“If I could accept all of that, if I could stop being so insecure, if I apologized for all the hurtful things I said before…” On the drizzling terrace. A watery mist clung to Luo Xi’s eyes; he smiled warmly, gently reaching out to touch her cheek.

“…Then, could you stop being angry, stop saying those things about breaking up?” *The scenery outside the car window receded silently in the rain. After a long pause, Ou Chen stared darkly at the phone he had just hung up.

When the Group Public Relations department asked him when he wanted to postpone the wedding, he found himself unable to answer, only managing to say that the wedding preparations should be temporarily shelved. How long would he have to wait for her… How long before she could truly accept him?

Would there ever be such a day… Suddenly, he noticed the paper bag inside the car. It contained the art book he had bought at the bookstore, originally intended for Yin Cheng, but her distant and courteous demeanor when she got out of the car had made him forget it in his daze.

The paper bag sat quietly on the seat. As if it had been discarded.

Ou Chen silently turned his head toward the window. A small art bookstore flashed past in the rainy haze, and he instinctively called out, “Stop the car!” The driver pulled over to the side of the street.

Ou Chen walked into the bookstore and went straight to the clerk, asking, “Do you have From Monet to Picasso?” The clerk searched for a moment and, surprisingly, found it. Ou Chen returned to the car holding the art collection, his body already slightly damp from the drizzle, and said in a low voice, “Back to the hospital!” *The terrace at the end of the hospital corridor.

The fine rain drifted lightly in from the outside, dampening Luo Xi’s white shirt slightly, giving it a faint, almost translucent glow. He stood against the light, the watery mist in his eyes deepening, his pupils intensely black, looking at her with gentle, pleading eyes.

“Momo, it was my fault… I love you too much, I’m too afraid of losing you… that’s why I become insecure and overthink things, sometimes I’m too willful… But, if it’s the first time I’ve made a mistake, there’s still a chance to correct it, right?” The way he smiled faintly at her suggested that if she only smiled back, the world would instantly return to its former beauty. But the uncertain fragility in his eyes betrayed how weak that smile truly was.

“I’m sorry…” Yin Xia Mo slowly closed her eyes, forcing herself to stand rigidly, daring not to let even a sliver of the pain and trembling inside her leak out. “It’s not your fault… it’s mine…” She couldn’t understand why her heart suddenly ached to the point where even breathing became difficult, her throat clogged, unable to speak.

She thought she had managed to cast aside everything except Xiao Cheng; she thought she had become cold-blooded enough to face him… He was utterly unsuited to say such things… The beautiful, fairy-like youth under the cherry blossom tree had always been so proud, stubbornly using excellence and perfection as armor, refusing to reveal the slightest hint of his inner insecurity. How could this person say such things… Moreover—the fault actually lay with her.

Luo Xi’s lips were frighteningly pale. “Why are you saying sorry?

Isn’t it because I suggested breaking up? It should be me…” “No, even if…” Yin Xia Mo still dared not look at him, her voice stiff, as if the voice wasn't originating from within her, “…even if you hadn’t suggested breaking up, I would have been the one to do it…” Summer of Bubbles III