《I Hate Everything About You》


 Chapter 1

    On a winter afternoon with warm sunshine, the shopping mall was bustling with people.


    In the office of a high-rise building, Chen Sui propped her chin in her hand as she looked down at the people below coming and going in a daze. One second before her consciousness was knocked out by sleep, she was startled by the loud and deep shout of her colleague.


    ¡°This Burberry dress is so pretty! Look at Guan Jin¡¯s neck! She¡¯s drop-dead gorgeous!¡±


    Chen Sui vaguely asked, ¡°What neck?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sleep, come here and look, a set of photos of Guan Jin at the Bazaar party last night posted by her studio went viral and is on the hot search! Come on, look at this beauty,¡± her colleague shook the sleeping queen awake, and the phone screen was pressed close to Chen Sui¡¯s face, ¡°These celebrities are really different from us, look at her, she¡¯s in her 40s but still looks like a fairy!¡±


    Chen Sui nodded in agreement while scrolling through the photos. Who did not know Guan Jin? A female celebrity who excelled in all three fields of modelling, film and music, and also had a great reputation internationally.


    Last night, Film Empress Guan wore a black Burberry mermaid dress to attend a fashion show. Despite being in her 40s, in the taken photos of her, she still looked gorgeous and was not inferior to those new female stars currently in their teens and 20s.


    ¡°This photo is also amazing. How come I didn¡¯t find Guan Jin so beautiful before?¡±


    The girl with a ponytail sitting in the front, holding her phone in her hand, turned around and said, ¡°These photos were taken by JMing. Guan Jin¡¯s studio even tagged his name to thank him.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s JMing?¡±


    ¡°How can you not know him? It¡¯s Jian Ming Xi! Jian Ming Xi!¡± As an amateur photographer, the girl with the ponytail was quite disappointed, ¡°Last time, there were some extremely popular photos of Mexican immigrants, so popular that the Xin Hua News Agency especially opened a category for it. Those photos were all taken by him.¡±


    Hearing the name of an acquaintance, Chen Sui seemed to hear a ¡°Ding!¡± radar detection siren in her head.


    She immediately woke up, ¡°Jian Ming Xi?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? He¡¯s a professional photographer and is extremely popular in the photography field,¡± the girl with the ponytail¡¯s eyes lit up with stars like a fangirl, ¡°Last year, after I had just graduated and came back here, I even sent my resume to his studio, but unfortunately, I failed to enter the interview round and didn¡¯t get in. I don¡¯t know how I was so brave back then.¡±


    ¡°How should I put it, in the photography field, he¡¯s no different from the noblest of the aristocracy, the most educated man at Harvard, the most successful man in the financial field like Warren Buffett, and my male god.¡±


    [T/N: Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.]


    ¡°Besides, he¡¯s super handsome, not inferior to those celebrities¡­¡±


    Chen Sui tried to suppress her conditioned contempt and felt speechless deep inside.


    Jian Ming Xi.


    He? A male god?


    Please tell her this was a joke.


    Chen Sui took her coffee cup and stayed away from the conversation with the three words ¡®Refusing to talk¡¯ written on her face.


    If she had to describe him, this Jian Ming Xi, in Chen Sui¡¯s memory was¡­


    A pile of gravel among treasures, the watermelon seeds of a watermelon, and the obnoxious Lord Voldemort.


    [T/N: ¡®Lord Voldemort¡¯, also known as ¡®You-Know-Who¡¯, or ¡®He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named¡¯, is a fictional character in the Harry Potter novel series.]


    Jian Ming Xi was the first name on the list of the people she hated the most, and was also specially treated as a super-hate VIP level.


    ¡­


    Not all childhood friends could get along well with each other.


    Starting at the age of six, when little Chen Sui first met Jian Ming Xi, the boy who had just moved in next to her villa, she inculcated this fact.


    At first, she was just a little uncomfortable.


    On the day the new neighbours moved in, Chen¡¯s parents brought Chen Sui to visit the villa next door. While the adults of the two families were chatting in the living room, Chen Sui accidentally dropped the apple in her hand, so she chased after the apple to the stairs. When she picked it up, she looked up and saw Jian Ming Xi, who happened to be walking down the stairs.


    A little six-year-old boy with a pink lip, white teeth, clear eyes, and dressed in a very neat British knitted suit, smiled at Chen Sui, a little girl with messy hair.


    What are you laughing at!


    Chen Sui suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, so she lowered her head and tugged at her wrinkled skirt. Without saying a word, she ran towards Mother Chen.


    That day, after returning home, Mother Chen and Father Chen praised Jian Ming Xi nonstop right in front of Chen Sui.


    They complimented him ¡®Smart¡¯ six times and ¡®Cute¡¯ twelve times.


    Chen Sui remembered it all.


    Sure, he may be smart.


    But he was a boy, why even snatch the word ¡®Cute¡¯ from her!


    Before that, the neighbourhood often called Chen Sui the cutest child, but after his appearance, the name ¡®Xiao Xi¡¯ replaced her.


    Chen Sui was very dissatisfied.


    This dissatisfaction did not lessen as Chen Sui grew up, but instead increased with age, spanning Chen Sui¡¯s entire childhood as if becoming a novel of her life.


    In the fifth grade of elementary school, the writing topic in Chen Sui¡¯s class was [The person I¡­ the most.]


    As soon as Chen Sui held her pen to start writing, she seriously chose her topic: [The person I hate the most.]


    The topic sentence of the paragraph was: [The person I hate the most is my seatmate, Jian Ming Xi.]


    That day, Chen Sui¡¯s parents were called to the school.


    While crying, she was taken out of the office by Mother Chen and saw Jian Ming Xi standing at the door, handing her a bottle of milk with his long eyelashes blinking, ¡°Don¡¯t hate me anymore.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t like it, go away,¡± Chen Sui continued crying and pushed the milk bottle back, ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be nice.¡±


    Jian Ming Xi held the milk bottle and froze in place.


    ¡°I saw you write my name in the paragraph, you hate me, don¡¯t you?¡± Chen Sui sniffed and said forcefully, ¡°Anyway, I hate you too.¡±


    Chen Sui heard that Jian Ming Xi¡¯s parents were also called to the school because of the paragraph he wrote in class. She had no idea what the content of the conversation was, but she was sure it was related to her.


    Maybe the paragraph topic was also ¡®The person I hate the most.¡¯


    Look at how they understood each other so well.


    Chen Sui could not help but admit that having known each other for ten years, she and Jian Ming Xi were indeed a perfect match¡­


    A pair of opposites.

 Chapter 2

    From childhood to adulthood, Jian Ming Xi had always been called ¡®The child every family wanted to have¡¯ in various senses.


    For example, the two of them drank a cup of milk every day, from the same brand and in the same glass, but the only person who grew taller was only Jian Ming Xi.


    At the end of summer break at the age of twelve, Chen Sui met Jian Ming Xi at the registration office of her new school.


    The Jian family travelled abroad for two months, so they had not seen each other for the whole summer break. With a smile on his face, he pulled Chen Sui, who was like a little child, twirling around.


    Jian Ming Xi lowered his head to look at her as he smiled, revealing a faint dimple, ¡°I bought you a present, wanna come over to my house to get it after school?¡±


    Why¡­ Why is he so tall?


    Chen Sui glared at the person who was half a head taller than her, unable to say anything. Her confidence that she was 3 centimetres taller after the summer break immediately collapsed.


    ¡°You¡­ Have you noticed that I¡¯ve changed?¡± Chen Sui had difficulty opening her mouth to ask.


    The young man looked at her seriously and thought for two seconds, ¡°Did you get fatter?¡±


    Chen Sui, ¡°¡­¡±


    Chen Sui¡¯s face stiffened. As she thought, she really hated Jian Ming Xi.


    But things like that did not just happen once.


    From height to study, Chen Sui was always surpassed by the opponent.


    Mother Chen also sided with him, always repeating those praises in her ears throughout her youth.


    ¡°I heard that this school year, Xiao Xi ranked first in your school again. Sui Sui, you have to learn a lot from him and work harder, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, when I went to the parent-teacher meeting, even your homeroom teacher said that Jian Ming Xi from the next class, Xiao Xi, is the city¡¯s Olympic champion, so smart ah.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Xi¡­¡±


    Chen Sui, who was doing her homework, could not bear it any longer, ¡°Mom, why do you always have to compare me with him in everything?¡±


    Mother Chen asked in return as she knitted, ¡°If I don¡¯t compare now, how can you be worthy of him in the future?¡±


    Chen Sui accidentally broke the pencil lead.


    Seventeen-year-old Chen Sui flipped through her notebook, and her face was so red that it was hot, not knowing if it was due to anger or what. After a while, she said, ¡°Who wants to be worthy of him!¡±


    In elementary school, Chen Sui and Jian Ming Xi were seatmates, in middle school, they were in the same class, and in high school, they were in the same school.


    She could hold it when being compared with him by her parents at home, but at school, she was even teased by her classmates who did not know the truth.


    It was annoying ah.


    At the coming of age ceremony, Chen Sui sulkily made a wish that she never wanted to see Jian Ming Xi again.


    ¡­


    Chen Sui did not expect that her wish actually came true.


    A few months later, the Chen family went bankrupt, sold the villa, and move to another small district in the city.


    On the day of moving, Chen Sui sat in the car and looked outside the window. The clean road filled with trees and flowers gradually disappeared from her sight, and even the Jian family¡¯s villa slowly turned into a small point from far away.


    ¡°Mother Jian said that Xiao Xi has gone to participate in a competition in another province these days, so he still doesn¡¯t know about this,¡± Mother Chen looked at her daughter and said softly, ¡°You guys are both in grade 12 this year, try to do well on the university entrance exam, you both can still go to the same university in the future.¡±


    Chen Sui pulled the chain on her schoolbag, this was a gift that Jian Ming Xi bought for her after returning from the US in middle school.


    As soon as she heard it, she acted as if she did not care and said, ¡°Who wants to go to the same university as him!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay not to go to the same university,¡± Mother Chen sighed and wiped her daughter¡¯s tears, ¡°Sui Sui, don¡¯t cry.¡±


    After that, Jian Ming Xi went to study abroad. Until now, for stories about him, Chen Sui changed from a person who understood him well to one who only heard about him from other colleagues¡¯ mouths.


    The two of them were gradually becoming strangers.


    ¡­


    After returning home from work, Chen Sui opened her computer and typed ¡®Jian Ming Xi¡¯ in the search box.


    She held her face, staring at the countless news media releases that suddenly popped out in front of her eyes and silently pondered in her heart. What her colleagues said was not wrong, it seemed that these past few years, Jian Ming Xi had been living a very comfortable and successful life.


    Currently, Jian Ming Xi had become a top photographer of the new generation, travelling from all over the world, and shooting from the scene of the African refugee crisis to the scene of a dying polar bear. A young famous and successful man with a bright future.


    Compared to her, a financial worker working in an office building, he was much better.


    A light hum resounded in the silent room.


    One humming was not enough, Chen Sui snorted again and turned off her computer with an expressionless face.


    Someone like her still could not catch up with him after all.


    Very frustrating indeed.


    Before she let out the third hum, a notification from WeiXin rang.


    Chen Sui opened her phone and saw the group chat of her high school classmates was unusually lively as they were discussing the class reunion at the end of this month.


    [We still haven¡¯t held a class reunion this year, right? Let¡¯s book at the Shang Hai hotel then. Those of you who are currently in the city are not allowed to be absent!]


    [Wait a minute, I¡¯ll go to the A-class mall to buy some high-end clothing and then come.]


    [Gao Cheng Lin, stop acting ah. If people like you with an annual salary of over one hundred thousand yuan still want to buy high-end clothing, then what are we supposed to do?]


    The current class reunion was not to show off who was richer but to show who was poorer.


    Chen Sui scrolled through the group chat until she was bored, watching her classmates complaining about being poor yet showing off their wealth at the same time. She had no choice but to accept her fate, turning on her computer to start working overtime.


    Thinking back to all the news related to Jian Ming Xi she found just now, Chen Sui gritted her teeth.


    Speaking of miserable, she was the one who deserved to speak the most ah.


    ¡­


    The class reunion was extremely boring.


    A group of people clinking glasses noisily, and the topic of conversation was inseparable from these years.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t count as having a stable life, then tell me, who among us has the most stable life?¡±


    ¡°Our class doesn¡¯t count, but Jian Ming Xi from the next class, you guys probably have heard of him, right? That¡¯s what we call a successful life.¡±


    Chen Sui bit her chopsticks.


    ¡°Of course, I know Jian Ming Xi. Our school¡¯s student is now a celebrity ah.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s so successful. Oh right, Chen Sui, weren¡¯t you very close with him in the past?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, they¡¯re childhood sweethearts.¡±


    ¡°What childhood sweethearts?¡± Chen Sui¡¯s heart suddenly started beating fast. She tried to smile lightly, ¡°I¡¯m not close with him.¡±


    This was strange.


    Originally, Chen Sui had buried Jian Ming Xi in her memory, even the soil was about to harden. Until some time ago, when she heard of him from her colleagues¡¯ gossip, those memories emerged, and she discovered that this person¡¯s presence was becoming stronger and stronger in her life.


    Scrolling through Weibo, the news of Ge Kong, the rich and famous lady, who confessed her love to JMing went on a hot search.


    Looking at the latest news, JMing donated ten million from the auction of photographic manuscripts to a charity, and also went to the top of the hot search.


    Even when chatting in the tea room, her colleagues kept on praising the photos taken by Jian Ming Xi with eight hundred sentences next to her ears.


    As if the old days were back, perhaps bringing along her old friends.


    But when she returned to her working position, looking at the green and red K-lines and the data reports that had not been processed yet, the time returned to the working overtime days and brought her back to reality.


    Like the end of the K-lines on both sides of the screen, the years that had passed could not be returned.


    After the meal, the class reunion ended, and Chen Sui left the hotel with her friends.


    Under the noisy hotel lobby, the classmate who was pulling Chen Sui¡¯s hand turned her head and looked back, exclaiming all of a sudden, ¡°Isn¡¯t that Jian Ming Xi?¡±


    Chen Sui turned her head and saw a group of people coming out of the revolving door.


    Jian Ming Xi in real life looked even more bright and confident than in the photos.


    Chen Sui stared at his phoenix eyes as if coming out of a manga that her colleagues had praised countless times. There was a hint of surprise underneath the man¡¯s eyes, and the little lights along with happiness flashed through his eyes.


    Jian Ming Xi approached her with his eyes fixed on her, ¡°Sui Sui.¡±


    Chen Sui¡¯s body stiffened and turned her head without a word.


    There was no greeting in her head at the moment.


    Seeing that she still kept her refusal look, Jian Ming Xi sighed silently, ignoring the eyes of others, and asked again, ¡°Sui Sui?¡±


    Why are you calling me?


    It¡¯s not like we¡¯re close with each other¡­


    What kind of life he had lived, and how she had lived, the difference between them was too large, and their distance was too far.


    Staring for a while, Chen Sui felt her vision blur and was about to rub her eyes with her hand, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed by Jian Ming Xi.


    Just like Mother Chen when she moved house at the age of eighteen, and just like when Father Chen passed away.


    Jian Ming Xi patiently wiped away Chen Sui¡¯s tears with his hand, and coaxed her in a gentle voice as if coaxing a child, ¡°Sui Sui, don¡¯t cry.¡±