Chapter 75 The large red characters in clerical script at the train station…

The large red characters in the official script of the station stood tall and gleaming in the darkness.

Fang Minzhou thought inappropriately that Wang Kan had to go check tickets. On the other hand, she was furious at Wang Kan's threat, who had turned himself into a commodity, swaggering around shouting "last one" to stimulate people's instinctive desire for scarce resources.

Fang Minzhou looked at the shadows of the trees falling on the hood of the car. "I refuse."

"You're hilarious," Fang Minzhou said. "I refused, and you said I was just saying it out of anger. So you're saying I have no choice but to agree?"

After a long silence, Fang Minzhou replied, "You're drunk."

Although there was almost no smell of alcohol on him.

Wang Kan did not refute: "Hmm."

Fang Minzhou suddenly smiled and said, "I've heard that people who are really drunk will say they're not drunk."

"Who told you that?"

“I’ve seen drunk people who aren’t like you.”

"That's because you've never seen me drunk. That's how I am when I'm drunk."

"Oh," Fang Minzhou responded. "I haven't seen you drunk before. Since when have you been getting drunk so often?"

"He's been a drunkard for years."

He started spouting nonsense again, and Fang Minzhou couldn't argue anymore, "We've already broken up..."

Wang Kan chuckled dismissively, "Where did your inquisitive spirit go? Anyway, you're still single. Although I can't say I can do it perfectly now, I still know you better than other strangers. You can correct the mistakes you made before."

That's easy for you to say.

He spoke with deep emotion.

What are you afraid of?

Wang Kan's persistent questioning left Fang Minzhou breathless, as if her entire body was bound by transparent tape, and her emotions became like a pot of water that could not boil.

Wang Kan waited and waited, until it felt like he was walking with his eyes closed. Even though he knew there was no danger, he still felt afraid.

He opened the car door. "Think about it. Let me know next time we meet."

He fled in panic.

Some things happen one after another, and some words are spoken one after another.

He clearly came here with the intention of seeking peace, but as he spoke, he ended up saying things against his will.

When he heard Fang Minzhou tell Guan Yang that she would no longer be with him, he was truly heartbroken. After all, it couldn't be a lie, but a dream he had during the bumpy ride still made him unable to let go of his thoughts.

He held his breath and dived into the deep sea, trying to challenge Fang Minzhou. She was a carefree, free fish, circling around him. He conceded defeat, so it didn't matter anymore. He simply exhaled all the oxygen and sank to the seabed, feeling completely relaxed.

But he didn't sleep well for the next few days, not even as well as during that half hour in Fang Minzhou's car. When he couldn't sleep, he worked, just like he had in the first year or two after their breakup.

The brighter the sunlight streaming through the French windows, the stronger Wang Kan's bad premonition grew, as if a crow were circling and cawing overhead.

His mother called to ask him how he wanted to celebrate his birthday, whether in Jiangcheng or back in Zhangcheng. He said he didn't know yet and would see when the time came. His mother was vague before mentioning Fang Minzhou.

In the past few years, he has grown up and taken over the family business. His parents have grown old and gone through life-and-death situations. Subtle changes have taken place in everyone's personality, thoughts, and the power dynamics within the family.

He had previously made it clear to his parents that he would not get involved in family matters and had no interest in doing business. When he told Fang Minzhou that he would just rely on his parents, it was partly a joke and partly because he didn't want her to worry about their future.

Looking back now, it's laughable. He thought the family's money was his source of confidence, yet he only took from them without taking any responsibility.

His father seemed to have scolded him like that too, threatening not to give him a single penny and what he would do then. He always used this kind of talk to scare him. At that time, they, especially his father, were hoping that he would come home after graduation, but after he actually came home, they felt that he was "burdening" him.

He told his parents that the reason for breaking up with Fang Minzhou was that their feelings had faded and their plans were different. They were skeptical, but he couldn't keep up the act any longer. He himself couldn't explain the real reason; he only emphasized that Fang Minzhou knew nothing about his family's affairs.

If she knew that as long as he didn't mention breaking up, they would most likely continue living apart, but at that time, he really lost confidence and courage to decide what to do next.

He briefly rekindled his interest in the subject. One day after Fang Minzhou went abroad, he saw news from overseas and suddenly realized that Fang Minzhou had arrived in another country, requiring a flight of more than ten hours, far exceeding the distance between Beicheng and Jiangcheng.

She was all alone.

In a foreign land, her birthday will soon be here again.

He bought a plane ticket, squeezing in work and social engagements, finally managing to free up a few days during the busiest month of December. His flight was late at night; he had his luggage packed early and placed it right at his feet, but he sat on the sofa until night fell and then dawn broke.

He asked Fang Minzhou what she was afraid of, but in fact, he knew and had experienced it himself, and he understood all her hesitations.

Wang Kan took the car keys and left the office.

They ran into He Wenlun, who was carrying a coffee. "Where are you going?"

"Shuangxi".

"Going again?" He Wenlun asked in surprise. "You're going out far too often!"

"fine."

Just as He Wenlun was about to speak, he suddenly seemed to remember something and glanced at Wang Kan a few more times, letting him scrutinize him.

"Be careful of driving while fatigued..."

Wang Kan smiled wryly, her tone indifferent: "Are you cursing me?"

"How could that be? What are you thinking?" He Wenlun said, then patted Wang Kan's shoulder meaningfully once again.

Returning to his desk, He Wenlun spun around in his chair, but he couldn't remember where Fang Minzhou was from. He vaguely remembered her being from Zhangcheng, and her maternal grandparents lived in Shuangxi, but he couldn't be sure. There was no trace of her on her social media; her latest post was about recruiting interns, but he didn't know if she'd found anyone.

Unable to verify the information, He Wenlun impulsively searched for Fang Minzhou's name online, and surprisingly found some records of her from her university days. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he added "Zhangcheng" after "Fang Minzhou." The first page of search results contained a campus news article from Zhangcheng No. 1 High School.

He Wenlun cursed.

His subordinate quickly swiped through the page, his eyes scanning the pages before spotting another familiar name.

One of the top ten singers: Wang Kan from Class 9, Grade 1.

He Wenlun braced his elbows on the table and grabbed his hair. Even though he had guessed correctly, he was more surprised than happy.

No, no, he realized that this didn't mean anything.

There was too much campus history news, and after flipping through several articles without finding anything, He Wenlun went to the Baidu Tieba forum of Zhangcheng No.1 Middle School.

He was no longer surprised; he felt incredibly stupid.

So, should he pretend to know or not?

But after digesting the information, at this moment, He Wenlun most wanted to rush to Shuangxi Town to see the excitement.

Looking at the time, Wang Kan should still be on his way. Regardless of the relationship between him and Fang Minzhou, seeing Wang Kan's repeated visits, He Wenlun gloated, convinced that things must be going very poorly.

It was indeed very difficult, and Wang Kan missed his target.

Grandma Zhang was surprised by his arrival and hurriedly greeted him, assuming he was there to help again. Naturally, she didn't bring up Fang Minzhou. When Wang Kan sat down to eat and tried to find a topic to ask about her, Grandma Zhang was called away by other guests. Finally, Guan Yang slammed his bowl of noodles on the table and said, "My sister isn't here."

Wang Kan remained silent and took out his chopsticks.

"She's not here this week," Guan Yang added sarcastically, implying that he should get lost.

Guan Yang clearly didn't believe it. "You knew? Then why did you..."

“I’m here to work, but you,” Wang Kan said, “shouldn’t you be getting ready to prepare for your exam?”

Guan Yang's face was flushed and pale, and he looked like he wanted to spit into his noodles. Wang Kan ignored him, picked up a noodle, and only put down his chopsticks after Guan Yang left angrily.

I don't have much of an appetite.

After a while, Wang Kan picked up her chopsticks again, quickly finished her noodles, and then washed the bowl herself.

Grandma Zhang had just returned to the kitchen when she said, "Oh, just put the bowl there."

"fine."

"No, that won't do. You're a guest. How can you make a guest wash dishes? Is the food alright?"

"It's delicious."

"If it's delicious, then it's delicious. Next time, just leave the dishes and we'll wash them. Would you like some watermelon?"

"No need, Grandma, I'm going out to make a phone call."

"well."

Wang Kan went to the backyard and dialed Fang Minzhou's number.

The first time, no one answered.

When Ouyang Qian saw Fang Minzhou's phone light up for the second time, she thought, "A harassing call?"

"Yes and no," Fang Minzhou said, "Wang Kan's."

Ouyang Qian paused slightly as she scooped the soup, but still smoothly served it to both of them, her expression even calmer than when she had just scooped the soup: "What expression should I make now? Surprised, or angry?"

Fang Minzhou was amused, but at the same time the screen went out, and her laughter subtly faded.

The next second, Wang Kan called again. This time, Fang Minzhou answered.

Now that things were out in the open, Fang Minzhou didn't want to avoid Ouyang Qian and make it seem like they really had something going on. "...Hey."

Wang Kan paused on the other end of the phone, then asked, "Are you alright?"

Fang Minzhou was taken aback. What could be wrong with her? "Nothing."

But he kept calling... She vaguely guessed the reason, but she didn't expect his reaction to be so strong.

But he didn't say when he would come.

Wang Kan fell silent on the other end of the phone.

In the silence, Fang Minzhou suddenly remembered that once when she was in college, she missed Wang Kan's call because she was in a meeting, and he was very angry, and the two of them had a fight because of it.

Wang Kan paused for so long that Ouyang Qian looked over. Fang Minzhou waited, only to receive a cold and indifferent question from him: "So you deliberately didn't answer my calls?"

Fang Minzhou's feelings towards Wang Kan were like playing a game of building blocks, pulling out a piece of guilt and piling on a piece of anger, teetering on the brink of collapse, yet composed of complex emotions. "I'm eating."

Where?

"Jiangcheng".

Wang Kan was so angry that he laughed.

Jiangcheng?

He drove an hour and a half to Shuangxi to find her, but she went to Jiangcheng without telling him.

"Fang Minzhou..." he called her name, but the words of complaint he wanted to say didn't come out. Wang Kan relaxed her clenched teeth and lowered her voice, "When are you coming back?"

Before Fang Minzhou could answer, he changed his question: "How long are you going to stay in Jiangcheng?"

"I don't know yet, I have something to do."

The night air was humid. Wang Kan took a deep breath silently, not wanting to investigate whether Fang Minzhou was lying. She forced a smile and said, "Since you don't want to see me, can I take that as a rejection?"

After a long pause, Fang Minzhou said, "I haven't decided yet."

What else could he say?

"Okay, take your time thinking about it."

Fang Minzhou put her phone into her bag.

Ouyang Qian blinked: "Now I'm really curious, what's going on with you guys?"

Fang Minzhou ate a piece of crystal cake, using the sweet food to suppress the discomfort in her heart. She wanted to simply summarize the matter, but unknowingly she kept talking for longer and longer.

This week, she visited the Jiangcheng Entrepreneurship Center with Jin Ying and registered for the roadshow review next Thursday. She did have time to go back to Shuangxi in between, but she had dinner with Ouyang Qian today, and Jin Ying had a meeting with a client next week. There was also an entrepreneurship salon on Wednesday night, so Fang Minzhou naturally stayed in Jiangcheng.

Perhaps this is a form of escape, because she hasn't really thought things through yet.

After tearing away the protective barrier of their long-awaited reunion, they are still the same people they always were.

Fang Minzhou was afraid of repeating the same mistake.

Because she still remembers herself crying while eating at a barbecue restaurant on the night of the breakup, she feels sorry for 22-year-old Fang Minzhou and doesn't want to hurt her anymore.