Three years after our breakup, you came back to China, and I'm just giving up. Why are you cryi

Inside the rented room, Lu Hao's room was filled with smoke, making it impossible to see the outline of the opposite wall.

Two empty cigarette packs sat on the table, and the ashtray was piled high with cigarette butts hanging on the edge, ready to fall at any moment.

"Crunch—"

The door was pushed open, and Ning Shu walked in. Seeing this scene, her brows furrowed.

She waved her hand in front of her nose to clear away the white mist, walked straight to the window, and opened it with a "whoosh".

The afternoon wind rushed in, swirling the smoke around and finally getting the air moving in the room.

Ning Shu then turned around, walked to Lu Hao's bedside and sat down, her voice very soft: "Lu Hao, I've cooked lunch, come and eat some."

"You eat first, I have no appetite," Lu Hao said in a hoarse voice.

He subconsciously reached for the cigarette pack, squeezed it, and found it empty. He then shook another one, which was also empty.

He irritably tossed the empty box aside, sighed deeply, and closed his bloodshot eyes.

Having not slept all night, he was now completely listless.

Su Yu's words from last night, and her light, airy singing voice, still linger in my ears.

He was waiting, waiting for Su Yu's message.

Once she says she's got it sorted out, he'll have to personally sever all ties with Lin Ran and Xiao Xiyue.

In this city that's neither too big nor too small, once you lose contact information, meeting again would be harder than climbing to heaven.

"Give."

A fair hand was extended in front of him, holding a brand new box of Zhenlong (a type of Chinese liquor).

Lu Hao opened his eyes and looked up along the hand, meeting Ning Shu's eyes, which were full of heartache.

He twitched the corner of his mouth and shook his head: "I'm not smoking anymore."

Ning Shu didn't try to persuade him. She just silently tore open the plastic film of the cigarette box, knocked out a cigarette, and pushed it back in halfway so that he could easily take it.

Then, she placed the whole pack of cigarettes on the table next to him, curled up on Lu Hao's bed, leaned against the headboard, put on her headphones and started watching the show, no longer making a sound to disturb him.

Lu Hao glanced at her, then at the cigarette sticking out of the table. His Adam's apple bobbed, but he ultimately didn't reach for it.

He leaned back weakly in his chair, closed his eyes, and his mind was a complete mess.

"Ding-dong!"

The phone beeped.

Lu Hao suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and quickly unlocked the screen.

On the screen were two words sent by Su Yu.

【Done.】

Just two words, simple and clear.

Lu Hao stared at those two words for a full half minute before his trembling fingers tapped the screen twice and replied with a "OK".

He casually tossed his phone onto the table, raised his hand and wiped his face hard, but in the end he couldn't resist taking out a cigarette.

"Click".

Flames shot up, and he took a deep drag, the pungent smoke instantly filling his lungs before he exhaled it hastily.

Amidst a gloomy and desolate atmosphere, everything before my eyes became blurred.

"Heh..." Lu Hao gave a bitter laugh, which sounded both mocking and liberating.

He finished half a cigarette in one go, then stubbed it out in the ashtray, as if trying to extinguish something in his heart.

At the same time, he picked up his phone again.

Open the green bubble and enter the chat page with Xiao Xiyue.

He typed a few words in the chat box, then quickly deleted them, repeating this several times, but still didn't send her a message to confirm.

He clicked on Xiao Xiyue's profile picture, preparing to press the red delete button.

Just as he was about to click delete, he suddenly noticed that Xiao Xiyue's Moments were completely blank.

He clicked on it, and only one bar was displayed.

Lu Hao frowned. He could see Xiao Xiyue's posts on WeChat Moments before.

Is it...

An idea popped into Lu Hao's mind.

He quickly returned to the chat page and sent a smiling emoji with slightly stiff fingers.

The next second, a red exclamation mark appeared.

[You are not yet his/her friend. Please send a friend request first. You can chat only after the other party accepts your request.]

Was it deleted?

Lu Hao was completely stunned, his mind went blank.

He had dinner with Xiao Xiyue last night, so why was he deleted?

Something's not right. Something's definitely not right.

He stared at the red exclamation mark for a long time before finally removing his finger from the delete key.

Oh well, the result is the same anyway.

He shook his head self-deprecatingly, then swiped open the list and found Lin Ran's chat window.

Their conversation was still stuck a few days ago when he said he would treat her to dinner after he received his salary.

Looking at those few lines of text, Lu Hao's fingertip hovered over the screen for a long time before finally pressing the lock screen button and tossing the phone aside.

He broke his promise to Su Yu.

Anyway, she won't check up on me, so I'll just say I deleted everything.

With this thought, Lu Hao's tense nerves relaxed, and drowsiness came over him.

He stood up, walked to the bedside, and patted Ning Shu, who was still watching the drama.

Ning Shu took off one earphone, blinked, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Have a meal."

Upon hearing those two words, Ning Shu's eyes lit up. She immediately jumped out of bed and dashed out of the room first.

When Lu Hao slowly strolled into the living room, Ning Shu had already served the meal. Three dishes and a soup were placed on the table, still steaming.

"It's still warm, eat up." Ning Shu sat down opposite him, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Lu Hao wolfed down a bowl of rice, put down his chopsticks, and prepared to go back to his room to catch up on sleep.

Just as I reached the door, I heard Ning Shu's soft voice behind me.

"Lu Hao, sometimes things aren't what you see or think... A short separation is just for a better reunion in the future."

Lu Hao paused, turned around abruptly, but only saw Ning Shu's retreating figure disappear into the kitchen.

What did she mean by that?

What did she find out?

Lu Hao raised his foot, wanting to follow and ask for clarification, but then thought better of it and decided against it.

Ning Shu is a tight-lipped girl. Even if you put a knife to her throat, she won't utter a single word about what she doesn't want to say.

Forget it, my mind is too cluttered; I can't figure it out.

He returned to his room, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep instantly.

In the kitchen, Ning Shu dried her hands after washing the dishes, tiptoed to Lu Hao's bedroom door, pushed it open a crack, and saw that he was already fast asleep. She then breathed a long sigh of relief.

She returned to her room, leaned against the headboard, took out her phone, and sent a message to someone.

[Sister Xiyue, he went to sleep after dinner.]

"Yes, let me know anytime if anything happens."

Ning Shu edited a message, wanting to ask what exactly happened.

But after thinking about it, he deleted it word by word, and in the end only replied with one word.

【it is good. 】

……

The peaceful days passed quickly, and Lu Hao recruited three more people for the company: two women and one man.

They are all recent college graduates.

This is all the people he can recruit for his small studio.

During this time, he also learned about Lin Ran's whereabouts from Li Xu.

After that day, Yunlan Apparel indeed stopped pursuing the matter, and Wang Ba took the opportunity to launch an attack, almost costing Vice President Li his position.

Lin Ran has also firmly secured his position as manager.

The two simply had no way of contacting each other.

As for Xiao Xiyue, Yunlan Company also stopped its attacks on her, and the negative news disappeared as well.

Lu Hao came out of the room. The final procedures at the company had been completed. After picking up the business license, the business could officially open for business.

"Lu Hao, where are you going?" Ning Shu asked, sitting on the sofa.

"Go get your business license. Remember to come and attend the company's opening in a couple of days!"

Lu Hao laughed loudly, opened the door and left.

He was still a little curious, and every time he went out during this period, Ning Shu would ask him a question.

This made him feel like he was being watched.