The two of them went home together and watched a movie. It told the story of you loving me, me not loving you, then you not loving me anymore, and me rushing back in—a tale that was melodramatic with a touch of cheesiness. The only redeeming quality was that the leads were genuinely youthful and at least easy on the eyes.
Song Fu watched with an unchanging expression, while Ci Ye beside her seemed deeply moved, his emotions fully caught up in it, sighing in exasperation from time to time.
Fortunately, the movie’s ending was fairly sweet. On a fine, sunny day, the male lead offered the female lead flowers and a ring, earnestly vowing never to betray her. He said, “This is the best ring I can buy right now. When I have money, I’ll definitely get you a bigger, prettier one.” The female lead covered her face and burst into tears.
When the credits rolled, Song Fu felt a sense of relief. It was finally over.
Before she could fully exhale, something about the size of half a palm was stuffed into her hand—a small box.
Song Fu tilted her head.
Ci Ye gave a pretend light cough. “A gift for you.”
Given the box’s size and the current atmosphere, it could only hold one thing, right? Song Fu blinked, opened the box, and sure enough, saw a beautiful ring. “Is today some kind of holiday?” It really was a very pretty ring, perfectly meeting the movie male lead’s criteria for bigger and prettier. It refracted the light, shining brilliantly in the box.
Ci Ye watched Song Fu’s expression closely and didn’t detect any dissatisfaction. He quirked the corner of his mouth. “Wanted to give it to you.” He tried to make his tone sound nonchalant. “Consider it an engagement ring. What do you think?”
Ci Ye had shopped around for a long time and spent almost all the money he had on it. “The inner band has our initials engraved.”
He hadn’t considered designing it himself—his skills were limited, and it wouldn’t have turned out pretty enough. Things like handmade items that took effort mainly got good responses from people who already liked you, but Song Fu didn’t like him, so he needed something beautiful enough that no one could bear to refuse.
The young man’s brows and eyes curved in a smile, the emotions in his phoenix eyes pure and sincere, his ear roots flushing red from shyness.
Song Fu stared blankly for a moment.
But how could the villainess receive a true-hearted engagement ring from the male lead?
Song Fu closed the box again without taking it into her hand to examine. She said, “We haven’t officially gotten engaged yet, have we?”
Ci Ye’s eyes dimmed. “You don’t want it?”
“It’s not that.” Song Fu’s denial slipped out automatically. Even now, she hadn’t shaken her soft-hearted habit and couldn’t help finding excuses. “Wouldn’t it be too casual like this? Wouldn’t it be better if you gave it to me at the formal ceremony later?”
“Will there even be that chance?” Ci Ye’s voice grew muffled.
Song Fu rarely felt a headache. “Can this be returned?”
Ci Ye’s voice doubled in volume. “No!!”
Fine. Song Fu still couldn’t return the ring and properly placed it by her bedside.
That evening before bed, she took it out again and looked at the initials Ci Ye had mentioned, engraved on the inner band. Between their two initials was a tiny heart. This was definitely something the buyer had to specially request for them to engrave.
Imagining Ci Ye solemnly asking for the heart to be added, Song Fu unconsciously lifted the corner of her mouth and muttered softly, “Childish.”
Approaching the end of the term, the final monthly exam was structured exactly like the finals in terms of specifications—both timing and seating arrangements were based on the previous mid-term results, and the grading was even more rigorous. What should have come out the next day was delayed until the day after.
Under these circumstances, Song Fu returned to the top spot school-wide.
More precisely, it was under the premise that the “female lead underperformed due to heartbreak” didn’t happen. Of course, in the original plot, that was the case, but in the current plot, the male and female leads’ interactions remained unchanged from before—consistently distant—so there was naturally no emotional setback for the female lead causing her to underperform.
Still, reclaiming first place through her own strength put Song Fu in a good mood.
Her deskmate stared at her with starry eyes, as if she were the one who got first. “I knew it, Song Fu, you’re always so amazing! You’ll definitely do the same in the finals later.”
Song Fu nodded at the reissued answer sheet, looking very satisfied.
Next up was the plot where the male and female leads cleared their misunderstanding and called off the engagement.
Song Fu inexplicably felt a pang of bitterness, like she was the only one still holding on. After all, the current plot trajectory had no room left even for salvage.
…
The scores were freshly released.
Ci Ye’s first glance wasn’t at his own name but Song Fu’s. Confirming it in the first row, he felt genuine happiness, but before his mouth could curve up, his heart sank.
Song Fu was back at first. Did his role as the “fiancé tool character” even need to exist anymore?
“Ci Ye, you improved a lot this time.” Zhu Chenxi checked her own score first and found second place. She felt a bit down, but Song Fu had always been just a few points ahead before, so being surpassed now wasn’t surprising. She quickly adjusted, and seeing Ci Ye’s climb to the mid-ranks gave her a strong sense of accomplishment from effort paying off.
Hearing this, Ci Ye finally remembered to check his own score. He let out an “Mm” without much joy and turned his gaze toward Song Fu’s seat.
Song Fu naturally noticed Ci Ye’s score too.
She figured his mood should be pretty good right now, so discussing the breakup afterward might go smoothly… right?
The System had said that as long as the breakup plot passed, it would meet the passing line, so she was determined to make it happen.
Song Fu clenched her fist, manually pumping herself up.
Vacation.
Ci Ye came to the Song Family as usual to mooch a meal. Mother Song specially had someone prepare the seafood porridge he loved. During dinner, they talked about the latest monthly exam scores. No need to mention Song Fu’s—she got lavishly praised, then advised not to care too much about rankings since a few points’ difference wouldn’t affect university admissions much. As for Ci Ye, his obvious improvement earned encouragement to keep it up; holding steady was fine too.
After eating, Ci Ye prepared to leave.
It was truly strange.
Previously, whenever he came for meals, Ci Ye always lingered awhile, even staying overnight sometimes. Now, he left faster than anyone, as if deliberately avoiding someone.
Song Fu hesitated. Was he really avoiding her? But nothing had happened recently.
The most important thing now was to call him back. “Ci Ye.” She called out.
Ci Ye stopped in his tracks.
Song Fu had someone tell him to come upstairs with her. “I have something to say to you.”
Ci Ye showed no intention of following, staying rooted in place with an inscrutable expression. “Does it have to be now?”
Song Fu paused, not answering immediately.
“It’s something important, right?” Ci Ye muttered to himself and still went upstairs, though visibly reluctant.
Song Fu almost thought Ci Ye had mind-reading powers and already knew what she planned to say.
…
Once in the room, the two went straight to the balcony and sat facing each other. After a moment of silence, Song Fu placed the ring she’d received earlier on the table, organized her words, and got straight to the point. “How about you propose breaking off the engagement?”
Being the one dumped.
The key was that “being” word—without it, the nature changed completely.
In the System’s words, this was the face-slapping arc for the vicious villainess. If the villainess proposed it, that was slapping the male lead’s face. Could they be the same? So this had to come from the male lead.
Song Fu bit her lip, watching Ci Ye’s expression. “You propose the breakup. You can even tell others that I was the one who wanted the engagement initially, and then…”
“You wanted the engagement.” The taut string in his mind finally snapped at that moment. What followed wasn’t anger but a dazed sense of powerlessness.
Ci Ye repeated it expressionlessly. His fingers on the table slowly clenched, knuckles whitening as he stared straight at Song Fu. “So now you’re just going to start something and abandon it at the end?”
“Huh?” Song Fu looked bewildered, not expecting those words to fall on her. She hurriedly waved her hands. “No, no—it’s not me proposing, it’s you…”
Ci Ye interrupted again, grinding his teeth. “You wanting me to propose it and you proposing it yourself—what’s the difference?”
Song Fu smiled awkwardly.
She actually thought there was no difference either; it was mainly because the task judgment was so mechanical that she could exploit this loophole. “At least you won’t lose face?”
Ci Ye didn’t care how others saw him, whether he lost face or not. His tone carried an overflowing grievance. “You want to start something and abandon it at the end. You proposed it, said you wanted the engagement.”
He had liked Song Fu before but never thought of taking it further because he knew she didn’t like him. But she took the initiative, giving him hope, an opportunity, the illusion that they could grow closer… and now she wanted to let go.
“It’s because you got first place this time, realized Zhu Chenxi doesn’t like me, and I’m no use anymore, right? Can’t you just… can’t you…”
Can’t you like me even a little?
Ci Ye couldn’t continue. He didn’t want to go back to how things were before—people were always greedy. “I won’t propose it even if I die.” He enunciated each word, his vocal cords corroded by the sourness rising from his chest, making even speaking difficult.
He heard his own words.
Embarrassing and childish.
Silence fell between them.
Song Fu definitely couldn’t propose it. Faced with the current situation, she belatedly felt a twinge of guilt. “Don’t say it so absolutely.”
Leave some room for negotiation.
Ci Ye wanted to leave.
If he stayed longer, he worried he’d pathetically shed tears.
He stood up, but Song Fu grabbed his sleeve.
“Break off the engagement first. After graduation, we can talk then, okay?”
“Talk about what?” Ci Ye lowered his lashes. “Dating? If not, no deal.”
“Then if you put it that way, it’s not impossible?” Song Fu blinked and still said it. Dating wasn’t such a big deal, especially since Ci Ye was a pretty good guy who liked her.
Youthful affections burned hot, but they always cooled eventually. Maybe after properly dating for a couple days, they’d realize they weren’t suited. The urgent task now was to pass the breakup node. “But you have to propose the breakup. It’s not my idea—right now, the most important thing is studying.”