Chapter 3 So far away that it was beyond his reach.
Compared to Xia Mingzhao, Zhou Ting understands Xia Mian better.
They met two years ago when he was pursuing his master's degree, and Xia Mian was delivering food to the school cafeteria with her mother.
By chance, Zhou Ting helped Xia's mother drive away some troublemakers. The rural woman was very grateful and often asked Xia Mian to bring him vegetables she had grown. Over time, the two became acquainted.
When Zhou Ting learned that Xia Mian's father had died early and her mother had kidney disease and needed medication to survive, he often helped them out.
But who would have thought that Xia Mian would develop feelings for him?
The mother and son were truly pitiful, and Zhou Ting couldn't bear to refuse them. Besides, he often received confessions of love from people at school, and some even tried to sneak into research groups to pursue him, which was severely affecting his studies.
In order to scare away those suitors, he acquiesced.
A year and a half later, he graduated with a master's degree and met Xia Mingzhao at a banquet. He was deeply attracted to Xia Mingzhao and immediately broke off contact with Xia Mian—in his memory, he and Xia Mian had never been in a relationship.
As usual, Xia Mian didn't bother him. If he texted her and she said she was busy, Xia Mian would apologize and quickly end the conversation.
The rest is history.
Fate played a cruel trick; Xia Mian turned out to be the Xia family's lost youngest son. Upon hearing the news, Zhou Ting was genuinely happy for Xia Mian.
But he could never forget that day when he took Xia Mingzhao home, and Xia Mian rushed up to him when she saw him: "A-Ting, I'm good enough for you now!"
Zhou Ting didn't know how to explain it to him. Sometimes, being "worthy" is not just about family background, but more about knowledge, temperament, personality, and other aspects.
Xia Mian didn't even finish high school before coming out to work with her mother. She's clueless, simple-minded, and stupid. They were never meant to be together.
That was the first time Zhou Ting explicitly rejected Xia Mian: "Xia Mian, I've never liked you. I didn't tell you before because I was afraid of hurting you. Now that fate has changed, focus on enriching your mind and loving yourself more."
Xia Mian was probably provoked, and actually asked, "Is it because of Mingzhao's interference that you fell in love with someone else?"
Then, Xia Mian started causing trouble again and again. Zhou Ting rarely went to the Xia family. He only knew that Xia Mian had turned the Xia family upside down, and even Ming Zhao's room was taken away.
The moment Mingzhao nestled in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably, his sympathy for Xia Mian vanished instantly, replaced by disgust.
Even before their engagement, he suddenly couldn't contact Mingzhao. When he finally managed to corner her at the entrance of Xia Garden, Mingzhao stammered that Xia Mian was threatening him with certain things to prevent him from contacting her.
Zhou Ting certainly knew what the so-called "some things" were.
Xia Mian still believes that Ming Zhao interfered in their relationship!
At this point, Zhou Ting's disgust for Xia Mian had reached its peak...
Xia Mian also has an impression of this part.
The original owner fell in love with Zhou Ting the first time she met him.
To the original owner, Zhou Ting was like the moon in a mirror or a flower in water, an unreachable other side.
But as the two became more familiar with each other, and with her mother's encouragement, the original owner finally couldn't hold back and stammered as she confessed to Zhou Ting: "Ting, I like you. I know I'm not good enough for you, and it's okay if you reject me. I just wanted to tell you that I like you."
Zhou Ting did not refuse.
The original owner was overjoyed.
Knowing that there was a gap between him and Zhou Ting, the original owner did not dare to bother him too much. After successfully confessing his feelings, he tried his best to please Zhou Ting and love him in his own way.
After graduation, Zhou Ting became increasingly busy. The original owner assumed he was overwhelmed with work and dared not bother him too much. She carefully sent him messages, pondering each word two or three times before typing them.
Days passed by aimlessly until fate suddenly intervened. Someone found him and told him that he was actually a young master from a wealthy family.
With his mother's encouragement, he was taken back to the wealthy family. He did not hate Xia Mingzhao, who had taken up his life.
—Until I saw Zhou Ting and Xia Mingzhao walking hand in hand back to the Xia family home.
He could not mind Xia Mingzhao taking up his life, but he could not let Xia Mingzhao steal his beloved boyfriend.
That was his moon, all by himself.
The original owner completely broke down, questioning Zhou Ting and making a scene at the Xia family home. He thought Zhou Ting was after Xia Mingzhao's background, so he forced his parents to send Xia Mingzhao back to the slums. He even came up with a series of bad ideas, such as threatening Zhou Ting with her background and drugging him.
In Xia Mian's current opinion, the original owner did nothing wrong. The only thing that was not quite right was that she shouldn't have targeted Xia Mingzhao alone.
After all, if Zhou Ting had decisively rejected the original owner's confession instead of indulging in excessive sympathy, the current situation wouldn't have occurred!
Xia Mian grew angrier the more she thought about it, but since the original owner liked Zhou Ting, he had no right to punish anyone on her behalf.
Finally, he merely gave Zhou Ting a cold look.
The boy stood in the afterglow of the setting sun; his once unfashionable clothes were gone, replaced by stylish and sophisticated ones.
Her hair was dyed black and cut short, revealing her full forehead, prominent brow bone, and clear, bright eyes.
Like a gem that shines as brightly as the morning sun.
This was always what Zhou Ting hoped Xia Mian would be like, but when Xia Mian actually became like this, he felt that Xia Mian seemed to have suddenly drifted away.
So far away... that it was beyond his reach.
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