Qin Chu, the most important man in Huo Mian's three years of high school, the man who had once made her intensely infatuated with him, the man who had inexplicably disappeared for seven years and now suddenly returned, was proposing to the most unsuitable person at the most unsuitable time and place. Huo Mian thought this was truly the most absurd thing in the world.
"Qin Chu, please stop fooling around. We're not children anymore," Huo Mian turned her head, her voice a little hoarse.
"I'm not joking," Qin Chu emphasized seriously, staring at Huo Mian's familiar face.
"Then you're just playing with me, amusing yourself at my expense, aren't you?" Huo Mian laughed mockingly, even she felt how desolate her laugh sounded.
"No."
"Then you mean you're serious?" Huo Mian laughed instead of getting angry. Looking at him, she suddenly found it incredibly ridiculous.
He didn't answer verbally, but his expression clearly conveyed his response to Huo Mian.
Huo Mian took a deep breath, then pointed at him, "Come on, Qin Chu, say that again to me."
"Huo Mian, let's get married," he understood her well and immediately repeated it.
"Qin Chu, listen to me. I am getting married, but absolutely not to you. So, stop dreaming. There's no way for us anymore. I once said that even if all the men in the world died, I wouldn't be with you. Have you forgotten? You might not know, but I've never hated anyone in my life, but I particularly hate you. You brought me an unerasable hurt and pain that will last a lifetime. You're not me, you can't empathize, you can never understand the nightmare I went through. In short, we both have our own lives now. I also have a boyfriend who loves me very much. Please leave. I never want to see you again. Your name is an unbreakable curse to me. I never want to be entangled with you again."
Huo Mian thought she had made herself clear enough, so after saying this, she turned to go upstairs.
But suddenly, Qin Chu grabbed her arm.
"Let go, Qin Chu, what else do you want?" Before Huo Mian could finish her question, she saw Qin Chu pull her into his embrace.
Perhaps he pulled too hard; Huo Mian's head hit his broad chest forcefully. His white shirt carried the faint scent of Versace. In that moment, Huo Mian actually felt how comfortable that embrace was, still so familiar. Memories surged up, making her nose sting and tears almost fall.
After that thought emerged, Huo Mian herself was startled, cursing in her mind, "Huo Mian, are you crazy? Have you forgotten how this man treated you back then?"
Who was this man? He was a devil! Why are you wasting words with him here? You're about to get married, you have Ning Zhiyuan. Thinking of this, Huo Mian sobered up again.
"Qin Chu, let go of me, you scoundrel, or I'll scream for help!" Huo Mian threatened, frowning.
But he seemed not to hear, holding Huo Mian tightly, refusing to let go.
He held Huo Mian close, as if she were a lost and found treasure. Qin Chu was not a man of many words, but being able to embrace Huo Mian like this, he was already content. He had returned with a clear purpose this time: no one would separate them again, no one.
Just then, Huo Mian heard a familiar voice from behind her: "What are you two doing?"
Huo Mian's body trembled as she turned to see her boyfriend, Ning Zhiyuan, standing a short distance behind them.
He must have just gotten off his night shift, and in his hand, he carried Huo Mian's favorite roasted corn and ice-cold cola.
Huo Mian fully snapped back to reality. She pushed Qin Chu away and immediately explained, "Zhiyuan, we... it's not what you think. Please, please don't misunderstand. Just listen to me, okay?"
"All right, I'll listen to you. Speak." Ning Zhiyuan was surprisingly calm today. He stared at Huo Mian for a moment, then cast a hostile look at Qin Chu behind her. Ning Zhiyuan knew Huo Mian well and didn't believe she was the type of woman to cheat on him. Huo Mian rarely even used WeChat and her life was a simple two-point line between home and work, very honest. Given this scene, he believed there had to be a reason.
Just as Huo Mian was still trying to figure out how to explain to Ning Zhiyuan, Qin Chu suddenly said, "Huo Mian... she's mine."
Upon hearing this, Huo Mian felt her scalp about to explode.
Such a dramatic scene was actually unfolding with her at the center of it. Huo Mian suddenly felt this was a cruel joke played on her by fate.
At this moment, after hearing those words, the usual gentleness in Ning Zhiyuan's eyes was replaced by a chilling gloom.
"Qin Chu, what nonsense are you talking about?" Huo Mian finally erupted in anger.
"Xiao Mian, you tell me first, who exactly is he?" Ning Zhiyuan asked, pointing at Qin Chu, his face grim.
"Zhiyuan, listen to me, he's actually just... my... high school classmate." Huo Mian's voice clearly lacked conviction when she said this, but she wasn't lying. Qin Chu was indeed her classmate for all three years of high school.
"Huo Mian, aren't our relations more than just classmates? Why don't you tell him we just kissed in the hotel restroom?" Qin Chu said maliciously, a wildly arrogant smile on his lips.
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhiyuan immediately looked unwell, his face turning dark.
"I didn't...?" Huo Mian tried to defend against Qin Chu's distortion of the truth.
"Huo Mian, don't lie. You can't lie. Look, your lips still carry my scent." Qin Chu reached out, his index finger tracing Huo Mian's lips, the gesture intimately provocative.
Then, Qin Chu glanced at Ning Zhiyuan again and asked, "Since you and Huo Mian are boyfriend and girlfriend, has she never told you about her past?"
Past? Ning Zhiyuan was slightly taken aback. Indeed, he had never heard Huo Mian mention her past. Aside from being close to Zhu Lingling, Huo Mian seemed to never attend any class reunions, and he had never asked her about it.
"What? You don't know? Has she not told you that seven years ago, she deeply loved a man? That man... was me." Qin Chu spoke each word deliberately, and Huo Mian's previously calmed emotional wounds slowly tore open in her heart, causing unbearable pain.
"Huo Mian, I'm asking you, is what he's saying true?" At this moment, Ning Zhiyuan's tone was chilling, devoid of any warmth.