On the other side, the door to the dance room was pushed open.
Jiang Yiheng looked up and froze when he saw Murong Huan walk in. He asked, "Why are you here?"
"Disappointed to see me?" Murong Huan had clearly been crying, her rabbit-like eyes red and puffy as she looked at him.
Jiang Yiheng stood up and asked with furrowed brows, "What's wrong?"
In Jiang Yiheng's memory, his fiancée had always been someone who never backed down from an argument, always carrying herself with an air of arrogance. This was perhaps the first time he had seen her cry.
Murong Huan didn't answer. Instead, she lifted her chin and said, "Take me home today."
Jiang Yiheng refused directly, "I have things to do."
"I've already sent Song Yi home," Murong Huan said, looking at Jiang Yiheng. "Taking me home isn't a request—it's an order from your fiancée."
Jiang Yiheng's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before he finally nodded, "Let's go."
The Jiang Family's driver saw his young master and the Murong Family's young lady get into the car together, and respectfully greeted Murong Huan.
Once in the car, Jiang Yiheng said, "Uncle Sun, to the Murong residence first."
Uncle Sun nodded in understanding, "Right away."
Murong Huan also looked at Uncle Sun and said just two words, "Partition."
Uncle Sun immediately understood the young lady's meaning and raised the car's privacy partition, thinking to himself how wonderful youth was.
At that moment, it felt as if only Murong Huan and Jiang Yiheng remained in that space.
Jiang Yiheng said, "What do you really want to say?"
Murong Huan looked at him, struggling to control her emotions as she asked, "Do you have someone you like?"
Though the Murong Family and Jiang Family were equally matched in social status, and Murong Huan herself was exceptional in every way, she still felt inferior when facing Jiang Yiheng.
In Murong Huan's eyes, Jiang Yiheng was an almost perfect existence, except for his fear of ghosts.
Everyone knew that Murong Huan had liked Jiang Yiheng since they were children.
Nothing in this world could make her give up on Jiang Yiheng, except Jiang Yiheng himself.
Jiang Yiheng shook his head without hesitation, denying, "No."
Murong Huan asked, "What about Song Yi? Do you like her?"
At the mention of that name, the young man instinctively avoided Murong Huan's gaze.
Realizing this reaction was unnecessary, Jiang Yiheng still thought carefully before answering, "I don't dislike her."
"Then what about me?" Murong Huan continued to look at him, stubbornly asking, "Do you like me?"
Jiang Yiheng was silent for a few seconds. Though this wasn't the first time he had to reject her, it was still difficult, because the truth often hurts the most.
But he said it anyway, "I don't like you."
Murong Huan's lips curved in self-mockery.
"Don't dislike" and "don't like"—though they sounded similar, they conveyed entirely different meanings.
Though she had expected this answer, it still hurt.
The young lady raised her head to look out the window, fighting back tears in her voice, "Jiang Yiheng, let me tell you something—if you don't like me, that's not my problem. It's because you have no taste. I'll ask you one more time, are you sure? No one in this world will ever love you more than I do."
All Jiang Yiheng could offer in response were those two words.
"I'm sorry."
"Who wants your apology!" Murong Huan closed her eyes as she spoke, but tears still rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
She was truly heartbroken.
Jiang Yiheng asked her, "Murong Huan, have you ever thought about why you like me?"
When faced with this question, Murong Huan paused, then shook her head, "I don't know."
She really didn't know.
She and Jiang Yiheng had known each other for many, many years. She only remembered liking him since they were young, and couldn't recall if it was love at first sight or if it developed over time.
Suddenly, Murong Huan felt confused, and her sadness decreased significantly.
Hmm... she didn't feel quite so sad anymore???
Jiang Yiheng said calmly, "You don't know why you like me, just as I don't know why I dislike you."
Murong Huan couldn't help but turn to look at him, "What do you mean by that?"
Jiang Yiheng asked her, "Do you remember? You used to give me many gifts, and I threw them all away. The more you liked me and were nice to me, the more I disliked you."
Murong Huan almost laughed from anger; extreme sorrow was turning to rage. She pointed a finger at him, "Jiang Yiheng, what are you trying to say? I wanted to end things peacefully, but you're determined to make me furious, aren't you?"
Jiang Yiheng pushed down her hand, "Don't get angry, let me finish."
"I did dislike you, even rejected everything associated with you, but I thought about it for a long time, and I don't understand why I acted that way," Jiang Yiheng calmly explained his thoughts. "Looking back now, I realize some of my previous behavior was excessive, but at the time, I wasn't even aware of it."
Murong Huan snorted, "Is this your roundabout way of apologizing? I don't accept it."
Jiang Yiheng didn't answer, but continued, "It wasn't until she appeared that I noticed the change."
Murong Huan frowned, somewhat exasperated, "Jiang Yiheng, although Song Yi and I are good friends, have you considered that I've basically just been rejected? Are you being thoughtless or deliberately trying to drive a wedge between us by expressing your feelings for her in front of me?"
Jiang Yiheng sighed, "Can you please be patient and let me finish?"
Murong Huan rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and looked out the window, "Go on."
Jiang Yiheng said, "You're not as rude and willful as before, and I'm not as averse to you as I used to be. You never had any female friends before, but she's your first. Actually, it's not just us—Shen Yujing and Quan Le have changed too."
This finally caught Murong Huan's interest, and she turned to face him.
"Quan Le has always been arrogant, excelling at sarcasm. He used to look down on special admission students the most, even believing they didn't deserve to be in the same school as him. He was the one who previously proposed to the School Board to stop accepting special admission students, but now he gets along well with Song Yi and his former special admission seat mate. And you know Shen Yujing—he has a volatile temper and doesn't take orders from anyone. He used to cause chaos in school, always stirring up trouble every few days, but he's been behaving for a while now. Then there's Hang Feng, who has attended more classes this semester than in the past two years combined."
"Strange, isn't it?" Jiang Yiheng looked into Murong Huan's eyes, "Though we don't know why, it seems we've all changed since she appeared."
"It's as if... we've truly come alive for the first time."
