Chapter 59: Breakdown – Don’t Ask, Don’t Pursue, Why Can’t You Learn to Be Good…
“Click.”
The closed door thoroughly cut off the disturbances from the outside world. Inside the private room, the air stagnated, permeated by the strong smell of sobering alcohol, almost suffocating. And in the center of the mess was that figure sunk deep into the sofa, drunk to the point of unconsciousness.
The world suddenly went quiet, quiet enough to hear the heart in his chest beating disorderly against his ribs, forming a rhythm that couldn’t blend with the other party’s heavy breathing.
Jiang Yunian dragged his heavy feet, stepping one deep, one shallow on the carpet, approaching that familiar figure. He looked at Jiang Yan, looked at this person he regarded as the closest and most important. This angelic face, at this moment, was like a black mirror, reflecting his teetering world. A biting chill spread silently from the depths of his heart, seeping into his limbs and bones.
He had to admit, even at this moment, even when the truth was ready to burst out, a tiny extravagant hope still existed in his heart, hoping this was just a misunderstanding.
Otherwise, how could he accept it?
This person before him was the one he personally saved from the mud. This person called him “Ge” time and again, held him at the tip of his heart, treating him like a treasure. He would wash his hands to make soup for him, taking care of him in every detail, reluctant to let him do dirty or tiring work; he would stand up without hesitation when he was wronged, protecting him firmly behind his back; he would use endless patience and gentleness to coax him, love him, saying he loved him over and over in his ear, promising never to separate.
Such a good person, good enough to make him feel he possessed the whole worldâhow could he believe he was lying to him?
Jiang Yunianâs eye sockets became sore, his vision starting to blur. He reached out a trembling hand, fingertips almost touching Jiang Yanâs shoulder, wanting to shake him awake, but shrinking back in fear. In the end, he just gently pulled out the empty wine glass tightly gripped in Jiang Yanâs hand. The glass was held very tight; he took quite a bit of effort to remove it, revealing the black mobile phone pressed underneath.
This phone, he usually carried with him, never leaving his hand. Although Jiang Yan required him to report his whereabouts daily and hand over his phone password, and he indulged all the other party’s unreasonable requests while abiding by trust and respect, he had never actively looked through Jiang Yanâs phone. Recalling it now, he felt desolate. He actually didn’t know if Jiang Yan grasping his whereabouts stemmed from love or control.
He didn’t dare think too deeply, afraid that once he connected Jiang Yan with that pervert, he wouldn’t be able to hold back the grievance, washing away the last bit of reason.
This matter was full of doubts, far more complex than he imagined. He hadn’t been without suspicion of Jiang Yan, and had once tested carefully. That day at the school gate, he witnessed with his own eyes that when LG replied to the message, Jiang Yan was talking with someone else. Logically speaking, it was absolutely impossible time-wise.
If what He Qing said was true, then what about Chen Zhixian? Why did he appear at the motel, and why did he admit to being LG, accepting the crime? Or, just as his initial guess, was LG not just one person?
This thought made his spine crawl with cold sweat instantly.
He stared blankly at that cold, hard phone he had never looked through. If the old phone he checked before was just a carefully arranged smokescreen, then what about this one in front of him? Would it be a Pandora’s box that, once opened, would release all the ugly truths?
Even though he was unwilling in a thousand ways, remaining reason drove him to slowly pick up that cold phone. The lock screen lit up. He hesitated and entered his own birthday; unsurprisingly, it failed. He tried entering Jiang Yanâs birthday, only to remember in a trance that Jiang Yan had amnesia. Even he himself didn’t know when his birthday was, so how would he know?
He randomly tried a few more possible numbers, all failing. Seeing the attempts running out, he remembered something. He turned his head to look at the man frowning in his sleep, a face full of sorrow. At this moment, he didn’t have time to think about why Jiang Yan was dead drunk today, why he was in a bad mood. He only felt his own heart was about to break.
He used his sleeve to wipe clean the wine stains on Jiang Yanâs thumb, then pinched his thumb and pressed it down gently. It opened.
However, it didn’t go smoothly. Clicking into SMS, a second password quickly appeared, and fingerprint unlock couldn’t be used. Things needing double encryption were often important privacy. He naturally had no interest in exploring others’ privacy. In his perception, Jiang Yan lived with him day and night, life simple and transparent; that old phone didn’t have a single app lock. One could imagine what unspeakable secrets were hidden in this phone, or perhaps just things he didn’t want him to see.
The more he thought like this, the stronger the unease in his heart became. The scale that once tilted unconditionally toward Jiang Yan suddenly reversed. The process of entering the password felt like undergoing torture of the soul each time, but this time, it unlocked after just a few tries. The password was the day they met.
However, when he clicked on the familiar chat interface, in that moment, he only felt incomparable irony.
Jiang Yunian suddenly covered his mouth, breathing uncontrollably rapid.
Those fervent confessions that once made his heart jump in fear, the explicit statements, and threats… no matter how much he wanted to forget, those familiar, disgusting words were now clearly displayed before his eyes, cruelly reminding him:
This pillow partner to whom he gave all his trust and love, and that ghost-like pervert in the phone, were actually the same person!
His eyes reddened instantly, shimmering with tears. He opened the photo album with trembling fingertips, finding a folder named after him. Inside was stuffed with photos about him: secret shots while sleeping, side profiles focusing on books, even the appearance of him fainting after intimacy… and the love breakfast Jiang Yan prepared for him meticulously.
Fingers scrolled mechanically. Those stalking candid photos were indeed hidden among them without a single one missing. Seeing the later ones, Jiang Yunianâs eyes ached uncontrollably. Photos swiped past one by one; his heart felt like it was being sliced by lingering death over and over. Only he knew that pain penetrating into the bone marrow.
No wonder…
No wonder LG knew him like the back of his hand, his whereabouts having nowhere to hide; no wonder the surveillance in the community found not a trace; no wonder later Jiang Yan could always descend from the sky with the posture of a savior, carefully orchestrating every coincidence, just to lead him into the trap.
Even if he confronted him now and demanded to retrieve the surveillance here, with his relationship with Zhou Shu, it had probably already been cleaned completely.
It turns out the real demon has been lurking by my side all along!
Tears finally burst the dam. Jiang Yunian covered his face, unable to bear it. Tears flowed down through the gaps in his fingers, smashing onto the screen in large drops. The photos scrolled uncontrollably, stopping at a photo of strawberry pudding.
And the date of the photo was impressively the night of his award ceremony.
That day Jiang Yan promised to come but didn’t appear. After he sent Tao Jingxuan, who felt suddenly unwell, to the infirmary, he returned and glimpsed a box of intact strawberry dessert thrown in the trash can. The girls passing by at the time all thought it was a pity.
Thinking about it now, why Jiang Yan suddenly went crazy that night, why LG seemed like a different person starting to harass and threaten himâseeing this, everything had an explanation.
Everything, everything was directed and acted by Jiang Yan himself.
Jiang Yunian sobbed, snot and tears plastering his face, polluting the delicious strawberry pudding on the screen. His heart grew colder and colder.
He didn’t doubt in the slightest that the love poured into making that dessert was real. Those gentle words, sworn protection, and promises might have carried sincerity the moment they were spoken.
But he never knew what kind of hypocritical mask lay behind this sincerity.
He couldn’t even figure out why Jiang Yan wanted to do this, why treat him like this?
Jiang Yunian felt only breakdown, unable to suppress his voice as he cried in pain.
The phone slipped from his powerless hand, smashing onto the sofa with a “Pa”.
Jiang Yan seemed to sense someone beside him. He grabbed him reflexively, like clutching a life-saving straw. His closed eyes moved uneasily, face painful, as if trapped by a nightmare. He murmured near pleadingly: “Don’t… don’t leave me…”
Jiang Yunianâs breath hitched, letting out an uncontrolled hiccup, tears slowly stopping. He looked down at this face he faced day and night, which had made his heart soft countless times, pure and harmless like an angel. Who would have thought such a person actually hid two faces? The dormant side was actually this chilling.
A strong sense of repulsion surged in his heart. Jiang Yunian suddenly broke free forcefully, one by one, prying open his imprisoning fingers with near obstinacy, as if in a contest of strength. Perhaps due to drunkenness, he broke free after a while.
At the same time, Jiang Yan was roused somewhat by this commotion. He opened his eyes groggily. In his swaying vision, he captured that familiar figure. “Ge…”
He opened his arms, hugging over with heavy dependence, but pounced on empty air, almost planting headfirst on the ground.
The instinct for survival made him react in time, sobering up quite a bit. He supported his body with his arms, staring at the carpet for a few seconds before slowly lifting his head which wasn’t fully clear yet. He looked toward Jiang Yunian a few steps away, the tail of his eyes scarlet: “Even you push me away.”
If one didn’t listen carefully, it was hard to detect that his hoarse voice was mixed with a thick grievance.
Jiang Yunian stood in front of him, sniffled his red nose, and bent down to pick up that phone. “I know everything.”
Jiang Yan still supported himself on the sofa, maintaining that somewhat wretched posture. Hearing this, he just blinked in confusion: “What did you say?”
Jiang Yunian bit his lower lip tightly, holding back the impulse to cry. Word by word, he dissected that dripping truth: “The day of the award ceremony, actually you came, right?”
“The one peeping at me on Weibo, sending me messages… was also you, right?”
“That night… doing that to me in this private room… was also you, wasn’t it?”
“So, you are the real LG.”
The phone was thrown heavily back in front of him, smashing onto the back of his hand supporting the sofa. Jiang Yan listened quietly. Not until the last accusation fell did he sober up completely.
He stared without blinking at the phone smashing his hand, yet felt not a trace of pain. Countless prepared, seamless lies flashed through his mind rapidly. However, when he raised his eyes and crashed into those eyes washed clean by tearsânow filled with the shock, pain, and innocence of being deceivedâhe suddenly couldn’t say them.
Lying back and forth is actually quite boring.
After a short silence, Jiang Yan lowered his head, humming an extremely light, low laugh from his nasal cavity. “Discovered by you.”
When he looked up again, his face no longer showed the slightest panic or shame. It was calm to the point of being eerie, as if the one exposed just now wasn’t him.
“So what?”
Accused item by item by the other party, every sentence piercing the heart, yet he just took back the phone containing criminal evidence as if nothing happened, as if treating an irrelevant trivial matter.
He pushed off the sofa, slowly straightening up. Carrying a body full of strong alcohol scent and suddenly released nature, he approached Jiang Yunian step by step. A strange and dangerous aura slowly engulfed him, until backing the scared-stupid person against the doorâthe exact same position as that night, the exact same posture.
“What did I say?” Jiang Yan gently bit the tip of his trembling ear, like a lover’s whisper, gently questioning: “Don’t ask, don’t pursue… why just can’t learn to be good…”
Translatorâs Note: And the mask is fully off! The gaslighting is strong with this one. “Why are you making me do this?” Classic abusive villain rhetoric. Red flag is WAVING, CLEAR AS DAY!!!
Recommended Reads
![I Can See Esports Players’ Attribute Entries [Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/see-215x300.jpg)
![[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/esports.jpg)
