Wang Xinyu hurriedly exited the passenger seat and walked around the car toward the two young men. Her heart drummed as she put herself between Li Wei and Chen Xuan.
Li Wei asked Wang Xinyu to get back into the car, but she refused. She thought it was best to settle this right now.
This was not the best way to do it, but in the presence of their schoolmates, Wang Xinyu decided she was going to break up with Chen Xuan officially.
"Do you want to break up with me?" Chen Xuan asked. "Wang Xinyu, carefully recollect your thoughts. This is our second anniversary."
Chen Xuan's words sparked a wisp of anger in Wang Xinyu's heart. She couldn't believe that's all he had to say in the face of a breakup! Who was he to threaten her in such a way?
"You are so shameless, Chen Xuan!" She bellowed, Li Wei's presence behind her giving her confidence. "How can you say that! Do you think you can guilt me with that look?!"
Chen Xuan didn't understand. He was simply staring at her. Maybe she thought he was seeing through her and her true colours!
"Stop standing there and acting all calm and superior," she continued angrily. "I've given you everything: my time, my heart, even my money! And what have you given me in return?!"
Everyone murmured loudly now. The whole thing was videoed on about fifty phones: Wang Xinyu was finally breaking up with the scalawag, Chen Xuan! This was the moment everybody on campus had been waiting for!
Li Wei was happy. He laughed at Chen Xuan, proud of his woman as he placed both hands on Wang Xinyu's shoulders.
Emboldened by her new boyfriend, Wang Xinyu's voice became even louder, and no one had ever heard her shout like this before.
"....I paid for your meals, your books, even that watch on your wrist! How could I ever love someone so… so useless?
The scene was so tense now that even Zhao Dahu and the other mechanics, who had already finished working on the car, were standing to the side to watch the drama unfold.
When Wang Xinyu paused to catch her breath, Chen Xuan looked around and sighed.
He didn't want to beg Wang Xinyu. He didn't want to grovel to retain their relationship. He would not shame himself to salvage a bond she sundered personally. In fact, Chen Xuan had never been the one to supplicate, only in situations where pleading was the sole path.
And unfortunately, this situation required him to at least try to maintain the relationship.
'I need shelter over my head, at least for this night. If I lose Wang Xinyu now, she'll cast me from the dormitory and rent looms. Damn it.'
"We can't break up," Chen Xuan said. "Give me a few days, Wang Xinyu. And I'll prove to you Li Wei is the wrong man."
"Prove?" Wang Xinyu echoed indignantly. "There's nothing to prove again, Chen! You don't need days, you need a lifetime. I was expecting you to beg for me, but you speak as if you own me."
Chen Xuan fell silent as Wang Xinyu's words kept piercing through. He couldn't do anything now. Wang Xinyu had made up her mind, and she chose to be with Li Wei. After all, Li Wei had many things to offer—wealth, status, splendor, connections that opened every door, and a throne in the Li Empire.
Chen Xuan was poverty and lower-class through and through.
But Chen Xuan wondered why Wang Xinyu was crying if she was leaving him for paradise. Her voice was breaking now, and tears were fully streaming down her fine face.
"Why won't you say anything, Chen Xuan? Are you so pathetic you can't even fight back?" she shrieked. "I hate you! I hate how you made me waste two years on a nobody!"
Chen Xuan wanted to say something, but Wang Xinyu turned around and faced Li Wei, who comforted her. "Let's go, Li Wei," she said. "I'm done with him. Forever."
That was all Li Wei wanted to hear.
"That's my beautiful girlfriend," he said with triumph as he wiped her tears. He then turned to the mechanics. "Oi, are you done with my car or what?"
The mechanics confirmed that the car had been fixed. Li Wei snorted at their answer, put a hand into his pocket, and pulled out a fat wad of notes, shoving them at Zhao Dahu without counting.
"There's your pay," he sneered so loud that everyone could hear.
Zhao Dahu wanted to fall on his knees and praise this Young Master! That was more than they could make in a month! "Bless you! Bless you! Bless you!" He praised.
Zhao Dahu stuffed the cash in his pocket, glaring at Chen Xuan. "Idiot. Letting that rich prick walk over you. You're a disgrace," he whispered.
Chen Xuan didn't mind his words. He just swallowed the jibe and watched Wang Xinyu as she got back into the Ferrari. Li Wei revved the engine, letting the car roar.
"Stay in the dirt, trash," he called to Chen Xuan with arrogance before driving away into the night.
All around Chen Xuan, he heard murmurs erupting louder.
"Wang Xinyu dumped him flat. Look at her, riding off in style!"
"Li Wei finished him! Cold!"
He ignored all of them as he turned to follow the mechanics back into the truck. They were so excited about the huge pay. Chen Xuan hoped they'd even share it with him.
He was homeless now. A few notes would help for now, at least. But it also turned out he was going to be jobless too.
The Chief Head Engineer blocked his path to the truck. "Don't bother, Chen Xuan," he barked. "You're done. You almost flopped this job, freezing up like a scared kid. We don't need a weakling dragging us down."
Chen Xuan's jaw clenched. He expected not to be given a share of the pay, but he didn't expect to be fired.
"You're not working here anymore. Find your own way back. We're better off without you."
The other mechanics laughed and jeered at him, Zhao Dahu especially. "Told you, kid. You're a disgrace. Good luck sleeping on the street."
"Lost his girl and his job in one night! What a loser!"
The truck's engine growled, and it lurched forward, leaving Chen Xuan behind in the dust. He stood alone, the night's chill biting his skin.
Wang Xinyu's tears, Li Wei's smirk, the Chief's words—they stung really hard, but they didn't break him. This was nothing compared to what he'd faced in his past lives.
He chose a bench to sit down on and relax, ignoring the murmurs as many were now laughing that he had just been fired.
Checking the time on the wrist watch, it read some minutes to 9 PM. Several minutes from now, Chen Xuan predicted these gossipers would grow tired and disperse into their dormitories. While he, who just lost his, could finally have some time alone in the night's cold.
[Ding!]
[An economic anomaly has occurred]
[You have been blessed with the 10x Modern System]
[Activating System…]
[System Activated]
'About time...' Chen Xuan thought.