Lu Yuwen said, “We were together for a while, and got along very well. She was full of creative and imaginative ideas — she often gave me inspiration. We traveled abroad together, hunting for good food. She never once showed any disdain for my limp.”

Su Man thought it over, “She sounds like a genuinely good person.”

She looked at Lu Yuwen curiously. “What happened afterward? Why did you two part ways?”

Lu Yuwen looked down at her, the faint trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth. He raised one hand and gently brushed the hair back from Su Man’s ear. “I shouldn’t have brought this up with you — mentioning an ex is one of the great taboos in a relationship.”

“But you’re already halfway through!” Su Man’s eyes went wide. “What happened in the end? Leaving someone in suspense is the most insufferable thing!”

Lu Yuwen paused for a moment, then said with a light smile, “Afterward… her family member fell ill. I took her home to her hometown to visit her parents. When we arrived at the hospital entrance, she told me that under the circumstances it felt too rushed to meet the family, and I respected her wishes, so I went back to the hotel first.”

Su Man finished listening, still puzzled. “That’s all?… That doesn’t seem like grounds for breaking up, does it?”

Lu Yuwen looked at her and continued, “That evening I went to the hospital to pick her up. She came out from the hospital entrance, with several relatives and friends around her. She then pretended not to see me, and got into a car with the others and left.”

Su Man went still.

She couldn’t quite understand why she would do that — at the very least she should have said a word of greeting, shouldn’t she?

“Could it be……” she ventured hesitantly, “could it be that she genuinely didn’t see you at that moment?”

“Perhaps.” Lu Yuwen’s lips curved slightly. “It’s also possible that she suddenly realized she could ignore the stares of strangers on the street, but couldn’t bring herself to ignore the peculiar looks from her own family and friends. Afterward, when we were back in Nanjing, we saw each other noticeably less and less. She probably hadn’t figured out how to face me, so she took an extended leave and went traveling abroad on her own to clear her head. It was during that period that she asked to break up. So we parted on civil terms.”

“But your leg isn’t lame anymore.” Su Man couldn’t wrap her head around breaking up over something like that alone. She and Li Li had quarreled so many times, and they’d never come close to cutting each other out of their lives entirely.

If she had minded the limp, why start the relationship in the first place?

So casually getting together, so casually breaking apart — why did people always do that?

A bittersweet feeling settled in her chest. She said to Lu Yuwen, “A limp isn’t your fault, you know……”

“I know.” Lu Yuwen said, “It wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t hers either. Recognizing that you weren’t right for each other and ending things — for both of us, it was the best way to cut your losses in time. I only feel a little sad that I never did find a girl who could accept my imperfection.”

Su Man silently wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling sad on his behalf.

She thought that if it were her, she would never look down on Lu Yuwen for something like that — because he was already so good. Nearly perfect. Even if the limp took away a few points, he was still absolutely a 90-plus quality man.

Why would that girl have let him go?… What a waste.

“But I’ve stopped thinking that way recently.” Lu Yuwen said suddenly.

“Hmm?” Su Man looked up at him.

Lu Yuwen’s gaze was soft as he looked at her, his voice very low: “Because — if it’s a girl I truly care about, I wouldn’t be able to bear… letting her carry those stares.”

What he said had a somewhat backhanded quality to it.

If his former girlfriend heard this, she’d surely be furious — they’d spent two months in a relationship together. Was it a fake relationship? Not even truly caring about her? How outrageous!

But for Su Man hearing it, there was only sweetness.

Because every woman wants to be the one and only true love in her beloved’s heart.