Chapter 76: A Polite Refusal.
The car drove a long way.
Jing Ge, still dazed, asked, "That's Zhuo Yueyue's father, right?"
"Um."
"What's he doing here?" Jingge asked. "Is there any collaboration?"
"No, don't worry about it."
“Isn’t the lawsuit over?” Jing Ge was still thinking. “Zhuo Yueyue is on probation and will graduate in one semester. As long as she behaves herself, she can graduate smoothly.”
"Um."
"Then what did her father come to see you for?"
"Don't worry about it."
"......"
Jingge held the remaining half-bottle of water, shaking it back and forth as he thought, making a soft sloshing sound.
The road was covered in snow, so the car was moving slowly.
Jingge couldn't hold back any longer: "Uncle..."
Li Mushi frowned: "I told you not to interfere."
Before he could even speak, Jing Ge shook the bottle even louder: "Who cares? I just want to ask you why you gave me a bottle of water that you've already drunk from!"
Li Mushi: "."
So she knows.
I thought neither he nor she had noticed.
"You knew and still drank it?" Li Mushi asked, displeased. "I wanted to ask you before, didn't you notice when you twisted the cap?"
Jing Ge: "I've found it."
Li Mushi asked again, "Then are you still drinking?"
“Didn’t you give that to me?” Jing Ge muttered. “I thought you had your reasons, like if the extreme cold and apocalypse were coming, but there was only one bottle of water that had been drunk from and one bottle that hadn’t been opened in the car, then we should keep the unopened one safe.”
"......"
She drank it without even asking him what he gave it to her; he was going to give her poison.
They were already thinking about the extreme cold and the end of the world, but didn't they consider that he might have taken the wrong one?
Jing Ge: "So you were looking at Zhuo Yueyue's father at the time, you were distracted, and you gave me the wrong thing. What did you do to him?"
Li Mushi didn't answer the question: "So you're just going to stick to your mistake?"
“Uh,” Jingge said, not thinking he was wrong, “even if you really gave me poison, you would definitely mistake syrup for poison.”
A complete trust and dependence, the kind that requires no thought; as long as it involves him, even if the sky falls, it's someone else's fault.
Li Mushi fell silent.
Jingge: "So, Uncle, can I stay at your house tonight?"
"...no."
“Oh,” Jingge wasn’t too disappointed, but the first snow in Haishi made her feel lonely by herself. “You’re going on another business trip.”
"Um."
What time is your flight?
"Two hours later."
"oh."
He muttered a few words and then stopped talking.
As the car passed through Nanhai Park, the crystal-clear wintersweet blossoms were hidden under the white snow. The snow was so heavy that no one came out. The snow in the park was thick, like the most skillful craftsman who had painted a flawless latex-painted wall.
The girl remained silent.
The car was parked in a parking space next to the park.
"Want to play?"
"..." Jing Ge's mouth gaped slightly as she looked at him. "What?"
"Playing in the snow," Li Mushi gestured with his chin towards the patch of snow undisturbed by footprints, "Want to play?"
Jingge was still staring in disbelief.
Li Mushi: "Hurry up and play, you only have half an hour."
Jingge immediately snapped out of it: "Play!"
"Um."
The car was warm, and she ran so fast that she forgot to put on her down jacket. Li Mushi frowned, picked up the jacket, grabbed her under a wintersweet tree, and gently put the down jacket on her.
Jingge kicked his snow boots, his eyes sparkling under the streetlights: "Uncle, I'll step on a little rabbit for you."
The snowfield was white and boundless, seemingly without end, and this boundless place currently belonged to her.
No one argued with her.
Jingge ran around, leaving two rows of footprints in the soft snow, and built a small snowman under the tree. He also lay sprawled out in his own shape.
The streetlights weren't very bright, but with Li Mushi standing there watching over her, Jing Ge didn't feel afraid. She just wanted to mark her mark on this clean and tidy area.
The man, with his overcoat draped over his shoulders and his hands in his trouser pockets, calmly watched her play.
He didn't have a childlike innocence.
It's as if they were already old from the moment they were born.
Jingge's hands were numb from the cold. She ran to him, stumbling along, holding up her red palms: "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
The man lowered his eyelashes: "Get in the car."
"......"
If he had spoken even a second later, Jingge would have reflexively shoved her hand into his pocket. His clothes looked inexplicably warm, and he himself was warm, unlike her who was always icy cold.
Jing Ge grumbled at his stinginess, then felt a subtle sadness, knowing that he was right; she wasn't Li Ying's age anymore, she was a grown woman.
And it's time for him to get married.
I wonder what happened to that Ms. Qian from before, whether we're still in contact, and if there's any possibility of anything happening between us.
The future is a predictable journey that is gradually receding into the distance.
Cruel yet real, she has to walk this path of life on her own.
-
Before the New Year holiday, Jing Ge bought a lot of gifts for Li's grandparents, Uncle Li, Aunt Li, and Li Ying.
He also took Li Ying out for a Pizza Hut meal when he had some free time.
But Jingge didn't tell them that she wasn't staying in Haishi for the New Year.
Fearing they would strongly try to persuade her to stay, she felt conflicted about whether to refuse or not, so she simply kept it a secret.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Jing Ge never stepped foot inside the Li family's house. Li Ying, however, shared some gossip, saying that her brother had become more diligent and was busy at the new factory every day, so much so that even they rarely saw him.
The shoes he bought for Prince Jing were lost along with the car. Jing Ge bought a new pair, put a 5,000 yuan red envelope in the shoebox, and carried it to Prince Jing's high school, asking the gatekeeper to deliver it to him.
Then Jing Ge and Zhang Siming embarked on their journey.
On the 28th of the lunar year, Jingge received a call from her mother, asking why she hadn't started her holiday yet and when she would be home, since it was almost New Year's Eve.
Jing Ge calmly replied, "I won't reply. Happy New Year to you."
Cai Zhi was very agitated and asked her why she didn't reply, whether she was resenting them... Such self-blame and crying that exhausted Jing Ge's energy.
Soon after, Jing's father called.
Jingge didn't answer.
Power off.
Zhang Siming sat down next to her and handed her a banana: "Sleep a little longer, we won't stop at the next service area."
Jing Ge thanked him and accepted the gift.
Jingge was half asleep when he felt a coat being put on him. It didn't smell like soap; instead, it smelled a bit like smoke. Jingge frowned uncomfortably.
When Jingge woke up, he discovered that the jacket belonged to Zhang Siming. Zhang Siming didn't smoke, but the tour group belonged to his family, and he would help entertain the driver. Over time, he picked up the smell.
Jing Ge thought that Xiao Ai was right; Zhang Siming had indeed taken a liking to her.
The tour group arrived at the hometown of Wang Weiran, a college roommate, on New Year's Eve.
Jing Ge temporarily left the group to spend the New Year at Wang Weiran's house, and Zhang Siming followed eagerly: "Can you add someone? I'll pay."
Wang Weiran's eyes were ambiguous: "Of course..." Okay.
“You have to come with your sister,” Jing Ge said gently. “It’s New Year’s Eve, a time for family reunion. I’ll join you on the second day of the Lunar New Year.”
Zhang Siming's eyes dimmed.
He understood her polite refusal.
It's not just about refusing New Year's invitations.
She even rejected his feelings.
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