Chapter 44: A Huge MisunderstandingÂ
He Chen had a new life now. Every day was fulfilling, and he had an adorable child. As for Song Min, He Chen had already shoved that man into the deepest recesses of his memory. If others didn’t mention him, He Chen truly didn’t want to think about him.
I shouldn’t have come, He Chen thought to himself, feigning sleep. However, as he pretended, he actually drifted off.
A few weeks before graduation, Song Min had disappeared, and He Chen had been like a lost soul every day. The Logistics Class felt terrible for him, wishing they could beat Song Min to a pulp, but Song Min never appeared again. Later, He Chen recovered, and they never mentioned Song Min’s name in front of him again, fearing it would only cause him pain.
“He’s really asleep.” The Study Comm draped a jacket over He Chen, then returned to his seat.
“Sigh! How could Song Min be such a bastard? What was wrong with Old Chen? If I’d known Song Min was that kind of person, I never would have let Old Chen date him!” The Class Monitor slumped on the sofa, looking indignant.
“At the time, I thought Song Min truly loved Old Chen, so I felt safe about them being together. But…” The Study Comm trailed off, unable to continue.
Back when He Chen accepted Song Min’s feelings, their “brotherhood” of friends had played a big part. If not for their encouragement, He Chen might not have agreed so quickly.
“Actually… Song Min contacted me after he returned to the country,” the Class Beauty said cautiously, dropping a bombshell that immediately drew aggro. Just as expected, a bunch of terrifying glares shot her way.
“Let me finish!” The Class Beauty raised her hands in surrender, hoping for leniency. Back in the day, she was the first to notice Song Min’s crush on He Chen and the most active matchmaker. “Song Min reached out to me first. He asked how Old Chen was doing. At that time, I hated him too, so I replied that Old Chen was doing very well and told him not to disturb him. After that, Song Min didn’t speak to me for a long time.”
When Song Min first returned, he contacted the Class Beauty because everyone else had either blocked or deleted him. He asked about He Chen, and upon hearing he was doing well, didn’t ask further. Some time later, Song Min poked the Class Beauty again, asking the same question.
The Class Beauty had been furious. You ruthlessly abandoned him back then, and now you’re acting all concerned? Even if you want to make amends, it’s too late. And trying to get back together is just disgusting.
So, the Class Beauty told Song Min that He Chen was married and even had a child, telling him to give up. After that, Song Min didn’t contact her for two years.
Later, a blogger named @OnePerson’sFoodDiaryV appeared on Weibo. The Class Beauty became a fan; she watched every video and learned the recipes.
Recently, she saw a video for ‘High Soup Rice’ and felt the monologue in @OnePerson’sFoodDiaryV sounded incredibly familiar. A spark lit up in her brain, and she guessed that the blogger might be Song Min.
She felt the words Song Min spoke in the video were deeply sentimental; only someone who had truly loved could speak with such etched-in emotion. Anyone watching could tell that @OnePerson’sFoodDiaryV really loved his first love. And wasn’t Song Min’s first love He Chen? Song Min had said so himself.
But if Song Min loved He Chen so much, why break up so heartlessly? Could there have been a misunderstanding?
The Class Beauty hurriedly messaged Song Min to ask what happened. And it turned out, there really was a misunderstanding—a massive one!
They all thought Song Min broke up because of his cousin, but Song Min claimed He Chen was the one who initiated the breakup.
Song Min was incredibly aggrieved. He was a Shifter (a person who can transform into an animal), a secret he hadn’t dared tell He Chen for fear of being seen as a monster. One day, his cousin came to him crying, saying she was pregnant with a jerk’s child. Song Min helped her find a hospital and get settled. But after that day, he suddenly shifted into his animal form and couldn’t turn back no matter how hard he tried. He texted He Chen, but He Chen didn’t reply.
His cousin volunteered to find He Chen for him. But when she returned, she told Song Min that she had accidentally revealed his identity as a Shifter. She claimed He Chen called him a monster and said not to look for him again. She even had a recording as proof. Hearing He Chen’s voice calling him a “monster” in the recording, Song Min felt like a knife was twisting in his heart. He knew his identity was hard to accept, but He Chen’s extreme reaction still broke him. He felt like dying.
Without Song Min knowing, the cousin told Mother Song everything. Mother Song then went to find He Chen to sign a non-disclosure agreement. At this point, Song Min still held onto hope that He Chen might change his mind. But when he saw the video Mother Song provided, his hope was completely shattered.
In the video, He Chen signed the papers briskly and took Mother Song’s check without hesitation. Song Min kept telling himself He Chen wasn’t that kind of person, but the video couldn’t lie.
This time, Song Min truly lost his will to live. He drifted through days in a daze, letting his mother ship him overseas for treatment. Once he regained his human form, he just let himself go, doing whatever he pleased. Since He Chen didn’t want him anymore, his mother had nothing left to control him with.
Mother Song had already arranged his study abroad paperwork. After two years of study, he spent another two years learning Western cuisine. After four years abroad, he couldn’t take it anymore. He missed He Chen too much. Even if He Chen hated him, he had to go back and secretly see him.
Upon returning, Song Min didn’t dare approach He Chen directly. Instead, he reached out to old acquaintances to ask about He Chen’s situation. But one by one, he found he was blocked or deleted. Only the Logistics Class Beauty was still on his friend list.
Song Min was saddened once again. He Chen was truly heartless; not only did he despise him, but he had also excised him completely from his world.
The Class Beauty told him He Chen was fine and told him not to disturb him. It seemed everyone knew he had “deceived” He Chen and was angry at him. Feeling guilty, Song Min didn’t pry further. After some time passed, he couldn’t resist asking again. That was when the Class Beauty told him He Chen was married with a child.
Seeing the screenshot the Class Beauty sent of He Chen showing off his son, Song Min’s heart shattered into dust. His last shred of hope was smashed ruthlessly onto the ground.
With nothing left to live for, Song Min became a total slacker. He bought a courtyard house and started his retirement life early. Mother Song wanted him to help at the company, but Song Min had no ambition for it. Mother Song had schemed so much, only to shoot herself in the foot.
Coincidentally, short food videos were trending on Weibo. Bored out of his mind, Song Min joined in. He wanted to cook every dish he had learned for He Chen and record it, hoping He Chen might see it.
His millions of fans surely never guessed that every dish made by @OnePerson’sFoodDiaryV was cooked for just one person…
Hearing Song Min’s side of the story, the Class Beauty nearly coughed up blood. If Song Min were in front of her, she would have beaten him to death with a backscratcher.
She didn’t know what a “Shifter” was, but keeping secrets like that? Of course it caused problems! Using her woman’s intuition, the Class Beauty pieced together He Chen and Song Min’s stories and came to a conclusion: they had both been played, and the mastermind was Mother Song.
After the Class Beauty pointed this out, Song Min quickly understood the cause and effect. The misunderstanding between him and He Chen was undoubtedly his mother’s handiwork. She had been laying the trap for a long time, and the cousin’s appearance was just when she pulled the net tight.
“By the way, does your cousin look a lot like Old Chen?” The Class Beauty asked, puzzled. He Chen had believed Mother Song’s lies specifically because the cousin looked like him.
“Not at all! They don’t look alike anywhere!” Song Min felt like he was going crazy. What exactly had his mother done to play them both like fiddles? If he didn’t still have a shred of reason left, he would have rushed over to confront her.
“Then what about the photos?”
Song Min didn’t know about the photos either. He regretted it so much. No matter what, he should have insisted on seeing He Chen in person back then; such a massive misunderstanding wouldn’t have happened. But, stuck in his animal form at the time, what could he have done?
Knowing they had wrongly blamed Song Min and that he hadn’t betrayed He Chen, the Class Beauty felt the two needed to clear the air. Regardless of the outcome, at least the knot in He Chen’s heart could be untied.
Unexpectedly, Song Min rejected her suggestion. He felt that since He Chen had a family now, he didn’t want to disturb him. The past was the past; it was better to let He Chen hate him than to disrupt his life with the truth.
The Class Beauty had to explain that He Chen being “married” was just angry talk, though the child was real. He Chen was still single and hadn’t been with anyone else all these years.
Restored by this news, Song Min immediately ran to Jiang City to secretly watch He Chen. The Class Beauty then egged the Class Monitor on to organize this reunion in Jiang City, creating an opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding.
Before the reunion started, Song Min was hiding in a luxury car outside the hotel, waiting for He Chen’s arrival. He Chen arrived late. After so many years, he was still the same—simple, casual, uninhibited. His smile was as eye-catching as ever.
When He Chen walked toward him (the car), Song Min felt his heart might jump out of his chest. But He Chen just used the window as a mirror. Watching He Chen’s retreating back, Song Min felt an indescribable sense of loss.
He Chen and the others left the restaurant for the KTV next door. Song Min continued to wait in the car for news from the Class Beauty. But after waiting and waiting, no signal came. Had something gone wrong?
The Class Beauty hadn’t explained everything in detail to the group yet, only that there was a misunderstanding between Song Min and He Chen that needed to be cleared up face-to-face.
“Where is he?” He Chen had woken up at some point and heard the latter part of the conversation.
“…You’re awake.” The Class Beauty felt a bit awkward being caught by the subject of her gossip, but it worked out perfectly. Finally, a chance was created. “He’s downstairs.”
He Chen asked the Class Beauty to tell Song Min he was coming down to talk. He wanted to know exactly what happened back then so he could finally find peace.
He Chen knocked on the car door. Song Min quickly rolled down the window, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes.
“Let’s go. Let’s find a place to talk.” Seeing Song Min’s red eyes, He Chen felt the urge to cry too, but he forcibly held it back.
They found a coffee shop, sat in a corner, and began to talk about what happened that year. As they laid everything out, the misunderstanding dissolved.
“So stupid. Didn’t we agree not to believe anything?” Song Min said, his heart aching. He could imagine the pain He Chen felt being broken up with, just as painful as when he thought He Chen broke up with him.
“Didn’t you believe it too?” They were two peas in a pod, both pitifully stupid. They had experienced too little of the world back then and were played without even realizing it.
“Yeah, we were too naive.” Naive enough to think their feelings were solid, impenetrable to anything. But in reality, a few tricks from others shattered them easily.
“Ah Chen, can I pursue you again?” Song Min looked at He Chen deeply, asking with devotion.
Since they had a chance to start over, why shouldn’t he fight for himself?
“Sure. But what about your mom?” Actually, He Chen still had Song Min in his heart; otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed single all these years. Plenty of people liked him, but his heart was so small it could only hold one person.
“She’s already given up on me…” During the years Song Min gave up on himself, Mother Song tried to salvage him. But Song Min acted like a “dead fish that doesn’t fear boiling water,” and eventually, helpless, she gave up on him.
Mother Song had other, more excellent children. Song Min was now just mud that couldn’t stick to the wall in her eyes, despite all she had done for him previously.
“Then show me what you’ve got!” He Chen tilted his head back and smiled at him. That brilliant smile was just like the first time Song Min’s heart had fluttered.
Back then, Song Min wanted to make this person his. And now, it was exactly the same.
“Ah Chen, thank you…” Song Min’s heart skipped a beat. This was the feeling of falling in love…
Recommended Reads
