CHAPTER 15

Congee hotpot originated in Yue City, often with juices like fruit, vegetable, or chicken, but the restaurant they were dining at tonight had its own unique style.

There was no beloved beef, nor the more luxurious seafood. The soup base was a single kind, made by simmering a whole duck with various spices, combined with a porridge that had been cooked until it was soft and mushy.

Once Xue Jing noticed how far his self-indulgent assumptions were from the reality of the situation, he lost any desire to speak. He became as silent as a mute. Not only did his mouth lack the energy to talk, but he also realized that in the past ten minutes, he had lost all appetite for the meal.

Especially after they had ordered, Ha Yue’s phone suddenly rang, and she began to look down, replying to messages frequently.

Thinking that she might be talking to Lou Zhiyun, or one of the other men she managed in her circle, he regretted his decision earlier that afternoon even more.

They shouldn’t have had dinner, they shouldn’t have met again, and if something could be added, it was that they definitely shouldn’t have done any of that.

Maybe Ha Yue and Lou Zhiyun were a better match, and what role did he play in all this?

At least Lou Zhiyun knew she had a small shop, while everything Xue Jing knew about her was probably false.

After they had both drunk a glass of water, the waiter brought over a copper pot and placed it in the center of the table, atop the gas stove.

With the faint odor of hydrogen sulfide in the air, the heat from the ignition swept over Xue Jing’s eyelashes like a shockwave. He rubbed his itchy lashes and opened his eyes, watching as the blue flames under the pot began to blaze fiercely.

To prevent the bottom from burning, Ha Yue finally put down her phone and picked up a large stainless steel spoon to slowly stir the porridge in the pot.

She had been chatting with Aunt Siqin, asking about her mother’s condition and mood for the night. She had specifically reminded her that Zhao Chunni’s temper had been bad recently, and if they had any disagreements, she hoped the neighbor Aunt would be understanding.

But there was only so much understanding one could ask for. Ha Yue knew that having the neighbor keep her mother company wasn’t a long-term solution. She had to come up with a practical way to solve the problem. Maybe tomorrow or the day after, but definitely not today.

She suppressed the negative emotions tightly and faced Xue Jing with a warm and welcoming demeanor, like an enthusiastic old classmate. “Did you catch a cold when you went back the other day? You probably have a cough. The barbecue was too spicy. Thinking about it, it’s better to eat something light. This place is an old favorite in Sui City. It’s not as authentic as the Shunde-owned one near Jida Gate, but it’s still pretty good.”

“Duck meat nourishes yin and clears heat. You should try it.”

Since the meat was already cooked, within a few minutes, the pot began to bubble with layers of milky white waves.

The scent of rice mixed with the fragrance of meat, and the steam was rich and aromatic.

Ha Yue scooped a bowl for Xue Jing first, sprinkling only green onions, leaving out the coriander, since he didn’t eat it.

Not only did he not eat coriander, but Xue Jing also disliked ginger slices, chili seeds, garlic cloves, and peppercorns in his food. If he accidentally ate any of them, his face would scrunch up in distaste.

So, he ate slowly, never rushing or devouring his food.

In the past, Ha Yue had sarcastically mocked him, saying that if he had lived in the old society, he would have been a spoiled rich kid.

He was picky because he had never truly experienced hunger.

But today, Ha Yue not only carefully skimmed the scum from the meat broth for him but also gently told him, “The duck is cooked with ginger water.”

The implication was that he could drink it without worrying about swallowing ginger slices.

“Thank you.”

Xue Jing’s eyes shifted, and he could only manage that one sentence. He found it hard to meet Ha Yue’s gaze again.

There seemed to be something different between them, yet at the same time, nothing had changed. This familiar sense of strangeness made his attention wander.

A tightness in his chest, as if a breath was stuck, prevented him from speaking. In front of Ha Yue’s easy and carefree demeanor, the questions he wanted to ask, and those he shouldn’t, were all hard to express.

It had always been like this—they had progressed in their relationship at Ha Yue’s pace.

The beginning and the end, his opinions didn’t matter.

The warm porridge soothed his heart and lungs, and his stiff body began to warm up. When the waiter poured the mushroom broth into the copper pot, Ha Yue finally spoke, waiting for the water to boil before continuing with the reason for their dinner tonight.

She didn’t mind Xue Jing’s few words. After putting down her spoon, she looked at him with a bright, dazzling smile, her eyes shining with gratitude and relief for his coming to dinner tonight.

“I thought you wouldn’t agree to have dinner with me before you left. I’m really glad you came.”

“Really?” Xue Jing also lifted his gaze. In the warmth of her bright eyes, his heart skipped a beat. He hesitated, wondering if, out of politeness, he should say that he was happy too.

But Ha Yue didn’t wait for his response and smoothly continued.

“Yes,” Ha Yue nodded decisively, then sincerely apologized, “Even though I thought by now you probably wouldn’t care anymore, since we have this chance to meet, I still want to apologize.”

“When we broke up, I said many harsh things to you, and honestly, most of them weren’t what I truly felt. The reason we broke up was entirely my fault. It had nothing to do with your work or whether you intended to continue writing after graduation.”

Where does a “bad woman” begin her self-reflection in a way that’s appropriate?

In a romantic relationship, it’s easy for both people to wade into each other’s past and future, causing a scene here and there. But when it comes to a conversation with an ex, starting with personal history could be seen as self-pity. So it’s better to begin with the first lie between them.

“You saw it on Monday. The driver who took you was my childhood neighbor. I grew up in Sui City, and before university, I had never been to another province.”

“I was what people back then would call a bumpkin.”

Seeing Xue Jing’s expression shift slightly, Ha Yue didn’t feel embarrassed as she had expected, but instead gave him an apologetic smile. “But don’t misunderstand, this wasn’t a lie deliberately fabricated against you. It’s just that when you start pretending about your family’s background, once you tell one person, it becomes hard to explain it to others.”

Zhao Chunni didn’t exaggerate when she described Ha Yue’s college application process.

Back in the day, Ha Yue had been the top science student in Sui City, which should have been a cause for celebration for both the student and her family. But the smiles on their faces were as fleeting as leftover food that had been left out in the summer heat.

After checking her scores, by the afternoon, the two of them were already arguing fiercely at the dining table about the choice of college.

Zhao Chunni had her eyes on the Air Force Engineering University of the People’s Liberation Army, which was less than 600 kilometers from Sui City. She had read through the admissions brochure carefully, and for their family, a military school seemed the most appropriate option.

First, the tuition and accommodation were free, which would alleviate some of the pressure of supporting her. Second, once Ha Yue entered the school, she would have military status, so she wouldn’t have to worry about applying for a job after graduation.

Furthermore, the majority of the students at the Air Force Engineering University were male, and the few girls were highly sought after. Ha Yue could easily graduate and find success in both her career and marriage.

She had even chosen the majors she thought were most suitable for Ha Yue, like communications engineering and command automation engineering, both of which would lead to relatively safe, ground-based positions after graduation.

But Ha Yue firmly refused. She had never wanted to attend a military academy or marry right after graduation. Back then, she was rebellious and felt that her mother’s arrangement would rob her of decades of freedom.

The goal was simply to quickly capitalize on her value.

So, later, she pretended to agree with her mother’s choice, but when it came time to fill in the application, she secretly listed a foreign language school at Ji University.

Because of this, Zhao Chunni had been giving her the cold shoulder until the day she left home.

At the age of 19, Ha Yue moved her luggage alone, queued up for tickets, and endured two days on a hard seat of a green train before finally reaching Ji City.

On the way, she got carsick and couldn’t eat anything. Whenever someone in her carriage brewed instant noodles, she would rush to the toilet between the carriages to vomit.

When she finally got off the train, took a bus, and wandered around Ji City like a lost soul, she eventually found her way to the campus.

After finishing the enrollment procedures, Ha Yue thought she could finally relax.

But as soon as she opened the door to the girls’ dormitory where she was staying, her self-esteem was completely crushed.

Almost all the girls in the dormitory had arrived in Ji City a week early, accompanied by their parents. Even the two roommates from Ji City had officially moved into the dorm the day before.

No one had waited until the school year started. Except for Ha Yue, who was alone and inexperienced.

For the past week, the seven girls had already discussed her name on the dorm door. As soon as they saw her, they eagerly threw out questions.

“Hey, Ha Yue, where are you from?”

“What were your scores on the college entrance exam?”

“What do your parents do?”

“Do you have a boyfriend back home?”

“By the way, are you from an ethnic minority? In your remote area, the score line is lower, right? Plus, with the special bonus for the college entrance exam, you must’ve gotten a great deal!”

“I heard that you guys start school later. We’re all 18. Are you older than us?”

Actually, these were all fairly normal questions for getting to know someone. At 26, Ha Yue believed that her roommates’ chattering didn’t carry much malice.

They just wanted to understand her quickly and break through the barrier of time. More importantly, they were trying to rank the group from oldest to youngest based on age.

But the 19-year-old Ha Yue became exceptionally sensitive to these questions. Without thinking, lies came out of her mouth.

“I’m from Ji City. My father does business. Our family travels around the country a lot.”

Because her family was busy with business, no one came to send her off to school. Because they were busy with business, she had delayed a year before entering school.

And because they were busy with business and had a bit of money, Ha Yue was able to transfer to a school with a relatively low cutoff score before the college entrance exam and take advantage of the minority bonus.

This is the beginning of the lie. Later those snowballing details were merely basic operations to flesh out the character. Between being envied and being discriminated against, Hayue used two seconds to choose the former, but used four years to pay for her momentary vanity.