There was no then.
The next day, Lin Chaoying was awakened by knocking on the door.
"Knock knock knock-"
"Knock knock knock-"
"What!" Lin Chaoying shouted irritably, pulling the blanket over her head to block out the annoying sound.
Outside the door, Zhou Pei cautiously asked, "Sister, are you getting up? I'm about to start making dinner. Do you want some?"
dinner?
Lin Chaoying pulled her phone out from under her pillow and saw it was almost five o'clock...
My body was exhausted yesterday, and with staying up late, I slept for so long without realizing it.
She said lazily, "Eat."
"Okay." Zhou Pei added, "Linlin hasn't left the house for most of the day either. Why don't you go check on her after you've finished getting ready?"
"Okay!" Lin Chaoying got out of bed.
They've been running a guesthouse in Jiazhou for almost four years, and the three of them have a close, familial relationship, knowing each other pretty much everything.
Lin Chaoying felt sorry for Linlin's upbringing and Zhou Pei's past; Linlin admired Lin Chaoying's personality but felt sorry for her loneliness and past, and also felt sorry for Zhou Pei's lack of love; Zhou Pei felt that Lin Chaoying was under too much pressure and hated Linlin's ineffective parents...
So the three of them stayed in a small guesthouse in the mountains, supporting and relying on each other. The relationship between the boss and his subordinates gradually weakened and turned into that of older sister, younger brother, and younger sister.
After a quick wash, Lin Chaoying, her face still swollen, knocked on the door of Linlin's room next door.
She stood in the backyard and called out, "Zhou Pei, I want an iced Americano!"
The window of the guesthouse's small dining room connects to the backyard. Zhou Pei opened the window and said, "Okay, sis! Is Linlin awake yet?"
Lin Chaoying knocked on the door three more times. "Linlin? May I come in?"
"Ah." Her groggy voice came from inside, sounding like she had just woken up. "Come in, sis."
Lin Chaoying said to Zhou Pei, "Linlin is awake too, make her a meal." Then she pushed open the door and went into the room. Linlin rubbed her eyes and stayed in bed.
Linlin's tiny face was swollen like a pig's head. "Sis... I don't know why I can't wake up."
Lin Chaoying dragged her body and slumped onto the bed, saying, "Who isn't?"
Linlin struggled to lift her head. "I can see you clearly today."
"Huh?" Lin Chaoying said weakly, "Didn't you clean your eye boogers the other day...?"
"No..." Linlin said, "A couple of days ago I felt like everyone was in several layers of shadows, all hazy and indistinct. Now I feel like my mind is clear, and my eyes are bright. Look!"
As she spoke, she sidled up to Lin Chaoying's side.
Does this mean Linlin is all better now?
Lin Chaoying suddenly asked, "Do you still remember Jiangchuan Valley?"
"Jiangchuan Valley." Linlin swallowed hard, and said guiltily, "Did I do something bad the other day?"
Lin Chaoying pointed outside and said mysteriously, "You know what? He's waiting in room 201 right now, coming to settle scores with you..."
"It's all over, it's all over, it's all over!" Linlin clutched her head. "If his fans find out, they'll skin me alive..."
Lin Chaoying laughed and said, "Just kidding. You're practically his savior. His fans should be the ones to erect a monument for you."
"No, no, no!" Linlin rummaged through the bed. "I have to see if they've found it!!!" After searching around, she remembered, "Oh right, my phone is missing!"
Lin Chaoying waved her hand dismissively, "I'll buy you another one, as compensation for your emotional distress." She took out her own phone from her pocket and handed it to Linlin, "Use mine for now."
Linlin took the phone, opened Weibo, and after a few minutes of silence, she suddenly gasped, "Jiang Xu has exploded again?"
"Isn't that normal?" Lin Chaoying said, unsurprised.
Maybe someone in the discussion group came up with a new idea? In the eyes of the fun-loving people, the two of them used the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed, and even the air they breathed was like an aphrodisiac.
Linlin said, "Jiang Xu posted on Weibo, a bunch of photos of them together."
"Huh?" Lin Chaoying leaned closer curiously.
Jiang Xu posted six group photos of the 16 members during their trainee days, including three photos in the middle of Jiang Xu, Jiang Chuangu, and Li Chao.
The photo carries the unique filter of the era, showing teenage boys sweating profusely in a dance studio, sitting closely together, each with the unique naivety of youth on their faces.
They were arm in arm, making faces at each other, playfully fighting, pretending to be serious... and Li Chao was even showing off his teeth marks...
Jiang Xu captioned the post: This winter is long and cold, but the winter when I was 14 was exceptionally warm.
People can never determine exactly when their happiest moment will arrive; they will only realize someday in the future that they missed that moment and can never go back to it.
With regret and helplessness.
With grief and regret.
With that self-righteous "Next time."
Let's talk about it next time we meet, let's ask again next time we meet, let's explain again next time we meet, let's find you again next time, let's get together again next time...
Next time, and forever next time.
There's always plenty of time and endless opportunities.
Reality will tell you, in a stark and brutal way, that there is no chance.
Lin Chaoying didn't know if 16-year-old Jiang Chuan Gu regretted it, but she knew that 31-year-old Jiang Chuan Gu must have regretted it.
As the last rays of the setting sun slowly enveloped the room, she put down her phone, walked to the door, and was surprised to find that the cherry blossom trees in the yard were finally sprouting new buds, and the bare branches in the mountains were quietly bursting forth with new green.
However, Lin Chaoying saw no sign of life or hope.
Zhou Pei, holding a bowl and chopsticks, said, "Sister, you two get ready and come to the front hall for dinner! Today it's your favorite beef noodles!"
"They're here." Lin Chaoying then remembered the two people upstairs and asked, "Where are Jiang Chuangu and Jiang Xu?"
Zhou Pei said, "Actually, they've only just started..."
It seems everyone is exhausted these past few days.
Lin Chaoying took a big gulp of her iced Americano. "Wow, I'm finally alive!" She called out to Zhou Pei, "Does my face still look swollen?"
"Sis," Zhou Pei said casually, "Even if your face is swollen, it's still smaller than mine, right? Hurry up and eat, can you still look beautiful?"
"You're so perfunctory," Lin Chaoying said, picking up her chopsticks with a hint of helplessness. "I'm getting old, my metabolism can't keep up anymore, staying up all night has made me so swollen..."
Zhou Pei sighed, "Is it because Linlin and I call you 'sister' every day that you look old? Should I start calling you 'Sister Lin' from now on?"
"Zhou Pei, you're disgusting!" Linlin pretended to gag as she walked.
Suddenly, the sound of stairs coming down came from the stairwell. Linlin, feeling guilty, hugged her bowl and moved to a corner seat. All three of them turned their attention to the stairwell.
Jiang Chuan Gu stood with his hands in his pockets, dressed in simple sportswear. His beard was clean-shaven, and some of his bangs had been trimmed, revealing his prominent brow bone and deep-set eyes. He looked completely different from yesterday, yet one could still sense his unchanged decadence and exhaustion.
Even so, that delicate face truly remains "beautiful as ever".
Lin Chaoying met his unfathomable, dark eyes, and her heart skipped a beat.
Jiang Xu, like a nagging old woman, pushed him forward from behind, "Come on, slow down, hurry up and go see your savior."
Upon hearing this, Linlin's eyes widened, and she immediately lowered her head, slurping her noodles vigorously, her face clearly saying: You can't see me! You can't see me!
Out of courtesy to his guests, Zhou Pei invited the two to sit down.
"Hello!" Jiang Xu greeted Linlin first. "Thank you so much for being willing to testify for Jiang Chuan Valley."
Linlin blurted out without thinking, "I'm still more grateful that he wasn't the murderer, otherwise, I wouldn't have survived."
"Cough cough cough." Zhou Pei gave Linlin a look, signaling her to speak properly, and said to Jiang Xu and Jiang Chuangu, "She's still in shock and hasn't recovered yet."
"It's nothing, it's nothing." Jiang Xu then introduced Lin Chaoying, "She's the owner of this guesthouse, Lin Chaoying." His tone gradually became more tentative as he asked, "You...should know her?"
Lin Chaoying: "I don't know him."
Jiangchuan Valley: "I know him."
The two women gave different answers in unison, and Zhou Pei and Linlin exchanged knowing glances.
After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Chuan Gu, with a sullen face, uttered three words indifferently: "Don't know me..."
? ? ?
The three people present had big question marks on their faces.
Lin Chaoying broke the deadlock, adopting the demeanor of a boss, and said to Zhou Pei, "Remember to check with them the specific length of stay, the services and facilities of the guesthouse. No matter what, you are still considered a guest."
Zhou Pei: "Okay."
Jiang Xu's phone suddenly rang, and he went to the door to answer it.
Lin Chaoying secretly sent a message in the small group chat between Linlin and Zhou Pei: "Their room rates are double during this period."
Zhou Pei: ?
Zhou Pei: Sister, is this okay?
Lin Chaoying: These two are rich.
Zhou Pei: When it comes to making money, you're the best.
Zhou Pei put down her phone and looked at Lin Chaoying with admiration.
"I've really had enough!" Jiang Xudi's angry shouts came from the doorway: "Fine! If you've got the guts, come and kill me! That would be the same as dying with Li Chao!"
Jiang Xu: "Why should I care what they think?"
Lin Chaoying silently complained, "Is that how you use that phrase?"
Because Jiang Chuan Gu remained silent, Zhou Pei forgot that there were outsiders present and blurted out, "Celebrities, they debuted in their teens and didn't have much schooling."
"Cough cough cough-" Linlin coughed a few times suddenly.
"Tsk!" Lin Chaoying glared at him with displeasure. "Why all this nonsense? How was I trained you?"
Jiang Chuan Gu ate a few bites of noodles and said wearily, "It's okay, don't worry about me."
Lin Chaoying could hear the resentment in his voice...
Jiang Xu angrily hung up the phone and asked Jiang Chuangu, "I'm flying back to Haicheng this afternoon. Are you coming with me?"
Jiang Chuan Gu shook his head, his attitude firm, "I'll stay here and wait for the police to catch the murderer."
"Alright." Jiang Xu instructed, "Please keep my room open. I'll be back as soon as I finish up at the company. Please ask him to order meals for me these next couple of days."
Zhou Pei nodded, "Okay. Do you need me to call a car for you?"
Jiang Xu: "No need, someone is coming to pick me up."
The meal ended in an awkward and rushed manner.
Zhou Pei and Linlin were clearing away the dishes when Lin Chaoying stopped them, saying, "You two go to the backyard to rest first, and wash them later. I have something to say to Jiang Chuangu."
Jiang Chuan Gu's gaze never left Lin Chao Ying from the moment he sat down at the dining table.
Zhou Pei and Linlin: "Okay."
Lin Chaoying was about to speak.
"I'm sorry," Jiang Chuan Gu said first. "I really didn't know you were about to disappear."
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