Chapter 6

I really never expected to find myself in such a ridiculously dramatic mess.

Right now, I’m half-leaning against Zhou Si, wearing his oversized T-shirt, with my bare legs completely exposed, looking totally disheveled.

And just five meters away, my current boyfriend, Chen Zhicheng, is standing right there.

Zhou Si, on the other hand, didn’t react at all to Chen Zhicheng’s furious outburst. He just looked down at me in his arms, and even thoughtfully wiped the corner of my lips where they were still a bit damp from our kiss.

We had just kissed, and my cheeks were flushed, my lips swollen. Kissing Zhou Si felt so incredible, like an addictive drug.

I was originally planning to straightforwardly break up with Chen Zhicheng, but I never thought he’d be the one to jump in first and act all high and mighty.

“Oh wow, Xie Li, you're cheating on me with another man behind my back?!”

As he said that, he stormed over to where I was and tried to pull me out of Zhou Si’s arms. But Zhou Si, who was much taller and bigger, immediately blocked his way.

Honestly, Zhou Si is at least a whole head taller than Chen Zhicheng.

He guarded me like a little chick behind his broad back, his sharp eyes locked on Chen Zhicheng. Zhou Si is eight years older and has been in the business world long enough to carry a heavy presence. Compared to him, Chen Zhicheng looked like a lightweight—weak and totally outmatched.

To be fair, Chen Zhicheng isn’t short. He’s 178 cm tall, just two centimeters shy of 180. Though he always insists he's 179 and that with shoes on, he’s already 180.

Back in college, he played soccer and was highly popular with the girls. Plus, he was good-looking, so people often overlooked his slight height difference. For me, height never mattered much anyway—I’m more into faces. And Chen Zhicheng’s looks resemble a male celebrity I liked a lot: sharp features, handsome as hell. He was swarmed by girls during college, but he chose to chase after me, relentlessly. Eventually, I gave in, and we started dating.

Honestly, during our three years together, I even thought about marrying him. Right after graduation, I told my best friend Zhou Wan that I wanted to get married and have kids with Chen Zhicheng. Zhou Wan immediately tried to talk me out of it. She said I was being impulsive and crazy—who gets married and has kids right after college? That’d be throwing myself into a pit. Later, I got busy with job interviews, work, and adjusting to corporate life. Even now, I’m still swamped at work and haven’t had time to think about marriage.

Now that I look back, maybe I should thank Zhou Wan. If it weren’t for her, I might have rushed into marrying Chen Zhicheng—and what a disaster that would’ve been.

A cool breeze blew past, bringing a bit of chill.

As I stared at Zhou Si’s broad back, for the first time ever, I felt what it’s like to have a boyfriend who could actually protect me. Now I get why girls love tall guys—because in moments like this, it makes you feel incredibly safe.

Zhou Si looked at Chen Zhicheng and casually asked, “Who are you?”

Chen Zhicheng let out a scoffing laugh. “Who am I? You’re asking me who I am?”

Then he started yelling at me. “Xie Li! Tell him who I am!”

His yelling startled me. I genuinely didn’t get how he could act so confident and self-righteous.

Chen Zhicheng was seething, like a wild beast about to attack and bite people any time.

Zhou Si, seeing that I wasn’t saying anything, probably thought I was stunned. Calmly, he turned to look at me and asked, “Did he scare you?”

I thought he might be mad at me, but instead, he gently patted my head and comforted me, “Don’t be afraid. Just a mad dog barking.”

We were standing so close—of course Chen Zhicheng heard that loud and clear.

Chen Zhicheng is young and cocky, like a bull charging head-first into anything. Normally, he probably would’ve thrown a punch already. But now, he held back. Maybe he was guilty, or maybe he knew he’d get his ass handed to him if things got physical. Still, he shouted at Zhou Si, “You motherfucker, you think I won’t beat your ass? Get the hell out of my way!”

Naturally, Zhou Si wasn’t about to listen to him. Instead of moving, he took a step forward, looking at him coldly and said, “And who the hell are you to tell me to move?”

Chen Zhicheng instinctively took a step back, his sneakers scraping against the concrete.

Then Zhou Si grabbed him by the collar and stared down at him. “You wanna hit me? I’d love to see if you actually can.”

Watching from the side, I have to admit—I felt awesome.

But then again, I couldn’t really pretend I was the better person. I mean, yeah, Chen Zhicheng cheated first, but I still went and slept with another man out of spite. After a wild night, I suddenly remembered, oh yeah—I have a boyfriend.

Just then, the lights in the security booth at the neighborhood gate came on. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I called out to Zhou Si.

He turned around and looked at me, his shadow falling over me in the light.

I walked up to him and confessed, “Let go of him. That guy is my boyfriend.”

Zhou Si gave me a deep, unreadable look. I couldn’t tell if it was surprise or anger. Logically, he should’ve known I had a boyfriend. Zhou Wan’s a total gossip—she probably told him everything.

One way or another, I can’t deny it: I was the one who seduced Zhou Si tonight.

After a moment, Zhou Si let go of Chen Zhicheng. Then he turned to me and asked, “Want to come with me?”

I shook my head and half-joked, “What? Not done playing yet?”

Zhou Si’s eyes darkened. He didn’t look like he was joking at all anymore. He looked dead serious. “Playing? You think you can handle that?”

I couldn’t deal with how serious he suddenly got, so I backed off. “Okay, okay. Geez, calm down. I’m an adult. I can take responsibility for my actions.”

He nodded, gave Chen Zhicheng one last glance, then turned and walked back to his car and drove off.

That left me and Chen Zhicheng standing there, staring at each other.

Honestly, I had wanted to leave with Zhou Si. But I stayed behind because I wanted to make things clear with Chen Zhicheng. Our relationship was already broken, there was no point dragging it out.

“We’re breaking up.” I said it straight out.

Chen Zhicheng smirked. “Because of that guy just now?”

I shook my head. “Chen Zhicheng, why don’t you ask yourself that?”

Even now, he was still pretending. Looking all innocent, he asked, “Me? What did I do?”

I laughed bitterly. “Do I really need to pull out my phone and show you photos of you and that other woman getting all lovey-dovey?”

He froze.

I didn’t feel like saying anything more. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist. “Xie Li, you...you found out everything?”

“Yes! I know everything,” I shook his hand off. “All the filthy stuff you’ve done, I know. If you didn’t love me anymore, you could’ve just told me. I wouldn’t have clung to you. Seriously, I wouldn’t.”

But of course, Chen Zhicheng refused to let go. “Xie Li, give me another chance. I just had a moment of weakness.”

I laughed—half from disbelief, half from helplessness. “So if I told you I also had a moment of weakness and slept with someone else, would you give me a second chance?”

Chen Zhicheng nodded eagerly, looking pitiful. “I would! I would give you a chance! That way, we’d be even, totally square!”

I couldn’t believe those words came out of his mouth. I stared at him like he was a complete lunatic.

Then he said, “Let’s just pretend none of this ever happened, and go back to how we were before, okay?”

I could only reply with four words: “Are you insane?”

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