Chapter 57: Let’s Break Up Then ~

On the way down the mountain, Tang Man had just exited the ticket gate when she saw Xie Li not far away, dressed thinly. He seemed to have seen her too, and his steps slowed down.

Tang Man walked up to him, “Why are you here?”

Xie Li held up his phone, “It’s time for dinner, and I just called you but no one answered.”

Tang Man said, “I just took a walk inside, the signal might not have been good.”

She walked down a few steps and took Xie Li’s wrist, preparing to walk towards the Water Pavilion Villa. However, when she pulled Xie Li, he didn’t move. She turned her head and followed his gaze, just in time to see a familiar figure disappearing into the crowd, vanishing from sight.

She retracted her gaze and met Xie Li’s eyes. Blinking, she asked somewhat blankly, “What’s wrong? Aren’t we going to eat?”

Xie Li withdrew his gaze. After scanning Tang Man’s somewhat puzzled face, his expression relaxed. He held Tang Man’s hand tightly, smiled, and handed her a small bunch of fresh flowers he had been holding in his other hand. “On the way here, I saw an elderly person selling flowers by the roadside, so I casually bought a bunch.”

Tang Man took the flowers and thanked him. Although she had good luck with the opposite sex, she didn’t receive flowers often.

Her hand was held by Xie Li as they walked back. The path was lined with bluestone steps, and beside it was fresh green moss. It must have rained recently; the summers here were always humid and rainy.

As she walked, feeling this tranquility, Madam Hu Haiying’s words echoed in her mind.

For Xie Li, she wasn’t a suitable person to marry.

So, Tang Man suddenly stopped and looked at the man beside her who was gazing at her puzzledly due to her action. She asked, “Xie Li, have you really made up your mind to marry me?”

The tenderness on Xie Li’s face slowly disappeared. He looked at Tang Man, “Why do you ask?”

Tang Man said, “I’m not a good person, nor am I a virtuous wife and loving mother. I’m not a suitable marriage partner.”

Xie Li held her hand again and smiled, “The roles you don’t want to play, I can play them. A marriage doesn’t require a virtuous wife and loving mother, and there’s no such thing as one person being suitable or unsuitable for marriage. The most important thing is that the two people are mutually compatible.”

Is that so?

Tang Man glanced at Xie Li and didn’t say more. But in the end, a thorn was still erected in her heart. Hu Haiying’s words still had a certain influence on her.

Xie Li’s mood also sank due to Tang Man’s sudden question. On the way back, they didn’t speak again.

In a relationship, the one who likes deeper and loves deeper will feel insecure. Even someone as rational as Xie Li initially, once entering the quagmire called love, cannot avoid it.

The tense atmosphere between the two finally stretched to the extreme at dusk, and that rope snapped with a pop.

It was just because Tang Man’s phone on the kitchen island lit up, and a message popped up from above. Although it disappeared quickly, Xie Li still saw the content of the message and who sent it.

It turned out that it wasn’t his illusion during the day. He did see Chen Changke, and Tang Man must have seen him too, but she didn’t mention it.

This was almost a fuse.

Xie Li stood there, his gaze falling. The phone screen on the kitchen island was still flashing, and two more messages came in.

The same name.

The ex-boyfriends of Tang Man’s that he had dealt with weren’t many, just a few. With his memory, it wasn’t easy to forget. But what left a deep impression on him about Chen Changke was that Tang Man didn’t let him intervene. He didn’t know what she said, but the two broke up.

To be honest, when Xie Li inadvertently saw this boy dating Tang Man in high school, he was a little surprised. Because this boy didn’t have any of the points that appeared in Tang Man’s past aesthetics, their interaction was more like a companionship. Tang Man did her own things, and Chen Changke followed her like a little poodle.

He had seen it once. Tang Man was sitting in a bookstore reading, and the boy beside her maintained a posture and watched the girl for a long time. His eyes were pious, as if he was looking at something extremely cherished.

This must be an extreme liking.

But no matter how much he liked her, for Tang Man, it couldn’t change the ending.

He tried hard to recall, attempting to search for possible reasons for their breakup from the clues, but no snippets surfaced, leaving him unable to guess.

He stood there for a long time. The column of WeChat messages on Tang Man’s phone screen still remained on the surface. As long as he stood there, he could see them.

It was as if a crack was torn in his heart, and he began to feel a little exhausted for no reason.

Tang Man came out and saw Xie Li standing in front of the kitchen island. She was about to say something when she saw his expression.

Too silent.

Silent to the point of being too heavy.

She paused her steps, and her gaze fell on the phone on the kitchen island. The screen was still on, and Xie Li was standing beside it. His silent face seemed a little paler, and it was hard to tell whether it was the light from the phone or some other reason.

Tang Man frowned.

Xie Li saw Tang Man’s expression and could instantly guess her thoughts. He couldn’t help but laugh, with a hint of self-mockery, “Don’t worry, I didn’t touch your phone. I still need to keep this bit of self-esteem for myself.”

Hearing Xie Li’s sarcastic words, Tang Man couldn’t help but frown again. She walked over, picked up the phone on the table, and saw the WeChat messages on the home screen. She had a guess, and sure enough, when she clicked in, it was from Chen Changke. He sent four or five messages in a row, unchanged in his style.

Tang Man really believed his nonsense about not harassing her.

She took a look at the messages sent by Chen Changke. There was no ambiguity, so she immediately had the upper hand and retorted to Xie Li, “Are you doubting me?”

She opened the chat record and put the phone on the table, “These are all the messages he sent. We just happened to bump into each other on the mountain today and said a few words. Xie Li, you wouldn’t mind even such a small thing, would you?”

She said with some disappointment, “You weren’t like this before.”

This was her sincere words. If dating brought her negative emotions and trouble, touching her bottom line, she would sever this relationship with her own hands in the next second.

But for Xie Li, this sentence was very hurtful, almost piercing his lungs. So his face instantly turned ghastly pale. He smiled miserably, “What was I like before? An assistant at your beck and call, going to deal with your boyfriends?”

That was almost a torturous memory for him. Because the humbleness in his memories made him restless day and night, as if he had stepped into an invisible darkness, reaching out and not seeing his fingers. He lost his self-esteem because he liked someone.

Tang Man pursed her lips.

The two fell into a brief silence. Tang Man’s expression also became silent. She rubbed her brow, suddenly feeling an endless fatigue overwhelming her, so her eyes naturally carried a hint of gray weariness.

“Then let’s break up.” Under some unknown force, she still said these words.

She just suddenly felt a little tired too.

She didn’t like arguing. So initially in her relationship with Si Jiahe, she would be the compromising one. Later, when she was with Du Henian, they didn’t really fight either, because Du Henian would always concede first. As for those not-so-long-lasting boyfriends, most of the breakup reasons might be due to unreasonable tantrums and liking to argue over trivial things.

Xie Li quieted down.

Tang Man continued, “You see, you don’t trust me at all. Just this ridiculous message can make you like this. Even if we get married, that piece of paper certificate may not ease the doubts in your heart. As long as I get too close to someone of the opposite sex, you’ll suspect me of cheating, suspect that I’ve changed my mind.”

Xie Li looked at Tang Man and suddenly said, “So, after so many years of knowing each other, I haven’t left even a little bit of feelings in your heart.”

He said, “Tang Man, you say I don’t trust you, but you have never given me enough security. Even our engagement was something I had to strive for by putting aside my dignity. You sent Du Henian, who has stomach problems, to the hospital. You went to see Si Jiahe in the middle of the night. You added an ex-boyfriend with whom you have a past on WeChat… Tang Man, why do you think they insist on having contact with you?”

Tang Man looked at Xie Li.

This was the first time she had seen Xie Li like this, on the verge of breaking down. His usual calm and cold demeanor was completely gone, and there was a hint of stubbornness in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, she said again, “Since that’s the case, Xie Li, let’s break up.”

“I will go and tell Old Tang myself. You don’t have to worry.”

Xie Li didn’t answer. Because of Tang Man’s words, he fell silent, and all the emotions permeating his body quieted down, like waves that had risen suddenly and then calmed, with a dark, unfathomable color beneath.

Tang Man went back to her room to pack her bags, preparing to leave. Staying here any longer would be awkward for her too.

After all, the person who was her fiancé a second ago had just broken up with her the next second. Staying in the same space made her feel uncomfortable.

Hu Haiying was sitting in her room with the TV on. Seeing Tang Man come in, she looked embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. Hu Haiying said, “Talked it out? Don’t waste Xiao Xie’s time. What a good flower, how did it end up being inserted in a pile of cow dung like you?”

Tang Man didn’t like hearing this. “Grandma, are you Xie Li’s grandma or mine? Why do you always speak for outsiders?”

Hu Haiying sneered, “If I were Xiao Xie’s grandma, I would have to take a rolling pin and hit you on the head. You’ve ruined a good young man and don’t want to take responsibility, turning him into that state.”

Tang Man started stuffing the few clothes she had brought into her suitcase. While packing, she couldn’t help but make a few complaints, “You sound like you weren’t the one who advised me not to get engaged before. Grandma, if Xie Li knew you were encouraging us to break up, do you think he would still call you grandma?”

Hu Haiying snorted and didn’t say anything.

Tang Man walked up and took a look at Hu Haiying, who was sitting upright. “Grandma, aren’t you going to pack your luggage? I called a car. Let the driver bring the car down in a bit.”

“Already packed.”

Tang Man glanced at a corner of the room. At some point, Hu Haiying’s small suitcase had also been packed and placed in her room.

She could only sigh and say that old ginger was still spicier.

They packed their luggage and carried their suitcases out. Xie Li was still sitting on the sofa in the living room with his head down, looking dejected. Hearing the sound of their suitcases rolling, he raised his head to look, and his expression couldn’t help but stiffen.

“Man Man.” Xie Li still stood up and couldn’t help but call out. Actually, after his emotional outburst, he couldn’t help but start to regret it. People are really fickle animals.

His emotions were being pulled by reason and seduced by deeper emotions, making him wander on a tightrope.

Tang Man glanced at him without saying a word. She had said what needed to be said and carried her suitcase out.

Halfway through, they met the driver. The car was parked on a hillside. They put all the suitcases in, and Hu Haiying got in the car first. The driver uncle then said to Tang Man, “Little girl, the one standing there all along is your boyfriend, right? Do you want to go and say a few words?”

Mainly because the young man’s expression was too unpleasant, looking like he had just broken up. He kept looking in this direction and didn’t come up to say a word. Just looking at him made the driver feel a little sympathetic.

Tang Man looked back and saw that Xie Li was indeed standing not far away. It seemed he had followed them down.

“No need. I don’t know him.” Tang Man smiled, then got in the car under the driver uncle’s somewhat dazed and surprised gaze.

She even looked back a couple of times. Thinking of the little girl’s appearance just now, he couldn’t help but mutter a few words in his heart. It didn’t look like they didn’t know each other at all.

They got in the car, and Tang Man finally breathed a sigh of relief. She decided to relax properly when she went back this time. Dating for too long can also make one feel tired.

However, after driving for a while, the driver uncle in front felt that something was not quite right. He suddenly exclaimed, and Tang Man’s gaze shifted from her phone. She raised her head and looked ahead, “What’s wrong, Master?”

The driver uncle looked in the rearview mirror again, “Little girl, look, is that the young man from earlier in the car behind? He’s been following us in his car since earlier.”