Chapter 68
Summer was drawing to a close, and the recording for the audio drama was also nearing completion.
The final stages were always busier than the earlier parts.
Jiang Siyi had worked late that day, barely having time to look at her phone. Only after leaving the office building did she finally check it.
“Xiao Si, have you messaged Shiwu yet?”
“I’m telling you, you have to be more proactive, or how are you going to rekindle your relationship?”
Shen Yun’s messages flooded her notifications, and Jiang Siyi blinked, thinking this woman must have gone mad with guilt.
Remembering Lin Yusheng’s words—”Clinginess is key”—Jiang Siyi paused, not rushing back to the hotel—she would only be bored there anyway.
She sat down on a bench and started typing.
“Shen Shiwu, are you there?”
Too silly, delete.
“Shen Shiwu, what are you doing?”
No, they had broken up, this was too strange.
After deleting and rewriting countless times, she hadn’t sent a single word. The award-winning author, for the first time, was struggling with how to write a simple message.
Baidu wasn’t reliable, and nothing good ever came out of Lin Yusheng’s mouth. After some thought, she decided Xu Yuan was her best bet.
So she asked her old friend, “How do I message my ex-girlfriend?”
Xu Yuan, currently enjoying dinner with her partner, sent a lovey-dovey picture of them, then replied, “With your phone.”
“…I mean, what should I say?”
Jiang Siyi had been so busy that she hadn’t even had time to tell Xu Yuan about the breakup. The latter was puzzled. “Wait, ex-girlfriend?”
“Mm-hmm,” Jiang Siyi replied calmly, “I’m single again.”
After explaining the whole story, Jiang Siyi’s throat felt dry. She got up and went to a nearby supermarket to buy a drink.
Xu Yuan, on the other end of the phone, clicked her tongue and exclaimed, “That’s quite the drama.”
Jiang Siyi, holding a bottle of grape soda, wandered around the supermarket, then decided to have dinner there and bought some oden.
She sat by the window, paid, and chuckled wryly, taking a bite of fish tofu.
“So, you want to win her back?”
“Yes.”
Realizing that she had strayed from the original question, Jiang Siyi asked again.
Xu Yuan hummed thoughtfully. “How about playing the victim card?”
“How?”
“Just say,” she cleared her throat, “‘Sister, I can’t live without you. I’m eating junk food all the time, and I can’t sleep at night.’”
Jiang Siyi’s lips twitched. “Really?”
“Really, try it and see if it works.”
After hanging up, Jiang Siyi continued eating quietly. It was already past eight, and if it weren’t for the streetlights, it would be completely dark outside.
The convenience store was busy, customers coming and going. After a while, Jiang Siyi finally finished her last piece of kelp.
She wiped her hands with a tissue and finally opened Shen Shiwu’s chat.
Unsure what to say, she decided to send an emoji first.
A rabbit peeking out.
“?”
Seeing that Shen Shiwu had replied, Jiang Siyi was slightly relieved. She took a picture of her oden and soda and sent it. “This is my dinner.”
Her heart pounding, she closed her eyes, not daring to look at her phone. Only when she heard a notification did she peek.
“Okay.”
So cold.
Jiang Siyi gripped her phone, a wave of panic washing over her.
No, she had already taken the initiative, she couldn’t give up now. She mentally encouraged herself and started typing. “This oden isn’t very good, especially the fish tofu, it doesn’t taste fresh.”
“Is that so? You finished the broth, I thought it was good.”
“…”
Jiang Siyi was almost speechless with frustration. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and changed the subject. “What did you have for dinner?”
“Working, haven’t eaten yet.”
Oh…
“Are you back in Qinan?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’m so sad.”
“?”
Jiang Siyi went all out, her acting skills on full display. “Thinking about you leaving me all alone here, it’s so hard.”
“It’s okay, there are millions of people in Beicheng to keep you company.”
Who was the one who said playing the victim card would work?
Jiang Siyi put her phone down and sighed—forget winning her back, even having a normal conversation with Shen Shiwu was difficult.
As she sat there, lost in thought, several couples walked past the window. Although it was already autumn, the weather was still warm. They were wearing casual t-shirts and shorts, holding hands as they strolled leisurely.
Jiang Siyi stared at them for a long time,
Her eyes starting to sting.
She had to keep trying, what if Shen Shiwu really moved on with someone else, where would she go to cry?
Even reporting Shen Yun to the police wouldn’t make up for that.
Determined, Jiang Siyi picked up her phone again, thinking that instead of beating around the bush, she should just address the breakup directly.
She sent an emoji to end the previous topic, then typed, “Actually, there’s a big misunderstanding between us.”
“Mm-hmm, I know.”
Jiang Siyi breathed a sigh of relief.
But the next second, she froze.
“If you’re saying all this because you want to get back together, then I’m sorry, I won’t agree.”
Those heartless words made Jiang Siyi speechless.
Her throat felt dry. She picked up her grape soda and took a large gulp.
A slightly sour taste lingered on her tongue.
Jiang Siyi’s heart sank.
So, she really didn’t love her anymore.
It was understandable.
After all, she was so difficult, always bottling up her emotions, throwing tantrums, and being fierce.
Shen Shiwu had been patient enough with her all these years.
Expecting anything more was ridiculous.
Tears welled up in Jiang Siyi’s eyes.
She stared at the message and typed a single word: “Okay.”
This time, it was truly over.
She thought for a moment, then decided she should still say something—a farewell to her youth.
“Shen Shiwu, meeting you was truly a blessing. You taught me so much, about studying, about relationships…”
Jiang Siyi typed as she sniffed, tears falling onto the table.
She typed a long, heartfelt message in five minutes. But just as she was about to send it, Shen Shiwu sent another message: “But, if you insist, it’s not entirely impossible.”
Jiang Siyi’s hand slipped in surprise.
Whoosh— the long message was sent.
Looking at the two unrelated messages, perfectly aligned, Jiang Siyi wanted to bang her head against a piece of fish tofu.
After her initial panic, she quickly retracted the message.
Her finger hovered over the screen, careful not to accidentally delete it.
But Shen Shiwu had already taken a screenshot and was now looking at it in her photo album. Reading the first part, she closed her eyes for a moment, her heart softening.
Then she saw the detailed rabbit care guide and frowned.
“Shen Shiwu, after this breakup, we probably won’t see each other again, so please take good care of Eleven.”
“I did some research, you can refer to this.”
“1. Rabbits don’t like being caged, they need time to roam freely every day.”
“2. Rabbits are intelligent, don’t scold or hit them, be patient.”
“3. Rabbits…”
The guide took up almost sixty percent of the message.
Shen Shiwu scoffed, feeling slightly annoyed—So, she wasn’t even as important as a rabbit.
Jiang Siyi, oblivious, was still impressed by her typing speed. After retracting the message, she quickly replied, “Really? Do you swear?”
Shen Shiwu didn’t reply.
Jiang Siyi was getting anxious, but she didn’t want to spam her, so she resisted the urge to send emojis and waited impatiently.
Outside the window, camphor leaves fell one by one. Finally, after the eighth leaf fell, Shen Shiwu finally replied.
She said, “Really.”
Jiang Siyi, seeing a glimmer of hope, felt her spirits lift.
She repeated, “Swear it.”
Even through the screen, Shen Shiwu could sense her change in mood. Imagining Jiang Siyi’s excited expression, she couldn’t help but smile.
Her earlier annoyance fading slightly, she typed,
“Mm-hmm, I swear.”
Because of this, Jiang Siyi practically floated back to the hotel. Passing by some popular shops, she started fantasizing about visiting them with Shen Shiwu after they got back together.
Humming a tune, she took a shower and got into bed, then worked on her manuscript for a while. Feeling tired, she tossed her laptop aside, lay down, pulled the covers over herself, and started playing on her phone.
She hadn’t checked Weibo in a while, so she decided to take a look.
She logged in.
Her inbox was still flooded with messages, and as she scrolled through them, she saw the familiar default profile picture again.
The reader had already replied: “You’re welcome, supporting you is what we readers should do. I haven’t been active on social media for a while either, I only log in occasionally to check for your updates.”
Reading this, Jiang Siyi felt a pang of guilt.
It had been years since her last Weibo post.
For her readers, she decided to make a late-night appearance.
@JiangSiyi: Long time no see, I’m working on my new book, what have you guys been up to?
Within five minutes, the post had hundreds of comments. Jiang Siyi, with nothing else to do, started reading them.
One comment was particularly interesting: “Ms. Jiang, after two years, you finally posted! We thought you were busy with your girlfriend, no time for Weibo.”
Seeing the words “girlfriend,” Jiang Siyi smiled wryly.
She sighed and replied, “Just broke up.”
The comment section immediately exploded.
“Ooh, gossip time, grabbing my popcorn.”
“Qixi Festival is coming soon, breaking up at this time, is your ex stingy and doesn’t want to buy you a gift? (just kidding)”
Jiang Siyi was amused by their comments and laughed for a while. Then she tried to imagine Shen Shiwu being stingy, but she couldn’t.
After all, Shen Shiwu was only stingy with her affection, not with money.
Clearing her mind of inappropriate thoughts, Jiang Siyi, seeing the increasingly outrageous speculations of her readers, felt she had to defend Shen Shiwu.
So she replied, “We broke up because of a misunderstanding, not because she’s stingy, she’s actually very generous.”
The reader immediately replied, “Still defending your ex even after breaking up, it seems you still love her.”
Jiang Siyi, her thoughts exposed, blushed.
Just as she was about to close Weibo, the reader with the default profile picture sent her a private message.
“Saw your post, it’s just a breakup, don’t be too sad.”
Since it was her first reader, despite her desire to be cautious, Jiang Siyi couldn’t refuse. She replied, trying to hide her emotions, “Thank you, I’m not that sad.”
The reader didn’t reply for a long time.
Probably busy, Jiang Siyi thought, and was about to close the app,
When the chat window suddenly lit up.
The random string of characters: “Oh.”
Jiang Siyi: “?”
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