Chen Jiao’s eyes twitched as he said, “Mr. Shen, this is a personal matter between Miss Yu and me.”
Shen Yichong’s dark gaze was sharp, almost penetrating. “This is not Miss Yu sitting here. This is Mrs. Shen.”
Chen Jiao clenched his fist under the table and gritted his teeth. “She should have personal freedom, even if she’s your wife. I just wanted to talk to her regarding the things that happened in the past. Do you, Mr. Shen, as a husband, want to deprive her of that right?”
Shen Yichong wiped his hands, refusing to relent, “I respect my wife, but she doesn’t want to see you. She called you today to get you to deal with that troublesome woman. Now, please go back to the first floor and resolve the trouble you created.”
A trace of embarrassment flashed in Chen Jiao’s eyes. He stared at Yu Yaoyao intently, as though she would help. “Xiao Yao, listen to me. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember me now. I’ll bring you the handwritten letters you sent to me and show them to you. You used to call me ‘big brother’, and you can call me that even now. I know back then we didn’t use our real names so…”Yu Yaoyao popped the last uncontaminated walnut into her mouth. It was the only one that Ling Shuang hadn’t spoiled. Then she raised her hand and said, “Stop. My husband is right. I didn’t call you here today to talk about the past. I already told you that over the phone.”
Chen Jiao’s face suddenly stiffened, and a trace of pain welled crept into his eyes. “Back then you said we depended on each other. You said that I was the only one you spoke to. And you were the only one I had…”
Yu Yaoyao took a sip of the juice and then made a noise of sarcastic amusement when he said this. She raised her eyebrows and said to Chen Jiao, “We depended on each other? If we only had each other, how could you mistake someone else for me? You’re not making any sense.”
Yu Yaoyao hadn’t had any intention of conversing with him. But now that he was trying to force their past relationship onto her, she had no choice but to do what had to be done. She felt upset and ashamed for the original owner of the body. She simply couldn’t listen to him anymore. “All you needed was someone to talk to. What do you actually know about this person? What is she like, what are her values, hobbies? Did you ever care about any of that? You say how special I was, but you never even knew who this person you were speaking to really was,” Yu Yaoyao said.
Her words were harsh and pierced Chen Jiao in a way that made it feel like she’d speared his brain. “What you miss is not the girl herself, but someone who cared for you and would stick by your side. No matter what happened, she would always be there to lift you up and encourage you. It never mattered what that person’s name was. No matter if it was Yu Yaoyao or Ling Shuang.”
Chen Jiao’s face instantly paled, “It’s not like that! Of course not! I have always liked you, ever since I first saw you when we were children. I still remember every word you said…”
Yu Yaoyao shrugged. “You wouldn’t have mistaken someone else for me if you really did like me that much. I never even confused the identity of the two baby snakes at my home. I didn’t even confuse the names of the different birds at the zoo.”Chen Jiao felt as though her words had slapped him. There had been times where he’d felt as though something were off, but he’d paid them no attention. He’d just ignored them.
Yu Yaoyao rested her chin in her hand, “I think… The big pile of trouble downstairs is fundamentally different from the previous ‘me’.”
Even as a reader who’d just hurriedly scanned through the book, she’d been able to see that they were completely different in terms of their values. Surely such a difference would have been fairly obvious to him? Especially since he’d been in such close contact with them. The original owner had been very kind, but she had also been very weak and soft-hearted. Ling Shuang, on the other hand, was an obviously bold, wicked person with no sense of morality.
“It’s not the person you were obsessed with, it was the feeling of constant praise and support. Gangster Chen… My bad, Bro, I’m done,” Yu Yaoyao said and picked up the juice to take a sip.
This gangster Chen truly thought he was downright righteous. But he was just a selfish person in his relationships. He was a receiver, and the original owner was just a people-pleaser. If he had genuinely cared and loved the girl, even just a little bit, the original owner of this body wouldn’t have been so pathetic.
The idea of supporting each other was laughable.
Chen Jiao took a step back.
If he were not so selfish, he would have visited her when she’d said that her hand was injured. He’d have been able to expose Ling Shuang right there and then. If he really had liked her, he’d have gone to her home to visit her and discovered that she hadn’t moved. In conclusion, he’d never liked her; he’d liked the way she’d made him feel.
“You only ever loved yourself,” Yu Yaoyao said. Her words were so sharp that it felt as though she were peeling away facets of his shameful mind.
Chen Jiao backed up until he bumped against the wall. His handsome face was flushed with embarrassment.
