Wu Shishi had considered many answers, but she never imagined that Yang Qing would be this kind of person.

Is he actually after something else, rather than genuinely liking her?

It's a shame she still can't forget the moments they shared that night.

She always thought...

It turns out it was all a lie.

A tear slid down Wu Shishi's cheek. Seeing this, Xia Lan held her hand with heartache.

She knew that Wu Shishi had always envied the other girls for finding their other halves.

The beautiful moments she shared with Yang Qing that night made her believe she had found her other half.

How cruel it is to tell her now that it was all a dream, to tear her dream apart so cruelly.

Xia Lan knew how painful this was, but she didn't want to remain trapped in this illusory dream. She should move forward instead of being confined to this false dream.

A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

Wu Shishi leaned against Xia Lan, tears silently streaming down her face, imagining herself over the years, comparing all the men who had come close to her to Yang Qing.

I felt like a fool.

So stupid it's laughable.

"Lanlan, I'm so silly."

Wu Shishi knew that Xia Lan was doing it all for her own good, and when she thought about her own foolishness, she couldn't stop crying.

"You're not stupid, you've just fallen into Yang Qing's trap. You're just too idealistic."

Xia Lan hugged Wu Shishi and whispered.

"I've had similar dreams before, always imagining my future husband..."

Xia Lan's words gradually calmed Wu Shishi down.

"Yang Qing chose that girl not because he loved her so much, but because he valued what that girl could bring him!"

"Even if Yang Qing chose you, it wasn't because he liked you that much; it was more for the benefits your background brought him."

Xia Lan gently patted Wu Shishi and took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"You only spent one night with him. You don't really know him, and you may not even love him that much. You just enjoyed the brief moment of happiness that happened between you two that night."

"I'm telling you all this so you can know in advance what kind of person he is and why he's approaching you!"

Should I still go see him?

Wu Shishi looked up at Xia Lan.

"I think I've given up on all illusions!"

Xia Lan shook her head.

"You're just upset right now because it was me who said it, so you chose to believe it instead of questioning it. Think about it, if someone else had told you these things, how would you have felt?"

"...They would probably think they were deliberately belittling him."

Following Xia Lan's words, Wu Shishi imagined that person as her father.

In an instant, her feelings changed. She felt that her father was deliberately belittling the person she liked, and she immediately wanted to refute him.

Wu Shishi believed it because Xia Lan was the one who told her about it.

Xia Lan nodded.

"This is the second point I wanted to make. Last night I hesitated about whether or not to tell you about this!"

Xia Lan was also very troubled last night.

"If you hadn't told me, I would definitely still be looking forward to seeing him..."

Wu Shishi was so excited yesterday that she couldn't sleep. She was finally going to see the person she liked. The more she looked forward to it, the more scared she was now.

"Brother Yu said..."

Xia Lan glanced at Wu Shishi, then leaned close to her ear and told Wu Shishi what Qin Yu had said.

Wu Shishi froze.

So, does that mean men understand men best?

Wu Shishi smiled wryly and glanced at Xia Lan.

"If he really did that to me, I think I would really do as he wishes..."

Qin Yu said he would gain her sympathy, tell her that he had no choice, that he wanted to contact her again, and that he would use the wonderful night as bait...

Following these words, Wu Shishi seemed to see the rest of her life entangled with Yang Qing, becoming the most despicable mistress in people's eyes, destroying other people's families.

Because she will firmly believe that it is because of love...

The more Wu Shishi thought about it, the more frightened she became, and she gripped Xia Lan's hand tightly.

It's as if I can already see myself at that tragic end.

"That's precisely why I decided to tell you about this first!"

Xia Lan said earnestly to Wu Shishi.

"The beauty of love is what every girl longs for, but we must clearly distinguish between true love and exploitation disguised as love..."

"I understand what you mean."

Wu Shishi took a deep breath.

"I'm going to see him!"

Only when she actually sees him will she truly give up on this idea.

"I'll be with you!"

Xia Lan smiled at Wu Shishi, and she smiled when she saw Wu Shishi like this.

"What would I do without you..."

Wu Shishi hugged Xia Lan and acted coquettishly.

"You've only just gotten back and you're already worrying about me..."

"We're best friends, best friends for life!"

Xia Lan pinched Wu Shishi's cheek.

"Besides, I don't want to see you looking so gloomy. No matter how beautiful your smile is, it can't make your eyes smile too."

"Dandan and the others are so worried about you."

"You've met so many men and gone on countless dates, yet you always use them as a lens to see other people. How are you going to find your other half like this?"

Xia Lan's words deeply moved Wu Shishi.

"I thought I hid it very well!"

Wu Shishi was clutching her hair when Xia Lan glared at her and freed the poor hair from her grasp.

"We've known each other for so many years, don't we know what kind of person you are?"

"Yuexin and Dandan saw it all. They were worried about you, but they weren't as ruthless as me. They couldn't bear to see you get hurt. I'm the ruthless one. I want you to rise from the ashes!"

Xia Lan smiled.

Wu Shishi leaned on Xia Lan's shoulder, her eyes reddening.

Her parents only had eyes for her and urged her to get married, as if everything would be resolved once she got married.

Only Xia Lan and the others considered her feelings and wanted to help her solve the problem from the root.

"I'm so happy to have you as my sisters."

"You've suffered a lot of injustices lately, haven't you?"

Xia Lan looked at her slightly red eyes and her aggrieved expression, and hugged her with heartache.

"...I'm not saying my parents treated me badly, it's just that they always thought that getting married would make me forget Yang Qing..."

Wu Shishi knew that they arranged these blind dates for her because they meant well.

But what they didn't know was that this kind of blind date only made her want to escape more and more.

She had argued with them about this, and she had also told her mother that she didn't want to go on any more dates.

But after a few days, they would continue to make arrangements for her, which made Wu Shishi even more miserable.

Aside from pretending to be happy, she really didn't know what else could make her happy every day.

She was becoming increasingly unhappy, but she had to put on a happy smile in front of others.

Sometimes Wu Shishi doesn't even know if she's crying or laughing.