An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 244 Equivalent Exchange
They sat on a bench by the roadside, a seat apart, while people walked past them, taking a stroll after their meals.

Meng Youyou lowered her head and explained to the other party in a low voice, "My father's profession is very special. I can't just accept gifts from unknown sources, so I need to chase after him and find out the truth." She found a very reasonable motive for her inappropriate behavior just now.

Dan Muchen gazed gently at the girl sitting beside him—who was currently behaving like a "good student" who had studied hard but still failed the exam, frantically trying to find excuses for her poor performance.

"Oh, really?" The tone was calm and gentle, revealing a questioning tone, but without a trace of blame.

Dan Muchen said gently but helplessly, "Oh dear, you're just fooling yourself."

"I prepared a gift for you on your birthday, but in the end I didn't choose to give it to you. You're so smart, you should know that too."

"Do you think I did this because I felt my gift wasn't as expensive as his?" The man's voice remained calm and slow.

Meng Youyou did not admit it publicly, but she did consider that this might be the reason.

Shan Muchen smiled and gently shook his head, "That's not the reason."

That gift was handmade by me; it represents my feelings. I don't think its value is inferior to anything else, and I know very well that you are not a materialistic person.

Before your birthday, every time I gave you a gift, you would reciprocate with a gift of similar value a few days later.

This kind of interaction makes me feel very distant. Two people who are too calculating seem more like business partners needing to exchange equals, rather than two people who could potentially develop into lovers.

“I think I can roughly guess what you’re thinking.” As he spoke, Shan Muchen glanced to his right; the girl hadn’t moved since she sat down. He added, “Or perhaps you yourself don’t even realize that’s what you’re thinking.”

Dan Muchen withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the pavilion in the distance. Dark vines meandered up the pavilion pillars, the gnarled branches of the old vines intertwining with the new shoots, trembling gently in the night breeze, filtering the moonlight into shimmering silver spots. Inside the pavilion, a young couple was affectionately sharing an ice pop.

After glancing at him a few more times, the man slowly regained his voice and continued, "You can't guarantee that you'll reciprocate with the same feelings in the future, so you can only make sure you don't take advantage of me financially."

If I calculate everything clearly, at least I won't end up losing both my money and my life.

"Really? Oh dear." In the end, a bitter taste finally crept into the man's voice.

The other party's attitude was not aggressive at all, nor did he express any accusation. But the more he acted this way, the more ashamed Meng Youyou felt.

How should she answer him?

Meng Youyou had never deeply considered the reasons behind what he said before; she seemed to have simply acted on it as if it were second nature. But hearing him say this today, she inexplicably felt as if someone had seen right through her.

"Yoyo, actually, there's something I've always wanted to ask you. I used to worry that bringing him up might upset you, and I was also afraid that asking it might affect our relationship."

Therefore, every time I wanted to ask, I hesitated again and again, and in the end, without exception, I gave up.

But today, I think I can no longer run away; we all need to confront those obstacles that cannot be eliminated naturally.

“It’s okay, go ahead and ask. I think you have the right to know,” Meng Youyou said.

Shan Muchen pursed his lips, which weren't dry, and asked, "Did you do this when you were dating him?"

He gives you a gift, and the next day you return it with something of equal value. "Shan Muchen is too good at guiding; he is using an extremely gentle method to force her to look directly into her heart."

Meng Youyou fell silent again. After a long while, she answered, "No."

Upon hearing this, Shan Muchen revealed a bitter expression that said, "I knew it would be like this," a mixture of loneliness and self-mockery.

"Oh, I'm saying you're deceiving yourself, but aren't I the same way?"
Your actions make me feel very distant from you, as if no matter how much I do, I will never be able to enter your heart.

"Oh dear, I'm so frustrated, I can't see any hope. But... I still don't want to give up."

A few seconds later, the man retorted to his previous statement: "No, that's not accurate. I actually gave up on you."

On your birthday, I witnessed you open the gift he gave you, and you were like a different person, completely distracted.

For several nights after I took you home, I kept thinking, should I give up?

Later, I put my idea into practice and refrained from contacting you for two weeks.

Later, you called the military base, and when I answered, I heard your voice and heard you say you wanted to invite me to a play. This was the first time you had ever asked me out on your own initiative.

Shan Muchen clenched his right fist and pressed it against his chest, laughing, "I could still hear it thumping and thumping, even trying its best to jump out of the hole. I couldn't hold it back."

He glossed over the arduous emotional journey, stating only the outcome: "I've given up on the idea of ​​pursuing you. I still want to be with you, even if there's only a tiny sliver of hope."

After Shan Muchen finished speaking, there was a moment of silence, and Meng Youyou was even more silent, completely unsure of what to say.

About two or three minutes later, the man seemed to have made up his mind and spoke again: "Just now at the theater entrance, before you crossed the road, I had already driven over. I was sitting in the car calling you, but you couldn't hear me. At that moment, I was like an invisible person. You were completely focused on chasing after the person who handed you the gift."

You can't see me, and you can't hear my voice.

"I'm sorry." It seemed like that was all she could say at that moment, even though it was all in vain.

How could she not be frustrated? She had tried so hard, but there was no progress at all.

"You don't need to apologize to me, really, oh oh, I don't blame you."

You are more experienced in relationships than I am. You have shared your past experiences with me, hoping that I will not follow in your footsteps.

But perhaps, everyone has to experience the bitterness of love firsthand before they can truly understand how painful it is, and only then will they be truly convinced.

Isn't that the wonder of love? It can be so sweet that it makes you dizzy and disoriented, or it can plunge you straight into an ice cellar, chilling you to the bone.

Whether you like it or not, you can't escape the fate of being manipulated by it, tormented by its unpredictable and uncertain nature. One second you're battered and bruised, swearing never to touch the poison of love again, but the next second you're forgetful, thinking you can go and bang your head against the wall again.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll just find out? — Young men and women caught in the quagmire of love and romance will inevitably have moments when they think like this.

However, no one can say for sure whether this is optimism, obsession, or self-deception.