Chen Zan: “…”
He hadn’t dropped out.
After taking a year off, he went back and finished his studies.
Back then, he had been beaten unconscious by debt collectors. Even now, he didn’t know where he found the courage. On the verge of being beaten to death, he negotiated with them and managed to sign an agreement with the man in charge of the debt.
The agreement stated that if they allowed him to finish his education, he would repay every cent his useless father owed.
Perhaps the man had taken pity on him, thinking that a poor young man shouldn’t be bullied forever.
And just like that, Chen Zan carved out a bloody path for his own survival.
But by that time, Jiang Youwei had already graduated.
Fewer and fewer people at that university still remembered their story.
Meanwhile, Jiang Youwei’s reputation grew louder and louder.
In truth, Chen Zan had always been quietly following her from afar.
She was outstanding. She had partnered with a talented senior from the same top-tier academic background to start a business. She endured countless hardships, and her success had not come easily. She was nothing like the decorative vase those people imagined.
He never expected that their relationship would become a stain on Jiang Youwei’s success.
“Back then, when CEO Jiang’s younger brother was hospitalized, it was Chen Zan who paid the medical bills. If you ask me, the only reason he could be with CEO Jiang was because he was foolish and had too much money.”
That single sentence twisted their past into something ugly, reducing it to a transactional relationship, one giving money and the other needing it, as if it had never been a genuine young romance.
“Otherwise, how could he possibly have had the luck to share such a fairy-tale-like relationship with CEO Jiang?”
After saying all that, the speaker secretly glanced at Jiang Youwei. She showed no anger at all, her gaze still calm and distant.
He cleared his throat and added, “It’s normal if CEO Jiang doesn’t even remember him.”
“Just a playboy, not worth CEO Jiang’s attention.”
“Well, women always have to encounter a few scumbags before they succeed.”
It seemed that since they couldn’t defeat her in business, they resorted to digging into her past relationships, trying to turn them into weaknesses to make her suffer.
Jiang Youwei’s lips curved slightly as she smiled faintly, “How could I not remember?”
The man instantly became even more nervous than Jiang Youwei herself, “Y-you still remember him?”
Jiang Youwei cast him a calm, indifferent glance, then shifted her gaze evenly across the crowd, “Back then, Chen Zan was taller, richer, and more handsome than the so-called tall-rich-handsome ideal. It was only natural that young girls were drawn to him. Who hasn’t had their heart stirred in youth?”
She did not avoid the fact that she and Chen Zan had once been in a relationship with conditions attached.
Hearing this, Chen Zan felt a quiet sense of relief.
She had grown. Even when faced with sharp, probing remarks, she admitted it openly, leaving no room for others to belittle her. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“But later his family went bankrupt, didn’t they? Chen Zan was chased everywhere over the Chen family’s debts, had paint splashed on him, got beaten up, like a stray dog…”
Chen Zan immediately sensed something was wrong. This was getting too close to exposing him.
He quickly set down the champagne tray and took over a dessert cart from another waiter, saying, “I’ll take this.”
Pushing the cart toward their group, he deliberately bumped into the man.
“Sorry, sorry.”
The desserts spilled all over the man’s suit.
“Are you blind or what?” the man snapped.
Chen Zan stepped forward as if to help him up, “I’m really sorry. I can take it to be dry-cleaned, or compensate you with a new suit…”
“You’re just a lousy waiter. Do you think you can afford my expensive suit?”
The man’s face twisted in anger. “Damn it, you stink of poverty. Stay away from me.”
Chen Zan was shoved hard, staggering back several steps. Just as he was about to fall awkwardly, a warm body pressed against his back, carrying a faint, lingering fragrance.