His face was full of puzzlement: Just like that, you want to break up? Is there any logical reason? I’d like to hear it.

She continued at her slow pace, "You boor, I’ve wanted to say this to you not just today, but since you returned after disappearing for over two months."

...

"Before you disappeared, you had thoroughly spoiled me. Then one day, you vanished without a trace. Yes, I found out about your whereabouts later on, and I knew you were not in any real danger. But during that time, I encountered many things, like the various business tax threats brought on by Yang Wei and other matters..."

...

"I once thought, Would these troubles not exist without you? No! Later, I found that almost everyone in business encounters these kinds of problems. Either you know how to handle them, or you accept your bad luck. Otherwise, difficulties will, more or less, arise. I asked myself: Can you handle these alone?"

He listened quietly.

"In the past, I truly could handle it all by myself. But after being with you, I unknowingly developed a reliance. You took care of everything, so I never had to use my mind. Over time, I became a good-for-nothing..."

...

"What should I do if something like that happens again?"

She said forthrightly, "I have repeatedly asked myself a question: If a more difficult situation arises, what on earth should I do?"

The answer was negative. Given the complex situation of the Wan Family, not to mention the huge fortune and business empire, just the struggle with the Zhou Family alone... what help could I be? Could I just stand silently smiling beside Wan Donglin, being nothing more than a decorative vase? When times are good, a vase is fine; the more beautiful it is, the more valuable it becomes. But what about when a wave crashes in? Isn’t a vase the most likely thing to shatter? Liu Daqing was absolutely correct: Yan Xixi, you’re not even suitable to be a vase.

"When I was with you, I was always being a vase. I also hadn’t cultivated true inner strength... I panicked at the slightest disturbance..."

She said quietly, "Is a person like that really what you want?"

He also listened quietly, then asked indifferently, "And then?"

Finally, she gathered her courage. "I once swore that from now on, I must rely on myself in all things. I will no longer ask anyone for help, not even you. I don’t want to just seek shelter under your wings anymore. That way, I would never be able to help you and would be of no benefit to you at all."

She hid none of the insecurities and worries in her heart.

He seemed to ponder. Once bitten, twice shy. Was all the joy and happiness before just a facade? In reality, did she have no sense of security at all? No wonder that when I first came back, she was initially overjoyed to see me—that kind of euphoria was definitely not a pretense. But the next moment, she ran away.

"...The self-reliance I had painstakingly cultivated over those two months... as soon as you came back, it immediately collapsed..."

She glanced at her luggage in the living room. "Take my passport and visa, for example. I could actually handle these things myself. It just requires running back and forth a few times. But because I knew you would help me, I started relying on you for everything, unwilling to do anything myself. If this goes on in the long run, what will become of me?"