’The power of hate is stronger than love... But if they hate me too much, won’t that cause problems?’
Chen Yuan drove the Porsche Panamera the two sisters had given him down the street. The expensive car’s paint shimmered beautifully under the sun.
However, despite its powerful engine and ample horsepower, the car didn’t transform into a raging beast in his hands. Instead, it crawled forward at a snail’s pace.
Inside the car.
Chen Yuan mulled over Dr. Zhao’s words. They made a lot of sense, but he couldn’t quite process them all at once.
Women—or rather, the study of women—was a complex subject. Their unique physiology meant their way of thinking diverged from men’s in every aspect. No one could confidently claim to understand women completely. They were just too unpredictable. In fact, even other women couldn’t fully guess what one was thinking.
At best, they could only ensure their thought processes weren’t wildly different.
Chen Yuan had paid Dr. Zhao a handsome fee, not because he had more money than sense, but because she had genuinely provided him with effective strategies and a general direction. Suddenly, Chen Yuan didn’t feel so lost anymore.
It had started as simple psychological counseling. He’d been incredibly anxious lately, and when he first met Dr. Zhao, he didn’t know how to bring up his problem. It wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.
But Dr. Zhao was a sharp woman. She could tell he was no ordinary person, and after asking Pei Youwen about him, she was stunned. She quickly assured him that most psychological issues were linked to one’s real-life circumstances and that her clinic guaranteed absolute confidentiality. She encouraged Chen Yuan to speak his mind, explaining that she needed a full understanding of the situation to help solve his problems.
People have all kinds of troubles. As a doctor, she had seen her share of bizarre cases, so she wasn’t overly surprised when she heard about Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao. Instead, she was quite understanding, though there was a hint of her trying to curry favor with the son of a wealthy family.
And so, the psychological counseling turned into relationship counseling, for which he paid a much larger fee.
The transition from love to hate wasn’t a difficult step in theory. The hard part was for Chen Yuan to accept this change in strategy. Getting them to eventually accept and forgive him would undoubtedly be a long, arduous battle.
Love was never simple. It was, in fact, a protracted war!
Thanks to another promotion, Chen Yuan hadn’t had much time to manage Bauhinia Company’s affairs lately. In a few days, he was to assume his post as the General Director of Jiang Energy’s Northern Region. A new position always came with a slew of social obligations, which meant the workload for Bauhinia Company’s other senior executives grew even heavier.
Chen Yuan checked the time. He figured Jiangg Ning should be getting off work soon; for the past few days, she hadn’t been getting home from the office until after one in the afternoon.
He pulled the car into the underground garage.
Chen Yuan got into the elevator, composing himself for the next round of his confrontation with the sisters.
「May 7th.」
It was a bright and sunny day.
...
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—"
The incessant knocking echoed.
Chen Yuan stood at the door, fuming. He’d arrived at Ningning and Yaoyao’s apartment only to find the facial recognition lock wouldn’t open for him anymore. At first, he assumed it was a system error, but after a dozen attempts, it still refused to unlock.
’Did they have to be so cruel? They even deleted my facial scan from the lock.’
Feeling like a deflated balloon but unwilling to go home, Chen Yuan had no choice but to keep knocking.
"Who is it? You’re so annoying!"
The door was flung open with a SWOOSH, nearly hitting Chen Yuan in the head. A frowning Jiangg Ning appeared in the doorway.
"Why did you delete my facial scan? I couldn’t get the door to unlock."
"It’s my lock. I can delete whoever I want. What if some ’stranger’ tried to get in?"
"Come on, we may be fighting, but I’m hardly a stranger, am I?" Chen Yuan asked, his face darkening as he braced his hand against the doorframe.
"Oh? I didn’t say it was you. Don’t be so quick to assume I’m talking about you."
"Only three people have access. If it wasn’t me you were deleting, then who was it?"
"I don’t know!"
"I could still open the door yesterday. Don’t tell me you deleted it this morning..." He trailed off as his nose twitched. "Is something burning?"
"Oh no! My food!"
Realization dawned on Jiangg Ning. She immediately let go of the door she was using to block him and rushed toward the kitchen.
Watching her frantic retreat, Chen Yuan smiled and stepped right inside.
"You’re home early today," he commented. "I thought you wouldn’t be back yet."
"I finished my work, so of course I came back early—Who said you could come in?" Jiangg Ning answered, then whipped her head around to glare at him. "Get out!"
The serious expression on her face and the coldness in her voice truly cut deep. This had become the new normal between them in the days since their fight. Jiangg Ning had likely come to a realization: if Chen Yuan didn’t cherish her, why should she bother considering his feelings?
To sever ties, one must speak daggers. Such was her resolve.
This back-and-forth was exhausting, after all. A clean break might bring true liberation—or so she thought. She wouldn’t know for sure, having never been through a real breakup before.
Seeing her expression, Chen Yuan’s heart felt as if it had been struck by a bullet.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t stand her coldness. It was that every time she acted this way, he remembered the old Jiangg Ning—the one whose lips would always curve into a light, warm smile when she looked at him, like the gentle caress of a breeze.
The stark contrast was the true source of his pain.
In that instant, Chen Yuan remembered Dr. Zhao’s words, and the hurt look in his eyes gradually hardened.
’Hate has always been a more powerful force than love.’
"I didn’t come to see you anyway," he said coolly. "I’m here for Jiangg Yao."
"You—"
"Yaoyao? Where are you?"
Chen Yuan turned and headed for the spare bedroom, leaving Jiangg Ning standing dumbfounded in the kitchen. A storm of emotions crossed her face, and her small fists clenched instantly.
"Bastard..."
The word was practically squeezed through her clenched teeth.
...
The door to the spare bedroom wasn’t locked, so Chen Yuan pushed it open and walked right in.
The first thing he saw was Jiangg Yao, reclining in a gaming chair. She was on the phone with someone, a thoughtful look on her face, her long legs crossed and propped up on a second gaming chair.
Perhaps because of the rising temperatures in Lanjing, Jiangg Yao was lightly dressed. At home, she didn’t worry about revealing too much. One strap of her sleep top had slipped off her shoulder, revealing an alluring sight.
The moment Chen Yuan walked in, his eyes instinctively locked onto the sight as if he’d flicked on an aimbot.
"Why don’t you ever knock?" Jiangg Yao said with annoyance, hastily hanging up the phone before turning to face him.
"I never used to knock."
"That was then, this is now!" Jiangg Yao shot back, glaring at him. "You’re so clueless. You’re such a jerk."