Tan Yin wanted to speak, but Chu Hang, seemingly afraid his case wasn’t strong enough yet, stopped her. For the first time, he seemed to lose his usual composure, sounding awkward and nervous: “Think it over carefully before you answer me.”

Still reeling from the enormous shock, Tan Yin felt as if she were in a dream. She asked tentatively: “What if I don’t want to break up with Zhou Ming?”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together, his expression not looking great, but his tone remained calm, his answer flowing as though he’d rehearsed it a hundred times: “Think about it some more. I believe I can do better than him in every way.” Even now, he could still recommend himself with a straight face. “If you’re dating, I suggest you pick me—much better value than Zhou Ming. Once you break up with him and get with me, you’ll see you didn’t lose anything by breaking up.”

Still instinctively unable to believe this turn of events, Tan Yin—whose heart had raced and left her breathless the moment Chu Hang said “I like you,” her face now burning like fire, her heart pounding so hard it felt about to leap from her chest—still couldn’t quite believe it was real. She instinctively deflected: “Let me go talk this over with Zhou Ming first.”

“No.” Chu Hang immediately grabbed her hand. “Don’t go see him.” He pressed his lips together. “It makes me angry seeing you go to him.”

He said this with the air of someone about to dig up every single flaw buried in every pore of Zhou Ming’s body.

“It’s not that…” Tan Yin said, half laughing, half exasperated. “Zhou Ming’s actually a really good person.”

“I like you, so you can’t be with him.” Chu Hang’s expression darkened, his tone growing almost unreasonable. He looked at her. “You drew that comic about me—you ruined my reputation. You owe me for that.”

“When you were confessing earlier, was there anything you still haven’t confessed? Why didn’t you mention that time at the beach when we were sketching, when you deliberately went into my room and locked the door, so Xu Yu had no choice but to go into the wrong room next door and ended up sleeping with Jiang Yilu?”

“…”

This wasn’t actually something Tan Yin had forgotten to mention during her confession—quite the opposite. The moment she’d realized Chu Hang could both see and hear her while invisible, this was the very first thing that had come to mind.

It was so mortifying that even now, just thinking about it felt like committing a crime all over again. So during her earlier “confession for leniency,” she’d figured that since she’d already admitted to so many details, quietly leaving out this one wouldn’t be noticed, and Chu Hang probably wouldn’t remember it or pursue it—and indeed, that was exactly what had happened; even though Tan Yin had concealed it, Chu Hang hadn’t brought it up at all.

Why hadn’t she considered that someone as cunning and sharp-memoried as Chu Hang would never let her off so easily? He hadn’t forgotten at all, nor had he chosen not to pursue it—he’d simply been quietly setting a trap for her in the dark, waiting for the perfect moment to spring it and push her right into it! Like a cunning hunter laying a net across the forest, waiting for the prey to fall right in!

And now, clearly, was the moment of Chu Hang’s harvest…

Without giving Tan Yin any time to react, Chu Hang leaned in a little closer: “That night, you slept in the same bed as me, and you hugged me like a body pillow all night, didn’t you? The next morning you watched me take off my shirt, and even expected me to take off my pants too. You’ve already seen my body.”

Seen his body??? Chu Hang, a man’s upper body isn’t worth anything!!! Look at all the guys at swimming pools and men’s locker rooms, checking each other out all the time—does that mean they have to get married on the spot???

But whatever she thought inwardly, this incident genuinely had been her fault to begin with, so she could only explain, on the verge of tears: “I really didn’t mean to end up in your room. Listen, it’s all because Jiang Yilu ordered food delivery, and the delivery guy delivered to the wrong room…”

But before Tan Yin could finish, Chu Hang cut her off, glancing at her as though delivering a closing argument, sounding utterly justified—

“In short, my purity has been ruined by you.”

Wait… wait a minute…

Chu Hang’s declaration was so absurd it left Tan Yin’s ears practically ringing—

“You forced yourself to lie in the same bed as me, and while I was asleep at night, who knows what all you did to me.”

I… I didn’t! I really didn’t! Your honor! I’m innocent! Tan Yin practically wanted to scream!

What did he mean, she’d ruined his purity? It sounded like she was some sex offender who’d stolen his chastity! What was even happening here!

“I really didn’t do anything.” Tan Yin hurried to explain. “I really, I was just bluffing at the time because I thought you couldn’t see or hear me. I’m all talk, no action—if you actually asked me to do something, I’d totally chicken out. I really didn’t do anything to you, and since no one else knows about this, even if you’re still worried about your ‘purity,’ we can just keep it secret, pretend it never happened, and everything’s fine, right?”

“I can’t pretend it never happened.” Chu Hang gave her a complicated look, yet spoke with complete conviction. “I’m someone who’s absolutely loyal and honest with my girlfriend. Honesty is my life principle and bottom line. If I get a girlfriend in the future and she asks if I’ve slept with anyone else, based on my principles, I can only answer yes; who with? Tan Yin.”

He said this, glancing sideways at her, his voice lowering slightly, yet the content weighed down on her like the weight of a mountain.

“Isn’t that you ruining my purity?”

“…”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together and continued, utterly shameless: “Besides, all the things you did to me while invisible caused me significant psychological trauma—I was practically deranged for a while, nearly went down a dark path. Shouldn’t you make amends?”

“You used deviant methods to get my attention, made me fall for you—now’s not the time for you to just walk away. You need to stay, and be with me.”

…

And now it’s turned into deviant methods, huh…

The more Chu Hang accused her, the more dazed Tan Yin became. She knew he wasn’t really trying to blame her—he was trying to convince her…

But…

Tan Yin suddenly remembered: “But even if the love letter wasn’t for Anna, when Duan Yingfei confessed to you before, you told her you already had someone you liked. And after that, when you carried me down the mountain, I asked you if you had feelings for me, and you flatly said I was overthinking things and being self-important, didn’t you?” As she spoke, she couldn’t help feeling a pang of bitterness inside. “Doing the math on the timing, whoever you liked when Duan Yingfei confessed to you, it definitely wasn’t me.”

Even though Chu Hang’s confession made the irrational part of Tan Yin’s heart scream at her to say yes, say yes, perhaps precisely because she liked him so much, faced with this dreamlike scenario, her first instinct was actually caution—to be absolutely serious and take nothing lightly.

Tan Yin looked into Chu Hang’s eyes, almost putting on a brave front: “Chu Hang, I did pursue you before, but look at things now—I have Zhou Ming too. Don’t just come running to a former admirer to heal your wounds because the person you liked didn’t work out, and don’t assume that just because I liked you before, I’m still hung up on you now, ready to agree to be your backup the moment you confess…”

Before Tan Yin could finish, Chu Hang gripped her hand tightly, stopping her from continuing.

He looked into her eyes: “You’re not a backup. You’re the one who’s always been the real deal.”

“The person I’ve always liked is you.”

“Then when I asked you before, you denied having any feelings for me…”

“I lied.” Chu Hang’s expression was distinctly uncomfortable, his voice somewhat dry, but no matter how mortifying it was, he finally forced himself to say it. “When I was carrying you down the mountain, I lied.”

“Why?”

“Because you had Zhou Ming. You were already together with him, and yet you kept telling me over and over that you’d moved on. I felt like, if I still liked you, that would be too pathetic. I’ve never been that low before, and I didn’t want to be.”

But hearing this, Tan Yin was even more confused. She glanced cautiously at Chu Hang: “Then what are you doing now? Our situation now doesn’t seem any different from back when you carried me down the mountain, does it?”

“I regretted it.” Chu Hang took a deep breath. “At the time, I thought if I just didn’t admit it, I wouldn’t like you anymore. I thought if I had a bit of backbone, I could move on too, just like you could.”

Tan Yin’s heart pounded with excitement: “And then?”

Chu Hang looked at her: “And then I realized how childish that was.”

“I like you.”

“Like you, no matter how pathetic or humiliating it makes me feel, I still want to like you.”

“Like you, even though you don’t like me back, even though you like someone else, I still like you.”

“Like you, even though it goes completely against everything I usually stand for.”

“Like you, to the point where I don’t even feel like myself anymore. Every day, seeing you with Zhou Ming, it drives me crazy with irritation, like I’m constantly surrounded by negative energy, like nothing good ever comes from seeing you—and yet I still like you.”

“Like you to the point where I feel like as long as I can be with you, nothing else matters, I don’t care about anything else.”

“I don’t want to be like this either, but I can’t help it. This is just how much I like you.”

Chu Hang’s eyes carried an almost desperate helplessness as he looked at her, trying hard to stay calm, yet his expression looked almost like a sacrifice, as though he were carving out his own beating, burning heart and offering it to her with both hands, completely and unreservedly.

Every word Chu Hang spoke struck Tan Yin’s heart like the beat of a drum, over and over. If she’d felt bewildered by his earlier confession, then faced with this outpouring now, she felt even more unable to believe it. When had he come to feel this deeply for her? This weight of feeling made Tan Yin feel like her own secret crush, however much she’d carried it in her heart, seemed thin by comparison, seemed impossible to repay in kind.

But… why? Why did Chu Hang like her? Why did he seem to like her this much? Why did he like her?

Tan Yin was a little dazed. She looked at him, finally unable to stop herself from voicing the question in her heart: “Why do you like me?”

She’d fantasized about this moment countless times, yet now that it had finally arrived, she hesitated, feeling that something this good couldn’t possibly happen to her, still filled with a sense of unreality, and especially faced with Chu Hang’s confession like this, Tan Yin began to doubt even more—was this real? Or had she actually died in the earthquake, and this was some vision before death? Or had she already ascended to heaven?

Tan Yin tried to suppress her racing heart, forcing herself to stay calm, choosing her words carefully: “I remember you—you hated me from the very start. When I started writing you love letters freshman year, you seemed to particularly dislike me. You were cold to other girls who pursued you too, but not as cold as you were to me…” She looked bewildered. “Are your emotions always this extreme? Going from extreme dislike to extreme liking now?”

Tan Yin looked at Chu Hang, her voice almost a murmur: “And thinking about it myself, I don’t really have any outstanding qualities worth liking…”

Faced with this sudden confession, her first instinct was disbelief, and she kept asking for confirmation: “Chu Hang, what do you even like about me? I’m aimless, I talk too much, my grades aren’t great, I’m not that smart, and I’m accident-prone—I get struck by lightning just walking down the street, I fall off buildings picking up cash, I seem like nothing but bad luck…”

Going from hating her to loving her—just thinking about it, Tan Yin found it hard to believe, like suddenly winning the lottery. Amid the elation, once she calmed down, came the self-doubt: did she really match the winning numbers? Did she really deserve this much prize money? Would something bad happen when she went to claim it?

Chu Hang glared fiercely at her: “Different people have different tastes. I just happen to like someone aimless, talkative, not that smart, and accident-prone. Is that a problem?”

Such refined taste???

“By the way, you said you fell off that building because you were going after money?” Even now, amid all this chaos, Chu Hang still managed to zero in accurately on the key detail, his voice rising slightly. “So you didn’t jump off for me—you fell trying to get money?”

“Yeah…” Tan Yin fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “I already explained that before, I really didn’t jump for you, but no one believed me, so eventually I just gave up trying to correct it and accepted it…”

“…”

Chu Hang looked somewhat annoyed but held back and didn’t say anything, only pressing his lips together: “Then those love letters you wrote—those weren’t fake, were they.”

Tan Yin lowered her head and said softly: “Those weren’t fake.”

Chu Hang wouldn’t let it go: “Besides me, did you write to anyone else? Did you write to Zhou Ming?”

Tan Yin really didn’t want to answer this question, and she instinctively pushed back: “Why should I tell you? It has nothing to do with you—that’s my secret!”

“Fair trade—if you tell me, I’ll tell you a secret too.”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together, clearly determined to get to the bottom of it, with the air of someone who wasn’t letting her go until she talked.

Though Tan Yin suspected whatever “secret” Chu Hang offered was probably just a ploy to coax her, under his insistent gaze, she finally caved: “I never wrote to anyone else.”

After saying this, she hadn’t really expected anything substantial from Chu Hang in return—probably just some vague, meaningless “secret.” She never expected he’d hand her a secret that felt like a supernova exploding—

“Tan Yin, it was love at first sight for me.”

Chu Hang’s voice carried an unnatural, slightly bashful quality, yet every word was enunciated clearly, carried along by his deep, sensual voice, rising and falling as it reached Tan Yin’s ears.

As if having spoken this secret had brought him complete relief, Chu Hang’s next words no longer carried that dry, tense quality from before. He quickly composed himself, calmly recounting this secret that left Tan Yin utterly stunned: “I saw you before I even enrolled in this school.”

Just this simple sentence, yet Tan Yin’s heart began pounding completely out of control.

“You probably don’t remember—the winter break of my senior year of high school, I’d already been admitted to A University’s architecture program through early admission, and I came to visit the campus ahead of time, and that’s when I met you.”

Though the air was clear and there was even a light breeze, Tan Yin felt as if every ounce of oxygen were being stripped from her. She stared unblinking at Chu Hang, watching his lips move slightly as he spoke.

“You pretended to be blind…” Chu Hang paused. “I walked you down several streets, to a cafe.”

How could she forget, Tan Yin thought—it was precisely that fateful encounter that had planted the seed of her feelings for Chu Hang, which was why she’d started writing him love letters the moment school began. But she’d never imagined that Chu Hang remembered it too.

“But when school started, you acted like you didn’t know me at all, and were so cold to me…”

“Because I thought you’d tricked me.”

“Because you found out at the start of school that I wasn’t actually blind?”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together: “No, I found out that same day.”

He paused, then continued, seemingly resigned to confessing it all: “I walked you to the cafe to meet your friend and then left, but afterward, I came back.”

“Why did you come back?”

“I wanted your contact information.”

Hm… Tan Yin thought, that sounded promising after all…

“But then I saw you take off your sunglasses, laughing and talking with the guy next to you while looking at the camera—you clearly weren’t blind at all, that had all been an act just for the video. I figured you were probably some influencer on a livestreaming platform, pretending to be blind for views and attention, exploiting people’s kindness, and I thought that was really unfair of you, so I didn’t go back to ask for your contact information. When I recognized you at the start of school, I pretended not to know you, and was cold toward you. When you wrote me love letters, I ignored you too.”

“No, no, I wasn’t out there exploiting people’s goodwill for some attention-grabbing video, I was doing it for an NGO’s public service video!” Tan Yin had to explain the whole thing to Chu Hang again, though she was quite puzzled. “Why would you even think I was some livestreaming influencer? Do I look like an influencer to you?”

Chu Hang fell silent for a moment, clearly not expecting the truth to be like this, then said, feigning composure: “Because you’re pretty.”

Though his tone was quite serious, a flush was once again creeping up his ears and neck without him realizing it.

“Like an influencer type?”

“Influencers aren’t as pretty as you. You’re more distinctive than any of them.”

Even though being misunderstood by Chu Hang had led to him being cold to her for so long—something that still stung a little to think about even now—hearing him say something like that made it feel almost forgivable.

“So it really was love at first sight.” Having gone this far, even though Chu Hang’s ears and neck, and now even his cheeks, were red, he decided to just go all in. “It was the first and only time I ever felt that strongly about someone, and then I found out you’d tricked me.”

Hearing Chu Hang put it this way, it really did sound like the story of a pure, innocent young man’s first love, cruelly deceived by a wicked woman, left heartbroken and vowing never to love again… It almost made it sound like it really had been Tan Yin’s fault…

“So when you recognized me at school, you disliked me that much?”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together, struggling to say it: “Actually, I didn’t dislike you that much. Seeing you, honestly, I was more disappointed in myself.”

“Why?”

“Because even though I knew you were a liar, I still cared about you a little.” Chu Hang glanced at her. “Angry on one hand, and happy on the other.”

The anger made sense—thinking he’d been deceived would naturally make him angry—but what was the happiness about?

This time, before Tan Yin could ask, Chu Hang spoke first, glancing at her, his tone somewhat awkward: “The happiness was because, even though you’d tricked me, I found out you weren’t actually blind, that your eyes were fine, and that you were even a student in A University’s architecture program just like me. I was actually happy for you, felt a sense of relief.”

“Even though you’re a liar, I hoped you’d live a happy life.” As Chu Hang spoke, he kept his eyes fixed intently on hers. “I just thought, eyes as beautiful as yours—it’s such a good thing that they can see.”

From that moment on, Tan Yin’s heart, already pounding wildly, seemed to derail completely, unable to stop.

“Even though I kept telling myself not to care, and pretended not to care, you always found some way to catch my attention. I’d gone abroad for an exchange program for an entire semester to cool off, and the moment I came back, you’d stirred up that whole comic mess, forcing me to get tangled up with you again.” Chu Hang, recounting this, still sounded somewhat exasperated. “Tan Yin, you can be really annoying sometimes.”

Though Chu Hang said he found her annoying, to Tan Yin, his tone carried no deterrent effect whatsoever beyond mere bluster.

Back when Chu Hang had gone abroad for the exchange program, rumors around campus had all claimed he was avoiding her pursuit of him. Now, hearing this, Tan Yin realized that part was actually true—Chu Hang really had gone abroad to avoid her, just not in the way she’d assumed, but in the exact opposite way…

Looking back over all these details now, it was as if those old shards of glass, once you’d held them in your mouth long enough and really tasted them, turned out to be candy wrapped in a shell that only looked like broken glass.

Very sweet. Sweet enough to make your teeth ache.