Chapter 135

  Xiao Susu suppressed her emotions and brought another set of bowls and chopsticks to the living room. On TV, the Spring Festival Gala was coming to an end, with songs and dances that were not exciting enough. Luo Fei frowned and changed the channel, switching to a local satellite TV station that was airing a self-produced Spring Festival drama. The comedy stars were using all their skills to try to make people laugh, but every joke seemed intentionally awkward, making people laugh reluctantly.

  Luo Fei glanced at the TV and ate a dumpling, his expression calm and tranquil, but for some reason, Xiao Susu felt a sense of unease.

  "Is it delicious?" She pretended to be casual and sat down beside Luo Fei, "I've been wrapping for the whole afternoon, my hands are all swollen."

  Luo Fei lifted his head from the TV and looked at her, then stared at her hand.

  Xiao Su subconsciously hid her hands under the table.

  "Rub some ointment on it later," Luo Fei said, "Don't work so hard in the future."

  "No hardship, no hardship!" Xiao Susu smiled brightly, "I want you to eat happily. After all, this is the first time we're spending New Year's together. By the way, will the filling be too salty? I have no experience, it's my first time..."

  The words suddenly stopped, and Xiao SuSu met the rushing gaze, and she had a feeling that she was being seen through.

  Her bright smile gradually faded away.

  "It's not necessarily what it will be like next year." Lu Fei picked up his bowl and took a bite of the last dumpling, but couldn't taste any flavor. He ate slowly, saying: "Tonight all the employees who stayed behind at the company went out for dinner, but no one invited me - this might be a sign. Maybe after I finish what Xiao Jin left for me to do, I won't have any work to do anymore."

  He turned his head, a bit of white soup hanging from the corner of his mouth, making him look sloppy and not at all like the idol who drove countless people crazy.

  "I'll be just like you." Luo Fei looked at her, word by word, "Buried in snow."

  "A Fei, don't say that, it won't happen, how could you be frozen out?" Xiao Su Su grasped his hand tightly, looking even more anxious than Luo Fei. "You're the company's ace, Bei Ge isn't stupid, he wouldn't go to great lengths to make an idol popular only to destroy him!"

  "Is it hard to make an idol popular?" Luo Fei let her grab him, his eyes cold and detached. "The company has so many newcomers, each with their own strengths. As long as you're willing to put in the time and effort, making an idol popular isn't difficult. Just like me back then, I just participated in a competition, sang a few songs, and somehow became popular out of nowhere. Want to be popular? Not hard."

  "Lu Fei, you can't say that. I'm well aware of your efforts from the beginning, and I've seen it all! You can't be so pessimistic... even if not for yourself, then for us. I have nothing left, only you!"

  "Hmph." Kong Fei suddenly laughed softly.

  This laughter started with a few cracked sounds, but the more he laughed, the louder his voice became, as if on one hand he was laughing, and on the other hand, he was bringing up many unbearable and unmentionable pains, until finally, it was heart-wrenching and lung-splitting, the mad laughter seemed like crying.

  Xiao Su quietly withdrew her hand.

  She didn't dare touch Luo Fei again.

  She didn't even want to sit in front of him anymore, she wanted to avoid him.

  Looking at Xiao Su's fearful and shrinking appearance, Luo Fei suddenly stopped laughing.

  "Susu, you don't love me, why did you deceive me?" His voice was very calm.

  Xiao Susu's body shook slightly, and she involuntarily took a step back.

  Luo Fei pushed away the bowl in front of him and asked again: "Su Su, why did you deceive me?"

  Xiao Su lowered her head and didn't respond, only staring at the pair of hands hidden under the table. She had really made dumplings for Luo Fei with her own hands all afternoon, from kneading the dough to seasoning the filling. How many times did a girl of her age get to do such things in a year? But she did it without complaint, even with joy. As she wrapped the dumplings into shape, she fantasized about Luo Fei eating them one by one. She felt extremely happy, and at that moment, she had the feeling that spending a lifetime with this person wouldn't be bad either.

  So...

  "I may not love you enough, but I really like you." Xiao Susu looked at Luo Fei, trying to smile, "Really, Luo Fei, I really like you. I've liked you since the first time I saw you."

  Luo Fei believed this sentence, she indeed liked herself, and also liked Qi Yi Chen, liking many of the same period trainees.

  At first, she was a simple and kind girl who was good to others and thought that no one in the world would deceive her.

  "Susu," Ling Fei said, "those photos were taken by someone you asked to, right? And the person who sent me the photos later was also you?"

  Xiao Su wanted to explain, but Luo Fei cut her off abruptly and sneered: "Only you and I knew the location of our appointment. If it wasn't you who had arranged for someone to ambush us there, how could they have taken such clear photos every time? My schedule is only known to those closest to me, except for you. If it wasn't you, why would the timing of sending the photos be so coincidental, causing me to become flustered?"

  Luo Fei stared at her, while Xiao SuSu lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

  "Susu, there are many clues like this, you're not a skilled liar, think carefully, actually you're full of loopholes, it's just that I've never doubted you before." Luo Fei snorted and asked in a low voice, "Susu, now that things have come to this, I only want to know, why did you deceive me?"

  "For the money." Xiao Susu relaxed her shoulders, looked up at Luo Fei, and didn't need to lie anymore, letting her whole body relax. "Luo Fei, being a star was never my dream. I just wanted to participate in the competition, win the championship, and get the prize money. I wanted to use this money to go abroad and do what I want to do. But gradually, I found that winning the championship is not realistic at all. I couldn't even get what I wanted through this competition. I quarreled with my family for this competition, and I was even forced to drop out of school because I skipped class for too long. I can't go back home, can't go back to school, and can't win the championship either. I'm already... at a dead end."

  She put her hands on the table, propping herself up: "At that time, Shu Mu's agent found me. He asked if I was willing to help him with something, and of course, he would also give me some money as compensation. Luo Fei, I thought it was just a casual romance, besides, I didn't dislike you. But later on, I discovered that the things he wanted me to do kept increasing, even many things I didn't want to do at all. Now, I'm in too deep and it's already too late to say anything."

  Her eyes were filled with tears, and in the past, as long as she looked at Luo Fei like this and said a few gentle words, Luo Fei would be completely defenseless. But now, that bit of fake affection had finally been exhausted.

  "Susu, you're still lying," said Lu Fei coldly. "You're not in a difficult situation, you're just greedy. You've got one sum of money and you want more. You use me as a tool to make money, even now you haven't changed. Shu Mu's agent hasn't contacted you for a long time, has he? You can't get the money, and you're being frozen out. Your future is uncertain and unreliable, all that's left is me. So what you just said to me, that you have nothing now, it's true, you really have nothing."

  Xiao Su's face turned pale in an instant.

  "When all the love has turned into unbearable memories, at this moment, Luo Fei looked at Xiao Su Su with only a heart full of disgust: 'How could I have misunderstood Little Jin for someone like you? Ridiculous, truly ridiculous...'"

  "Run away, run away!" Xiao Susu suddenly pounced on him, tightly grasping his hand. "Are you going to leave me? I beg of you, don't leave me! Please, I'll change, I really like you, let's start over, okay?"

  Her tears had smudged her face, making those lovely apple cheeks and long eyelashes look like wilted flowers, utterly unattractive. Luo Fei pushed her away, gritting his teeth: "We can't start over again, Xiao Susu, just thinking of your name makes me feel sick."

  "No, no." Xiao Susu's mouth opened slightly as she struggled to grab Luo Fei's sleeve, "Luo Fei, listen to me..."

  Luo Fei swung her arm and pushed her away.

  With a burst of great force, Xiao Susu was already unstable in the first place, and with a flick of her wrist, she was heavily flung onto the sofa. Her back hit the backrest of the sofa, producing a dull thud. She let out a pained hum, slumping forward on the sofa, unable to move anymore.

  Luo Fei thought she was pretending to be pitiful again, didn't even look at her, got up and walked towards the bedroom. When he reached the door, he turned his head back and looked at Xiao Su Su, who was still in the same posture.

  A strong sense of unease suddenly surged up in his mind. He turned around and softly called out to the person on the sofa: "Su Su?"

  Her long hair fell down, covering Xiao Susu's profile, she seemed to have died, motionless on the sofa, but came back to life with this one call.

  Fingers trembled slightly, followed by the entire arm propping up the weight of the body. Xiao Susu lifted her head, her gaze passing through the disheveled hair, looking towards Luo Fei.

  "I agree to break up," she said. "But Luo Fei, I'm a girl, so just pity me this once and don't break up with me right after announcing our relationship, okay?"

  Luo Fei didn't answer.

  "Ruo Fei, please... I'm begging you." Xiao Su's tone was humble to the extreme, pleading bitterly, "After Li Jin returns, I'll go in front of him and admit that everything was my doing. I'll help you guys clear up the misunderstanding. I'll even take the initiative to terminate my contract with the company. So Ruo Fei, please don't be so cruel to me... just delay announcing our breakup for now, I'm begging you..."

  "Alright." After hesitating for a long time, Luo Fei finally nodded, "Although the announcement is delayed, at this moment, we are no longer related."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked back into the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

  Xiao Su slowly fell back onto the central sofa, her long hair covering her face, and a desperate and crazy smile curled up at the corner of her lips.