Volume One, Chapter One: The Self-Deceiving Dream Must End

“Aren’t you the one who likes Tang Ruan? Why did you call me here, then?”

Tang Ruan stood outside the private room, her gaze fixed through the glass in the door. Inside, a young man and woman stood at the center of a crowd, the girl’s red lips slightly pouting, while the man smiled with a helpless but indulgent air.

It was the kind of smile he hadn’t shown her in a long time.

Tang Ruan’s hand tightened on the doorknob, her knuckles white with tension.

The man inside was none other than her childhood friend and fiancé, Huo Yanchuan.

And the girl, if the rumors were true, was Lu Xiaorou, a student at University A.

Twenty years old, beautiful as a budding flower.

As for herself—

Tang Ruan looked down, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.

She had been at the door for some time, witnessing Huo Yanchuan cut off her call without hesitation so as not to interrupt his coaxing of Lu Xiaorou.

The deep furrow of his brow as he rejected her call was proof enough of his disdain.

To Huo Yanchuan—or at least to the man he was now—Lu Xiaorou meant more than his fiancée.

Tang Ruan had long grown used to acting magnanimous, but her heart still felt as though it were pricked by a thousand needles—sharp, persistent pain.

Not fatal, but hard to bear.

She drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling a little lighter.

She would pretend she hadn’t seen anything today.

In just a month, it would be seven years.

Seven years—the promise Huo Yanchuan had made to her.

Seven years ago, she had first caught Huo Yanchuan kissing his secretary in the office. Tears streaming down her face, she had asked him why.

Why did he profess to care for her, only to turn cold and distant, seeking out other women soon after?

Huo Yanchuan had told her that in seven years, he would settle down and marry her.

For the sake of that promise, she had pretended not to see, no matter how many women he entertained over the years.

She truly wanted to grow old with Huo Yanchuan, to see their love come to fruition.

Just as Tang Ruan was about to turn away as usual, as if she’d never been there, she saw the man inside speak.

“Tang Ruan? She clings like a leech. If it weren’t for the relationship between the Huo and Tang families, I’d find it hard to even spare her a glance.”

Tang Ruan stared blankly at Huo Yanchuan’s familiar face.

A leech? Hard to bear even a glance?

So this was how she appeared in his heart.

She felt so weak she could barely stand.

“Ruan Ruan!”

A pair of warm hands steadied her arm.

“What’s wrong, Ruan Ruan?”

It was her best friend, Lin Jie.

Tang Ruan shook her head. “I’m fine.”

Recently, the Lin family had a major project halted without warning, losing hundreds of millions in investment—nearly all their liquid capital. To fill the gap, they’d been seeking investment everywhere, and as the manager of the business department, Lin Jie’s shoulders bore a heavy weight.

Tang Ruan didn’t want Lin Jie to worry, or to put herself at odds with the Huo family on her behalf.

Lin Jie’s gaze swept over Tang Ruan’s face, then landed on the glass of the private room. Catching sight of the scene inside, she bristled with anger, clenching her fists and ready to barge in. “Huo Yanchuan, that bastard—”

It was one thing for him to fool around outside, but now he’d brought someone in front of Ruan Ruan… It was a deliberate humiliation!

“Jie Jie, I’m fine, really.”

Tang Ruan clung to Lin Jie, terrified she would break free and storm in to cause a scene.

The Lin family couldn’t afford to offend Huo Yanchuan right now.

“Don’t stop me, Ruan Ruan! I’ll let that bastard Huo Yanchuan know just why the flowers are so red!”

How dare he bully her Ruan Ruan—she’d wring his neck! That wouldn’t be enough; she’d use his head for a football!

Gritting her teeth, Tang Ruan dragged her into the adjacent private room, flipping on the lights.

“Ruan Ruan, don’t—” Lin Jie was still unwilling, but when she saw tears streaming down Tang Ruan’s face, her words caught in her throat.

After a moment, she sighed, her voice softening. “Alright, alright, I won’t go in.”

Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere. What’s so great about Huo Yanchuan anyway? Why must Ruan Ruan have him?

Aside from his looks and family background, what did Huo Yanchuan have to offer?

He might have been worthy of Ruan Ruan in the past, but now… he was nothing but rotten cabbage, not fit to touch even a finger of hers!

The two of them sat down in the booth. Lin Jie wrapped her arm around Tang Ruan’s, soothing her gently.

After a while, she asked, “Ruan Ruan, are you going to put up with it again this time?”

When she asked, Lin Jie almost already knew the answer.

She’d been disappointed too many times to hope any longer.

After all, there was only a month left of the seven-year promise.

She’d endured so many years; one more month wouldn’t be hard.

She waited, but unlike before, Tang Ruan didn’t answer right away. Lin Jie’s eyes lit with a glimmer of hope she hadn’t felt in ages.

Every time she’d asked this question before, Tang Ruan would nod immediately, say she still believed in the seven-year promise, and that things would improve after marriage, never giving Lin Jie a chance to persuade her.

But today—she hesitated.

That meant her mind was changing.

Lin Jie slapped her thigh—her chance, waited for all these years, had finally come!

“Ruan Ruan, I’m telling you, Huo Yanchuan is no good. Think of all the women he’s been with these years. Never mind your mild obsession with cleanliness—he’s so filthy he probably has some disease by now…”

“A man who doesn’t respect himself is like rotten cabbage.”

“With your family and looks, you could easily find a good, clean man. Why tie yourself to this crooked tree?”

...

Lin Jie’s mouth ran on, her words tumbling out.

These things she’d wanted to say for so long, but never had the chance. Now that she finally did, she could have gone on for three days and nights!

Her throat dry, she paused to gulp down a glass of water, then rolled up her sleeves, ready to continue—only to be stopped by Tang Ruan.

Lin Jie blinked, gazing at her with anticipation.

“Give me a moment,” Tang Ruan said, gently dabbing her tears with a tissue, careful not to ruin the makeup she’d spent nearly two hours on.

Chin propped in her hand, Lin Jie watched Tang Ruan’s face with interest.

Tsk, tsk—her Ruan Ruan’s face was truly small, barely bigger than her palm.

And those big, double-lidded eyes—Lin Jie dreamed of having such beautiful eyes herself.

Even the way she wiped her tears was as lovely as a painting.

No wonder the phrase “as beautiful as a portrait” existed.

Only someone as blind as Huo Yanchuan could ignore such a treasure and chase after second-rate women.

“Come on, Ruan Ruan, tell me,” Lin Jie said, shaking Tang Ruan’s sleeve with a pout.

Tang Ruan pressed her lips together, her voice soft. “Jie Jie, it’s time I woke up from this self-deceiving dream.”

If Huo Yanchuan could say, in front of so many people, that even a glance at her was too much, how could she keep lying to herself?

If she were just Tang Ruan, perhaps she could.

But behind her stood the Tang family.

She represented the family’s honor.

Tang Ruan herself could be despised and rejected, but the Tang family could not.

“Ah!” Lin Jie shrieked with excitement, grabbing Tang Ruan’s shoulders and shaking her. “Ruan Ruan, do you mean it? Really?!”

Thank heaven—Ruan Ruan had finally come to her senses!

Tang Ruan nodded solemnly.

Almost seven years of self-delusion—it was time to let it end.