Translator: Paperplane Editor: Caron_

  Xie Siyao heard Chen Mingda’s words and tears almost came crashing down. She worked hard to stay composed. After she declined Chen Mingda’s offer, she didn’t dare chat too long with him, so she hurriedly hung up.

  Xie Siyao didn’t go back to her parent’s house nor did she go to the studio. She just stayed at home for days. At first, Chen Mingda called her every now and then to check on her like usual, but on the third day, Chen Mingda actually didn’t call her the entire day.

  In the past, Chen Mingda acted like this in the past when he was busy with work, so Xie Siyao thought Chen Mingda was just busy with urgent work. She called him but when she realized no one was picking up, she stopped disturbing him with phone calls. Instead, she sent him messages to remind him to eat on time and take care of himself.

  On the fourth day, after Xie Siyao woke up, her first reaction was to pick up her phone. She found that her phone was completely devoid of notifications. There wasn’t a single call or text from Chen Mingda, so that was when she realized something wasn’t right.

  She called Chen Mingda several times but no one picked up. She continued to call, but after the fourth ring, she was cut off. She continued to call but she was greeted with: “Sorry, the phone you are calling has been switched off.”


  For as long Xie Siyao and Chen Mingda had been together, this had never happened. She suddenly started to panic. She knew full well that Chen Mingda’s phone was off, but she still called him relentlessly. Since she couldn’t get through, she turned to texting. She lost track of the number of messages she sent until the low battery notification popped up on her phone and it automatically turned off. That was when she realized she needed to charge her phone. She grabbed her car keys and drove to Chen Mingda’s home.

  She knocked on his door for ages but no one answered. She went to his office but the person at the front desk didn’t recognize her. Unlike before, she wasn’t allowed to go upstairs, so she used the landline phone to call the manager. In the end, Chen Mingda’s secretary came down to tell her that Chen Mingda was out of the country on a business trip.

  Xie Siyao asked when he was going to come back. The secretary said she didn’t know and handed Xie Siyao a letter which Chen Mingda asked to be handed over to her.

  Women were naturally straightforward, so she told Xie Siyao there was absolutely nothing good in the letter. Xie Siyao was unwilling to face the facts or maybe she couldn’t accept it. She chose to act confused although she knew the truth. She didn’t open the letter and asked the secretary to please call her when Chen Mingda returned.

  The secretary promised her and personally saw her out of Chen Mingda’s office.

  Back home, Xie Siyao stared at the letter for over two hours before she opened it. There was an empty cheque inside with three familiar words written in the signature area in a person’s handwriting she knew far too well —”Chen Mingda.”


  Xie Siyao understood what Chen Mingda meant by giving her this cheque.

  People were all the same. They didn’t cry until they saw the coffin and their hearts didn’t die until they reached their goal.

  Xie Siyao pretended she knew nothing and continued to call Chen Mingda every day.

  For a whole week, Xie Siyao wasn’t able to reach Chen Mingda. It wasn’t until a week later when she happened to bump into Chen Mingda at the entrance of China World Hotel Beijing while heading to a party.

  Chen Mingda saw her but showed no intention of wanting to talk to her, so he quickly withdrew his dull gaze away and got into his own car.

  Xie Siyao instinctively caught up to Chen Mingda’s car, stopping him from driving away.