After the Breakup, the Possessive Heiress Regretted It - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Insomnia Every Day.

This winter, Nancheng didn’t snow. The candy she liked to eat still wasn’t bought. The streets they planned to browse still weren’t visited. Wen Su still didn’t stay.

A few evenings later, Ji Wanmian stood once again at Wen Su’s doorstep, looking down at the message that popped up on her phone—

Wen Su: “Xiaomian, I’m sorry. I told you I was leaving today, but I actually left two days ago. I only said that because I didn’t want you to see me off. It’s cold these past two days, wear more layers, don’t catch a cold. You can still tell me if anything makes you unhappy.”

This little Wen Su…

Ji Wanmian sighed, zipped up her down jacket, burying her chin in the collar, and quietly left Wen Su’s doorstep.

She had lost another good friend.

When she graduated from university, she bravely ran to live in the city where Pei Jinyue was, and slowly lost touch with the friends she had made in college.

She finally reconnected with Lu Yu and Wen Su, only to be separated again for various reasons.

She hadn’t suffered much since she was a child. Her family adored her, and no matter how old she was now, she was still pampered like a treasure.

But Ji Wanmian had heard others mention in high school that Wen Su’s family was not like that. The hardships she had endured were beyond Ji Wanmian’s imagination.

While everyone else was busy playing and fooling around, at most worrying about too much homework, Wen Su was exceptionally obedient and sensible. She didn’t play or make new friends, only quietly focused on her studies.

She remembered the day she delivered the painting to Wen Su. Wen Su kept her for dinner. Although Ji Wanmian had eaten a jianbing guozi on her way there, she still agreed.

Watching Wen Su bring out dish after dish from the kitchen, Ji Wanmian thought of how she could never cook a proper meal herself.

It was then that she realized how important family was in shaping a person’s character.

She was the only child in her family, pampered since childhood, which led to her not yet fully developing the ability to stand on her own when she first encountered being framed. This was why she believed Pei Jinyue, who came to her rescue when she felt helpless, was very important to her, an existence she could never forget in her life.

But now that she thought about it, perhaps what she loved was only that fleeting feeling.

Although Ji Wanmian wasn’t sure about Wen Su’s specific family situation, whenever she thought of Wen Su still wanting to thank her for her help after so many years, she had only one thought—she wished Wen Su future happiness.

Wen Su served sweet and sour pork ribs and spicy chicken.

That day, they sat together, neither of them speaking about the matters in their hearts. It was just an ordinary evening, where they ate a simple dinner and chatted about everyday things.

Just like the day they reunited.

Recalling three years ago, she returned home deeply saddened by her separation from Pei Jinyue, and thus met Wen Su. Three years later, facing another farewell, who would she meet this time…?

“Xiaomian?”

Ji Wanmian came back to her senses. Looking up again, she scanned her surroundings and found that she had inadvertently walked to the street she had sworn never to visit again.

And in front of her was the person she had sworn never to see again.

The streetlights at night were brightly lit, casting their glow right beside Pei Jinyue. Ji Wanmian glanced at the bakery not far away, assuming Pei Jinyue had seen her from a distance and had run directly to her.

“Xiaomian, you…” Pei Jinyue’s voice held surprise, but as she looked at Ji Wanmian’s expression, her eyelashes trembled, and she asked, “Are you in a bad mood?”

Ji Wanmian lowered her head, said nothing, and tried to walk past Pei Jinyue to leave.

“Xiaomian, are you unhappy because you saw me?” Pei Jinyue refused to give up, saying from behind Ji Wanmian, “But I haven’t actively looked for you in a long time.”

Ji Wanmian kept walking forward.

“Xiaomian, I’ve really changed a lot these past few years. I won’t be like that anymore… Can you wait for me…” Pei Jinyue reached out her hand and gently grasped Ji Wanmian’s hand. “I just want to apologize to you…”

Ji Wanmian was already annoyed and didn’t want any more entanglement with Pei Jinyue. She shook her hand, directly shaking off the hand of the person behind her.

Perhaps she shook too hard. After she abruptly shook free, Pei Jinyue staggered two steps, her foot slipped, and there was nothing to grab onto. With a “thud,” she fell straight to the ground.

Ji Wanmian froze, not expecting that she would cause Pei Jinyue to fall.

She instinctively took a step forward, wanting to reach out and help the person in front of her. But she gritted her teeth, restrained her hand, thinking that the fall wasn’t serious, and unwilling to inquire further. She turned around, no longer looking at Pei Jinyue.

“Hiss—” Pei Jinyue gasped.

Ji Wanmian loosened her grip on the corner of her clothes, fiercely cursed herself for being a failure, and still turned back to look at Pei Jinyue, even stepping forward.

“Sigh,” Ji Wanmian grumbled, extending her hand towards Pei Jinyue, turning her head to look the other way. She didn’t seem genuinely helpful, still angry.

“No need, I’m just happy that you stopped,” Pei Jinyue said, propping herself up with both hands, bending her legs, and struggling to get up. “Actually, I’m wearing thick clothes in winter, so the fall didn’t hurt much, it’s just…”

Ji Wanmian wasn’t in the mood to listen to Pei Jinyue. She said angrily, “Then the way you were just now, I thought I hurt you. Pei Jinyue, you really haven’t changed at all.”

She withdrew her hand, growing angrier with every word. All the day’s bad mood welled up, and she gave Pei Jinyue no pleasant expression.

Pei Jinyue meekly listened to Ji Wanmian’s angry words, not daring to reply. She just quietly put her scraped right hand in her pocket, took out the flower from her bag with her left hand, and held it in her palm, saying, “I was just worried that the flower in my bag would be damaged. I thought if I ever had a chance to meet you, I could give you a flower.”

Ji Wanmian glanced out of the corner of her eye at the flower in Pei Jinyue’s hand. It was a pink rose, perhaps a little misshapen from being pressed earlier.

Pei Jinyue also looked down at the flower, her expression forlorn, not knowing if she was sad for the flower, or because…

Never mind.

Ji Wanmian didn’t want to know.

Moreover, every time she saw the combination of Pei Jinyue and flowers, she would recall that nightmare that made her break out in a cold sweat.

“It’s fine if you’re okay, don’t overthink it. I just don’t want you to cling to me,” Ji Wanmian didn’t want to linger. She chose to leave without hesitation, walking straight ahead.

Pei Jinyue had no intention of giving up and followed closely behind her. If she got a little too close, Ji Wanmian would stop and glance at her, so she would reluctantly take two steps back.

Nearing the apartment complex, Ji Wanmian couldn’t bear it anymore. She simply stopped, turned her head, and asked almost through gritted teeth, “What exactly do you want?”

Pei Jinyue confessed, “It’s very late now. I’m worried about you going home alone, it’s not safe.”

“Please, Miss Pei, with you following me, I feel unsafe, alright?” Ji Wanmian replied, “Pei Jinyue, I don’t care if you’re doing this for your so-called possessiveness or feigned love for me, just don’t cling to me, okay?”

Pei Jinyue said aggrievedly, “But when you saw me fall, you still instinctively came to help me.”

Ji Wanmian blurted out, “I even want to pet a dog wagging its tail on the side of the road.”

Pei Jinyue blinked, and without thinking, replied, “If it would make you happy, I can be your dog too.”

Ji Wanmian: “…”

The rustling wind not far away instantly drilled into Ji Wanmian’s collar.

She shivered, unsure if it was from being startled by Pei Jinyue’s words or chilled by the cold wind.

Looking at Pei Jinyue’s determined expression, she was speechless for a moment, not a single word stuck in her throat. Then, she inexplicably looked around the neighborhood with a guilty conscience. Fortunately, it was very late, and coupled with the cold weather, there weren’t many pedestrians.

She sighed in relief, glad no one heard their conversation, otherwise, she’d want to find a hole and hide in it for the rest of her life.

“Miss Pei, listen carefully. I’m not good at cursing, so I don’t want to be so blunt,” Ji Wanmian tried her best to be patient, speaking in a less irritable tone, “Are you sick?”

“I just love you too much, it’s sincere, not feigned, and certainly not some kind of possessiveness,” Pei Jinyue explained, “You made me understand what true love is…”

“Stop, there’s no background music here, don’t be melodramatic,” Ji Wanmian stopped her in time, not wanting to hear those cheesy words. “If there’s nothing important, I’m leaving now.”

Pei Jinyue’s mind raced through important matters. Even her speaking speed quickened: “You don’t have to call me Miss Pei anymore. I’ve already broken ties with my family. You can just treat me as someone from an ordinary family. There’s no distance between us at all.”

Ji Wanmian “oh-ed” and asked, “So you lied to me last time when you told me to buy the whole store?”

Pei Jinyue hung her head and said, “I didn’t lie to you. Whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you with all my savings. But I thought you might still like my previous confidence… no, my arrogance, so I didn’t tell you any of this.”

Ji Wanmian nodded, uncharacteristically acknowledging, “You finally realize you were arrogant. All that confidence you showed before just made me even more disgusted with you.”

Pei Jinyue thought Ji Wanmian had decided to open her heart and immediately looked up, even a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes.

But it was extinguished in an instant.

“Alright, this little matter related to you isn’t worth my time listening to,” Ji Wanmian yawned. She had already used up a lot of emotions and energy today by getting up early to work and then rushing over to Wen Su’s place but still failing to see her off. Now, she just felt physically and mentally exhausted.

“I…” Pei Jinyue struggled to retrieve some important memories from her mind, and finally, before Ji Wanmian left, she remembered, “Lu Yu went to find Pei Siche, my sister.”

Ji Wanmian then stopped, asking, “What happened to them? I could only guess they had a falling out before.”

Pei Jinyue said, “Pei Siche had originally promised my mother to enter into an arranged marriage, but before the wedding date was set, she disappeared, leaving only a note that read, ‘I don’t want to marry.'”

Ji Wanmian asked, “Did she go to find Xiaoyu?”

Pei Jinyue shook her head and said, “No, no one knows where she went. Lu Yu couldn’t find her, and neither could I. I searched for three years and still couldn’t find her. So, Xiaomian, I really didn’t intentionally wait so long to apologize to you…”

Ji Wanmian didn’t want to hear the rest, and interrupted, “Don’t change the subject. Continue with Pei Siche’s matter. Why didn’t you continue looking for her?”

Pei Jinyue had no choice but to suppress her emotions and explained, “Because Lu Yu said she found her, and told me not to worry.”

Ji Wanmian nodded in relief. It was good that she was found; Xiaoyu should be happier now.

Pei Jinyue saw Ji Wanmian’s expression relax slightly and tried to seize the opportunity to say something more.

“Understood, you can go now, and don’t come again,” Ji Wanmian naturally didn’t want to hear Pei Jinyue’s emotional words. She turned around and entered the apartment complex directly, walking home without looking back.

Back home, Ji Wanmian lay on the sofa, feeling that so much had happened today, and it would take a long time to process it all.

After showering, she lay in bed, her mind still in turmoil. She sighed and had no choice but to pick up her phone, wanting to distract herself by scrolling through short videos.

As soon as she opened it, she found that the vlogger she followed, “Has she forgiven me today?”, had updated.

These days, when she was in a bad mood, the vlogger’s videos had almost become her sleep aid.

Perhaps after watching them many times, she noticed a commonality among these videos—

The protagonist in them suffered from insomnia every day.

How miserable.

Ji Wanmian felt a brief pang of sympathy.

Coincidentally, she too was constantly troubled by Wen Su’s departure and Lu Yu’s love life today. Just like the vlogger, she was also experiencing insomnia.