I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

The year Zhou Yao was born was the most prosperous period for the Zhou family.

His father rushed into the delivery room that day, not even having time to change out of his suit. His mother lay on the hospital bed, smiling weakly. Next to her, six-year-old Zhou Xue stood on tiptoe, leaning against the crib railing, reaching out to poke her younger brother's face, saying that her brother was ugly.

Her mother laughed so hard her wound hurt, but she still smiled and corrected her:

"You can't say that to your younger brother; he'll grow up eventually."

Zhou Yao has indeed grown up. By the time he was a full moon, he was already chubby and fair-skinned, with big, round eyes and eyelashes that looked like two small fans.

From that time on, Zhou Xue changed her tune, telling everyone she met, "My younger brother is the most handsome," and she even secretly hid her candy to save for him.

The entire Zhou family doted on him; his grandparents, maternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, nanny, driver, and housekeeper all treated him with utmost care.

Although his father was busy, he would carry him on his shoulders and spin him around in the living room whenever he came home. His mother would hold his hand wherever they went, afraid that he would bump into something.

When he was a child, he thought the whole world was like that.

They assumed everyone had endless new clothes, a room full of toys, and an ever-growing supply of snacks, and that every child's birthday would be marked by a wall of balloons and a three-tiered cake.

By high school, he had fully grown into a typical rich kid.

Tall, fair-skinned, and handsome, with eyebrows and eyes that inherited the excellent genes of the Zhou family, he had a slightly spoiled and nonchalant air about him when he smiled. He entered the best private high school in the city, wearing a school uniform that was ironed without a single wrinkle, and an expensive watch on his wrist.

He was very popular at school. He was good at basketball, handsome, from a wealthy family, and had a pleasant personality. He was surrounded by a group of young men and women who were similar to him.

That includes his sister, of course.

Zhou Xue was two years ahead of him and practically had an unchallenged presence in the school.

The title of Miss Zhou speaks for itself; even teachers treat her with deference, and the student council president makes way for her. She is always accompanied by several followers, both men and women, all from well-off families, who all consciously revolve around her.

Zhou Xue's status at school is like an invisible circle; everyone knows where the boundary of that circle is, but no one dares to step into it.

One evening, not long after the start of the school year, Zhou Yao had just finished playing basketball. His school uniform jacket was draped over his shoulders, and his hair was half-dampened with sweat. He was walking while replying to a message on his phone from his sister:

"I'll be waiting for you at the East Gate, hurry up."

He replied "Coming," then put away his phone and walked towards the east gate of the school.

The East Gate is the most impressive gate of the private high school, with two rows of tall plane trees lining the road, their leaves carpeting the ground in golden hues in autumn.

Several luxury cars were parked outside the gate to pick up students. The Zhou family's black sedan was parked quietly in the most conspicuous position, and the driver had already opened the back door and was waiting.

When Zhou Yao reached the east gate, he heard his sister's voice.

"Can't you watch where you're going?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear at the quiet school gate in the evening.

Zhou Yao looked up and saw Zhou Xue standing next to the sycamore tree inside the door, her school uniform skirt swaying slightly in the wind, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at someone in front of her.

The person had their back to him, wearing a school uniform jacket that was clearly too big, with sleeves so long that they almost covered the entire hand, leaving only the fingertips showing.

She stood under the sycamore tree, head down, hands hanging at her sides.

"How can you be so annoying?" Zhou Xue took a step forward, her shoe almost touching the puddle of water. "I was walking peacefully and you suddenly took a step back, almost stepping on my skirt. Do you know how much this skirt cost? Can you afford to pay for it if you ruin it?"

Zhou Xue's entourage stood a few steps away, the girls exchanging glances with knowing smiles. The security guard in the booth glanced over, then lowered his head again, not coming closer.

Zhou Yao stood a few steps away; this was the first time he had seen the girl.

He also saw the expression on his sister's face. Whenever his sister had that expression, it meant she wasn't in a good mood and needed to find an outlet.

Zhou Xue hadn't finished speaking. She turned to one of her followers and said, "You saw that? She almost bumped into me."

The henchman immediately chimed in, "I saw it! I saw it! She suddenly took a step back, like she didn't have eyes."

Zhou Xue turned her head with satisfaction, her gaze returning to the head bowed in front of her. Her tone suddenly became very soft and gentle:

"Why are you looking down? Are you so ugly you're afraid to show your face? We're in the same class, it's not like I haven't seen you before."

After teasing him for a while, Zhou Xue felt that was enough. She clapped her hands, turned around and walked towards Zhou Yao, reaching out to take his arm.

"Let's go, let's go home."

Zhou Xue pulled him into the car, the door closed, and the air conditioning kept out the autumn chill outside. The driver started the car and smoothly drove away from the school gate. Zhou Xue leaned back in her seat, scrolling through her phone and humming some song.

After that, he started paying attention to her, but not in a friendly way.

It's a kind of indescribable, somewhat condescending way of looking at someone.

He would glance at her as he passed by, checking if her school uniform had faded from washing again, if her backpack strap had a new stitch, and if she always walked close to the wall.

He looked at her face carefully and realized she was indeed not pretty.

Her skin was too dark, probably due to malnutrition, making her face thin and sallow. Her eyes were quite big, but her lips were slightly upturned, as if they had been burned or injured by something, leaving a small, asymmetrical curve that made her whole face look a little strange.

When Zhou Yao looked at her face, a very faint thought popped into his mind—she's really ugly.

From that day on, he felt at ease, having someone he could rightfully despise.

He started walking faster as he passed her, and when his shoulder brushed against hers, he made a slight bump, causing her to stumble to the side. At first, it was just a light touch, as if he was in a hurry and didn't notice.

Later, he gradually increased the force of his impact. After bumping into her, he would not even turn his head and continue walking forward. When he heard the sound of her backpack strap swaying as she steadied her steps behind him, the corners of his mouth would curl up slightly.

One day, after finishing his lunch at the cafeteria, he walked along the path behind the teaching building. The path was narrow, lined with low holly bushes, allowing only two people to walk side by side.

He saw her walking towards him from afar, alone, carrying a stack of notebooks, as if she had just moved them from the office.

Zhou Yao didn't slow down. He didn't even step aside, maintaining his original pace as he walked past her. As they passed each other, his shoulder slammed into the stack of notebooks she was holding, causing them to fall from her arms and scatter all over the floor.

The force of the impact knocked her to the side, causing her to stumble and lose her balance, her shoulder and back slamming into the holly bushes by the roadside.

Zhou Yao didn't stop and continued walking forward, glancing sideways. She was climbing out of the flower bed, one hand holding onto the wall beside her, the other hand picking up the scattered homework books.

But one winter, when it snowed, she was catching snowflakes under the eaves, looking up at the white fluff falling from the sky and landing on her face. She squinted, her lips slightly parted, and her upturned upper lip caught a tiny snowflake.

She gently pursed her lips, the snowflakes melted, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

The curve of that bend is so small that it's almost invisible unless you look closely.

But Zhou Yao was standing at the corner of the second-floor corridor, a spot from which he could just see her tiny, almost non-existent smile.

He stared at the smile for a moment, then turned and walked away, his steps quicker than usual, as if trying to shake the image out of his mind.

Although he didn't want to admit it, he sometimes thought this ugly guy was actually quite cute.

He forgot about what happened after that, because the college entrance exam was coming up soon for that year's graduating class, and she transferred schools, disappearing completely from the school.

But he still thinks of her occasionally, wondering how she is doing.

Afterwards, Zhou Yao successfully took the college entrance examination, and those years went smoothly for him. After graduating from high school, his score was neither high nor low, so his family spent money to send him to a decent university in another province. At school, he continued to play basketball, socialize, and make friends.

Occasionally, when it snows in winter, he would stand on the balcony for a while and watch the white, fluffy snowflakes fall on the railing, on the ground, and on the bare ginkgo tree downstairs.

A blurry image would float into his mind—a veranda, an upturned face, a snowflake landing on his lips, a tiny, almost invisible smile.

The image rose quickly and sank just as fast, like a bubble rising on the surface of water in winter, bursting with a "pop".

He didn't deliberately look for her, and no one mentioned her again afterward.

Zhou Xue's followers would occasionally mention "that ugly girl from our old school" when they chatted, but their tone had become much more indifferent, as if they were telling a joke that had already been turned over.

Later, on an ordinary day at university, he went to see his brother-in-law, Qin Qihan.

His brother-in-law is the president of the Qin family. He's young but extremely shrewd, and his marriage alliance with the Zhou family is common knowledge in the industry. After Zhou Xue got engaged to him, the relationship between the Qin and Zhou families became even closer, and the two families frequently did business together.

Zhou Yao quite liked his brother-in-law because his brother-in-law treated him well, spoke politely, and never put on airs.

That day, he went out to play. Qin Qihan's office was on the top floor of the Qin Group Building, with a wide view. A floor-to-ceiling window showed the outline of half the city. It was there that he met a woman named Yun Muqian.

She was wearing a business suit, a very conventional outfit, but she looked exceptionally good in it.

She spoke to him confidently and gracefully, exuding elegance in every gesture. As he looked at her face, something in his chest suddenly churned, a feeling he couldn't quite describe.

Later, Zhou Yao left the company, his heart still beating irregularly.

Later, he made up many excuses to go to Qin Qihan's office. Every time he pushed the door open, his eyes would subconsciously scan the office to see if she was there.

Sometimes she's there, sometimes she's not.

When he was around, he would stay a little longer and try to talk to her. She always answered politely, and when she looked at people, her gaze was steady, neither darting away nor deliberately looking directly at them, but just looking at you naturally.

Every time Zhou Yao saw her smile, he would pause for a moment, and then after that pause, he would find something else to smooth things over. This picture felt so strange.

He had never felt this way about anyone before.

He had seen many beautiful women, some even more beautiful than Yun Muqian, but none of them had ever made him feel he had to see her again.

Every time he saw her, he would think about seeing her again, like an addiction he couldn't and didn't want to quit.

He started chatting with her, sending her messages, and "bumping into" her in the company's break room.

However, she didn't seem to have the same feelings for him, so he stopped for a while because he didn't want to put any psychological burden on her.

He told himself to forget it. She wasn't interested, so he shouldn't get carried away. When had Zhou Yao ever lacked suitors?

But every time he was almost convinced, he would still remember how good she was.

He originally thought he could silently protect her like this, but unexpectedly, Zhou Xue told him a cruel truth that day:

The girl he bullied with him back then was Yun Muqian.

He didn't go home that night. He drove aimlessly around the city for a long time, and somehow ended up at the gate of his old school. The gate of the private high school was locked, but the light in the guardhouse was still on, and a figure flickered inside.

He went to the school archives. He approached a former teacher and made up an excuse that he wanted to look up some information about past class activities.

The teacher didn't ask any questions and lent him the key to the archives. He stood alone in the room filled with old cardboard boxes and rummaged through several boxes before finally finding the student files for that year.

He flipped through the pages for a long time, until the edge of the paper cut his fingertip, causing a small cut that bled slightly.

He didn't pay attention and continued flipping through the pages. He stopped when he reached page forty-seven.

The photo has yellowed a bit, and the edges are slightly curled up, like it has been flipped through many times and then put back.

The girl in the photo is wearing a shirt with a faded collar, her short hair is tied up, and a few stray hairs escape from the gaps in the hair tie and hang down beside her cheeks.

Her face was thin, with prominent cheekbones, and her skin was yellow and lacked luster. Most noticeably, her lips were slightly upturned on the left, with an asymmetrical curve.

But this is Yun Muqian.

Zhou Yao stared at the photo for a long time, until his eyes stung and he blinked.

He carefully removed the photograph from the file page, smoothed the curled corners with his thumb, and then placed it in the inside pocket of his coat, close to his chest.

That night, he went to see Yun Muqian to apologize and repent. Looking into her eyes, he realized that she fully understood what he was saying.

This means that it's impossible for them.

The next day, just before dawn, someone saw him standing by the river. The river water was very cold; in winter, the water was filled with mud, sand, and ice fragments, flowing quietly and silently towards the distance.

He just walked in.

She went inside, retaining the girl's original appearance.

Later, the river left nothing behind, only taking away the last blurry outline of the photo, like a figure whose shadow had been mostly erased, which swayed in the water and disappeared.