Chapter 78: Let Me Go Part 1

The following day after work, Ming Li drove to the location she had agreed upon with Gu Qingshuang.

Arriving early, she chose a table with a decent view and ordered two dishes. The waiter filled her glass with hot water.

The weather was turning cold. Winter in Jingan had arrived earlier than usual this year; the forecast had been predicting heavy snow for days, yet not a single flake had fallen.

After a long wait, Gu Qingshuang finally arrived. The moment she sat down, she said, “Sorry, I’m late.”

“It’s fine,” Ming Li replied. “I haven’t been here long myself.”

It had been some time since Ming Li last saw her. Gu Qingshuang had cut her hair, trimming it to a more practical length. She looked thinner now, with dark circles under her eyes so deep that even concealer couldn’t quite hide them. She seemed weary, almost despondent, yet it didn’t diminish her inherent elegance.

In fact, it gave her a certain air of world-weariness.

Ming Li observed her quietly before lowering her gaze, her tone indifferent. “I’ve already ordered two dishes. Take a look and see if there’s anything else you’d like.”

Gu Qingshuang scanned the QR code, added only one dish, and set her phone down.

“What do you want to drink?” Gu Qingshuang asked. “Juice or alcohol?”

“Hot water is fine,” Ming Li said.

“Oh.”

Silence fell over the table.

Ming Li made no effort to lead the conversation or open a topic. She simply let the silence settle and spread.

After a while, Gu Qingshuang pushed up her sleeve, resting her arm on the table to show her wrist to Ming Li. “I fixed it.”

Ming Li stared at the string of beads, momentarily dazed. It felt as if the period of time she spent kneeling in prayer was already a lifetime ago.

“Is this what you wanted to explain?” Ming Li asked.

Gu Qingshuang nodded. She concisely recounted the events of that day. “I didn’t realize you would mind so much, but thinking back, it’s only natural that you did. So, I found someone to re-string them. They’re still the same beads you gave me.”

On the surface, Ming Li remained calm and appeared to be listening intently. In reality, her mind had wandered for several minutes. When she snapped back to the present, she found Gu Qingshuang staring at her with burning intensity.

Ming Li lowered her eyes. “I see.”

Gu Qingshuang’s expression faltered.

This wasn’t the reaction she had anticipated. If this was something Ming Li cared about, shouldn’t there be more of a response now that she had cleared the air?

Instead, Ming Li calmly picked up her chopsticks, took a bite of food, and said, “This tastes good. You should try some.”

She was treating Gu Qingshuang like the most ordinary of friends, intentionally bypassing the subject.

But Gu Qingshuang had come today specifically to settle things. The reason Ming Li had demanded a divorce remained a hurdle she couldn’t clear; without an answer, she couldn’t sleep.

To Gu Qingshuang, everything had been fine before they went to sleep that night, only for Ming Li to blindsided her with a divorce the next morning. Then, their entire relationship collapsed.

An eighteen-year-old Gu Qingshuang had experienced something similar. Back then, she felt like the sky was falling and launched her “revenge” without ever asking for a reason, leading to years of guilt.

This time, Gu Qingshuang wanted to do more. She believed that at thirty, she was more mature than she was at eighteen, and therefore capable of handling things better.

“I’m being serious,” Gu Qingshuang said. “If your grievance was about the beads, I’ve restored them. What else do you want? Just name it, and I’ll do my best to provide it.”

Ming Li continued eating, never looking up.

Seeing no reaction, Gu Qingshuang’s tone grew urgent. “Clearly, you don’t feel anything for me right now, so why can’t we just go back to the way things were? We can draft a longer contract, and we can negotiate everything else…”

Clack—

Ming Li set her chopsticks down heavily and frowned at Gu Qingshuang. “I want your love. Is that negotiable, too?”

Gu Qingshuang froze. It was as if someone had hit a pause button on a machine; she sat there, perfectly still.

Ming Li stared at her, her voice steady and deliberate. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

After a long silence, Gu Qingshuang shook her head with certainty. “No. You don’t love me right now.”

Ming Li blinked. “I told you when we divorced—I don’t love you now, but I did love you once. I developed feelings for you that I shouldn’t have had, feelings I couldn’t control. That’s why I couldn’t stay.”

It was half-truth, half-lie, yet spoken with devastating sincerity.

Gu Qingshuang paused, asking earnestly, “Then how much time do you need to heal? I can wait.”

Ming Li suddenly laughed, crossing her arms as she looked at her. “Why does it have to be me? Gu Qingshuang, do you love me?”

“I’m used to having you around,” Gu Qingshuang said coldly. “So I want our relationship to continue, even if we’re just friends.”

“You can be friends with anyone, whether you’ve loved them or not,” Ming Li said, her lips curling into a mocking smile. “But I can’t.”

Gu Qingshuang was speechless.

Ming Li glanced at the food on the table, her appetite long gone. It was a waste of such expensive, exquisite dishes. Her words became even more ruthless. “I cannot be friends with someone I once loved.”

“Why not?” Gu Qingshuang challenged. “I won’t interfere with your life. I can give you better security. We can negotiate everything except love. I told you, if you don’t want to share a space with me, I can apply for a transfer or go on business trips.”

“But have you ever considered me, Gu Qingshuang?” Ming Li looked at her with cold eyes. “Our relationship started with material things and ended with emotions. Now you’re making this request simply because you’re ‘used’ to my presence. But what about me? I’ve been voicing my feelings and my needs, yet you never hear them. So why should I keep catering to you?!”

“I’m trying, too.” Gu Qingshuang looked at those cold eyes, a sense of powerlessness surging from her heart. She argued back against the sharp accusations. “I’m changing for you, trying to make this relationship more comfortable for you.”

Their contract hadn’t included any of those terms.

“I went to so many shops just to fix this string of beads. I even blocked Shen Lideng because of this. These beads are cheap, but because you gave them to me, I’ve always worn them. What happened that day was just a misunderstanding—why won’t you listen?”

“To this day, you still think it’s just about a string of beads?” Ming Li laughed hollowly.

“Isn’t it? You were upset because your beads were swapped, but I’ve explained it to you.” Gu Qingshuang’s voice was more urgent than ever, carrying the resentment of someone who had been tormented by this issue for far too long. She sounded almost aggrieved as she protested, “I don’t understand what it is you actually want.”

The atmosphere turned fraught with tension.

In the heat of the back-and-forth, words were spoken without thought. Their voices grew louder, drawing the attention of other diners.

Ming Li had no desire to argue. There were many things she never intended to say to Gu Qingshuang. But now, Gu Qingshuang was standing before her, demanding clarity.

Ming Li exhaled slowly and said, “I want you… to let me go.”

“You don’t love me, and you never will. So from now on, keep your distance. Treat it as the end of our partnership. Let’s give each other some dignity.”

Gu Qingshuang knit her brows, her tone stubborn. “I don’t want to.”

Ming Li felt herself reaching a breaking point. She gritted her teeth. “Then what do you want?!”