Yu Zhongmeng usually didn’t drive fast, but no matter how slow, it wasn’t a speed a bicycle could catch up with.
Su Qin stopped by the roadside and saw a message from Yu Yue: “Where are you now?”
Su Qin looked around and replied, “On the street.”
“Mengmeng’s blind date is here with me. You… want to come see him?”
“Oh~”
“Forget it. I’m the one who got dumped after all.”
In that instant, Su Qin finally understood how absurd lives could spiral into deeper absurdity. He had intended to ride his bike back to the residential complex, grab his Coke, and sink once more into the monotony of his order-grinding life. But for some reason, it felt like a fire was burning inside him—a flame that scorched all his insides into ash, leaving behind an unspeakable brand over his heart.
Yu Yue fell silent for a moment. “Whatever you want.”
Yu Zhongmeng and he really weren’t from the same world. She could casually drop a car ornament and he’d have to grind an entire night’s worth of orders to buy it back.
Even if subjective will had been the true reason they couldn’t continue, the objective gap in material life meant little to someone like Yu Zhongmeng.
Or… did it?
Su Qin suddenly felt as if a cat were clawing at his heart. He wanted to believe they had split amicably due to mutual choice. But his mind couldn’t stop echoing what the supermarket auntie had said.
“You wouldn’t overthink this if you were drunk.”
He recited it silently, turned, and pedaled his bike away—only to be interrupted by an earsplitting blare of a horn and the screech of brakes.
Then came a deafening bang.
After that: noise, chaos, the wail of an ambulance—and then, silence. The world slipped into long, dark slumber.
No one knew how much time passed before Su Qin’s phone rang, its default ringtone piercing and obnoxious, shattering his rare moment of peace.
He hit decline without thinking. He hadn’t slept that well in ages.
It rang again.
Su Qin groaned and sleepily accepted the call.
On the other end was a lively, cheerful girl’s voice—brimming with every bit of energy and sweetness a girl could possess. “Surprise! So, what are you gonna do now?”
“Do what?”
Even without asking, Su Qin already guessed—it was that prank girl again.
“You’re about to die, you know. But if you agree to be my game companion, I can give you another shot at life.”
“What kind of cringey anime villain line is that…”
Su Qin was too tired to even roast her properly. Honestly, aside from “nutjob,” there was no better word for this girl.
She huffed. “Then look for yourself.”
Before Su Qin could ask how, he suddenly felt his consciousness lifting. His soul peeled away from his body, rising higher and higher until he hovered above in third-person view, gazing down at the hospital.
The patient named Su Qin was currently lying in the ICU.
The memory hit him at last. He had turned his bike around without checking the road—and gotten slammed by a truck.
“Figures. What luck. But honestly, if this boring life ends here, maybe that’s not so bad,” Su Qin muttered to himself.
“Hey! You haven’t answered me yet!”
“No thanks. Go find someone else to play with. Just let me sleep—just this once.” Su Qin waved his hand, ready to hang up.
“Aw, don’t be like that… What if I tell you about Yu Zhongmeng’s blind date?”
“None of my business.”
Su Qin pouted with disinterest, but after a few seconds, he couldn’t resist and added: “Go on, then.”
The girl on the line giggled with delight. “To put it simply—tall, rich, and handsome. All three. How about you?”
Su Qin fell silent. His soul, which had been hovering, began to sink slowly.
“I guess… I could maybe claim ‘handsome’ on a technicality. But saying that now just sounds like I’m making excuses.”
“It does sound like an excuse.”
“Then let’s just end it. Bring on the destruction.”
“Hey, no rush to die!” the girl chirped like an endlessly energetic lark. “That tall-rich-handsome guy? He’s not even after Yu Zhongmeng, he’s after her dad.”
“Wow. Tall-rich-handsome men are into dads now?” Su Qin muttered a bad joke. His soul was falling faster now—almost ready to merge again with his unconscious body.
Right at the moment when the two were about to reunite, everything paused.
Su Qin looked up. His invisible hand clutched the imaginary phone tight. “Let me take a look. As the ex, I figure I’ve at least earned that tiny sliver of a right.”
Laughter like silver bells rang in his ear, then a voice cold as a devil whispered through his mind: “Deal. Payment will be settled upon completion of the companion task.”
———
When Su Qin walked out of the hospital, no one—from the director to the nurses—remembered that he had ever been admitted to the ICU. Not a trace remained in their records or their minds.
At the entrance, he rented another bike. But this time, he checked all directions before pedaling off.
The wind brushed his face like the rain from the night before.
Quiet bars weren’t usually open during the day, but today was an exception. Gentle music flowed inside. Only one server and one customer were present.
The server was none other than Boss Yu herself, and the customer was seated in Su Qin’s favorite spot by the window.
Su Qin stood exactly where Yu Zhongmeng had parked the night before and looked up—just in time to lock eyes with the man inside.
White shirt, gray trousers—standard office attire. It was summer, and even though the bar was air-conditioned, the man had undone the top button of his shirt.
Even at a glance, Su Qin could tell the guy had a solid build.
Su Qin, who rarely got angry and was usually mild-mannered, suddenly felt a surge of nameless fury. He pursed his lips and strode straight up the stairs. Under Yu Yue’s shocked gaze, he stopped in front of the man.
“Mind telling me your name?”
Su Qin smiled warmly. And when he smiled seriously, he really could claim one-third of that “tall, rich, handsome” title. Maybe more. He wouldn’t even hesitate to say he was better-looking than the man in front of him.
The man stood with polite composure and extended his right hand. “Lu Yuan. I’m Mengmeng’s fiancé. And you are…?”
“Me?”
Su Qin repeated the words, then grinned wide. For the first time, his face showed an uninhibited, arrogant smile.
“I’m your daddy.”
He raised his right hand and slammed it into Lu Yuan’s face.
Lu Yuan hadn’t expected that at all. Sure, Su Qin was a shut-in, but nobody said he didn’t work out. That punch landed square on Lu Yuan’s nose, sending him crashing back onto the couch, half-unconscious.
“Su Qin! Are you insane?!”
Yu Yue screamed beside him, her cigarette-hand trembling. She couldn’t believe this brutal act had come from the same guy who used to quietly sit by the glass, watching neon lights and listening to gossip.
“Whew—” Su Qin rubbed his wrist. His mood had improved instantly.
“Dying once makes you gutsy!” came a voice in his ear—Pan’s cheerful praise—followed by the sound of applause that Su Qin actually heard.
“Sorry, Yu Yue. I tried to hold back, really. But this guy had it coming.” Su Qin looked at the dazed Lu Yuan and said calmly. As the adrenaline faded and reason returned, he couldn’t help but mentally cheer over and over again.
Yu Yue’s face turned pale. She glared at Su Qin furiously, then looked toward the entrance.
“Mengmeng, did you find a parking spot?”
The moment the name “Mengmeng” was uttered, Su Qin felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
He stiffly turned toward the door.
There stood a girl with long, waterfall-like black hair. She wore a simple gray T-shirt and denim shorts. Her legs were slender and fair, and black sandals wrapped around her feet. Around her neck hung a necklace.
It was the Swarovski piece called Beating Heart—cheesy name, but it had perfectly captured Su Qin’s feelings when he gave it to her.
“Su Qin, I’m very disappointed in you.”
Yu Zhongmeng spoke quietly. She carefully removed the necklace, walked up, grabbed Su Qin’s hand, and shoved it into his palm. That necklace—she hadn’t even thrown away after their breakup.
Her deep, black eyes stared into his. “Here’s a hundred thousand. I hope you’ll leave my world forever.”
Then she added, in an especially proper tone: “Thank you.”
Rage flooded Su Qin’s brain, but he forced himself to stay calm. He stared coldly at the girl in front of him. His hand, still clutching the necklace, hurt from how tightly he was squeezing it.
He pointed to the man still collapsed on the couch. “I remember you said you weren’t into men anymore. Miss Yu, there’s no need for such lazy excuses. Even if you’d told me I disgusted you, that would’ve been more respectable than this.”
Yu Zhongmeng bit her lip. Her once-calm eyes rippled for the first time. “Su Qin, what are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying I’m nothing special. Clearly, I’m only worth ten thousand and this necklace. Miss Yu, with how good you are at making people laugh, maybe you should be the game companion instead of me.”
Su Qin sneered, casually tossed the necklace aside, and brushed past her.
Normally, Su Qin was like a Klein bottle—good at folding emotions in on himself, always able to laugh things off. But the Klein bottle was made of glass. And when Yu Zhongmeng shattered it completely…
Those shards could never be pieced back together.
The sound of breaking glass echoed in all three hearts.
(End of Chapter)