Rebirth Begins with Rejecting my Childhood Friend - Chapter 537

“Honey, don’t!”

An Shishi held onto Xu Xiuwen tightly, afraid that he would impulsively start a fight.

Under An Shishi’s desperate restraint, Xu Xiuwen finally managed to hold back.

Not until the guy walked away did Xu Xiuwen speak to An Shishi, “Shishi, let go of me.”

An Shishi refused, worried. “No, I’m afraid you’ll lose control.”

“I’ve calmed down. I won’t be impulsive, don’t worry.”

Hearing Xu Xiuwen’s words, and seeing that the guy had walked further away, An Shishi finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly let go.

She had heard the phone conversation just now.

Because she was standing close, she heard everything.

She didn’t know why Cheng Lu had lied to Xu Xiuwen, but seeing how furious he was, she became really worried. That’s why she had chosen to hold him tightly, stopping him from making a move.

Now that Xu Xiuwen seemed much calmer, An Shishi said, “Honey, don’t overthink it yet. Maybe Cheng Lu had her reasons for not telling you the truth.”

Xu Xiuwen also wished that were the case.

But the truth was right in front of him.

He couldn’t lie to himself.

He was already upset from being put in a difficult situation by Cheng Lu’s parents at the restaurant.

And now, seeing Cheng Lu deceive him with his own eyes—

Xu Xiuwen nearly broke down.

If it weren’t for An Shishi constantly trying to calm him down, he might have really lost it.

Looking at An Shishi, who was so concerned about him, Xu Xiuwen felt a warmth in his heart.

No matter what, An Shishi truly cared about him wholeheartedly.

Not wanting her to worry, Xu Xiuwen forced a smile. “Shishi, I’m really angry, but I’m fine now. Alright, you should go back. I’m heading back too.”

An Shishi hesitated. “I won’t go back to the dorm tonight. I’ll stay with you.”

“No need. I’m really fine.”

An Shishi hesitated for a moment before saying, “Alright then.”

Before leaving, she hugged Xu Xiuwen once more, her voice gentle. “Honey, if you ever feel upset, you must tell me. I’ll come see you right away.”

“Okay.”

After that, they parted ways.

Leaving Xu Xiuwen’s situation aside for now—

An Shishi returned to her dormitory.

The door was slightly ajar.

She gently pushed it open and walked in.

Inside, she saw Cheng Lu sitting on a chair, phone in hand.

Just as An Shishi was about to ask about what had happened earlier—

“Lu—”

Cheng Lu spoke first. “Shishi, let me make a quick call to Xu Xiuwen first. Wait a moment.”

An Shishi had no choice but to wait for her to finish the call.

Cheng Lu dialed Xu Xiuwen’s number.

“Beep… Beep… Beep…”

After three rings, the call connected.

“Pig, why did you hang up on me just now?”

Cheng Lu’s tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, but compared to her usual cold demeanor, it could almost be considered affectionate.

“You called just to ask me this?”

Cheng Lu was stunned.

Xu Xiuwen’s voice was icy, like a cold March wind that made people shiver.

“What do you mean by that?” Cheng Lu asked in confusion.

“Nothing. Let’s talk another time. I’m hanging up.”

“Beep… Beep… Beep…”

Listening to the disconnected call,

Cheng Lu’s eyes widened in shock.

Coming back to her senses,

She felt confused, wronged, and a little annoyed.

She called Xu Xiuwen again.

“Beep… Beep… Beep…”

After a few rings, the call was hung up.

Still unwilling to give up, Cheng Lu called again.

This time, Xu Xiuwen simply turned off his phone.

Cheng Lu’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

She knew Xu Xiuwen was angry—because at lunch, her mother had told them to break up.

But she hadn’t agreed to it!

And after Xu Xiuwen left, she had even said a lot of good things about him.

Even if he was mad, shouldn’t he at least listen to her explanation and thoughts?

Cheng Lu wasn’t someone who easily felt wronged.

But at this moment—

She truly felt aggrieved.

More than that, though, she was worried about Xu Xiuwen.

Standing behind her, An Shishi had witnessed everything.

She let out a sigh.

“Lulu, did you and Xu Xiuwen have a fight?”

Cheng Lu was already full of grievances with nowhere to vent.

Hearing An Shishi’s words, she turned around and said, “Shishi, Xu Xiuwen isn’t answering my calls.”

“What happened?”

Cheng Lu hesitated for a second but ultimately decided to tell An Shishi.

After all, An Shishi was her best friend in college.

So Cheng Lu recounted everything that had happened when Xu Xiuwen met her parents at lunch.

After hearing Cheng Lu’s story, An Shishi finally understood why Xu Xiuwen had looked so upset earlier.

As an outsider,

An Shishi felt that neither Xu Xiuwen nor Cheng Lu’s parents were at fault.

And Cheng Lu was even less to blame.

But even though no one had done anything wrong,

The conflict had still happened.

And it wasn’t something easily resolved.

An Shishi had a clear mind.

While the incident at lunch had made Xu Xiuwen angry for a while, he wouldn’t have blamed Cheng Lu for it—let alone refuse to answer her calls.

The real reason he was acting this way was what he and An Shishi had just seen downstairs.

An Shishi hesitated, unsure whether to tell Cheng Lu about what had happened.

She was this close to saying it.

But just as she was about to speak,

A selfish and untimely thought surfaced deep inside her heart.

So, in the end, she chose not to say it.

However, she still gave a well-intentioned reminder. “Lulu, I think there might be another reason why Xu Xiuwen isn’t answering. You should talk to him face-to-face.”

Another reason?

Cheng Lu was taken aback.

What other reason could there be?

At that moment—

The dormitory door opened again.

Xiao Youran and Song Siyu walked in together.

The moment Cheng Lu saw Xiao Youran, she immediately stopped talking.

She didn’t want Xiao Youran to know that she had fought with Xu Xiuwen.

She glanced at An Shishi.

An Shishi understood her silent plea and gave her a small nod.

Cheng Lu responded with a grateful look.

Since Xu Xiuwen had turned off his phone and Xiao Youran had returned,

Cheng Lu didn’t try calling again.

She decided to wait until Xu Xiuwen had calmed down a little,

Until he wasn’t so angry anymore,

Then she would explain everything to him properly.

After parting ways with An Shishi, Xu Xiuwen returned to Jiangning Huayuan.

Entering the bedroom, he looked around at this place that was technically supposed to belong to both him and Cheng Lu.

A wave of pain surged in his heart.

The empty room seemed to mock him in silence.

Xu Xiuwen didn’t want to stay there.

So, he chose to return to his dormitory instead.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three days, he kept thinking about what he had seen outside the girls’ dorm at Jiaotong University.

Even though Cheng Lu had lied to him, deep down, he still believed her—believed that she would never betray him.

But even knowing that she hadn’t betrayed him, he was still angry.

Xu Xiuwen knew he was nothing but a scumbag.

He had ambiguous relationships with multiple women—some of whom he had even slept with.

In fact, Lu Xinyao was still carrying his child.

But people are hypocrites.

Even though he was unfaithful, he couldn’t tolerate other men around Cheng Lu.

His possessiveness toward her was far stronger than he had ever realized.

Throughout these three days, Cheng Lu had called him countless times.

He either hung up or turned off his phone.

Xu Xiuwen didn’t know if she had gone to Jiangning Huayuan to look for him.

Because he hadn’t returned there even once.

Cheng Lu’s parents had stayed in Jinling for two days before heading back to Hangzhou.

That was on the afternoon of the second day.

For the next two days, Cheng Lu kept busy with student council work while also trying to reach Xu Xiuwen.

At first, when he declined her calls, she didn’t think much of it.

But later, when his phone was constantly turned off—

For three whole days, he didn’t answer a single call.

Nor did he call her even once.

Cheng Lu started to panic.

She dropped everything and rushed to Jiangning Huayuan, hoping to find Xu Xiuwen and talk things out in person.

But when she arrived—

The empty apartment told her everything she needed to know.

Xu Xiuwen wasn’t there.

She immediately understood.

He was deliberately avoiding her.

A deep sense of hurt washed over her.

Wednesday, the sixth day of the semester.
Xu Xiuwen was in class.

He wasn’t sitting with Tang Weiwei, getting all cozy.

Instead, he was in the back row with his dormmates, goofing off and napping.

He slept all the way until class ended.

The third and fourth periods in the morning were professional courses, which were held in the computer lab.

That meant they had to move to a different teaching building.

As soon as class was dismissed, students started heading toward the door.

Xu Xiuwen woke up just in time and followed his dormmates out.

The moment he stepped into the hallway—

“Xu Xiuwen!”

A cold, clear voice rang out from behind.

It was a voice he knew all too well.

He had heard it countless times before.

He didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.

Still, he turned.

Standing by the wall in front of him—

Who else could it be if not Cheng Lu?

As the top beauty of Jiaotong University,

Many people recognized her.

Even those who didn’t know her name were drawn in by her breathtaking looks.

And right now, she was attracting everyone’s attention.

Curious eyes landed on her and Xu Xiuwen.

Students in the hallway stopped to watch.

Including Tang Weiwei and her group.

Bai Yue’er was too busy to attend classes,

So Room 601 remained a trio.

When Tang Weiwei saw Cheng Lu, she silently lowered her head and walked forward.

Su Yanyan glared at Cheng Lu.

Shen Minyao, however, had a glint in her eyes.

Unlike her two naïve roommates, she was much sharper.

Just by looking at Xu Xiuwen and Cheng Lu’s expressions,

She immediately sensed something was off between them.

She wanted to stay and listen for a while.

But Tang Weiwei kept her head down and continued walking.

So, Shen Minyao had no choice but to follow.

Xu Xiuwen glanced at the people watching.

He also noticed Tang Weiwei leaving without a word.

After a brief hesitation, he turned to Cheng Lu and said, “Come with me.”

He reached out, intending to grab her hand.

Halfway through, he stopped, hesitated, then withdrew his hand.

Without another word, he turned and walked downstairs.

Seeing this, Cheng Lu felt a pang of disappointment.

But she still followed him.

Outside the teaching building.
Xu Xiuwen walked onto a quiet forest path.

He stopped and turned around.

Cheng Lu saw him pause and stopped as well.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Xu Xiuwen’s voice was neither cold nor warm—so calm that it felt unsettling.

And that calmness made Cheng Lu uneasy.

She had imagined many ways this conversation could go.

But none of them were like this.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and asked,

“Pig, why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

“I didn’t ignore your calls. I’ve just been busy lately.”

Xu Xiuwen knew he was lying.

Cheng Lu knew he was lying.

Xu Xiuwen knew that Cheng Lu knew he was lying.

And Cheng Lu knew that Xu Xiuwen knew she knew he was lying.

The two stared at each other in silence.

Eventually, Cheng Lu broke it.

She didn’t expose his lie.

Instead, she asked softly,

“Are you still mad about what my parents said that day?”

“No. I’m not mad anymore.”

This time, Xu Xiuwen wasn’t lying.

He wasn’t that petty—he wouldn’t stay angry for days over something her parents had said.

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

Xu Xiuwen looked at Cheng Lu but didn’t answer right away.

In his mind, Cheng Lu had always been an exceptionally proud girl.

That pride was in her bones—no less than Xiao Youran’s.

He had assumed that if he ignored her calls and refused to reach out,

Her pride would eventually make her stop contacting him.

But she didn’t.

And what he never expected—

Was that Cheng Lu would set aside her pride and come looking for him in class.

Her actions today shattered the image he had of her.

Yet instead of feeling triumphant,

A strange pang of guilt struck his heart.

But then—

The thought of her laughing and chatting with another guy,

The fact that she had lied to him—

That suffocating possessiveness nearly drove him insane.

Xu Xiuwen’s expression turned cold.

“I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“You were!” Cheng Lu refused to back down.

“Fine, let’s say I was. Do you have anything else to say? If not, I need to get to class.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Cheng Lu ordered, her voice icy.

Xu Xiuwen froze for a moment.

“…And why the hell not?”

“No one leaves until we’ve cleared this up.”

“How else can we clear this up? What do you want to know?”

“Why did you suddenly change like this? Since you said you’re not angry because of what my parents said, then what exactly are you angry about? You have to tell me, and then listen to my explanation, right?”

Xu Xiuwen was silent for a few seconds before speaking. “I saw it.”

“Saw what?”

“I said, that day when your parents came, I saw you with that guy downstairs by your dorm building.”

Xu Xiuwen’s tone sounded casual, but his fists were already clenched tightly.

Cheng Lu froze when she heard this.

“You… you saw it?”

She was shocked.

“Yes, I saw it. Not only did I see it, but I also saw you tell me you were alone in the dorm.”

So that’s it.

Cheng Lu finally understood why Xu Xiuwen had been angry and ignoring her these past few days.

Actually, last night, An Shishi had vaguely reminded her,

And she had suspected it might be related to this, but she wasn’t sure.

She hadn’t asked further because Xiao Youran and Song Siyu were also there.

Cheng Lu panicked. “Pig, please let me explain.”

Unlike the dramatic leads in soap operas who refuse to listen to explanations and let misunderstandings fester,

Xu Xiuwen nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll listen. Go ahead.”

Cheng Lu immediately explained the identity of the guy and why he had walked her back to the dorm that day.

She said the guy’s name was Chen Jin, the child of her parents’ friends, three years older than her.

They could barely be considered childhood friends.

She said barely because, due to some circumstances from years ago, Cheng Lu had gone to Xian City to live with her uncle, who Xu Xiuwen had met—Director Cheng.

Chen Jin had gone abroad to study and had only returned to China this year.

After the college entrance exams, Cheng Lu returned to her home in Hangzhou,

And Chen Jin happened to come back to the country as well.

That was when they had reconnected.

They were just friends, nothing more.