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Chu Ning was dazed for two seconds, then quickly regained her composure.
Unable to push Ying Jing away, she pinched his waist hard. In pain, Ying Jing’s force dispersed, and he was pushed back.
Chu Ning wiped her mouth with her hand, silently staring at him.
This gaze was too harsh—warning, restrained, disgusted, with a hint of disappointment.
Ying Jing turned his head in distress, raising his arm to roughly wipe away his tears.
“Why did you deceive me?” He looked at her again, the previous intense emotions now reined in, leaving only the most straightforward vent, “Why did you deceive me!”
Chu Ning’s lips moved slightly, “What did I deceive you about?”
“You still hide, you still hide.” Ying Jing pressed on, “What is your relationship with Feng Ziyang?”
“What does my relationship with him have to do with you?” Chu Ning flared up, throwing the words back at him.
Ying Jing suddenly squatted down, holding his head, fingers raking through his hair angrily, “You are a bad woman. There is no one worse than you.”
Chu Ning’s heart gently tore open; she clearly felt the sting.
“I am not a good person to begin with,” she responded coldly, “It’s you who packaged your perception of me too beautifully.”
Ying Jing abruptly stood up, “You know that I like you!”
“So what?” Chu Ning used her usual detachment as armor, “There are many people who like me. Do I have to explain every single one of them?”
Ying Jing’s eyes were red, “So I’m just one of many.”
Chu Ning fell silent.
“But why are you so nice to me!!” Ying Jing shouted loudly.
Chu Ning instinctively wanted to say it was work, client relations, contract constraints.
But seeing his eyes, she found herself unable to speak.
“Do you think I don’t know?” Ying Jing suppressed his voice, “From the start, when you first interacted with me, you were repelled. You rejected my project, resisted my efforts. If it weren’t for that MH370 accident, you wouldn’t have spared me a glance.”
“Your beginning wasn’t pure—it was passion, ego. If it weren’t me, it would have been anyone else.” Ying Jing gave a bitter smile, “You are too smart. Your manipulation of human relations is effortless. I am too easy for you to see through, so you avoid my weaknesses, targeting my soft spots, including my feelings for you.”
At this point, Ying Jing became calm.
His gaze focused, expression clear, each word factual, devoid of emotion, making it even more naked.
“You play hard to get with me, rejecting me each time, then inadvertently being nice to me the next day. You let me down, then give me hope. Are you proud? Seeing me obsessed with you, are you proud?” Ying Jing, soaked wet, couldn’t hide his disarray but gained a reckless boldness.
“You knew very well that President Zhai likes young boyfriends, yet you didn’t tell me, instead encouraging me not to be afraid. Can you deny that at that moment, you didn’t view me as a guinea pig for pleasing others?”
“I confessed to you, and if you didn’t feel anything, fine, I take responsibility for my own feelings. But if you really wanted to keep a distance from me, you wouldn’t have repeatedly teased me. Letting me go home with you, talking to me when drunk, and even sometimes not resisting intimate contact with me.”
When men come online with logic, they leave no room for sentimentality.
Not because they can’t, but because they don’t want to.
Ying Jing was hurt to the extreme, spilling out his words without reservation.
“Because you were afraid I wouldn’t be loyal, afraid I’d betray you. Without a sure guarantee, with any company having technical background, I might change my mind.” Each word from Ying Jing cut like a blade, “You string me along, play ambiguous games with me. Because you’ve got a hold on my feelings for you, using them as leverage. But I, I…”
He couldn’t continue, choking on his words, “But my feelings for you are real.”
Chu Ning tightly closed her eyes, her hands behind her back, clenched into fists.
When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was direct, “Are you done?”
Ying Jing didn’t respond.
Chu Ning tried her best to maintain composure, but the slight redness in her moist eyes was like scattered evening clouds.
“You’ve accused me of so much; am I not worthy of being human anymore? Yes, I initially didn’t want to do your project. But can you put yourself in my shoes? You didn’t have mature technology, no clear profit path, yet asked for millions in investment. If you were me, would you do it? If I had agreed at that time, it would truly be doing things out of passion, acting on impulse.”
Chu Ning’s face was extremely cold, but it was evident she was still trying to reason with him.
“I’m not a good woman. Did I ever tell you I was a good woman? If I didn’t say it, then it’s not deception. Do you know what deception is?” She stepped forward, glaring, “Making you sign a draconian clause, a ten or twenty-year sell-out contract, promising generous conditions with sweet talk but never fulfilling them. Making you cry with nowhere to turn halfway. Do you think business is easy? Do you think everyone is kind, and only I am cruel? — That’s because you haven’t seen the dark side of society.”
Ying Jing retorted sharply, “Don’t use these excuses.”
“Aren’t you using these rotten matters to criticize me?” Chu Ning looked at him, narrowing her eyes slightly, “When you wanted to talk about feelings with me, you should have known this outcome. Actually, I also understand that no matter what I do, you will always project your own assumptions and emotions. You guess, overthink, define everything, and in the end, you become the protagonist while I bear the blame. Now you won’t even let me speak? Hmm?”
Ying Jing’s face turned pale, raising his voice in anger, “Stop pretending to be so noble!”
“I’m not as despicable as you think!” Chu Ning was angry too.
The silence wrapped in acrimony, prolonged, hurt both sides more deeply.
Ying Jing painfully covered his eyes, all five fingers pressing together tightly. He no longer acted arrogantly or made a scene; his blood ran cold. Muttering, “Chu Ning, do you know where the root of the problem lies?”
Chu Ning was startled, hearing his hoarse voice, “You always place yourself in a lofty position, like now—using your client identity, your work experience, your social insights, even our age difference of less than four years, you naturally control the situation. Yes, you indeed taught me a lot, helped me grow, gave my dreams a chance to come true, gave me an opportunity, and didn’t abandon me the second time.”
Ying Jing’s gaze returned to calmness, replaced by loneliness and helplessness. His lips tightened, eyes reddened again.
“You look down on me, your gaze forever condescending. But feelings shouldn’t be like that… If you really pity me a little, you should sincerely meet me eye to eye.”
His desperate stance shook Chu Ning’s heart.
“I’ll give you one more chance.” Ying Jing stared directly at her, asking, “What exactly is your relationship with Feng Ziyang? Look at me, don’t look away. I want you to say it personally.”
Chu Ning’s pride in rationality was now a chaotic mess.
The crux of the problem now wasn’t Feng Ziyang but the bizarre way they interacted.
Answer yes or no.
If you can’t straighten out your own heart, what’s the point?
At this moment, Chu Ning suddenly felt powerless, discouraged. Before she could sort out the reasons, being pressed like this made her even more troubled. So she bluntly admitted, “He’s my fiancé! We’re getting married! Are you satisfied?”
Ying Jing’s face gradually turned cold.
He nodded, “Alright.”
Then walked straight out of the bathroom.
As he passed, he brushed against her shoulder with too much force. Chu Ning lost her balance, stumbling backward two steps. Like a marionette, Ying Jing didn’t look back.
Until the door closed, the house was completely empty and quiet.
Chu Ning crouched down, hugging her knees, burying her head in her arms.
She pinched her thigh hard, twisting it quickly to balance her emotions. Chu Ning was a rational woman; her emotional life was barren. The only romance during her college years had faded with years of entrepreneurship.
She had fought her way through this cruel society, honing interpersonal skills, mastering worldliness, and securing a position in the wealthy Zhao family. Her mother, Chen Yue, had been weak all her life, overly dependent on her husband, teaching her from a young age to read people’s expressions and act accordingly. Her father passed away early, and no one could truly teach her what the bigger picture or magnanimity meant.
No one taught her how to accept a relationship, how to love someone properly.
Chu Ning’s throat was dry, and each breath hurt.
She felt like a fish about to die of thirst, without the strength to thrash.
She never thought feeling “insincere” was painful, but now, she seemed to taste its bitterness.
She rubbed her swollen eyes, without much hesitation, and went out.
The elevator stopped at the ground floor. Chu Ning hurriedly pressed the button. When she reached the first floor and ran outside, looking around, it was empty. Only the quiet street lamps emitted faint light.
She inwardly cursed, he runs fast.
Afraid something might happen to him, Chu Ning quickly took out her phone to call. After dialing, a brief wait later, a crisp female voice rang out—
“The number you dialed is incorrect. Please verify and try again.”
Chu Ning was taken aback, belatedly realizing, this…
She was blocked.
———
The next day.
The flight to Hangzhou was at 3 PM. The school arranged a business car departure at 1 PM. Qi Yu and the others had gathered early at the school gate. They didn’t bring much luggage; one suitcase each sufficed.
Zhou Yuan checked his watch several times, unable to resist saying, “Pengpeng, call Ying Jing again.”
Wan Pengpeng had just finished putting his luggage in the car and nodded.
A while later, “He didn’t pick up.”
Zhou Yuan frowned, “What’s going on, he’s still not coming. Huaiyu, did you notify the wrong time?”
“Impossible, Ying Jing himself emphasized it to us several times.” Zhang Huaiyu was also anxious, “You guys, what if he didn’t return to the dorm last night, where did he stay?”
Qi Yu sighed, “This is great, the person we least needed to worry about today is the most infuriating.”
Just as they spoke, Zhang Huaiyu’s eyes lit up, pointing ahead, “Here he comes, here he comes!”
Ying Jing wore a black short-sleeved shirt and black pants, carrying only a backpack without a suitcase.
Zhou Yuan clicked his tongue, “Why are you dressed all in black? People might think you’re attending a funeral.”
“Ah呸!” Zhang Huaiyu punched him, “Can you say something auspicious?”
Qi Yu uneasily approached, patting Ying Jing’s shoulder, “Are you alright?”
Upon closer inspection, he noticed the faint bluish-black circles under Ying Jing’s eyes, certainly caused by staying up late last night.
He perfunctorily hummed, looking weary, not intending to say more, and got on the bus alone.
Zhou Yuan wanted to say something but was pulled back by Wan Pengpeng, whispering, “Boss isn’t in a good state. Don’t provoke him further; let him rest.”
Zhou Yuan was anxious, “How can you participate in the competition if you're wilting like this?”
Zhang Huaiyu steeled her heart, “When the time comes, I’ll pour him a box of Red Bull. Remember, you guys need to help restrain him.”
“Alright, alright, stop talking.” Qi Yu signaled everyone, “Let’s go.”
After a two-hour flight.
Xiaoshan International Airport.
Summer in the south was hotter than Beijing.
The heatwave hit like fire.
Ying Jing wore a baseball cap, brim low, covering his eyes, revealing a straight nose. He was tall, and a simple black T-shirt outlined his figure perfectly. Youthful charm was subdued, mature innocence radiated from his spine, standing out even in a crowd.
Exiting the corridor, colorful advertisements came into view.
Entire walls of blue and white ads added a cool touch to the scorching summer. Electronic screens also played promotional videos for this aerospace technology competition.
Vast blue skies, wondrous planets, launching rockets, manned spacecraft intertwined.
Finally, the screen dimmed, white letters appeared:
Aerospace industry, the foundation of the nation, the tool of national prosperity, the cornerstone of national strength.
9th China University Student Aerospace Technology Competition.
China. Hangzhou.
Strong youth, strong country.
...
Many travelers stopped to watch, waiting for the video to finish before continuing their journey.
Qi Yu stood beside Ying Jing, both shoulder to shoulder, neither showing any intention to move.
Qi Yu suddenly asked, “...Do you still want to win?”
He had long noticed something wrong between Ying Jing and Chu Ning, probably resulting in mutual damage last night. He feared Ying Jing had lost the motivation to win. This question was also a bottom line statement for the team.
“Without Sister Ning, do you still want to win?”
Ying Jing was dazzled by the light, closing his eyes, thin lips pressed tightly, offering no response.
Just as Qi Yu mentally prepared himself to accept fate.
Ying Jing said, “It’s not about wanting to win or not—it’s that—I will definitely win.”
Regardless of anyone.
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