Sitting by the Roadside (Happy 520 Everyone)

"Looking forward to a future with you..."

"I'm looking forward to it too..."

"Shu Ning, I was just mentioning the title of the composition you wrote."

"Brother, I was talking about my feelings."

"Shu Ning... wait two months... let's come back here in two months."

"By then, I want to give you a gift and tell you things I’ve always wanted to say."

"Would that be alright?"

"I’d love that."

"You’d love..."

"No."

Gu Luo sat on the curb, staring blankly at the passing cars and pedestrians, his mind replaying the scene from a month ago when he and Shu Ning had shared a snowy mooncake.

Their relationship had officially begun with—

Would that be alright? I’d love that.

And now it was—

You’d love...? No.

Even now, Gu Luo refused to believe the harsh words Shu Ning had spoken were genuine.

Because those scalding tears—they couldn’t have been fake.

But right now, he didn’t have the energy to dwell on the reasons behind it all.

Even if Shu Ning had no choice, even if she had unspeakable reasons—

The hurt was still hurt.

The gift he had painstakingly prepared for over a month had been carelessly tossed aside.

Gu Luo didn’t bother going back to look for it. He didn’t even want to.

Everything—absolutely everything—left him utterly exhausted.

Time slipped away, second by second.

The sunset had long been swallowed by the ink of night.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, over and over, but Gu Luo acted as if he hadn’t heard, still sitting dazed on the street.

He didn’t want to think.

He refused to think.

Is this what heartbreak feels like?

At school, he was hailed as Gu the Prodigy, surrounded by countless admirers.

Yet in the end, his very first confession had ended in failure.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when a faint sound finally reached his ears.

The swish of velvet brushing against the pavement, a delicate friction.

A girl in ten-centimeter black stilettos took measured steps, as if each one marked the passage of time.

Her black dress clung to her waist and hips, outlining a graceful silhouette—as if she had draped a piece of the night sky over herself.

A subtle scent of cedar drifted around her, its base notes laced with a hint of sweet rose.

Only when those diamond-studded heels came to a stop before him did Gu Luo finally lift his gaze—

The gemstone necklace at her throat gleamed against the hollow of her collarbone, her silver earrings catching the light with an ethereal shimmer. Even the shadow cast by her lashes carried an innate elegance.

Gu Luo was stunned into silence.

Confusion, awe, and something indescribably complicated swirled inside him.

Luo Shuhe hooked a finger under her skirt, letting the velvet fabric graze the grass-stained ground.

With an effortless flick, she smoothed the wrinkles at her hips, treating the expensive dress as casually as if it were a simple cotton frock.

Then she sat down beside Gu Luo.

Silent.

Neither spoke, the only sounds the distant hum of traffic and the occasional footsteps of passersby.

Time stretched on until—

A low engine roar shattered the quiet.

A sleek black luxury car, like a lurking panther, pulled up smoothly in front of them.

Luo Shuhe rose gracefully, her slender fingers curling around the door handle with the poise of a noblewoman from centuries past.

Gathering her skirt, she dipped into a slight curtsy, her emerald earrings swaying gently with the motion. The shadow of her lashes trembled with a soft smile.

"Brother, please get in."

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