Thinking of this, he reached out and carefully tugged at Xie Jianyuan's sleeve, who remained silent, and whispered, "Let's go first."
Xie Jianyuan's body stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered. He tilted his head slightly, concealing the complex dark light in his eyes, and let out a faint nasal sound.
"Um."
Jiang Xiuyan stood there watching their departing figures, his face pale, his lips pressed into a straight line, his hands clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, causing a faint stinging pain.
At this moment, only pain could calm him down.
He thought he still had a chance, that Xu Chun in this life would be the same as before, but he never imagined it would be so absurd. Xu Chun had also been reborn, and now he hated him to the bone, unable to move him in the slightest.
Jiang Xiuyan looked somewhat dazed. He stood motionless for a long time, as if he had turned into a statue.
It turns out that the things he broke with his own hands can never be put back into their original state.
Xu Chun and Xie Jianyuan were both very silent on their way home. Xu Chun was thinking about how to bring it up with Xie Jianyuan, while Xie Jianyuan seemed to be lost in thought, his brows furrowed.
Xu Chun wanted to speak several times but stopped herself each time. It wasn't until they returned to Xie Jianyuan's house that Xu Chun hesitated repeatedly before finally asking, "... Did you hear everything?"
Xie Jianyuan looked up at him, closed the door with one hand, and nodded.
Xu Chun tentatively asked, "How much did you hear?"
Xie Jianyuan did not answer the question. After a moment of silence, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips, but this smile would not be misunderstood as a sign that he was in a good mood.
"Brother Chun."
He suddenly called out to Xu Chun in a low voice. His voice was naturally magnetic, very low and deep, but for some reason it was slightly hoarse. Xu Chun was taken aback.
"You say..."
Xie Jianyuan walked back to him unhurriedly, his steps calm, his expression gradually fading into the shadows.
What did you mean by what you just said?
Xu Chun was momentarily stunned, then realized that he must have been asking about the part where he said Jiang Xiuyan liked him.
"... You heard everything." Xu Chun lowered her head stammeringly.
Seeing his expression, Xie Jianyuan sighed softly and said in a deep voice, "Why won't you tell me anything? What do you think of me?"
Xu Chun pursed her lips and forced a smile. "There are some things I really don't know how to tell you."
He paused, then continued, "Do you want me to tell you that I have an ex-boyfriend and am currently being harassed by him, or do you want me to tell you that you are the reason I broke up with him?"
Xie Jianyuan was taken aback, and his expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Xu Chun said softly, "Little Xie, thank you for helping me out earlier, but I shouldn't have dragged you into this mess."
Xie Jianyuan looked into his eyes and said, word by word, "I'm very worried about you."
Xu Chun smiled easily and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I don't have the mind to think about lovey-dovey stuff right now. I have more important things to do."
He hadn't forgotten his purpose since his rebirth: to bid farewell to his faded and forgotten life and reclaim what belonged to him. Compared to unreliable romances, what he could hold firmly in his own hands gave him a greater sense of security.
Xie Jianyuan's expression darkened slightly, and he stared at Xu Chun with a complicated look in his eyes. After an unknown amount of time, he sighed silently, as if he had given in to something.
"Want to eat?"
"Huh?" The topic changed so suddenly that Xu Chun didn't react for a moment. She looked at him blankly, and the tense and solemn atmosphere vanished instantly.
Xie Jianyuan smiled, his expression unchanged, and continued, "What do you want to eat?"
Xu Chun then remembered that he was still hungry. Thinking of this, he blushed slightly, looked away awkwardly, and cleared his throat with his fist.
"... Okay, whatever you want, I'm fine with anything."
"Okay." Xie Jianyuan said as he walked towards the kitchen.
Xu Chun one left in the living room. He glanced around and felt embarrassed to just sit there, so he decided to tidy up the house, only to find that there was nowhere that needed cleaning.
He looked at it for a while and suddenly noticed the photo on the shelf. Faint memories began to return to his mind, and he remembered his embarrassing state when he was drunk. He had taken it upon himself to cover someone else's photo upside down. However, he didn't expect that the photo was still in that face-down position. Xie Jianyuan had actually stopped caring about it after that incident.
However, Xie Jianyuan and Xu Chun's relationship was not greatly affected afterward. It's just that Xie Jianyuan seemed a little absent-minded for some reason, and Xu Chun could sometimes see a faint shadow under his eyes.
Have you been working too hard lately?
Xu Chun had just finished a promotional event when she ran into Xie Jianyuan backstage and couldn't help but ask him a question.
Xie Jianyuan's eyes flickered, then he smiled nonchalantly, "I've just been too tired from work lately."
Xu Chun had also heard about Xie Jianyuan's sudden shift to working so hard, and couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Looking at Xie Jianyuan's change in attitude towards acting, she felt a sense of relief, like an old father seeing his son grow up.
Xu Chun praised Xie Jianyuan a few times, and at the end, he earnestly told him not to be arrogant and complacent, but to keep up the good work, and so on, now repeating everything his father had told him.
Xie Jianyuan did not object and accepted it all with a smile.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Xu Chun glanced at him hesitantly, then continued after a long pause, "... Would you like to come to my house?"
Xie Jianyuan was startled, his eyes widened slightly, and a rare look of bewilderment appeared on his face.
Xu Chun stammered, "... Didn't you invite me to your family's dinner party last time? I told my parents about it, and they said they'd invite you to their house next time too, so as not to be impolite."