The thought made Li Xudong clench his teeth, pick up his phone again, and swiftly send Wang Qian a transfer of 1,314 yuan.
Seeing the extra 1,314 yuan in her WeChat wallet, Wang Qian's eyes flashed with a sly gleam.
She planted an ecstatic kiss on Li Xudong and gushed, "Thank you, darling—hee-hee! I'm posting this to moments right away so everyone can envy me for having such an amazing boyfriend."
At this moment, the overjoyed Li Xudong had no idea that the pure girlfriend he'd so carefully cultivated had already changed, growing more and more materialistic and pragmatic.
The girl he'd been psychologically manipulating was now turning the tables on him… Meanwhile, Zhao Jia stood on the street hugging a fifteen-yuan red envelope, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Ever since the breakup, she'd regretted it; Jiang Cheng hadn't come to coax her this time and had even hooked up with Zhou Ying, who was prettier than she was.
Most importantly, Jiang Cheng had become so rich.
After he blocked her, Zhao Jia kept trying to re-add Jiang Cheng on wechat.
But no matter how many requests she sent, Jiang Cheng never accepted.
She even tried using a small, yet Jiang Cheng still didn't approve.
For months she hadn't been able to reach him, and she'd nearly resigned herself to giving up.
But now, seeing the messages in the group chat, the hope in her heart flared again.
Before the breakup, whenever she was angry Jiang Cheng would casually send her 1,314 or 520 yuan.
She never imagined that after splitting up he would go so far as to transfer 1,314,520 yuan to Zhou Ying—wasn't that comparison a death sentence for her?
What on earth had she missed?
Zhao Jia felt her whole world collapse.
She couldn't accept Jiang Cheng being with another woman, let alone treating someone else better than he'd ever treated her.
She began frantically calling Jiang Cheng, but because his phone had blocked her, no one ever answered.
She opened wechat and bombarded Jiang Cheng with friend requests.
All she got in return was silence.
Today she'd planned to leave the past behind and start anew; she'd even dressed up meticulously and come to the famous hook-up square to see if luck would smile on her.
Right now a young guy was keeping her company.
Before she saw the group messages, Zhao Jia had indeed felt a spark of interest in this guy who'd struck up a conversation.
After all, he looked quite handsome and dressed fashionably, head-to-toe designer labels.
Especially the pair of AJ sneakers on his feet—over a thousand yuan—made her sneak several glances.
Although he didn't seem super-rich, he was comfortably well-off, so she'd felt fairly satisfied.
But after comparing him with Jiang Cheng, the guy she'd just met suddenly seemed dull and unworthy of her.
People say you shouldn't meet someone too dazzling when you're young, because with a mere turn they can snatch away your entire youth.
Once you meet such a person, you either spend your life with them or spend the rest of your life haunted by their memory.
Worse, some girls can't see their own true worth; once they mingle with the wealthy, they subconsciously believe they belong to that class too.
An old saying puts it best: "A dog kissed by a lion will never return to the pack." It perfectly captures Zhao Jia's mindset.
She gazed at the bustling street, at the stream of passers-by, and a wave of loss washed over her.
Seeing happy couples strolling hand-in-hand along the roadside made her heart grow heavier.
Those scenes reminded her irresistibly of the sweet times she'd walked these same streets with Jiang Cheng.
Yet all of that was now in the past; she could only wander alone, tasting the bitterness and helplessness inside her.
At this moment Zhao Jia felt trapped in an illusory world, yearning for the love she had once possessed.
In her deliberate embellishment, every bit of her shared past with Jiang Cheng—whether laughter or quarrels—became precious and unforgettable.
Even the times she'd schemed against Jiang Cheng now seemed the most beautiful part of her memories.
Recalling those moments, Zhao Jia couldn't stop tears from welling up, and they streamed down her cheeks like a broken dam.