Chapter 1: Happy Breakup

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

June was the graduation season for high school students. The weather in Ping City was so hot that the residents felt like they were being roasted on a fire.

After Jose graduated from his postgraduate studies, he stayed in Ping City with Laurie.

He had already signed a contract with a listed company in Ping City when he was in his third year of postgraduate studies.

Jose’s family was not well off, so Laurie forked out half of her salary to help pay for the tuition fees of Jose’s three years of postgraduate studies.

Many people said that Laurie was stupid, but Laurie was willing.

She and Jose were childhood sweethearts. They had known each other since they were young and got engaged when they were undergraduates.

Jose was a handsome man. Many people had confessed their feelings to him in school, but Jose had always been faithful to Laurie, giving her a full sense of security.

However, Laurie did not expect that a man’s heart could change so fast.

The woman who made Jose change his heart was Anna, the daughter of the CEO of the company where Jose worked.

Perhaps, in a metaphorical sense, when the flowers were too numerous, they became more mesmerizing. Jose met Anna in the company and after Anna expressed her feelings to him, he proposed to break off the engagement with Laurie.

The pair of childhood sweethearts that everyone envied had been broken up by Jose’s heartlessness.

As for Laurie, because she was the one who was dumped, most of the rumors swirling around put the blame on her.

“I heard that Laurie was dumped?”

“Serves her right. What kind of woman would earn money to support a man’s studies?”

“I heard that she even had a miscarriage. This woman is really worthless!”

“That’s right. Women still have to love themselves!”

The people who didn’t know the facts simply opened their mouths and spat out flaming attacks as if trying to devour Laurie.

However, did Laurie do anything wrong?

She had only wrongly gambled her youth on a scumbag and gotten hitched with a guy of bad character.

Laurie silently walked past the crowd of people who were spreading rumors and who could not stand seeing other people being better off than themselves…

It was Friday.

When Laurie got home from work, she casually lay on the sofa in the living room.

She was glad that she was a girl with a traditional mindset.

In these few years when Jose was studying, the closest physical contact they had was just holding hands and kissing. When Jose suggested that they share a room, she did not agree either.

Fortunately, she didn’t agree back then, and so she was able to maintain her chastity.

As soon as Laurie’s phone rang, she answered it.

“Let’s say goodbye then…” At this moment, the lyrics of the phone’s ringtone were particularly fitting.

“Hello? Mom.” It was Laurie’s mother, Meryl.

“When we were playing mahjong today, I heard from your Aunt Felice that you broke up with Jose?” Meryl’s concerned voice rang out, and Laurie inevitably felt a little aggrieved.

She cleared her throat which was almost choking back tears and said gently, “Yes, it’s been a few days now. So all of you already know about it?”

“What the hell is that bastard up to? My daughter is naturally worthy of the best.” Meryl was also filled with anger at the mention of Jose.

Meryl didn’t expect that man to be a hypocrite.

“Do you still remember your neighbor, Grandma Alice, who moved in next door when you were a freshman?” Meryl thought for a moment and asked Laurie.

“What about her, Mom?” When her mother suddenly mentioned outsiders, Laurie was totally baffled.

“She mentioned to me two days ago that her grandson is 30 years old and still doesn’t have a girlfriend. He’s in Ping City now. Why don’t you meet up with him?”

“I just broke up barely one week ago,” Laurie said helplessly.

“What’s the big deal? As the ancient saying goes, if the old doesn’t go, the new won’t come. Don’t think too much about it, Laurie. Just meet Claude first. Whether it works or not is up to you to decide,” Meryl tried to persuade her daughter.

“Besides, even if you two can’t be lovers, you can still be friends. I’ve met that kid before. He’s of quite good character,” Meryl continued.

Under her mother’s persuasion, Laurie finally agreed to meet Claude.

Meryl was also a woman of action. It happened to be Saturday the next day, so she made an appointment for them to meet at nine in the morning.

At 8 pm in the evening, a stranger named “C” added Laurie on the messaging app.

The verification message was, [Hello, Miss Laurie, I’m Claude.]

After confirming with her mother, Laurie accepted Claude’s add friend request.

After exchanging a simple greeting with Claude on the messaging app and setting up a meeting place for the next day, Laurie washed up and went to bed.

The next morning, Laurie had a simple breakfast.

Out of respect for her blind date partner, Laurie put on makeup and dressed up diligently.

It was her habit to arrive 15 minutes early, but to her surprise, Claude was already there by the time she arrived.

The man who seemed to be Claude was sitting by the window. His sharp eyebrows were well-defined and he was engrossed in reading a novel titled “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

Laurie approached the man by the window with her copy of “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

“Hello? Are you Mr. Claude?” Laurie asked doubtfully.

Upon hearing the gentle female voice, Claude looked away from the book in his hand.

He raised his eyes and looked at Laurie deeply with his pure, dark eyes. His face was slightly tanned, and he was decently dressed, but he gave the impression that he was careless about his appearance.

“Hello, Miss Laurie.” Claude got up and pulled out a chair for Laurie. After Laurie sat down, he returned to his seat.

Laurie felt that the man in front of her was at least 6 feet tall. When she exchanged looks with him, she felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Nonetheless, she had some admiration for the man in front of her. Although he seemed to exude the temperament of a hooligan from the inside out, she could tell that he was a meticulous person. It could be said that he was an unrestrained and unruly introvert.

Deep down in his bones, he was not the type to placate others.