Chapter Fourteen: Forgiveness

  Gu Muren couldn't believe it and turned to look at Su Xiao, with a hint of confusion in her eyes. She was confused about whether the girl was telling the truth or not, and why Su Xiao didn't tell her even though she knew, and even suggested that she write a love letter to Shen Rui to commemorate their one-month anniversary.

  But then Su Xiao's eyes kept darting back and forth, not daring to look directly at Gu Mo Ning. Her hands hung by her sides, clenched into fists, then relaxed, only to clench again. Gu Mo Ning looked at the restless Su Xiao, understanding in his heart, but disappointment filled his eyes. He couldn't help but ask Su Xiao, "Xiao Xiao, do you know something?" Listening carefully, his voice was actually trembling slightly.

  Su Xiao bit her lower lip tightly, finally took a deep breath and looked at Guo Mo Ning with determination. "I'm sorry," she said, extending her hand to grasp Guo Mo Ning's icy hands and apologizing sincerely. Su Xiao didn't dare ask for Guo Mo Ning's forgiveness, feeling anxious and terrified inside, afraid that their friendship would come to an end like this. She could only stutter and explain to Guo Mo Ning, "Mo Ning, I'm sorry... I was wrong, it wasn't intentional, Shen Rui told me not to say anything, I..."

  "That's enough, just don't do it again." Gu Mò Níng impatiently interrupted Su Xiǎo, pulling her hand out of Su Xiǎo's grasp. Her eyes were welling up with tears. What else could she do? In the end, everything was a scam. Shěn Ruì had deceived her, and even Su Xiǎo had deceived her. She could only blame herself for being foolish and knowing nothing.

  Su Xiao stood there motionless, had Mo Ning forgiven her? He only told her not to do it again and didn't blame her. Su Xiao was overjoyed in her heart but didn't dare show it because Mo Ning's face didn't look good at the moment. Concealing the joy in her eyes, Su Xiao swept a resentful gaze towards the girl opposite her while gently patting Mo Ning's back to comfort him.

  The girl with short hair opposite her casually pulled out a cigarette and lit it, looking at Su Xiao and Gu Mò Ning with a smile, with a hint of disdain in her eyes. She took a puff of the cigarette and blew ring after ring of smoke towards Gu Mò Ning, causing him to cough up the tears that had been welling up in his eyes. Su Xiao hastily patted Gu Mò Ning on the back, glaring at the short-haired girl with annoyance and shouting, "Are you sick or something? You're definitely going to get lung cancer from smoking every day, it's ruined your brain! Get out of here and go home to get treatment! Stop spreading germs and infecting others, can you afford the medical bills?"

  The short-haired girl's face suddenly turned black, and she let out a disdainful cold hum. She looked at Gu Mengning with a seemingly envious smile and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, what a great pair of friends you are! Look at how good your relationship is, it's really enviable. This month one of you is with Shen Rui, next month another one of you will be with Shen Rui again. Hmph, I didn't know that being good sisters not only meant sharing good fortune and bad luck together, but also meant taking turns dating the same man."

  Su Xiao's breathing was stifled, what did they all know? Her uneasy heart was racing, her fingernails were digging into her flesh without feeling, and her slender eyes had a hint of ferocity. She gritted her teeth and asked the short-haired girl, "What do you mean?"

  A group of girls opposite seemed to have heard some earth-shattering joke, laughing non-stop. A long-haired girl walked proudly in front of Su Xiao, raised an eyebrow and reminded her with a tone that was seemingly kind but actually disdainful, "Such an important thing, did you forget so quickly? It was Shen Rui who said that as long as you agreed to support Guo Mo Ning and date him for a month, he would be with you after a month."

  Su Xiao stood there like a statue, stiff and unmoving. She shouldn't have asked, she should have pulled Gu Mo Ning away the moment those girls blocked their way. Now that Gu Mo Ning knew everything, their friendship was probably over.

  Su Xiao suddenly felt a huge pulling force, pulling her away from the hell of lies, pulling her away from the darkness of friendship, taking away her powerlessness.

  Su Xiao stared blankly at Gu Mo Ning, who was recklessly pulling her hand and rushing through the crowd. She couldn't help but burst into tears. The wind blew into her ears, playing a lively tune. Su Xiao took a step forward and ran to Gu Mo Ning's side, pulling her along as they went. They quickly arrived at the pavilion on school grounds where they often practiced English conversation together. Looking at Gu Mo Ning, who was leaning against a pillar and panting heavily, Su Xiao suddenly bent down and hugged her tightly, crying out loud.

  “Mò Níng……” Su Xiao choked out the name of Gu Mò Níng, tears streaming down her face like a broken thread. Just one cry of “Mò Níng”, yet it seemed to traverse mountains and rivers, barely making it past her lips, the heartache too great to put into words. Just that one sentence, “Mò Níng”, had used up all Su Xiao's strength, she clutched Gu Mò Níng tightly, unable to say another word.

  Gu Mian Ning remained silent, allowing Su Xiao to hold her as she cried a shoulder's worth of tears. After taking a deep breath, the scattered light in her eyes quickly flashed with determination. Having calmed the turmoil within, she gently patted Su Xiao's back and opened her thin lips, "Xiao Xiao, come with me to find Shen Rui."

  Su Xiao hesitated for a moment, then firmly replied to her, "Okay." The sparkling eyes had a hint of the same firm light as Gu Mo Ning.

  Shen Ruo Zheng and Ouyang Bing were having fun at the bar when her phone suddenly rang. She took out her phone and saw Guo Mo Ning's name, feeling a bit puzzled - didn't he have something on today? Why was he calling her again? But she calmly walked out of the bar, picked up the phone and answered, "Mo Ning, what's going on?"

  Gu Mornin heard Shen Rui's tone, which was as usual slightly spoiled, and couldn't believe that he really only got together with her because of a bet. Tears suddenly uncontrollably streamed down her cheeks, Gu Mornin covered her mouth and weakly squatted down, controlling herself not to cry out loud.

  Shen Rui glanced at the phone screen in the call, it was clearly connected, but why was there no sound? Frowning and calling out to Guo Min Ning again, "Min Ning?" The tone of voice was unknowingly tinged with a hint of worry.

  Su Xiao looked at Gu Mò Ning, who was heartbroken, and gently took the phone to ask Shen Rui where he was, but it was suddenly snatched away by Gu Mò Ning. Gu Mò Ning smiled faintly, gave Su Xiao a reassuring look, took a deep breath, put the phone to his ear and calmly asked, "Where are you?"

  Shen Rui furrowed his brow, although Gu Mo Ning tried to appear calm, he still detected a slight huskiness in her voice, like she had been crying. He casually replied "Lan Tian Bar" and then considerately asked Gu Mo Ning, "What's wrong, did something happen?"

  Gu Mornin hastily replied to Shen Rui with a sentence "No, no." and then hung up the phone. Listening to Gu Mornin's urgent voice, Shen Rui became even more certain of his own speculation, and a hint of worry that he himself had not noticed flashed in his eyes. Since Gu Mornin asked him where he was, he should be coming to find him soon, so after thinking for a moment, he decided to wait for Gu Mornin at the bar.

  After hanging up the phone, Gu Mian Ning leaned against the pillar weakly and slid down to the ground, squatting with her head buried in her knees, her hands wrapped around them, sobbing softly.

  Su Xiao looked at Gu Moring's sad face and felt a pang in her heart. She walked over with heavy footsteps, gently patting Gu Moring's back, her eyes filled with worry, and softly sighed, "Moring, don't cry, it's not worth it for someone like that."

  Gu Mornin heard Su Xiaoxiao's gentle words, and her heart was instantly overwhelmed with emotions, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed even louder. Su Xiaoxiao hugged Gu Mornin tightly, silently patting her back without saying a word, quietly waiting for her to vent out the sorrow in her heart.