want to congratulate you on winning the championship; keep up the good work.】

His fingers, clenched tight around the phone, lost color as the veins bulged up to his wrist; he resembled a beast at the end of its rope, clutching his chest as he slumped onto the uneven cobblestone road.

After several sleepless nights, his dark eyes were filled with fine bloodshot lines; he stared fixedly at the phone screen as tears gradually blurred his vision.

A tear slid down his eye socket and splashed onto the pebble, made translucent by the sunlight.

Waves of intense pain hammered his head, crushing and tearing, making him feel as if he could not bear to live.

He desperately tried to reach the shaft of sunlight cast by the tree shade, but as the weather suddenly changed, darkness swallowed the light and large raindrops pattered down onto the leaves.

Ning Xun closed his eyes and fainted.

…

Six years later.

Jiang Zhi, about to turn thirty, held up her umbrella and walked to a cake shop to buy a birthday cake.

Her dark, silky hair fell to her waist; a deep blue dress outlined her slender figure, and with each step, the butterfly‑like skirt flared, revealing a slender, porcelain‑white calf.

A faint smile played on her lips, polite and warm.

The shop assistant was a young girl who had never seen such a beautiful woman; she stared, dazed, until the older clerk snapped her to attention.

"Hurry and bring Miss Jiang's custom birthday cake over."

The girl nodded dazedly and turned to fetch the cake.

The older clerk spoke in a foreign language, saying, "Miss Jiang, please wait a moment."

Jiang Zhi nodded, then pulled out a silk handkerchief to wipe the rainwater from her fingers after folding the umbrella.

Soon the girl brought the cake over and handed it to her.

Jiang Zhi paid, thanked her, and left.

After the woman left, the girl couldn't help asking the older clerk, "She's so beautiful—could she be a film or TV star?"

The older clerk shook his head: "You're new, so you wouldn't know—Miss Jiang often comes to buy bread here; she lives in the nearby district."

The girl rested her chin on her hand and said, "Oh, so that means I'll get to see her all the time from now on—how great!"

The cake shop door was pushed open again.

A youth in a windbreaker entered, wearing a baseball cap that hid half his face, and all we heard him ask was, "What did the previous customer buy?"

The older clerk replied, "Sorry, that's the customer's privacy—I can't tell you."

Upon hearing that, the youth didn't press them, lowered the brim of his cap, and turned to leave.

The girl let out a breath and exclaimed, "He looks like a movie assassin—he scared me!"

The older clerk's expression darkened as he considered whether to call the police.

…

These days are the rainy season; the road drainage is excellent, with no standing water, but the road back is not easy to travel.

Jiang Zhi held the cake in one hand and gripped the umbrella handle with the other; the light-colored umbrella was small, and a few drops of rain wet her skirt.

In a foreign land, she had lived here for six years, and her days off were always pleasant.

During her first year living there, her suitors were countless, so many that she considered moving away.

But afterward those suitors all disappeared, and she never knew why.

She rarely paid attention to the villain's affairs anymore, learning about them only from Li Qianqian.

After Ning Xun had slacked off for a month, he joined the summer tournament, then the global finals, won the S11 Championship, and retired.

She didn't know what happened after that.

After the villain retired, he went into investing.

As the villain of this world, Ning Xun spent three years becoming a towering figure in the venture‑capital industry.

She accidentally stepped on a muddy patch; mud splattered onto her off‑white flats.

Jiang Zhi stopped, knelt down, pulled out a tissue, and wiped off the stain.

As she was about to stand, the umbrella lifted slightly, revealing a silhouette in her view.

Jiang Zhi thought it was another suitor, holding the cake, she intended to walk past him.

But the person stepped in front of her again, saying nothing.

Jiang Zhi disliked rainy days; her wet skirt made her want to go home early. She parted her lips slightly and said fluently in a foreign language, "I have a husband—don't follow me."

Jiang Zhi disliked rainy days; her skirt hem was soaked, making her want to head home early. Her lips slightly parted as she spoke fluent foreign language: "I have a husband, don't follow me anymore."

Just as she was about to leave, he lifted the edge of the umbrella, revealing a handsome, dignified face before her eyes.

The youth's slightly wavy brown hair, damp from the rain, clung to his brows and eyes; his pitch‑black pupils were dark and deep, the outer corners of his eyes slightly lifted, giving off a chill, and his thin lips were somewhat pallid.

The youth's slightly curled brown hair, soaked by rain, lay against his brows and eyes; his pitch-black pupils were dark and deep; the slightly upturned corners of his eyes carried a biting chill; his thin lips were somewhat pallid.

Jiang Zhi recognized him at a glance.

She turned to run, but he grabbed her waist in one sweep and held her tightly in his arms.

His chest was damp, cold, and broad, completely enveloping her, making it hard to struggle, like a poisonous snake clinging, leaving her breathless.

"Loosen… let go!"

Jiang Zhi was very afraid.

She just wanted to spend her remaining days peacefully, without getting entangled with him.

If he went too far in bullying others, Jiang Zhi would immediately leave this body and return to the Rest Cabin.

"Sorry." Ning Xun's voice was very soft, and the next moment he dissipated in the rain.

Jiang Zhi froze, opened the data sheet, and seeing the Hatred Value of 100, fell into thought.

That's not right.

When he first saw her, shouldn't he have tormented her severely?

This is a Hatred Value of 100—how could he apologize to her?

"I won't treat you like that again." Ning Xun's tall frame trembled slightly, his heart pounding violently in his chest, so much that Jiang Zhi could feel his unease and sorrow.

"Zhizhi, don't abandon me… please."

In the pattering rain, a desperate, wolf-like howl of pleading came from the youth behind her.

Jiang Zhi turned, gazing at his rain‑slicked, pallid face, meeting those ink‑black eyes that only appeared in her dreams; she lifted her slender white fingers, holding a handkerchief, and gently wiped the rain from the corners of his eyes.

"Alright, then I forgive you."

She said that.

The youth's pupils contracted sharply; he stood there dazed, like an empty shell whose soul had been ripped out.