To Hell Together

Jiang Yuexi took Nan Xingyu to have a professional check her phone.

Nan Xingyu had not expected it.

The professional turned out to be Song Shuchen.

"My uncle was a top computer science student. Taking apart a phone and finding a listening device is a piece of cake for him."

Jiang Yuexi introduced him proudly.

Song Shuchen sat at his desk, taking the phone apart with his head lowered. "Kid, stop putting me on a pedestal."

As he spoke, he finished opening the phone.

He picked two tiny black components from beside the motherboard and placed them on a white tray:

"There was a bug and a tracker installed in here. They were probably transmitting signals in real time."

"..."

When Nan Xingyu heard the answer,

a chill ran down her spine.

"What?!"

Jiang Yuexi exclaimed, "Who's sick enough to spy on Xingyu?"

Song Shuchen put the devices in a sealed bag and looked up at Nan Xingyu.

"It was most likely someone close to you. Someone who could get hold of your phone and quietly install these devices wouldn't be a stranger."

Nan Xingyu said calmly, "I... I don't know who it was."

Song Shuchen could see she was hiding something, but he said no more and returned her phone.

"Be more careful from now on. Don't let just anyone touch your phone."

Before they left,

Song Shuchen pulled Jiang Yuexi aside and spoke to her:

"If I had to guess, the person spying on her is probably someone pursuing her."

Jiang Yuexi was surprised. "Are there really people that sick?"

Song Shuchen said, "Possibly, but that's just my guess."

After they left the office building,

Jiang Yuexi drove, weighing her words before finally speaking.

"Xingyu, are you in some kind of trouble you can't solve? Do you want to tell me and see if I can help?"

Nan Xingyu lowered her head. "No. Thank you."

"But I'm really worried."

Jiang Yuexi said, "Someone's spying on you right now. If you have anyone in mind, just tell me. I'll definitely help you."

Nan Xingyu clenched her fingers.

Her words were like a lifeline,

and Nan Xingyu couldn't help wavering.

She couldn't possibly escape Xi Jin's control on her own.

"Yuexi, I want to transfer schools."

On Friday evening, a black Maybach was parked outside the gates of Peking University.

Someone had removed the monitoring devices.

Xi Jin soon noticed.

He looked at the interrupted location signal on his phone.

His gaze was dark.

Nan Xingyu had found someone to remove the devices, yet she hadn't said a word to him about it.

What was she "plotting" this time?

Before long,

Nan Xingyu opened the car door and got in, her expression as usual, with little to say to him.

After the car started, the two of them remained silent for several minutes.

Xi Jin got straight to the point. "Who helped you remove the listening devices?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu looked at him. It took her two seconds to react. "I haven't even asked you why you put those things in my phone."

Xi Jin tightened his grip on the steering wheel and stared at the cars ahead. "Why do you think I did it?"

Nan Xingyu looked away. "You're sick."

At that,

Xi Jin turned to her, displeasure showing in his eyes. "Nan Xingyu, what kind of attitude is that to take with me?"

"You planted a bug in my phone, and you expect me to have what kind of attitude?"

Nan Xingyu shot back, then continued, "Do you expect me to obey your every word like I did when we were kids? With you, I don't even have basic human rights."

"Human rights?"

Xi Jin suddenly laughed, his laughter full of scorn.

"Someone whose mouth is full of lies—do you think you're fit to talk to me about human rights?"

"Xi Jin, why do I lie? Everything I want to do has to have your approval."

Nan Xingyu's chest heaved with anger. "What gives you the right to control everything I do?"

"Ever since high school, you've had no sense of boundaries with your male classmates."

Xi Jin's voice was cold and hard. "When guys showed interest in you, did you ever turn them down for my sake?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu stared at him for a moment before saying, "In your eyes, does borrowing a pen or copying someone's notes count as showing interest in me? Besides, I didn't even know you liked me back then."

"Are you an idiot?"

Back then, Xi Jin had wanted nothing more than to kill every boy who came near her. "I made it so obvious. Why are you pretending you didn't know?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu looked at his cold, hard profile. She was tongue-tied for a long moment before saying, "You teased me all the time growing up. How was I supposed to know whether you meant what you said?"

"What about after we slept together? Did you rein yourself in at all once you got to college?"

"I already hide whenever I see a guy. What more do you want from me?"

"When have you ever hidden? You lied to me several times and went out on dates with guys."

"..."

The way Xi Jin put it, Nan Xingyu almost felt as if she really were in the wrong.

But then she thought again.

She couldn't let him twist her around.

She said urgently, "I wasn't alone with them."

Xi Jin shot her a sidelong glance with his dark eyes. "You wanted to be alone with them?"

Nan Xingyu was so angry she cried. "I can't get through to you!"

Silence fell over the car again.

Only her quiet sobs could be heard.

Xi Jin's heart was in turmoil.

Only when she had nearly finished crying did he speak.

"Nan Xingyu, you were planning to transfer schools behind my back. Did you think about me at all?"

"If you weren't trying to leave me, would I have monitored you?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu wiped away her tears. "So it's my fault, then?"

"..."

Xi Jin didn't dare tell her

how much he couldn't bear to be without her,

how afraid he was of losing her.

That feeling of unwillingness and helplessness sent a restless fire surging through his chest.

"If it's not your fault, could it possibly be mine?"

"Fine, it's my fault, all right?!"

Nan Xingyu said, "My biggest mistake was getting together with you!"

"..."

Xi Jin's cold gaze darkened. He jerked the steering wheel hard to the right, pulled over, and turned to look at her.

"Say that again if you dare."

"You're always like this!"

Nan Xingyu was angry and aggrieved. "Whenever things don't go your way, all you do is force me. This isn't love at all!"

"How is it not love?!"

Xi Jin wanted nothing more than to tear out his heart and show it to her. "I love you so much I feel like I'm going mad!"

He had never lost control in front of anyone.

Except her.

She didn't know anything.

"That's just what you think! You never respect my feelings!"

"Did you respect me when you lied to me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu had been twisted around by him again. She was so angry she wanted to bang her head against a wall, but all she could do was cry.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault. I've had enough. I never want to be with you again!"

Xi Jin seized her by the throat and pulled her in front of him. "Nan Xingyu, say that again if you've got the guts!!"

Nan Xingyu grabbed his taut arm, struggling to breathe, but still forced herself to shout:

"I never want to be with you again!"

"..."

Xi Jin's pitch-black eyes stared straight at her. "Nan Xingyu, even if it was wrong from the start, you have to keep being wrong with me to the bitter end."

"I won't!"

Though Nan Xingyu's voice shook with tears, her eyes were full of stubborn defiance.

"I'm going to get rid of you for good!"

Xi Jin gave a chilling smile. "You want to get rid of me? I can help you."

"..."

Nan Xingyu had a bad feeling.

Xi Jin shoved her away, turned his gaze from her stunned face, and looked straight ahead. Gripping the steering wheel with one hand, he started the car again.

The needle on the dashboard shot upward.

Since she insisted on leaving,

they might as well be destroyed together.

The car sped onto the bridge across the river.

His obsession with her had begun on this very bridge.

If she hadn't appeared in time that night,

pulled him back,

and told him not to die, but to live well,

perhaps everything would have been different.

Nan Xingyu sensed something.

She hurriedly grabbed his taut arm. "Xi Jin, you're crazy! Stop the car!"

But Xi Jin acted as though he hadn't heard her, both hands gripping the steering wheel in a death grip.

His eyes were full of madness.

The car hurtled off the bridge, took a sharp turn, and sped down the slope beneath it.

Countless memories of theirs were hidden there.

They had watched the sunset by the river.

They had counted the stars in the sky.

He had guided her hands as he taught her to skip stones...

"Xi Jin, I was wrong."

Nan Xingyu couldn't take it anymore. She cried and begged, "I won't leave you. Please, stop..."

"..."

Xi Jin's foot on the accelerator hesitated slightly.

A hint of yielding flashed through his mad gaze.

Just as the car was about to plunge into the dark river,

he suddenly wrenched the steering wheel and slammed his foot on the brake.

The tires screeched against the ground.

The car traced an arc along the edge of death. A huge splash struck its body, and the icy river water rose over the tires.

The danger receded like the tide.

Nan Xingyu slumped in her seat, trembling all over, tears still streaming down her face.

Xi Jin unbuckled his seat belt, leaned over, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Remember what you said, Nan Xingyu. If you ever dare say something like that again, I'll take you to hell with me."

He lowered his head and kissed the tears from her face.

His movements held a tenderness that followed madness, yet they made Nan Xingyu even more afraid.

"Xiaoyu, as long as you don't leave me, I can give you anything."

Xi Jin's voice brushed her ear. "It doesn't matter if you don't love me. I love you, and that's enough."