Human-Machine
"Jiang Jiang, I'm busy."
“I’m so busy that I don’t have time to reminisce about the past. I can only move forward, towards the future.”
The man's voice was very rational, so rational that it was almost cold.
"I'm an adult, I have my own things to do..."
"What about me?" Jiang Qing interrupted him abruptly. "Do you think I deserve it?"
"You deserve to be brooding over your leaving without saying goodbye for so many years."
"I deserve to be left there all by myself waiting for your explanation."
"You're an adult now, so the past doesn't count, right?"
"That's not what I meant." Lin Nanyan's fingertips turned white. He wanted to say something, but in the end, only a few pale words came out of his mouth. "It's my fault."
Jiang Qing looked at him. The man's eyelashes drooped, and she couldn't see his hidden expression, just as she seemed to have never seen this man clearly.
"If it's just like you said, why are you looking for me now? Even if those memories suddenly appear, it won't affect you at all. You can still choose to watch from the sidelines."
"You've done pretty well over the past nine years, haven't you?" She stood up with thorns, stabbing others and herself. "I guess you don't need me to remind you."
"You're a very busy person. There's no need to come to my house and ask for trouble..." Jiang Qing stepped back, "And there's no need to act like this to gain sympathy."
Lin Nanyan's hand fell to the ground with a dull thud. He remained motionless, seemingly unaware, like a wax figure fixed in a fixed position, about to melt in the shimmering firelight.
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Jiang Qing looked at Lin Nanyan for a long time, her eyes flickering, and no one knew what she was thinking.
She suddenly turned around, sat down on the sofa, and kicked the man, "Move in, you're blocking me."
The shadow under the light suddenly approached, and Lin Nanyan looked up in a daze. The red in the corner of his eyes had not yet faded, and it became more and more conspicuous against his fair skin.
He moved his knees slightly, moving them an inch inward.
Jiang Qing reached over him, picked and chose from the fruit plate on the coffee table, picked out the biggest one, and put it in her mouth.
Her cheeks puffed up as she glanced sideways at the man who was now a head shorter than her because of his posture.
"I know what you mean. I don't want to talk about the past anymore. Let's wait until Brother Song Qing calls tomorrow."
"After all, you are going back with me, and there are some information I can't hide from you. I'm going to sleep, you can do whatever you want."
After saying this, without waiting for the man to respond, she returned to the room with the fruit plate.
"Are you still having dinner?" A man's hoarse voice suddenly came from behind.
“No!”
Jiang Qing didn't even turn her head. She hooked her foot and slammed the bedroom door shut, blocking all movement and the man's view.
She leaned against the door, tilting her head back for a long time, but couldn't stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks.
I wiped my tears away fiercely. Damn it, why are you crying? What's there to cry about?
After not seeing each other for nine years, Lin Nanyan has changed a lot.
What he said sounded very logical.
As a teenager, he wanted to contact her at the time when his memories were the strongest and his emotions were the most intense, but due to various reasons, they were unable to contact each other.
As time passed, he grew up, and she was no longer the only one in his life. His longing for her was gone with the wind, and the past was submerged in reality.
Lin Nanyan put all his energy into moving forward towards the future and became a very busy man. He was so busy that he had no time to come and see her, and even no time to say sorry to her.
Because Jiang Qing is no longer important.
It sounds reasonable that youthful friendships always fade away with the passage of time, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, she didn't believe a word of it.
When Jiang Qing first heard the harsh words, she was so angry that she couldn't even control herself. She just wanted to vent her emotions, but the man's silence, the gloom on his face, and the familiarity in his eyes and eyebrows only made her sober up.
Intuition reminded Jiang Qing not to be deceived by Lin Nanyan.
She couldn't tell why, but she keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Everything is wrong.
Every word he said, every expression he made lingered in Jiang Qing's mind, reminding her of something.
But she could neither find any reason why Lin Nanyan had lied to her nor any loophole in his words.
Jiang Qing had a splitting headache. She was very tired and no longer had the energy to discern his intentions.
Whatever he does, it has nothing to do with her.
Jiang Qing's thoughts gradually stopped, her vision became blurred, and a blood-red color spread in front of her eyes.
In an instant, she lost all her strength and fell to the ground along the door panel.
His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the blanket under his feet, which had been soaked in blood at some point.
She was looking at her.
In the darkness, the girl hugged herself tightly with her hands and curled up into a ball.
In the living room separated by a wall, the night light cast a warm yellow light, but it could never reach the corner.
The man's face was hidden in the darkness and his features could not be seen clearly.
He lowered his head quietly, his breathing so weak that it was almost inaudible.
The hands of the watch circled one by one for a long time, and the man, who seemed to be sitting there forever, suddenly moved.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of white pills, and stuffed them into his mouth without even looking at them.
Fine beads of water oozed from the man's forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his neck, winding all over his body.
The throat rolled, and the suppressed gasping sound only leaked out for a moment before disappearing without a trace.
But it wasn't over yet. The man took out a handful of colorful pills and swallowed them without stopping. The hand beside him trembled violently for a second and then returned to normal.
The night hides all the pain and sorrow, and no one can see it.
As the sunlight slowly climbed through the window, illuminating the dim room, those quiet moments in the middle of the night were also evaporated by the sunlight, leaving no trace.
When Jiang Qing opened the door, Lin Nanyan was setting up breakfast with her parents, chatting and laughing.
Hearing the door open, he turned around and looked over. When he met Jiang Qing's gaze, he smiled naturally.
"Jiang Jiang, come and have dinner. You must be so happy to see Xiaonan back. He's grown so big now. If it wasn't the same face, I wouldn't recognize him."
Jiang Qing looked away, walked to the dining chair and sat down. She picked up the chopsticks and started eating.
"Kid, say hello to someone," Wang Hong frowned. "Don't mind, Xiaonan. Jiang Jiang was still drowsy this morning."
Lin Nanyan put down the cutlery in his hand: "It's okay, Aunt Wang, I know."
"Look at yourself. Did you stay up late again? Your eyes are as red as a rabbit's. If a customer asks you to rush the work in the middle of the night again, you should refuse. We don't need that little money." Wang Hong couldn't help nagging when she saw her daughter's depressed face.
"You said you still run a studio. Now that you're the boss, there's no one to help you. You can just keep taking advantage of them."
"Xiao Nan, you and Jiang Jiang have a good relationship. Please help me persuade her. Don't ignore my words all day long." She picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in Lin Nanyan's bowl, then turned to look at Jiang Qing. "Wait until you get sick from overwork. Who will still care about you?"
Jiang Qing chewed the tomato in her mouth without saying a word. She slowly raised her head, ignoring her mother's magical attack, "Where did you go last night? Why did you come back so late?"
Wang Hong got angry when she mentioned this. "It was just a few people who were drunk and making trouble. I have a bad temper and I couldn't stand it, so we had a fight."
Jiang Shanhai quickly comforted Wang Hong, "Don't get too angry and make yourself sick. Didn't they apologize in the end?"
"Ah, ah, apologize. If they weren't afraid that I would call the police, those bastards wouldn't let it go..."
Jiang Qing suddenly said, "Then call the police."
She looked at her mother and asked, "Isn't there a surveillance camera in the store?"
Jiang Shanhai and Wang Hong were both shocked by their daughter's sudden shocking words.
Jiang Shanhai said earnestly, "Our store is open for business. We believe in harmony and prosperity. How can we go to the police station every time? That's not nice."
Jiang Qing: "So we can't fight back when we're bullied, right? Just because we own a shop, everyone else can, but we can't."
Jiang Shanhai and Wang Hong looked at each other, wondering what happened to their daughter. Why did she suddenly become so excited?
"Jiang Jiang, that's not what I meant. If the trouble gets serious, Dad will definitely call the police. Don't worry so much, kid. Be careful not to become an old lady."
Jiang Qing: "I'm an adult."
Jiang Shanhai tried to liven up the atmosphere but failed. Seeing his daughter's eyes getting redder and redder with anger, he looked to Wang Hong for help.
Wang Hong glared at him angrily and asked, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Jiang Jiang, don't listen to your dad. You're an adult now, and you're going to be the boss. You can't just cry like you did when you were a kid. You'll be laughed at by your employees."
"Aunt Wang, why don't we call the police? Just treat it as a warning to the troublemakers." Lin Nanyan knew what Jiang Qing was worried about. Seeing that Aunt Wang's focus was getting more and more off track, he spoke up to pull her back, "That way, Jiang Jiang won't worry so much about you in the future."
"This..." Wang Hong looked at her daughter's burning gaze. She came to her senses and made a quick decision. "Call the police! I'll call the police after dinner. If I don't teach them a lesson, I'm not Wang anymore."
The breakfast was very harmonious, of course, this was only in the eyes of Jiang Shanhai and Wang Hong.
Lin Nanyan picked up some food and poured some water for his daughter, who took it and ate it naturally. The two of them didn't seem to have any sense of strangeness after growing up.
Before leaving to retrieve the store's surveillance footage, Wang Hong asked Lin Nanyan, "Xiao Nan, how long do you plan to stay here? If possible, I'd like to treat you longer. Our city has changed a lot over the years, so you should definitely take a closer look."
Jiang Qing then looked at Lin Nanyan.
Lin Nanyan was silent for a moment and replied, "Thank you, Aunt Wang. I came back this time because of a job transfer. The specific time will depend on the company's arrangements."
"That's a shame, but it's also true. Work is the most important thing," Wang Hong said, turning to look at Jiang Qing. "Don't keep your head down. Take Xiaonan out for a walk later. They'll feel refreshed in the sun."
Jiang Qing glanced at Lin Nanyan and saw that Ms. Wang was not going to leave unless she agreed. She replied, "I understand."
Only then did Wang Hong feel at ease to go out with Jiang Shanhai.
Jiang Shanhai glanced at the closed door of his house and said, "Is there something wrong with Jiang Jiang today? I don't think she said much."
"She's throwing a tantrum," Wang Hong patted his hand, signaling him to be at ease. "When Xiaonan left, she cried so hard that no one could comfort her. Now that she's back, you'll see how much trouble your daughter is in."
Jiang Shanhai: "Should we call the police?"
"Report it, why not?" She glanced at Jiang Shanhai, "You already promised something, do you want to go back on your word?"
"No, no," Jiang Shanhai said with a simple smile, "I thought you were joking."
"Am I that kind of person?" Wang Hong twisted the hand on Jiang Shanhai's back fiercely. "Those bastards are just giving me a chance to vent my anger."
Jiang Shanhai grimaced in pain, but he didn't forget to agree, "They should be taught a lesson."
On the other side of the room, Jiang Qing was slumped on the sofa, staring blankly at her phone.
The man walked over to her and asked her to lift her feet, then walked over to her and asked her to move her butt, and then asked her if she wanted to eat cake.
Jiang Qing looked at the figure swaying in front of her and roared in frustration, "Can you please stop!"
"I want to clean up my room, so I'll go back to your house and do it."
Lin Nanyan straightened up and turned to look at Jiang Qing, "Aunt Wang asked you to take me out for a walk."
Jiang Qing: "That's just politeness, don't you understand?"
Lin Nanyan: "You promised."
Jiang Qing: "If you want to go, go by yourself."
Lin Nanyan: "You promised."
"Ahhh," Jiang Qing grabbed something beside her and threw it at him, "You're a robot!"
Lin Nanyan hugged the pillow thrown by the girl and said the same thing, "You promised."
"Okay, then you just wait," Jiang Qing relaxed and sneered, "Let's see who can outlast the other."
"bite--"
The cell phone rang suddenly, and Jiang Qing jumped up, quickly grabbed the phone and opened it.
It’s Brother Song Qing!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
