Chapter 49: The Ex-Boyfriend

After returning to the school, Jiang Ying rested in the dormitory for another two days, and the solitary environment helped her calm her mind.

During her days in the hospital, she and Lu Zhixi shared a room. Whenever sensitive topics were avoided, there seemed to always be a dangerous, bewitching warmth enveloping them.

Lu Zhixi referred to their current state as a game. Initially, Jiang Ying found it absurd, but later on, she actually found it made a certain amount of sense.

She wanted Lu Zhixi to develop a desensitization toward her, while Lu Zhixi intended to use the opportunity to make her infatuated, waiting to see who had overestimated themselves in the end.

On Thursday morning, Jiang Ying fully recovered her energy and began dealing with academic matters.

Her inbox had accumulated quite a few emails during this period. Her supervisor, Professor Lin, had already sent his final comments on her paper, and the research group headed by Professor Cheng Yunyi was about to hold a group meeting on Friday.

After confirming that she had fully recovered, she confirmed to Professor Cheng on Thursday that she would be able to attend the meeting in person. She then spent the entire day reviewing the meeting materials and reading literature, finally finding her way back to the rhythm of normal life.

Jiang Ying arrived at the campus of Beijing Normal University promptly at two o'clock on Friday afternoon.

Each university in Beijing possessed its own unique beauty. Compared to the classical Chinese garden scenery of Huada's campus, Beijing Normal University resembled a romantic and tranquil large garden. When Jiang Ying came here to attend a lecture in April of last year, lilacs, tulips, and wild roses bloomed in every corner of the campus.

Now it was March. Although the mornings and evenings were still cold, the afternoon sun spilled everywhere, carrying the vibrant aura unique to early spring.

When she found the conference room according to the address, quite a few students had already arrived, chatting around Professor Cheng. After everyone met and greeted one another, a doctoral student under Professor Cheng's supervision began screen-sharing to lead the meeting.

"Since our research group investigates the effects of specific intervention methods, we are currently still searching for suitable subjects..."

This group meeting mainly served to give a preliminary introduction to the current progress of the research group, including the status of subject recruitment and the allocation of subsequent research work. While Jiang Ying was listening intently, more than a dozen messages popped up sequentially on her muted phone screen.

Thinking it might be something urgent, she unlocked her phone and took a glance, only to discover that they were actually photos of Halan sent by her father.

During the Chinese New Year, Halan had been taken back to Chengdu by Meng Shao to be cared for by Meng Shao's parents. In the photos, Halan possessed quite the air of having returned to its grandmother's house, having fattened up by a full circle and looking like a large, white steamed bun.

After showing her the pictures of Halan, Jiang Zhiwen asked whether she was busy and expressed a desire to chat with her.

Jiang Ying found this rather strange, because previously Jiang Zhiwen would basically never remember to greet her on his own initiative. Why had the sun risen from the west today?

She still replied briefly: 「 Dad, I am in a group meeting. I will talk to you after it ends. 」

As soon as she exited WeChat, however, Jiang Ying saw another message sent by Meng Shao.

「 Do you know that your dad is having dinner with your mom, my dad, and my mom tonight? 」

She stared at this message for a long while, a surge of hot blood rushing to her head.

Wang Xin still had not given up.

In fact, after Wang Xin reappeared, Jiang Ying had experienced hesitation.

She was already an adult; she could indeed wash her hands of whatever transpired between her parents. Yet she did not believe that any genuine affection remained between Wang Xin and Jiang Zhiwen. They merely wished to hobble together to make do with life.

However, could two people who had made a complete mess of their own lives live any better together, especially while burdened with a sick child?

In Jiang Ying's view, this was a foolish choice.

After the group meeting ended, she sent a message to her father, for the first time telling him straightforwardly not to harbor any more illusions and to live his life properly on his own.

「 After all these years, your mother has always wanted to win your forgiveness. 」

Jiang Zhiwen assumed she was only objecting to them being together because of lingering resentment toward Wang Xin.

Upon seeing this message, Jiang Ying was almost angry enough to laugh. Coincidentally, the materials for her group meeting included an estimate of the financial cost required to treat an autistic child in China, so she directly sent this conclusion to her clueless father.

Consequently, Jiang Zhiwen fell silent for a moment before sending another message: 「 Yingying, your father has been lonely for so many years; please show some consideration for your father too. I heard from Lao Meng that you hold equity in Meng Shao's company. Since we are all family anyway... 」

When Jiang Ying saw this message, her mind went blank for a second, and then she understood the implication behind her father's words.

She had not expected Jiang Zhiwen to actually expect her to help raise the child as well.

In an instant, Jiang Ying was enveloped by a wave of intense anger and disappointment. Countless questioning words flashed through her mind, and her fingertips trembled slightly, yet she could not type out a single character.

Someone suddenly patted her shoulder gently. She put away her phone and looked back to see Professor Cheng.

"I'm sorry, I have a class in the evening and am in a rush to leave, but I wanted to chat with you for a few moments. Am I interrupting you?"

Jiang Ying quickly adjusted her expression and flashed a smile, "Please go ahead, I'm not busy."

"Actually, it's nothing major. You mentioned in a WeChat message the other day that you caught the flu, so I was thinking that since your immunity is low, you need to exercise more. I wanted to suggest that you find a sport you enjoy later on—swimming, badminton, table tennis... even just running around the school would do."

Professor Cheng spoke in a gentle voice, her gaze full of care as she looked at her.

"Exercise doesn't take up much time. Go this weekend, and if you're willing, you can report back to me then, and I'll send you a little red envelope as a reward!"

Jiang Ying stared blankly into Professor Cheng's eyes for a moment, and the fierce emotion that had just risen in her heart seemed to be gently smoothed away by a warm hand.

Her expression instantly softened, and she smiled at Professor Cheng, "Thank you."

*

"Codependency" had once been the three words Jiang Ying least wanted to mention. When Yu Siyan gently hinted at it on the day of their breakup, she even felt a trace of embarrassment as if a secret had been exposed.

This psychological term accurately described the former relationship between her and Jiang Zhiwen—she had tried every means possible to help Jiang Zhiwen break free from his alcoholism, offering him care and love, and in the process nearly hollowing herself out. She had lost all perception of love and happiness, becoming an addict obsessed with the act of giving.

Yet Jiang Zhiwen, as a father, seemed entirely oblivious to and unconcerned about the plight his daughter had endured, taking everything for granted, and now was pushing his luck by making even more exorbitant demands.

If Jiang Ying had remained in the state she was in during her sophomore year, perhaps upon seeing the message sent by Jiang Zhiwen, she would have felt sorrow and pain, and then out of a soft heart, she might have yielded to his demands.

Therefore, when she issued the cold and resolute "Don't even think about it," Jiang Ying realized that over this past year or so, she had indeed undergone a tremendous transformation.

Sitting in her dormitory, Jiang Ying pulled back her thoughts and shifted her attention back to the computer screen.

Having returned from the group meeting at Beijing Normal University with nothing to do, she prepared to start writing the acknowledgments section of her graduation thesis.

Reviewing the past brought a flood of mixed emotions, but when she began to type, she did not know where to start.

This graduation thesis had taken shape from the summer vacation at the end of her junior year until its completion in the second semester of her senior year, taking a total of over half a year and accompanying her through far too many events.

During this period, because she received care from many people, the body that had been hollowed out by her terrible family was gradually being refilled.

And among all the care and concern she received, Lu Zhixi happened to be the one who gave the most. Even the ideal sample data for this thesis was largely thanks to Lu Zhixi pulling strings within his circle.

Without Lu Zhixi, Jiang Ying was certain she would have walked out of the darkness eventually, but certainly not this quickly.

If Lu Zhixi had not chosen to leave back then, she was also certain he would have become the most important pillar in her life.

However, life has no ifs.

During this period of absolute wretchedness, the one who gave the most was him, and the one who suddenly left was also him.

According to the schedule announced by the college, the deadline for submitting the final draft before the defense was in early April, while the defense itself was scheduled for mid-May. There was still nearly a month before the final draft needed to be submitted.

Her fingertips tapped against the keyboard, deleting and revising for half a day. No matter how she wrote it, it felt inappropriate, and her thoughts became tangled in a mess.

Jiang Ying sighed, saved the current version, and decided to revisit it in a few days.

Before going to sleep, Lu Zhixi still called her as usual.

Hearing Jiang Ying suddenly thank him for helping with her thesis questionnaire, he was somewhat surprised before saying:

"Yingying, you don't need to thank me. If you can view my things as your own and take what I do for you for granted, I would be even happier."

Having experienced the incident with Jiang Zhiwen that afternoon, Jiang Ying felt an unspeakable soreness ripple through her heart upon hearing such words at this moment.

Yet right then, the person on the other end of the line suddenly said, "If you really want to thank me, why don't you make me a notebook?"

Still immersed in her emotions, Jiang Ying didn't react for a moment, "...A notebook?"

"Yes, a notebook with a heart pattern personally embroidered by you on the cover," Lu Zhixi elaborated with detailed requirements.

She felt this description was strangely familiar. Recalling for a moment, she suddenly remembered this was the gift she had given Yu Siyan before the New Year, and consequently asked in disbelief, "Did you go poking around about me and Yu Siyan again?"

"Since you didn't let my people look at the contents of the bag that day, I had no choice but to ask his roommate through a mutual acquaintance."

Lu Zhixi said calmly, without the slightest trace of shame for prying into someone else's privacy.

Seeing that she remained silent, his voice turned somewhat sullen: "It's just a notebook. Why can't you give me one?"

Jiang Ying was caught between laughter and tears: "First of all, you don't use this kind of notebook. Secondly, this was a gift I gave to Siyan when we were dating. What would it look like for me to give you one?"

Most of the time, Lu Zhixi behaved with great maturity and composure. But whenever the topic touched upon his sensitive spots, the child hidden within him would emerge, unreasonable and unfazed by facts, growing dejected over something he had not obtained.

This time, however, Lu Zhixi did not show the emotional agitation of the past. Instead, he used his tone to express his grievance and displeasure, and his voice grew brisk once again upon hearing her proactively bring up the meeting arrangement they had agreed upon in the hospital.

"Let's meet at the tennis court."