Chapter 511: Chapter 192: The Prelude Rings, Even the Dogs by the Road Feel Regret (10,000-Word Mega Chapter, Please Subscribe)_5

*Hmm, if that’s the case, then I’ve managed to scrounge a freebie from Li Scumbag as well. Tsk tsk, this is a good method. We can join his book fan group and call on other readers to get a freebie too...*

*My Xia Hua, don’t go, wait for me. I’m still looking forward to your new songs.*

...

Li Yuan held Jiang Zhiyu’s small hand as they walked down the tree-lined path, the autumn breeze gently brushing the tips of their hair.

He felt the moisture in his palm and turned his head to look at the once lively and adorable girl. Out of nervousness, her pale forehead was already beaded with tiny, crystalline drops of sweat.

"Little Fish, are you really planning to go abroad?" Li Yuan asked in a deep voice.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at Li Yuan, her mind in a daze, and nodded lightly.

"Yes, I’m leaving this Sunday!"

A tremor ran through Li Yuan’s body, and a repressed feeling filled his chest, making him feel incredibly stifled. He stared intensely at Jiang Zhiyu’s profile, but the words "Don’t go, please?" just wouldn’t leave his lips.

He had already wronged her so terribly. What right did he have to interfere in her life any further?

*It’s better to go our separate ways than to suffer together.*

With a sorrowful expression, Li Yuan asked, "Then... which country are you planning to go to?"

Jiang Zhiyu froze, confused as to why Li Yuan wasn’t trying to make her stay. Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice choked slightly.

"The Ugly Country. The City of Angels, University of Southern California!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan’s gaze dimmed considerably. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere suddenly fell into a heavy silence.

After a long while, Li Yuan finally spoke again. "Little Fish, I’m so glad I got to know you."

Jiang Zhiyu gazed deeply at Li Yuan and replied, "Xia Hua, I’m so glad I got to know you, too."

Li Yuan looked at Little Fish’s tear-stained face and sighed. "Do you regret it?"

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head. "I don’t regret it. Meeting you, Xia Hua, was the happiest thing that has ever happened to me."

"From the day I added you on QQ, I got used to chatting with you, discussing novel plots, sharing my daily life, listening to you teach me how to sing, composing music together, and performing on stage together...

"I don’t regret anything I’ve done, Xia Hua!"

Hearing her words, Li Yuan’s heart ached even more. If Jiang Zhiyu had just yelled at him or hit him, he might have felt a little better. But this gentle confession only made him feel more suffocated.

Such a perfect, outstanding girl was heartbroken because of him. She was choosing to leave Modu, to leave her friends and family, all to go to a foreign country...

Li Yuan felt an incredible lump in his throat. The excuses and fabricated stories he had prepared on the way here were now impossible to say. He had already deceived this girl, who only had eyes for him, once. Why should he continue to hurt her?

Li Yuan stared into Jiang Zhiyu’s affectionate eyes, where crystalline tears seemed ready to escape at any moment. Both of them were enduring the sorrow and reluctance in their hearts.

"Little Fish, don’t say that," Li Yuan said with a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "I want you to hate me. I’m not worth any of this. I’m just a pathological liar and a scumbag, that’s all."

He felt like a complete failure. In his past life, he was an undeniable loser. Even with the godsent opportunity of rebirth, his essence hadn’t changed. His personality was still the same, if not more twisted.

A Dragon Slayer who hated the Evil Dragon had ultimately become an Evil Dragon himself.

Sensing Li Yuan’s guilt and self-reproach, Jiang Zhiyu squeezed his hand tightly and murmured affectionately, "Xia Hua, I love you. That was my choice, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."

"I understand now. As long as I have a place in your heart, even a very, very small one, I’ll be satisfied."

"Thank you, Xia Hua, for teaching me how to grow."

Hearing her words, Li Yuan froze. The tears he had been holding back streamed down his face uncontrollably. He quickly turned his head away, staring at the road ahead as he walked on in silence.

This was the first time he had cried since his rebirth, and the first time he had cried for a girl.

The moment Li Yuan turned his tear-streaked face away, Jiang Zhiyu saw it. She couldn’t control her own tears, and they began to fall as well.

Xia Hua, you do have a place for me in your heart. I didn’t love the wrong person. The fears she had harbored instantly vanished.

Ever since she learned the news, her greatest fear had been that Li Yuan had never loved her at all, that it had all been unrequited. But just now, seeing Li Yuan cry for her, that worry hidden deep in her heart abruptly disappeared.

Xia Hua does love me!

Hand in hand, they both wept silently, walking along the asphalt path lined with ginkgo trees and into the distance...

「Behind them」

Xie Ping, Zhang Ruoxue, and Li Qingqing, along with some other onlookers, were silently pretending to be passersby while following the couple.

Observing their interaction, Xie Ping muttered softly, "Why do I get the feeling that both Li Yuan and Zhiyu have been crying?"

Zhang Ruoxue also nodded, her expression strange as she exclaimed, "Don’t tell me they’re remembering how sweet their relationship was and crying because of it?"

Li Qingqing shook her head and guessed, "I think it’s probably the sadness of them having to part ways."

"That scumbag, Li Yuan, can’t he just say something nice to persuade Zhiyu? Maybe then she’d change her mind and decide not to go abroad anymore."