First, then, love.

He Zheng did not let go.

He slowly raised his head.

Shu Yao gasped and looked into his eyes.

Dark and bloodshot.

He Zheng suddenly exerted force, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her forward.

Shu Yao lost her footing and stumbled forward two steps.

He Zheng stood up, his tall figure exuding a strong sense of oppression, instantly casting her in his shadow.

He pressed on relentlessly.

Shu Yao instinctively stepped back.

One step, two steps.

Until his back slammed hard against the cold wall next to the entrance, leaving him with nowhere to retreat.

He Zheng braced himself against the wall with one hand, while still holding her wrist with the other, completely trapping her in the corner.

The two were very close to each other.

"Are you crazy?! What's wrong with you?!"

Shu Yao's eyes turned red with anger. She struggled violently, her wrists were squeezed so hard that her bones felt like they were about to break.

"Take care of everything."

He Zheng stared into her eyes and squeezed out those three words, one by one, through gritted teeth.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like three thunderclaps, exploding directly in Shu Yao's ears.

Shu Yao's struggling movements suddenly froze.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

How did he know that name?

Seeing her expression freeze instantly, He Zheng's sneer deepened, and the violence in his eyes almost overflowed.

"What, are you feeling guilty after hearing this name?"

He lowered his head, his stubble almost brushing against her face, his breath hot yet carrying a chilling coldness.

"A musical prodigy, a skilled pianist, refined and impeccably groomed."

"We dated for two years; it was my first love."

He stared intently at her, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Shu Yao, do you ever tell the truth?"

What does "coincidental encounter" mean? What does "university alumni" mean?

He Zheng's chest heaved violently, his tone extremely harsh.

He cornered her against the wall, his voice almost shouting.

"Alumni? Alumni who slept in the same bed?"

This crude and vulgar question was like a bucket of ice water, mixed with sharp ice shards, poured over my head.

Shu Yao's mind went blank with a "buzz".

Immediately afterwards, an unprecedented sense of grievance and anger erupted like a volcano.

She had been spoiled since childhood, and now her temper was instantly ignited by his crude question, causing her to completely explode.

Alumni who slept in the same bed?

What did he take her for?

What did he take their intimacy during this time for?

With red eyes, Shu Yao suddenly broke free from his grasp and pushed hard against his chest with both hands.

He Zheng stood motionless like an iron tower, but she ignored him and pushed and shoved him like a madwoman.

"You bastard! You son of a bitch!"

Shu Yao screamed, her voice cracking with anger and filled with a sob.

Tears welled up instantly, falling in large drops and streaming down her fair cheeks.

"We broke up in our senior year! It's a fucking over thing!"

She swore, abandoning all semblance of decorum.

"Don't you know whether he and I have ever slept in the same bed?!"

Shu Yao tilted her head back and stared at him intently, her peach blossom eyes filled with desperate anger and accusation.

"That night! Who bled! Who cried all night in pain! Who gave their virginity to you, you barbarian!"

"Are you blind?! Can't you feel anything?!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her chest heaving violently, tears streaming into her mouth, tasting only bitter saltiness.

"How dare you insult me ​​like this! You treat me like a criminal? Are you even being reasonable?!"

Her ruthless outburst struck a chord deep within He Zheng's heart.

Yes, he knew.

He remembered that night clearly; she was trembling in pain beneath him, and he remembered the glaring red stain on the sheets.

Her first time was with him, her body belonged to him.

He knew better than anyone that she was perfectly innocent.

But what good is knowing?

What he was jealous of wasn't his physical past at all.

What he was jealous of was the two years of youth they spent together, the spiritual connection and resonance that he could never penetrate.

What angered him was that she had lied to him.

She gave her purest and most beautiful love to a gentle and refined man.

When it was his turn, all that was left was a cold contract and endless tantrums and compromises.

He Zheng looked at her tear-streaked face and her expression twisted with anger.

My fingers twitched slightly, and my heart ached so badly it felt like it was going to burst.

But the anger in my heart hadn't subsided, and a strange sense of pride was also getting in the way.

He Zheng took half a step back, widening the distance between the two, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, I'm being unreasonable."

His voice was hoarse, and his tone was eerily calm.

"I'm just a rough guy, unreasonable, and covered in mud."

He looked at her, speaking slowly and deliberately, each word piercing her heart.

"I'm just a rough fellow, no match for your gentle and refined first love."

He said those words casually, yet they were like a heavy hammer, shattering all the intimacy and trust that had just been built between the two of them.

Shu Yao was stunned.

I even forgot to cry.

Tears clung to her eyelashes as she stared blankly at the man who had suddenly become a stranger.

She watched him turn around and grab his windbreaker from the hook in the entryway.

He didn't even zip it up; he just draped it over his broad shoulders.

He Zheng had his back to her, his hand gripping the doorknob of the security door, his back ramrod straight.

He didn't turn around.

He left behind his last, chilling words.

"Fine, I won't dirty your eyes."

He Zheng abruptly released her, grabbed his windbreaker from the entryway, and slammed the door shut as he left.

The door slammed shut with a deafening thud.

The walls of the corridor trembled violently as a result.

The last breath of air was cut off under the door.

The large apartment fell into a deathly silence.

Only the scattered tuberose petals on the ground, under the incandescent light, appeared a desolate, pale white.