*Cherished?*

The word surfaced in her mind, and Su Man immediately broke out in goosebumps.

*Su Man, have you lost your mind?! He’s just a well-mannered person — what are you daydreaming about?! You’ve only known him two days. How can you leap to a word as sickeningly sweet as “cherished”?! What’s wrong with you?!*

— Su Man ruthlessly berated herself.

She felt like something was off with her.

It must be the heat — it must have fried her brain!

Su Man shook her head vigorously and hurried out the door.

……

Lu Yuwen stood by the window, watching her head next door — then a moment later return, get into her SUV, and drive away from the villa complex.

Somewhat a pity.

They’d been so close to watching the ending.

He walked back to the sofa, picked up the remote, and turned off the television.

His phone rang.

He answered without looking — Fang Zixin’s voice came through from the other end:

“Are you home today? I was thinking of coming over after work to get my things…”

“Actually, I’m sorry.” Lu Yuwen gently cut her off. “I’m still in Shanghai. I haven’t gone back.”

Fang Zixin paused, then said naturally, “Then I’ll go tomorrow.”

Lu Yuwen: “I won’t be back tomorrow, either.”

Fang Zixin: “……”

Lu Yuwen said unhurriedly, “I’m sorry. I’ll be staying in Shanghai for the foreseeable future. You still have my house key, so I’m afraid you’ll have to go get your things yourself.”

Fang Zixin was quiet for a few seconds. “How do I return the key to you?”

“Would it be convenient to mail it?” Lu Yuwen said pleasantly. “I’ll send you an address tomorrow — could you mail it over?”

A few more seconds of silence.

The other end seemed to want to say more, and then she spoke again: “Lu Yuwen, are you… deliberately avoiding me?”

Lu Yuwen was momentarily surprised. “Of course not.”

Fang Zixin sounded unconvinced and continued: “If the breakup hurt you, I apologize. I was too emotional before and didn’t handle things between us well. But I always assumed we parted on good terms — that even if we couldn’t be a couple, we could at least remain friends. We’re both adults; we shouldn’t let feelings get in the way. Since you’re clearly still not ready to face me, I’m willing to wait. Whenever you feel like you’ve let go, we can meet and talk.”

With that, she hung up first.

Lu Yuwen held his phone, initially rendered speechless — and then caught between exasperation and amusement.

How to put this…

This was, precisely, what it looked like when two people had never truly been deeply in love. If two people who deeply loved each other broke up, it would be heart-rending — a raw, bleeding kind of pain. The days after would feel like sinking into an abyss, the agony so complete that even hearing the other person’s name would be unbearable. There would be no such thing as calmly remaining friends.

It seemed that Fang Zixin’s trip abroad had allowed her to completely move on from him.

Lu Yuwen thought for a moment, found her in his contacts, and sent her a message:

*”I’m not deliberately avoiding you. I genuinely have things to take care of in Shanghai. If it’s inconvenient for you to come get your belongings, I’ll mail them to you when I return.”*

Message sent.

……

Su Man returned quickly — she dropped off the clothes and brought the person home, hardly delayed at all.

Lu Yuwen watched through the window as she helped a stumbling, intoxicated young man out of the car. He looked young, wore slim-framed glasses, and his cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol — though one could still tell, barely, that his features were fairly delicate and refined.

He seemed thoroughly drunk, yet remarkably, the words coming out of his mouth were still clear:

“Remember to cover for me with my mom later… It really wasn’t my idea to go — they forced me to, said it was to celebrate for me, and I couldn’t get out of it… Whatever you do, don’t mention Wu Xinghai…”

Su Man nodded with a furrowed brow. “I know. I’m not stupid.”

Her strength made supporting Li Li completely effortless — it was just that the reek of alcohol coming off him was nauseating, and she couldn’t wait to hand him off.

Lu Yuwen came out from his side of the house and strolled over. “Man Man, do you need help?”

“Oh, no, no.” Su Man quickly replied. “It’s just a few steps.”

Li Li laboriously lifted his head and squinted suspiciously at the unfamiliar man in front of him. “You called her… Man Man?”

—