Chapter 6: You Could Do Nothing to Take the Initiative, But When I Do, Don't Stay Still
Chapter 6: You Don't Have to Make the First Move, But When I Do, Don't Just Stand There
After 99 rejected proposals, the Cold Campus Belle Strongly Flirts with Me — Jiang Muye
Bigshot Moe Girl
Just thinking about how she and Jiang Muye would soon be walking arm in arm into their wedding hall made Xia Xiran's little face flush with shyness.
But as the minutes and seconds ticked by, the weather grew colder and colder. The onlookers couldn't take it anymore, and seeing that Jiang Muye still hadn't shown up, they were utterly disappointed.
"Break it up, break it up. Jiang Muye isn't even coming. Nothing to see here."
"I'm going back to my blanket. Freezing my ass off out here, and he didn't even say in advance he wasn't coming."
"Did Jiang Muye really give up, or is he coming to confess some other day? He couldn't even give us a heads-up, making us wait for nothing."
The students who had been swarming together now scattered, each heading home.
Only Xia Xiran and the others were left on the sports field.
The cold wind howled and howled.
Xia Xiran's pretty little face had been blown red by the wind, the tip of her nose flushed, her body hunched and shivering from the cold.
Yuanyuan was already shivering so hard her teeth chattered. She instinctively said to Xia Xiran, "Xiran, let's go back to the dorm. It's so cold."
Tears immediately welled up in Xia Xiran's eyes. "Did something come up so he couldn't make it, or does he not like me anymore?"
Seeing Xia Xiran's dejected, miserable look, the others' moods sank as well.
"Xiran, don't feel bad. We'll go ask around. There might be some hidden reason," the round-faced girl said.
Only then did Xia Xiran feel a sliver of hope.
Yuanyuan took out her phone and asked around, and soon found out where Jiang Muye was. She said to Xia Xiran, "Xiran, he's in the study room on the third floor. Let's hurry over and ask what's going on."
"Okay!" Xia Xiran's steps instantly quickened.
She couldn't wait to see Jiang Muye.
Before long, Xia Xiran and the others had arrived at the door of the study room.
She caught sight of the slender figure sitting with his back to her at a glance.
Xia Xiran's heart pounded.
But she was also a bit shy, not daring to step forward.
After all, she had rejected him like that yesterday. What would he think?
Was he actually angry?
"Hurry up and go, you can do it," Yuanyuan cheered Xia Xiran on.
The girl with glasses said, "He must have gotten caught up studying and delayed proposing to you. Now that you're here, he'll definitely try to coax you, and he might even apologize to you."
Only then did Xia Xiran gain some confidence.
Her eyes, like a pool of spring water, sparkled with life, and she said a bit shyly, "I don't want him to apologize. I just want him to be willing to be with me."
Xia Xiran's gaze fell on Jiang Muye.
She took a small breath, gathered her courage, and headed in Jiang Muye's direction.
Jiang Muye was in the middle of a grueling wrestle with English when he suddenly felt the light in front of him blocked and a shadow fall over his book.
Hm?
As Jiang Muye wondered who it was, he heard a familiar voice.
"Why didn't you… come to the sports field today?"
Jiang Muye quickly raised his head and saw Xia Xiran's stunning face. She was clearly a bit anxious, at a loss, and had started clutching at her skirt.
It would be a lie to say his heart didn't stir. After all, she was the one he liked.
But Jiang Muye now understood: to like someone, you had to know restraint.
Especially when it came to liking someone with no future.
Jiang Muye had loved her, wildly and fiercely, and his dreams had been cruelly shattered in ways he would never forget.
Time and again his heart had been torn with pain, and time and again he had licked his own wounds, wearing the pain away himself.
Jiang Muye wouldn't make the same mistake again.
"Didn't feel like going," Jiang Muye said, his voice sinking. He feigned calm and lowered his head to keep reading.
Xia Xiran's lips trembled.
She had thought that when Jiang Muye saw her come looking for him, he would be overjoyed.
But he was terribly calm, without the slightest reaction.
Just like how she had once treated him with indifference.
Xia Xiran panicked. Realizing Jiang Muye's change in attitude, she grew very nervous. She forced a smile and asked, "Where's your DR Ring?"
"Why?"
"Take it out. Today's the day you were going to propose to me for the 100th time!" Xia Xiran forced a smile, already so anxious that tears swam in her eyes. "As long as you propose to me, I'll consider agreeing."
Jiang Muye's heart went cold.
Consider?
Rather than directly agree?
So that meant even on his 100th proposal, he could still face rejection.
Jiang Muye felt like he was absolutely ridiculous.
He took the DR Ring out of his pocket.
Xia Xiran's eyes lit up.
Finally, he'd taken it out.
She was itching to put the ring on.
And her best friends in the back row got happy too.
Jiang Muye was so obedient to Xia Xiran—how could he possibly stop liking her?
Even if the world ended, Jiang Muye's love for Xia Xiran would never end.
"This ring—I worked a whole month of part-time jobs and pinched pennies to buy it. Even though it was exhausting and hard, the thought of you putting it on made it all worth it."
"I carried this ring with me every waking moment, just in case you suddenly had a change of heart, just in case you suddenly decided to say yes."
"And I've waited until now with nothing."
Jiang Muye's gaze fell on the ring.
"You don't have to make the first move, but when I do, don't just stand there."
Just as Xia Xiran felt the ring was within her grasp, Jiang Muye turned and, clutching the ring, flung it straight out the window.
The ring flew out in a parabola, slowly disappearing from Xia Xiran's sight.
Everyone was stunned.
Wasn't this supposed to be a proposal? Why had Jiang Muye thrown the ring away!!!
Xia Xiran ran in terror to the windowsill.
But she saw no DR Ring.
She turned back in astonishment and looked at the figure standing there so proudly.
His perfect jawline cut a cold arc, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together.
Xia Xiran's little face went pale. Feeling a wrench in her heart, she began to interrogate Jiang Muye: "Why did you throw the ring away?! Wasn't that mine!"
"Did you put it on?" Jiang Muye's single counter-question instantly stunned Xia Xiran.
That's right, she hadn't put the ring on.
This ring was never truly hers.
Even if she had decided from the very beginning that the ring was hers, it still didn't count.
Jiang Muye forced down the reluctance in his heart and said, "Not just anyone can throw tantrums at me. First get clear on what we are to each other—whose are you to me."
"I was prepared to spend a lifetime with you, and you were prepared to leave at any moment. Then I can only say goodbye."
Under everyone's astonished gazes, Jiang Muye declared domineeringly, "Xia Xiran, today I formally annul our engagement."
Xia Xiran felt her body go numb, her vision blur.
What did he say?
Annul their engagement!
Jiang Muye picked up the book on the desk and walked out with firm strides.
The girl with glasses grabbed Jiang Muye's wrist and asked angrily, "Jiang Muye, you're joking, right? Xiran finally swallowed her pride and came to find you, and you're this heartless!"
"She's the heartless one. Didn't I swallow my pride to come find her?" Jiang Muye flung off the girl with glasses's hand.
Xia Xiran was a person—was he not?
He could hurt, and he could cry.
He had been foolish before, but now he wanted to be a proper person, with dignity.
Jiang Muye left after saying that.
Xia Xiran's whole body trembled with pain, and she clutched at her chest, powerless.
Her heart hurt so much.
Her best friends hurried over and comforted Xia Xiran, saying, "Xiran, are you okay?"
"What he said was just out of anger. Don't take it to heart."
"He's just putting on an act. How could he possibly not like you!"
Xia Xiran burst into tears. Shaking her head, she sobbed, "I really, really like him!"
"I know." Yuanyuan nodded.
"He only rejected me once, and I'm this miserable, but I rejected him 99 times!" Xia Xiran clutched her chest, her heart about to tear apart. "How much must he have hurt."