Thinking about what she had just done, Zhou Mochen’s face was still a little pale. "That wasn’t to piss you off at all. It was all just fucking tormenting myself!"

"I’ve noticed you’re cursing more and more." Xu Su buttoned up his shirt. Hearing him swear, she couldn’t help but pat his cheek. "Tearing at my clothes in front of so many people and threatening to put on a live show... you’ve really got some nerve."

Zhou Mochen looked down at her. "If you’re angry about something, let it out now. Don’t hold a grudge and start planning to break up with me. Xu Su, I will never break up with you in this lifetime. Don’t even think about it."

He hugged the person on his lap tightly. "Everything I just said was just out of anger. Don’t believe it. Don’t believe a single word."

’How can someone be like this? He’s the one who went crazy and made harsh threats, and he’s also the one acting all pitiful like a victim...’

Xu Su sighed inwardly. ’Did I drive him crazy?’

"Are you really planning to break up with me?" Her prolonged silence made Zhou Mochen anxious. His hands on her waist tightened, and he leaned in to kiss her neck. "Get that thought out of your head right now. If we break up, it’ll be over my dead body."

"Break up with you, then watch you get with someone else? Over my dead body." His voice, hoarse and fierce, was right by her ear. "Xu Su, you’re only cruel to me anyway. Why don’t you be a little crueler and just take my life? Then you’ll be free."

"..." Xu Su pressed her lips together and touched his face. ’He’s not crying...’

’The moment the tears stop, he starts making threats...’

Xu Su didn’t understand how he’d turned into this sort of person in this lifetime. She sighed, leaned in, and gave him a kiss. Still straddling him, she rested her head on his shoulder. "Zhou Mochen, you were way out of line just now."

Zhou Mochen let out a trembling "Mhm." "I was wrong. I was so angry I wasn’t thinking straight."

"How did you even come up with a way to punish me like that?" Xu Su was still bothered by it. She stared at his Adam’s apple, reaching out to toy with it as she spoke resentfully, "You ask a question like that, how am I supposed to answer? Beg you to stop? It’s better to just go along with you, right?"

"It wasn’t to punish you..." Zhou Mochen gathered her into his arms, carefully pulling her closer by the shoulders. "I just wanted to make you angry. I can’t be the one you bully every time. Xu Su, I wanted to bully you for a change. I didn’t really mean to..."

As he spoke, he paused, realizing what a fucking idiot he was.

"Why don’t you hit me to blow off some steam?" Zhou Mochen took her hand and placed it on his face, looking at her quietly. "Susu, don’t you think about breaking up with me and going back to Xi Zirong. You can’t even think about it. You can make me angry however you want, except for that."

"???" Xu Su didn’t understand how Xi Zirong had gotten dragged into this again. She pinched his cheek and gave a frustrated laugh. "It’s not like you two are the only men in the world. If I leave you, I can only go to Xi Zirong? Can’t I find someone else?"

"Someone else is not an option either!" Zhou Mochen’s voice was cold and hard. "Don’t even think about it, Xu Su. Don’t you even think about anyone else."

Just the thought of her kissing or hugging another man, or perhaps doing something even more intimate, sent an uncontrollable murderous rage through Zhou Mochen. He grabbed her neurotically. "Who else is there? Xu Su, who else besides Xi Zirong?"

His expression faintly reminded Xu Su of his obsessive, pathological shadow from their past life...

She wasn’t scared, but she couldn’t help but curse him silently. ’This man is such a tyrant!’

’Is he trying to control my mind now?’

Xu Su was silent for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her face against him, and took a sniff. The familiar cool, woody scent made her hands tighten uncontrollably. She just wanted to kiss him fiercely, to kiss him until she’d had her fill...

’Damn it!’

’I like him this much, so how did I manage to go days without touching him?’

Forcibly reining in her restless heart, Xu Su ignored his question and instead explained, "Zhou Mochen, I wasn’t trying to humiliate you just now. Making you drink that bottle of wine was just me being petty. I did it on purpose to piss you off because you’ve made my last few days miserable, so I didn’t want you to have a good time either."

Zhou Mochen froze for a second.

"And I wasn’t trying to ask what you did wrong today." Xu Su stared at him, pursing her lips. "Zhou Mochen, do you really not think you’ve done anything wrong these past few days?"

She finally got a break, but he just left her hanging at home for days without so much as a phone call. If that wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder, what was?

Xu Su was such a prideful person; how could she bring herself to complain directly to her boyfriend about his cold attitude...

So her anger grew day by day. Wasn’t it natural for that accumulated fury to ignite into a wildfire?

Actually, after what she had said last night, Zhou Mochen already had a vague understanding. He began to explain, "I’m heading back to Beijing soon. There isn’t a lot of work left here, but I’ve been here for three years, after all. I have to speed up and handle what needs to be handled. It’s been a bit busy these last few days..."

"Too busy for even a single phone call?" Xu Su gave him a half-smile. "Why don’t you just admit it? You were angry. Angry that I didn’t sleep with you that night, so you decided to intentionally give me the cold shoulder for a few days to teach me a lesson, right?"

Why had Xu Su been so angry these past few days?

Because she had experienced a love that was one hundred percent, a perfect score. So when faced with even ninety-nine percent, she would be dissatisfied. She could feel the difference.

This Zhou Mochen truly didn’t love her as much as the one from her past life, even if the difference was infinitesimal.

Xu Su knew this judgment was probably a bit biased and hasty.

It was actually more likely that the two Zhou Mochens, from her past life and her present, had different experiences, and so they expressed their love in different ways.

The Zhou Mochen of her past life had perhaps never received a response from her, from beginning to end. He was so obsessive that his heart and eyes were filled with nothing but her. Because he had never truly possessed her, he wouldn’t hold it against her for not cherishing his feelings.

But the one in this life was different. They had mutual affection, a consensual and equal relationship. So he would keep score, wondering why she couldn’t give a little more back when he had given so much. He would be dissatisfied. He would want more.

Xu Su wasn’t a fool; she could figure it out. Questioning Zhou Mochen’s love would truly break his heart.

But the fact presented before her was that the Zhou Mochen of this life truly didn’t give to her as unconditionally or tolerate her as wholeheartedly as the one from her past life...

Occasionally, Xu Su would laugh at herself. ’I’m so selfish. I’m not even giving my all, so why am I always demanding it from him?’

’But aren’t people selfish by nature?’

’The more you like someone, the more selfish you become, the more you keep score...’

Xu Su was deeply conflicted...

But Zhou Mochen laughed, angered by her words. He reached out to cup Xu Su’s face, staring at her with narrowed eyes for a moment before suddenly sighing.

Xu Su shot him a look. "Why are you looking so helpless?"

"What can I do? I fell in love with an idiot. Isn’t that enough to make anyone feel helpless?"

Zhou Mochen caressed Xu Su’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her. Just as Xu Su was growing impatient, he pulled away and said with a light chuckle, "Susu, listen closely. I wouldn’t get angry just because you won’t sleep with me. I was angry about what you said."