Chapter 299
While Xu Shuangrong and Yu Jinzhe were having their one-on-one night talk, the other rooms were also engaged in similar sessions.
The production team thoughtfully prepared four different night-talk rooms, each with a unique setup.
For example, Xu Shuangrong and Yu Jinzhe’s candlelight room—versus the projection room where Xie Mi and Xiao Jingxi were now.
In the center of the room was a sofa, facing a large projection screen.
The video showed a school sports field. High school students in athletic uniforms were running on the track, with noisy background sounds—announcements, cheering, whistles—all blending together.
Clearly, this was footage from a school sports meet.
“Do you still remember this video?”
Xiao Jingxi sat down on the sofa, his gaze at the projection soft yet tinged with sorrow.
“This was the sports meet in our third year of high school, recorded secretly by you—who had a crush on me at the time.”
The video’s subject was a young Xiao Jingxi running on the track. His eyes were cold and indifferent, seemingly deaf to the cheering girls, simply running forward with a faint expression.
[Seriously, Xiao Jingxi, another memory lane trip?]
[Just one secret crush and you’ve milked it endlessly. Poor Old Xie, my heart aches for you.]
[So what if things were good in the past? Weren’t you the one who ruined it first?]
[Xiao Jingxi, I can’t with you.]
“I remember the girls at school used to call me an untouchable flower, unreachable to anyone. But only I knew—I wasn’t careless, I just wouldn’t easily commit. But once I did…”
Xiao Jingxi slowly turned toward Xie Mi, his side profile soft in the shifting light, yet filled with helplessness.
“…then I’d only recognize that one person.”
“Xie Mi, tell me, how did we come to this point?”
His final note quivered, carrying pain restrained with difficulty.
[How we got here? You really don’t know?]
[Is this what actors call “belief in the role”?]
[Try acting innocent some more, Strong bro.]
[If I didn’t know how you treated Old Xie back then, I might almost believe you.]
Xie Mi calmly walked to the far left side of the sofa, leaving a galaxy’s width between them.
“Now that you mention it, I remember—you placed third in that race, didn’t you?”
Xiao Jingxi smiled. “So you still remember…”
“But there were only four participants.”
Xiao Jingxi’s smile stiffened.
“That’s probably the price of pretending to be cool.”
Xie Mi looked seriously at the projected scene. “Others were running with faces contorted, but you kept up your expression management. Otherwise, how’d you end up second to last?”
[Hahahahahaha]
[Old Xie’s mouth is unbeatable]
[The Greek god of anti-PUA himself]
[Xiao Jingxi carefully set up a deep, touching scene, only to be roasted into ashes by the audience]
The video shifted from the sports meet to Xiao Jingxi’s birthday.
The camera zoomed in on a cake, then panned to a girl’s fair hand placing a beautifully wrapped gift box on the table.
A tender voice came from behind the camera:
“Jingxi, this is the birthday gift I prepared for you.”
“This was the first birthday you spent with me after we got together.”
Xiao Jingxi watched the video nostalgically, then slowly pulled a luxury bracelet from his pocket.
“The birthday gift you gave me—I’ve kept it for a long—”
Before he could finish, Xie Mi snatched the bracelet away. “And the rest? Return them all to me later.”
Xiao Jingxi looked hurt.
“Do you really have to be this heartless?”
“Or is it that you don’t want to pay back the money?”
“…”
Fortunately, Xiao Jingxi’s acting conviction was strong, and he pushed through. “There are more videos—snippets of our time together.”
Videos of Xie Mi knitting him a scarf by hand.
Of Xie Mi traveling thousands of miles just to stand quietly outside his film set.
Of them eating out, watching movies, strolling the streets on dates.
“Back then, we loved each other so much,” Xiao Jingxi said bitterly.
But Xie Mi calmly dismantled it.
“Must’ve taken quite some effort to find all these videos.”
“How could it? I’ve cherished them all along…”
“Guess why your face never appears in any of them?” Xie Mi suddenly asked with interest.
Xiao Jingxi’s face paled. He knew exactly why.
The videos only ever showed him from the neck down. He had never let himself be filmed, always keeping an escape route.
He didn’t want Xie Mi to keep any proof of their relationship.
Even though Xie Mi had obeyed him in everything, accommodating all his unreasonable requests for secrecy, Xiao Jingxi still never trusted him.
“Why don’t you say it? Don’t want to?”
Xie Mi smiled indifferently. “Is it the relationship you can’t let go of—or your fame and fortune?”
“The funniest thing is a scumbag trying to wash himself clean with a ‘devoted lover’ persona.”
His tone was light, like stating something mundane.
But each word pierced the heart, dragging Xiao Jingxi’s dirty intentions into the light.
Finally, Xiao Jingxi couldn’t maintain composure and grew agitated.
“Xie Mi, I’ve never betrayed you emotionally! From beginning to end, the only one I liked was you!”
“We were each other’s first love—we’ve known each other since high school, walked hand in hand until now. How could I not have feelings for you?”
“I know you’ve always suspected I wanted to use you to whitewash my image. Yes, my team did think that way, but at least—at least I’ve always truly liked you!”
Anger, sorrow, pain.
Maybe Xiao Jingxi did have a touch of sincerity in that moment. But so what?
Xie Mi only smiled.
His light voice struck Xiao Jingxi’s heart like a heavy blow.
“If you can hurt even the one you truly like, that only proves all the more that you’re a scumbag.”
In an instant, it was like thunder crashing down.
Xiao Jingxi was left speechless, unable to argue back.
[Well said!]
[I really don’t get what Xiao Jingxi wants. To prove how much he cared? But would that erase the hurt Old Xie already suffered?]
[Honestly, these videos don’t look sweet at all. They look humiliating. In every scene, Xiao Jingxi was lofty and untouchable—waiting for Xie Mi to pour water, open doors, do everything for him. He just enjoyed it as if it were natural, never thinking he needed to give anything in return.]
[He never treated the other as an equal. That’s the core problem in this relationship.]
[Too bad he still doesn’t realize it. He thinks just showing sincerity now will make Old Xie go back to him.]
“Zzzzt—”
That familiar static buzzed again. Director Niu’s voice came in at the worst time.
“It seems the two of you haven’t checked the cards on the coffee table. Let me remind you.”
“On the card is written the name of the guest your opposite partner is currently most moved by.”
“You may choose to flip it open—or not.”
