The scene was in chaos. Lu Wan nestled in He Ran’s arms, watching helplessly as Gou An was dragged away by the man who seemed to have fallen from the sky—

The person who dragged Gou An away was none other than He Ran’s young uncle, He Jinxing, that Lu Wan herself had a brief encounter with before.

Mr. He didn’t look like someone who always meddled in other people’s business. After he sent Lu Wan to the hospital that day, he didn’t take any unnecessary follow-up actions—

If it were anyone else, one would inevitably think that this handsome man was a woman hunter who would probably want to take the opportunity to seduce such a beauty. However, once He Ran appeared that day, Mr. He did not linger in the ward any more. When he left, he did not even come back in to talk to her and say goodbye.

But tonight was different.

Perhaps because the person who was attacked was a junior that he knew, at this moment, Mr. He held Gou An in his arms in a protective manner.

He had a strong aura, like a natural barrier. After falling from the sky, no one dared to come within five meters of him…. At this time, he slightly lowered his head and seemed to be patiently speaking to the person who continued to struggle under the cover of his suit.

Seeing the two people disappearing behind the stage curtain, Lu Wan bit her lower lip, feeling indescribable sadness in her heart.

At this time, she was completely out of strength, relying solely on He Ran’s arm around her waist for support.

He Ran helped her sit down on the nearest chair, still in a daze, and she heard someone ask, “Did you kill Gou An’s cat?”

Before she came back to her senses, she vaguely heard someone asking this question, and she replied with soft sobs, “I didn’t mean it. I have never raised a cat. I didn’t know that cats can’t stay in a room with lilies….”

When her voice gradually faded, she raised her head to get some comfort. She glanced over the crowd of people who looked embarrassed after hearing her answer and finally settled on He Ran.

He Ran took his hand away from her shoulder, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Wanwan, I have to go see her.”

Lu Wan was stunned.

There were waves in her eyes.

Before today, she had never felt that Gou An posed any kind of threat to her. He Ran had always been very kind to her. Also, the information she got was that He Ran was very angry that Gou An had deceived him and pretended to be his savior and the two were already discussing the dissolution of their engagement….

These were all told to her by friends around He Ran.

Although their relationship has not yet been confirmed, they would even jokingly refer to her as ‘sister-in-law’ during gatherings.

But now, without waiting for Lu Wan’s consent—it was obvious he was not willing to wait until she answered—He Ran stood up and turned around to leave.

As soon as he took a step, Lu Wan grabbed the index finger of his right hand.

Turning back, the girl looked at him with red eyes, pleading, and whispered, “He Ran, don’t go.”

He Ran pursed his lips silently and said in a voice that only they could hear, “We haven’t canceled our engagement yet. If I don’t go, my young uncle will be angry, then telling my family will be even more troublesome.”

Was that really the case?

Lu Wan’s dark brown eyes, bright with tears, shone with disbelief.

… In fact, it wasn’t just Lu Wan; He Ran himself didn’t believe what he said.

But he still left, leaving behind Lu Wan who was crying again, even though the moment he turned around, she said in a soft, hoarse voice choked with tears, “You think about this. If you leave, we will never speak again.”

Unfortunately, He Ran didn’t seem to hear what she said and walked away without looking back.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

When the backstage curtain was thrown open by the belated arrival of the young man, Gou An had already changed into clean clothes.

After hearing the whole story clearly, a female freshman student quickly defected to Gou An’s camp and temporarily lent her her clean shirt.

The student was 1.72 meters tall. The white long-sleeved shirt was a bit too big for Gou An, covering half of her palms. He Ran took a sharp look and his pupils immediately shrank.

“Where did you get the clothes?” He walked up to Gou An and asked.

Gou An’s entire body was hidden in the shadowy corner of the backstage. She sat on a small chair, hugging her knees to her chest, curled up into a ball.

After hearing He Ran’s voice, she looked up at him in a somewhat dull and numb manner, paused, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Her voice which was usually soft and unknowingly coquettish now sounded cold.

He Ran was stunned for a moment and looked into a pair of dark eyes, which were like a bottomless icy lake.

When the camera had focused on Lu Wan before, it inevitably captured He Ran next to her. So even though she was standing on the stage in the chaos of conflict, Gou An had seen her fiancé and his little girlfriend—mountains without ridges, heaven and earth united, Ziwei and Erkang, Shuhuan and Yi Ping—hugging each other tightly like that.

—It was extremely ironic.

At that moment Gou An was stabbed with hopelessness, and it was also the moment she finally understood why Gou An in the original novel hated Lu Wan so much…

Gou An may not love He Ran, but he had been her companion throughout their youth, and they have been engaged since infancy.

The young man in front of her was tall and handsome, with a heart that wasn’t bad, and perhaps even good enough for his age. She once thought that although this person did not love her as well, if anything happened, he would at least be on her side.

Friendship was also good.

Childhood sweethearts, right?

Every morning after breakfast, she would turn left from the gates of her house, wave to this boy, and ask him if he wanted to go to school with her.

But she was absolutely wrong.

When she was hit by a bottle thrown at her, he was holding another girl who had tears in her eyes but was unharmed, and he just watched from a distance without moving.

This was enough.

Gou An was indeed the first ranking squad leader of the ‘loser’ group. She could apologize to He Ran for her past deception, but she would not allow herself to continue being such a big fool——

She only wanted to apologize to the readers for having any expectations from He Ran.

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

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T/N: I really felt Gou An here 😔 Friendship and long-time companionship should count for something, right?

…

‘Gou An had seen her fiancé and his little girlfriend—mountains without ridges, heaven and earth united, Ziwei and Erkang, Shuhuan and Yi Ping—hugging each other tightly like that.’

The first part are mangled lines from a love poem. Think something like ‘until the oceans run dry’, except it became ‘dried up ocean’ when Gou An said it.

Ziwei and Erkang are from My Fair Princess (1998). It was made with a small budget with then unknown actors and became a massive hit, the characters becoming pretty iconic. The actors went on to have very successful careers.

Shuhuan and Yi Ping are from Romance in the Rain (2001).

You can see from these—as well as the recurring Windows 98 jokes—that the author is of a certain age and very familiar late 90’s to early 2000’s pop culture haha.

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 13.2 — 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