Chapter 112: It’s Over! This Time, I Choose Her

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: It’s Over! This Time, I Choose Her

Seeing the sudden shift in Gu Yifan’s tone, Han Ning had a bad feeling. She looked at him with pleading eyes, her mouth slightly parted as if to say something, but he spoke again before she could. "Xiaoning’er, this time, you were truly in the wrong!"

"What happened between us was never anyone else’s business. From the moment you rejected me, what happened today was already inevitable!"

"What’s past is past. I’m not the same person I was, and you’re not the person you used to be. We can’t go back to the way things were. But I can promise you this: I won’t deliberately avoid you anymore. We can still be friends, but just friends."

"So, I’m sorry."

After he finished speaking, Gu Yifan let go of Han Ning’s hand without a moment’s hesitation. He turned, took the hand of a dazed Su Qinghe, and walked out of the private room without looking back.

This time, no matter how Han Ning cried or called out for him from behind, Gu Yifan didn’t once stop...

It had all happened so fast that Wu Xiaoyan, standing on the side, hadn’t even had time to process it all before things had escalated to this point.

It wasn’t until the figures of Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe had disappeared that she finally snapped back to reality, her eyes landing on Han Ning, who was collapsed over the table, sobbing uncontrollably.

"How... how did it end up like this?!"

she mumbled, completely baffled.

’Wait a minute!’

’Didn’t Gu Yifan like Han Ning before? He confessed to her and got rejected, right?’

’So why does it feel like the roles have been completely reversed?!’

’Now Han Ning has fallen for Gu Yifan, and when she confessed to him, she got rejected instead?’

’And is there really something going on between Gu Yifan and that poor girl, the school beauty Su Qinghe??’

’Between Xiaoning’er and Su Qinghe, he chose Su Qinghe???’

Wu Xiaoyan was still in a complete daze. She felt like her head was buzzing!!

But!

Her best friend was on the table crying her heart out. This wasn’t the time to overthink things. She rushed to Han Ning’s side and began to comfort her. "Xiaoning’er, there, there. Don’t cry, don’t cry..."

...

What no one knew was that from the moment Gu Yifan turned around, the gears of fate had begun to turn!

He was still holding the hand of a dazed Su Qinghe as they reached the corner of the stairwell.

Just then, as luck would have it, Wang Zibo was walking back from the restroom after having placed their order.

The three of them met head-on.

Seeing Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe, he looked completely baffled. "Hey, Brother Fan, Sister-in-law Qinghe, what are you two...?"

"Uh..."

Gu Yifan froze for a second. ’I almost forgot about this guy!’

"Um, Zibo, did you order yet?"

He asked casually.

"Yeah, I ordered!" Wang Zibo said, sounding a little confused.

"Oh, good. Qinghe and I have something to take care of, so we’re heading out now. You can stay and eat with Han Ning and her friend."

"I’ll take care of the bill in a bit, so don’t worry about it!"

Gu Yifan said with a nod.

"Huh?"

Gu Yifan’s words left Wang Zibo even more baffled!

"What’re you ’huh’-ing about? That’s the plan!"

"Here’s two hundred bucks. Keep an eye on Han Ning for a bit. Once she’s done crying and has calmed down, get her a taxi home."

Gu Yifan didn’t have time to explain everything. As he spoke, he pulled two hundred yuan from his wallet and stuffed it into Wang Zibo’s hand.

Before Wang Zibo could even react, he took Su Qinghe’s hand and headed downstairs...

Wang Zibo: "..."

His mouth hung open as he stared, dumbfounded, at the retreating backs of Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe. Then he glanced down at the two hundred bucks in his hand, utterly lost.

’Brother Fan is actually being this nice? He even remembered to leave two hundred bucks for me?’

"Holy shit!"

He suddenly realized. ’Did Gu Yifan just say to wait until Han Ning was done *crying*???’

"Damn it!"

"That son of a bitch Gu Yifan!"

"I knew you weren’t being that nice!"

Wang Zibo’s eyes shot wide open. He leaped to his feet, cursing up a storm.

Once he was done swearing, he sprinted back toward the private room...

...

「In the restaurant parking lot.」

Gu Yifan and Su Qinghe were now sitting in the car.

But neither of them said a word, and the atmosphere was a bit heavy.

"I’m going to get out and have a smoke. We can leave in a bit."

Gu Yifan said, feeling agitated.

Without waiting for Su Qinghe to reply, he opened his door and got out.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicked one out with his thumb, and stuck it between his lips.

He was about to look for his lighter when he realized he’d probably left it in the car. Just as he was about to turn back, he heard a CLICK, and a small flame flickered to life before him.

"Hm?"

He froze, turning his head to see that Su Qinghe had somehow gotten out of the car as well. She was now holding up a lighter for him.

"Uh... thanks,"

Gu Yifan said.

After lighting Gu Yifan’s cigarette, Su Qinghe stood quietly to the side, not saying anything.

INHALE...

EXHALE...

Gu Yifan took a hard drag on the cigarette, then slowly exhaled.

After a moment’s thought, he turned to Su Qinghe and asked, "Is there nothing you want to say to me?"

Su Qinghe hesitated. She glanced up at Gu Yifan for a second before silently lowering her eyes again.

After a moment of silence, she gently shook her head and said in a low voice, "N-no."

"Oh."

Gu Yifan nodded, took another drag from his cigarette, and asked, "Weren’t you afraid I was going to accept Han Ning’s offer back there?"

"I was."

This time, Su Qinghe’s answer was quick.

"Hmph!"

Gu Yifan snorted. He looked at her and said flatly, "Then why did you try to stop me from leaving just now?"

Hearing the displeasure in his tone, Su Qinghe grew a little awkward.

She spoke in a small, timid voice, "I... I just saw how heartbroken she was..."

"Heh."

Gu Yifan said again, "So you tried to push me away?"

"I... I didn’t..."

Su Qinghe retorted quietly, pouting, but her voice dwindled as she spoke, clearly lacking conviction.

’The truth was, she had been terrified just now!’

’But she never thought of pushing Gu Yifan away.’

’It was just that when Han Ning said she would accept Gu Yifan’s past confession, and he let go of her hand to walk over to Han Ning... in that moment, she had panicked!’

’Her heart felt hollow, as if the most important part of it had been torn away.’

’But in that situation, she hadn’t dared to speak up. After all this time, she knew bits and pieces about what had happened between Gu Yifan and Han Ning.’

’All she could do was remain silent.’

’Thankfully, Gu Yifan hadn’t abandoned her. Otherwise, she would have gone back to being all alone again.’

"You didn’t?"

Seeing her defiant yet dorky expression, Gu Yifan became exasperated.

"Su Hanhan!"

he said, his tone growing heavy.

"Hm?"

Su Qinghe tilted her head up to look at him.

"Just this once!"

"If this happens again, there won’t *be* an ’again’ for us!"

"You hear me?!"

Gu Yifan said with an irritable glare.

"Mm-hm, I... I get it."

Su Qinghe gave a dorky smile and nodded vigorously at Gu Yifan.

"Alright, that’s enough. Let’s drop it."

Looking at her silly grin, Gu Yifan said, still annoyed, "I didn’t get to eat enough. Let’s go find another place to eat!"

With that, he stubbed out his cigarette and got back in the car...