Jiang Sifan was starting to break down.

He felt like this was his darkest hour.

His girlfriend had cheated on him.

His sister had kept secrets from him.

His mom ran into trouble and didn’t even tell him.

He felt like a complete failure.

Seeing this, Jiang Silu quickly tried to comfort him. "It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, I was just afraid you’d get too worked up."

"And I’m not worked up now?" Jiang Sifan shot back.

"No, just let me explain," Jiang Silu replied. "I actually just found out a few days ago myself. Mom never told me either. Her exact words were that she didn’t want her and Dad’s issues to affect our studies and our lives. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you. I’ve just been so busy these past few days working on my project for the design competition."

Hearing this, Jiang Sifan calmed down a little.

Seeing her chance, Jiang Silu lowered her voice. "I listened to you, you know. I haven’t contacted Dad. But... he has been secretly helping me."

"Helping you?" Jiang Sifan asked, confused. "With what? Did he give you living expenses? Or does helping you mean he bought you an iPhone?"

"Don’t think I’m so shallow. Of course it wasn’t material things," Jiang Silu replied. "He found out I was entering the Jiangnan Garden Cup design competition, so he specially invited a nationally renowned master of garden design to give us a lecture. Then he even arranged for that professor to take me on as an apprentice."

Jiang Sifan was stunned.

He couldn’t believe what his sister was saying.

Of course, Jiang Silu knew her brother didn’t believe her, so she continued to explain. "I didn’t know at first, either. Mom was the one who told me. That’s how I found out he’s been quietly looking out for me."

She quickly added, "Oh, and he also helped me get in touch with that design professor I’ve always admired. He’s taking me to visit her on Saturday..."

"He Fengchun?"

Jiang Silu nodded. "Wow, I’m surprised you remember."

"You used to carry that book she edited around everywhere," Jiang Sifan explained. "I remember telling you to focus on your schoolwork instead, so her name stuck with me."

After hearing this, Jiang Silu spoke her mind. "Our dad really is rich and well-connected. It would have been great if he’d shown up a few years earlier."

But, considerate of Jiang Sifan’s feelings, she added firmly, "Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to forgive him that easily. I already told him that if he thinks doing all this will make me forgive him, I’d rather not accept any of it."

Jiang Sifan fell silent for a moment. He looked at Jiang Silu and said, "It’s okay. If he can bring you advantages and make things easier for your life and your studies, then you should accept it without feeling bad about it. Don’t feel guilty at all. It’s just... I can’t accept him being in our lives right now. Too much has happened today. I can’t handle it all at once. I need some time."

"Okay..."

Just then, the taxi driver called out, "Here we are, Jinling Institute of Technology."

Jiang Sifan said, "This is my stop."

He then told the driver, "The next stop is Jinling University. Thanks."

Jiang Silu watched him and waved. "Get some rest. Try not to think about anything. Tomorrow is a new day."

Jiang Sifan didn’t look overly heartbroken. He just gave a small smile, then turned and left.

But the moment he turned away, his expression twisted in pain.

’Try not to think about anything? Impossible.’

Just yesterday.

Jiang Sifan had been dreaming about getting his business off the ground, making it up to Huang Hui, and pouring all his energy into her.

But after today, he was single.

"Screw it. Women are worthless! I’ll never trust a woman again as long as I live!"

"If I ever trust a woman again, I’m a dog!"

Cursing under his breath, Jiang Sifan headed toward his dorm.

As he neared the entrance to the dormitory complex, he noticed a girl standing by the gate.

Something about her silhouette...

Jiang Sifan asked, surprised and confused, "Wen Wan?"

Wen Wan was shivering from the cold. When she saw Jiang Sifan, a smile appeared on her face, and she said shyly, "Cla... Class President."

"Are you waiting for someone?" Jiang Sifan wondered aloud.

"I..." Wen Wan was at a loss for words.

When she didn’t say anything, it slowly dawned on him. "You... you haven’t been waiting for me outside the men’s dorm all this time, have you?"

Found out, Wen Wan blushed even more furiously.

Her hands nervously wrung the hem of her clothes as she explained in a tiny voice, "I was worried something had happened to you... so I thought I’d wait here at the dorm until you came back."

Hearing this, the ice around Jiang Sifan’s heart began to thaw.

He looked at Wen Wan, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "If you wanted to ask what was going on, you could have just sent me a message."

"I was afraid I’d be bothering you," Wen Wan said, then asked cautiously, "Are... are you okay?"

’What an incredible girl,’ Jiang Sifan thought, listening to her.

He was still shrouded in the gloom of his recent heartbreak.

But Wen Wan’s concern eased his troubled mind, if only a little.

He glanced at his phone. Seeing it was still early, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Come on, I’ll take you out for some barbecue."

And just like that, Jiang Sifan took Wen Wan to a street-side food stall.

At a small, out-of-the-way table, Jiang Sifan began to vent as he ate lamb skewers. "Sorry you have to see me like this... My girlfriend cheated on me. She got with another guy, so I went to confront them today. When I saw them together... I couldn’t hold back. I hit them..."

Wen Wan just listened quietly, never interrupting. When Jiang Sifan finished a glass of beer, she would just silently pour him another.

As the night wore on, the alcohol started to get to him, his face flushing as he grew more and more worked up.

His eyes grew wet. "Back in high school... my grades were good, but I didn’t have many close friends. They were all into buying sneakers and playing video games together, but I spent my weekends helping my mom as much as I could, just to make her life a little easier."

"Then one day, she brought me breakfast, and I just... I felt like I had to spend the rest of my life treating her right."

"I even dreamed about the day our business took off. I was going to take her out for amazing meals, take her to do all the fun things..."

"But now... none of that will ever happen."

The emotions Jiang Sifan had been bottling up for so long finally came pouring out.

At the police station, he had to put on a brave face, projecting the image of a tough guy who could stand strong even when everyone betrayed him.

In the taxi, he had to act calm for Jiang Silu, to play the part of the cool older brother who wasn’t worried about being alone, just that he’d misjudged someone.

But now, he couldn’t keep up the act.

’He was just an eighteen-year-old boy, barely an adult,’ Jiang Sifan thought. ’He needed care and affection, too.’

At that thought, he began to cry.

He didn’t care what the students at the next table thought. He just sat there and sobbed.

Somehow, as time trickled by, as he cried and grew drunker, Jiang Sifan buried his head in Wen Wan’s embrace.

Wen Wan tensed for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked his head, whispering, "Class President... It’s all going to be okay."

She looked up at the starry sky, her own life flashing through her mind.

She suddenly felt that she had found a kindred spirit.