Off stage.

Lu Wan and He Ran were sitting side by side, in front of them was the now enlivened crowd. Amidst the deafening applause, she saw the corners of Gou An’s lips rise slightly. The amplitude was so small that she probably wouldn’t have noticed it if she wasn’t looking carefully.

Gently tugging at He Ran’s sleeve, Lu Wan whispered, “Shall we go?”

The freshman orientation festivities was not supposed to be something the older students like them attended. It was only that her roommate casually said, “I want to see if Gou An will be embarrassed when delivering the speech tonight at the freshmen orientation,” so she came to see it when she had no previous intention of doing so. Just to take a look—

Unexpectedly, Gou An coped well.

At least, for this minute, no one would think about the fact that ‘Gou An stole Lu Wan’s first place’.

Her falling ill was not instigated by others, and her poor performance in the exam was entirely because she didn’t take care of her body. However, Lu Wan also felt regretful. She didn’t want to be so down, and she didn’t want to continue to see the current situation.

She turned her head slightly, uneasy, and looked at the person beside her. He Ran didn’t seem to have much impression of his fiancée who was shining brightly on the stage. His expression was numb from beginning to end, and she didn’t know what he was thinking——

It was fine.

He didn’t applaud.

Secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Lu Wan tugged on his sleeve, and he stood up.

The two of them bent down slightly to minimize their figures and began to walk out of the auditorium. At this time, they suddenly heard an exclamation. Lu Wan saw a student in the front row covering her lips and pointing to the stage—

She looked towards the stage by reflex and saw her own face on the big screen behind Gou An.

To be precise, it was her from more than half a month ago.

On the big screen, everyone was dressed in gorgeous attire, except for Lu Wan, who was wearing the black and white uniform of a waiter. She was standing among her peers, but her face was confused and frightened, and her fingers were tangled together because of nervousness. …

The shot was slightly shaky because of the photographer’s hand.

In the center of the screen, the girl dressed as a waiter lowered her head humbly and said to the person standing in front of her, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know!” 

She really just momentarily forgot which room she put the cat in, and she had no idea cats were allergic to lilies! 

Her voice full of apologies was pitiful.

But the person standing opposite her was indifferent.

She wore a short black dress, long curly hair fluttering slightly in the sea breeze. She raised her head high, her delicate chin and slender neck pulled into an arrogant arc, and she lowered her eyes with contempt.

Then, expressionlessly, she reached out and took a glass of red wine from the tray being held by another waiter beside her and held it high above Lu Wan’s bent head.

Someone in the auditorium exclaimed.

Amidst the crowd’s surprise, in the video, the glass in Gou An’s hand tilted. Under the bright and gorgeous cruise ship deck lights, red wine poured down from Lu Wan’s head drop by drop, soaking her soft black hair into stringy strands.　　

The red wine stained the waiter’s white shirt, and Lu Wan’s eyes gradually turned red in the high-definition video recorded on someone’s phone.

Her delicate hands were tightly clutching the dirty waiter uniform, her fingertips turning white, she lowered her head and said nothing, looking so pitiful.

There was a brief silence in the auditorium.

Suddenly someone sneered, “Sure enough, it was just a nice thing to say. This kind of wealthy daughter has nothing to do with dreams and hard work. They have been at the finish line since they were born. How can they really empathize with ordinary people? Their cold-bloodedness has long been integrated into their bones.”

And Lu Wan, in horror and embarrassment, looked at herself on the big screen; her humble and fearful, trembling voice when she apologized echoed over and over in her mind…

For a moment, she felt like she was back to that night when she was publicly humiliated.

Her eyes quickly turned red again.

As when tears welled up in her eyes, the camera on the big screen seemed to be playing tricks. The camera found her, and it pointed at her face at some point, so at this moment her beauty was once again revealed on the big screen in real time—

With pale cheeks and trembling lips, the moment she looked up and saw her own embarrassment, she screamed and covered her eyes, turned around reflexively and threw herself into He Ran’s arms behind her!

“Snap–!”

During the commotion, an open bottle of drink was thrown at the stage from below!

Gou An, who had been standing on the stage all this time with an expressionless face, was caught off guard and could only raise an arm to block it like reflex!

The arm she flung out was hit hard, and her fair skin quickly turned red due to congestion and swelling. The brown drink splashed and stained Gou An’s white sweater and hoodie!

The scene fell into chaos, and she was not even allowed time to react to what was happening. More people clamored for the person on the stage to end her hypocritical speech.

In the audience, Lu Wan’s eyes were blurred by tears. She buried herself firmly in the boy’s arms. The shame and embarrassment turned into fear, and it took over her. She was shaking crazily—until she felt the person she was holding suddenly tense up.

With tears in her eyes, she reflexively looked back and only had time to see a tall figure jumping up on the stage from below, the suit jacket in his hand covering the panic-stricken Miss Gou—

The suit jacket that was too large for her fell on top of her head, covering her pale face.

The man’s long arm gathered her by the shoulder.

The moment when she was well protected, she seemed to suddenly wake up from her stupor, so from under the suit jacket, a pale arm could be seen struggling to reach out and grab the forgotten microphone—

The next second, an angry voice echoed throughout the auditorium.

“Aren’t you being hilarious? She killed my cat because of her negligence at work that night. Do you want me to smile and say ‘thank you’ to her? A glass of red wine isn’t sulfuric acid and she didn’t even lose a hair. Yet she had to cry pitifully in the end! Shameless! Let my cat come back to life. You can punish me by drenching me in a full bottle of red wine! Come! Where are all the righteous priests of the bright and helpful Holy Light who can cast resurrection spells on my cat! Then you can drench me— Wha—!”

The sound stopped as the microphone was taken away, and the man who stopped her threw the microphone back to the lectern with an amplified ‘thud’.

A vague conversation came through the microphone that had just been thrown away.

“That last part was a bit unnecessary.”

“There’s every need for me to say it. Take your hands away, I haven’t finished yet—”

“Shhh.”

From The Day The Engagement Was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

T/N: Moving forward, this story will be updated twice a week, Fridays and Saturdays, Beijing time (UTC +8)

In the meantime, why not try my other translation work: Serve As Contrast Team in A ‘Dad with Baby’ Show. It’s a ‘dad raises a bun he didn’t know was really his’ story. Funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Chapter 80 is up so there’s a lot to catch up on.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️
Chapter 13.1 — He Ran Makes an Official Announcement on Weibo
Chapter 13.2 — He Ran Makes an Official Announcement on Weibo
Chapter 14.1 — The Gears of Fate Rumble
Chapter 14.2 — The Gears of Fate Rumble
Chapter 15.1 — Soft and gentle
Chapter 15.2 — Soft and gentle