My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

"Qinghan..." Su Xiaoyue's voice came from her arms, muffled, as if through a thick layer of water, "Why did he lie to me..."

Gu Qinghan opened her mouth, as if to say something, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

What did she say?

To say "he didn't do it on purpose"?

Saying "You deserve someone better"?

These words are too light, as light as a piece of paper, unable to bear the weight of Su Xiaoyue falling from a great height.

Why did he lie to me...?

Su Xiaoyue repeated it, this time in an even softer voice, as if she were asking herself.

"Wasn't I good enough to him...? I transferred so much money to him... I waited for his reply every day... I didn't sleep a wink all night when he was in surgery... I believed everything he said... I listened to everything he said..."

"He told me to eat properly, so I ate properly..."

"He told me not to stay up late, so I've been going to bed early and waking up early every day..."

"He said blue looks good, so I bought a lot of blue dresses..."

"He said he likes girls with long hair, so I grew my hair, which I've had for many years, long again..."

He said he would definitely come to see me...

"He said he missed me..."

He said he wouldn't leave me...

"I remember every word he said... I remember every single word..."

Su Xiaoyue's voice stopped there.

It's not that it's gone, it's just that we can't continue talking about it.

Gu Qinghan's eyes also reddened.

She raised the back of her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, took a deep breath, and then reached out to pull Su Xiaoyue up from the ground.

Su Xiaoyue's legs were numb from squatting, and she staggered when she stood up, her whole body leaning to one side.

Gu Qinghan grabbed her and helped her sit down on a plastic chair in the corridor.

"Xiaoyue, listen to me."

Gu Qinghan squatted down in front of her, cupped her face in his hands, and forced her to look into his eyes.

He's not worth your tears. None of them are.

Su Xiaoyue looked at her, tears still flowing, but the light in her eyes was different now.

It was as if something inside her had died, and then something new was slowly, extremely slowly, growing out.

"But Qinghan..." She sniffed, her voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping against glass, "I still love him so much..."

"Am I really that pathetic...? He cheated me out of so much money... He has a girlfriend... He lied to me from beginning to end... But I still love him so much..."

"Am I sick...?"

Gu Qinghan's eyes reddened again.

She pulled Su Xiaoyue into her arms, holding her so tightly that Su Xiaoyue's ribs ached.

"You're not sick." Her voice was trembling, but she enunciated each word clearly and forcefully.

"You're just too lonely. From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever truly been kind to you, so when someone pretends to be kind to you, you give them your whole heart."

"This is not your fault."

"It's his fault. He lied to you. He took advantage of your loneliness. Your parents didn't give you enough companionship. This world has been so unfair to you."

"But this is not your fault."

Su Xiaoyue leaned on Gu Qinghan's shoulder and cried again.

This time, it wasn't a suppressed, intermittent sobbing, but a loud, wailing cry.

Gu Qinghan held her, tears welling up in his eyes.

She recalled the first time she met Su Xiaoyue ten years ago.

They were only twelve years old then. In the corridor of the international school, Su Xiaoyue stood alone in a corner, her face covered with a gauze, her head down, not daring to look at anyone.

When someone walks past her, she will subconsciously turn to the side to hide the side of her face with the birthmark.

That noon, someone in the cafeteria called her "two-faced." Su Xiaoyue stood there with her tray in hand, tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

Then Gu Qinghan picked up a thermos and threw it at them.

That was the beginning of their friendship.

Ten years have passed, and Gu Qinghan thought he was strong enough to protect Su Xiaoyue from any harm.

But at this moment, holding this girl who was crying and trembling, she suddenly felt that she couldn't protect anything.

She couldn't protect her from being deceived, from being hurt, or even from having her heart broken.

If only I had investigated Xiaoyue when my previous boyfriend was dating her.

Or, when Anmian talks to herself about her boyfriend, she could simply ask for a photo.

But there are no "what ifs".

"Xiaoyue".

Gu Qinghan released her, took out the last tissue from his pocket, and wiped away the tears on her face.

"I'll take you home."

"Go back to Shanghai. Leave this place."

Su Xiaoyue raised her head, her eyes swollen like two peaches, her nose red, and her lips still trembling slightly.

"And...what about him?"

Her voice was as light as a feather about to fall.

"Who?"

"Jiang Yi..."

Gu Qinghan's fingers paused for a moment.

Will he be arrested?

Gu Qinghan looked at her and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Do you want him to get arrested?"

Su Xiaoyue lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes, her nails leaving shallow scratches on the fabric.

She remained silent for a long time, so long that the motion-sensor lights in the corridor went out, then came on again, then went out again.

"I don't know," she finally spoke, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. "I don't know what I want."

"I just want to know..."

She raised her head and looked at Gu Qinghan, her eyes holding something that Gu Qinghan couldn't quite put his finger on.

It was a feeling of injustice, a sense of resentment, and an almost absurd obsession that she herself couldn't quite explain.

"Did he have... even the slightest bit of... sincerity?"

"Ugh!"

Gu Qinghan sighed and then patted Su Xiaoyue on the shoulder.

"Xiaoyue, you can see him, but you have to promise me that we'll go back to Shanghai after we meet."

Su Xiaoyue raised her head, her collagen-rich face streaked with tears, and nodded fiercely.

"Okay, stop crying your eyes out, she's so beautiful."

Gu Qinghan wiped away the tears from Su Xiaoyue's eyes, then smiled and said:

"Don't cry and ruin such a pretty face. Our Yueyue is so beautiful, she can find any man she wants~"