Who wants to be a male model after being reborn? I want to be a male god.

Chapter 357 Saying Goodbye
"Tibet" is a special place for both of them.

If those things had not happened, the two of them should have taken a train, gone to see the scenery, the cattle and sheep, and laughed out loud on the grassland.

To see scenery they have never seen before.

"It sounds like a good plan. Does your mother agree?" Xu Wen asked.

Although he had many feelings in his heart, he did not say them out loud.

"Well, she has changed a lot now. She no longer controls my life like before. She said that she wants me to be healthy and happy more than my studies and achievements." Xia Ning smiled.

Xu Wen thought of Xia Ning's mother.

That strong lawyer He.

When he was in high school, he just found his daughter's love letter, so he dragged the fragile adolescent Xia Ning in front of the high school class teacher for trial.

Fortunately, nothing irreversible happened in the end.

But perhaps the seeds of paranoia were already planted then.

Xu Wen still remembers Xia Ning’s room, which was so serious and didn’t seem like a room for a little girl.

In the following time, the two talked about many topics.

But no one mentioned past relationships, and no one mentioned what had happened.

Those experiences seemed to disappear just like that.

The conversation between them was natural and smooth, like old friends rather than lovers who once loved each other deeply and hurt each other.

The topic shifted from Xia Ning's treatment progress to Xu Wen's entrepreneurial journey, and then to the latest news of their mutual friends.

Time passed by unknowingly, and the sunlight outside the window gradually set.

After a period of silence, Xu Wen finally took the initiative to say: "If you want, we can go back to the way we were before."

This sentence is like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

Xia Ning paused while stirring the coffee, then slowly put down the spoon.

"No, we don't need to go back to the past. In fact, we can't go back to the past." Her voice was soft but firm.

She remembered the little game in the psychiatrist's office.

Later, she finally stopped insisting on tying the two dolls tightly together, and instead let them look at each other across a stream paved with blue stones.

Xu Wen frowned: "Why?"

Xia Ning looked at him.

Xu Wen's frown at this moment subtly overlapped with her expression on that Christmas Eve.

But this time she no longer felt the urge to destroy everything, and her heart gradually calmed down.

"Because we have all changed. You are no longer the Xu Wen who was locked in the rental house by me, and I am no longer the hysterical Xia Ning. We have experienced too much, and it is impossible to pretend that nothing happened." Xia Ning looked straight into his eyes.

She paused and continued, "Besides, you have Gu Xingruo, don't you?"

After talking so much, the two finally talked about these topics.

All that was said before was just a prelude, and these are all the two of them wanted to say in the end.

There is no way to escape.

Xu Wen did not deny it immediately, which in itself was an answer.

Xia Ning smiled knowingly, there was no jealousy or anger in her eyes, only an almost transparent calmness.

"I'm not here to ruin your relationship, I just need to wrap up some things and start over," she said softly.

This is still the same statement as before.

She did not explain what she wanted to "end", but just spoke vaguely.

"Then what do you think our relationship is?" Xu Wen asked, his voice hoarser than he expected.

Xia Ning thought for a while: "We each lead our own lives and occasionally cross paths. We don't need to contact each other every day, and we don't need to know what the other person is doing every minute, but when we meet, we can have a frank conversation like we did today."

"Like friends?" Xu Wen asked.

"Like two people who were once deeply in love and have now learned to get along in a healthier way. Just like the new ending in my book, the sun shines on the overlapping hands, neither promising forever nor foreshadowing separation," Xia Ning corrected.

Xu Wen looked at her in silence.

The sunlight outside the window cast a golden edge on Xia Ning's profile, and her eyelashes cast a tiny shadow on her cheeks.

This Xia Ning was both familiar and unfamiliar. The way she talked about feelings was so mature, completely different from the paranoid girl in memory.

"It's almost time. I should go back and prepare to go to the airport." Xia Ning looked at her watch.

Xu Wen nodded and waved to the waiter to pay the bill.

Xia Ning didn't rush to pay with him, but just smiled and said thank you.

As they walked out of the cafe, the evening breeze gently brushed their faces.

Xia Ning suddenly took out a cell phone and headphones from her bag.

"Listen to a song before you leave," she said, handing a pair of headphones to Xu Wen.

Xu Wen took the headphones, and their fingers touched briefly. A tiny electric current seemed to spread from the point of contact.

Xia Ning opened the music software, and the prelude of Jay Chou's "Say Goodbye" slowly sounded.

She still likes Jay Chou's songs so much and listens to every one of them.

The weather turned cold, the rain fell, and you left.

It's clear now, what I love is lost.

The fallen leaves fell asleep on the lake.
The song reached their ears through headphones, and the lyrics seemed to be tailor-made for them.

Xu Wen turned his head to look at Xia Ning and found that she was closing her eyes, with her face slightly tilted back, letting the evening breeze blow her hair.

Xu Wen recalled the day he escaped from the house, Xia Ning's hysterical crying and his final resolute departure.

Xia Ning seemed to have thought of the same scene. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she did not open her eyes.

Xu Wen noticed that she still had that faint smile on her lips, as if telling him and himself.

The pain is over.

After saying goodbye, I realized I would never see you again.

I can't lose your smile like this.

When the chorus sounded again, Xia Ning opened her eyes and turned to look at Xu Wen.

Her eyes were clear, without the possessiveness and desire for control as before, only a calm acceptance.

"This song suits us very well," she whispered, her voice almost drowned out by the music.

Xu Wen nodded, his throat tightening for some reason.

He remembered every word Xia Ning said today, the small box full of memories that she returned, and the words she wrote at the end of the book: "To you who I once loved deeply, and to us who may meet again in the future."

When the song ended, Xia Ning took off her headphones and put them away carefully.

"Thank you for coming to see me. I will contact you next time I return to Linjiang." She said calmly.

"Okay." Xu Wen only said one word, but it contained thousands of words.

Xia Ning hailed a taxi. Before getting in, she looked back at Xu Wen and raised a bright smile: "Goodbye, Xu Wen."

It had been a long time since she had called him by his first name.

Of course, I no longer call him by the name that I used to always blurt out.

"Goodbye, Xia Ning." Xu Wen stood there, watching the taxi go away until it disappeared around the corner.

The setting sun stretched his shadow very long.

Xu Wen took a deep breath and turned to walk towards his car. He knew that this was not the end, but a brand new beginning.

They finally learned to be in each other's lives in a healthier way.

Just like Xia Ning said, we live our own lives and occasionally intersect.

There is no more crazy possession, no more painful entanglement, only two people who once loved each other deeply and redefined their relationship after growing up.

Just as the car was about to start, Xu Wen's cell phone beeped.

Above is the text message she sent.

"I never gave up loving you."

Xu Wen stepped on the accelerator and hummed the song he had just sung: "I said goodbye only to find that I'll never see you again. I can't lose your smile like this."

Gu Xingruo walked down from the elevator in high heels, and the glass door reflected her carefully matched beige suit and slightly curly long hair.

The receptionist stood up immediately: "Hello, Mr. Gu!"

"Good morning, Xiao Zhang. You look very nice today." Gu Xingruo smiled and waved, without stopping.

She liked the feeling of being known by everyone. Although she did not hold any official position in the company, everyone knew that she was Xu Wen's girlfriend.

Xu Wen stayed up late for a meeting again last night, so she asked the nanny to prepare some nourishing soup and bring it in a thermos.

Thinking of his satisfied expression when he drank the soup, the corners of her mouth unconsciously raised.

"Ms. Gu!" Several programmers from the technical department greeted her immediately upon seeing her.

Jia Mingliang even looked up from the pile of code: "The boss lady is so beautiful today!"

"Stop talking nonsense and get back to your work." Gu Xingruo pretended to be serious but couldn't hide the smile in the corner of his eyes.

She liked the title of "boss lady" as she felt a sense of security and connectedness with Xu Wen.

Recently, she has become accustomed to the "new version" of Jia Mingliang, who is more lively and talkative than before.

No wonder he insisted on coming to the new company.

Wan Zhi next door didn't seem to have changed much and was still working hard.

After leaving the office area, she pushed open the door of Xu Wen's office and found no one inside.

The scattered documents and half a cup of cold coffee on the table showed that the owner had just left.

Gu Xingruo put down the thermos and began to tidy up the table out of habit.

Her fingers brushed over the cartoon ornaments she had hand-picked.

There are My Little Pony mugs, pink plush slippers, and even a plush blanket with cartoon patterns.

These childish little items bring a bit of liveliness to the serious office.

"Files are misplaced again." She muttered and stacked the papers on the floor.

Suddenly, she stopped moving.

Xu Wen's computer screen was on, and the browser window was clearly displaying the online reading page of "The Disease Name is You".

Gu Xingruo's heart skipped a beat.

She actually knew about this book a long time ago.

It is a novel written by Xia Ning, the scheming woman, recording her almost pathological relationship.

Most of the plot takes place in that rental house.

After seeing this, Gu Xingruo complained to Cao Yanan: "Why didn't she also write about her sister Gu's heroic appearance?"

She was not surprised that Xu Wen discovered this book.

The internet is flooded with reports about the "beautiful writer", how could he not know?
She sat down slowly, her mouse pointer hovering over the page.

There was no expression on Gu Xingruo's face, she was just flipping through the reports on the web page with interest.

The photo of Xia Ning at the book signing event in the report was stunningly beautiful. Her white dress made her look like a fairy who was not of this world.

"Haha, the media just loves this kind of tone." Gu Xingruo snorted and continued reading.

The article quoted passages from a novel, describing how Xia Ning fell madly in love with her high school classmate, who sat behind her, and even imprisoned him in a rental house.

"He's a little crazy, but his writing is good." Gu Xingruo commented in a low voice.

Having said that, when she first saw the novel, she found herself attracted by the words.

Xia Ning's writing style has a kind of morbid beauty. The despair and love intertwined between the lines make people shudder and inexplicably moved.

Gu Xingruo knew that Xia Ning was back and had held a book signing event in Linjiang.

But she said nothing, had no reaction, and did not mention the matter to Xu Wen.

She thought of Xia Ning whom she met in the rental house that day. Her face was full of madness, and she was completely different from the gentle and beautiful academic girl in high school.

Gu Xingruo turned the wheel a few more times and then stopped.

She didn't understand how Xu Wen, who was usually careful, could leave such an obvious flaw.

Although the two are together now, Xia Ning's matter is still a thorn between them, but they never mention it.

Gu Xingruo snorted softly.

People around her thought she was silly, but in fact she was very smart and could tell something was wrong at a glance.

Did Xu Wen leave this page on purpose?
Who did he meet today?
Countless questions swirled in my mind.

Gu Xingruo is not the kind of little girl who would make a big fuss. She has known since childhood that emotions cannot solve any problems, and she is not Xia Ning.

She closed the webpage and opened the company's internal system to check the latest data.

Gu Xingruo knew nothing about these at first, but under Xu Wen's influence, she gradually began to understand them.

Judging from the data, Shancheng's development is moving in a positive direction, and Meituan's recent actions have not had much impact on them.

She knew that Xu Wen had succeeded again.

Just as she was browsing the data, the office door was pushed open.

Lan Qiu Sheng walked in with a stack of documents and was visibly stunned when he saw Gu Xingruo.

"Ruoruo, where is Xu Wen?" Lan Qiusheng asked in a somewhat stiff voice.

She wanted to call him "class monitor" as usual, but changed her mind when the words came to her lips.

"I don't know. He wasn't here when I came." Gu Xingruo answered naturally.

She stood up and took the document from Lan Qiu Sheng.

Lan Qiusheng nodded and put down the document: "Meituan has increased subsidies in cities around Linjiang, and Xu Wen said that we should prepare a response plan in advance."

"My father said he would give his full support. Funding is not a problem. If Meituan wants to start a price war, we will fight it out to the end." Gu Xingruo said in a firm tone.

It would be fine if Flash City didn't succeed.

Now that they are on the road to success, how could they be stopped so easily?

Lan Qiusheng hesitated to speak, and finally said: "I will go to the technical department to check the progress of the system upgrade."

After saying that, she quickly left the office.

After Lan Qiusheng left, Gu Xingruo was the only one left in the office.

When she was bored, her best friend called her on video. She clicked the answer and adjusted the camera on her computer at the same time.

As soon as the video was connected, Cao Yanan said quickly: "Did you see that? Xia Ning is back! And she held a book signing event in Linjiang, and it was quite loud!"

Her expression was exaggerated, as if she had discovered some huge secret.

In stark contrast was Gu Xingruo on the other side of the camera. Her expression did not change at all. She just replied calmly, "I know."

(End of this chapter)