Peach-Orange! – Chapter 180 – The Story in the Mirror’s Reflection

“Jump into the river?”

Su Tao turned to look at the figure beside her, a young man with short bangs and a refreshing appearance, clutching an unopened beer bottle as he slumped against the icy railing.

Hearing Su Tao’s puzzled tone, Wei Feng chuckled softly. “What, don’t tell me you came to the riverside on a snowy night like this just to admire the view. At this hour, everyone’s either cuddling with their partner in bed or holed up in an air-conditioned room playing games.”

He lowered his head, staring at the river water flowing gently between chunks of ice. “If you’re here to jump too, I can chat with you. If you’re just passing by, then leave quickly. I don’t want my last impression on a stranger to be a bad one.

“And… I don’t want to be talked out of it.”

Sensing the young man’s melancholy, Su Tao knew she ought to dissuade him, to say that suicide solves nothing.

Yet for some reason, she felt no urge to stop him.

She simply gazed blankly at the river. “Do you think… people meet again in heaven or hell after death? If they can’t be together in this life, is there still a chance in the next?”

Wei Feng looked at her in surprise. “You too…?”

“Too?” Su Tao’s eyes remained heavy and desolate, as if grasping at any topic to distract herself from painful memories. “Why do you want to jump?”

Wei Feng sighed. “A broken heart.”

“A broken heart….”

To suffer such pain from love that it drives one to suicide?

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There had been times when she’d considered joining Chi Xiaocheng in death.

Regret and anguish clung to her. These past days, she’d numbed herself, forcing acceptance of a world without Xiaocheng.

But no matter how she hid, Xiaocheng’s shadow followed.

Every acquaintance asked: Where’s your Xiaocheng? Why haven’t we seen her?

To outsiders, she and Xiaocheng were inseparable.

And this man, was his pain also love’s doing?

Did his lover, like Xiaocheng, suffocate him with overwhelming affection?

Even now, she didn’t truly understand what real love meant.

As if finding a reference point, Su Tao said with mild interest, “I want to hear it.”

“Hear what?”

“About you and your girlfriend. Why you broke up.”

Wei Feng’s mouth twitched.

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Of all things, on the brink of suicide, having his wounds reopened.

But… it didn’t matter. Just idle chatter before the end. No one in this world cared about him anyway.

Wei Feng took a swig of his ice-cold beer, his gaze drifting into memory.

“I grew up without parents. After my grandfather who raised me died when I was six, I’ve been alone. Survived on subsidies and kind strangers’ donations to barely scrape through school.

“I wanted to strive for more, but realized I wasn’t that bright. Went to an average middle school, barely missed the cutoff for a top high school. Struggled three years just to barely make it to a second-tier college. With no better options, I settled for a decent vocational school.

“Life was monotonous. I drifted through each day, zoning out in class, eating after, killing time with games when free. Even homework was done at the last minute.

“A dull, tasteless existence, right?”

He gave a self-deprecating smile, then continued, “But even someone as ordinary and unremarkable as me found someone to love.

“It was early in my second year. She was a freshman. One night, I got hurt playing basketball, and she helped me to the infirmary. Right then, I knew, she was the one.

“She wasn’t stunning. Barefaced, just mildly pretty by most standards. But I adored her.

“I changed myself for her. Improved. Pursued her properly.

“Chatted on WeChat, ‘accidentally’ bumped into her around campus. Once we grew closer, I went all out: breakfast deliveries, water bottles, nursing her when sick. Like a lovesick fool.

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“After half a year of chasing, I confessed. She said yes. Happiest moment of my life.

“But barely six months later, yesterday… we had a huge fight. Broke up.”

He gulped more beer, eyeing Su Tao’s profile in the dark. “Know why?”

Su Tao shook her head. “She cheated?”

“Basically.” Wei Feng exhaled heavily. “She said my possessiveness was too much. That my love overwhelmed her. She couldn’t reciprocate.

“I was serious about her, thinking of marriage, forever with my first love.

“From school uniforms to wedding dresses. What a perfect story, right?

“But she… just wanted fun. A fling.”

His voice cracked. “She only wanted to experience that sweet, romantic high. Something light, normal.

“And my love was ‘too heavy.’ Too clingy.

“But we were dating! In a relationship!”

The dam broke. The grown man was sobbing openly. “I wasn’t even that controlling! Never stopped her having male friends. Only spoke up when lines were crossed. If we’re together, shouldn’t she keep some distance? It hurt seeing her close to others.

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“Isn’t that normal for couples?

“I gave her everything, food, gifts, whatever she wanted. Told her I loved her daily. Did things together. Is it wrong to want to be close?

“She said she needed space. Wanted me to ‘act normal.’ Since when can love be ‘too much’?!

“I gave all my love. Why did she hate me for it?

“In the end, right before we split, some playboy harassed her, grabbing her waist, going for her chest. I punched him to protect her.

“That night, she dumped me.

“And went straight to that playboy.”

Wei Feng wiped his tears, looking wretchedly at Su Tao. “Pathetic, right?”

Su Tao parted her lips, then lowered her eyes.

Ash-black hair curtained half her face.

“Then… did she ever love you at all?”