Pei Qingjian opened the fridge, checked what ingredients were available, and sent Lin Xingchen a message:
“Shredded pork in Beijing sauce, shredded potatoes, minced pork with green beans—are these okay? And make a seaweed and egg drop soup.”
Seeing that he was awake, Lin Xingchen replied with concern:
“How are you feeling? Any discomfort?”
“Nope.” Pei Qingjian responded quickly, relieved that his lips weren’t even swollen anymore.
Lin Xingchen noted silently that Pei Qingjian’s health was quite robust.
“Okay, then. Cook as you like. I’m not picky,” he texted.
Pei Qingjian sent back a playful emoji upon seeing his approval, then started washing and prepping the ingredients.
Lin Xingchen saw the emoji and unconsciously smiled. He set down his phone, humming a happy tune while reviewing documents.
His good mood lasted until Xu Ya arrived.
At 11:40, his secretary reported that Xu Ya had come to see him.
Lin Xingchen finished signing the last document and said, “Let him in.”
He leaned back in his chair, sipping tea, waiting.
When Xu Ya entered, he saw him like this. Unexpectedly, Lin Xingchen even smiled at him.
Xu Ya was momentarily stunned—he realized it had been a long time since he’d seen Lin Xingchen smile at him.
“Let’s have lunch together,” Xu Ya suggested.
Lin Xingchen shook his head. “I already have plans. If there’s something, just say it.”
Xu Ya cut straight to the point. “You deleted Jia Nian from WeChat?”
This was something Xu Jia Nian had told him earlier. He’d mentioned only that Lin Xingchen had removed him.
“You promised me you wouldn’t delete him.”
“I never promised,” Lin Xingchen replied calmly.
“But before, you added him in front of me.”
“Yes,” Lin Xingchen nodded slightly. “I added him then for your sake. And I didn’t delete him after, also for your sake.”
“Then why did you delete him now?” Xu Ya asked, sensing the words to come might be unpleasant.
“Because your face, your pride, means nothing to me now,” Lin Xingchen said evenly.
He spoke without emotion, calmly stating a fact, leaving Xu Ya stunned.
“What did you say?” Xu Ya looked at him in disbelief.
Lin Xingchen smiled, sent a voice message, and asked his secretary to come to the office.
“Please inform Mr. Xu of my schedule for this week.”
The secretary looked confused but recited the schedule diligently as recorded.
Xu Ya listened, still unsure. “What does this mean?”
Lin Xingchen dismissed the secretary and said coolly, “What you just heard is my schedule. Outside of work, I’ll spend most of my time with Qingqing. The rest, I’ll spend with Junhao and my uncle.”
“So?”
“So, you no longer exist in my life.”
He spoke flatly, without a hint of fluctuation, stating, “Xu Ya, you are no longer in my world. I don’t think of you at work, nor in daily life. I have no desire to share my joys or sorrows with you, and nothing you do is indispensable to me. This is not how friends behave. The fact that our friendship has reached this state only proves one thing: we are no longer friends.”
Xu Ya couldn’t believe it. “What are you saying?”
“When we were friends, I respected your pride—your face was valuable, meaningful. But now we are no longer friends. I no longer need to care about it.”
“Lin Xingchen, do you think it’s appropriate to say that?!” Xu Ya demanded angrily.
He stepped forward, standing next to Lin Xingchen. “We’ve known each other since birth, grown up together, more than twenty years, only the two of us walking step by step. And now, you want to cut ties with me?!”
Lin Xingchen was slightly surprised—he’d thought Xu Ya had forgotten all this, but apparently not.
“I’m not the one who wants to cut ties. You are.”
“I’m not!” Xu Ya denied.
“Am I?” Lin Xingchen smiled lightly. “Then tell me, why was I at the hospital yesterday?”
Xu Ya fell silent.
Why had Lin Xingchen been at the hospital yesterday?
Yes, why had Lin Xingchen been at the hospital yesterday?
Had he fallen ill?
“What’s wrong with you?” Xu Ya asked anxiously. “Are you sick?”
The smile on Lin Xingchen’s face deepened.
He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost twelve. When we met yesterday, it was around the same time. I gave you twenty-four hours, yet clearly, this issue meant nothing to you.”
“So you didn’t care, you didn’t ask, you didn’t need to know.”
“That’s not it.”
Lin Xingchen shook his head. “You know as well as I do.”
“Xu Ya, perhaps we were once the best of friends, but that time is long gone. From the moment Xu Jia Nian appeared, from the moment you liked Xu Jia Nian, from the moment Xu Jia Nian liked me, our friendship was doomed to fracture.”
“I…”
“I tried to salvage our friendship,” Lin Xingchen interrupted. “I added Xu Jia Nian back because you wanted me to. I still replied to every single message from you. I kept yielding, thinking about how to restore what we had, even until yesterday.”
“But it was useless. Your eyes only saw Xu Jia Nian. You only wanted me to be with Xu Jia Nian. You only cared about him.”
“Just like now—you storm in angrily, questioning why I deleted Xu Jia Nian. But from the moment you left yesterday until you appeared today, did you care about me in the slightest?”
“No. You only cared about Xu Jia Nian.”
“If you had even thought of me for one second, even just sent me a WeChat emoji, you would have realized that I didn’t just delete Xu Jia Nian—I deleted you too.”
Xu Ya stared at him in shock and hurriedly pulled out his phone.
He opened Lin Xingchen’s WeChat, hastily tried to send an emoji—but it didn’t go through.
The system notified him: they were no longer friends.
Xu Ya looked up, eyes wide with disbelief.
“Friendship exists in mutual care, mutual help, mutual understanding, and mutual support. You were once a good friend. But now, you are only a good friend to Xu Jia Nian. So I’ve given up.”
Lin Xingchen sighed. “That’s it.”
He looked at Xu Ya once more and added, “I didn’t tell your parents about this. Choose an appropriate time to tell them yourself. How and where you say it is up to you—I won’t get involved.”
“Now, you may leave.”
Xu Ya stood quietly, seemingly unable to accept it.
When Pei Qingjian knocked and entered, he witnessed the scene:
Lin Xingchen working at his desk, Xu Ya standing not far away, staring at him in shock.
Why is he here? Pei Qingjian wondered.
Xu Ya, equally confused, heard the movement and turned, seeing Pei Qingjian walk in.
What is he doing here? Lin Xingchen said he had plans… is it Pei Qingjian he’s meeting?
Pei Qingjian’s heart raced a little. Yesterday, after Xu Ya left, he had practiced his crying scene for some time after dinner. He wasn’t sure if he had improved, but now he had Xu Ya to practice on.
Thank you, Xu Ya! You’ve been my practice partner!
Pei Qingjian started building his emotional state.
“Why is it you again?” he lifted his chin, eyes full of displeasure. “Yesterday you came to see Xingchen and didn’t meet him, and today you rushed to the office to block him? You really are persistent!”
Xu Ya: …
“I just came to see him, say a few words,” Xu Ya explained.
Pei Qingjian snorted and placed the lunch boxes on the table.
“A few words? Must be about Xu Jia Nian, right?”
Xu Ya: …
Pei Qingjian knew it.
“You’re really good to Xu Jia Nian. Anyone who didn’t know might think you’re his boyfriend instead of his friend.”
Xu Ya hurriedly denied it. “No, Jia Nian and I—it’s purely friendship.”
“Sure,” Pei Qingjian nodded. “His non-purely-friend targets, isn’t that my husband? I know.”
Xu Ya: …
Xu Ya could only explain, “Xingchen has always been popular. It’s normal for Jia Nian to like him.”
“Yes,” Pei Qingjian smiled lightly. “My husband is that outstanding. Of course, it’s normal to like him. But he already has me. If someone still likes him, that’s not normal.”
Xu Ya: “…Before yesterday, Jia Nian didn’t know either.”
“Well, now he knows.”
Xu Ya: …
“You know too,” Pei Qingjian added. “Since you care so much about Xu Jia Nian, I hope you won’t let him be a side figure, right?”
Xu Ya frowned. “Little Pei, isn’t that too much to say?”
Pei Qingjian waited for that moment of disapproval.
He pinched his palm while forcing his tears to well up.
“Too much?!”
Cry!
“You kept coming to see my husband again and again for Xu Jia Nian. You say I’m too much?!”
Quick, cry!
“You didn’t bless us when we first met, instead trying to break us apart. You say I’m too much?!”
Tears, come on!
“You promised to invite my husband to dinner after so long, yet you left before the meal was over, leaving him in the hotel. You say I’m too much?!”
Damn! Why can’t the tears come out?!
“Do you know why he agreed to that dinner yesterday? It was for you! Otherwise, we could have had a sweet, candlelit lunch just the two of us. Why waste time with you outsiders?!”
Ahhhh, he hasn’t improved at all!
Pei Qingjian was genuinely upset this time, so much so that his eyes were red. Why? Why was crying on cue so difficult?!
His eyes were red, filled with both anger and frustration—angry that he made no progress in acting, frustrated that he couldn’t learn to cry! He was supposed to be a top student!
“Is this what you call me being over the top?! The real over-the-top one isn’t me, it’s you!”
It was over—he still couldn’t cry!
Total failure! His Waterloo had arrived!
Inside, Pei Qingjian’s heart was flooded with tears. He wished he could start over, redo the whole exercise!
He wasn’t willing to give up!