She could tell that Wen Qianyi’s response was merely a result of calm reasoning, but she still avoided directly saying ’give up’. Her indirect answer suggested that she couldn’t truly make up her mind.

Although Hai Fu only erased a "♀" sign drawn on the sand, it stirred ripples in Wen Qianyi’s heart, leaving her feeling as if she was the one being erased, a hollow emptiness!

From her gaze, Hai Fu already knew the answer and softly said, "It’s difficult, isn’t it?"

"..." Wen Qianyi couldn’t answer. It was indeed difficult. Erasing a symbol on the beach is easy, just takes a second; erasing someone from your heart is far too hard, perhaps not even possible in ten years!

Hai Fu looked at the sea and said wistfully, "I should be five or six years older than you, and you should be five or six years older than Yu Xiaodi... Heh! For you guys, perhaps there’s still plenty of time to find true love, to wait for the next one. But I’ve wasted much of my youth, I don’t have more time, nor the courage to wait. And to actively date one man after another, trying to get along, that goes against my nature..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"..." Wen Qianyi thought to herself: Do you want someone to give up and yield to you?

"There was a teacher who asked a student to pick the largest wheat stalk from a field. Rice field, wheat field, I don’t quite remember, but it was something like that, maybe with the rule that you could only walk through once and couldn’t turn back. When the student first entered, he wasn’t in a hurry to start, he thought he’d see more. When he saw one big stalk after another, he still held back, thinking perhaps there’d be a bigger one ahead! Deciding to wait until he’d seen everything in front before deciding... In the end, when he’d walked through the field, he found there were no more stalks to pick, and he’d missed the biggest and best one long before! Helplessly, he had to just pick a random stalk to fulfill the task."

After finishing the story, Hai Fu turned to look at Wen Qianyi and smiled faintly, "You’ve surely heard this story before? In my life, I may have missed many that were suitable for me, and now, I’ve met him. He may not be the best, the perfect, but for me, maybe missing him means no one more suitable will appear, and in the end, I’d just have to settle for someone. Do you understand how I feel?"

Wen Qianyi nodded, "I understand, the sentiments of a single woman... "

"...!" Hai Fu felt a bit embarrassed. It’s not that she’s in need of a husband, she just wants a man she’s satisfied with.

"If you want me to back off, I have no issue with that. Didn’t I always say I was different... But when it comes to Yu Xiaodi, it’s hard to say." Wen Qianyi finished speaking, and again thought of the secret about Li Yan, a secret perhaps only she knew. Could an assassin really be the most suitable person for the honest and conservative Hai Fu? "Are you sure he’s the most suitable partner for you? Do you know him... well enough?"

Hai Fu smiled a little and said seriously, "Qianyi, I know you’re a very rational, very rational person. I used to be like that too. But you must know, love isn’t an investment, it’s not about precise calculations. What does it matter if we don’t understand each other? Two people being together is about slowly understanding and mutually accommodating."

Wen Qianyi was taken aback. Indeed, she was too rational, wanting a perfect love, directly transitioning to a perfect marriage, so she needed to plan everything well.

"And also, you misunderstood, I’m not asking you to back off. I’m definitely not asking Yu Xiaodi to back off, I just want to say, I’m willing to accept his way of thinking."

"Huh?!"

"Yes, even if he still likes you, likes Yu Xiaodi, I don’t mind. I’m just a secret lover with him right now, continuing like this in the future, I don’t mind." Hai Fu said calmly.

Wen Qianyi reached out to touch her forehead, but it was just a gesture, she knew in her heart she wasn’t speaking nonsense. With a sigh, she asked, "Sister Hai Fu, what’s so good about him? Is he worth such a sacrifice?"

Hai Fu shook her head, "When you start questioning if someone is worth sacrificing for, it already indicates that this person is far more important to you than the average person. Whether it’s worth it or not depends on if you feel they’re more important than yourself!"

Wen Qianyi furrowed her brows, can it be that I plan everything carefully, calculate everything precisely, just because I am the most important?

"And about sacrifice... that depends on how you interpret it. If because he has a girlfriend or likes someone else, I break up with him and cut off contact, it doesn’t require sacrificing my dignity to accommodate him. But wouldn’t that be sacrificing a relationship? It could be the happiest time of my life, the most invested feelings. Compared to sacrificing dignity, which comes at a greater cost?"

"I don’t know..."

Hai Fu wasn’t seeking her answer, "Most would choose to sacrifice the relationship, but I choose differently. Because my feelings came too late, too precious!"

Wen Qianyi looked at her and sincerely exclaimed, "If Li Yan doesn’t treat you well, that would be unjustifiable!"

But Hai Fu burst into laughter, "It’s not as serious as you make it sound, is it? This is just my decision, why tie it to Li Yan? He’s in love with several women, separating is painful for everyone, and trying to be together is also painful. His pressure is greater than mine. Love isn’t about coercion, my giving is because I find it worth it, without needing him to reciprocate equally."

"Most people pursue equality, I love you alone, you can only love me alone..." Wen Qianyi murmured.

"But it’s actually just... me by your side, you only by my side. But love isn’t a clearly calculable material, just like the days you and Li Yan spend together, in absolute time, you spend the most, Yu Xiaodi spends less time than you, but she still became Li Yan’s girlfriend. Ordinary couples, or spouses, are just nominally, legally, physically together. Spiritually, who can mandate that one party always think about the other 24 hours a day? Who can achieve that? Usually, only when they are together is the spiritual love also present."

Hai Fu had said so much today, seemingly persuading Wen Qianyi, but also giving herself more confidence. "So, his person, his heart, might only be with me for two hours a day. The rest of the time might be with Yu Xiaodi, with you, or with some other woman. But even without you, without other women, he might only be with me for two hours, the rest could be at work, socializing, playing, gaming."

"You’ve gone too deep into this..." Wen Qianyi smiled bitterly.

"You might as well say I’m blind!" Hai Fu laughed, "Actually, your rationality and blindness are also at battle, it’s just that rationality temporarily has the upper hand."

Wen Qianyi’s emotions were turbulent, such thoughts were truly subversive, she had never considered it before. Of course, if she didn’t mind this, she might have already been with him. She felt that, for now, she couldn’t be as open-minded as Hai Fu!

(Updated 10,000 words today, asking for monthly pass support. Dropping to 55th is really disheartening, everyone, help get a few votes to push back into the top 50, please! Many thanks!)(To be continued, for more Chapters, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, support official reading!)