Hello, Mr. Major General Chapter 183 - The Half-year Contract

Chapter 183: The Half-year Contract

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“I haven’t gone back on my word. This is about you—you don’t want to be with , which ans our half-year contract is no longer valid,” Gu Nianzhi said impassively.

It was an early December morning. The wintry DC wind cut to the bone; Gu Nianzhi had to pull her overcoat together.

The fiery red Hermès cashre and silk flanco scarf around her neck stood out against her tallic gray military-style cashre overcoat. The contrast between the bold and the subdued was particularly attractive on this chilly winter morning: it caught the eye of everyone around her.

A constant stream of familiar n and won—her colleagues at US Congress, and mbers of parliant—greeted her as they passed by.

“Morning!”

“Gu, I love your look today!”

“Gu, want to bring you breakfast?”

Gu Nianzhi smiled as she waved to everyone, before pointing to her phone. They exchanged a knowing smile, indicating that they understood.

She decided to take her phone call elsewhere. She moved away from the steps and walked over to a row of trees that were already bald for the winter. She shoved her free hand in her coat pocket as she seated herself on a bench.

It was clear that i Xiawen did not accept what she was saying. He said with a sneer: “You’re the one going back on your word, admit it. When did I ever say I don’t want to be with you?! I just said you were going to be my girlfriend soon. Did you imdiately forget? You’re a top student—surely you’re not that forgetful?”

“i Xiawen, do you really want to be with ?” Gu Nianzhi was unperturbed. When she spoke, the warm breath from her red cherry lips condensed in the wintry air, shrouding her pretty face in misty vapors. The dreamy effect made her look even more lovely.

“How many tis do I have to say it? I want to be with you, I want you to be my girlfriend—I want to marry you, even! Why won’t you believe ?!” i Xiawen was standing on the balcony of his house. He stared at the city lights, consud with anger.

Why was this girl being so stubborn?

Gu Nianzhi sighed. She said hoarsely, “i Xiawen, your actions and your words contradict each other. What am I supposed to believe: your empty promises, or what you’ve done?”

It was obvious that i Xiawen had not expected to hear this from Gu Nianzhi.

He was silent for a mont. “Nianzhi, what do you an?”

“I believe I made myself clear. Neither of us are committed to the relationship, so it’s pointless for us to be together.” She had been out in the open for so ti now, and the cold wintry air had seeped into her hands and feet.

Gu Nianzhi got up and walked towards the Capitol Building.

She had not expected such a simple break-up call to go on for so long.

i Xiawen paced the balcony, agitated and irritable. “How am I not committed? I’m looking forward to seeing you here, back ho. How can you do this to ? You’ve found soone else, haven’t you? It’s you—you changed your mind!”

“I didn’t change my mind.” Gu Nianzhi’s voice was calm. She was telling the truth: there had only ever been one person in her heart. Her feelings had not changed in the slightest.

“If you haven’t changed your mind, then why are you saying this?! I like you, you like , what more do you want? Nianzhi, don’t be difficult. Co back, as soon as possible—when you’re back here with , I’ll treat you like a queen. I’ll make you the object of every woman’s envy.” i Xiawen took a deep breath and began to shower Gu Nianzhi with eloquent promises.

Young girls could never resist such romantic promises.

Gu Nianzhi knew it was ti to put her foot down. She said in a low, subdued voice as she walked up the stairs: “No, you don’t like , and I don’t like you, either. I don’t understand why you insist on having be your girlfriend.”

i Xiawen did not like what he had just heard.

He liked Nianzhi. He did not love her, not exactly, but her blunt rejection sent him reeling all the sa.

He had been surrounded by adoring won for as long as he could rember. They had all placed him on an altar and worshipped him; even an arrogant goddess like Jiang Hongcha had eventually swallowed her pride and begged him to be with her.

He refused to believe that he had failed to win the affections of a poor, orphan girl...

“Nianzhi, you like ,” i Xiawen said confidently, “you like , you do. You just don’t know it yet.”

Gu Nianzhi was speechless.

She opened the door to her office, threw her backpack onto the sofa, and removed her coat, revealing the thin cashre cardigan and silk scarf underneath. She slipped her phone into her trouser pocket, moving her call with i Xiawen over to her headset. She continued her conversation with him as she made coffee and bought breakfast for herself.

“i Xiawen, let’s stop beating around the bush. We both know what’s going on. Don’t make spell it out, it would be embarrassing for the both of us.” Gu Nianzhi was reluctant to tell him about what had happened with Jiang Hongcha. She would keep that information as her trump card, and use it only when things turned ugly.

For now, she wanted to reject i Xiawen as politely and amicably as possible.

“You’re set on breaking up with , is that it?” i Xiawen saw that his gentle coaxing had not worked on Gu Nianzhi, and was now too angry to be civil with her. “Just admit it: you changed your mind, you cheated on , you found soone else. Why did you have to go on a long spiel and pin this on ? How can you say I’m the one who doesn’t want to be with you? That’s totally wrong, and unfair.”

Gu Nianzhi returned to her office with her coffee and a stack of pancakes. She chuckled as she listened to him. “i Xiawen, we’re both law students. Evidence is everything. Subjective assumptions are just that: assumptions. They can never substitute for objective facts. First of all, you can’t call this a break up, because we were never in a relationship. I’m warning you, if you try to distort the facts and tell everyone I’m the one to bla, you will regret it. You know very well how stubborn and particular I can be, so don’t bla if you find yourself thoroughly humiliated later on. Besides, I’m sure you know which one of us violated our half-year contract. I don’t have to spell it out, do I?”

“Oh, I know who it was: it was you! You’re going back on your word, because you don’t want to be with !” i Xiawen was feeling guilty, and tried to hide it behind an explosion of indignant anger. “Well, I’m telling you now—you can’t do that!”

“i Xiawen, actions speak louder than words. Legally, the severity of your cri is determined according to the end result of your actions. The legal consequences of what you said depend entirely on the resulting actions. You keep saying that you want to be with , but in the last six months, you’ve been in a de facto relationship with another woman. Your actions prove that you don’t actually want to be with —which ans our agreent is no longer valid.” Gu Nianzhi set her coffee and pancakes down on her desk as she seated herself. She turned on her computer and began wrapping up her tasks as an intern; she would have to write an internship report once she was done.

i Xiawen was speechless. Gu Nianzhi’s long speech had been dispassionate and clinical, as though she were debating him in court.

After a long mont, he finally recovered himself and asked incredulously: “Nianzhi, what do you an? What de facto relationship, what are you talking about? I haven’t done anything like that, I swear!”

“No? So you’re saying that you’ve never gone beyond a platonic relationship with another woman in the last six months?” Gu Nianzhi frowned. i Xiawen was being extrely difficult—perhaps it would be easier if she ntioned Jiang Hongcha by na?

But she found herself reluctant to bring Jiang Hongcha into the conversation—that would make her sound like a jealous woman who had just caught her boyfriend cheating with another. The last thing she wanted was for i Xiawen to get the wrong idea and think she was being jealous.

i Xiawen was not her boyfriend. He could sleep with anyone he liked, it was really none of her business. What infuriated her was his attitude: how could he keep insisting he wanted to be with her, when he was doing the horizontal tango with another woman?

Jiang Hongcha was right: Gu Nianzhi did not think she could ever adapt to the unspoken rules of their circle.

i Xiawen finally understood what Gu Nianzhi was getting at. Even so, he was reluctant to admit he was seeing Jiang Hongcha—he was confident no one knew about his special arrangent with her. He continued to stubbornly insist that it was Gu Nianzhi who had found soone else and changed her mind about their promise.

Gu Nianzhi had reached the limits of her patience. She had an internship report to write, and did not have ti for this nonsense. She said to i Xiawen: “Fine, I’ll spell it out for you. I haven’t changed my mind, Class Rep, because I never liked you. I tried to like you, but I just can’t. I can’t keep up sothing that is never going to happen—that would be a serious mistake, and extrely unfair to the both of us.”

i Xiawen was stunned. He sat heavily on the sofa, his face pale and his lips trembling. He wanted to yell an, nasty things at her, but he rembered what she had said about legal consequences, and controlled himself.