Sweet Temptation: After Rebirth, The Campus Heartthrob Can’t Hide His Feelings Anymore - Chapter 86

“You have to choose between me and Xu Zhizhi!” Sun Xiuya cried out in a shrill, agonized voice.

Shen Yu took two steps back, his eyes red-rimmed. “Mom, I’m so tired of living.”

“Before I turned sixteen, I was a top student. I followed every rule just so you would notice me, so you would love me the way you used to.”

“Everything you arranged for me, even if I didn’t like it, I carried out unconditionally because I knew that as long as I obeyed, you would be happy. I truly wanted to be filial to you.”

“When I was sixteen, I fell for someone, but you tore that affection to shreds and pushed me into an abyss. You forbade me from liking her, and I listened, I obeyed you completely.”

Shen Yu raised his hand to wipe the moisture from the corner of his eye. “But I was in so much pain. I couldn’t find any outlet. Maybe that’s when I started to change. Whether it was teenage rebellion or not, for me, it felt like completely breaking down would let me live more comfortably.”

Fighting, brawling, smoking, drinking, playing with emotions… Only total degradation and sinking could offer me a brief escape from the pain.

If I couldn’t like Xu Zhizhi, then I’d make her hate me.

I thought if she hated me, I’d be happy.

But instead, I felt so miserable it was like dying.

“Do you know how outstanding Zhou Xuci is? He’s the face of the Computer Science department, even the pride of Jing University.” Shen Yu felt a surge of bitterness and resentment. “Xu Zhizhi likes him so much. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make her look back at me once.”

Why was I the one who missed out?

“I was the one who should have been by Xu Zhizhi’s side.” Shen Yu spoke with agitation. “I met her earlier than Zhou Xuci, but I couldn’t get close to her. I could have become someone like Zhou Xuci too, but you never gave me the chance.”

He pulled a gold medal from his pocket and held it up to Sun Xiuya. “This is a championship medal I just won. I wanted to give it to her. I wanted to give her all my honors, but Xu Zhizhi doesn’t want me anymore.”

Shen Yu pointed toward the bustling art gallery in the distance. “Now she has someone she loves and a career she’s passionate about. I’ve completely become a passerby in her life.”

“Mom, she’s about to fly away. You’re so capable, why don’t you catch her and bring her back to me?” Shen Yu shook his head in despair. “She likes Zhou Xuci. I’m so jealous it’s driving me insane.”

“Shen Yu, you really have gone mad!” Sun Xiuya’s face twisted fiercely, two clear tears tracing down her cheeks. “If it weren’t for her, how could I have ended up in this wretched state?”

“Stop clinging to her. People shouldn’t be trapped in pain forever. Living in the past is meaningless.” Shen Yu stepped back and said quietly, “I like her. Even if my heart tells me a thousand, ten thousand times that I can’t like her, I just can’t control it!”

“Mom, consider me unfilial. I’ve walked the path you set for eighteen years. This time, I’m going to choose my own way.”

With that, Shen Yu turned and strode forward, leaving Sun Xiuya behind.

He walked resolutely, decisively, without a hint of hesitation.

The heavy shadow cast by his family had weighed him down, but if Xu Zhizhi could bravely walk away from it, so could he.

The Xu Zhizhi of the past had liked the brave and radiant version of him. From this moment on, he would become that courageous self again.

“A-Yu!”

Shen Yu turned a deaf ear.

Sun Xiuya turned her head, tears welling in her eyes as she watched Shen Yu’s resolute retreating figure.

She couldn’t stop crying, her body trembling slightly from the emotional turmoil.

Aunt Zhang approached, gently placing a hand on Sun Xiuya’s shoulder and softly reminding her, “Miss, please mind your emotions.”

Sun Xiuya wiped her face, brushing away the tears, and took several deep breaths before calming down slightly. “Alan, after all these years, what have I truly gained?”

“Even A-Yu doesn’t want me anymore.” Her expression was deeply sorrowful.

“You love the young master very, very much,” Aunt Zhang comforted her gently.

“Do I really love him? Why is he in so much pain?” Sun Xiuya asked.

“There are many ways to express love. Yours might be a bit too heavy,” Aunt Zhang replied.

“He’s drifting further and further away, so far that I can no longer hold onto him,” Sun Xiuya said sadly.

Aunt Zhang’s eyes reddened, moved by her words. “Miss, children grow up. There will always come a day when you can’t hold onto them, it’s just a matter of time.”

Sun Xiuya looked at Aunt Zhang, her eyes filled with hope. “Alan, I still have you, right?”

All these years, no matter how her condition flared up, Alan had never left her side.

Aunt Zhang’s hand on Sun Xiuya’s shoulder tightened slightly. “Wherever you are, I will be.”

Sun Xiuya smiled faintly, lifting her head to gaze at the blazing sun and murmuring softly, “Life shouldn’t be lived forever in the past…”

“The sunlight at Jing University is so beautiful, just like it was twenty-two years ago, blazing hot. It was better when we were young, with countless choices laid out before us. I’m so useless, I chose the worst path.” Sun Xiuya lowered her head, looking even more desolate.

After a moment of contemplation, Sun Xiuya looked up at Aunt Zhang. “Alan, take me to the Art Gallery. I want to see what Xu Zhizhi looks like now.”

Aunt Zhang replied, “Okay.”

Shen Yu strode forward, passing through a quiet grove of trees, and heard faint rustling sounds.

It was Xu Zhizhi’s voice.

Leaning against a large tree branch, Xu Zhizhi was kissed until her eyes glistened with tears. She asked nervously, “Zhou Xuci, have you had enough?”

Zhou Xuci lowered his gaze, his eyes deep and intense, and replied softly, “No.”

Then, cupping her face, he kissed her passionately once more.

Xu Zhizhi’s lips were numb. She clenched her small hands into fists and lightly pounded Zhou Xuci’s shoulders.

Zhou Xuci released her, staring at her slightly swollen lips. “Didn’t you say I could kiss you as much as I wanted?”

Xu Zhizhi buried her face in the crook of his neck, her eyes curving into a smile. “Take it easy.”

“There are so many people around for the school anniversary,” Xu Zhizhi said, glancing around before looking up at Zhou Xuci. “If someone sees us, your reputation will be ruined in an instant.”

“It’s not like we’re having an affair,” Zhou Xuci said, pinching her chin and smiling. “Kissing my own girlfriend, how would that ruin my reputation?”

“People on the forum say you’re the restrained, ascetic type,” Xu Zhizhi said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re seriously breaking character, you’ll lose fans.”

Zhou Xuci leaned down to kiss the small dimple on her cheek. “I’m a talent, not a celebrity. I don’t need fans.”

Xu Zhizhi unbuttoned the top two buttons of his collar and mischievously bit his collarbone as punishment. “You big bad guy, my lips are swollen from your kissing. How am I supposed to face anyone now?”

Zhou Xuci gently stroked Xu Zhizhi’s hair and whispered in her ear, “Baby, since your lips are already swollen, how about we kiss a little longer?”

“You’re such a bad guy…”

Before she could finish, Zhou Xuci had already leaned in and kissed her.

Shen Yu’s gaze pierced through the gaps between the trees, watching the deeply enamored Zhou Xuci and Xu Zhizhi. His hands clenched tightly into fists, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

…