Xiao Youran had always been a particularly proud girl.
Xu Xiuwen remembered that when Xiao Youran was a child, she wanted a doll. However, after her parents refused her request, she never asked them for a doll again.
Later on, even when Aunt Zhang offered to buy her a doll, she refused.
When she was ten years old, she had a good friend named Honghong.
She invited Honghong to her tenth birthday party, but there was another girl in their class who had a birthday on the same day and also invited Honghong.
Honghong went to the other girl's party.
Xiao Youran didn't say anything, she just quietly distanced herself from Honghong.
When Honghong tried to play with her again, Xiao Youran completely ignored her.
She was the type who would voluntarily give up and distance herself once rejected.
So, when Xu Xiuwen rejected her that day, he was already prepared for her to distance herself from him.
But now, Xiao Youran did not distance herself. Instead, she initiated conversations with him and showed a lot of concern, as if that day's incident never happened.
This puzzled him.
Xu Xiuwen shook his head and said, "I'm fine, you don't need to help me."
He raised his arm to avoid Xiao Youran's hand.
Xiao Youran was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a strong reaction from Xu Xiuwen.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xu Xiuwen said, "I need to use the bathroom."
Before Xiao Youran could respond, Xu Xiuwen quickly left the room.
He wasn't actually needing to use the bathroom frequently; he was just using it as an excuse to escape.
Since things had already been clarified, there was no need to maintain any ambiguous connections.
Xu Xiuwen already had Cheng Lu, Tang Weiwei, and An Shishi; he was satisfied.
He walked to the restaurant's front desk where the class monitor He Yu was settling the bill.
He greeted, "Monitor, I'm heading out."
He Yu turned around and, seeing him, asked with concern, "Can you get home by yourself? Should I call your mom?"
Xu Xiuwen chuckled and waved his hand, "No need, I'm perfectly clear-headed."
"Alright then."
He Yu nodded and didn't say more.
At that moment, the lady at the front desk said, "It's 815 yuan total, but I'll make it 800 for you."
He Yu heard this and reached for his wallet to pay.
As he took out his wallet, a black object fell out.
Xu Xiuwen took a closer look and it seemed like a pager.
The item rolled to Xu Xiuwen's feet, and as he bent down to pick it up, He Yu quickly grabbed it and stuffed it back into his pocket.
Xu Xiuwen had bent halfway down.
He asked with a smile, "Monitor, what was that?"
He Yu's expression was stiff as he forced a smile, "It's an MP3 player."
Xu Xiuwen didn't think much of it, said goodbye to He Yu, and walked out of the restaurant.
Outside the restaurant, he took out his keys, unlocked his car, and got in.
Xu Xiuwen knew he shouldn't drive after drinking, especially when drunk.
His current state definitely qualified as drunk driving.
But this was early 2006, and the city hardly checked for drunk driving.
He hesitated about driving home himself.
After some serious thought, he decided he should be a law-abiding citizen. Just because drunk driving wasn't heavily policed in Langya City in 2006 didn't mean he should break the law.
After all, driving drunk was irresponsible to himself and others.
With a new life just beginning, he didn't want any accidents.
So, he took out his phone and called Ning Wanqiu to pick him up.
After the call, Xu Xiuwen felt a bit sleepy and rested his head on the steering wheel.
...
He didn't know how long he had slept.
Xu Xiuwen opened his eyes.
Ning Wanqiu hadn't arrived yet.
He casually checked his phone for the time; it had been half an hour since he called her.
After half an hour of sleep, he felt much clearer and less tired.
Feeling the need to use the bathroom, he was about to get out of the car and head back to the restaurant when he suddenly saw Cao Yu walking out of the Small Town Restaurant.
Xu Xiuwen was surprised.
He had taken a nap, yet Cao Yu still hadn't left.
But what surprised him even more was the sight behind Cao Yu.
Following Cao Yu were three people.
Class monitor He Yu!
Xu Xiuwen's two high school friends, Liu Yang and Wan Wei.
Xu Xiuwen and Cao Yu didn't get along, so Liu Yang and Wan Wei also had a bad relationship with Cao Yu.
Therefore, when Xu Xiuwen saw Liu Yang and Wan Wei following behind Cao Yu, he found it incredible.
He was originally about to get out of the car but suddenly stopped.
He quickly moved to the passenger seat, keeping an eye on the four people at the entrance of the restaurant.
Xu Xiuwen's car was parked right at the entrance of the Small Town Restaurant.
The four people were less than two meters away from his car.
So he could hear their conversation clearly.
Cao Yu spoke first, "Did you do what you were supposed to do?"
He Yu immediately grinned obsequiously, "Brother Cao, don't worry, I've got him to talk."
Cao Yu asked, "He didn't notice, did he?"
He Yu quickly replied, "No, no, he was so drunk, he probably didn't even know what he was saying. Plus, with Liu Yang and Wan Wei being so close to him, he'd never suspect we were trying to get him to talk."
Upon hearing this, Cao Yu nodded, "Alright, you did well. Give me the recorder."
Upon hearing this, He Yu immediately took out a small black device from his pocket.
Xu Xiuwen took a closer look; wasn't this the same MP3 player that had just fallen out of his pocket?
So it was a recorder?
Cao Yu took the recorder and then opened his briefcase, pulling out ten bundles of hundred-yuan bills.
"This is 100,000 yuan; you three can split it."
"Thank you, Brother Cao!" x3
He Yu and the other two expressed their gratitude.
Cao Yu glanced at them and said, "Don't be in a rush to thank me. I have another task for you. Liu Yang, Wan Wei, since you're close to him, find a chance to take him to a bar, get him drunk, and then take a few intimate photos with other women. If you get them, I'll give you another 200,000."
"Okay, Brother Cao." x2
Cao Yu sneered, "If I, Cao Yu, can't get the woman, neither can he!"
After saying that, he walked directly to a BMW parked on the roadside, opened the door, and drove away.
After Cao Yu left.
He Yu started splitting the money.
Cao Yu had given a total of ten bundles of hundred-yuan bills.
Which was 100,000 yuan.
He Yu said, "I'm the one who took the recorder, so I'll take an extra 10,000. I get 40,000, and you each get 30,000!"
Liu Yang and Wan Wei were immediately upset.
"No way, we all worked to get him to talk, and we did most of the drinking too. We should each get 35,000, and you get 30,000!"
He Yu naturally disagreed.
The three of them started arguing right at the entrance of the restaurant.
In the end, they each took 33,300 yuan.
The extra 100 yuan was used for cab fare.
After the three of them got into the same taxi and left, Xu Xiuwen finally raised his head.
He leaned back in his seat, expressionless.
At this moment, his face was dark and gloomy.
Xu Xiuwen didn't know how He Yu and the other two got involved with Cao Yu.
That wasn't important!
What was important was the information he had gathered from their conversation.
First was the recorder.
He Yu called it an MP3 player, and recalling his nervous behavior at the time, Xu Xiuwen immediately realized he had lied.
Next was the questioning.
Xu Xiuwen had talked a lot with the three of them tonight, but the only conversation that could be considered probing happened in the restroom.
He now recalled the conversation in detail. What the three of them said at the time seemed casual, but every word had a purpose.
Xu Xiuwen wasn't stupid.
He quickly pieced the whole thing together.
He Yu had suggested the dinner;
Liu Yang and Wan Wei had taken turns urging him to drink;
The three of them went to the restroom with Xu Xiuwen and then brought up Xiao Youran.
In their words, they seemed to stand by his side, thinking and speaking for him.
When he connected all these details, their purpose became glaringly obvious.
The three of them had been trying to get him to talk, recording his complaints about Xiao Youran.
Xu Xiuwen's brain suddenly activated.
He suddenly recalled the conversation from this night in his previous life.
At that time, the three of them had said in unison that Xiao Youran must have started dating someone else after going to college.
Xu Xiuwen also remembered that He Yu seemed to have said that Yang Xiaoxiao had told him that Xiao Youran indeed had a boyfriend in college, and Yang Xiaoxiao was Xiao Youran's close friend.
Then, the three of them tried to persuade him in various ways, saying there were plenty of fish in the sea and there was no need to be hung up on one flower.
They even said that Xiao Youran rejected him because she must not think highly of him, and so on.
In his past life, Xu Xiuwen was not as calm as he is now. Back then, he was young and had been drinking, so he was drunk and didn't want to be looked down upon by the three of them. In a moment of agitation, he said that he didn't like Xiao Youran at all.
Xu Xiuwen had already remembered that in his past life, he did say those words when he was drunk.
And the bar.
Xu Xiuwen also remembered it.
It was three days after the dinner party.
Liu Yang and Wan Wei called him out for a meal; the three of them had some barbecue and drank a little, and then Liu Yang suggested they go to a bar to have some fun.
Xu Xiuwen had never been to a bar and wasn't interested in bars, but Liu Yang insisted on going, and Wan Wei egged him on to join them. In the end, he went to the bar with the two of them.
That night, Xu Xiuwen got drunk and was eventually taken home by Liu Yang and Wan Wei.
He couldn't remember what happened in between.
All the details linked together, plus Xu Xiuwen saw with his own eyes Cao Yu giving money and heard their conversation with his own ears.
Xu Xiuwen understood the whole situation.
Cao Yu had paid off He Yu and the other two, had them bait him into talking, then had Liu Yang and Wan Wei take him to the bar, and must have taken intimate photos of him with other women.
Cao Yu's purpose was clear.
It was to ruin his relationship with Xiao Youran.
In this life, Cao Yu didn't need to do anything; Xu Xiuwen had already rejected Xiao Youran.
But in his past life.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand it in his past life.
He and Xiao Youran had been childhood sweethearts for eighteen years and had deep feelings for each other.
Moreover, Xiao Youran had clearly promised him that as long as he got into university, she would be his girlfriend.
Xiao Youran might have been willful and had many flaws, but she was never someone who would break her promise.
Since childhood, she never gave any other boy the time of day.
How could she fall for another boy in just one year?
So, in his past life, Xu Xiuwen couldn't figure it out and couldn't accept it for a long time.
But now he suddenly realized.
It was all Cao Yu's schemes behind the scenes.
His conversations with his "good brothers Liu Yang and Wan Wei" had been recorded, and there were likely intimate photos from the bar.
These things must have been shown to Xiao Youran by Cao Yu.
Xu Xiuwen understood Xiao Youran's personality in his past life.
She was a proud and stubborn girl.
If rejected, she would never approach again.
With such a personality, if she heard Xu Xiuwen say he didn't like her and saw intimate photos of him with other women.
There was only one possibility: she was heartbroken.
She would never confront Xu Xiuwen and ask why he had changed his heart but would choose to distance herself and keep her distance.
This explained everything.
Xu Xiuwen had always thought in his past life that it was Xiao Youran who had changed her heart and deceived him.
He hated Xiao Youran for a long time, causing many sleepless nights.
But now he knew it wasn't she who had changed but Xiao Youran who thought he had changed!
The truth was finally clear!
Xu Xiuwen was extremely regretful.
Why didn't he trust Xiao Youran in his past life and ask her to clarify?
If they had talked it out, they might have been together.
After all, he once liked Xiao Youran so much, and Xiao Youran must have liked him too.
Xu Xiuwen couldn't help but want to slap himself when he thought of Xiao Youran's sadness at night, believing he had changed his heart.
Xu Xiuwen was lost in his thoughts.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Ning Wanqiu called to say she had arrived.
Xu Xiuwen saw Ning Wanqiu and honked the car horn.
Ning Wanqiu, standing not far from the car, heard the horn and quickly located the car.
Ning Wanqiu walked over, opened the driver's side door, and got in.
The car started.
On the way home, Xu Xiuwen deliberately rolled down the car window, letting the cold night wind of winter hit his face.
He was filled with mixed emotions.
If he had known the truth earlier, if he had known before meeting Cheng Lu again at Jiaotong University.
He would have made up for the regrets of his past life and been with Xiao Youran.
But everything was too late.
Xu Xiuwen felt a dull ache in his heart when he thought of the words he said to her earlier this year.
"Cao Yu!"
Xu Xiuwen squeezed out these two words through his teeth.
For the culprit who had been secretly causing trouble, leading to the misunderstanding and subsequent separation between him and Xiao Youran, Xu Xiuwen wished he could tear him apart.
Ning Wanqiu said angrily, "Why open the window when it's so cold? Hurry up and close it."
Normally, Xu Xiuwen would listen to Ning Wanqiu and immediately close the window.
But at this moment, he needed the cold wind to cool down his boiling heart.
For once, he refused his mother.
"Mom, let me feel the cold wind for a while."
Ning Wanqiu was somewhat surprised.
Her son actually didn't listen to her.
She quickly noticed that he was in a low mood, so she just nodded and didn't say more.
After returning home, Xu Xiuwen immediately went to his room, locked the door, and shut himself inside.
Xu Xiuwen sat in front of his computer.
He stared at the screen, his eyes vacant.
Knowing the truth, and thinking about the moments he had spent with Xiao Youran, he felt immensely guilty.
At this moment, Xu Xiuwen suddenly noticed that Xiao Youran's avatar in his QQ friends list was online.
He immediately sent her a message.
"Youran, are you home? Are you asleep yet?"
Xiao Youran was also sitting in front of her computer.
Ever since she read Xiao Xu's novel, she had joined the reader group.
During the holidays, she would go online and chat with group members every day.
It was as if this way, she could feel that Xu Xiuwen was not far from her.