Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 541 - 426 Shen Qingning, It Was You Who Missed the Appointment

Chapter 541: Chapter 426 Shen Qingning, It Was You Who Missed the Appointment

Shen family, in Shen Qingning’s room.

She silently set down her phone and sat at the desk, pulling out the concert ticket that had been torn but was now pieced back together with tape.

That day, she had indeed ripped up the ticket in front of Shen Minglang.

Young Master Shen was thrilled by his sister’s powerful action, so much that his heart bloomed with joy, "Listen up, you randy dogs outside, my sister isn’t so easy to woo!"

"Damn it, sending a concert ticket and expecting me to pay for the delivery fee, I’ve truly seen it all with this playboy!"

Then, after Shen Qingning went upstairs, Shen Minglang went to call Cheng Zhu, and even cursed the suitor over the phone in front of the man himself.

This led the housemaid to notice the ticket on the living room table as she passed by.

Unsure of how to handle it, she guessed that the ticket might belong to either Shen Minglang or Shen Qingning.

She collected the ticket, wondering whether she should tape it back together or if it was meant to be thrown away.

Initially, she intended to find Shen Minglang, but he was animatedly chatting on his phone, so she didn’t want to disturb him.

She rose to go upstairs, then knocked on Shen Qingning’s bedroom door.

"Auntie, what’s the matter?"

"Is this your ticket? Do you want me to help you tape it back together?" the housemaid asked.

"No need," Shen Qingning replied immediately.

After speaking, just a second later, she changed her mind: "Auntie, give it to me, I’ll tape it myself."

She took the torn-up ticket from the maid and sat down in her chair, slightly dazed.

Shen Minglang, who was downstairs joyfully cursing the playboy, could never imagine his always cool-tempered and assertive sister was now sorrowfully and slowly taping together the ticket pieces.

Her expression carried a hint of desolation as her pale and slender hands fitted the pieces together seamlessly, the whole process done with care.

After finishing, she looked down at the ticket.

It was like a mirror that had shattered and been put back together, seemingly whole, yet the cracks were still there, unignorable and evident.

A broken mirror reassembled?

Where in this world could such a thing happen?

— The so-called reassembling of a broken mirror either means it was never truly broken, or it was never really made whole!

Scenes from the past began to reemerge in Shen Qingning’s mind.

In the end, she still couldn’t bring herself to throw away the ticket.

The only thought in the proud girl’s heart was: "This was what he owed me in the first place."

"Yes, it’s what he owed me."

"It’s what he promised me..."

...

...

Up until today, Shen Qingning had always kept the ticket in her drawer.

In fact, besides the pieced-together ticket, the drawer also contained a Pikachu keychain Cheng Zhu had won for her at an arcade, a bookmark made from their photos, and other various items related to Cheng Zhu.

A girl’s first crush is always different.

For many people, their first love is something they can never forget.

Even more so when Cheng Zhu had taken away so many of her "firsts."

And the guy’s presence was particularly strong, even when he wasn’t around, he would still significantly impact her life.

Now, after learning that Cheng Zhu had gone to Shanghai alone, Shen Qingning took out the ticket, her mind in a whirl.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, only to be denied one by one.

"What exactly does he mean?" The cool-tempered girl simply couldn’t decipher Cheng Zhu’s thoughts.

And it was precisely because she couldn’t fathom those thoughts that her heart was in turmoil!

To be precise, sometimes in relationships between men and women, there needs to be a bit of mystery.

Sometimes, if both parties are too confident about everything regarding the other, a lot of unpredictability is lost.

This uncertainty is often the factor in relationships that gets people hooked.

Many people get so invested in relationships precisely because they have a lot of uncertainty in their hearts.

Initially, when Shen Qingning received the express delivery, she was truly infuriated and felt awful inside.

The other party had sent a ticket without a word, as if perfunctorily fulfilling a past promise.

—"There, you go watch it yourself, I don’t owe you anything now, we’re even."

This made her feel as if boundaries were being drawn, as if she was being told everything from the past was being negated.

Shen Qingning even felt a bit insulted.

"You are Lin Lu’s boyfriend, of course, I will keep my distance."

She would maintain the balance in the future as if everything in the past had never happened.

But take note, it’s "as if" it had never happened.

All that has passed is already a fact, with experiences etched into both of their minds.

It was the girl’s first emotional tremor, her heart racing time and again, her repeated sinking into the depths.

Being discarded like an old shoe was not something the proud girl could take lightly.

Of course, even if Cheng Zhu had given her the ticket in another way, the proud girl would not have gone to the concert.

Ultimately, the nature of their relationship had changed.

"I’m Lin Lu’s best friend, and you’re Lin Lu’s current boyfriend."

She didn’t know that Cheng Zhu understood her personality all too well.

He was so rich, he didn’t care about the price of one ticket, what he wanted was for Shen Qingning not to go!

At the same time, he wanted to plant a suspicion in her mind, to make her think he only bought one ticket and sent it to her to fulfill a promise.

Then, he would be in Shanghai on the day of the concert!

Heh, just letting you overthink it, letting you guess, it’s all a game!

You’re smart, huh? Proud and arrogant, huh?

Intelligence and pride combined together are damn lethal!

It means this person loves to think, to ponder, to guess.

But pride will stop everything at thinking, at pondering, at guessing!

Indeed, Cheng Zhu had also bought a ticket for himself, but he had absolutely no intention of going tonight.

He would keep this ticket; maybe it would be useful in the future.

His time tonight was also precious, he had to leave Shanghai tomorrow and couldn’t spend it with Lin Lu.

—"Time is money, but money can’t buy time."

A mere amount for two tickets, would Mr. Cheng care?

Between the illustrator and Zhou Jielun, he could only say, "Sorry, Jielun."

Anyway, he was likely going to take Lin Lu to the Hangzhou Station performance.

Shen Qingning picked up the taped-together ticket, her eyes fixed on the date.

"Is he really going to watch it alone?" Shen Qingning was uncertain.

"So how many tickets did he actually buy?"

"You’re already in a relationship with Lin Lu, so why buy the ticket? Wouldn’t it be better to let the matter pass silently?"

"If he really bought two tickets, what exactly does that mean?"

In her opinion, going to the concert with her best friend’s boyfriend was absolutely forbidden!

But the problem was, she hadn’t gone, right? She had torn up the ticket, hadn’t she?

Having principles is one thing.

But the random musings in one’s mind is another matter entirely.

Most importantly, not understanding what Cheng Zhu was up to was what disconcerted her the most.

She even felt like calling to confront him!

In fact, if she were a girl of ordinary temperament, she might really have sent a WeChat message or made a call already.

Receiving a ticket out of the blue, she had a perfect reason to question it.

Too bad she was such a stubborn proud girl!

That’s just the nature of proud arrogance!

So proud arrogance needs to be tortured.

During this time, Shen Qingning often reflected on the times she had "pushed away" Cheng Zhu.

Remembering these, her feelings became even more complicated.

And Cheng Zhu knew that Shen Qingning was a seasoned aficionado of romantic cruelty fiction.

Her reading extent was staggering, and she had practically read all the famous cruel romance novels.

This decade-old bookworm inherently carried the aspects of a cruel romance novel.

He truly didn’t believe that her mind had not for a moment conjured up such a scene.

There he was, holding a light stick, expression emotionless, seated at the concert, with an empty seat beside him, while all around were fans’ cheers!

The atmosphere was lively, the crowd excited, the entire place roaring like a vast ocean.

And he, a tad more silent.

He had gone to the appointment alone.

"Shen Qingning, you are the one who stood someone up."

...

...

Time passed, and Shen Qingning gradually went from being flustered to daydreaming, her whole being starting to space out.

Her head was low, her long hair falling on either side of her face, covering it entirely, making it impossible to see her expression.

Right now, she wasn’t thinking about anything, just feeling an overwhelming sense of oppression in her heart, so very suffocating.

Not until her phone buzzed did she snap back to reality—it was a WeChat message from Lin Lu.

It was only then that the leggy beauty came back to her senses and checked her phone.

"Ningning, haven’t you left yet? I’m almost there!" Lin Lu started urging her.

Hotpot, so delicious, hurry!

At this moment, Little Lu only had one thought in her mind: "Eat, eat, eat, I want to eat outrageously!"

The restaurant Cheng Zhu forbade her from eating at; she was gleeful about sneaking a visit.

Little did she know, while she was furtively feasting in Hang City, he was doing the same in Shanghai.

The young couple each indulged separately.

Since Ningning hadn’t sent a WeChat reply yet, Lin Lu guessed that Shen Qingning hadn’t left her house.

Shen Qingning read the message on her phone and replied with lowered eyes, "Heading out now."

She took the clothes she wanted to change into from the wardrobe, slipping out of her pajamas.

The full-length mirror was tilted in the room, reflecting the leggy beauty’s astonishingly pale and slender legs.

Her thighs had just the right amount of flesh, her calves were incredibly balanced, without the knees sticking out, long and straight, with extraordinary proportions.

Most importantly, the skin on her legs was flawless, without a single imperfection.

Such legs needed no stockings for enhancement.

Standing in front of the mirror, Shen Qingning changed into a pair of black straight-leg pants, then put on a black fitted sweater.

Looking at herself, she felt that her entire appearance seemed a bit listless.

After putting on her coat, she went downstairs and got into the Land Rover Range Rover in the garage.

As soon as the car’s Bluetooth connected to her phone, it began to automatically play songs from her QQ Music.

It was Zhou Jielun’s "I Find It Hard to Say."

Ironically, some of the lyrics seemed quite fitting for the moment.

Shen Qingning’s gaze sharpened as she immediately changed the song.

But the next random selection was another song by Zhou Jielun, this one called "Back to the Past."

She changed the song again, switching to "Inverted Clock"...

Her heart, which had just calmed down a moment ago, was once again distressed.

Of course, the song she feared the most, "The Longest Movie," did not come on.

She continued to skip songs until she finally landed on one that wasn’t by Zhou Jielun.

It was Lin Junjie’s newly released hit song, "Pity It’s Not If."

The song began to reverberate in the car:

"All blame on me, for the times I kept silent..."

"If only I had properly said what needed to be said..."

"If that day I hadn’t been provoked by emotions, what would you have done?"

"..."

"What a pity, there’s no if."

Shen Qingning felt all the more absent-minded.

She just felt like her heart was filled with a medley of flavors, feeling so uneasy, so uneasy...

...

(PS: First update, asking for monthly tickets! Ningning is almost a one-star character!

My Chapter in "Entering the Household" by Hu Yan was also blocked, so I wrote a new one for nothing; there are no subsequent subscriptions, and all of Hu Yan’s Chapters were gone, hehe, hehehe! Crap!

Asking for monthly tickets for comfort...)