Chapter 612: She Doesn't Love Me Let Her Go

The retching drained him of his vital energy, as if half had been siphoned away.

Supporting himself against a lamppost for a long time, he slowly made his way to sit on a low set of steps nearby, pulled out a cigarette, and after several strikes, the lighter failed to ignite it.

Bo Yanching, holding two bottles of water, lightly tapped the bottom of one against Bo Shuxian’s shoulder.

He turned around, took the water, and held it in his hand without opening it.

“When did you start smoking?”

Bo Yanching sat beside him, opened the bottle in his own hand, and swapped it with the one in Bo Shuxian’s hand.

Bo Shuxian smiled, “Last year, I guess.

I often had to stay up late, and since I couldn’t always rely on coffee to stay awake, I thought I’d try cigarettes.”

“Smoke less, your scholarly aura is almost all gone.”

Bo Shuxian let out a light “tsk” and ran the hand holding the cigarette through his hair at the back of his head, twining a lock of hair around his fingers.

Shaking his head, he took a deep breath, “It really feels awful.

I’m never going to mix drinks again.”

Bo Yanching took the cigarette from him, placed it between his lips, lit it, and took a drag.

The ember at the tip of the cigarette burned up a small circle before he passed it back to Bo Shuxian.

Then, he pulled out his own pack of cigarettes, lit one, and was about to take a drag when he caught Bo Shuxian looking at him with a strange expression.

“You disapprove?”

“No,” Bo Shuxian gestured vaguely towards the car, “the little sister-in-law is watching.

Is this considered an indirect kiss?”

“Pfft!”

The smoke Bo Yanching had inhaled choked him, and he coughed it out before slapping Bo Shuxian on the top of his head as he dutifully bowed it low, letting Bo Yanching bully him like he did when they were younger.

“You watched her leave with your own eyes?”

The conversation took a forced turn.

The smile vanished from Bo Shuxian’s lips little by little.

He leaned back, resting his elbows on the higher step behind him, and looked up at the pitch-black sky, void of a single star.

After a vacant “Ah,” he said, “I took her to the airport and watched her leave.”

“You could really let her go?”

“I had no choice but to let her go.

I did love her for ten years after all, but she didn’t love me.

I shouldn’t keep her trapped, so I let her go.”

Bo Shuxian tried to sound calm, but the last words betrayed a tremor.

Sending off the wife he had loved for ten years was like gouging a piece of flesh from his own chest, the pain was raw and bleeding.

“But, Third Brother—”

Bo Shuxian put the cigarette to his lips and drew in deeply, a very long drag, the ember quickly diminishing by half a fingernail’s length.

He held that breath in his lungs, letting it sink, and what he couldn’t suppress or retain, he slowly exhaled through his mouth or nose.

“Why does it hurt so much?”

Bo Yanching’s eyes flickered, he remained silent, and continued to smoke.

“If you want to cry, just cry.

I won’t make fun of you.”

Bo Shuxian laughed, and as he did, tears truly did begin to form at the corners of his eyes.

He tilted his head back, and the tears followed the contours of his eyes into his hairline.

In the deep, cold night, every breath out was milky white, and accompanied by another layer of smoke from his mouth, it hovered in front of his eyes, not dissipating for a long time.

His eyes were a little red, and the tip of his nose became visibly redder.

He insisted on looking up at the sky, where there was plainly nothing, yet it was as if he could still recall the arc the airplane carrying Zhou Zining had traced across the sky that afternoon.

“I’m still young, and so is she.

Why should we torment each other for the rest of our days?

Now that she’s free from my hold, she should be able to live better.”

Bo Yanching furrowed his brow.

He always knew Bo Shuxian had a soft heart, but he never realized how deeply he fell for Zhou Zining.

Perhaps he had kept his composure at the moment of farewell, but now, he truly couldn’t hold back any longer.

This moment was his most vulnerable in his entire life.