Chapter 75
Yin Mu's mother looked serious. He didn't dare to deceive her, but he couldn't tell her everything without any scruples. He lowered his head and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mom, his identity is indeed a bit complicated. I can't explain it to you clearly. You told me not to ask about other people's private affairs, so don't ask."
Mother Yin was unmoved: "If it involves you, then it won't just be his personal matter. What if he gets you into trouble? What then?"
Yin Mu sighed and raised his right hand to Yin's mother: "Anyway, I swear to you, he is definitely a good person, you don't have to doubt it at all."
She spoke with such conviction that Mother Yin, realizing she couldn't get anything out of her, could only warn her: "If you cause any trouble for me, I'll kick him out right away. Do you understand?"
Yin Mu replied reluctantly: "I heard it, I heard it with both ears."
Mother Yin was very dissatisfied and raised her hand to poke her forehead: "Look at your attitude."
Yin Mu knew that she was just talking about him and not seriously arguing with him, so he took her arm and said coquettishly: "Okay, okay, I know everything, just put your heart in your stomach."
Mother Yin looked at her with a frown, and was about to say something else when the cell phone on the coffee table rang.
Yin Mu peeked out and saw that it was Yin's father calling. He picked up the phone and handed it to him with both hands: "You answer it."
Mother Yin glared at her and answered the phone: "Hello?"
"Just the two of us going out to eat? What about your precious daughter?"
I don't know what Father Yin said on the other end, but Mother Yin smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll tell her. Will you come back to pick me up, or should I go find you?"
"Okay, I understand."
Seeing that Yin's mother had ended the call, Yin Mu pretended to be sour and said, "Hey, you two are going to leave me and go to your own world, right?"
"Why? Are you young people allowed to celebrate the festival?" Yin's mother said to her, "You and Qinglin can take care of yourselves for dinner today. I won't take care of it."
Yin Mu puffed his lips: "Okay, what's the big deal, let's go out to eat too."
"Okay, okay, no matter where you go, you must be home before nine o'clock in the evening."
"Eh—why?"
Mother Yin said firmly: "I said so, just do it, why bother asking so many questions."
“…”
"Did you hear that?"
Yin Mu agreed with a bitter face: "Oh."
Not long after Yin's mother left, Chen Qinglin finally came back. Yin Mu heard the sound of the door opening and immediately jumped up from the sofa and walked quickly to the door.
Chen Qinglin looked normal: "Are you awake?"
"where have you been?"
"Go find a job." Chen Qinglin's smile was filled with a hint of helplessness. "I can't just sit around like this forever. I have to make money quickly to support myself."
"But what can you do now?" Yin Mu blurted out, then felt that his words seemed too hurtful, and added, "What I mean is, you don't have to be so anxious. You can plan your work slowly."
"Let's plan while we work." Chen Qinglin said, "Finding something to do will make me feel more at ease."
Chen Qinglin was relieved, but when Yin Mu heard him say that, he inexplicably felt a sense of loss in his heart, as if he was not needed by him at all.
"So, did you find it?"
"Well, I guess I found it."
"So soon?" Yin Mu was startled, then suppressed his disappointment and tried to make his tone sound lighter. "Congratulations, what are you doing?"
"I saw a job posting in a shopping mall, so I went to ask around, and there happened to be a jewelry counter hiring. The manager talked to me and said he was willing to give me a chance and I could start working tomorrow."
"Oh." Yin Mu nodded and said dryly, "That's good."
"Yeah, it's rare that I haven't run into any problems, so let's give it a try first."
"But the job of a shopping guide is very tiring. You have to stand all day. Are you really okay with that?"
Chen Qinglin smiled slightly: "You will get used to it, don't worry."
Yin Mu lowered his head and said "hmm" softly.
Chen Qinglin looked around and changed the subject: "Where's Auntie? Isn't she home?"
"She and my dad are going out to eat tonight." Yin Mu said, "We're going to the movies and eating out too. What do you want to eat?"
Chen Qinglin shook his head: "This is your territory, I will do whatever you want."
"That's true." Yin Mushen agreed. He raised his head and thought for a while, then clapped his hands, "Ah, I got it!"
"Um?"
Yin Mu looked at him with sparkling eyes: "Do you remember? I told you before that there is a delicious barbecue buffet near my home."
Chen Qinglin recalled it briefly and then remembered, "Yes, you did." Then he realized, "Oh... no wonder you said it went bankrupt at that time."
"I guess that's just improvisation." Yin Mu raised his chin towards the door and said, "Let's go?"
Chen Qinglin smiled: "Let's go."
The barbecue restaurant was near Yin Mu's house, quite some distance from here, so the two of them just left and took a taxi there.
In the taxi, Chen Qinglin asked, "Do you usually live alone?"
"Yes, this time it was because I was hospitalized. My mother was worried that I couldn't take care of myself, so she insisted that I go home and live there."
"So that's how it is." Chen Qinglin nodded in understanding and said softly, "Uncle and aunt love you very much."
He spoke calmly, but the bitterness and pain hidden in his words were self-evident. To him, was pale and powerless consolation meaningless?
Chen Qinglin seemed to see what she was thinking and said, "You don't have to feel sad for me. Things have developed to this point today. I am very satisfied that I can break away from the past and start anew. Especially since Zhong Mengyuan paid for this with her own life. I am extremely grateful to her. If I see her again one day, I will definitely thank her."
Yin Mu didn't want to make the atmosphere more tense, so he curled his lips and said casually, "I'll remember what you said. I'll tell Meng Yuan everything when the time comes. You can't deny your promise."
Chen Qinglin raised his right hand seriously: "I promise."
Because it was Chinese Valentine's Day, there were many people waiting for a table at the barbecue restaurant. Chen Qinglin went to the front desk to get a number, then sat down next to Yin Mu and said, "We have to wait for table 14."
Yin Mu took the receipt and looked at it: "It's not bad. Sometimes there are more people than this on weekends. Just be patient and wait."
"Um."
Yin Mu was still thinking about Chen Qinglin's new job. He folded the receipt in his hand and said nonchalantly, "Don't force yourself if you can't adapt to your job. You still have a long way to go in your new life. It's not too late to make adequate preparations before starting. My mother always said that sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. That's right."
"I understand what you said, but it's hard to generalize because each situation is different." Chen Qinglin said in a low voice, "Right now, I have only one task, which is to settle down here as soon as possible and live independently without relying on others."
Yin Mu was silent for a while: "Is it so difficult for you to accept temporarily relying on friends? Do you really want to cut off all ties with me?"
Chen Qinglin saw her lips tightly pursed, as if she was hurt. His heart sank and he said quickly, "No, that's not what I meant. I—"
"I know, you don't need to explain." Yin Mu interrupted him and said calmly, "You feel embarrassed and humiliated to accept my help, right?"
Chen Qinglin immediately denied it: "That's not the case. I didn't think that way."
If that's not the case, then what's going on? Yin Mu wasn't completely clueless, but even though she could somewhat understand Chen Qinglin's thoughts, she still couldn't suppress the inexplicable frustration.
There were other customers in the store, so Yin Mu couldn't vent his dissatisfaction without restraint. But he gritted his teeth and endured it for a while, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
Damn it! Why do I have to overthink so much? I haven't done anything wrong!
Seeing her grim expression, Chen Qinglin called out cautiously, "Yin Mu?"
Yin Mu turned his head, glared at him hatefully, and stood up suddenly: "I'm going to go for a walk outside."
Chen Qinglin immediately stood up and said, "I'll go too."
This barbecue restaurant is located in the basement of a residential building, and the outside is right outside. The sun hadn't completely set yet, and the air was still warm. Yin Mu didn't care about the sun, and walked forward quickly with his head down.
Chen Qinglin quickened his pace to catch up with her, wanting to pull her to the shade. He stretched out his hand but hesitated to withdraw it, and walked side by side with her in silence.
After walking a distance, they came to a crossroads. Yin Mu's mood finally calmed down a bit. He stopped, took a deep breath, and said without looking back, "Let's go back."
Chen Qinglin didn't respond. He held her arm and said, "I'm sorry."
Yin Mu pretended to be calm: "You did nothing wrong, why are you apologizing?"
"It's my fault. I was too selfish. You meant well, but I—"
Yin Mu finally managed to calm herself down, but he kept apologizing. She interrupted him angrily, "Stop talking. I don't want to hear it anymore."
Chen Qinglin slowly let go of her: "I understand."
I really didn't intend to say it.
Yin Mu closed his eyes, turned around, grabbed his collar, and said through gritted teeth, "If I tell you not to, you won't say it? Are you really going to listen to me?!"
Faced with her rare loss of composure, Chen Qinglin was stunned and speechless for a moment: "I..."
Yin Mu immediately became discouraged: "Forget it."
She was about to let go, but Chen Qinglin grabbed her wrist: "Yin Mu."
Yin Mu clenched his fists and asked fiercely, "What are you doing? Let me go!"
Chen Qinglin said nothing and pulled her to the shade of a tree beside the iron fence of the community before letting her go.
Yin Mu rubbed his wrist and said, "Let's go back. Maybe it's our turn now."
"Not so fast." Chen Qinglin said, "I have something to tell you."
Yin Mu turned his head away and didn't look at him: "If you have anything else to say, it's better not to say it."
"I didn't want to say it originally, but now it seems I have to." Chen Qinglin paused and continued, "Yin Mu, I don't want to rely on you. It's not because I'm afraid of losing face. What's face? I'm afraid that if I can't even support myself, then what qualifications do I have to dream of being with you? You won't like an incompetent person, and I can't accept being an incompetent person myself."
Yin Mu lowered his eyelids: "You are not, you just need some time."
"Then I can't just wait in vain." Chen Qinglin sighed softly, "Even if an opportunity comes out of nowhere, can I just sit back and wait in vain with a clear conscience?"
Although he had a vague guess, Yin Mu's mood was still very complicated after hearing Chen Qinglin say this in person. After a while, he looked up at him and said, "I'm so angry."
Chen Qinglin was stunned: "Why?"
"Because this feeling is terrible." Yin Mu bit his lip and admitted dejectedly, "I seem to care about you more than I thought. Even though I think Meng Yuan is still suffering for me, I can't ignore your existence and can't face my own feelings... I am sorry for Meng Yuan. I am so bad."
"No." Chen Qinglin couldn't bear to listen any longer. He didn't want to control his emotions anymore. He hugged her in his arms and comforted her softly, "These things are beyond your control. Don't blame yourself."
Yin Mu's eyes were red. She leaned her face against his shoulder and murmured, "It would be great if it was Meng Yuan who came back. You know what? I would rather bear all the uncertainties myself and get you two back in exchange."
Chen Qinglin patted her back gently and said softly, "I know, I understand everything."
Yin Muan leaned quietly on his shoulder for a long time, then she said, "Chen Qinglin, let's make a deal."
"What's the agreement?"
"If you are willing to wait for me, until Meng Yuan comes back, then we can..."
She knew this request was unfair and said it hesitantly, but Chen Qinglin didn't even think about it and said, "I do."
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