Li Rong's furious expression when he mentioned Tang Tianyu resurfaced in Fang Yuan's mind.
Was Tang Tianyu really, as Li Rong claimed, a beast in human form who played with people's feelings?
Fang Yuan was still debating whether to confront him. At that moment, Tang Tianyu spotted her not far away. He scurried over, leaving her too late to avoid him even if she wanted to.
Tang Tianyu seemed pleasantly surprised. "Fang Yuan, I finally see you."
"Yeah," Fang Yuan grudgingly replied.
"What did Li Rong say to you?"
Fang Yuan's tone was cold. "I don't think I'm obligated to tell you."
Tang Tianyu was choked by Fang Yuan's words, his face ashen, and he was speechless for a moment.
Fang Yuan ignored him and walked around him toward the girls' dormitory.
Tang Tianyu, however, caught up with her from behind, blocking her path.
"I know Li Rong hates me and wants to kill me to avenge his girlfriend, Cheng Li. I can easily guess what he said to you: I played with and abandoned Cheng Li, leading to her suicide. However, things are not as simple as we imagine. I hope you can give me a chance and listen to my explanation. Even the most heinous murderer should be given a final opportunity to appeal in court."
Fang Yuan sighed and said, "I'll give you five minutes."
"Actually, I never liked Cheng Li, nor was we ever in love." Tang Tianyu, knowing Fang Yuan wouldn't believe him, emphasized, "What do you think of Li Rong?"
" Li Rong? He—" Fang Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "I've only met Li Rong twice, I don't know him at all."
"That's true. Let me tell you, Li Rong is an introvert. He appears gentle and refined, with a certain intellectual air, but in reality, he's just a bookworm with no sense of romance, and he has no idea how to please a girl. Pursuing Cheng Li was the biggest gamble of his life. Luckily, he succeeded, and Cheng Li became his girlfriend. He thought that once they were in a relationship, their relationship was sealed, and he could rest easy, losing the passion he had felt when pursuing Cheng Li. Little did he know, Cheng Li soon became disappointed and tired of this bland, lacking in passion and romance."
It's easy to fall in love, but it's hard to stay together. Fang Yuan could imagine Cheng Li's feelings at the time. A beautiful girl, in her prime, surrounded by countless adoration, found a premature relationship boring. All girls are like this: they always want boys to constantly talk about "love." In reality, if a boy truly loves a girl, he won't say the word "love" lightly, let alone constantly. He genuinely hates demanding anything in the name of love, including someone's affection. True love involves taking concrete actions to make her happy, quietly sacrificing himself for her happiness.
"Just then, through a friend's introduction, my boys' dorm became a friendly dorm with Cheng Li's girls' dorm 441, and that's how I got to know her. After a few interactions, she felt my outgoing personality and humor were exactly what Li Rong lacked. She came up with an idea: pretending to admire me, she broke up with Li Rong, hoping to get him to change his reserved nature. As you know, the idiot Li Rong agreed without hesitation, leaving her with no choice but to force her into a relationship with me out of self-esteem."
Tang Tianyu felt a little sad when he spoke of this. "Girls are always like this. They like to change their boyfriends to suit their own imaginations. Generally speaking, a person's personality is formed in childhood; how can it be easily changed? At first, Cheng Li was waiting for Li Rong to wake up, for him to beg her to come back. But as time went on, Cheng Li's behavior became increasingly erratic. Finally, she told me she had fallen in love with me. The problem was, I had always treated her as my own... "I've never considered dating my sister. Every girl has her Prince Charming, and every boy has his Snow White. Cheng Li isn't my Snow White; she's not my type."
Fang Yuan asked, "Then why didn't you talk to Li Rong and ask him to go after Cheng Li again?"
Tang Tianyu smiled bitterly. "Do you think I haven't approached him? At first, I tried to imply that he should give me a fair fight to win Cheng Li back. But he solemnly said he respected Cheng Li's choice, voluntarily withdrew, and asked me to treat her well. Later, I went back to him and told him that all this was Cheng Li's plan to goad him. He didn't believe me at all. He accused me of wanting to abandon Cheng Li after playing with her feelings and threatening to kill me if I let her down. I really didn't know how to explain it to him. I'd never met such a foolish boy. You could say he's stupid; his academic performance is exceptional. You can say he's not stupid, but when it comes to relationships, he's truly clueless."
Fang Yuan hadn't expected Li Rong to be this kind of person. Come to think of it, how could an introverted boy focused on his studies, with no romantic experience, possibly understand a girl's thoughts?
"What happened next?"
"What happened next? Of course I rejected Cheng Li. I believe in love, I hold it sacred and solemn, and I wouldn't easily sully it. While I sympathize with Cheng Li and hope to maintain our friendship, it has nothing to do with love. Friendship is friendship, love is love; the two are distinct and cannot be confused. Cheng Li approached me several times, but I deliberately avoided her. I guess she knew she couldn't force it, and she gradually distanced herself from me."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, I never expected she would commit suicide! To this day, I still don't believe she committed suicide because of a breakup. We were never in a relationship, so how could it be a case of a breakup? Besides, there were plenty of other boys pursuing her, so there was no need for her to dwell on it. Suicide. Besides, I hadn't spoken to her for over a month when she committed suicide. How could she have killed herself because of me?!"
Tang Tianyu was a little emotional at this point. "No matter how I explained, Li Rong wouldn't believe me. Once, I saw him sneaking up on me, a hidden knife in hand. I knew he wanted to hurt me! This nerd has a stubborn mind, always dwelling on a rut, never knowing how to think. He's ruining himself by doing this. Actually, his life story is quite pitiful. He came from a poor family, his father died young, and his mother raised him single-handedly. I had no choice but to avoid him and wait until he sobered up before explaining things to him."
Fang Yuan was so engrossed in her listening that she had forgotten the five-minute time limit. If Tang Tianyu wasn't lying, and Cheng Li's suicide wasn't caused by a broken heart, then what was it?
She recalled Li Rong's description of Cheng Li at the time: disillusioned with reality, she'd become fascinated with metaphysics, spending her days in mystery, studying some flashy, mystical subjects.
"Did you know that Cheng Li later became interested in metaphysics?"
"I've heard of it."
"What were they specifically?"
Tang Tianyu shook his head. "I was so busy avoiding her at the time, how could I have the energy to observe these things?"
Fang Yuan was a little disappointed.
Tang Tianyu suddenly remembered something. "But then, she once asked me if anyone in this world could really see other people's futures?"
Fang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Was Cheng Li referring to premonitions? It's said that in addition to the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, humans have a sixth sense—premonition. However, this strange feeling has degenerated with human evolution. It also exists in some animals. For example, vultures grazing on carrion in the vast desert can always sense the scent of death.
"Are you done? Can I go now?" Fang Yuan didn't want to be too late. After all, today was her first class.
"Okay, I've said everything I need to say. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." Tang Tianyu glanced at Fang Yuan, seemingly reluctant to leave.
Fang Yuan ignored him and walked into the girls' dormitory without looking back. In reality, she had been wondering what Tang Tianyu meant by saying all this to her. Why did he bother to explain his relationship with Cheng Li to her? Could he really be in love with her?
Fang Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and she nearly missed a step on the stairs. She paused, hiding in a corner of the girls' dormitory. She glanced back furtively, only to see Tang Tianyu still standing there, gazing intently toward Dormitory 441, a wave of melancholy filling her.