Chapter Five: Breaking Up

  All that could be seen was Su Xiao wrapped tightly in her quilt, curled up into a ball and shrinking inside the quilt. Gu Mo Ning softly called out "Xiao Xiao", but Su Xiao just pulled the quilt tighter and didn't respond to Gu Mo Ning.

  Gu Mò Níng's heart suddenly skipped a beat as he looked at Su Xiǎo, feeling extremely distressed. He carefully sat down beside Su Xiǎo's bed and gently pulled her blanket, "Xiǎo Xiǎo..." Gu Mò Níng continued to softly call out to Su Xiǎo, hoping she would calm down, but suddenly heard Su Xiǎo's soft sobbing. Gu Mò Níng became anxious all at once, not knowing how to explain himself, and could only repeatedly say sorry. "Xiǎo Xiǎo, I was wrong, sorry, don't be angry, sorry."

  Su Xiao cried even harder as she listened to Gu Moring's sincere apology. "Moring, you're not wrong, it's me who's too terrible. I know I'm no match for you, you're so excellent, look beautiful, have good grades, and everyone likes you, whether male or female. As long as you're there, no one has ever noticed me. Everyone praises you, but no one has ever paid attention to me, I'm just a foil to you. You're more beautiful than me, you have more temperament than me, your grades are better than mine, you can do everything, and you're countless times more excellent than me... only you deserve Shen Rui, I'm so terrible that I don't even deserve him..."

  Su Xiao burst into loud sobs, pouring out all her grievances against Gu Mo Ning. Each sentence was more venomous than the last, cutting into Gu Mo Ning's heart like a sharp blade. Only now did she realize that Su Xiao had silently endured so much hardship for her sake. But she had always thought Su Xiao was pretty and excellent too, never thinking of using Su Xiao as a foil to herself. She could only hastily shake her head in explanation, "It's not like that, Su Xiao, I've always thought you were lovely and kind..."

  "Cheater, cheater! I'm so good, why doesn't Shen Rui even look at me?" Su Xiao interrupted Gu Mening's words in anger, suddenly throwing off the quilt and staring at Gu Mening with red eyes. "Are you two together?"

  Gu Mening hesitated for a moment, stuttering for a long time before only managing to say one word: "I..."

  "You said you just met, didn't you?" Su Xiao shouted loudly. "Sorry, Xiaoxiao, sorry, I don't know why, but the first time I saw him, I felt like there was a light, even more dazzling than sunlight, and I don't know what that feeling is. But when he asked me if I wanted to be with him, I didn't even react before I inexplicably agreed."

  Gu Mening's eyes also turned red as she struggled to explain herself, getting anxious to the point of tears.

  "Is this your first meeting?" Su Xiao suddenly calmed down, expressionless, and looked at Gu Mo Ning with a faint inquiry. Gu Mo Ning lowered her eyelids and nodded slightly.

  "Huh, Gu Mò Níng, what about your principles?" Su Xiào's mouth curled up in a cold smile as she gazed at Gu Mò Níng with piercing eyes, tauntingly asking her. "Do you still remember when I asked you why you always reacted so strongly whenever someone fell for you at first sight? What was your reason? Or should I say, are you feeling lonely?" Gu Mò Níng stared blankly at Su Xiào, of course she remembered. At that time, she had replied with a proud and careless tone, "Falling in love at first sight? It's just because they're lonely, then the other person looks good, so they go confess their feelings." But when she saw Shěn Ruì for the first time, it was like a ray of light, dazzling her to the point where she forgot how to think and couldn't control her own brain.

  "Xiao Xiao~" Gu Mò Níng called out softly to Su Xiao, but couldn't say anything else. "Do you want me to forgive you?" Su Xiao suddenly looked at Gu Mò Níng with a hint of a smile, and seeing her nodding eagerly, said mockingly, "Then break up with Shen Rui." "Can I..." "Don't tell me any useless things, just break up!" Su Xiao coldly interrupted before Gu Mò Níng could finish speaking. What a joke, she, Su Xiao, was stolen by her best friend and didn't even get upset, what did Gu Mò Níng have to be so upset about? She got the benefit and still acted like a fool! Gu Mò Níng worried that Su Xiao would really ignore her from now on, and hastily agreed. "Okay, I'll break up with him, but you can't ignore me, okay?" "Hmph, then go break up with him and come find me later, get out." Su Xiao coldly laughed and pushed Gu Mò Níng away, continuing to lie back in bed, turning her back on her, grasping the quilt tightly with both hands, biting her teeth hard not to cry.

  Gu Muer looked at Su Xiao with some heartache, opened her mouth and didn't know what to say. It seemed that no matter what she said, it would make Su Xiao angry and sad, so she got out of bed and sat down at the desk, seriously considering how to tell Shen Rui about breaking up.

  She suddenly realized that she didn't have Shen Rui's contact information, and thought carefully about where to find him. Shen Rui didn't live on campus, often skipped class, and her understanding of him was very limited, so she really didn't know how to find him. Feeling lost, she lay down on the table, it seemed that now she could only wait for Shen Rui to find her.

  "Ding..." The phone suddenly received a text message, and Gu Mò Níng listlessly took out the phone to take a look. An unfamiliar number? Whose could it be? A smiling face that shone brighter than sunlight flashed before Gu Mò Níng's eyes, and he excitedly opened the message. "Is everything done? Do you have time to come out and play?" There was no signature, but Gu Mò Níng felt like this must be from Shěn Ruì. His heart rate suddenly quickened, and he grabbed the water cup beside him to take a big gulp of water, his hand trembling as he sent a reply to Shěn Ruì: "I have time." He anxiously waited for Shěn Ruì's response.

  "I'll wait for you downstairs in your dorm building." Guo Mo Ning excitedly got up and rushed to go downstairs, accidentally kicking over a stool. He hastily picked it up and continued rushing out the door towards downstairs. Su Xiao heard the sound of the stool falling and thought that Guo Mo Ning had tripped again, looking over with concern. However, she saw Guo Mo Ning's figure quickly running out, and with a complex expression, watched as his back disappeared from view. She then retreated under her blanket, covering her head and crying quietly.

  When Gu Mò Níng walked down the stairs, she saw Shěn Ruì leaning lazily against a tree, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes gazing far into the sky, lost in thought. Undoubtedly, Shěn Ruì was extremely handsome, with deep facial features and a tall, lean figure, even his slender fingers were perfect, exactly the image of a white knight prince that all girls dreamed of. Gu Mò Níng felt she was truly lucky to be liked by him, but as soon as she thought of Sū Xiǎo, a strong sense of loss washed over her, and she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

  Next to him, there were constantly girls throwing loving glances at him, pretending to be elegant and walking in front of Shen Rui. However, Shen Rui didn't even look at them. Gu Mo Ning watched these girls making childish moves to get the attention of the boy they liked and found it very cute, unknowingly slowing down her pace and bursting out laughing.

  "Shen Rui..." Gu Mo walked quietly and elegantly to Shen Rui's front, called out his name, but couldn't say another word, her smile slowly froze. It was really hard to mention parting, it sounded especially awkward when mentioned.

  Shen Rui looked at Gu Mo Ning's embarrassed expression, didn't ask anything, and casually put his arm around Gu Mo Ning's shoulder. Gu Mo Ning reflexively took two steps back. Shen Rui frowned impatiently, grabbed Gu Mo Ning's hand, and walked, "I'll take you to a fun place." Gu Mo Ning struggled for a moment, but Shen Rui's strength was too great, and he couldn't break free, so he could only follow him, hanging his head and thinking about how to bring up the topic of breaking up later. They had been together for less than half a day and were already going to break up; Gu Mo Ning silently sighed in his heart, fearing they might be the first couple in history to do so.