Chapter 7 The Coffee Cup I Smashed
The next morning, I hurried to class through a shortcut, dark circles heavy under my eyes.
In the small grove near campus, I spotted Xu Jiaqing. He had dark circles too.
He stood with three other guys, cornering a boy in glasses and his girlfriend.
I didn’t know the boy with glasses, but the girl behind him was unmistakable.
It was Lin Ya—my best friend since high school, the one I’d stayed in touch with all these years.
Xu Jiaqing took a sip of his iced Americano, then shoved the glasses boy a few times, not gently.
“Tian Wan posted couple photos to make it official. I told you to get people to downvote and say they were edited. Who the hell told you to spread those disgusting rumors about her?”
The glasses boy kept apologizing. “Sorry, sorry, junior. I misunderstood.”
One of the guys behind Xu Jiaqing smashed a water bottle against the boy.
“Junior? Back when Xu Jiaqing was just starting high school, you were a senior trailing after him lighting his cigarettes and calling him Brother. Now that you’re in college, it’s suddenly ‘junior’?”
“Brother—Xu Jiaqing, didn’t you hate Tian Wan? I don’t get it. How did I do anything wrong?”
The glasses boy sounded defiant.
“Shut up! Spreading those nasty rumors about Tian Wan was wrong from the start! We’re done!”
Lin Ya slapped the glasses boy across the face, then turned to Xu Jiaqing. “Xu Jiaqing, why didn’t you tell me her online boyfriend was your brother? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this mess…”
“I haven’t even asked you yet—what kind of crap were you teaching her?” Xu Jiaqing started toward Lin Ya, but the glasses boy blocked him.
“Wasn’t it you who asked me to set you two up? Pfft, a yellow-haired guy trying to play the aloof flower? Good thing I talked Tian Wan into choosing your brother in the end!” Lin Ya unloaded on Xu Jiaqing. Under the glasses boy’s desperate blocking, she bolted faster than a leopard.
The glasses boy wasn’t so lucky.
Xu Jiaqing grabbed his collar and slammed him against a tree trunk.
“Listen carefully. Yeah, I dislike Tian Wan. But spreading filthy rumors about her? That’s not okay. What’s this nonsense about her being some old man’s mistress? Are your eyes painted on? The guy in those photos has a perfect body, fair skin, hair thicker than yours—and you call him an old man?”
“…”
The glasses boy froze. He looked Xu Jiaqing up and down. “Wait… is the guy in the photo you? The build… it really looks like you.”
Xu Jiaqing frowned, thought for a second, then suddenly let go. He even patted the boy’s shoulder. “Exactly.”
“Huh?”
“Just say the guy in Tian Wan’s couple photos is me. Everyone already knew she was chasing me a while back. Now she’s caught me. That kills all the stupid rumors.”
After he finished, Xu Jiaqing finally relaxed. He lifted his coffee cup for another sip.
That was when I slapped it out of his hand.
Iced Americano splashed everywhere, staining his white hoodie.
The curse on the tip of his tongue died the moment he saw it was me.
“Last night we agreed to call a truce, didn’t we? And first thing this morning you’re pulling this? Xu Jiaqing, what exactly do you want from me!” I shouted until my eyes turned red.
He watched tears slide down my face and suddenly looked lost. The fire he’d had while dealing with the others vanished.
Xu Jiaqing stepped closer. “I woke up and saw the couple photos you posted, I…”
He closed his eyes and turned his head away. “It made me uncomfortable.”
“Xu Jiaqing, if you’re sick, go get treatment! Does every person who gets close to your brother have to be bitten by you?” I lost it. I lunged at him, hitting and pounding wildly.
The guys behind him moved to pull me off, but Xu Jiaqing roared, “Don’t touch her.”
My last scratch was vicious. My nails left a bloody line down his neck.
He caught my wrist. “You’ve hit me enough. Can you stop crying now?”
I grabbed his collar and glared at him through swollen, red eyes.
Xu Jiaqing blinked, stunned, then pushed me back. “You’re making me irritated crying like that.”
When I still didn’t back down, he sighed. “Fine. I was wrong this time. I apologize.”
“Does an apology fix anything? How many times has it been?”
I gave a cold laugh. “Xu Jiaqing, the harder you try to keep your brother and me apart, the more I planned to stay with him. And I planned to stay forever. Until the day you’re holding a wine glass and calling me Sister-in-Law!”
“…”
The smile vanished from Xu Jiaqing’s lips. His eyes slowly darkened.
His shoulders slumped and his head dipped slightly, like he’d just taken a hard hit.
His face changed right in front of me.
After I finished, I turned and walked away.
The pair of eyes behind me never left my back—not until I was out of the grove.
Xu Jiaqing’s eyes were slightly wet, faintly red.
He wiped the blood seeping from his neck and gave a mocking laugh. “Sister-in-Law? You really think there’s a Sister-in-Law who wants to sleep with her little brother-in-law?”
The guys around him exchanged awkward looks.
“Xu Jiaqing, you… you’re not taking it seriously, right?”
“You know how it is. Tian Wan thought you were on her side, so that’s why she asked me for your WeChat.”
“Yeah, those messages she sent you before weren’t real! Her best friend told her what to say. You know that, right?”
“Fuck, are you done yet?” Xu Jiaqing snapped at them. As he left, he kicked the glasses boy one last time.
“Don’t let me hear anyone spreading shit about her again. Game over.”