Chapter 28 A single thought can lead to utter ruin...

Chapter 28

Wen Yining walked past Li Changjing and out the door, ignoring the bodyguard's suspicious gaze. She quickly entered the elevator through the corridor. She was the only one in the elevator, and her shadow was reflected on the silver panel as a blurry and gray blob. When she got out of the elevator and walked into the lobby, she could no longer hold back and ran out.

The rain had stopped outside, and the air still smelled damp, but the sky above was filled with large patches of gray clouds, making the atmosphere gloomy and oppressive, almost suffocating.

Wen Yining didn't know where she was going; she just instinctively ran past the few people on the road, as if that would allow her to shake them off.

My face got wet as I ran.

People walking past her turned around and looked at her curiously when they saw her like that.

She ignored everyone and ran into an alley. The alley was full of parked cars, which blocked the already narrow road, leaving only a narrow gap. You couldn't see a single person in sight. The rain had knocked down leaves, covering the roof of a car parked under a tree with fallen leaves.

Wen Yining squeezed herself into a corner, using the car to shield her from view, and tears finally streamed down her face.

*

Wen Yining walked for quite a while.

The people inside looked at each other in complete silence.

Fang Qi looked at Li Changjing, nodded, and gave a wry smile. "So it turns out she wasn't foolish because she was young and inexperienced; she was foolish but aware of it. No, it shouldn't be called foolish, perhaps it should be..."

Fang Qi gave another wry smile and shook his head: "I feel like I've been lectured by a little girl, like I've been slapped in the face."

No one expected it to turn out this way. That person originally thought she was just trying to make a living, which is why he was so contemptuous of her, thinking that she was still acting high and mighty even though she was out trying to make a living.

Each of these people had a powerful father or grandfather behind them. They were used to being arrogant young masters and rarely paid attention to anyone. When they saw that she was ignoring them, they made a few sarcastic remarks.

But after being scolded and shocked, he felt a little embarrassed after recovering.

Although they came from wealthy families and were known as the "princelings," they all belonged to the Li family faction. Therefore, they had grown up together since childhood and addressed each other as brothers. However, they were all caught in the vortex of power, so there was no such thing as pure affection. Their relationship was complicated and subtle.

Seeing Li Changjing's gloomy face, the man who spoke stood up and scratched his head. "I'm sorry, Brother Changjing. Um, please ask her out. I'll definitely treat her to a meal another day to apologize to the young lady."

The others also stood up and apologized.

The group finished speaking, but no one responded.

Li Changjing remained silent with a cold face, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the people in the room until their forced smiles began to crumble. Only then did he turn and stride out.

Silence returned to the room. Fang Qi watched Li Changjing's retreating figure, a sharp, sinister glint flashing in his eyes before returning to normal in an instant.

He suddenly had a premonition that Li Changjing was about to fall.

The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly realized it and gave a cold, mocking laugh.

I must be crazy to think that way.

Anyone could, but Li Zeqing definitely wouldn't.

*

Li Changjing hurried downstairs to chase after him. He went out the door and saw heavy dark clouds outside, with pedestrians coming and going.

Wen Yining has disappeared.

He had always thought that she was young and had never seen darkness, did not understand the rules of this society, and that she said those things because of her immature youthful spirit. But in an instant, just as Fang Qi said, it felt like he had been slapped in the face.

He only truly understood her today.

So she wasn't stupid after all.

She knew everything, understood everything, and knew far more about the darkness of this world than he thought.

But she still walked in the opposite direction of darkness, forging ahead without hesitation.

He has been in the mire of power and desire since birth, and has stood in it for too long, so long that the mire has buried his chest, and he himself has become the mire itself.

She and he were complete opposites.

His best course of action is to let her go.

But he didn't want to let go; he wanted to hold on to her, even if it meant dragging her down with him into the mud.

*

"Hey girl, what's wrong?"

When Wen Yining heard people talking, she looked up and wiped her eyes before she could see that it was a kind-looking elderly couple who seemed to be out for a stroll.

"Did you have a fight with someone?" The old lady spoke with a strong northern accent, holding a fan in her hand. She had a rather dashing air about her, while the old man next to her wore glasses and one could vaguely see the traces of his refined youth.

Before he could finish speaking, a familiar, clear, and cold voice suddenly rang out from the other end.

"Grandpa, did you see a tall, thin girl passing by here? She's about this tall, with long hair, and looks about eighteen or nineteen years old."

The cars parked on the side of the road blocked Wen Yining's figure, separating the two of them.

She leaned stiffly against the damp wall, staring intently at the gray eaves opposite, refusing to look in that direction. Hot, intense tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes and splashed onto her arm.

"Oh, I actually saw her. She went north. Who is that girl to you? She looks like your sister, doesn't she?" the old lady asked, fanning herself.

Li Changjing did not answer this question. He thanked him politely and then turned and left.

Wen Yining didn't dare to move until the old lady said, "The young man is gone."

She finally breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense shoulders slumped.

"Looking for you, right? What's wrong, little girl?"

Wen Yining reluctantly raised her eyes, "...Me."

She took a breath, composed herself, and then spoke, "My boyfriend and I come from very different backgrounds. I feel that we are not a good match."

"Is that the young man from earlier?"

Wen Yining smiled wryly. Sure enough, others could tell at a glance that they were not from the same world.

"The young man is really good-looking."

The old man, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke up politely: "He looks like someone from the government."

That's a very accurate prediction.

It's not just people in the government...

Wen Yining didn't want to see Li Changjing, afraid that she would run into him if she went out now, so she wiped away her tears and continued to squat there.

The old lady was a kind-hearted person and comforted her: "It's a new era now, dating doesn't constitute a crime anymore. I can see that the young man is quite concerned about you. If you like each other, just date. Don't worry about anything else."

As she spoke, she pointed to her husband beside her, "When we were young, that whole alley belonged to his family. I was his housekeeper back then, and look what happened, we've still made it this far."

Wen Yining looked up and saw the old man push up his glasses. Hearing this, he stood behind the old woman and smiled at his wife, seemingly filled with boundless tenderness.

The old lady was quite old, but she had a very modern mindset. With a spirited wave of her fan, she said, "Don't carry such heavy burdens at such a young age. You'll understand when you reach our age. Enjoy your youth while you can. If it works out, then talk it out; if it doesn't, then kick them out. Forget all that nonsense."

Wen Yining smiled through her tears as she looked at the loving elderly couple in front of her, whose seemingly contrasting yet complementary personalities were so intimate and familiar that they appeared to share a single soul.

She thought to herself that she and Li Changjing were different from them.

*

After breaking up with Li Changjing, Wen Yining blocked all his contact methods. She went back to school, picked up her luggage, and headed to the train station.

She didn't go through the main entrance, but through the side entrance. After transferring several times on the subway, she finally arrived at the station. It was getting dark, and there were still 10 hours until her train departed.

While sitting in the waiting room, her parents, knowing her train was in the early morning, called her via video. Wen Yining didn't know how to answer in her current state, so she only replied with a text message.

During this time, two numbers from Beicheng called. She was actually a little surprised when she saw the numbers on the screen. She thought that Li Changjing would not call her anymore after this.

Sure enough, after she hung up twice, no more numbers called.

She sat in the waiting room from the previous night until the early hours of the next morning, watching the sky outside change from darkness to the rising of a thin ray of dawn, and people coming and going at the station, some departing and some leaving.

In her expectations from a few days ago, she thought she would feel sweet, reluctant to leave, and happy and looking forward to going home.

But in the blink of an eye, she found herself sitting here with a feeling she had never imagined before.

The large screen displayed a message that ticket checking had begun. Wen Yining joined the long queue and entered the turnstile, finding her seat according to the number on her ticket.

Train tickets were so hard to get that she could only get a lower berth in a hard sleeper. Wen Yining looked up at the tall, full luggage rack, put her suitcase under the berth, and struggled to squeeze it in. There were already suitcases inside, and it took her a lot of effort to get them in.

The middle bunk was occupied by an elderly woman with mobility issues. Seeing her struggling to climb up, Wen Yining offered to switch places with her.

It was early morning, and most of the people on the train were already up. Some were chatting, some were washing up, and some were watching videos on their speakers. The carriage was bustling with people, noisy and the smell wasn't very pleasant. It felt like everyone was talking, and there was a sound coming from every corner.

Wen Yining didn't consider herself a germaphobe, but faced with the messy carriage, whose shoes were lying on the floor, and the unfamiliar bed that looked tidy but whose sheets hadn't been changed, she still couldn't quite lie down. After putting her luggage away, she sat down on the seat by the window.

She's experienced; if you're not used to it at first, just take it easy and you'll fall asleep.

Thinking about my obsessive-compulsive disorder, my thoughts inevitably drifted to another person.

Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears again, and Wen Yining quickly looked out the window to distract herself.

Her brain, stiff from not sleeping all night, stared blankly out the window.

The noisy carriage seemed to fall silent for a moment. A shadow seemed to gently land on her. Wen Yining turned her head blankly as if she sensed it, and then froze.

In the narrow, chaotic, and unfamiliar aisle of the train carriage, that familiar figure stood before her. His noble and aloof demeanor was completely out of place in the train carriage with Li Changjing. Two bodyguards stood guard on either side of him, looking alert. The passengers in the carriage stopped and turned to look at this strange group.

Li Changjing seemed completely oblivious to everyone's gaze. He stood tall and elegant in front of her, looking down at her with a slight smile. The soft morning light shone in, illuminating his fair profile with a clean, cold whiteness like jade. He wasn't wearing glasses, revealing a perfectly delicate and handsome face.

Wen Yining hadn't slept all night, and her dazed and sluggish brain suddenly buzzed, as if something was slowly exploding in her mind.

Wen Yining felt that she must be hallucinating.

The next second, Li Changjing looked at her, smiled at her with a cool and gentle smile like spring flowers falling on snow, and said, "Wen Ningning, you don't want me anymore?"