Chapter 121 A Stalemate: If the mountain won't come to her, she'll go to the mountain. ...

The dazzling white light on the phone screen stung his eyes, and He Ming stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

New WeChat messages kept pouring in, but he couldn't bear to look at them anymore.

Even without clicking on it, he could roughly guess what unpleasant things his father had said.

The traffic accident that year shocked the entire town of Gucheng. Before the police released the surveillance footage, everyone pointed the finger at the driver. Public opinion was overwhelming, and the bus driver became the culprit who killed a group of passengers. Even though his body had long since been soaked in the cold lake water and was unrecognizable along with the other passengers, it could not erase the "heinous crime" he had committed.

At the scene of the recovery of the victims' bodies, he heard even more vicious words than those tonight, and he even vented his hatred and curses with other victims' families with red eyes.

Subsequently, under pressure from public opinion, the police quickly released the recovered black box to the public, and the surveillance video was repeatedly broadcast on television news, finally revealing the truth about the bus losing control and plunging into the lake.

It turns out that the driver did not intentionally "murder" the driver; rather, a male passenger on the bus started the trouble. The two had a verbal argument while the bus was in motion, and the passenger, in a fit of rage, suddenly jumped over the partition and swung a heavy object at the back of the driver's head.

In the chaos, the driver, bleeding from a head injury, instinctively protected his head. The car veered into the oncoming lane. In a moment of extreme danger, he jerked the steering wheel, but lost control of the force, causing the vehicle to crash through the guardrail and plunge into the lake.

After the truth was revealed, several different opinions emerged in society. Most rational people attributed the blame to the male passenger who provoked the incident, accusing him of being the real culprit who caused the deaths of everyone on the bus.

However, a small number of people viewed the driver's actions with a critical eye. They suggested that if the driver had met the passenger's request to get off midway, or if he had slammed on the brakes when attacked, would the tragedy have been avoided?

Among the few who voiced their grievances was his father.

He Ming, who was only in the first year of junior high school at the time, was in the midst of his rebellious adolescence, yet he already possessed a level of discernment beyond that of an adult.

In his young eyes, the driver was also a victim of the accident.

Both the Road Traffic Law and the bus company clearly stipulate that passengers are not allowed to get on or off the bus in areas other than designated bus stops. The driver was simply adhering to his/her job responsibilities.

When people are harmed, they instinctively want to protect themselves. While it was inappropriate for him to take his hands off the steering wheel to protect his head at the moment of the attack, it is still a normal stress response.

The video footage of the driver bleeding profusely is horrifying; no one knows if he was even thinking clearly at the time. Anyone who suffers such a blow to the back of the head cannot guarantee they would react correctly.

If one insists that the bus driver was an indirect culprit in his mother's death, then he himself is even more culpable.

That morning, he had a big argument with his mother over some trivial matters related to his studies, which made his mother so angry that she left home early without even eating breakfast, and then took the No. 19 bus, which she had never taken before.

How cruel fate is! On this very day, her mother left this world forever. In the last few seconds of her life, one wonders if she was still heartbroken because of her rebellious son?

If he had softened his stance and apologized, or even stopped his mother to finish her breakfast before leaving the house... but fate did not give him a chance to make amends.

He will inevitably live in endless regret and self-blame, spending his days in fear.

More than a decade has passed, but his understanding remains unchanged.

His guilt and unease did not diminish with time. On the contrary, they remained hidden in the deepest recesses of his heart, seemingly calm on the surface, but in reality, deeply ingrained and difficult to reverse.

The light on the screen quietly went out, and he turned the phone upside down in his palm.

His thick eyebrows were deeply furrowed together, revealing his pain and struggle.

Humans are extremely contradictory individuals; rational cognition and emotional fluctuations are often at odds. Although He Ming no longer harbored resentment towards the bus driver, he still didn't want to have anything to do with him.

More precisely—

He avoids anyone who is even remotely connected to the accident that caused him to fall into the lake.

After all, every touch is a torment of blood and tears.

But, by sheer coincidence, that driver was Zhu Liushuang's father.

How does this teach him to make a choice?

Should we just give up?

He finally understood his own feelings and was now happily pursuing her.

He even planned out the exact day to confess his feelings.

She had even repeatedly pictured the heartwarming scene of them running a home together in her mind.

He is a living, breathing human being, not a heartless machine.

If, because of past entanglements, Zhu Liushuang were to be forcibly removed from his world, it would be tantamount to tearing flesh from his heart...

The night was cold and deep, and there was no one to be seen downstairs in the apartment building, only the rustling leaves falling in the wind.

Holding his phone, He Ming stumbled toward the common area in the lobby on the first floor.

His knees touched the edge of the sofa, and he seemed to lose his balance, sinking into the cold sofa.

The activity area was dark, with no lights on.

He just sat there, completely motionless.

————

Lately, Zhu Liushuang has rarely run into He Ming.

When she left for work in the morning, he was nowhere to be found at home.

She returned home from get off work in the evening, and the empty house was empty except for her.

For several days, she even wondered if he had never come home at all.

This strange behavior began after his father came that day.

That night, she sat on the sofa in the living room waiting for him until after 10 p.m. when she heard movement from the entrance.

Perhaps afraid of disturbing her rest, he opened the door and entered the room very quietly.

After bending down to change his shoes, he lowered his head and walked straight to the master bedroom without even glancing at the living room.

If she hadn't called him back in time, he probably wouldn't have noticed her presence.

Zhu Liushuang could never forget the look in his eyes when he looked at her at that moment.

Mysterious, broken, and bleak.

A shadow, unreadable to her, shrouded the depths of his dark pupils, like a layer of mist that was impossible to wipe away.

Her heart suddenly ached, and she stammered as she asked him if he had eaten dinner.

His answer was a slightly hesitant nod.

His face looked terrible, and she was worried about him.

However, the aura emanating from him was so strong that she dared not get up and approach him.

"Then...you should get some rest."

She finished speaking the last word with restraint, then let his figure walk away and eventually disappear around the corner of the corridor.

Zhu Liushuang refrained from asking how intense the argument between He Ming and his father had been that night after they went downstairs.

After all, everyone has secrets they find hard to talk about. Since he didn't bring it up, she gave him ample time to process it himself.

She thought that he would recover in two or three days.

Unexpectedly, this pause lasted for a week.

The past week has been an agonizing one for Zhu Liushuang.

He Ming works overtime every day.

Working overtime on weekdays and also on weekends.

When asked what time he would be home, he said he had too much to do and couldn't predict it.

Although he would still take the initiative to send her messages, reminding her to eat on time, lock the doors and windows, and be careful on her way to and from get off work, or take some photos of her lunch to share with her.

But Zhu Liushuang felt that something was different.

It's not that she's too demanding, but rather that people caught in the whirlpool of love are naturally sensitive.

When a person gets used to another person's meticulous and gentle advances, she can sense even the slightest change.

Moreover, He Ming's changes are not minor.

She felt like someone who had fallen from the clouds, overwhelmed with countless feelings of loss and sorrow.

Zhu Liushuang felt it was unlikely that all these changes could be attributed to the arguments between He Ming and his father.

unless--

The source of their argument was related to her.

When she was alone, she began to recall the events of that day. From the moment He Ming's father entered the room to the moment he sat down on the sofa...

Yes!

There was one detail she automatically overlooked!

In fact, the middle-aged man standing outside the door showed surprise the moment the door opened.

His tone when he spoke to her was not friendly; in fact, it could be described as somewhat aggressive.

He didn't drink a drop of the tea she made for him...

so--

Was He Ming's father so enraged because of her appearance?

Zhu Liushuang was startled by her own conclusion, and then a sad look appeared in her eyes.

No wonder he seemed like a completely different person after he got home.

Even when talking to her, we no longer make eye contact.

Is he intentionally avoiding her?

Overtime work may be true, but it shouldn't be so busy that you can't even see a single person.

Zhu Liushuang prided herself on being understanding; she understood him, cared for him, and was considerate of him, thus giving him ample space. Yet, in the end, she found herself in this predicament, caught between a rock and a hard place.

If no action is taken soon, all her hopes will be in vain.

After sorting out the myriad of things that had happened over the past few days, Zhu Liushuang suddenly realized: since the mountain wouldn't come to her, she would go to the mountain.

————

When it comes to action, Zhu Liushuang is absolutely a woman of her word.

She decided to take the initiative to break the deadlock, so she abandoned the hopeless wait and put her idea into action.

That evening, she called He Ming.

The moment the "beep" sound rang, she was already prepared to dial several more times.

"Hello, Liu Shuang?" After waiting patiently for about a minute, He Ming answered the phone.

Ignoring the weariness in his voice, Zhu Liushuang deliberately feigned ignorance and said, "Senior, are you still busy? Am I bothering you...?"

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did you need something? Wait a minute..."

"Mm." Zhu Liushuang nodded emphatically at his phone.

Footsteps mingled with the sounds of doors opening and closing. After a while, he continued, "Now you can talk."

Zhu Liushuang didn't hesitate any longer and pretended to be aggrieved, saying, "Senior, you've been working overtime until so late every day lately, and the house feels so quiet... My mom even asked me today why Xiao He is always working overtime, and how her health can take it! She's been nagging me for ages, telling me I have to take better care of you, my ears are practically calloused!"

After laying the groundwork, she stopped abruptly and waited for He Ming's reaction.

Amidst the buzzing of electricity, the man replied in a low voice, "I should be free by the end of the year."

With nearly a month until Lunar New Year's Eve, was he planning to avoid her for the next twenty days or so?

Zhu Liushuang was furious and wished she could immediately throw down the phone and rush to Zhonghe to confront him and clarify everything.

But she couldn't.

He Ming was already considering backing down, and if she went straight to the point now, it might make things worse.

So, suppressing her irritation, she asked, even more aggrievedly, "Then... are you going to work overtime on Laba Festival?"

The Laba Festival is three days later, which is Zhu Liushuang's lunar birthday.

"What date is Laba Festival?"

"The 26th, Monday," Zhu Liushuang reminded him.

"Monday... let me check my calendar." The man paused and said, "I have to go to a client's company on the 26th. It's in the next county, so I won't be back early."

“Oh, I see…” Zhu Liushuang said, drawing out her words with distress, “But that day is my birthday… Could you… come back as soon as possible, senior? I want to eat birthday cake with you.”

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Author's note: The next chapter will be sweet and spicy!