A suffocating silence fell over the living room.
Lu You stood there, her chest heaving slightly from the argument.
Cheng Zhou stood not far away, the air thick with awkwardness, anger, and unresolved conflict.
Finally, Cheng Zhou raised his head and broke the silence.
His voice was a little hoarse: "Didn't you say you were bringing your boyfriend tonight? Why didn't you bring him?"
Cheng Zhou couldn't help but ask the question that had been weighing on his mood all afternoon.
Lu You turned her face away, not wanting to look at him, and said in a stiff tone, "It's none of your business, it's none of your concern."
"You don't need me to handle this?"
Cheng Zhou seemed stung by those words and sneered, "Yes, I have no right to interfere now, but you should never let your father think that our two families have any need to have any dealings with each other again. My Cheng family is not worthy of your patronage."
His words were extremely harsh, carrying a sense of self-abandonment.
Lu You turned sharply to glare at him, her temper flaring: "Cheng Zhou, what do you mean? It's true! Our two families don't need to be so close anymore, and you should stop trying to curry favor with us!"
"Me, trying to curry favor?"
Cheng Zhou seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He took a few steps forward and approached Lu You, his eyes filled with long-suppressed confusion.
"Lu You! Look at me! You see me with another woman, and you really don't care at all? When you left the Yu family with me without a second thought, did you never consider having a future with me?"
"Just because of my family's mess, just because of Cheng Keke and my mother, you gave up so easily? What am I to you anyway?"
His question came crashing down, filled with deep disappointment and resentment.
Lu You was forced to take a step back, and looking at his bloodshot eyes, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and even managed a cold smile:
"Yes! I am selfish! Is that wrong? My life motto, Lu You, is to make myself happy and comfortable! I don't want to touch any relationship that makes me unhappy or requires a lot of effort to deal with!"
"Your Cheng family is just a nuisance and an unpleasant experience for me! So I backed down and don't want to have any more contact with you. Is that a problem?"
She looked at Cheng Zhou's face, which had turned pale instantly, and felt a tingling pain in her heart, but her words became even more cruel.
"Cheng Zhou, we're not children anymore. Feelings can't put food on the table. Compatibility and ease are more important than anything else. I can't afford to bear the mess your family has made, and I don't want to. So, please, please don't ever appear in front of me again. Let's each go our separate ways, okay?"
Cheng Zhou stared intently at her, as if he were seeing her for the first time.
After a long while, as if he had exhausted all his strength, he slowly nodded, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "Good, Lu You, you're really great."
He tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile that was more like a grimace, a smile tinged with an almost mocking knowingness.
"In the end, you're just a coward. You only dare to enjoy the pleasure that love brings, but you don't dare to take any risks or responsibilities. You don't dare to truly love someone at all."
After saying that, he stopped looking at her, turned around and strode away, his back view resolute and lonely.
The heavy sound of the door closing seemed to bring their relationship to a complete end.
Lu You stood stiffly in place, motionless.
Only after confirming that Cheng Zhou was really gone did her forced strength crumble instantly, and her body trembled slightly.
Shang Wu was extremely worried when she heard the door close and there was no sound from downstairs for a long time.
She carefully descended the stairs, using the cane that Lu Rang had prepared for her in advance.
Shang Wu walked into the living room and saw Lu You still standing there in the same position as before, her shoulders swaying slightly.
She walked over quietly and circled around to Lu You, only to find that Lu You's face was already covered in tears, but she was biting her lip so tightly that she wouldn't make a sound.
“Sister You…” Shang Wu hugged her tenderly.
As if she had found a support, Lu You suddenly hugged Shang Wu back, buried her face in her shoulder, and finally couldn't help but sob softly.
Her voice was filled with grievance and sadness: "He's right, I just don't want to deal with their family's mess, so what?"
Shang Wu gently patted her back, offering silent comfort.
After she calmed down a bit, she tentatively asked, "Should I call Mr. Fu and ask him to come and keep you company?"
Lu You immediately shook her head, lifted her head from her embrace, and wiped away her tears haphazardly.
Her eyes gradually hardened: "No need, I've made up my mind. I'll call it quits with Fu Mingyuan too."
"Huh? Why?" Shang Wu was stunned.
“What he wants is a stable family, a wife who will take care of her husband and children. That’s not me.”
Lu You sniffed, her tone calm, "I'm not that kind of person. Forcing myself to keep up the act is unfair to everyone, so it's better to make things clear sooner rather than later."
After saying that, she took out her phone, found Fu Mingyuan's number, and dialed it.
When the call connected, she walked to the window, her voice regaining its usual calm and aloofness.
"Mr. Fu, I'm sorry to bother you so late. There's something I want to tell you. I think it's best to end our relationship here. There's no specific reason, I just feel that we're not a good match. I wish you find someone who is truly right for you. Goodbye."
She finished speaking crisply and decisively, then hung up the phone. Throughout the entire process, she was so calm that she didn't seem like someone who had just had a good cry.
Shang Wu watched in stunned silence, a sigh escaping her lips.
When Lu You gets ruthless, she doesn't even spare herself.
That's great, both sides are completely cleared.
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