Back Then, I Adored You

Although Wu Hao had already known this, he still felt as if his heart was torn apart when he heard Xu Wennuan saying it firmly in such a forthright manner. Her words felt like they forced the blood to ooze from the gaping hole.

He had often considered this being the outcome of their relationship, but now that things had reached this stage, he found it difficult to come to terms with this outcome. He couldn’t yet bear to go his separate way from her, never to cross paths again.

Wu Hao swallowed with much difficulty and continued to struggle on with his questions. “Nuannuan, I heard the call that you made to the radio station. He obviously did such a terrible thing to you. How could you fall in love with him after that?”

“Yes, he was merciless with me. But Wu Hao, you know what? He sent me a joke at 3:00 a.m. for more than 400 consecutive mornings, and what I realized is that he was the only one there for me when I was at my lowest.”

It had taken Xu Wennuan a long time to understand affairs of the heart, and now that she had she wanted to reveal what she felt, thus her words flowed freely as she opened up to Wu Hao. “Indeed, he brought a lot of darkness into my life. But he was also the one who pulled me out of darkness. He caused me pain but he gave me warmth…”

“He never left me, even when he was not physically present by my side. He was even the one who invested in the spa on my behalf.”

Wu Hao was a smart man, and he could read the deeper truth in her words. He already understood everything just upon broaching the subject.

Lu Bancheng was the one who invested in the spa, so Lu Bancheng had given Xu Wennuan her comfortable and affluent life by a different means.

No wonder she wants to quit. She wants out of his world now that she knows there’s no chance between Lu Bancheng and her.

“Most importantly, Wu Hao, you should know that the unhappiness between him and me was not the sole reason behind my psychological problems. It was also partly because of you.”

Partly because of me? So the catalyst for her psychological problem was because of my unfaithfulness?

Wu Hao pursed his lips and didn’t respond.

“Both of you made me that way, but he was the one who made me who I am now.”

One simple sentence clearly explained the difference between Lu Bancheng and him.

Both of us brought her pain, but he was the only one who thought about how to relieve her pain.

I should give up now. That man loves her and she, too, fell in love with that man. They are mutually in love and should be together forever. I used to be the leading man in her life, but now I’m just a minor supporting role.

Yes, I should have given up long ago. I should have backed out, but I was unwilling to resign myself to this and couldn’t let go of those 10 years that we had. I kept wishing that I could return to her world, and my desires are why she’s unable to be with Lu Bancheng and how I’m unable to with her…

Should I continue to be so obsessed?

I would not find happiness, she would also not find happiness, and neither would Lu Bancheng.

As these thoughts crossed Wu Hao’s mind, he lifted his hands gently and felt his pockets. Through his shirt, he pressed on the watch inside, swallowed twice, and then turned to look at her seated next to him.

Her eyes were tearing up as she stared at the distant city lights, making Wu Hao suddenly recall the first time they had ever had a fight after they had begun dating in high school.