After the Breakup, the Possessive Heiress Regretted It - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: I Just Want You to Be Happy

 Walking on the way to find Wen Su, Ji Wanmian inexplicably felt a tremor in her heart.

She wasn’t sure if it was nervousness or fear of seeing Wen Su’s disappointed expression. She just felt that the road today was exceptionally long.

It was evening, and the streets were bustling with commuters. Ji Wanmian watched the people passing by: some laughing in groups, some walking alone with furrowed brows, and some shouting curses into their phones.

But she knew very well that what she saw was only the surface, because people were often complex, and how could a single emotion describe the feelings of that moment?

Just like herself now, her mood was extremely complex, thousands of thoughts swirling in her mind, lingering without dissipating.

Absentmindedly walking through the streets, Ji Wanmian caught a waft of fragrance. She came to her senses and realized she had walked into a food street. The aromas of various snacks, fried treats, and grilled skewers assaulted her. She swallowed, turned around, and wondered how she could be in the mood to buy food.

Three seconds later—

“Boss, I want a jianbing guozi, with an egg.”

After paying and taking the hot jianbing, Ji Wanmian didn’t care about her image. She simply ate as she walked, attempting to ease her mood with food.

Indeed, she stopped thinking about Wen Su.

Instead, she thought of Lu Yu.

She took a bite of the jianbing, the skin and the filling, mixed with various sauces, swallowed into her stomach. This time, she ate it as a jianbing, and no one came to interrupt her.

But Ji Wanmian still wished Lu Yu would suddenly appear, pat her on the shoulder, smiling with crescent eyes, and gently ask if she still recognized herself.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t chatted with Lu Yu in a long time.

After the last New Year’s Eve, Ji Wanmian messaged Xiaoyu. The other side seemed to be in a bad mood, only apologizing and saying nothing else.

She didn’t press further, and after that, they both went about their busy lives. Occasionally liking each other’s posts on WeChat Moments became their only connection.

At first, Ji Wanmian was still a bit worried about Xiaoyu, but later, seeing the pictures Xiaoyu shared on Moments, showing she was living well, she felt relieved.

Although she still didn’t know what exactly happened on New Year’s Eve, Ji Wanmian boldly speculated that it was Pei Siche who made Xiaoyu unhappy.

She figured that the transformation of high hopes into nothingness would cause such pain that one wouldn’t want to speak to anyone else.

Ji Wanmian took a fierce bite of the jianbing, her heart full of resentment.

The Pei family really “produces” scumbags.

With her emotions switching between sadness, anger, and nervousness, Ji Wanmian swallowed the last bite of jianbing, tossed the wrapper, and arrived at Wen Su’s doorstep.

Ji Wanmian wiped her mouth and pressed the doorbell.

The first ring went unanswered.

Could she not be home?

Just as Ji Wanmian was about to press the doorbell a second time, the door opened.

It was a small girl, not very tall, with twin pigtails, staring at her with wide, round eyes.

Ji Wanmian felt a little embarrassed under her gaze. She awkwardly scratched her head and asked, “Excuse me, is this Wen Su’s house?”

Unexpectedly, the little girl immediately asked, “Are you the pretty sister?”

Ji Wanmian blinked: “Huh?”

Just as Ji Wanmian thought she had come to the wrong door, the sound of water being turned off came from inside, followed by Wen Su’s voice from not far away: “Lin Qiqi, stop messing around, let your Sister Ji in.”

Lin Qiqi turned her head and said “Oh,” then looked up at Ji Wanmian for a long time, finally taking Sister Ji’s hand and walking directly into the house.

“Don’t I need to change shoes?” Ji Wanmian asked.

Lin Qiqi walked straight ahead without blinking: “It’s fine, my big cousin will clean up.”

Ji Wanmian acknowledged, confirming the relationship between the little girl and Wen Su.

“Why are you holding my hand?” Because Lin Qiqi was much shorter than Ji Wanmian, she had to bend down slightly for the girl to comfortably hold her hand.

Lin Qiqi didn’t hesitate: “Because I like you.”

Ji Wanmian chuckled and joked, “I think this is our first time meeting today, right? Why do you already like me? What if I have a bad temper and am mean to you?”

Lin Qiqi stopped, and Ji Wanmian followed suit, waiting quietly for the child to say something.

She heard Lin Qiqi seriously reply, “Do you look like it?”

Such blunt words, yet perfectly accurate.

With her personality, even thinking about being mean to others, if she were scolded a few times, she would be so angry at night for not performing well that she couldn’t sleep.

“Lin Qiqi, don’t joke with your Sister Ji, come quickly and get the fruit.” Wen Su called from the kitchen, then said with a smile to Ji Wanmian, “Xiaomian, please find a seat for a bit, I’ve washed some fruit to eat later.”

Ji Wanmian quickly agreed. Seeing Wen Su reminded her of why she was here. The joking with Lin Qiqi had relaxed her quite a bit, but now she was nervous again, restlessly pacing the living room.

Out of politeness, she didn’t dare to let her gaze wander, unable to be overly curious about someone else’s home.

But no matter how hard she tried not to look at the entire room, it was difficult to avoid seeing the picture frame placed on the side of the sofa.

An exquisite, beautiful, spotless picture frame. Inside it was one of her previous sketches, its style raw, even the lines showing immaturity. Looking at the paper… it couldn’t even be called drawing paper; it was just a regular lined notebook.

She struggled to recall, only remembering after a long time that this was the very first drawing she had casually given to Wen Su. It was preserved so perfectly that even she hadn’t taken such meticulous care of her own past drawings, let alone a mere doodle.

Let her think, who was the person in the drawing again?

Suddenly, her shoulders trembled, and she recalled those chuunibyou years. It seemed what she loved to draw most back then was her own fantasy of herself.

Ah, seeing the painting still being kept so well, she felt so ashamed and awkward.

“Sorry, Xiaomian, kept you waiting. I was thinking you hadn’t arrived yet, so I went to wash some fruit. You arrived just as I started, so I had my cousin open the door. You…” Wen Su walked over with a plate of fruit, just as she saw Ji Wanmian staring at the painting, almost dropping the plate in surprise.

“Little Wen Su, you’ve kept this painting all this time,” Ji Wanmian turned her head and asked Wen Su.

Wen Su forced a dry chuckle, responding, “Yes.”

Just as Ji Wanmian nodded, pondering what to say, Wen Su turned her head, looking at Lin Qiqi beside her. She didn’t speak, purely asking with her eyes.

But Lin Qiqi wouldn’t hide anything. She said bluntly, “Oh, you told me to hide it in the second bedroom, but I didn’t know how to put it away—in the cabinet or under the bed, or should it be hung on the wall? So I carried it out again to ask you. I didn’t expect Pretty Sister to suddenly arrive. You told me to open the door, so I just put it by the sofa… Why are you always winking at me?”

Wen Su: “…”

She really told the whole story in detail.

Wen Su sighed inwardly. It was her fault too. Why did she wink at this child? Why did she let this child hold the most important painting? Why didn’t she explain clearly to the child?

“Why hide it?” Ji Wanmian asked, puzzled, “Was I not supposed to see it?”

No sooner had the words left her mouth, and before Wen Su could speak, Ji Wanmian wanted to retract what she had said. It was clearly a rhetorical question; anyone could see that Wen Su was afraid she would see it.

This further confirmed Ji Wanmian’s guess.

Only when one loves someone does one become so cautious, fearing the other will see through their feelings, and yet also fearing the other will never notice their feelings.

But today, she was here to sever this emotional tie.

Ji Wanmian swallowed, lowered her head, and said, “Wen Su, I came today…”

“Xiaomian, wait a minute,” Wen Su interrupted her, looked at Lin Qiqi, and hesitated whether to speak.

“Alright, I know, adults talk, kids don’t listen, I’m going out to play!” Lin Qiqi actually understood Wen Su’s unspoken difficulty this time and offered to leave. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to wave to Ji Wanmian, “Bye, Pretty Sister!”

Wen Su coughed twice, trying to get Lin Qiqi not to be so enthusiastic.

But Ji Wanmian accepted it quickly, waving back with a smile and saying, “Bye, cute little sister!”

Wen Su was amused by Ji Wanmian’s demeanor, and much of her sadness dissipated. Seeing Lin Qiqi close the door, she said, “My cousin’s child, a bit boisterous, don’t mind her.”

“I don’t mind,” Ji Wanmian shook her head. “How could I mind someone so cute, and so sincere?”

Sincere… Wen Su remembered Lin Qiqi talking about hiding the paintings, and her heart jumped to her throat again, afraid that Ji Wanmian might overthink.

Ji Wanmian added, “After all, she called me a pretty sister.”

Wen Su then put her heart at ease and handed Ji Wanmian a piece of fruit.

It was a satsuma orange.

Ji Wanmian took it, slowly peeled back the skin, revealing segments of fruit, like a heart gradually being laid bare.

“Auntie Wen isn’t living with you?”

Wen Su also picked up a strawberry and put it in her mouth. It was very sour, as bitter as learning that her mother, no matter how exhausted she was, would still earn money for her younger brother.

She replied, “She has a different routine than me, so I rented another apartment for her to live in.”

Ji Wanmian nodded, took a segment of orange, put it in her mouth. It was very sweet.

“I heard that you had a better job in another province before, with much better benefits than now, but you never went and stayed in Nancheng.”

Wen Su wiped the juice from the corners of her mouth, staring at the pear in the fruit plate, and explained, “It’s more leisurely here. You can see, my work isn’t that hard every day.”

“But your ambition shouldn’t be here,” Ji Wanmian put another satsuma orange segment in her mouth, as if gathering courage for herself. “You’re so excellent. If you developed in a bigger city, you would definitely be even better than you are now. At that time, you…”

“But my wish has always been only one,” Wen Su looked up, gazing at Ji Wanmian with honesty and fervor, “That is you.”

Ji Wanmian’s hand and heart both trembled. She almost forgot to eat the satsuma orange in her hand, just thinking blankly in her mind—she couldn’t speak indirectly now, everything was out in the open.

“I’m sorry, I…” She lowered her head, not daring to look into Wen Su’s eyes, only daring to look at the orange segments with their pith still attached in her hand, like a life bound.

Suddenly, she heard a soft chuckle.

“What are you thinking?” Wen Su said gently, “I mean, my wish is to thank you, to thank you for helping me when I was most helpless.”

Ji Wanmian looked up blankly, instinctively replying, “It’s nothing, it’s all in the past.”

After recovering, she looked at Wen Su, who was smiling.

Ji Wanmian had always felt that Wen Su, like her surname, was a gentle, soft girl.

Even in such an atmosphere, she still appeared so friendly, not causing Ji Wanmian any anxiety, awkwardness, or tension.

So, Ji Wanmian also smiled with relief, saying, “It’s been over ten years, how can you still not forget? How about this, if someone absolutely must thank me…”

Wen Su looked at her in confusion.

She scanned the room, finally picked up a pear, and continued, “Then this one’s for me.”

“Okay,” Wen Su said with a smile, “You can have as many as you want.”

Ji Wanmian shook her head, holding the pear in her hand, and said, “One is enough, I just like this one.”

Wen Su nodded thoughtfully, her gaze falling on the picture frame nearby, and said, “Counting it, we’ve known each other for twelve years.”

“Yes, time flies so fast,” Ji Wanmian put the pear aside and continued eating the satsuma orange in her hand. At this moment, the orange seemed to have turned into melancholic wine, inducing sorrow and making her sigh with emotion. “In a blink of an eye, we’re both twenty-seven. I still remember when school just started, you sat next to me, and I spoke Nancheng dialect to you, but you replied in Mandarin. I wondered then if you were from Nancheng.”

Wen Su was amused and said, “I’m from Nancheng, a native of Nancheng. Even after many years away, I always remember that I’m from Nancheng.”

Ji Wanmian couldn’t stop talking: “Yeah, Nancheng has really changed a lot in the past two years. Those old residential areas, they’ve all become high-rise buildings now. Not to mention far away, just our high school, as soon as we graduate, it’s bound to be renovated, with a bigger cafeteria, completely different from when I was in school.”

“I haven’t seen what the new high school looks like yet,” Wen Su put another strawberry in her mouth, “I’m about to leave.”

“It’s okay, you can go see it later when you have time. It’s right there, it won’t run away. No, wait…” Ji Wanmian paused, blinking in surprise, her words somewhat faltering. “What did you just say? You’re leaving?”

Wen Su smiled and said, “Didn’t you just say I always stayed in Nancheng? Now that I’m actually leaving, why are you so surprised?”

Ji Wanmian recalled what she had said; she had indeed always wanted to ask Wen Su why she stayed here. But now that she heard she was actually leaving, she was truly having a hard time accepting it for a moment.

So, Ji Wanmian put down the satsuma orange in her hand and focused on asking, “When did you decide to leave? I didn’t hear you mention it when you came to my house during the day.”

Wen Su replied, “I decided after I returned home today.”

Ji Wanmian asked, “So when are you leaving? I haven’t seen you pack your luggage.”

Wen Su replied, “I don’t have much luggage. I’ll just take the important things. This house will stay here for now, in case…”

What if she came back later?

Ji Wanmian tilted her head, asking in confusion, “In case what?”

But she probably wouldn’t be able to come back.

Wen Su said, “In case I can get a better price for it later.”

Ji Wanmian let out a long “ah,” and said, “You’re not coming back…”

Wen Su lowered her gaze and nodded.

Ji Wanmian suddenly felt the bitter aftertaste of the satsuma orange she had just eaten. Looking at the pear she had casually picked up, she suddenly felt a bit of regret. If she had known, she wouldn’t have chosen the pear. Now, they were truly separating.

“Xiaomian, so what did you want to tell me today?” Wen Su changed the sad topic. “I remember you came to bring me a painting, where is it?”

“Oh, the painting is in my bag.” Ji Wanmian reached behind her, then suddenly remembered that after she put the painting in her bag, she was so preoccupied with how to subtly reject Wen Su that she forgot to grab her bag from the living room table and just stupidly walked out the door.

She slapped her forehead in annoyance, the orange juice on her hands transferring to her forehead. But she paid no mind, regretting why she had bought a jianbing along the way, forgetting the most important item of her trip.

“Did you forget to bring it?” Wen Su asked with a smile.

“Mhm!” Ji Wanmian nodded heavily, “I really did paint one for you, and because it turned out well, I even took a picture of it on my phone.”

As she spoke, she handed her phone to Wen Su and said, “See, I didn’t lie to you.”

“I told you, I believe you.” Wen Su nodded, leaning her head closer to look at the painting on Ji Wanmian’s phone. Her nose stung, and tears almost fell.

She quickly turned her head, and after holding back her tears, she slowly began to speak: “In your heart, do I always appear to be running?”

“Yes, I always thought you were incredibly amazing, never getting tired, not afraid of hardship,” Ji Wanmian explained. “So in my mind, your image is someone who’s constantly moving, always running forward.”

Ji Wanmian kept nodding. Then, remembering that she forgot to bring the painting, she sighed again, saying, “I’m really sorry. I’ll bring it to you tonight when I go home, or I can bring it to you tomorrow.”

Wen Su, however, shook her head, smiling faintly, “No need. Just send me this picture, and you can keep that painting.”

Ji Wanmian persisted, “But…”

“You keep it. I want you to remember me when you see that painting later,” Wen Su said. “Just like you remember our classmate Lu Yu, remember that I am your… friend. That would make me very content.”

Ji Wanmian froze. Through Wen Su’s smile, she saw boundless sadness. After a moment of thought, she decided to speak: “Are you going through something troubling? You can tell me. Although I don’t have much ability, I’ll try my best to help you.”

“Then if you really help me, what if I cling to you for another three years?” Wen Su’s smile was bitter. “Would you still come specifically to make things clear to me then?”

Ji Wanmian pursed her lips and remained silent.

In the quiet, Ji Wanmian’s lack of an answer made everything clear.

Wen Su still smiled, then handed Ji Wanmian’s satsuma orange back: “I’m just kidding, don’t take it to heart. Enjoy your fruit.”

Ji Wanmian took the orange. There wasn’t much left. She put the last two segments together in her mouth. As she swallowed, the sour bitterness was unbearable, but it also spurred a lot of courage.

She asked, “Wen Su, have you ever liked me?”

Outside, it was completely dark. The room was not lit, and everything was dim. They could only see each other’s general outlines, but not their expressions.

In the silent room, even the sounds of their breathing answered.

For a moment, Wen Su thought, if she really mustered the courage, stood up abruptly and took Xiaomian’s hand, she would have no regrets at all.

But she wouldn’t.

She couldn’t do such a thing.

She didn’t even dare to admit her love.

In the darkness, Wen Su replied, “No, I’ve always just wanted to thank you.”

Actually, what she was thinking was—

I love you so much, and I want to hold your hand so badly.

But more than that, I want you not to be confused by this feeling.

I just want you to be happy.