I Can't Hear the Breakup Unless I Take Off My Hearing Aids

"He only puts on his hearing aids when he kisses her."

Chen Anqi thinks the greatest thing she's ever done is win over Lin Zhou, her very own swan, then dump him.

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Lin Zhou is deaf, aloof, and keeps everyone at arm's length. He's also a widely recognized math prodigy, a future Tsinghua student, and a rising star in scientific research.

Chen Anqi is a terrible student, talkative and spoiled, the apple of her nouveau riche parents' eyes.

Chen Anqi likes Lin Zhou, but Lin Zhou doesn't like her. He likes the outstanding class monitor from the class next door.

Furious, Chen Anqi makes a bet with Lin Zhou: if she gets the top score, he'll agree to date her.

From then on, she changes her carefree ways and studies like crazy. At last, she gets her wish and makes Lin Zhou her boyfriend.

Less than a month into their relationship, Chen Anqi dumps him, saying, "Lin Zhou is too poor, disabled, and boring."

Years later, Chen Anqi's father makes a failed investment, and the family's finances plummet. Even her blind dates are with disgusting men.

Her life is miserable, and a friend tells her that Lin Zhou didn't study math in college and is now doing very well for himself, the big boss of a barbecue restaurant chain.

The faithless Chen Anqi doesn't seem fazed. In private, she decides to steer clear of Lin Zhou.

But the very next day, she goes on a blind date and, by sheer coincidence, runs into Lin Zhou.

He's still as cold as ever. Deliberately removing his hearing aids in front of her date, he gives a cold laugh and says, "She'll dump you on your wedding day."

"She said she'd be with me forever."

Later, Chen Anqi asks him when she ever said that.

Lin Zhou fixes her with a sinister gaze that coils around her like a snake's tongue.

"You made that bet yourself back then. Have you forgotten?"

Chen Anqi looks up and meets a pair of crazed eyes.

At seventeen, Chen Anqi wrote the stakes on a rooftop wall:

[If I win the bet, Lin Zhou has to be Chen Anqi's boyfriend for life.]

That night, Chen Anqi can't sleep, tossing and turning.

Wait, it was just something a teenager blurted out. Is he actually serious?

Later, when they're really together, Chen Anqi thinks he's far too insatiable. Every time she ends up sore and aching, she breaks up with him.

Lin Zhou smashes his hearing aids and refuses to listen to her say they're over.

Theme: Love