After the Breakup, the Possessive Heiress Regretted It - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Happy New Year, May You Always Be Happy.

Just then, distant lights twinkled, and many pedestrians, smiles on their faces, stood by, simply to cross from the old year into the new, to offer a “Happy New Year.”

Pei Jinyue lowered her eyes, tugged at the corner of her mouth, and avoided Ji Wanmian’s words, softly wishing, “Xiaomian, Happy New Year.”

Ji Wanmian, having just recalled the painful past, naturally wasn’t in the mood to give Pei Jinyue a kind look. She coldly replied, “With you around, I won’t be happy.”

In truth, once the words were out, Ji Wanmian felt a tinge of regret. Perhaps Pei Jinyue, just hours ago, had indeed been blameless, even helping her. But then she thought, as long as the memories of the tears she shed for Pei Jinyue lingered in her mind, it would be difficult for her to fully forgive the person in front of her.

If she reconciled with her so easily, wouldn’t the past pain of being deceived have a chance to repeat itself?

Pei Jinyue just lowered her head, remaining silent for a long time.

Seeing her quiet, Ji Wanmian assumed her words had disheartened Pei Jinyue. So, steeling her heart, she walked on without even saying goodbye, simply forging ahead with her head down.

But Pei Jinyue suddenly quickened her pace, even walking ahead of her.

Against the light, she couldn’t discern the expression on the person’s face.

Ji Wanmian had no choice but to stop, thinking her words might have provoked Pei Jinyue. The image of Pei Jinyue slapping Zhang Ban flashed through her mind. She swallowed, instinctively stepping back two paces, and asked, “You’re not going to hit me, are you?”

In the shadow, Pei Jinyue chuckled softly. She slowly took out a gift box from her bag, extended it to Ji Wanmian, and said, “What are you thinking? How could I bear to hit you? This is my New Year’s gift for you, or rather, a New Year’s Day gift.”

“What is it?” Ji Wanmian remained cautious, looking at the shape and size of the gift box. “It’s not another ring, is it? I just lost one, I won’t accept another.”

“Open it and see,” Pei Jinyue stepped closer, holding the gift box nearer to Ji Wanmian.

“So mysterious,” Ji Wanmian grumbled, yet she couldn’t control her curious heart. She reached out and opened the gift box.

It was a beautiful silver bracelet.

Unlike the one Pei Jinyue casually gave her before, this one was clearly more exquisite and closer to Ji Wanmian’s taste.

But then she remembered how someone had even forgotten her birthday that time. Anger flared in Ji Wanmian’s heart. She closed the gift box lid and demanded, “Don’t you know I can’t forget how you hurt me before? Why are you using this to make me sad again?”

Pei Jinyue quickly explained, “I didn’t mean anything else. This is a brand new, carefully selected bracelet. I just want to make up for my past mistakes, like refreshing a game. I want you to look at the bracelet I give you and not remember the past, but instead have more beautiful memories.”

Ji Wanmian paused. Although she did feel Pei Jinyue’s words were quite sincere, she still turned her head away in a huff, refusing to look at the person in front of her, and murmured, “Who would believe you? Besides, I didn’t even agree to accept the bracelet…”

Pei Jinyue smiled faintly, leaned in, her eyes intently following Ji Wanmian. No matter which way she turned her head, Pei Jinyue refused to give up staring at her with that yearning gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m telling you, I won’t accept it.” Ji Wanmian was annoyed. She no longer avoided eye contact but met it directly, refusing, “Even if it’s the best gift, I won’t…”

Pei Jinyue interrupted her, taking a mysterious item out of her bag and saying, “This is a lumbar support cushion. It’s for you.”

Ji Wanmian blinked in disbelief. So Pei Jinyue had been carrying a bag all this time! If it were the old her, she might have noticed long ago, and perhaps even carried it for Pei Jinyue, but now she hadn’t paid any attention at all.

Getting back to the point, about this lumbar support cushion…

Ji Wanmian swallowed, momentarily unable to think of a refusal.

Pei Jinyue patiently explained, “When I lived with you before, I saw you worked very hard drawing every day. Sitting for long periods isn’t good for your back, so I bought you one.”

Ji Wanmian grunted, crossed her arms, and said, “You think I don’t have one?”

In truth, she really didn’t. She had thought about buying one online every day for years but had never remembered to place an order.

“Okay, no problem if this one isn’t it.” Pei Jinyue didn’t get discouraged. Instead, she took out a box from her bag and handed it to Ji Wanmian.

“What is this again? Pei Jinyue, I really won’t accept any of them. No matter how persistent you are, I won’t be moved.” Ji Wanmian lifted her chin, not even sparing a glance, as if this would hide her guilt.

Pei Jinyue replied, “These are steam eye masks. You have such a heavy workload every day, you need to protect your eyes.”

So tempting.

But Ji Wanmian had to resist.

She cleared her throat, feigning indifference, and started to walk again. “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.”

Pei Jinyue called out to her, hastily pulling a small doll from her bag and saying, “You’ll definitely like this.”

Ji Wanmian’s eyes lit up. Other gifts might have made her hesitate and eventually give up, but seeing such an exquisite little doll truly moved her heart.

Pei Jinyue couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile, her eyes crinkling, and directly handed the small doll to Ji Wanmian, saying, “I always remembered you love these little trinkets. When we went to buy the ring before, you also paid extra attention to them.”

Seeing that Ji Wanmian didn’t refuse directly as before, Pei Jinyue racked her brain, praising, “Besides, this isn’t just an ordinary little doll; it also has stress-relieving functions. Don’t think that just because you work from home every day, it’s so free. Actually, I know drawing comics is also very stressful and hard work, so I just wanted to help you relieve some stress…”

Ji Wanmian lowered her head, looking at the small doll in her hand. She squeezed it, and it was indeed quite stress-relieving—exactly what she had always wanted.

But just as Pei Jinyue thought this would surely satisfy Ji Wanmian, the next second, the person in front of her quietly said, “Pei Jinyue, you are truly too much.”

“What’s wrong, Xiaomian? Are these not satisfying enough for you…?” Pei Jinyue asked with a trembling voice.

After the New Year’s countdown, fewer and fewer pedestrians remained on the roadside, all heading home to sleep. The lively scenes around them gradually vanished, even the lights dimmed considerably. In the silence, Ji Wanmian’s voice sounded even clearer.

“You’re very good at trying every means to make me drop my guard against you, to make me fall for you, to make me love you without a doubt. It was like this in the past, and it’s still like this now,” Ji Wanmian’s voice was muffled. “When I confessed to you before, you clearly heard my words and understood my feelings, but you pretended not to know. You even said caring words like ‘wear more clothes when it’s cold,’ making me make mistake after mistake, to keep persevering.”

“Xiaomian…” Tears welled up in Pei Jinyue’s eyes. She wanted to reach out, her hand hovering in mid-air, but then it fell, not daring to come any closer.

“Since you helped me today, I’ll tell you a bit more; it’s better for both of us this way,” Ji Wanmian took a tissue from her bag, wiped her nose, looked up, and said to Pei Jinyue, “You’re very good to me now, and I can see that. But if I were to forget the pain I suffered just because of this little bit of kindness, how could I face myself?”

Pei Jinyue lowered her head, her hand on her bag, unable to say a word, tears on the verge of falling.

Ji Wanmian said, “Do you know how happy I was the day I got together with you? Do you know how happy I was when you watched movies, bought groceries, and cooked with me? Back then, as long as I received your call every day, I would be so happy I’d spin around in circles at home.”

The night wind blew continuously.

It scattered a few fallen leaves.

The night wind ruffled Ji Wanmian’s stray hairs. Standing in the cold wind, she said, “Every minute and second I spent with you, I cherished immensely. I only felt time passed too quickly. Even though I had many questions back then, for example, why you suddenly decided to be with me, why you took me to meet your family and bought a ring so quickly, why you were always chatting when I was talking to you, and most importantly, I wanted to know who Niannian was and what kind of presence she held in your heart.”

The wind swept across Pei Jinyue’s eyes. She choked out, “I can explain all of this to you. Being with you was because…”

“But I don’t want to hear it now,” Ji Wanmian walked with the wind, as if telling all her grievances to the wind. “Actually, that day when Mrs. Pei came to find me, I wasn’t even that willing to give you up, because I just wanted to hear it from you personally. But you weren’t even willing to offer a single explanation. Sometimes I would think, if you had just tried to hold me back a little then, maybe I would have stayed. But you didn’t, and now, I won’t either.”

Pei Jinyue wanted to grab Ji Wanmian’s sleeve, but the wind pushed her away. In that moment, it felt like sand had gotten into her eyes; her vision blurred, and she could barely open them.

But she didn’t leave entirely. Instead, she quietly followed behind Ji Wanmian. No matter how much Ji Wanmian tried to shoo her away, she could only force out a muffled “I mean no harm, I’m just worried about you.”

In the end, Ji Wanmian was truly too tired to say more. Whatever Pei Jinyue did, it was fine.

Besides, in the middle of the night, having someone follow her home wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Ji Wanmian only stopped when they reached her apartment building. She turned to look at the person behind her, wanting to ask, “Are you safe going home alone?” but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

But Pei Jinyue didn’t linger either. She sensibly turned around and slowly left the area.

Ji Wanmian also didn’t stay put, walking towards her home.

Back in her bedroom, she felt utterly exhausted. First, she had woken up early to meet a deadline, then so many things happened while she was out eating, and finally, she had those painful conversations with Pei Jinyue tonight. It was truly an unforgettable New Year’s Eve.

She looked at the small doll in her hand, then remembered Pei Jinyue staring intently at her. Her mind was filled with countless thoughts. She had originally intended to just toss the doll aside, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Finally, she placed the doll on her desk, next to her drawings.

After a quick shower, Ji Wanmian still felt a heaviness in her heart. She lay in her room, picked up her phone again, and started scrolling through short videos to relax.

Seeing that her favorite drawing vlogger had updated again, her mood improved considerably.

Today was not a simple apology or humorous video.

It was a beautiful fireworks display.

At the end of the video—

“Happy New Year, may you always be happy.”