Chapter 52 Chapter 52 “What do you think are my strengths?…
Jiang Yu put down his phone, and the screen lit up instantly because the call ended. It was a portrait of a boy. This was the third time he had quickly looked into his eyes.
For some unknown reason, he thought his name was Pei Lanqing, so he uncontrollably picked up the phone and answered the call.
The screen quickly went dark. Lin Qianyuan covered it with his hand and looked at it coldly, "Did you touch it?"
The hostility in her eyes was obvious. Jiang Yu had never seen her like this before, and his first reaction was to freeze in place.
The students around looked over in twos and threes. Lin Qianyuan's previous sentence was in English, so they could guess what had happened without him saying anything.
Jiang Yu said nothing.
Lin Qianyuan didn't have much patience to wait for him, so she lowered her head and opened her phone. The notification list showed that there were no new messages. She didn't think he could unlock her phone password, so she checked the call records directly.
After seeing the time of the most recent call, Lin Qianyuan couldn't help but sneer. He casually placed his phone on the coffee table, took out a tissue, and wiped his hands slowly.
Lin Qianyuan raised his chin, his gaze fixed on Jiang Yu's face. This time, he spoke in Chinese, "Explain it."
They were only separated from the bustling crowd by a wall, but she didn't care at all and stood there speaking frankly.
Jiang Yu felt a dead silence in his ears. He could no longer hear the music, but only Lin Qianyuan's cold and distant words.
Her cold gaze continued to surround him. He lowered his head unconsciously, then raised it again, smiling friendly, as if he were innocent. "I didn't see where you were, but the phone kept ringing for a long time, so I thought he had something urgent to talk to you about."
Lin Qianyuan nodded, threw the tissue away, and then took out another one to wipe his phone.
She didn't say anything else, and her whole attention seemed to be focused on the act of wiping, carefully and attentively, not missing a single corner.
Jiang Yu understood what she meant. His face turned pale. Before he could fully recover from his shock, he heard her slowly ask him, "Can I just pick up the phone after it's been ringing for a long time?"
Lin Qianyuan threw the tissue into the trash can, holding the phone and smiling at him, the smile not reaching his eyes, "That doesn't make sense."
"Jiang Yu," she approached him, maintaining a perfect distance, lowered her body, and looked down into his eyes. "The phone is a private matter. Didn't your family teach you the most basic etiquette?"
Jiang Yu had been used to having everything go smoothly since he was a child, and had never heard such words before. His face instantly became extremely ugly.
Lin Qianyuan tutted his words, curled his lips, and said with disdain, "You can't listen to it anymore?"
She stood up straight, picked up her hat and scarf, and added indifferently, "I'm just stating the facts."
Lin Qianyuan walked out of the living room and ran into the classmate who was treating her tonight as she passed the stairs. She explained to her with a hint of apology, "I urgently need to go home to take care of some things. I can't stay here for long tonight. I hope I didn't spoil the fun."
The girl waved her hand. Although she felt that this was sudden, seeing her anxious face, she guessed that it must be something extremely important, so she smiled and saw her out. "Happy New Year."
Lin Qianyuan nodded and put on his hat, "You too."
The temperature at night was lower than during the day, and the snow was still falling, fluttering down all over my body.
The car was parked on the side of the road. Lin Qianyuan opened the door and as soon as she got in, she took out her cell phone and made a call.
Her hands were shaking with cold. The driver looked up through the rearview mirror and saw her cheeks were red from the wind, so he silently turned up the air conditioner temperature.
The phone rang for the second time, and the person on the other end picked up. He hesitated and said, "Lin Qianyuan?"
"Hmm," Lin Qianyuan looked down at her skirt. The thin snowflakes melted into the golden silk thread, wetting a spot with moisture.
She habitually waited for him to speak first, but he only called her name.
He should be standing by the roadside. Besides the barely audible breathing, she could also vaguely hear the sound of car horns.
Lin Qianyuan turned his head to look outside the car and suddenly asked, "What did Jiang Yu say to you?"
Pei Lanqing came back to his senses, and his first reaction was, "Is his name Jiang Yu?" He had never heard her mention it before. A wry smile appeared on his lips as he told her everything.
Friend? Lin Qianyuan felt a little uncomfortable, "I'm not familiar with him."
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky again. Pei Lanqing looked up, then lowered his head. He explained, "I thought the party was over. I wanted to ask if you had returned home."
He no longer heard the music and guessed that she had deliberately found a quiet place to answer the phone.
It is very unpleasant to have a party interrupted.
Pei Lanqing frowned slightly and spoke slowly, "I'm sorry for not understanding it clearly beforehand and disturbing you."
Lin Qianyuan frowned when she heard that, "No," she never thought he would disturb her.
Pei Lanqing smiled gently, not knowing what else he could say in response. She was not in front of him, and he could not make any judgment about truth or falsehood. An indescribable feeling of powerlessness spread in his heart, and all that was left was silence.
Lin Qianyuan stared at the wet golden butterfly on her skirt. For some reason, she suddenly wanted to see him. "Pei Lanqing."
Lin Qianyuan couldn't help but call out his name.
She just felt that if he was by her side, the butterfly would not be wet by the snow.
Pei Lanqing answered her softly, "What's wrong?"
Lin Qianyuan couldn't bear to hear him talking to her in that tone. Her nose felt sore and a tear fell on her lips.
She quickly raised her hand to wipe her eyes, turned her face away and quietly exhaled, then turned back and said, "I want to eat."
After saying that, Lin Qianyuan's mouth drooped slightly, and he said pitifully: "I'm very hungry now."
Pei Lanqing frowned slightly when he heard this, "Don't they give us food there?"
"have no idea."
Lin Qianyuan was like a primary school student going home to complain. She sniffed and complained aggrievedly, "Anyway, I didn't get to eat it." Her eyes reddened as she spoke, and she suppressed her sobs and said calmly, "I want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs."
Pei Lanqing responded in a gentle voice.
Lin Qianyuan felt even more aggrieved when she heard his reply, and she muttered, "Also, boiled shrimp and cherry meat."
Pei Lanqing agreed to all of his requests, and then he gently reminded her, "Remember to eat something to fill your stomach when you get home later." Otherwise, she would easily get stomachache.
Lin Qianyuan had been coaxed into giving in and agreed obediently, "Okay."
Pei Lanqing stopped bothering her. Before hanging up, he added, "Remember to send me a message when you get home."
Lin Qianyuan nodded, "I know."
Pei Lanqing stared at the snow on the ground and hung up the phone.
Lin Qianyuan turned her head to look out the car window. The mist on the window condensed into water droplets and slid down. She looked for a while, and her cell phone suddenly vibrated. It was an apology message from Jiang Yu.
Lin Qianyuan exited the dialog box and read the message without replying.
She was not a very tolerant person when it came to certain things. She hated others touching her things, and she also hated others talking to Pei Lanqing, and he happened to have two of these qualities.
When Lin Qianyuan saw the name Jiang Yu, she suddenly thought of something. She lowered her head and thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come to a conclusion, so she decisively called someone.
Liang Siyu was in his dorm praying when he received the call. Finals week hadn't ended yet, and after confirming his roommates were all gone, he slumped his face down on the table and pressed the hands-free key. "What's going on?"
Lin Qianyuan pondered for a while, then blurted out, "What advantages do you think I have?"
Liang Siyu rubbed his eyes and subconsciously sat up straight to check the notes on his phone. After checking everything, he hesitated and asked, "Did you take the wrong medicine?"
"..." Lin Qianyuan knew how strange it was to ask this question from her mouth. She knew it, but she just wanted to ask it now, so she had to speak again: "You didn't take the medicine, just tell the truth."
Tell the truth? Liang Siyu couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed out loud without any hesitation, "I can't name any advantages, but I have a lot of disadvantages. How can I tell the truth?"
Lin Qianyuan frowned and said nothing.
Seeing her like this, Liang Siyu knew that she must have thought the same. He inadvertently saw the almost new textbooks on the desk, and decided to be merciful and accumulate some merit for himself, so he tried to search for some good words from his head.
After a while, Liang Siyu encouraged himself to become an atheist and decisively chose to give up. He put his face back on the table and wailed, "Lin Qianyuan, my life is already very hard. This joke is not funny at all."
"Oh," Lin Qianyuan didn't want to embarrass him and wanted to hang up the phone.
When Liang Siyu heard her say "oh", he inexplicably realized that she seemed to be in a bad mood, so he immediately raised his voice to stop her, "Wait."
Lin Qianyuan was really waiting for him.
Liang Siyu was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks. After a long while, he finally managed to say, "You are quite a loyal person. Is this considered a good thing?"
When he was in junior high school, some people in school said that he was uneducated and was complacent because his family had a little money. They slandered him casually and said that he was actually useless.
These words first reached Lin Qianyuan's ears and eventually ended with her. Even Liang Siyu himself only learned about them later after hearing about them from other classmates.
According to the person who recounted the story, Lin Qianyuan faced the three boys head-on. The onlookers all stayed away for fear of being implicated, but she was not afraid at all. She even dared to smile and asked them with a smile if they were jealous of Liang Siyu?
I heard that her original words were like this -
"Isn't it just that your girlfriend has fallen in love with Liang Siyu? What does this have to do with Liang Siyu? This can only be attributed to your own incompetence. You should be happy for your girlfriend and happy that her taste has greatly improved. Isn't liking someone just hoping that she gets better and better?"
Liang Siyu could imagine the expression on Lin Qianyuan's face when he said this. It must have been an innocent face with a hint of sarcasm, which optimized the killing effect.
Lin Qianyuan looked down at the golden butterfly, not very interested. "That's it?"
Liang Siyu was now even more certain that she had something on her mind. He was merciful, so he planned to enlighten her from the root of the problem. "Why are you asking this question when you don't have anything to do?"
"Nothing, just asking."
How could Liang Siyu possibly believe such nonsense? He slowly reminded her, "Lin Qianyuan, if you don't cooperate with my work like this, it will be difficult for me to help you."
“…”
Lin Qianyuan looked up at the road ahead, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she decided to believe him for once. "There was someone who liked me before. I want to know what he liked about me?"
Liang Siyu nodded and asked two more questions, "Who? Why before?"
Lin Qianyuan rarely mentioned the people and things around her. Liang Siyu knew her. Once she went to school, she only focused on studying and was not interested in anything happening around her. She knew nothing about anything when asked.
Since she was consulting him now, she needed to explain the background of the story clearly.
Lin Qianyuan picked at the butterfly on her skirt, first explaining Jiang Yu's identity, and then briefly summarizing what happened tonight.
Liang Siyu was a little slow to react. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows to agree with her. "It's good that you don't scold me secretly. How can anyone like you if you do this?"
Lin Qianyuan sneered again when he heard this, "Who cares?"
"..." This familiar, dismissive tone. Liang Siyu couldn't help but wipe the sweat off his face. He didn't dare to say more, clearing his throat and continuing the conversation, "You said you and Jiang Yu didn't communicate much, so the reasons why he likes you are nothing more than the following three."
"speak."
Liang Siyu stretched out his hand and began to list things in a serious manner, "One, you are not bad looking; two, you have good grades; three, you are rich."
Lin Qianyuan seemed to have listened but also seemed not to be listening, "What else?"
"And..." Liang Siyu withdrew his hand, pondered for a moment, and looked embarrassed, "That's all."
"..." Lin Qianyuan lost interest in the conversation and said, "Hang up."
Liang Siyu put down his phone and breathed a sigh of relief. He opened the book and suddenly stopped flipping through it.
That's not right. Since she doesn't care about him so much, why does she still keep harping on this issue?
Liang Siyu sighed and shook his head, thinking that her thoughts were really hard to guess, and he didn't know how Pei Lanqing survived.
Lin Qianyuan threw her phone aside and unconsciously continued to pick at the golden butterfly on her skirt.
She really didn't care about Jiang Yu. What she cared about was actually another issue. Pei Lanqing should like her, but what did he like about her?
Lin Qianyuan couldn't figure it out, so he kept scratching with his hands. The more he scratched, the more depressed he became, and the more depressed he became, the more he scratched, so much so that after getting off the car, he had to find a more convenient place to continue feeling depressed.
Seeing her like this, Wu Ma looked at her for a few more seconds, then asked in surprise, "Young Miss, is your skirt uncomfortable?"
Lin Qianyuan immediately let go of his hand, clung to his side, and flatly denied it, "No."
Aunt Wu didn't say much. She just looked up at her back. No matter how she looked at her, she felt that there was something strange about her.
Lin Qianyuan returned to the room.
She had not forgotten that she wanted to send a message to Pei Lanqing, so she took out her cell phone, edited a message and sent it.
He seemed to be checking his phone as well and replied quickly, but it was to tell her to go to bed early. All the unspoken words were stuck in her chest. She scratched her hair and turned to take a shower.
Lin Qianyuan couldn't sleep the whole night and didn't sleep well on the plane. She seemed dazed after landing. She took off her mask and blew the cold wind for a few minutes.
Uncle Chen hadn't seen her for a long time, and he smiled and invited her to his house for dinner.
Lin Qianyuan remembered that he had an appointment with Pei Lanqing and shook his head to decline.
Uncle Chen stopped insisting and helped her carry her luggage into the small building. Before leaving, he turned around and looked at her.
Lin Qianyuan looked puzzled, "Is there something on my face?"
"No," Uncle Chen looked away, raised his hand to rub his eyes, and said to her with a smile: "Miss Lin, you should get some rest early."
Lin Qianyuan nodded.
She waited until he left before telling Pei Lanqing the password to the building's front door and went upstairs to catch up on some sleep.
Afraid of oversleeping, Lin Qianyuan set several alarms, but perhaps because she had entered a deep sleep, none of the alarms worked and she slept until she woke up naturally.
It was already past nine in the evening when I opened my eyes. There was no other message on my phone except for Pei Lanqing's reply of "Hello" in the afternoon.
Lin Qianyuan turned on the light, went downstairs while making a phone call, and when he reached the corner of the stairs, the call was answered.
She opened her mouth and called out, "Pei Lanqing."
The three words Lin Qianyuan said coincided with the sound coming from the mobile phone receiver on the first floor.
Pei Lanqing raised her eyes and looked over. Seeing that the man was frozen in place, he hung up the phone and smiled at her. "It's not a dream."
Lin Qianyuan felt a little uncomfortable. He raised his hand to touch his ear and muttered awkwardly, "I didn't say it was a dream."
She walked over and saw the dishes she had asked him to cook that night on the dining table. They were dull in color, probably because they had been waiting for a long time.
Pei Lanqing followed her gaze and realized something. He hurriedly stood up and said, "Sit here and wait for me. I'll go reheat these dishes."
Lin Qianyuan felt that it didn’t matter whether it was hot or not, she could eat it cold anyway. She wanted to hold him back, but when she turned around and saw his worried look, she didn’t reach out.
Not long after, Pei Lanqing brought the heated food back to the table and handed her a pair of chopsticks.
Lin Qianyuan hadn't eaten for a long time. As soon as she got the chopsticks, she just lowered her head and ate. Halfway through, she suddenly stopped, turned her head to look at the person next to her, and asked him confusedly, "Aren't you going to eat?"
Pei Lanqing's gaze on her face shifted slightly, and he turned away in an instant, avoiding her gaze. "I don't want to eat."
Lin Qianyuan turned her head while biting her chopsticks. She always felt that he was absent-minded. After hesitating for a while, she decided to ask.
"Lin Qianyuan," Pei Lanqing lowered his head and spoke before her.
Lin Qianyuan let go of his chopsticks and said, "Hmm."
Pei Lanqing looked at her and smiled, but his eyes were slightly tired. His smile was very faint and his voice was soft. "Tell me about your daily life."
Pei Lanqing looked into her eyes and spoke slowly, "Just like I'm telling you about something that happened to me."
"Oh," Lin Qianyuan finally decided to divert her attention from his face and racked her brains to think of something interesting to tell. However, she really wasn't interested in anyone or anything other than him, so after thinking for a long time, she could only utter a few words, "Go to class, eat, and sleep."
It’s still the same answer, even the number of words hasn’t changed.
Pei Lanqing couldn't describe how he felt at this moment. That indescribable feeling of powerlessness spread over him again, and everything was unknown.
He suddenly didn't have the courage to continue asking, afraid that she would refuse to answer, and also afraid that he would hear something else. He didn't dare to move the chess piece of temptation forward even a single step.
The moonlight outside the French window disappeared into the clouds, and the light above sank into my eyes, turning them gray. "Let's eat."
Lin Qianyuan took two bites and didn't say anything, so she didn't know what to say. After she finished eating hastily, she followed him and watched him wash the dishes in silence. As she watched, she suddenly thought, should she help him with some work?
Lin Qianyuan stretched out his hand, and just as it touched the warm water, someone gently grabbed his wrist.
She looked in the direction of the force. He had taken off his coat and was wearing a dark gray sweater. Because he was washing dishes, the sleeves of the sweater were slightly rolled up, revealing his strong arms. He looked in good shape and thin, but he seemed to be very strong everywhere. His hand holding hers was always warm and strong, making people feel at ease and thus greedy.
Pei Lanqing's hands were also wet and there was still some foam left. He let go of her and wiped her hands with a tissue. He looked up and saw her staring at him, her mouth opening and closing. In the end, she said nothing and lowered her head to continue her work.
Lin Qianyuan was content and stood aside obediently.
Pei Lan finished washing the dishes and then wiped the sink. After everything was clean, he folded the cleaning towel and put it aside. He walked around her and picked up his coat and schoolbag. "I'm going home."
Lin Qianyuan followed him to the living room, feeling a little unhappy. She grabbed the corner of his clothes, but was too tongue-tied to say a word to keep him.
Pei Lanqing pursed her lips, lowered her eyes, and said nothing, which was unusual for her.
Lin Qianyuan was a little annoyed, and he let go of her hand and said angrily, "Then go."
Pei Lanqing's eyes moved slightly, he lowered his eyes and turned away.
Lin Qianyuan kicked the coffee table in frustration, looked at his back, and said in frustration: "Pei Lanqing, will you come tomorrow?"
Pei Lanqing stopped, turned around and looked at her. Reason told him that perhaps he should keep his distance. Just like he would never be able to fit into her life, without his identity as a tutor, they would have nothing in common.
There are so many outstanding people around her, he is nothing compared to them, and he can't think of anything about himself that is worthy of her liking. She will not stay, she will meet someone better who is on par with her.
Pei Lanqing couldn't figure out what he meant to her now, maybe it was just one or two meals.
Lin Qianyuan could only think of one reason why he wouldn't refuse. She grabbed her skirt and tried to say, "Auntie didn't come back with me, but I want to eat."
Pei Lanqing listened to this sentence quietly, no longer looking at her. After a long while, she smiled lightly and said, "I will come."
Fortunately, he can cook.
Pei Lanqing was taking the subway back to school. It was late and there were few people on the subway. There was a little girl sitting next to him, blinking at him. He noticed her staring at him, came back to his senses and smiled at her.
The child spit out the lollipop in his mouth and asked curiously, "Brother, what flower are you holding in your hand? It's so beautiful."
Pei Lanqing turned her eyes to stare at the bouquet in her hand and said softly, "Whitewood."
Lin Qianyuan stayed in the country for a few days, and then Pei Lanqing came for a few days. He looked the same as before, but he was a little less talkative.
Lin Qianyuan didn't notice anything unusual. Apart from eating, they were all busy with their own things.
She gradually realized a fact: between the two of them, if he didn't take the initiative to speak, there would only be silence between her and him.
Lin Qianyuan sat alone on the swing in the garden and clicked on the dialog box again. Since she left the country, the frequency of their chats has gradually decreased. It’s not that they haven’t chatted before, when he was preparing for the final exams, but inexplicably, she felt that this time was different.
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The author has something to say: Before the marriage is even concluded, the feeling of "appearance of harmony but inner distance" has already appeared...
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