I hope you give up on me
Jiang Qing sat on the sofa, fidgeting.
It was rare that she got out of school early today, and her parents had not returned yet, so she went to Lin Nanyan's house first, glancing towards the bathroom from time to time.
Seeing Lin Nanyue coming out of the bathroom after washing his hands, Jiang Qing immediately wanted to rush in.
"Jiang Jiang, don't you have something to ask me?"
Lin Nanyan closed the door calmly.
"Well, I do have a problem." Jiang Qing retracted her legs.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked. "What happened in the cafe yesterday."
"Actually, I don't quite understand your view on love," Jiang Qing paused for a moment, "You said you liked me before, and now you say you like Feng Ruoyi."
She tried to keep her voice steady.
"Do you change your preferences so easily?"
Lin Nanyan fell silent, his eyes dark.
"Lin Nanyan," Jiang Qing's grip on the pillow unconsciously tightened, wrinkling the smooth fabric. "I must know your thoughts clearly before I know how to face you next."
"Facing the present you and the future you."
From the moment Lin Nanyue made the decision, he knew that this day would come sooner or later.
The Jiang Jiang he knew was just that kind of person. She would always ask why and how, and she wouldn't just blindly move forward, even if it was covered in blood and glass, she would still step forward with her eyes open.
"And you disappeared for nine years," Jiang Qing said softly, "This isn't fair to me."
So those nine years were nine years of resentment.
Lin Nanyan's hand trembled, he lowered his eyelids, and when he raised them again, there was calmness in his eyes.
He said: "I don't like Feng Ruoyi."
Unexpectedly, Jiang Qing responded, "I know."
No one at the scene was surprised by this answer.
Jiang Qing: "Did she kiss you?"
Lin Nanyan seemed to want to say something, but met Jiang Qing's gaze.
He blurted out: "No."
Jiang Qing nodded, agreeing with the answer.
She was an intuitive creature, and her understanding of Lin Nanyan was much deeper than he imagined.
What kind of person is Lin Nanyan?
Maybe it's complicated, maybe it's simple.
In Jiang Qing's eyes, boys appear cold on the outside, but their hearts are full of unspeakable desires.
He longs for family affection and to be accepted by others.
He is a child who lacks love since childhood.
So, she might not be so sure that Lin Nanyan likes someone, but she is 90% sure that he doesn't like someone.
The remaining ones were all accidents. Fortunately, Lin Nanyan himself increased the probability to 100%.
A lot happened yesterday. Everything about her mother, Song Yao, and Lin Nanyan was beyond her expectations. Under the impact of all these emotions, she became impulsive and irrational.
Lin Nanyan didn't like Feng Ruoyi, and she only realized it later.
But Lin Nanyan did not hide, and this was what scared Jiang Qing the most.
"I know, that's why I'm asking you, do you change your preferences so easily? Because of various external reasons?"
Is it anger? Is it rage? Is it heartache? Is it bitterness?
Jiang Qing could no longer distinguish her own inner emotions. She only felt that everything was mixed together into a tight ball, which made her almost unable to breathe. If she didn't get to the bottom of it, she would vomit to death sooner or later.
"Jiang Jiang." Lin Nanyan's voice was as calm as ever, but the words he spoke were completely the opposite.
"I want you to give me up," he said.
In an instant, something hit Jiang Qing's brain. She opened her eyes wide in disbelief, "What?"
"Because I gave up on you first." Lin Nanyan's black eyes were tinged with gold in the afterglow of dusk, revealing an inexplicable coldness.
Jiang Qing stared at the boy blankly, "What do you mean?"
Lin Nanyan avoided the girl's gaze and turned to look out the window. "You should have seen my dad that day."
Jiang Qing suddenly remembered the scene in the library, and she seemed to vaguely understand what the boy meant.
Lin Nanyan's gaze moved from the sunset to the girl in front of him.
"You have some idea of what kind of person my father is, but you don't really know him."
"My father and mother have been through thick and thin together. They started from scratch and worked their way up from street vendors to becoming company owners."
"There's a saying," a hint of sarcasm appeared on his lips, then quickly disappeared, "It's easy to share adversity, but difficult to share prosperity."
"There were problems in their relationship, but I had to bear the consequences."
Jiang Qing looked at the boy, and all her guesses were confirmed at this moment.
Sure enough, there were signs of everything.
Lin Nanyan took out an orange from the fruit plate and peeled it carefully.
The fresh scent of fruit gradually spread to Jiang Qing's nose.
"You saw what happened next."
"My mom moved away, and only my dad and I are left to look after this home."
Jiang Qing looked at the orange peels handed to her and slowly reached out to take them.
Lin Nanyan: "I am very important to my father, and my father is also very important to me."
Jiang Qing suddenly asked, holding the orange, "What does that have to do with your feelings?"
"Jiang Jiang, don't you understand yet?" Lin Nanyue sighed, feeling helpless.
Jiang Qing's fingertips suddenly lost control and pierced the thin skin of the orange, and orange juice immediately flowed out.
The boy's voice rang in his ears: "My dad knows Feng Ruoyi."
Looking at her fingers stained with moisture, Jiang Qing thought vaguely that everything seemed to have an answer.
Why did she only see such a simple truth now?
She felt a cold touch between her fingers, and she looked down in a daze. A drop of water fell on the boy's white hand. The hand trembled slightly, but it seemed not to.
"You're not needed!" Jiang Qing suddenly pulled out her hand, picked up a wet towel and wiped it hard.
Lin Nanyan just watched.
Look at the girl's hands, they are all red.
He watched silently for a moment: "If you were me, what would you do?"
Jiang Qing paused what she was doing.
She doesn't know.
If she were him, she wouldn't know.
Because Jiang Qing simply couldn't put herself in his shoes.
She had never experienced her parents' sudden quarrels in the dark of the night; she had never seen the broken and messy potted plants and furniture on the floor; she had never listened silently to the noise outside with her eyes open until dawn;
Her world has never been broken. She has never had the experience of relying on her only father, nor has she had the experience of placing all her energy on one person.
She murmured, "I don't know."
"But why should I understand you?" Jiang Qing suddenly raised her head, revealing a pair of red eyes. "None of this is caused by me."
Lin Nanyan just nodded gently: "Well, you have to keep thinking so."
Jiang Qing suddenly covered her face.
The room fell into a long silence.
After a long time, she raised her head.
"Are we still friends?"
Lin Nanyan: "Of course."
"You are my sister. You were, you are, and you will be forever."
"You are younger than me." Jiang Qing's nose was red as she pierced him mercilessly.
Lin Nanyan smiled, his hands moving non-stop: "You should tell Aunt Wang this."
Jiang Qing: ...
Her mother used to think that Lin Nanyan was her younger brother, but later asked her to treat Lin Nanyan as her older brother.
What? Is age just for show?
"Call me sister and I'll recognize you as my friend." Jiang Qing raised her eyebrows.
Lin Nanyan looked at the girl, whose eyes looked bright after being washed by water. He handed her a peeled orange and said, "Do you want more? I bought it specially for you."
Jiang Qing snatched it away: "Eat!"
It would be a waste if you don’t eat it.
When you take a bite of the fruit, the juice bursts out and the sour taste fills your mouth.
She stared at the boy who stood up and cleaned the orange peels and white veins into a small pile, and asked, "Has the relationship between your father and your mother deteriorated now?"
Lin Nanyan responded: "It started very early."
Jiang Qing nodded and suddenly said, "They will get divorced later."
Lin Nanyan wrapped the orange peel in a tissue and threw it into the trash can. He turned around and said, "I expected this."
Jiang Qing chewed on an orange slice and said, "Your father will take you abroad."
Lin Nanyan paused: "So I was abroad for those nine years?"
"That's what you said anyway." Jiang Qing glanced at the boy.
Lin Nanyan nodded, nothing unusual.
Jiang Qing was discouraged. Forget it. None of this matters now. What’s important is what happens in the next two days.
"There are some things about Senior Jiang Qing that I think I should tell you." She forced herself to suppress the emotions in her heart.
Lin Nanyan: "Well, I'm listening."
Time passes quietly.
The boys drew various networks of relationships on paper.
The tip of the pen touched several names in turn: "Song Yao, Li Liang, Li Qingyun, Jiang Qing, Yu Mushi."
"Currently, there's no evidence to suggest a direct connection between Yu Mushi and Senior Jiang Qing's deaths." Jiang Qing crossed out her name. "Our plan will focus on Li Qingyun and Li Liang."
"Li Liang." Lin Nanyue's eyes fixed on this name.
"Li Liang was also a victim killed by Li Qingyun," Jiang Qing slammed the blackboard. "Let's shift our focus back to Li Qingyun, the direct executor."
"Why do I feel like you're always making excuses for Li Qingyun?" She narrowed her eyes, a look of suspicion on her face. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Lin Nanyan came back to his senses: "I was just wondering, is it really as simple as we think?"
"Of course it's not simple," Jiang Qing looked at him, "Anything involving human life is not simple."
"But no matter how complicated it is, as long as we identify the murderer, we can always catch something."
Lin Nanyan: "You are right, we will know after trying it."
Jiang Qing looked at the sky outside the window and said, "My parents should be home by now. They're waiting for me."
"Then you should go back quickly." Lin Nanyan stood up.
Jiang Qing looked at the boy again and again.
Lin Nanyan raised his eyes and looked over innocently.
Jiang Qing: "What's wrong with your face?"
The beautiful strawberry Band-Aid stands out particularly on the boy's fair face.
She saw it early in the morning, but was afraid that it was related to her being drunk last night, so she couldn't help but ask about it until she was about to leave.
"Oh, this," Lin Nanyan subconsciously touched the Band-Aid and said nonchalantly, "I'm allergic."
Jiang Qing: "?? Do you need a Band-Aid for an allergy?"
Lin Nanyan: "There's a red pimple. Cover it with a Band-Aid."
Jiang Qing felt relieved and scoffed at him: "You still blame Ai Mei."
"Isn't it time for me to be a model?" Lin Nanyan teased.
Jiang Qing: ...
Stop talking so much!
He turned around and walked towards the bathroom, and came out quickly after a while.
"I……"
Jiang Qing paused when she noticed a few more packaging bags on the coffee table.
Her heart skipped a beat and she ran over quickly. At a glance, she saw what was inside.
Jiang Qing quickly grabbed it in her hand and shouted to Lin Nanyan in the kitchen: "My mom is calling me home for dinner!"
Without waiting for the boy's response, she slammed the door shut and went upstairs.
As I opened the paper bag and looked at the familiar clothes inside, my cheeks became hotter.
"He...he actually washed..."
In her daze, Jiang Qing realized belatedly that the wet wipes she had used to wipe her hands seemed to be the same one she had stuffed in her pocket yesterday.
No wonder he looks so familiar, damn Lin Dagou!
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