Chapter 42 She appeared again.

His words were firm and resounding.

Fan Mingjie and the others were stunned.

Those of them who had been with Li Zhan for many years knew that Jing Ge had always followed Li Zhan's lead and had never been seen asserting her dominance over any other girl.

Li Zhan's hands, which were playing the game, suddenly stopped. His eyes were fixed on the game interface, and he didn't even notice that his character had been killed.

"Jing Ge, have you misunderstood something?" Zhuo Yueyue, who looked frail, said, "Aren't we old classmates? Why are you saying such things to me right away?"

Jing Ge: "It's best if it's a misunderstanding. You two can't be lovers, and you can't even be friends."

"......"

Zhuo Yueyue bit her lip.

"Brother, Zhan-ge," Fan Mingjie said anxiously, "say something, don't just stay silent."

Jing Ge's gaze sharpened like never before: "You don't need to urge him on. I can't speak for him, but I still have influence in the Li family. To be fair, all of you have a share."

Fan Mingjie and the others' expressions began to turn ugly.

"Who in the Li family do you have any influence with?" Li Zhan asked coldly, turning his head away. "Do I need your permission to make friends? Did you get my permission to make friends?"

Jing Ge didn't shy away from the question: "Anyone is fine, but not her."

Li Zhan's eyes were dark and moist: "Reason."

Jing Ge, his voice trembling, said, "No need."

Li Zhan stared at her for a while, then suddenly sneered, "What makes you think you can?"

Jing Ge stood up and walked slowly through the crowd to stand in front of him.

She lowered her eyes to meet his arrogant face and said, word by word, "I have no grudge against you. Regardless of whether the childhood betrothal is valid or not, I have always hoped that you would be well and that things would go smoothly for you. I'm afraid you'll implicate Uncle Li and Aunt Man, and I'm afraid you'll implicate Yingying. Find someone good, and I'll help you cover it up and take over for you. She won't do, not even remotely. She will ruin the entire Li family..."

"Jing Ge!" Zhuo Yueyue sobbed, "What do you mean? I still want to ask you why you isolated me for no reason back then. Are you going to start bullying me again today?"

Li Zhan lifted his eyelids slightly: "Bullying?"

Zhuo Yueyue choked up: "She had good grades, so she went to the teacher to complain about me, which made me get scolded by the teacher and isolated by my classmates. I have never been able to get rid of her shadow over the years, and I have been taking medication and seeing a psychologist."

Gasps of breath rose and fell.

The others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Jing Ge laughed in exasperation.

She started pulling Li Zhan, saying, "Come home with me."

"Why should I?" Li Zhan shook off her hand. "Did you apologize to me?"

At this point, he sneered, "You don't allow others to associate with people you don't like. Isn't this exactly what she meant by forming cliques to bully and isolate people?"

Jing Ge's fingertips, suspended in mid-air, were trembling.

“Come home with me,” she said softly, “I’ll explain everything when we get home…”

A scream suddenly came from behind: "Yueyue!!"

"What happened!" The other classmates rushed over. "...It's respiratory alkali poisoning, caused by stress and anxiety. Yueyue, relax, don't cry anymore..."

"Brother, we have to take her to the hospital!"

Li Zhan immediately stood up, and as he brushed past Jing Ge, he bumped into him and made him stumble.

The people in the private room all left in a hurry.

All that remained was the luxurious cake and the girl's thin, trembling back.

The candles on the cake were almost burned out, the flames twisting and struggling above the cream, like an old man whose lamp was about to burn out, using his last bit of strength to shine in a final burst of light.

It went out suddenly.

The waiter looked her over for a moment: "Miss, are you alright...?"

Jingge was unsteady on his feet, his back bent like a boiled shrimp. He held onto the sofa and tried to say, "Excuse me, I can't quite hear what you're saying. Do you have fluoxetine here?"

-

Xi Zhen was the last person to leave the clinic.

As I locked the gate and turned around, I was startled by the ghostly girl standing under the tree.

After staring at the other person for a moment, Xi Zhen slowly stepped forward, her eyes filled with compassion: "I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime."

“Sister,” Jingge’s voice was weak, “she’s appeared again. She’s followed me everywhere I go.”

Xi Zhen patted her head: "You've grown up, haven't you forgotten?"

Jing Ge's expression was numb: "She's grown up too. She's amazing. The moment she appeared, she made everyone believe her..."

"Have you forgotten what I told you?" Xi Zhen said gently, "Those who choose to believe her are not your people. You should stay away from them."

Jingge, bewildered, said, "I can't leave. We're too entangled..."

Xi Zhen looked her over: "Did you take some medicine?"

Jingge reacted slowly, taking a few seconds to process the question.

"A girl next door lent me one. She said she was like me, she understood..."

Prescription drugs cannot be borrowed indiscriminately.

If there's a problem with lending out the medicine, the person who borrowed it will be the one who suffers.

But the young lady still lent it to her.

“I’m scared,” Jing Ge said, her words jumbled. “I get scared whenever I see her. I can’t control it. I thought I avoided her in middle school, I avoided her in high school, and I didn’t see her again in college. I thought it was all over, but then she appeared again…”

Xi Zhen listened patiently.

Jing Ge: "She's entangled with Li Zhan. If they continue like this, I'll never be able to escape it for the rest of my life..."

She seemed to have fallen into the most negative fantasy, a fantasy in which she had an invincible enemy.

She even considered ending it all, giving up all resistance. The people she had tried so hard to get rid of would always reappear when she was least expecting them.

Her efforts suddenly became a joke and futile.

Xi Zhen, unusually, interrupted her to stop her from sinking deeper into negative emotions: "You can do it."

Jing Gemu: "Hmm?"

“You can do it,” Xi Zhen looked into her eyes. “When you were little, you had no choice. You were trapped in school and the only option was to skip a grade to get away from her. Do you know how difficult it is to skip a grade? You did it.”

Jingge was emotionally numb and unable to react.

Xi Zhen: "I've always told you that things will get better when you grow up. Growing up doesn't mean you're taller or stronger. It means you have more choices. Today you can choose to come to me by yourself without your parents accompanying you, without having to endure their complaints and scoldings, and without being forced to repatriate by the police as a runaway underage girl. You can make your own decisions and sign the papers."

"......"

"It's been four or five years since I last saw you. You've grown so tall, and you're so young and beautiful," Xi Zhen laughed. "You're working and making money now, right? Have you ever treated yourself to a banquet to celebrate coming of age? Your ID card is expiring, but you can renew it yourself. If you're not happy with your job, you can just change it without having to report to your parents or teachers. Do you often sign your name on contracts and documents? You sign 'Jing Ge,' and anything other than your own signature is invalid, right?"

Jing Ge pursed his lips tightly.

The sense of self that had been shattered seemed to gradually return to her body as Xi Zhen spoke.

Xi Zhen stroked her face: "Your brain and body are sick. You need to rest instead of blaming yourself for being incompetent. Fortunately, you are independent now and don't have to depend on anyone. You can choose when to rest."