Asking too much just means it's not a good fit

He pushed open the car door.

Lin Yu bent over, about to step one foot out of the car.

"Why?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind him.

It was chilly and aloof, mournful like a consort long confined to a cold palace.

If it weren't for a faint, barely perceptible tremor in that voice, Lin Yu might have wondered if there was a ghost behind him.

Lin Yu paused mid-motion, turned to look at her, and asked in confusion:

"Why what?"

Qing Mo finally set aside her work, placing the laptop she had been preoccupied with throughout the ride off to the side.

She gazed deeply at Lin Yu.

Her reddened eyes had lost their usual coldness and arrogance.

Her shoulders slumped. The pretense of indifference she had kept up along the way crumbled away. She looked like an ordinary young girl about to be abandoned, questioning him with grievance:

"You don’t have anyone you like right now."

"So why won’t you give me a chance?"

"Do you hate me that much?"

Qing Mo’s questions left Lin Yu momentarily at a loss for words.

He awkwardly scratched the blond hair on his head, looking at Qing Mo, who seemed as fragile as a piece of delicate porcelain.

Lin Yu didn’t know how to explain it to her.

Qing Mo was really great, honestly.

Young, rich, beautiful, and obedient.

On the outside, she could hold her own; on the inside, she could let things go…

…

Uh.

Though he’d never tried it.

Lin Yu figured Qing Mo could let go of just about anything.

A woman like this wasn’t just a virgin’s killer.

She was every man’s killer.

But it was just…

…

Lin Yu looked back into Qing Mo’s eyes, which had shed their cold exterior and now showed only fragile, tearful red. His expression twisted with awkwardness and difficulty.

"Ah," he sighed.

"It’s not really about hate or anything."

"We’re just not a good match."

Lin Yu still didn’t say what was on his mind, brushing it off with a casual excuse.

When it came to the four heroines in his manga,

Lin Yu always felt a strange sense of dissonance.

It was like they belonged to different worlds…

No.

That distance was too close.

More like they were from different dimensions.

No matter how close they tried to get, there was always an unbridgeable gap.

It made it impossible for him to invest real feelings.

Like how people call fictional characters their “waifus.”

But no one actually holds a piece of paper up to their parents and says, “This is your daughter-in-law, my wife.”

Seeing the tears welling up in Qing Mo’s eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment,

Lin Yu—hoping to avoid trouble—limped away quickly on his leg, which was already treated but still hurt when he walked.

He darted through several alleys in one breath.

Only after making sure Qing Mo couldn’t catch up even if she changed her mind did Lin Yu finally relax. He hailed a taxi on the roadside and headed home.

Back in his small rented room,

Lin Yu stripped off his clothes, curled up in the covers with his phone, and scrolled through the messages he had missed while unconscious for a few days.

Emmm…

He skimmed through WeChat.

There wasn’t really any important news on his phone.

Aside from some “Happy New Year” greetings, only two people’s messages needed replies.

Lin Yu held his phone and began replying to those two.

Long Aotian: Did you save any New Year’s Eve leftovers for me? (Nose-picking emoji)

Xia Aodi: Nope. (Shrug emoji)

Xia Aodi: It’s already the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Xia Aodi: It would’ve gone bad in the fridge.

Xia Aodi: You never said when you’d pick it up.

Xia Aodi: I finished it all yesterday.

Xia Aodi: But if you want some, my sister said she can whip up a whole new feast for you.

Xia Aodi: We’ll pack it all up for you then.

Long Aotian: No, no.

Long Aotian: Forget it.

Lin Yu clutched his phone, his fingers tapping away quickly on the screen.

To be honest,

Lin Yu wasn’t exactly starving for a meal.

But the New Year’s Eve dinner—it always held a special appeal for someone living alone.

Xia Aodi: So, what have you been up to these past few days?

Xia Aodi: Not answering calls.

Xia Aodi: Not replying to messages.

Xia Aodi: Did you get sold abroad and have your kidneys cut out?

Long Aotian: Damn!

Long Aotian: You hit pretty close to home!

Long Aotian: Your big bro almost got locked up by some rich woman with long legs and a nice butt, forced to live off her for life!

Long Aotian: Barely escaped her.

Long Aotian: So dangerous!

Xia Aodi: …

Seeing the three dots Xia Yueshan had sent, Lin Yu could picture his speechless expression through the screen.

Sigh.

What could he do?

The world was just strange like that.

The truth didn’t sound believable to anyone!

Leaving Xia Yueshan’s chat, Lin Yu tapped on the other conversation that needed a reply.

He scrolled down and skimmed through the series of unread messages Gu Yue had sent.

On New Year’s Eve,

Bored and with nothing to do, he had asked her to hang out.

Too bad it was the holidays—all the entertainment spots nearby were closed, leaving little to do.

In the end, they just watched a movie, caught some plushies at a claw machine, and strolled along the beach.

Oh, and they went to a seaside café to watch the New Year’s fireworks.

Those fireworks were really pretty.

But sadly,

He only got to watch the shows at 6 PM and 8 PM with her before Qing Mo called him over.

He had been thinking that if time allowed, he could have come back to catch the midnight fireworks with her, too.

Back at the café,

Gu Yue had hyped up the midnight fireworks like crazy.

Almost called them the eighth wonder of the world!

Lin Yu was genuinely curious about what those fireworks might have looked like.