Chapter 200

Chapter 200

"Please enjoy. The soup is very good. If you’d like, we can bring more."

"Thank you." Zhong Ning smiled at her.

"The dishes are ready. Let’s eat."

Zhong Ning picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful of soup, blew on it carefully a few times before tasting it. It smelled fragrant, and though rich in flavor, it wasn’t greasy at all—its taste was mellow and smooth.

It really tasted good. As expected of a century-old establishment.

With the mindset of savoring fine food, she ate earnestly, scooping meat from the pot and mixing the soup into her rice.

Xie Shiqing was like a machine newly learning to be human, mimicking the person opposite her—drinking soup, eating dishes—but her movements were stiff and mechanical, her gaze empty and lifeless.

Her body remained here, yet her soul was already shattered and scattered.

Zhong Ning’s voice was gentle, like a flowing stream, but as those words slipped from her lips, they turned into sharp shards of ice midair, piercing through Xie Shiqing’s soul, shattering it into a thousand fragments.

She hadn’t meant it like that. She hadn’t thought that far...

But wasn’t that exactly what Zhong Ning said—that she only ever thought about herself, never about her?

She couldn’t even form a word in defense.

She shouldn’t have asked. She shouldn’t have taken Zhong Ning’s recent mildness as a sign of opportunity, shouldn’t have deliberately asked, trying to probe her thoughts indirectly.

Zhong Ning truly never lied.

And she did answer.

But that answer shattered the last illusion she had left.

She didn’t even know how she managed to finish that meal or how she got back to the hotel.

"I want to go back to my room and sleep for a while."

Xie Shiqing’s mind was clouded. Before completely losing the ability to speak, she barely managed to say that sentence.

Maybe someday she would recover and regain her strength—but right now, all she wanted was to curl up in bed, wrapped tightly in a blanket, hoping that her broken bones could somehow heal again, granting her the strength to move once more.

It hurt so much.

She had indeed done wrong.

But she really was trying to change.

Gaining Zhong Ning’s forgiveness would be simple—this person was born with a kind and tender heart, easily capable of understanding every kind of suffering, even the reasons behind her actions.

But Zhong Ning had made it clear—she could understand, but she would never accept.

What should she do, then...

Xie Shiqing collapsed heavily onto the bed. Tears welled up from the corners of her eyes, soaking the pillowcase.

After crying for too long, her nose became clogged. She could only breathe through her mouth, but her throat burned as though sliced open by blades—each breath tore the wound anew.

Zhong Ning leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh.

She knew that saying those words would hurt Xie Shiqing—but she still said them.

It was better to speak plainly now than to keep things ambiguous, giving that person false hope only to extinguish it later.

The longer the time dragged on, the deeper the pain. It was better to lay everything bare sooner.

In truth, when she spoke, she wasn’t entirely calm—there had been a trace of resentment. She wasn’t a saint, nor a detached observer. How could she possibly feel no emotion at all? How could she truly be at peace and forgive her completely?

She had lived for over twenty years, a quarter of her life gone by—and the first person ever to hurt her had been Xie Shiqing.

The second time, the third time—it was still her.

A smooth-sailing life, and the only time she stumbled—she stumbled over this one person. And not just once.

She had seen plenty of posts online in the past—people troubled by love, unable to forget their exes, or tangled in emotional drama with their current partners. Every time Zhong Ning read them, she felt both pity and confusion.

Why stay after being hurt? Why couldn’t they just love themselves more?

But now that it was her turn, she finally understood—saying those things was always easier than doing them.

Hadn’t she loved herself enough? She had pulled away in time, cut her losses early. But when it came to feelings, who could really be that resolute, cut ties completely, and feel no regret at all?

In moments of sorrow, all she could think of were the painful memories. Yet once she calmed down, the sweet ones resurfaced, one after another.

At least those moments of happiness had been real. And her love—had been real, too.

Zhong Ning patted her face.

“Pull yourself together,” she murmured, “don’t keep dwelling on love and heartbreak. There’s still a career to build.”

Shifting focus was always the best way to cut off emotions.

Zhong Ning logged into her account on an international platform, which she hadn’t updated in days. After thinking for a moment, she took her phone and stepped outside, heading up to the rooftop. From the high vantage point, she filmed the scenery of Shancheng, then turned the camera toward herself and said with a soft smile, “Good afternoon.”

“I’ve returned to my own country, so my update frequency may drop a bit. After all, I still have to go to school. My account on domestic platforms has the same name, and I’ll be posting videos there as well. I think there should be some domestic viewers watching, right? You won’t have to go through the trouble of using a VPN anymore.”

“The original intention behind making videos was just to unwind, to document a bit of my life. I didn’t expect to suddenly gain so many fans who like me. I’m really grateful. My journey in Country S felt like a soul-cleansing experience. I received a lot of love and help, and I want to pass that love on. I’ll donate a portion of what I earn to charity, hoping to help more children who are suffering—so they might grow up healthy and live happy lives.”

The breeze lifted her blue hair, and her eyes reflected the blue sky and white clouds, a clear sky in her gaze. “No matter what hardships we go through, we must always keep a bit of hope in our hearts, and believe—love is the one constant theme in this world.”

“I hope all of you watching this can live the life you wish for.”

The video was very short—just a few minutes long, making it the shortest one she had ever posted.

But its popularity skyrocketed almost instantly, quickly climbing to the top of the rankings.

Zhong Ning had never interacted with her fans before. Even when her follower count increased, she never acknowledged it, never checked the comments, never engaged—she simply posted and left. Many had speculated about her: her nationality, her age. This was the first time she had clearly spoken at such length, and it was addressed directly to her fans. A lot of people were caught off guard, pleasantly surprised.