5-0=?

  Chapter 15 The Price of Love

  In this world, no one can stop another person's future, and there is no one who cannot live without leaving another person.

  After a conversation with Xiao Lan, Ji Huaning slightly adjusted her position and her academic performance slowly improved. However, she never expected that the fuse that would trigger her love crisis with Jiang Yuan would appear so quickly, leaving her no time to dodge.

  "You said, what is your relationship with Xiao Yi?"

  No hearsay, this is what she saw with her own eyes! In the gym after school, Xiaoyi sat on the ground, Jiang Yuanying bent down and kissed her - she stared blankly at the scene, feeling her heart sink to the bottom of an endless abyss. The moment she saw her, Xiaoyi pushed away Yuanying and ran out from beside her, her face flushed red, not daring to look at her again.

  She repeatedly endured and even avoided, just didn't want her sharp questions to burst out at this moment! But her heart was in great pain, so painful that she could hardly breathe. She opened her clear eyes, staring tightly at Jiang Yuanying, as if wanting to burn a hole through him.

  "What are you doing?" Jiang Yuan Ying stood up, his eyebrows furrowed. "Xiao Yi just accidentally fell down the stairs, I was just helping her check her injury." He didn't know that from the angle of the doorway, his actions were easily misinterpreted, especially by a girlfriend who already had doubts.

  "Looking at the wound? Even if it is, school's out, what are you and she doing staying in the gymnasium?"

  Facing Ji Huaning's repeated questioning, Jiang Yuanying felt a little guilty. It was Xiao Yi who had asked him to come, saying that there were still some things that hadn't been made clear. After all, he still had a soft spot, a man's protective desire, which made it impossible for him to hurt a female friend's best friend, his own classmate, a girl who had admired him for a long time. But if she really had any designs on him, he would still refuse her.

  "Thinking of this, he regained his confidence: 'We just came to help the teacher carry some things. Xiaoning, haven't you been too tired lately and thinking too much? I'm your boyfriend, she's your good friend, can't you not think about these unnecessary things?'"

  "But you clearly know she likes you!" Ji Huaning didn't know what taste was in her heart, even if she misread it, she could feel that Jiang Yuanying and she were no longer on the same wavelength. What she said made him disgusted, his behavior made her even more disheartened, and their quarrels increased.

  Two years of time, will it all be in vain? She hung her head in despair, like a defeated prisoner.

  It turned out that Xiao Ning had known all along! Jiang Yuan Ying saw her like this and couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. "It's my fault, Xiao Ning, it's my fault." He placed her hand on his chest, "I should have avoided suspicion. But you have to believe me, I and Xiao Yi really don't have anything, I..."

  Ji Huaining hugged Jiang Yuanying and burst into tears, her sobs echoing in the empty gymnasium. Jiang Yuanying stroked her back, a pang of sadness in his heart. But neither of them knew that Ji Huaining was not crying because of the previous misunderstanding or this reconciliation, she just felt a lump in her throat. She had a premonition that something was about to be lost, and the past days would never return.

  It was soon July, and after experiencing the baptism of the college entrance examination, a group of people finally walked out of the high school campus, as if they had walked out of all the greenness of life. Jiang Yuan Ying was admitted to the Medical University far away from his hometown, Ji Hua Ning was admitted to a key university in this city, and Qin Yi Jiang and Xie Qi Da also entered two good schools respectively. However, Ji Hua Ning's heart became more and more determined every day, because - Jiang Yuan Ying was about to leave this city, completely leaving her sight.

  "Xiao Ning, don't be like this. You know I have no choice but to attend that school." Until the exam, there was still a sense of awkwardness between them. Jiang Yuan Ying didn't know how to comfort Ji Hua Ning, but it was impossible for him to stay in this city.

  "When you were filling out your application, I knew this day would come." Ji Huaning lowered his head and refused to look at him. "You've thought everything through, except for staying behind for me. The future, I understand..."

  He choked with emotion. "Xiao Ning..."

  On the day of graduation, Qin Yijiang hugged Jiang Yuanying in front of everyone. This was the familiar Xiao Yi, a woman who dared to love and hate, directly expressing herself. After experiencing the baptism of contradiction and struggle, she finally chose to face her emotions head-on, regardless of the gaze of those around her.

  "From the moment you hid things from me, Xiaoyi, to your insistence on going far away for college," Ji Huaning's voice began to take on a nasal tone, "I've been thinking, where exactly do you place our feelings?"

  "Xiao Ning, you are the girl I love. But I cannot disappoint my parents' expectations, they helped me grow up... Besides, you also can't follow me..."

  Just as he had to leave, she couldn't stay. This city has her ideal school, the parents she needs to accompany, and many unforgettable memories. In this world, no one can stop another person's future, nor can anyone not live without leaving another person, let alone two young people who are facing emotions for the first time.

  "So, in the end... I became the one you had to sacrifice, didn't I?"

  "After I get there, we can call each other every day, video chat, we..."

  "It's all right," Ji Huaning interrupted his reverie, "I lost. Since I was the last one you considered, I'd rather return your freedom." Moreover, his mother wasn't satisfied with her anyway, which he had inadvertently let slip and she had found out. She was so proud, proud to death, and didn't want to make things difficult for him either.

  The most painful thing in the world is to make it difficult for the person you love. The second most painful thing is to watch him lie to himself.

  "Maybe we should both calm down." Jiang Yuan Ying originally wanted to speak up and persuade him to stay, but the words slipped back into his mouth. His mother's words of advice from that time echoed in his ears again, causing him to waver irresistibly. Moreover, the issues between them had been stuck in his throat like a fish bone for half a year, making it difficult for him to speak clearly.

  Ji Huaning seemed to smile slightly. Calm down, it's all over.

  "Then goodbye." She turned around, leaving with tears. A simple "goodbye", containing too much pride and many unwillingnesses to part. However, both of them were too young, too proud, unable to say a word of reluctance, could only watch as love came and went.

  Back home, Ji Rujing and Jiang Yun were again blaming each other for the trivial matter of sesame oil. Ji Huaning walked into the room by herself, slamming the door shut in annoyance. From gradually reducing their affectionate words to the constant quarrels now, it had only been a few short years. Time, really would give love different appearances, changing two hearts that were originally in love, no longer with their initial passion?