Unclear thoughts

Wait, why is her name still mentioned? Maybe it's because she's indebted to him, or maybe this morning's breakfast was just too delicious, that Kim Hee-ro can't tear herself away from the thought of food.

Jiang Yilin walked ahead of her with his back to her. Seeing that she was still standing there and didn't know to follow, he raised his hand and casually waved behind him: "Didn't you hear me? Come and eat."

"Me? Kim Hee-ro was still a little hesitant."

Jiang Yilin stopped to wait for her, frowning slightly: "Otherwise, besides you, is there anyone else in this entire courtyard with the surname Jin?"

As Kim Hee-ro watched his retreating figure, she wanted to go up and punch him in the back of the head. Did he really have to talk like that?

"Aren't you coming over yet?" Jiang Yilin turned around and waited for her to come into the house together. His pleasant voice was still not very enthusiastic, like a stream of clear water in winter.

"Here I am!" She immediately lowered her fist, ran to his side, and her smile hadn't faded yet.

Today at noon, it was just the two of them eating together again. The meal was still very plentiful, and it was all Jin Xilu's favorite dishes.

As always, after Jin Xilu finished eating, Jiang Yilin called for the dishes to be removed.

Taking advantage of this moment, she stopped him and confessed that she didn't know how to take care of cats, especially since the calico and orange cats were already being cared for by Lai Xi.

"I'd like to go to the mine and see if there's anything I can do to help," Kim Hee-ro said, getting down from the table and standing up to ask him.

"Oh? You've got quite the ambition." The mine has always been managed by the Jiang family, and Jiang Yilin, as the head of the family, goes up the mountain several times a week.

They grew up together, so how could Jiang Yilin not see what she was thinking? He didn't expect her to be so impatient on the third day after she came back.

Kim Hee-ro doesn't hide her thoughts when she's with him, so it's not hard to guess what she's thinking.

“But no.” Jiang Yilin flatly rejected her request.

"Why?"

Why do you want to go to the mines?

Jin Xilu saw Jiang Yilin stand up and followed suit, but unexpectedly, Jiang Yilin sat down again as soon as she stood up, looking like she was just listening to what she had to say.

She ignored his feigned indifference and was willing to believe that Jiang Yilin was still gentle at heart. He was the kind of person who was afraid of this and that, but not afraid of hurting himself. So she would still walk up to him and force him to look at himself and then at her.

“You are the clan leader now, you have replaced him, right?” Jin Xilu walked behind his chair, gently placed her hand on the back of the wooden chair, and couldn’t suppress her excitement in her words.

The back of the wooden chair wasn't high, so she could easily look down and catch his eyes as he pretended to be asleep, watching them slowly redden and gradually well up with tears.

"No."

Jin Xilu didn't believe it. Long before his voice came out, Jin Xilu had already covered his mouth, which could kill. Of course, she still remembered the day Jiang Yilin pinned her against the tree in front of the grave, but this time she took the initiative and he definitely couldn't escape her grasp.

Even faster than covering his mouth, Jin Xilu rested her chin on his shoulder and buried her face in his neck. The clean, refreshing scent of spring water mixed with the fragrance of herbs and trees emanated from him. She knew that Jiang Yilin's sensitive neck was his fatal weakness, so she quickly embraced his body. The scent of roses mingled with the heat of his breath, and the heat spread little by little, invading him layer by layer.

A man and a woman entangled together, a man and a woman with unbridled and unclear thoughts.

Everything was consensual; longing is an intoxicating poison that cannot be concealed.

She could barely feel his breath as she covered her mouth and nose. Before Jiang Yilin could push her away, Jin Xilu let go first, grabbed his collar with both hands and pulled it open without hesitation, and the small white buttons fell off.

At the same time, his skin was flawless and dazzlingly white, with deep collarbones etched into his skin, extending outwards in a straight line like two abandoned plum blossoms fallen on the snow, and the area above his head was clean and smooth, without any totems.

She couldn't believe it; her eyes instantly turned red, her legs went weak, and her fingers trembled as she tried to pull aside more of her clothes to search for the totem. She cried out in despair and resentment, "Why? Why isn't he dead? I clearly..."

It was too late. Terrified by Jiang Yilin's fierce gaze, she fell to the ground, her words interrupted, "I clearly, I clearly..." Kill him!

"Shut up! Kim Hee-ro, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"Oh right, I told you, you went back and saved him, right?"

The two sentences overlapped, neither of them understood the other, neither gave in, and the next second...

*Thud*—The chair was pushed over by the furious Jiang Yilin, falling next to Jin Xilu. The chair legs cracked, and the bamboo shattered into thin pieces.

"Jin Xilu, get out!"

Kim Hee-ro lowered her head and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Although she had fallen, it didn't hurt much, and she was able to get up again quickly. However, the tears still kept falling onto the marble floor tiles.

She looked up, still trying to find Jiang Yilin, but only saw his hurried figure as he covered his collar with one hand and strode out of the room.

Kim Hee-ro propped the broken chair up against the wall, and she leaned against the wall as if she had lost her soul. Tears still streamed from the corners of her eyes down her neck, soaking the collar of her sweater. She looked at the window closest to her and could see the lonely weeds on the roof of her house.

When Jiang Yilin left the room, he chased away everyone who was near it. Jin Xilu was left alone in the room, raising her arm to wipe away her tears haphazardly. It seemed that she had messed up something again.

Recalling the 24 hours before she fled the town, it was a rare sunny day in winter, with the sun hiding behind thick clouds. Kim Hee-ro took out the rusty scissors she had hidden under the blanket and sharpened them again and again, but when she heard someone calling her name enthusiastically at the door, she quickly hid the knife under her pillow.

"Kim Hee-ro, Kim Hee-ro, where are you?"

The white silk ribbons from the recently concluded funeral still hung on the beams and pillars, along with the burnt incense and overturned candles, creating a scene of chaos and desolation.

Even in the poorly lit old house, he shone brightly like a star in the hopeless night. He walked towards her, pulling her back to the real world. The warmth and aroma of the food enveloped her, and hearing his voice allowed her to catch her breath in this stressful life.

"Sigh, you're not eating breakfast properly again. I brought some salted egg yolk rice dumplings." Seeing that Jin Xilu didn't move, Jiang Yilin could only tear off the outer bamboo leaves and feed her bite by bite. He was finally relieved when he saw that she was willing to open her mouth, and his beautiful eyebrows were no longer furrowed.

After Jiang Yilin fed her a few bites, Jin Xilu took the food and ate it herself, not wanting him to feed her anymore. Seeing that she was eating so quickly, Jiang Yilin became worried that she might choke, so he brought her a stool so she could sit and eat slowly. He then walked behind her with a smile and began to comb her long hair with his hands, saying gently as he did so, "The weather is nice today. What do you want to do? I'll go with you, okay?"

"No." Jin Xilu refused decisively, her icy tone devoid of any emotion. Her heart seemed frozen by this deadly winter, and she could feel Jiang Yilin, who was combing her hair behind her, momentarily lose her footing.

"It's alright, Xilu, is this zongzi delicious?" Jiang Yilin quickly composed herself, tidied Xilu's tangled hair, and began braiding it. Seeing that Xilu wasn't impatient, she continued cheerfully, "You probably guessed it already, I actually wrapped it myself today, thinking you'd like it. It's my first time wrapping, so the filling might be a bit..."

This time, before he could finish speaking, Jin Xilu interrupted him again, her low voice causing him pain: "Enough, Jiang Yilin, don't you have anything to do yourself?"

After saying that, Jin Xilu broke free from his hand and lunged forward. Her braid, which was just one step away from being finished, came undone again, and strands of hair hit her face. Her hurried and unsteady steps almost tripped her. In the end, Jiang Yilin rushed forward to protect her and pulled her back by the waist. However, this time she was not sitting on a cold, hard wooden chair, but on Jiang Yilin's lap.

"I know, I know, I'm here, Xilu." Jiang Yilin held her and gently coaxed her, his not-so-warm palm stroking her head again and again, as tender and irresistible as when he lulled a baby to sleep. She silently shed tears as she listened to his repeated words, "It's okay, I'll always be behind you, you're not alone."

She buried her head in his neck, her hot tears soaking his collar. She couldn't help but hug him, but the next second she woke up from a nightmare, pushed him away, and got off his lap.

Jin Xilu stood in front of him, looking into his eyes. Before she could say a word, his cool palms were already on her face. His calloused fingers gently wiped away each of her hot tears as if they were precious treasures.

Jin Xilu stopped his hand, turned her back to him, wiped away her tears, and then turned back to talk to him, "I'm going to plant camellias in front of Grandma's grave today. I'm going alone, so don't come with me."

"Okay, no rush. Let me comb your hair first." Jiang Yilin took her hand and rubbed it a few times, but when she found that her hand was colder than hers, she put it down dejectedly.

He walked up behind her, put one arm around her long hair, and said as he combed it, "I've been sent to the mine today to check on the machines. Remember to eat lunch."

"Did he order you to go?" The "he" here doesn't need to be explained; both of them know perfectly well that there is only one person who can control the mine and give orders to Jiang Yili, and that person is his father, the most powerful clan chief in this town.

"Um."

This time, Jin Xilu didn't cause any trouble. Jiang Yilin took off the hair tie from his wrist and tied her hair into a pretty and simple braid. He led her to the window and said with a hint of resentment, "Although you gave me this hair tie, this time it can only be considered as me borrowing it from you. Remember to return it to me when I come back."

Kim Hee-ro looked at her and his reflections in the glass. He was still smiling at her, completely unaware of the filth and darkness in her heart. In the end, she simply nodded and gave him a stiff, heavy smile. "Okay."

Jiang Yilin held her shoulders, closed his eyes, and kissed her hair with a hint of reluctance: "Okay, I understand, of course I believe you."

“You believe me too, right, Hee-ro?” Just then, sunlight streamed in through the window, briefly bathing the two of them in their embrace, as Hee-ro quickly withdrew from the hug.

She didn't turn around, but simply stroked the side ponytail he had braided for her, recalling his beautiful amber eyes. Suppressing the trembling love in her heart, she finally said softly, "I'm leaving."

"Be careful on the road, Xilu." I'll always be behind you, and I'll do everything I can to get to your side whenever you need me.

The quiet old house was left with only Jiang Yilin, and the atmosphere gradually dimmed.