18: Chasing Husband in the Crematorium: Did I Really Do Something Wrong?

Night, quiet.

The moon hid behind the clouds, stars filled the sky, and the night breeze gently blew, rustling the leaves of the plane trees by the roadside.

Gu Xiaoxiao and Zhao Jiaqi were already sitting inside a milk tea shop, each holding a warm cup of milk tea and sipping it.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat silent.

Zhao Jiaqi sighed, breaking the silence first: "Xiaoxiao, since he has chosen to give up on you, then you should forget him."

"I already said I don't like him, so how can there be any talk of forgetting?"

Gu Xiaoxiao nonchalantly picked up her milk tea and took a big gulp, the sweet and rich flavor spreading from her tongue to her throat.

But strangely, even such sweet milk tea couldn't suppress the bitterness rising in her heart.

She couldn't help but frown, put down her milk tea, and looked out the window.

Outside, the night view was brilliant and beautiful, with twinkling lights, but her heart felt even heavier.

Seeing this, Zhao Jiaqi shook her head.

This silly girl, clearly unwilling to admit it, insisted on putting on a strong front, pretending to be indifferent.

Alas.

"Oh, please, I think you've already fallen for him," Zhao Jiaqi shook her head, speaking with a tone of disappointment, "I just don't understand. You clearly like him in your heart, so why have you always refused Lu Chen's pursuit? Otherwise, you would be the one shopping with him now! Why would you need to hide here, drinking milk tea gloomily like this?"

Gu Xiaoxiao frowned, irritably raking her fingers through her hair, and said with impatience: "Lu Chen is a scumbag. You should be glad I never agreed, otherwise, I would definitely be hurt even worse in the future!"

Zhao Jiaqi was stunned, then sighed: "You, you're just stubborn."

Gu Xiaoxiao ignored her, lowered her head, and looked at her legs.

She was wearing an exquisite black short skirt, her long, straight legs exposed to the air, her skin fair and delicate, as if it could yield water when pinched.

Even she herself found them irresistible.

Unfortunately, a certain man didn't know how to cherish them.

Gu Xiaoxiao tilted her head slightly, one slender finger resting on her knee, while the other hand slowly stirred her milk tea with the straw.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Zhao Jiaqi asked with concern.

Gu Xiaoxiao looked up at her: "Do you know, he personally promised he would always stay by my side, he promised he would always like me, but now it seems, he was just lying to me."

"A man's words are a devil's lies, that saying is indeed true."

She scoffed, her tone light, as if she wasn't very sad.

Zhao Jiaqi looked at the bright and dazzling smile on her face, feeling a pang of heartache.

She reached out and held Gu Xiaoxiao's hand, comforting her: "Alright, Xiaoxiao, don't think about it anymore."

Gu Xiaoxiao shook her head: "I'm fine, I just can't understand why Lu Chen suddenly changed like this. Clearly, back then..."

She couldn't continue speaking.

Although she said she was fine.

But unfortunately, she couldn't even deceive herself, let alone others.

At this moment, she felt as if her chest was stuffed with cotton, terribly uncomfortable, and breathing was difficult.

Lu Chen had clearly said he would be good to her for a lifetime, take care of her for a lifetime.

But now, how long had it been, and he had completely forgotten the vows he once made to her?

However, what Gu Xiaoxiao hated most was her own lack of resolve.

She had always known Lu Chen's scumbag nature, had already prepared herself mentally for it, and tried hard to forget him.

She had even admonished herself ten thousand times in her heart that Lu Chen wasn't worth it, he wasn't good enough for her.

But reality is often crueler than imagination.

Although she had long guessed that Lu Chen would definitely be with another woman, when she actually saw it happen...

Gu Xiaoxiao still felt as if her heart had been violently torn, hurting so, so much.

It was a heart-wrenching, almost suffocating pain.

Gu Xiaoxiao looked out the window, biting the milk tea straw hard with her pink lips, her eyes gradually reddening.

She, too, used to stand by Lu Chen's side like that.

But... all the beautiful things between them had been lost because of her.

She lowered her head slightly, her slender shoulders trembling gently with her breathing, looking especially fragile.

Seeing her like that, Zhao Jiaqi couldn't help but curse under her breath: "Silly girl."

She reached out and patted her thin shoulders, comforting her: "Xiaoxiao, let's not talk about him anymore. Let's go home and sleep. A good night's sleep will make everything better."

After Zhao Jiaqi finished speaking, she pulled her to the side, picking up the bag from the table as they left.

"Mm." Gu Xiaoxiao lowered her head, hiding the tears in her eyes, and followed her out.

The two walked slowly, one after the other, down the desolate, empty street.

The night sky was as dark as ink, and the galaxy sparkled brilliantly.

Gu Xiaoxiao looked up at the scattered stars in the sky, taking a deep breath, as if only this could calm her mood.

Suddenly, an exceptionally bright star streaked across the night sky, instantly illuminating the entire expanse of the night.

She was immediately stunned, exclaiming: "Look, it's so beautiful."

Zhao Jiaqi followed her gaze and couldn't help but cry out excitedly: "Wow, it's a meteor shower... wait, why is there only one meteor?"

Gu Xiaoxiao, for some reason, became sentimental, as if thinking of something: "Yes, it looks so lonely."

"But this meteor is so bright, and it flew so fast. It disappeared in the time it took me to pull out my phone."

Zhao Jiaqi lamented, then unhappily put her freshly retrieved phone back into her bag.

The two continued walking.

Soon, they arrived back at the apartment they shared.

All the way, Zhao Jiaqi kept chattering: "That meteor just now flew too fast. I couldn't even get a picture of it, otherwise, I could have posted it on WeChat Moments."

Gu Xiaoxiao remained silent, distractedly following behind Zhao Jiaqi.

She always felt that meteor was not so simple.

How could a normal meteor disappear without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if it had never appeared?

Unless, it wasn't a meteor to begin with.

But if it wasn't a meteor, then what was it?

Gu Xiaoxiao thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so she decided to stop thinking about it.

After entering, Zhao Jiaqi changed her shoes.

Then she turned on the TV, playing a show to distract Gu Xiaoxiao.

"I'm going to take a shower first. When I come out, let's have a late-night snack together, Xiaoxiao."

"Okay."

Gu Xiaoxiao nodded, watched her go into the room, then took out her phone to pass the time.

She subconsciously tapped on Feixin.

Looking at the familiar In the Night Garden avatar in the list, her heart ached faintly again, and various scenes from her first meeting with Lu Chen surfaced in her mind.

She couldn't help but press her lips together tightly.

She remembered Lu Chen saying that his favorite cartoon character was Makka Pakka from In the Night Garden.

Every time she saw Lu Chen's In the Night Garden avatar on Feixin, she thought he was particularly childish.

How could a boy like something like that?

Gu Xiaoxiao stared at her phone, lost in thought.

She hesitated for a moment, thought it over and over, struggled internally, but still, her trembling hand tapped it open.

The last message was from Lu Chen.

"Xiaoxiao, I have a meeting tonight. It will probably end very late. I've already arranged for the housekeeper to take you home. Remember to rest early."

"Oh."

"Be good. When I have time in a couple of days, I'll take you out for a big meal."

To his two messages, she only replied with an "Oh."

She completely ignored the second message.

Her conversations with Lu Chen had always been so cold and distant, devoid of any warmth. Her replies were always concise, rarely exceeding five words.

But even so, Lu Chen remained enthusiastic, sending her many messages every day.

Gu Xiaoxiao extended a slender, jade-like finger, trembling as she scrolled on her phone screen.

"Xiaoxiao, guess what loving bento I prepared for you today? Guess correctly and there's a reward!"

"Xiaoxiao, I have a business lunch at noon. You don't need to wait for me to eat."

"Xiaoxiao, tomorrow is your birthday. Guess what birthday present I've prepared for you?"

"Xiaoxiao, how about I take you to the suburbs this weekend? I heard a new farm opened there, and the environment is great."

"Xiaoxiao, how's work lately? Has anyone made things difficult for you? If so, tell me, and I'll take care of them for you!"

"..."

Message after message, all from the same person—Lu Chen.

Seeing these messages, Gu Xiaoxiao's heart trembled slightly, a strange bitterness welled up in her throat, and her eyes felt hot.

After a long while, Gu Xiaoxiao finally closed Lu Chen's chat window.

She composed herself and clicked into Lu Chen's Moments page.

As expected, his page was empty; she could no longer see the posts that used to be there.

So he really blocked her... Gu Xiaoxiao gave a bitter smile. She realized she didn't even have the courage to send Lu Chen a message to test if she had been blocked.

Because she was both afraid of seeing the red exclamation mark and wanted to create a self-deceiving illusion for herself.

As long as she didn't see the red exclamation mark, she hadn't been blocked yet... Gu Xiaoxiao closed her phone, sat on the sofa with her knees hugged, curled into a small ball.

Her delicate, pretty face was buried in her palms, her nose stung, and the tears she had suppressed for so long finally couldn't be held back.

She didn't know if she had truly made a mistake... but she knew that she might truly regret it...