Diary of my Ex - Chapter 4: The Toxic Memories of Han Liang

Han Liang took a sip of his drink, his gaze shifting away as he asked casually, “Just graduated, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Which university?”

“Peking University. Bachelor’s in Business Management. I didn’t go for a master’s—I wanted to get some experience first and might go for an EMBA later. Anything else you’re curious about?”

Han Liang raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. Not many women held his attention this way—she was refreshingly different.

Most women would try to impress or sweet-talk him, feeding his ego, and he’d always taken that admiration for granted. But this girl—she had guts, and that made her far more interesting.

Deciding to tease her, he leaned in slowly, closing the distance, using his height to create a subtle but undeniable pressure. When he was close enough, he reached over to remove the glass she held, placing it on the coffee table with a soft clink that made her flinch slightly.

Han Liang brushed a strand of her hair between his fingers. “Got a boyfriend?”

Wen Yuan could smell the faint scent of tobacco on him—cool, masculine, a little intoxicating.

She cleared her throat, her voice coming out in a hushed murmur. “Not right now.”

He smirked. She was getting nervous. His lips curled in a mischievous grin, a touch of smugness dancing in his eyes.

Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “Got much experience? What kind of men do you like?”

“Wh-what experience?” she stammered.

He chuckled. “What do *you* think I mean? What kind of experience do you think I’d be interested in?”

He released her hair, his fingers trailing down to graze her delicate collarbone.

She jumped up suddenly. “I should go. My friend’s going to think something’s wrong and might even call the cops.”

Han Liang stood as well, pulling out his phone and holding it out to her. “Here, call them.”

She looked at him, annoyed. “I have my own phone, thank you. And you can drop the psychological games—I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Oh?” He cocked his head. “And what am I doing?”

“You’re trying to scare me, toying with me. Don’t think I don’t see through it.”

“So… are you scared of me?” His fingers lightly brushed her cheek as he asked the question, a glimmer of sincerity in his eyes.

“I don’t know; I just met you,” she replied, trying to sound steady. But deep down, she felt disoriented. This man had a dangerously addictive allure.

“Want to get to know me better?” He fixed his gaze on her, his dark eyes locking onto hers. Wen Yuan felt a surge of dizziness and quickly looked away, trying to compose herself.

Han Liang leaned back and took a small step away. “My apologies—I got a little ahead of myself. Let’s exchange WeChat. Add me, and I’ll drive you home.”

After hesitating, she pulled out her phone, and he scanned her code. “Which character is in your name?”

“It’s ‘Yuan’ with the ‘woman’ radical.”

Night had fallen by the time Han Liang decided to drive her back, opting for his Audi A7 instead of his motorcycle.

Once they’d settled into the car and the initial silence had passed, Han Liang glanced at her with a smile. “Ms. Wen, allow me to reintroduce myself properly. I’m Han Liang, a Stanford grad, currently running a music production company. Nearly thirty. No bad habits, and no girlfriend.”

“Experienced?” she asked abruptly, her tone challenging. “What kind of women do you like?”

Wen Yuan had always believed in equality, and her question was as much a challenge as it was a jab at his earlier arrogance, meant to throw him off balance.

But Han Liang just laughed, unfazed. “Experienced? Yeah, quite a bit. My type? Let’s see—long hair, fair skin, big eyes, petite but curvy.” He looked over at her, eyes twinkling.

“Pervert!” she snapped.

“Come on, little missy, don’t forget—I’m the guy who saved you. Show a little gratitude, will you?”

The car pulled up at her destination, and before she could make her escape, he caught her wrist, stopping her. “For real, add me on WeChat. At least as a thank-you for today.”

Later, Wen Yuan lay sprawled on her couch, calling her best friend and college roommate, Gu Yuewei, her confidante of five years. “Hey, I’m home. You can relax now.”

“Oh my god, Wen Yuan! Who’s that gorgeous guy in the pic you sent? He’s beyond hot. Did you meet him at the festival?”

“Yeah, after we got separated, some creeps started bothering me, and he helped me out.”

“So, he was your knight in shining armor? And you even went back to his place, huh? Nothing happened?”

“Of course not! We just met.”

“You wasted a golden opportunity! With a guy that handsome, I’d say it’s a shame if you didn’t. If it were me… I’d definitely go for it,” Yuewei teased with a laugh.

“Alright, alright. Let’s chat tomorrow. I’m going to wash up and sleep.”

After hanging up, Wen Yuan noticed the red notification on WeChat. She opened it, saw Han Liang’s friend request, and pressed accept.

Almost immediately, her phone buzzed with a message: “Free tomorrow? I’ll take you somewhere fun!”

Ignoring the message, she took a quick shower, hoping the water would wash away the lingering image of those dark, intense eyes—the eyes of a devil that seemed to have burrowed into her mind, impossible to shake.

Silently cursing herself, she thought, *Are you seriously falling for this, Wen Yuan? You’ve seen handsome men before. Plenty of them have chased after you. So why are you losing your cool now?*

But he really *was* captivating. It wasn’t just his looks, either. It was the way he spoke, the way he looked at her, every subtle gesture. He was dangerously intoxicating.

—

Just then, her aunt reached over to refill her teacup, jolting Wen Yuan out of her thoughts. She realized her hands had been hovering over her diary, lost in memories of Han Liang. She snapped the notebook shut abruptly.

What was she even doing? She was a married woman, yet here she was, pouring out memories of her ex-boyfriend, writing them down as if she were still caught up in the past.

She closed the diary and went to the bathroom, turning on the shower and hoping the water would bring her back to her senses.

She let the water pound down on her, the way it had on the night she’d broken up with Han Liang. That night, too, it had been pouring rain.

She still remembered the hollow emptiness she’d felt afterward, lying on Gu Yuewei’s lap, sobbing. Those endless, lonely nights, her heart feeling like a gaping void that nothing could fill.

It wasn’t until Zheng Li came into her life—his warmth, his gentleness, his quiet stability. He’d been like a gentle spring breeze, soothing her wounded heart.

She still recalled the moment that broke her, that final straw. She’d gone with Yuewei to a bar after work, reluctantly, planning to have just a drink or two before heading home to study up on her new client—Zheng Li’s company.

The moment they sat down at the bar, the bartender immediately served them two cocktails. Gu Yuewei glanced at him, and he pointed toward the far end of the bar where two tattooed men, their faces unfriendly, stared at them like wolves eyeing their prey.

Wen Yuan decided it was time to leave. Grabbing Gu Yuewei’s arm, she headed toward the door. But just as they reached the exit, the doors swung open, and Han Liang walked in with a young girl who looked like a college student draped around his arm.

Wen Yuan froze in place, stunned. Han Liang also came to a halt. For a brief moment, it seemed like he might let go of the girl’s hand, but instead, he tightened his grip and walked past Wen Yuan, his arm around the girl’s waist, openly laughing and flirting.

Of course, hadn’t he bluntly told her before? “You’re too full of yourself. What makes you think you’re so special? What gives you the right to interfere in my life? I, Han Liang, can have any woman I want. I’m heading back to the office. By the time I get home tomorrow, I expect you to have packed up and moved out of my loft. And don’t ever show up in front of me again!” The image of him, red-eyed and shouting those words, flashed through her mind once more.

Two years of passion, shattered in an instant. In the end, it was her own foolishness, loving him too deeply.

Her vision blurred with tears that streamed uncontrollably down her face. She couldn’t hold back.

Wen Yuan had to tightly restrain the furious Gu Yuewei, who was ready to charge over to confront Han Liang. Wiping her own tears with trembling hands, she silently told herself: *You’ve seen it clearly now, haven’t you? Accept it. Let this be the end of everything.*

Translator’s notes:

In the Chinese language, clarifying characters is necessary because many characters share the same pronunciation (like homophones in English). Wen Yuan specifying, “It’s ‘Yuan’ with the ‘woman’ radical,” is akin to saying, “It’s ‘Sara’ without the H,” but instead of letters, it’s about the components (radicals) of Chinese characters.