Chapter 208: What an Ill-fated Connection?

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: What an Ill-fated Connection?

A heavy weight settled in Jiang Fan’s chest. The good mood he’d been in just moments ago had evaporated because of this.

He truly couldn’t understand what was going on in Su Qingci’s head.

"Are you sure you don’t remember me?"

Su Qingci finally spoke after a long, long silence.

"Look, if I hadn’t joined this company, who the hell would know you?"

"What is this nonsense? Are you crazy?"

"Then do you remember this?"

Su Qingci slowly rolled up her sleeve, revealing a hideous scar above her elbow.

It was like a crack on a piece of perfect jade.

Jiang Fan froze. "That scar..."

"You have one too, don’t you?"

Tears welled in the corners of Su Qingci’s eyes.

"How did you know? Are you that girl from all those years ago?"

Jiang Fan’s eyes flew wide open.

"That’s right, it’s me. If I hadn’t seen that scar when you were wearing a short-sleeved shirt the other day, I wouldn’t have recognized you either."

"I’m so sorry about what happened before. I always thought you were just a freeloader living off Xue."

"After all, a man should go out and build his own career, but you were perfectly happy working under her."

"That’s why I sent you away that day and had Xue come to my house."

"My brother..."

Su Qingci cried as she spoke, the tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop."

Jiang Fan raised a hand, cutting her off impatiently. "That’s just what you assumed."

"I was angry about all that, but what made me angriest was your betrayal of your friendship."

"You and I don’t know each other well, so I don’t blame you for what you did to me. But have you ever considered Yin Ruxue’s feelings?"

"She genuinely saw you as her best friend, her sister. But what you did... try putting yourself in her shoes."

"Could you accept it?"

"Wouldn’t you feel betrayed?"

"Do I really need to teach you the principle of ’don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you’? Even a three-year-old understands that!"

Jiang Fan’s words only made Su Qingci cry harder.

"I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong."

"I just wanted to apologize to you both, but I don’t know why the words came out all wrong."

"I’m so, so sorry."

Seeing her miserable state, a sliver of pity stirred in Jiang Fan’s heart.

"Forget it. As for me, I can forgive you. But you’ll have to figure things out with Yin Ruxue on your own."

"Also... it’s been a long time."

He reached out and lightly touched his own scar.

Jiang Fan suddenly smiled.

Thinking back now, he was so hot-blooded when he was young, so full of courage and responsibility.

He’d gotten that scar back in high school. In a small alley near the school, he saw a few young thugs bullying a girl.

In that moment, his blood boiled, and he’d impulsively rushed in to defend her.

But it wasn’t some storybook tale of a hero saving a damsel in distress. Instead, he got beaten to a pulp.

However, he was ruthless enough to fight back. Using dirty tricks and aiming for their faces, he managed to take down a few of them.

But in the process, someone slashed his arm with a knife.

As for the wound on Su Qingci’s arm, the vicious thugs had cut her with a knife when they first started harassing her.

They did it to force her into submission.

Finally, a security guard from the school gate heard the commotion and came running.

But Jiang Fan, afraid of getting into trouble, had slipped away quietly through the alley.

After all, he was a kid who grew up in an orphanage; it was always best to avoid trouble whenever possible.

He never once asked the girl for her name, though he thought he’d gotten a glimpse of her face.

He never would have thought that after so many years, Su Qingci would actually recognize him.

In a way, you could say it was a kind of fate.

"Tsk. A twisted fate."

Jiang Fan sighed faintly.

Even though his voice was quiet, Su Qingci still heard him.

"What do you mean?"

She wiped her tears as she got up from the ground.

Jiang Fan quickly shook his head. "It’s nothing."

"I just think that fate is a strange thing."

"But you can’t call it a twisted fate."

Seeing her trying to argue with him while still crying, he suddenly felt the urge to laugh for some reason.

"Is that any way to talk to the person who saved your life?"

Jiang Fan shot her a sideways glance. ℯℯ𝑙.

"No... I didn’t mean anything by it."

"Forget it, forget it. I’m not going to argue with you about this."

"You’re completely soaked. You should head back."

Jiang Fan picked up his phone and headphones from the ground.

He turned, took a few steps, and then suddenly stopped.

"Like I said, I don’t blame you for what happened. It’s in the past, so let’s leave it there."

"Don’t take it to heart."

"But I absolutely do not want anything like this to ever happen again."

"We can still be friends."

"Also... try not to be so extreme in the future."

"You scared me to death. If I couldn’t swim, you would have died here today."

After saying his piece, Jiang Fan strode away under Su Qingci’s gaze.

Several times, she wanted to run after him.

But each time, she gave up.

She could only watch as Jiang Fan grew more and more distant.

Overwhelming regret for her past actions filled her heart.

’A boy who had stepped forward in such a desperate situation, who had been so determined to protect me...’

’And I had thought he was so worthless, so despicable.’

It was safe to say that without Jiang Fan’s protection back then, she would have either been violated by those thugs and died, or she would have died on the spot, unable to bear the humiliation.

Adding today’s incident to the count... Jiang Fan had now saved her life twice.

At this thought, the emotions she had barely managed to control came crashing down again, and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing her heart out.

Jiang Fan heard her cries, but he didn’t walk back. He didn’t even turn his head.

He could forgive Su Qingci, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still angry.

But the sobs behind him grew louder and more hysterical, making his heart pound with unease.

Standing in a dark corner, Jiang Fan waited for a long, long time.

He waited until her crying gradually faded and Su Qingci turned and walked away like a zombie.

Only then did he quietly let out a breath of relief and leave in silence.

’Thank God she didn’t try to jump in the river again.’

Wearing clothes soaked through to his underwear, Jiang Fan arrived at his front door, took out his key, and went inside.

However, as he passed by Li Muwan’s door, he thought he could faintly hear the sound of an argument breaking out inside.

But the soundproofing in the building was too good for him to hear clearly.

Sun Yanzi came over and touched his forehead, her expression full of worry. "You didn’t go for a swim, did you? Or did you fall in the river? Hurry and take a hot shower so you don’t catch a cold."

She shut the door behind him and pushed Jiang Fan toward the bathroom.

"You go wash up. I’ll go find you some clothes."