The snow fell suddenly and fiercely.
City H, which rarely encountered blizzards, was clearly struggling to cope with this extreme weather. Up until now, there had been no large-scale or effective snow-clearing operations.
Lin Yu walked through the vast, white city, so distressed that he felt like jumping into a river.
Finding a 24-hour convenience store, Lin Yu went in and bought a pack of cigarettes.
After paying, he shoved the cigarettes into his pocket and turned to leave.
He had only turned halfway when he suddenly stopped. After a moment's thought, he paid for another pack.
Outside the convenience store, Lin Yu lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth. Looking at his unfamiliar surroundings, he didn't know where to go for a moment.
Looking left and right to get his bearings, Lin Yu stepped out and headed towards the riverbank.
He was already feeling suffocated enough; he didn't want the scenery to make him feel even more stifled.
After crossing three intersections, leaving a trail of fresh footprints in the snow, Lin Yu arrived at a bench by the river and sat down.
The river waters before him were still churning. Two consecutive days of heavy snow seemed to have had no effect on it. It continued to surge rapidly, its white-crested waves relentlessly washing against the banks.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
Lin Yu pulled at his hair in despair.
Why did things suddenly turn out like this?
Wasn't he just rejoicing a few days ago that everything was finally over?
Why did he suddenly step into nothingness and plummet straight into hell!
Fuck!
Thinking back to the cold treatment strategy he had devised, Lin Yu gnashed his teeth in anger.
How the fuck was he so brain-dead to come up with such a bullshit idea?
Wouldn't it have been fine to just lay everything out in the open?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the more he thought about it. Enraged to the limit, he raised his hand, wanting to slap himself twice.
But with his hand raised in mid-air, Lin Yu couldn't bring himself to do it.
Actually, he wasn't wrong to do so.
Lin Yu dejectedly lowered his frozen hand.
In this modern society, the cold treatment has long been a tacitly accepted way of breaking up.
And the reason he chose this method was also related to his lack of courage to confess to Tang Manman back then.
Perhaps, excluding his current memories, even if he were given a hundred more chances to choose, he might not choose to confess to Tang Manman even once.
Was he afraid she would be heartbroken?
Partially.
Lin Yu sighed.
Perhaps what he feared more was himself.
He was afraid that he would also be heartbroken when confessing, and afraid that when facing Tang Manman's tears and pleas, he wouldn't be able to hold his bottom line.
After all, even for the current him, rejecting Tang Manman was an extremely, extremely difficult thing to do, let alone in that summer a year and a half ago.
...
...
Letting out a heavy breath.
Lin Yu raised his hands and rubbed his face. To perk himself up a bit, he took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and started smoking.
It was no longer the time to dwell on the past.
The most important question now was, what the fuck should he do right now!
Lin Yu looked at the river flowing seemingly right under his feet, and for a moment, he was so distressed that he really considered jumping in.
What on earth should he do?
The option of giving up on Sister Zhuzi couldn't even exist!
She had been so good to him, so trusting. If he chose to break up with her, what difference would there be between him and an animal?
Moreover, it wasn't just a matter of who was good to whom between them.
After a year and a half of being together.
Lin Yu saw himself clearly, and he saw her clearly too. His union with Sister Zhuzi was absolutely not just about taking responsibility for that absurd coincidence.
There was love between him and Sister Zhuzi.
Then...
Give up on Tang Manman?
At the thought of this choice, Lin Yu felt his heart tighten and ache, as if someone were forcing him to chop off his own hand with a knife.
Without needing his conscious mind to make a decision, his body instinctively resisted this action.
Especially when he recalled the sight of that crimson stain when he first opened his eyes.
Lin Yu couldn't even control the trembling of the hand holding his cigarette.
What the fuck was he supposed to do!
Why did things turn out like this bullshit!!!
Fuck...
Lin Yu raised his arm and wiped away his tears in a pathetic manner.
Wait!
Lin Yu suddenly raised his head, his reddened eyes wide open, remembering something he had overlooked.
How did Tang Manman know about the things between him and Xia Muzhu...
...
...
Qing Mo!!!
You motherfucker!
I'll beat you to death!
Furious, Lin Yu immediately wanted to take out his phone and call Qing Mo to demand an explanation.
He wanted to properly curse out this bastard who played dirty tricks behind his back.
A gust of cold wind suddenly blew past. Lin Yu inexplicably shuddered, his fingers freezing in mid-air, hesitating to dial the number.
Holy shit...
It was only then that Lin Yu suddenly realized.
If so, hadn't he broken his agreement with Qing Mo?
Fuck!
Lin Yu immediately shrank his neck and looked around warily. After confirming that there were no burly men in black suits and sunglasses around, he breathed a sigh of relief...
Are you kidding me!
He couldn't relax at all!
Who knew when those guys would appear without anyone noticing!
Taking a drag of his cigarette, Lin Yu forced himself to calm down.
Qing Mo, that mastermind, definitely knew about him sleeping with Tang Manman.
Although he didn't know why she hadn't shown up yet, it didn't matter. The most urgent task was to resolve his relationship with Tang Manman and Xia Muzhu.
One by one, the cigarettes burned to their ends, the red embers falling to his feet until they were extinguished by the snow.
After an unknown amount of time, when his fingers were so invaded by the cold that he could barely hold a cigarette, Lin Yu finally made a decision.
Confess.
He had to confess to Xia Muzhu.
Lin Yu's gaze was firm.
He was going to tell her exactly what happened today, leaving nothing out.
While there was still time, and before that bastard Qing Mo could interfere, he would confess to Xia Muzhu.
As for what to do next...
Lin Yu didn't know.
But there was one thing Lin Yu knew he had to do, and that was to confess to Xia Muzhu.
Having made his decision, Lin Yu immediately took out his phone. His stiff fingers had only swiped the screen a few times before he stopped.
No.
Such an important matter couldn't be explained clearly over the phone.
He had to return to City H and explain things properly to Xia Muzhu face to face!
...
...
On a snowy day, even the light seemed to become a bit more incandescent than usual.
The white glare, lacking its usual golden hue, forcefully pierced through the curtains. The figure lying on the bed seemed not to have moved all night.
"He will come back."
"He will definitely come back."
Tang Manman muttered somewhat neurotically. Her eyes had completely lost their usual gentle luster, and her hollow, dry eyes looked as if they hadn't blinked in a long time.
"How could he not?"
"That woman did that kind of thing with him, and I did it with him too."
"He will stay by my side, just like he stayed by that woman's side."
"He will definitely come back, he definitely will..."
Tang Manman murmured under her breath. In the dead quiet of the room, not a single sound answered her. The absolute silence of the world around her felt like a cruel mockery of her persistence.
Gradually, Tang Manman closed her lips, putting an end to her solitary whispering.
Outside, the sky was already completely bright. The sunlight reflecting off the snow was somewhat glaring to the eyes.
Tang Manman's hollow, dry eyes shifted. She looked toward the nightstand, her gaze settling on the fruit knife still resting in its sheath...
"Beep, beep."
Two harsh, electronic beeps rang out abruptly.
Tang Manman jolted upright in an instant, looking nervously toward the door where the sound had come from.
The door was pushed open from the outside. Lin Yu appeared in the doorway, bringing with him the biting cold and two bags of steaming hot breakfast.
"It's freezing."
"This damn weather..."
Lin Yu complained, hunching his shoulders against the cold.
Suddenly.
A naked figure crashed into his arms. Lin Yu instinctively kicked the door shut behind him. Looking down at Tang Manman, who had buried her face in his chest and was sobbing bitterly, Lin Yu wore a helpless expression and said softly,
"You should at least put some clothes on first..."
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
