novelraw Chapter 076 Playing House
Chapter 076 Playing House
The banquet hall was deathly silent.
Only the champagne tower's spilled liquid dripped "drip, drip" from the edge of the tablecloth onto the carpet.
Each sound was like a countdown to being slowly sliced to death.
Jiang Ci stood still.
His suit was soaked with splashed wine, making him look quite disheveled.
But he didn't move.
Those eyes, once brimming with starlight, are now tinged with a heartbreaking confusion and stubbornness.
He looked at Wen Ning, his voice hoarse, even carrying a hint of urgency as he tried to wake her:
"You think I'm poor?"
"Wen Ning, don't you think that's a terrible reason?"
He took a step forward, his eyes fixed on her.
"You know who I am. You've been to the old house and met my grandfather."
"I'm giving you the Jiang family's assets, the hundreds of millions of dollars that Limitless just raised, and even all the properties under my name, that black card with unlimited credit...
He doesn't understand.
If it were for money, he would have offered her all the wealth in the world.
Why does she still need to use such a clumsy excuse?
Wen Ning looked at him, who was still trying to reason with him and try to salvage the situation.
My heart aches so much I feel like I'm suffocating.
Her nails dug deep into her palms, using the excruciating pain to maintain the faltering mask of indifference on her face.
My eyes were already sore and sore.
A thin layer of mist rose up, but she forced it back by staring intently into her wide eyes.
Yes.
He is rich and comes from a good family.
So ordinary excuses won't hurt him.
We must... pierce deeper.
It pierced his proudest spine.
[Host, don't be soft-hearted!]
The system screamed in her mind.
Attack his pride! Mock his "struggle"! Tell him you look down on a childish guy like him who has to struggle to prove himself!
Wen Ning took a deep breath.
Even his breathing was trembling.
She raised her chin, trying to make an almost pitying look, as if she were looking at a child.
However, the corner of her mouth was twitching.
That mocking smile was so piercing, it looked like she was crying.
"Yes, Young Master Jiang."
She spoke.
Her voice trembled noticeably, yet she deliberately suppressed it to sound extremely cold.
"I know you have money."
"I know you have the Jiang family backing you, living in a mansion like a royal palace."
Jiang Ci's eyes lit up for a moment.
I thought she had changed her mind.
However, the next second.
Wen Ning's words were like a bucket of water with ice crystals poured over someone's head.
"But so what?"
She spread her hands, pointed to the magnificent banquet hall, and then pointed to Jiang Ci.
My fingers were trembling slightly.
"That money belongs to your grandfather and your parents."
"And what about you?"
She shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes, but forced herself to look weary.
"Over the past year, you've been working like a madman, staying up all night, writing code, raising investment, and putting on a smiling face for people."
"He even drank himself into the hospital for a few million in funding."
"You're just trying to prove yourself? For the sake of that so-called... 'able to support me without my family'?"
Wen Ning sighed.
Her voice choked for a moment, then immediately became sharp.
"Jiang Ci, don't you feel tired?"
"But I'm tired of watching."
"This kind of 'passionate struggle' drama is just self-indulgent sentimentality from boys like you who haven't grown up yet."
"In my eyes..."
She parted her red lips slightly and uttered three words.
With a sob in her voice, yet utterly cruel:
"That's incredibly stupid."
"play house".
"I grew up in the Zhou family. What I want is ready-made power, the ease of standing at the top of the pyramid and solving everything with a flick of my finger."
"Instead of playing this game of starting from scratch with a boy who hasn't even been weaned yet."
"You want me to wait three years? Five years? Until you go public?"
Wen Ning looked at him, tears finally welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over.
"I don't have that patience."
Jiang Ci swayed slightly.
His face was as pale as paper.
If he didn't rely on his family, he would indeed still be in the early stages of starting his business.
His proud independence, and the days and nights he worked tirelessly for her.
In her eyes.
It was just... "stupid"? Just "playing house"?
"play house……"
He muttered to himself, the light in his eyes gradually fading.
"So... that's what you were thinking?"
"Otherwise what?"
Wen Ning tightened her grip on Zhou Xu's arm.
She leaned almost her entire weight on Zhou Xu, because her legs were so weak she could barely stand.
"Look at you, then look at Zhou Xu."
"He is mature, steady, and in charge of a huge corporation."
"What he can give me is an 'ease' that someone like you, who still has to struggle to prove yourself, can never give."
"I just want to reap the benefits without sowing."
"I don't want to suffer with you."
That's the most ruthless one.
It's not that I think he's poor.
Instead, they thought he was "childish" and that he was "too much trouble."
It negated all his efforts as a man to independently support himself.
"and……"
To make him give up completely, Wen Ning decided to deliver the final blow.
She looked into Jiang Ci's eyes.
Those eyes that once captivated and enchanted her.
At this moment, she was going to extinguish the light inside herself.
"You think I really love you?"
Wen Ning scoffed.
The laughter was broken, even a little hoarse.
"Don't be naive, School Heartthrob Jiang."
"I just... wanted to try it out."
"You are the unattainable beauty of A University. So many girls like you, but no one can pluck you."
"I just wanted to see what it felt like to bring you down from your pedestal."
"I want to see just how funny it is to see the aloof and celibate Jiang Ci go crazy, become humble, and act like a lapdog for a woman."
Wen Ning's fingernails had dug deep into Zhou Xu's arm muscles, even drawing blood.
She was trembling.
My whole body was shaking violently.
But her voice had to be as cold as a demon's.
"Now I see it."
"You peeled shrimp for me, washed my hands, got soaked in the rain for me, and abandoned your principles for me."
"Even if I throw the necklace into the wine, you still want me to come home."
"Tsk."
She shook her head, and finally, unable to hold back her tears, a single tear slid down her cheek.
But she immediately turned her head away, raised her hand and wiped it away fiercely, not wanting him to see that bit of weakness.
"It's boring."
"This is so incredibly boring."
"The novelty has worn off, and I've had enough of it."
"You're not challenging at all right now, you just make me feel..."
She turned her head.
Those bloodshot eyes were filled with tears, yet also with unwavering resolve.
She looked at him as if she wanted to see all the love in her life.
Then, he uttered the last two words:
"I'm annoyed."
Dead silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone around was stunned.
This is absolutely devastating.
A sincere relationship was degraded into a malicious "hunting game".
Jiang Ci stood there.
It's like a sculpture whose soul has been drained.
He looked at Wen Ning.
Looking at her slightly red eyes and her trembling lips.
But he could no longer tell whether it was acting or genuine feeling.
Those words hurt too much.
The pain was so intense that he lost the ability to think.
I've had enough fun.
Bored.
childish.
So it turns out... it was all a lie.
Those embraces on rainy nights, those caregivers when I was sick, those fireworks by the sea.
They were all just pastimes for her when she was bored.
It was all... an act done to make him look foolish.
"Oh……"
A broken, soft laugh escaped from Jiang Ci's throat.
The light in his eyes.
It's completely extinguished.
Instead, there was only a desolate, lifeless wasteland.
【drop--】
[System assessment: Task completion rate 100%.]
[The male protagonist's pride is shattered. His heartbreak level has reached its peak.]
[Darkening value... Loading.]