“What are these?”
Ye Qingchang’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Xiao Yi’an didn’t answer, simply watching silently from the side.
She pulled out an envelope, glanced at Xiao Yi’an, and then tore it open.
Inside the envelope was, of course, a letter, and the handwriting was unmistakably Xiao Yi’an’s own.
[Dear…]
It seemed the Xiao Yi’an who wrote this letter didn’t know how to address her, so he had hesitated for a long time. After leaving quite a few ink spots, he had finally chosen to leave it blank.
[Seeing these words is like meeting in person. I have so many thoughts I want to share with you, but unfortunately, you are like unreachable moonlight. A careless glance is like a fire sweeping through a wheat field. I have bartered all my harvest for a delusion, but even if it is a delusion, I love it to the extreme…]
Ye Qingchang’s normally flat expression suddenly crumpled into a frown.
‘A love letter.’
It even borrowed from *Letter from an Unknown Woman*, as if trying to express a secret crush.
But it was unfinished, like a loser who didn’t even dare to reveal his feelings in a letter.
Ye Qingchang held up the letter and looked at Xiao Yi’an.
She said nothing, simply placed the letter on the table, and picked up another one.
[How I long for you, for someone to love me violently until death, to understand that love is as powerful as death, and to support me forever. I am sorry, I am too lonely, too cowardly…]
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
This letter was also unfinished, like a confession that had only been half-spoken.
Ye Qingchang took a deep breath and placed this letter on the table as well.
“How many letters are in here in total?”
“357,” Xiao Yi’an said, his expression flat.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Ye Qingchang suddenly laughed. “You really do always find ways to surprise me.”
‘She should have known. How could a person change so easily? For a pretentious romantic, a written confession was indeed the most effective tool, but she didn’t even have the interest to look at the next one.’
She just felt disgusted; she felt that everything in front of her was nauseating, including these letters and Xiao Yi’an.
Even now, Xiao Yi’an was still thinking of using this tail-wagging, pity-begging method to earn her love.
It was still like moral kidnapping, using these letters to showcase his devotion and deep feelings, making himself into someone others were forced to accept.
He was trying to coerce her into accepting his confession this way.
It was as if if she refused, the time and love poured into these 357 letters would be wasted, becoming a useless effort, while she would become the heartless, hateful person who didn’t care.
He was still kidnapping her, trying to use this method to make her remain responsible for him.
‘How did I not realize Xiao Yi’an was someone who knew how to hide himself so well?’
He was still using the self-indulgent sentiment of these 357 letters, as if trying to use that sentiment to catalyze the emotions between them.
‘This is just his own self-indulgent satisfaction. I don’t want to see these letters, nor do I want to pay any price because of them. None of this had anything to do with me in the first place.’
Yet Xiao Yi’an had tied her to these letters again, as if she were obligated to take some responsibility.
She frowned, taking a deep breath to swallow the nausea rising in her heart.
‘I was still too naive to actually believe Xiao Yi’an had changed, to actually believe so simply that he would turn over a new leaf.’
Compared to the previous nausea, this “main course” that surged up after she had been served some “light appetizers” to lower her guard was even more disgusting.
She shouldn’t have trusted Xiao Yi’an; a leopard couldn’t change its spots, and a dog couldn’t stop eating filth.
She didn’t even bother with the parasol beside her. With a cold sneer, she prepared to walk past Xiao Yi’an and leave the Literary Club’s activity room.
Just as she passed him, her wrist was grabbed once more, forcing her steps to a halt.
It was just like that previous time when he had grabbed her hand in the heavy rain.
*Slap!*
Crisp and loud.
Just like before, Ye Qingchang turned around and used her free hand to give Xiao Yi’an a slap.
Then she realized Xiao Yi’an said nothing, his face remaining as flat as before.
In his hand that wasn’t holding Ye Qingchang, he held a lit lighter.
“The content of the letters isn’t what I wanted you to see. This is.”
He used the lighter to ignite the stationery inside the iron box, then tossed the two letters Ye Qingchang had just placed on the table into the flames as well.
As Ye Qingchang stood there dazed, the light and flames were weak at first, but they soon turned into leaping tongues of fire.
The orange-red flames danced, bringing warmth and a pungent smell to their sides.
“What I want to say is that I won’t use this kind of self-indulgent nonsense to beg for your love anymore. I will win your love fair and square.” Xiao Yi’an put the lighter back into his pocket.
Inside the large iron box, there was a crackling sound. Each piece of stationery and every letter seemed like a wailing, vengeful spirit performing a final dance.
But Xiao Yi’an didn’t even look back.
Flames and sparks continuously jumped out of the iron box, like people scrambling to escape a cage to avoid being burned alive by the raging fire.
It truly felt like a wailing soul was being burned to death.
That soul was named Xiao Yi’an — the former Xiao Yi’an.
“Actually, I admire myself too. To be able to write so many letters while being so full of myself, yet choosing to be cowardly at the final stage of every single one, never even planning to send these incomplete letters out.”
“And even in this situation, I still wanted to use these letters to beg for your pity.” Xiao Yi’an finally turned his head and released his grip.
He walked to the side and opened the window to let the black smoke escape.
“You…”
Ye Qingchang was stunned. This scene was not in any of her imaginings.
‘The current Xiao Yi’an was indeed very strange; she couldn’t predict his every move. Or rather, she was used to using the previous Xiao Yi’an to predict the current one, which was why she couldn’t guess anything.’
“Is this what you wanted me to see?”
“Yes, exactly.” Xiao Yi’an nodded.
Ye Qingchang stared blankly at the leaping flames, as if a brand-new life were being born from them.
She didn’t even notice herself coughing twice from the black smoke.
“Actually, I quite admire you too.”
“Me? Why?”
Xiao Yi’an covered half of his face. “Your reaction time for a slap is really fast. It’s as if you’ve specifically practiced it. You slapped me without even listening to a single word of explanation. I didn’t even have time to react.”
Ye Qingchang hid the hand she had just used behind her back.
‘It was actually a stress response.’