Chapter 2: “Let’s Be Together” “There’s No Need to Take Those Words to Heart…”

“We clearly broke up, so why…

does it still hurt so much in my bones?”

—

Xiang Yu was a local from Jingbei, but she met Ren Sanliu in Huaqing.

Back then, Ren Sanliu wasn’t called Ren Sanliu yet; she went by Ren Dongliu.

No. 69 Middle School was a key high school in Huaqing City, and Xiang Yu transferred there from Jingbei in the second semester of her first year, brought over by her little aunt.

On her first day reporting to the school, it was a bright sunny day.

The sun hung in the sky like a massive fireball, scorching people until their heads spun and eyes blurred.

Xiang Yu stood in the corridor and glanced at Qin Yuan, who was negotiating with the dean of students. Unwilling to go over, she tugged at the zipper on her clothes and slipped away to find Wei Zhi instead.

The two had grown up together since childhood, their bond incredibly close. Wei Zhi had previously worried that after transferring to Huaqing, she wouldn’t be able to hang out with Xiang Yu anymore. Unexpectedly, just half a semester later, the two were together again.

It was a self-study period with no teacher supervising. Wei Zhi sat in the last row sleeping when a paper ball hit her head, shattering her sweet dream. She was about to lash out at the culprit when she turned and saw Xiang Yu. She immediately hunched down and sneaked out the back door unnoticed.

“Want me to show you around?” Wei Zhi tilted her chin at her.

“Sure.”

The two headed toward the stairwell, but before they reached it, they stopped at the girls’ restroom.

At that moment, Ren Dongliu was being cornered and bullied by three girls inside the restroom.

“Didn’t expect we’d run into each other here, huh? What’s the point of transferring? Huaqing isn’t that big—where can you hide?”

“What do you have to be proud of? You’re just a bit better at studying! Let me tell you, it’s useless!”

“My dad’s a bureau chief—he’s an official! What about you? You’ve just got that slut mom of yours, a vixen, shameless!!”

The leader of the girls yelled arrogantly, her words as vicious as they came.

Not only that, she started shoving her.

Ren Dongliu held back without retaliating until she heard her curse her mother. Then she lunged forward, grappling with her.

But there were three of them against one, so she had no advantage. The moment she pounced, the other two girls grabbed her arms and pinned her to the ground, beating her.

Ren Dongliu glared at them fiercely, but she was still scared. She clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, her nails digging into her palms without feeling it. She bit down on her teeth instinctively to fight off the fear inside.

Just as a slap was about to land on her face, the girl straddling her was suddenly shoved away, crashing hard into the door of the adjacent stall. Right after, a girl with delicate features—but eyebrows shooting up high—appeared before her. She bent down, gripped her shoulders, and helped her up from the ground, asking with concern—

“Classmate, are you okay?”

Even back then, Xiang Yu knew how to protect people. She firmly shielded Ren Dongliu behind her, not letting anyone get close.

Xiang Yu was tall, already over 1.7 meters, dressed in pricey clothes, with a fierce look on her face. Plus, with Wei Zhi there, the three bullies hurriedly scurried off in embarrassment.

Looking at the girl behind her whose face had paled from fright, Xiang Yu gently patted her arm and asked softly—

“Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to go to the infirmary? Or I can go with you to find a teacher?”

“No need, I’m fine. Thanks.”

Ren Dongliu said expressionlessly.

Then she straightened her disheveled uniform, re-tied her loosened hair, and walked briskly out of the restroom as if nothing had happened.

That was her first encounter with Xiang Yu—rushed and humiliating… not even exchanging names.

The only thing Xiang Yu remembered was the little black mole at the corner of the girl’s left eye, like a drop of unnamed rain suddenly falling under a clear blue sky.

—

So much time had passed, but recalling it now still made Xiang Yu’s heart ache. If she hadn’t happened to pass by then, or if she’d rushed in just one or two seconds later, that slap definitely would have landed on Ren Sanliu’s face. And Ren Sanliu… after being bullied, had to pretend nothing happened and lick her wounds alone.

Xiang Yu still couldn’t understand to this day… why some people, so young, had such malicious hearts.

Even more incomprehensible… why some people, at the age when they should be carefree, had to endure the greatest malice the world could throw at them.

“My little aunt just talked to me a lot.” Ren Sanliu pinched the straw and stirred the water.

Xiang Yu closed her eyes, refusing to say anything. Her body hurt badly; now that the anesthetic had fully worn off, the pain was excruciating, but she could only grit her teeth and endure it.

Seeing the cold sweat beading on Xiang Yu’s forehead, Ren Sanliu couldn’t help but reach out to wipe it away.

The instant her fingers touched Xiang Yu’s skin, Ren Sanliu felt a jolt like an electric shock, her fingertips going numb.

She wiped the sweat from Xiang Yu’s temple, then slid her fingers to her brow bone, gently caressing it.

Though Xiang Yu didn’t open her eyes, she still stiffened.

Ren Sanliu noticed…

They were both sensitive people; even the slightest detail could pierce straight to the heart.

“Are we… going to keep pretending to be strangers like this forever?”

Ren Sanliu’s voice was calm and steady, but her eyes shimmered with emotion.

“We’re both in Jingbei, and we’ve already run into each other. Even if you can pretend… I can’t.”

“I’m not pretending.”

Xiang Yu finally spoke, her voice still weak and cold.

“Jingbei is huge. Not everyone you want to run into actually does. Don’t treat one coincidence like destiny.”

“But we already did. What now?”

Ren Sanliu withdrew the fingers from Xiang Yu’s brow bone, picked up the straw again, and brought it to Xiang Yu’s lips to quench her thirst.

Xiang Yu didn’t catch what Ren Sanliu meant and instinctively pursed her lips, but Ren Sanliu seized the chance, slipping the straw between them. Clear water flowed into her mouth.

“Xiang Yu, let’s be together.”

After saying it, Ren Sanliu pulled the straw away and dipped it back into the cup, stirring the water murky.

Xiang Yu’s mind buzzed, and she snapped her eyes open, staring at Ren Sanliu in disbelief.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“I haven’t. I’m perfectly clear-headed, and I’m dead serious.”

Ren Sanliu stood the straw in the cup; the freshly stirred water instantly cleared.

“What did my little aunt say to you?” Xiang Yu grew agitated. “Don’t listen to her nonsense!”

“You’re overthinking it.”

Ren Sanliu quickly set down the cup, leaned over to press Xiang Yu’s shoulders, afraid she’d pull her wound if she moved. She gazed into Xiang Yu’s eyes, seeing her furrowed brows and the veins bulging at her temple. With the urge to smooth them out, she sighed helplessly—

“It has nothing to do with my little aunt. It’s me… I want to be with you.”

Xiang Yu was pinned by Ren Sanliu’s hands on her shoulders. Her gaze fixed unwaveringly on this woman’s face—her eyes, the corner of her eye… her ears catching the rhythmic breaths from her nostrils…

Just watching and listening, not missing a single detail.

Gradually, Xiang Yu’s gaze shifted from shock, confusion, and helplessness… to full of complexity now.

They’d dated back in school. So many years had passed, and Xiang Yu thought that youthful innocence should have been smoothed away by now. But hearing Ren Sanliu say this, and looking at her face… she hadn’t changed much from their school days. Just more mature in her brows and eyes, still so beautiful.

Especially that little black mole at the corner of her left eye. The first time, Xiang Yu thought it was a drop of unnamed rain. But now, she rethought it—not unnamed rain, but a broken pencil lead tip accidentally jabbed in by a black pencil core.

Rain was water that dried up, but black pencil lead wouldn’t; it only grew deeper.

Xiang Yu stared unblinkingly at that mole at the corner of Ren Sanliu’s left eye. She felt it wasn’t just on Ren Sanliu’s face—it had grown into her own heart too.

No matter how many years passed, it couldn’t be erased.

“Stop messing around…”

Xiang Yu forced her eyes away, closed them, then opened them again, rejecting her firmly—

“I don’t know exactly what my little aunt said to you, but I can guess… She just wants me to have someone to think about. But I’m a cop; upholding justice is my duty. Whether I have someone in my heart or not doesn’t change that. I won’t waver on this.

“So, there’s no need to take those words to heart. And you don’t need to come here telling me to get together.”

“Xiang Yu, if you’re still blaming me for what happened back then, just say it straight. We’re not seventeen or eighteen anymore—we’re almost thirty. No need to beat around the bush.”

Ren Sanliu’s expression tightened; even her gentle gaze hardened.

“You’ve got some imagination. We broke up amicably. I’m not that petty or bored. And like you said, we’re almost thirty now. Do we really need to take those teenage things so seriously?”

Xiang Yu’s tone was magnanimous to the extreme, yet infuriating to the extreme.

Ren Sanliu would rather she curse her out now than hear her dismiss their past relationship so casually, with that indifferent, slightly self-mocking tone.

“Is that so? Not taking it seriously? Not holding it against me?”

“Then why haven’t you dated anyone since we broke up?”

As she spoke, Ren Sanliu leaned in again. Taking advantage of Xiang Yu’s weakness, she dominated physically, pressing her hands on either side of Xiang Yu’s head and lowering her body as much as possible.

Their faces inches apart, almost touching.

Their breaths clashed in the space between their noses, like you devouring me, me devouring you, locked in a deadly, entwined duel.

“You’re blaming me… for leaving you back then, for abandoning you alone at our best time.

“You’re blaming me… so now you’re getting revenge.

“You know I still have feelings for you, that I want to be with you, so you reject me…

“You just want to see me suffer, see me in pain, so you feel better, feel satisfied.”

The faint cedar scent was Ren Sanliu’s signature coolness, the aroma Xiang Yu hadn’t escaped since school days. They hadn’t been this close in years, yet now it flooded in like a burst dam, surging into Xiang Yu’s nostrils, overwhelming her brain, making her heart tremble faintly.

“I’m not!”

Xiang Yu denied stubbornly, getting agitated again. Her body instinctively tried to exert force, but the moment she did, it tore at her wound. The physical pain was unbearable, forcing her to relent. Besides, she had no strength left now.

“I said I’m not, and I’m not. Ren Sanliu… you’ve always been clear-headed and self-aware. Why get stubborn on this? We dated once—so what? Who doesn’t have a past?

“We’ve all been doing fine these years. Don’t act like the sky’s falling just because I got hurt? Isn’t it normal for cops to get injured?”

“Cops getting injured is normal, but you not dating anyone—is that normal too?”

Ren Sanliu gazed deeply into Xiang Yu’s eyes, lowering herself even more, their noses brushing, soft breaths slowly mingling—

“Give me a reason. Even if you’re rejecting me, it has to be a valid one, right?”

“What reason does it need?” Xiang Yu didn’t get it. Did rejecting someone require justification?

“You can’t say one? Then there isn’t one.”

Ren Sanliu straightened up and returned to her seat.

“No reason means you’re agreeing by default. Agreeing we’ll be together.”

Without waiting for Xiang Yu’s response, she grabbed her crossbody bag from the chair back—

“The law firm has things to handle. I’ll come see you later.”

With that, she strode quickly out of the ward.

Only as Ren Sanliu was about to exit did Xiang Yu react—

“Ren Sanliu! Ren Sanliu!!”

Too late. Ren Sanliu had already left and closed the door behind her on the way out.

Xiang Yu’s voice echoed in the ward.

She clenched her fists, staring blankly at the ceiling—

Slowly, Xiang Yu loosened her clenched knuckles, turned her head, and glanced once more at the sky outside, split into two halves. The strange phenomenon of the overlapping double pupils resembled a joke.

Watching the mortal world, and also watching her.

Just like back when they broke up and now at the start, Ren Sanliu, in your eyes, what are we?