“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m breaking up with you because I don’t need a boyfriend like you,” Lan Lan told him. “We’re still young, and I never thought about marrying you. No one can guarantee what will happen in the future.”
“I don’t like you revolving around me every day. It puts too much pressure on me. Love isn’t the entirety of life; you should focus your time on yourself.”
Perhaps it was her young age, or perhaps she was naturally free-spirited and unwilling to bear too much responsibility. Liang Yufeng’s behavior of treating her as his everything made her feel burdened, so much so that she could no longer enjoy the relationship.
She was still so young, and what she wanted was love, not a nanny who did her laundry and cooked for her every day. She had heard the opinions of others about Liang Yufeng; they called him a “simp” who only knew how to wag his tail behind her.
Lan Lan thought that Liang Yufeng couldn’t possibly like her this much forever. If he regretted it later, wouldn’t she have to take responsibility? She couldn’t bear such consequences, so breaking up was the best option.
However, Liang Yufeng refused. He grabbed her hand and pleaded, “I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll improve myself from now on. Lan Lan, please, let’s not break up, okay?”
“No,” Lan Lan pulled her hand away, cold and unfeeling. “I don’t like you anymore. Let’s end it here. I won’t be with someone I don’t like.”
She walked around him and left without looking back. He remained rooted to the spot, her words from earlier playing on repeat in his ears, his eyes stinging with pain.
Lan Lan returned to the dormitory, surprising Lin Mei and Feng Feng. They asked her, “You didn’t go to Liang Yufeng’s place?”
She usually spent her weekends with Liang Yufeng at their rented apartment and often sent them pictures of food he made to make them jealous. Lan Lan fell unusually silent, her face unusually tense. Feng Feng sensed something was wrong and asked, “Did you have a fight?”
Lin Mei also found it strange. Liang Yufeng had always been obedient to Lan Lan, so the possibility of them fighting was very slim.
“We broke up,” Lan Lan finally told them the truth.
“Why so suddenly?” Lin Mei was dumbfounded. She had seen Liang Yufeng bring food to Lan Lan just a few days ago. “Did he break up with you, or did you break up with him?”
“I did,” Lan Lan explained her thoughts. “He revolves around me every day now, and it puts a lot of pressure on me.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lin Mei said. “His actions show he cares about you. Many girls would do anything for this kind of love.”
“It’s not good, not for me,” Lan Lan replied. “What others might like, I can’t. He’s wasting all his time on me now instead of improving himself. If his life doesn’t go well in the future, will I have to take the blame?”
Lin Mei had an epiphany. “Yes, I really hadn’t thought of that.”
She was the most romantic of the three. Lan Lan and Feng Feng were more rational when it came to relationships. Feng Feng had already guessed the reason for Lan Lan’s breakup.
Liang Yufeng got together with Lan Lan with the intention of marriage, but Lan Lan hadn’t thought that far. Their differing goals for the relationship would eventually lead to all sorts of conflicts; breaking up was only a matter of time.
“Regardless of gender, dating is dating. It’s just a spice of life, not worth wasting too much time on,” Lan Lan said. “Coincidentally, I don’t really like him much anymore. This relationship has been really tiring. I declare that I’m not dating anyone this semester.”
“This semester ends in just a month,” Lin Mei reminded her unfeelingly.
The news of Lan Lan and Liang Yufeng’s breakup quickly spread. They usually dated together, and now they were going their separate ways, which was enough to prove something. Within a week, the entire Economics and Management department knew about it.
Lan Lan didn’t care. She was busy with her final exams, and such trivial matters didn’t affect her.
Lan Lan thought that after she had made her feelings so clear that day, Liang Yufeng wouldn’t come looking for her. He was, after all, a proud person at heart.
However, a week later, he cornered her at the entrance of her dormitory building. Lan Lan had just returned from the library with Lin Mei and Feng Feng.
“I have something to say to you,” Liang Yufeng said.
Lin Mei and Feng Feng exchanged a glance and went upstairs first, leaving Lan Lan to face Liang Yufeng alone.
Although Lan Lan didn’t walk away, her attitude was not warm. “What do you want to say?”
“I thought carefully about what you said when I got back,” Liang Yufeng said. “You’re right. After we got together, I haven’t made much progress. It’s normal for you to think I’m not ambitious. I’ll spend more time on myself from now on. Can you… not break up with me?”
Lan Lan immediately guessed that he must have practiced these words countless times, otherwise, they wouldn’t have come out so smoothly. “No.”
She didn’t show any emotion and rejected him without hesitation. This decisive attitude surprised Liang Yufeng again. He struggled, “I’m not in a hurry for an answer. You can consider it and then reply to me.”
“No need to consider,” Lan Lan told him a cruel truth. “Actually, telling you to spend more time on yourself was just an excuse. Fundamentally, it’s because I don’t like you anymore. When someone doesn’t like you, everything you do is wrong.”
“I won’t get back together with you. Go back,” Lan Lan said, giving him no further opportunity, and turned to leave.
Liang Yufeng stood there, the sky covered in dark clouds, mirroring his expression. It seemed even the heavens were trying to set the mood. The rain that had been held back all afternoon began to pour down.
And Liang Yufeng just stood there in the rain, his gaze fixed on the direction of Lan Lan’s dormitory.
Lan Lan’s dormitory was on the second floor. When Lin Mei went to the window to collect clothes, she saw Liang Yufeng standing downstairs in the rain and became worried.
“It’s raining so heavily, and Liang Yufeng is still downstairs. He’ll definitely get sick,” she said, looking at Lan Lan.
Lan Lan walked over and looked down. She indeed saw Liang Yufeng. From the second floor looking down, it was very clear. The rain was pouring down, and besides him, no one else could be seen below the dormitory building. He was drenched, standing stiffly in the downpour, looking pathetic and disheveled.
Lin Mei’s heart softened, and she couldn’t bear to watch. “Lan Lan, call him and tell him to go back.”
“If he wants to stand there, let him stand,” Lan Lan refused to be soft-hearted at the wrong moment. If she showed any sign of concern today, it would mean she was swayed by Liang Yufeng’s tactics, and it would become increasingly difficult to distance herself from him in the future. “He doesn’t care about getting sick, so outsiders can’t control him.”
With that, Lan Lan returned to her seat, opened her computer, and continued reading her revision materials.
Liang Yufeng stood in the rain for nearly forty minutes before he fainted. He was sent to the infirmary by security and developed a high fever of forty degrees that wouldn’t subside, requiring him to be put on an IV drip.
The incident of him standing in the rain outside the girls’ dormitory trying to win Lan Lan back spread like wildfire. Some mocked him as a simp, while some girls who were interested in Liang Yufeng felt that Lan Lan had been too harsh.
Liang Yufeng received IV drips for three days. When he returned to class, he seemed like a different person.