Chapter 41

Yin Mu stood by the window holding the curtains, looking at the figure. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly closed the curtains, put on a shirt over his pajamas, and went out.

She put the card in the letterbox and then went downstairs and straight into the garden.

Although I tried to make my footsteps as light as possible, they were still very clear and hard to ignore in the quiet night.

The people by the swimming pool heard the sound, turned around and looked over, it was Chen Qinglin.

Seeing clearly that it was him, Yin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time felt a little relieved: "It really is you."

Chen Qinglin didn't show any surprise. He walked to the folding chair and sat down, then asked calmly, "Why did you come here if you weren't sleeping?"

Yin Mu walked over to him and sat down on a folding chair across from him: "I was about to go to bed, but I saw someone upstairs staying up late at night, standing by the swimming pool as a sight, so I came down to take a look."

Chen Qinglin turned his head to look at her: "Just a visit?"

"What else?" Yin Mu smiled slightly, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "It's so hot during the day, but the breeze at night is so cool. It's so comfortable."

"Yeah, that's right." Chen Qinglin replied absentmindedly, "Why don't you care about the camera this time?"

"Nothing will get out anyway, so who cares."

After the last time, she asked Meng Meng indirectly about it. The other party said that if the painting is not equipped with a microphone, the sound cannot be received and only the picture can be seen. Only then did she feel relieved.

"Is it okay if you're seen with me?"

Yin Mu didn't take it seriously: "It's just a normal conversation, what's the big deal."

Chen Qinglin was silent for a few seconds: "You were not like this before."

"Hmm?" Yin Mu blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You're deliberately avoiding me, I can see that."

He spoke bluntly, and Yin Mu was a little embarrassed, but still chose to deny it: "No, you think too much."

"That's good." Chen Qinglin folded his hands and placed them behind his head, closing his eyes and feeling the warmth of the night breeze on his face. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Why did you come down to see me?"

Why? Yin Mu was stunned, and he couldn't explain why. It was simply because he saw him and wanted to come over and see him, or say a few words.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Chen Qinglin asked, "Do you have anything to say to me?"

"There's nothing special to say..."

"Yeah." Chen Qinglin nodded, "You are free to go wherever you want."

Yin Mu hesitated for a moment and asked carefully, "Are you in a bad mood?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's obvious." Yin Mu whispered, "You didn't have any midnight snack either."

"I'm not in a bad mood, I just want to be alone."

"You're still in a bad mood." Yin Mu looked at his calm appearance and tried to ask, "Did you meet someone you know at the bar?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Qinglin looked at her with a hint of vigilance on his face: "What did you see?"

Yin Mu quickly shook his head: "Nothing, I was just guessing."

Chen Qinglin didn't believe her words. His eyes were serious, as if he wanted to see deep into her heart: "Really? Now it's just the two of us. There's no need for you to lie and test me."

Yin Mu felt guilty when he looked at him, so he turned his eyes away, but his inner thoughts were clearly revealed.

Chen Qinglin understood without thinking too much and said in a declarative tone: "You saw it."

Yin Mu was speechless. There was no point in lying now, so she just threw it all out and bravely admitted, "I didn't see anything, I just heard you talking." She added hastily, "I'm sorry, I heard you talking and, out of curiosity, I didn't leave. - Don't be angry! I sincerely apologize."

Chen Qinglin said "hmm" and asked, "How much have you heard?"

Yin Mu was extremely ashamed: "I almost heard everything."

"...You are honest."

Yin Mu laughed dryly: "Now that things have come to this, it would be even more excessive for me to conceal it."

Chen Qinglin didn't smile, and his face looked a little gloomy in the night.

Yin Mu restrained his smile and apologized again sincerely: "I'm really sorry, I won't do it again next time."

Chen Qinglin lowered his eyes: "Forget it, you didn't mean to eavesdrop. In the final analysis, I was too careless."

Yin Mu lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously tugging at the hem of his clothes, and said nothing.

The two of them sat in silence for a long time before Chen Qinglin finally spoke: "Aren't you curious? Why are you so silent now and asking no questions?"

"I don't think you'd tell me even if I asked you. Besides, it wasn't a very pleasant past, was it?" Yin Mu said. "Putting myself in your shoes, I wouldn't want to be questioned."

"Um."

"However, if you feel bad and want to talk to someone, I'm happy to be a diligent listener." Yin Mu said, raising three fingers in a swearing gesture, "I promise I will never tell anyone."

Perhaps because he had run into an acquaintance, Chen Qinglin also had a lot to say to others. After a long silence, he said softly, "My parents died a long time ago, when I was still in elementary school."

He had said this a long time ago. Yin Mu listened quietly without interrupting.

"After they passed away, my relatives all regarded me as a burden. No one wanted to take care of me, but they couldn't let go of their pride and were afraid of being criticized. So, several uncles and aunts agreed to take turns to take care of me. Of course, they also divided up the little inheritance my parents left behind, saying it was used to take care of me."

The fickleness of human nature. Although Yin Mu had not had the same personal experience, he could imagine it. He immediately felt sympathy and asked, "What happened next?"

"Later, perhaps because they ran out of money, their attitude towards me changed. I bought the cheapest food, clothes and other necessities. But I can't blame them. After all, they have their own children. They are kind enough to spare a little energy to take care of me.

"They supported me until I graduated from high school. In college, I applied for a scholarship, and with bonuses and my part-time job salary, I never asked them for a penny. Our school is pretty good, and the teachers know a lot of people in the industry and can introduce us to jobs. My life has improved a lot, and I've saved some money.

"I don't know why my relatives think I'm rich, and they openly ask me to borrow money for all kinds of reasons. Today they need to pay for their younger siblings' tuition, tomorrow they need to buy medicine for the elderly, all kinds of reasons. It's amazing that they can come up with such ideas."

Yin Mu couldn't help but interrupt when he heard this: "You gave it all?"

"How can I not give it to you?"

Yin Mu was furious: "How shameless they are to ask a student for money. - They said it was a loan, but have they paid it back?"

Chen Qinglin smiled and didn't answer, but his reaction said it all.

Yin Mu became even angrier: "That's too much! I wouldn't give it to you!"

"How can I do that?" Chen Qinglin sighed helplessly, "I'd rather suffer a little than be harassed endlessly by them, and even my parents will be criticized."

No wonder he said before that he was so poor that he could only eat instant noodles. It turns out that he had such difficulties.

Yin Mu felt very uncomfortable: "Will they still look for you now?"

"Occasionally, but I've let it go. If they don't have money, just tell them they don't have money. Let them say whatever they want." Chen Qinglin said, "Besides, I've given them enough money over the years. I remember every penny clearly. Even if they keep pestering me, I have a clear conscience."

Yin Mu nodded and said in agreement, "Yes, we can't spoil them, otherwise they will only become more aggressive." Thinking of Lin Fan, she asked again, "The guy I met in the bar today, Lin Fan, is he your college classmate? He's also an actor, right?"

Chen Qinglin said indifferently: "You've heard quite a lot."

"..." Yin Mu coughed twice embarrassedly, "Just said that I heard almost everything."

Chen Qinglin smiled: "Okay, I'm not blaming you. He is indeed my college classmate. We had a good relationship back then and often worked together as partners to complete various performance assignments."

"Does that mean the relationship is not good now?"

"Different personalities naturally lead to differences."

His words were vague, and he didn't give the answer Yin Mu wanted. Yin Mu was not satisfied with this: "No, I heard your conversation, and he still cares about you. Is there any misunderstanding between you?"

Chen Qinglin remained silent.

"Well, if you don't trust me, forget it if you don't want to talk about it."

Chen Qinglin immediately said: "No, it's not that I don't trust you."

His face was full of confusion, as if he was about to tell a big secret that was difficult to speak out. Yin Mu really couldn't bear to embarrass him anymore, so he sighed softly: "Okay, okay, I get it. You can tell me when you want to. I don't have the habit of forcing people to do things against their will."

Chen Qinglin breathed a sigh of relief and said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I originally wanted to keep these things in my heart and never tell them. They are indeed not glorious things."

Yin Mu waved his hand: "Okay, I understand. Everyone has secrets that they don't want others to know. I have them too."

"……Um."

Yin Mu smiled at him and stood up: "It's getting late, go back to bed. By the way, did you put your card in the mailbox?"

"I voted. I voted when I went downstairs."

"That's good." Yin Mu stretched and straightened his shirt. "Then I'll go back first. You don't have to stay too long. Good night."

"good evening."

After chatting with Chen Qinglin for such a long time, Yin Mu still didn't feel sleepy after returning to the room. He tossed and turned in bed, his mind full of thoughts about Chen Qinglin.

After spending these few days together, she previously thought that Chen Qinglin was good-tempered, easy-going, and a good person. But after listening to his growth experience, she felt that he was actually quite pitiful, and her feelings towards him became a little complicated.

However, the show will end in three days. No matter how I feel about him, once I leave, they will never have the chance to see each other again.

After he left, the soul in this body changed, but Chen Qinglin didn't know. He would think it was still him...

Yin Mu couldn't lie down anymore, so he sat up, hugged the quilt, and stared at the darkness in a daze.

What was going on? Why did she feel the urge to stay here for a while longer?