...
"You're talking nonsense!"
Qian Renxue was instantly enraged.
She subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to refute this argument that belittled her as worthless.
"Save your breath."
Xuan Hao interrupted her without any politeness:
"If you were really as noble and extraordinary as you appear, you wouldn't feel anything about what I just said.
You would only find it laughable and dismissive."
Xuan Hao pointed to Qian Renxue's slightly heaving chest:
"But you're angry now, you can't wait to refute me, to prove me wrong.
Why?"
"Don't you understand why?"
Qian Renxue laughed in anger, gritting her teeth as she stared at Xuan Hao:
"Is this how you see me? Is this how you view me?"
"It's not about how I see you, it's just that you are who you are."
Xuan Hao showed no sign of backing down.
"You can't distinguish between love and mere desire for conquest.
In your world, everything based on your self-centered logic is taken for granted."
"Those who follow the rules prosper, those who resist perish.
This is your most fundamental and authentic self-logic."
"You never consider what other people think when you do things. You only use your own superior logic to judge and evaluate others."
"You are a person who is extremely lacking in empathy, and deep down you disdain to understand those 'ordinary people' whom you consider inferior to you."
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue's expression turned extremely ugly, but Xuan Hao's analysis was not yet over.
"Have you always felt that the reason you've paid so much attention to me and valued me so much over the years is because you've fallen in love with me?"
Xuan Hao looked at Qian Renxue's slightly flustered eyes, "Stop deceiving yourself. You don't like me at all.
The only reason you care about me is because I've shown you strength that you can't control, because you've experienced too many inevitable defeats with me!"
"You're not convinced!
You want to beat me, you want to tame me, you want to prove that you are the strongest and the most special by conquering a monster like me who doesn't respect anyone!"
"But I bet if one day I really bow my head before you and obey your every whim... your ridiculous 'interest' in me will vanish in an instant, and you'll just think:
Oh, so this Xuan Hao is nothing special after all."
Do you think I don't know what you've been thinking about me all these years?
Xuan Hao took a step closer, their breaths almost mingling.
"But have you ever thought about why, over the past few years, you haven't given me any substantial response to my various hints and attempts to control you?"
"Do you think that the reason I can be so intimate with Yanyan and Lingling without any restraint, but keep a clear distance from you, is because of my relationship with your mother, Bibi Dong?"
"That's a huge misunderstanding.
I've said it before, I'm the kind of person who will stop at nothing to achieve my goals, even if it means being completely shameless.
If I really wanted you, I wouldn't consider any of those messy obstacles and ethical considerations!"
Xuan Hao looked at Qian Renxue's face, which was gradually losing its color, and said, "There is only one reason why I have always kept my distance from you."
"I'm pretty sure that your feelings for me aren't love at all."
Xuan Hao took a half step back, looking at her with pity yet coldness in his eyes:
"You don't love me.
You don't even know how to love others.
You only love yourself, only love your illusory authority and pride."
"A person who lacks empathy and disdains to understand the feelings of others cannot truly love anyone."
After saying this, Xuan Hao didn't look at Qian Renxue again and turned to leave.
However, the moment he turned around, a hint of shame, anger, and loss of control flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes as her pretense was completely ripped away.
She suddenly reached out and grabbed Xuan Hao's collar tightly, unleashing a powerful force that dragged him into a dark, deserted alleyway.
"Bang!"
Qian Renxue pressed Xuan Hao heavily against the rough blue brick wall, her hands pressing firmly against his chest.
However, Xuan Hao's nearly two-meter-tall figure stood there like an unyielding iron wall.
Even though Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, was tall and nearly 1.8 meters, she still had to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze when she "wall-pinned" him against the wall.
This physical dominance made the imposing aura she originally wanted to create appear somewhat weak and intimidating.
"Do you think you understand people's hearts perfectly?
Do you think you know everything about them?!"
Qian Renxue gritted her teeth, looked up and stared intently at Xuan Hao, a hint of suppressed redness rising in her eyes, her voice trembling slightly with anger:
"You shameless, lewd philanderer, what right do you have to stand here and look down on me and accuse me of not understanding love?!"
Faced with Qian Renxue's questioning, Xuan Hao did not struggle, but simply leaned against the wall and looked at her calmly with his eyes down.
"I'm a womanizer, I'm shameless, that's a fact.
But when did I ever say that being a womanizer equals not loving?"
Xuan Hao countered with a question, his tone devoid of any guilt:
"Why do you think Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling are willing to stay by my side so devotedly?"
"Because I'm strong?
Talented?
They saw the huge return on investment in me?
I don't deny that these are facts.
After all, if you like someone, that person must have some shining qualities and value that are worth liking.
No one will love a useless person for no reason.
Even if someone is useless in your eyes, they must have certain value in the eyes of the person who loves them."
Seeing Qian Renxue's slightly stunned expression, Xuan Hao continued:
"But these are just the first steps.
The most fundamental reason they are willing to stay is that they feel happy and relaxed when they are with me."
"Do you think they don't mind that there are other women around me?
How could they not mind?
They often get angry and quarrel with me over these trivial things.
But I also know exactly what they care about most deep down.
They need security and to be valued, so I give them the special treatment they want and try my best to make them happy."
"Feelings are always mutual, and giving is mutual."
"But what about you?"
"You always put on that high and mighty god-like air.
What you need is never an equal lover who can stand on your level and compromise with you.
What you need is just a group of lackeys who kneel at your feet, obey your every word, and satisfy your vanity and desire for control."
"Moreover, in your logic, these lackeys can be replaced or discarded at any time once they lose their usefulness or go against your wishes."
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue's fingers tightened suddenly, her knuckles turning white.
"Of course, I'm not telling you this today to accuse you of being utterly wicked."
Xuan Hao's voice softened slightly, "Everyone has their own way of surviving."
"Like me, my way of life, which seems unrestrained and promiscuous to outsiders, is ultimately because I lack love in my bones.
I need a constant stream of affection and love from the outside world to fill the void in my heart.
I know very well what I need, so in order to obtain this love, I am also willing to give what others need without reservation."
"I'm the kind of person who can take things on and let them go."
"And your way of life naturally has its own set of unbreakable logic. I never said you were wrong."
Xuan Hao reached out and gently grasped Qian Renxue's wrist, which was clutching his collar, and slowly removed her hand.
"I have always respected you and never looked down on you."
Xuan Hao looked down at her. "It's precisely because I see things so clearly that I've always deliberately kept my distance from you, not wanting to provoke you. Our survival logic and our desire for a relationship are completely opposite."
"Since we're destined to walk different paths, there's no need for us to force ourselves together and engage in mutually harmful and self-torturing activities."
Read 20+ chapters ahead at Patreon
patreon.com/TaroYamato
patreon.com/TaroYamato