At the Jiangzhou University Conservatory of Music, during the graduation ceremony.
Today was the day Qin Yuan had planned to propose to Zhang Jiameng, his girlfriend of three years.
In a meticulously decorated venue, Qin Yuan stood holding a bouquet of flowers, with a prepared ring in his pocket, hoping to surprise Zhang Jiameng.
However.
More than half an hour had passed since the agreed-upon time, yet there was still no sign of Zhang Jiameng, the star of the proposal.
"Qin Yuan, you went out of your way to call us all over here for what?"
"I have a lot of work to take care of at the company. I know today is Jiameng's graduation ceremony, but isn't having you here enough?"
"I don't know what's wrong with you. Couldn't you have agreed on a time with Jiameng beforehand? You're so unreliable."
Future mother-in-law Zhang Yue walked over, looking at Qin Yuan with an unhappy expression.
Three sentences, three interrogations.
Standing beside her, her son Zhang Jiajun remained silent, but he looked at Qin Yuan with utter disdain. He had looked down on his sister's boyfriend from the very beginning.
Qin Yuan was momentarily struck dumb and fell silent, though a faint, ominous premonition stirred in his heart.
"Aunt Zhang, I'll go make another call to ask Jiameng what's going on. She didn't pick up when I called earlier," Qin Yuan said, forcing a faint smile at Zhang Yue in a deep voice.
With that, he took his phone and walked a short distance away, hesitatingly dialing Zhang Jiameng's number.
The ringtone went on for a long time, but this time, Zhang Jiameng finally answered.
"Hello, Jiameng..."
Before Qin Yuan could finish, Zhang Jiameng interrupted him in an annoyed tone.
"Qin Yuan, are you ever going to quit? Sending messages, calling—don't you know I'm busy?"
"Today is my graduation ceremony, and I'm not even in a rush. What are you panicking about? Besides..."
"Songyang is participating in a singer selection competition today, and I went to the venue to cheer him on. There's a party tonight too. Whatever 'important matter' you keep talking about, we can talk about it when I get back tomorrow. I'm hanging up, and I'm warning you not to call again."
With that, Zhang Jiameng hung up directly, not even giving him a chance to finish a single sentence.
With his heart as dead as stagnant water, Qin Yuan put down his phone.
As expected.
Qin Yuan's premonition had been right; just as he had guessed, Zhang Jiameng really had gone to keep her male best friend Wang Songyang company.
Moreover, Zhang Jiameng had let slip a truly outrageous piece of information during the call.
She had said...
She was also attending a party tonight and wouldn't be back until tomorrow.
So.
Was she planning to sit knee-to-knee with her male best friend late into the night, pouring her heart out about their wonderful future?
She could have purposely emphasized having an important matter to attend to on her graduation ceremony day, and with previous hints like having gone to a jewelry store to measure her ring size—anyone with half a brain could figure out that the "important matter" was a marriage proposal. Yet she chose to completely ignore it and stood Qin Yuan up without a second thought.
This proved she had never taken these things to heart from the very beginning.
In Zhang Jiameng's mind, even if you combined the graduation ceremony and the proposal ceremony, they still couldn't compare in importance to Wang Songyang participating in a talent competition.
After ending the call, Qin Yuan lifted his gaze slightly to look at the glaring sunlight, and suddenly, he smiled—a smile that gradually turned into one of release.
Qin Yuan was also a graduate of Jiangzhou University, though from the School of Fine Arts and a year ahead of Zhang Jiameng.
A shared interest in art had brought the two together by a twist of fate, but little did he know it was the beginning of a nightmare.
During their three years together, Qin Yuan had always taken meticulous care of Zhang Jiameng. Knowing her family was wealthy, he had never once harbored any thoughts of relying on their money, paying for everything with his own funds.
Zhang Jiameng, on the other hand, remained relentlessly entangled with her male best friend throughout her relationship with Qin Yuan, frequently meeting him in private.
Whenever Qin Yuan brought it up, Zhang Jiameng would simply brush it off by saying, "He and I are just soulmate besties."
During the year after Qin Yuan graduated, it was Zhang Jiameng who suggested that Qin Yuan come work at her father's clothing company. The Zhang family's clothing company was quite sizable, complete with corporate operations, production lines, and a moderately famous brand called Gadiba.
Did you think Qin Yuan received special treatment upon joining her family's company?
Indeed he did: he was assigned to a pit on the factory assembly line and paid the absolute lowest intern salary in the entire factory—2,800 yuan.
After more than three years, Zhang Jiameng's phone call just now made Qin Yuan give up all hope entirely. He felt it was time to end this farce.
Qin Yuan turned around. Zhang Yue and her son Zhang Jiajun had been whispering to each other, but seeing Qin Yuan walk back over, her expression instantly shifted.
"Xiao Qin, what did Jiameng say when you called her? Can she make it over now? Should I call her myself?"
"No need."
"What do you mean? Then are you not going through with this ceremony? Weren't you going to propose to Jiameng?" Zhang Yue asked, puzzled.
"I originally was, but not anymore. And I won't ever need to in the future either."
Qin Yuan shook his head. Looking at the mother and son, he continued calmly: "Since she and Wang Songyang are such a perfect match, I'll just grant their wish. From now on, Zhang Jiameng and I have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. We go our separate ways."
With those words, Qin Yuan tossed the bouquet of roses into a trash can and walked toward the school gate without looking back.
The mother and son behind him, along with the surrounding students and friends, wore expressions of utter shock.
For over three years, Qin Yuan had always been completely submissive to Zhang Jiameng. How could he act like a completely different person today?
Amid the whispering discussions breaking out around them, the shock on Zhang Jiajun's face instantly turned to anger.
Announcing in public that you're breaking ties with my sister—are you trying to make our Zhang family a laughingstock?
Isn't Qin Yuan just someone who set his sights on our family's wealth, a parasite planning to live off a woman? How dare he pull something like this?
An honest pushover wants to rebel now? Who does he think he is!
Little did they know that Qin Yuan had always acted obedient and docile in front of them simply to maintain a good image so he could eventually marry Zhang Jiameng. But from this moment on, he no longer needed to keep up that act.
As for "living off a woman," that was complete nonsense. If you could call this "living off a woman," just how hard down the throat would this meal have to be?
No.
This meal had already gone rotten.
Seeing that Qin Yuan actually intended to just walk away like this, Zhang Jiajun fueled his anger, immediately quickened his pace, and angrily gave chase.
"Hey, Qin, do you really think you're somebody now? You just drop a 'we're through' and walk away like that?"
"Hmph, in a couple of days, won't you just come crawling back to beg my sister like a dog? After all, what capability does an orphan like you have?"