Chapter 180 Chapter 180 The Story Of The Reflection In The Mirror
Chapter 180 The Story Of The Reflection In The Mirror
“Jumping into the river?”
Su Tao glanced sideways at the figure beside her, seeing a young man with short bangs who looked somewhat cheerful, listlessly slumped over the already ice-covered iron railing, holding an unopened bottle of beer.
Wei Feng heard Su Tao’s questioning voice and couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. “What, it’s a snowy night and so late to be by the river. Don’t tell me you’re here to enjoy the night scenery. At this hour, isn’t everyone snuggled up with their partner on a warm bed, or holed up in an air-conditioned room playing games?”
He lowered his head, staring at the gently flowing river water, dotted with ice chunks. “If you, young lady, are also thinking of jumping into the river, I can chat with you. If you’re just passing by, then hurry up and leave. I wouldn’t want to leave a bad impression on a stranger before I die. And I don’t want anyone trying to talk me out of it.”
Sensing the young man’s melancholic aura, Su Tao knew she should persuade him not to jump into the river; after suicide, there would be nothing left. Yet for some reason, she felt no urge at all to persuade him. She just stared blankly at the river. “Do you think people meet again in heaven or hell after they die? If they can’t be together in this life, is there a chance to meet in the next?”
Wei Feng looked at Su Tao in surprise. “Are you also...?”
“Also?” Su Tao’s eyes remained heavy and desolate, as if casually searching for a topic to make herself forget painful and heavy memories. “Why do you want to jump into the river?”
Wei Feng sighed, “I was dumped.”
“A breakup...”
Suffering because of love, to the point of wanting to commit suicide?
There was a time when she also thought of just joining Chi Xiaocheng. Regret and pain lingered around her. These past few days, she had been numbing herself, forcing herself to accept that Xiaocheng was no longer there. But no matter how she tried to hide, it followed her like a shadow. Whenever she met an acquaintance, they would ask her, “Where’s your Xiaocheng? How come I haven’t seen her?” Perhaps to outsiders, Xiaocheng and she had become inseparable.
And this man, was he also suffering because of love? Could it be that his partner, like Xiaocheng, was suffocated by his heavy love? To this day, she still didn’t understand what true liking really meant.
Su Tao seemed to have found a template for reference and comparison. She said to Wei Feng with considerable interest, “I want to hear about it.”
“Hear what?”
“Your story with your girlfriend, and why you broke up.”
Wei Feng’s mouth twitched. He never expected that even when planning to commit suicide by jumping into the river, someone would still uncover his old wounds. But... what did it matter? It was just some idle chat before saying goodbye. No one in this world cared about him anyway, so it didn’t matter when he died.
Wei Feng took a gulp of the ice-cold beer, his gaze slowly sinking into memory.
“I grew up without parents. Ever since my grandfather, who raised me, passed away when I was six, I’ve always lived alone. Relying on subsidies and donations from kind people, I barely managed to get an education. I originally wanted to work hard and strive, but then I realized I wasn’t very bright. I went to an ordinary middle school, and I almost missed getting into a key high school by a few points. After three years of hard work, I only just scraped by the threshold for second-tier universities. Since I couldn’t get into a good university, I went to a decent vocational college.
Life was a bit monotonous. I always just drifted along. I’d zone out in class, eat after class, and play games when I had nothing to do. Even when handing in assignments, I was always a last-minute worker. A very ordinary and unrefined life, wasn’t it?”
Wei Feng gave a self-deprecating chuckle, the corner of his lips curling up in remembrance. “But even I, ordinary and without any merits, still met someone I liked. That was in the first semester of my sophomore year of college. She was a newly admitted junior. One night I hurt myself playing basketball. She happened to be passing by and helped me to the infirmary. At that moment, I felt she was the most important person in my life.
She was just average-looking. Even without makeup, she was just the kind of person normal people would find pleasant to look at. She wasn’t stunning, but I just really liked her. I started changing myself, improving myself, and began to pursue her. I chatted with her on WeChat, constantly ‘accidentally’ running into her around campus. Once we got a bit closer, I officially started pursuing her. I bought her breakfast, brought her water, took care of her when she was sick – like a simp. After pursuing her for half a year, I confessed my feelings, and she agreed. I felt that was the happiest time of my life.
But we weren’t even together for half a year. Just yesterday, we had a huge fight and broke up.”
He took another long gulp of beer. Glancing sideways at Su Tao’s profile in the darkness, he asked, “Do you know why we broke up?”
Su Tao shook her head. “She cheated?”
“You could say that.” Wei Feng let out a long sigh. “She said she couldn’t accept my strong desire for control and possessiveness. She felt my affection for her was too overwhelming, and that she couldn’t reciprocate that kind of affection. Do you know, I pursued her with marriage in mind for the future. I thought I could stay with my first love until the end. From school uniform to wedding dress, what a romantic story that would be. But she... she was just in it for fun, to enjoy herself for a bit.”
Wei Feng spoke, his voice gradually breaking. “She just wanted to be in a relationship, just wanted to experience the beautiful and sweet feeling of being together. She wanted things to be a bit more relaxed, a bit more normal. But in the end, she thought my affection was too overwhelming, my possessiveness too strong. But we were boyfriend and girlfriend! We were a couple!”
Wei Feng’s tear ducts couldn’t hold back; a grown man cried so heartbrokenly. “My possessiveness wasn’t that strong. I didn’t stop her from being friends with other guys. I just reminded her if I felt things were going too far. Since we were a couple, I just asked her not to get too close to other guys. That would make my heart ache. Isn’t that a perfectly normal thing for a couple? I brought her food and drinks every day. I tried my best to give her whatever she wanted. I told her I loved her every day, accompanied her in doing all sorts of things. I loved her, so was it wrong to be a little clingy? She even said she wanted some distance, and hoped I could be more ‘normal’. Can a person’s love really be ‘excessive’? I could give her all my love, so why did she end up hating me instead? Then, right before we broke up, a playboy was harassing her, almost putting his arm around her waist, even trying to touch her chest. I punched that guy to protect her. And then, that very night, she broke up with me. Then she threw herself into that playboy’s arms.”
Wei Feng wiped away his tears, looking wretchedly at Su Tao. “I’m ridiculous like this, aren’t I?”
Su Tao parted her lips, then lowered her eyes. Her grayish-black hair obscured half of her profile.
“Then, in the end, did she ever love you?”
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!