Chapter 190: Chapter 190: “Try another curse, this one can’t get weak.

Zhou Mochen had gone to the bathroom. Shen Chen was on the balcony, his back to the room, talking on the phone. When he hung up and came back inside, he immediately saw Xu Su sitting alone on the living room sofa, phone in hand, her face a mask of indecision. He knew exactly what she was hesitating over.

He sat down and casually tossed his phone aside, then glanced up at her. “If you really want to break up with that little boyfriend of yours, then don’t be the one to contact him. Don’t give him any opportunity to let things drag on.”

His tone was hard to read, and while the smile remained on his face, it was tinged with mockery. “From what I can see, you’re not completely devoid of feelings for Brother Zhou. Since you’re with him now, make sure you cut ties with everything else cleanly. Don’t be clinging to one while you’re reluctant to let the other go.”

Shen Chen had to admit, he was almost impressed. In the span of a single afternoon, this girl had passionately made out with two different men right in front of him—and that wasn’t even counting him.

To be fair, she had indeed struggled when she was in his arms. But with the other two men, she had looked perfectly happy.

Shen Chen sneered and offered a piece of “friendly” advice. “Brother Zhou isn’t the kind of man you can play for a fool. The only reason you’ve been able to hide this for so long is because he trusts you completely. Don’t think for a second that he’s gullible.”

He sounded as if he genuinely had her best interests at heart. Xu Su froze for a moment before explaining awkwardly, “…I know. I wasn’t planning on contacting him.”

She had already planned to break up with Xi Zirong. This method was completely outside her plans, but what was done was done. As Shen Chen said, contacting him again would only drag things out…

…and cause more trouble.

It was just that… Xu Su still couldn’t get over the kiss from Shen Chen that afternoon.

“I’m not reluctant to let him go. It’s just… the breakup method you chose for me was too cruel. Shen Chen, is this how you always break up with all your girlfriends?”

’She was genuinely curious. He looked so practiced, so at ease—definitely not a rookie. She wondered just how many women he’d hurt with a stunt like that.’

Shen Chen was taken aback by her direct question and snapped, “Why do you always assume I have so many girlfriends? What do you mean, ’all’?”

His words were unexpected. Xu Su frowned. “So you haven’t had ’many’ girlfriends?”

Xu Su gave him a complicated look. “….You just pay for it?”

She looked at him as if he were something filthy.

Stung by her gaze, Shen Chen shot to his feet and kicked the heavy coffee table. “…..Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

He seemed genuinely furious. His jaw was clenched, and the corners of his eyes were red. “You’re trying to piss me off on purpose, aren’t you? Tell me, what exactly have I done that’s so disgusting it makes you look at me like that all the time?”

Remembering her question from last time, Shen Chen raised an eyebrow, his expression turning uncharacteristically serious. “You saw wrong that time, at the beginning of the year. I’m not so desperate that I’d be kissing some ’staff member’.”

’He looked so unjustly accused. If Xu Su hadn’t personally witnessed how fast he went through women, and how ruthlessly he’d dumped Shi Lin, she might have actually started to think she’d misjudged him.’

’Still… with his status, it really did seem beneath him to be all over some bar hostess… Could she really have been mistaken?’

’Even a womanizing playboy probably doesn’t want people getting the wrong idea about him,’ Xu Su figured. She nodded perfunctorily. “…Alright, alright, I’ll drop it. Just as long as you don’t go after my friends.”

Her words made Shen Chen blink. He immediately thought of the two schoolgirls he’d seen earlier that day and couldn’t help but scoff. “Those little pipsqueak friends of yours? I wouldn’t be interested even if you gift-wrapped them for me.”

“…..Fine.” Ignoring the blatant disgust in his tone, Xu Su pressed her advantage. “Remember what you said today. If you ever dare to mess with any of my friends, I’ll…”

Shen Chen sneered. “If I do? What will you do then?”

“…I’ll…” Xu Su genuinely couldn’t think of any way to get back at him. After struggling for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll curse you to be impotent.”

“…..” The corner of Shen Chen’s mouth twitched, as if he’d misheard her. After a long pause, he narrowed his eyes at her and let out a soft chuckle. “You’d better try a different curse. That one’s not going to work.”

The laugh was light, almost a flirtatious taunt.

Xu Su shot him a look and decided to stop talking altogether.

’He’s such a shameless old pro at this. She was no match for him.’

In the end, she didn’t make the call to Xi Zirong. Worried that Zhou Mochen might check her phone, she expertly deleted her entire chat history with Xi Zirong.

To prevent Xi Zirong from calling while she was at Zhou Mochen’s place for the next three days, Xu Su also blocked his number.

Shen Chen watched her from the side and let out a soft laugh. “Do you have any idea what you look like right now?”

Before she could answer, Shen Chen enunciated each word clearly. “You look like the cheating husband in a TV drama who comes home and frantically covers his tracks, terrified his wife will find out.”

Xu Su: “…..”

Seeing the look of shame and anger on her face, Shen Chen had no intention of letting up. His tone grew even more derisive. “I hope you make a clean break with that little boyfriend of yours. Don’t let me find out you’re still dragging things on.”

“…Got it.” ’Xu Su was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected him to be so protective of Zhou Mochen.’

’She had no intention of dragging things on with Xi Zirong anyway…’

’Was it that she didn’t like Xi Zirong at all anymore?’

’No, that wasn’t it. Of course she still liked him. Though Xi Zirong could be annoyingly clingy at times, as a boyfriend, he was so good—aside from his intense possessiveness—that Xu Su couldn’t find a single other fault with him.’

’But Xu Su had come to a realization: Xi Zirong would be perfectly fine without her.’

’In her past life, their paths had never crossed. That boy’s life would be the same, with or without her in it.’

’But Zhou Mochen couldn’t. Zhou Mochen wouldn’t be okay without Xu Su.’

’In two lifetimes, he had fallen for Xu Su at first sight. Just as Zhou Mochen himself had said, he couldn’t live without her…’

’That alone was enough for Xu Su to make her choice.’

’Besides, she was certain now that she liked Zhou Mochen, too.’

’….She wouldn’t dwell on when exactly she had started to like Zhou Mochen. The bottom line was, after seeing him watch over her comatose body, so broken that he let everything else fall apart, her heart had ached so much it felt like it would break. She just couldn’t bring herself to be cruel to him anymore.’

’Even now, two days after that ’dream’, whenever Xu Su thought about what she had experienced in it, the dull ache in her chest was so intense she could barely stand up straight.’

’In her spare moments over the last two days, Xu Su couldn’t stop wondering, how could she go back?’

’She really, truly wanted to go back. No matter what it took, she had to go back at least once and get Zhou Mochen to pull himself together.’

’Just giving the 23-year-old Zhou Mochen a sliver of affection made him this happy and content.’

’If she could just go back to that time, more than ten years in the future, and take the initiative to hug the 35-year-old Zhou Mochen… would he stop growing more and more somber with each passing day?’

’A wave of regret washed over Xu Su. Why, for more than a decade, had she been so stingy as to never even give him a kind look?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep