0121 Clarification

The following day, Qiao Xianzhi received an invitation from Tantai Qing. Unaware of the reason, she excitedly dressed up for several hours and personally drove to the place he had mentioned.

"Taiqing."

Tantai Qing looked up, his gaze lingered on her for half a second before he immediately looked away, and said in a cold tone, "Sit."

"Xianzhi, you should know why I came to see you today." He got straight to the point as soon as she sat down opposite him.

Qiao Xian looked puzzled and smiled in surprise, "Tai Qing, didn't you come to see me today to catch up?"

Tantai Qing stared at her with a slightly cold gaze, his tone devoid of any emotion: "Xianzhi, if I remember correctly, I already told you last time not to contact me again, so why did you still bother Jifan?"

"Do you know that your actions after returning to China have caused me great distress?"

He rarely spoke such harsh words to anyone, so much so that Qiao Xianzhi found it unbelievable when she heard it.

"Taiqing, you've never talked to me like this before..." She looked quite hurt, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she said softly as she looked at him.

"Xianzhi, we broke up ten years ago." He felt it necessary to remind her that their feelings for each other had long since faded.

Tantai Qing originally felt deeply guilty towards her because of what happened back then, but now, his patience with her has been completely worn away by a series of inappropriate things she did after returning to China.

Qiao Xianzhi looked at him quietly, as if she was recalling their happy life together through him.

"Taiqing, I'm so disappointed. We've known each other for almost thirty years, and I never imagined that I would be less important to you than a woman you've only known for less than a year..." As she spoke, she began to weep.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough before, which caused some misunderstandings for you." Tantai Qing decided to shatter her illusions and looked at her as he confessed, word by word, "Xianzhi, I have never liked you, neither in the past nor now."

"The reason I broke up with you back then wasn't because I couldn't accept a long-distance relationship, but because I simply couldn't convince myself that I liked you."

Seeing her face gradually turn pale, Tantai Qing suppressed the tiny bit of reluctance in his heart and continued, "I cherish her very much. Please don't disturb our lives for no reason anymore."

For Qiao Xianzhi, the fact that he had never liked her was more humiliating than the fact that he loved someone else.

She clutched the exquisite dress she had worn today specifically to see him, unable to conceal her composure any longer, her eyes red as she stared intently at him.

“Otherwise…” He chuckled softly, his eyes behind his glasses dark and deep, revealing a hint of coldness, “You know me, I never show mercy to people I don’t care about.”

"Why?" The next second after he left, Qiao Xianzhi chased after him, unwilling to accept defeat, and asked his retreating figure.

In her mind, Jiang Jifan was nothing more than a pretty but shallow woman. She herself came from a prestigious family, was capable, and possessed both beauty and talent. How could she be inferior to her?

Without turning his head, Tantai Qing firmly replied, "Because I love her, because she deserves it."

After saying that, he resolutely turned and left, leaving her standing there alone, mocking herself and shedding tears.

It turns out that no matter how beautiful the camellia is, it can never compete with the fiery red rose.