Chapter 55 (Chapter 55) Piercing the Heart
Chapter Fifty-Five: Destroying the Heart
Perhaps she had played too much in the evening, because Lin Su had a stomachache when she went to bed that night.
It wasn't that the pain was unbearable, but it was just uncomfortable.
Zhou Yunqi rubbed her stomach and said that she really shouldn't have listened to her saying she was fine, but he was also glad that he had held back.
The next day, Lin Su took out her camera and wanted to go out and take pictures.
Zhou Yunqi said, "You should rest at home for a couple of days. The pain you felt yesterday was probably due to all the travel you were going through."
Lin Su said, "Can't I just film nearby? I won't go far."
He smiled slightly, then said coldly, "No."
Lin Su snorted, sniffing.
"If you feel bored, go read and study. Don't think that you can rest easy just because you've been admitted to university. Study English, or read classic stories."
Lin Su said dejectedly, "Then why don't you read books and study?"
The man clicked his tongue: "You've even learned to talk back now. Who taught you that?"
Lin Su hummed in response.
He continued, "Also, now that you're in college, you should at least get a scholarship, otherwise it'll be embarrassing if people ask and I say you didn't get one."
Lin Su suddenly felt immense pressure.
She hadn't considered these things yet, but Zhou Yunqi had thought them through very clearly.
She sat quietly at her desk, memorizing some English words. There were so few English resources available, so she memorized words from an English dictionary. Later, she spent half a day reading classic literature.
During the break, she thought about her future. Although she was successfully admitted to the "National Economic Management" major, the essence of this major is economics, and some of the courses she took in high school are the same.
So what does she want to do? What can she do after she graduates? She has never seriously considered this question.
But she wasn't anxious; after all, life was long, and she would eventually find her own place.
After resting at home for two days, she took advantage of Zhou Yunqi's outing and went out with her camera to continue taking pictures. She also went to Peking University in the afternoon and wandered around the campus for a long time.
By now, the older students had already started school, and the streets were filled with students moving between classrooms after class. They were all spirited, with clear eyes, and… thick, lustrous hair. Lin Su thought about how she would soon be studying here, receiving guidance from top professors and teachers, and her heart was filled with longing.
Two days later, Zhang Wenqiu called her from downstairs to go shopping.
Zhang Wenqiu was admitted to a teachers' college, and the start of the semester was around the same time as Lin Su. She and Lin Su went shopping at a department store, and she said she wanted to pick out a better backpack for herself.
Along the way, Zhang Wenqiu chattered about all sorts of gossip about his relatives and classmates. Later, they bought some things at the mall, and Lin Su also bought a new canvas shoulder bag to carry her books in college.
As soon as they arrived at the main gate, there was a group of people gathered in front of them. Zhang Wenqiu, who loved to join in the fun, said, "It looks like they're doing an interview over there."
Lin Su looked over and was stunned. The reporter conducting the interview was actually Guan Chenxi.
She is skilled and capable in her field of work, and there is no indication that she is troubled by love.
Therefore, Lin Su couldn't understand her previous motives even more. She had such a good job, and she was a professional woman who could realize her personal value, shining brightly in her field of expertise. Why was she so fixated on relationships? Just as they were about to leave, Guan Chenxi walked straight towards them: "Hello, excuse me, may I do a brief interview?"
Lin Su thought she was doing it on purpose, but Zhang Wenqiu, who was standing next to her, was overjoyed: "Great, great!"
Guan Chenxi pretended not to know Lin Su and said fluently, "I am a reporter from the People's Livelihood section of the Beijing Evening News. I would like to conduct a brief interview with you two on issues such as demand for department store goods. Do you have time?"
Zhang Wenqiu never expected to be interviewed again, and excitedly said, "I have time, I have time."
Guan Chenxi's interview mainly focused on the changes in people's needs for daily necessities and other aspects of life during the nearly one year since the reform and opening up.
Among those interviewed were older people, as well as young people like Zhang Wenqiu and Lin Su.
They answered a few simple questions together. Although Zhang Wenqiu answered most of them, Lin Su did not get impatient and added some supplementary information.
When asked, "What material improvements do you hope to see in the short term?", Zhang Wenqiu said, "I hope to have more choices in clothing, snacks, and the like."
Guan Chenxi then asked Lin Su, "And what about you?"
Lin Su said, "In addition to having a wider variety of products for clothing, food, housing and transportation, I also hope for progress in learning and entertainment, such as more choices for audio-visual products and English learning materials. I also hope that domestic companies can produce better products suitable for women."
Guan Chenxi stared at Lin Su: "What kind of women's products are you referring to?"
"Skincare products and the like."
Guan Chenxi smiled and asked, "Is there anything else?"
Lin Su looked at her smile, which seemed somewhat contemptuous. Not wanting to be looked down upon or seen as just someone who liked to dress up, Lin Su bluntly said, "And, menstrual products."
Guan Chenxi's eyes lit up, and following her journalistic instincts, she continued to ask, "What exactly are you referring to?"
She didn't seem to know anything at all. Fortunately, Lin Su wasn't ashamed of her period, so she further explained, "Women abroad use sanitary napkins during their periods. I hope they can be produced domestically as well."
Guan Chenxi: "So how did you know that women abroad are using this kind of product?"
Lin Su: "I know a few overseas Chinese friends, and when I heard them complain about not being able to buy sanitary napkins when they came to travel or visit relatives, I realized that women in developed countries use sanitary napkins during their periods. I hope that women in our country can use them soon."
Guan Chenxi: "Okay, thank you for accepting the interview. I also think that solving this problem is a very urgent matter. If I have the opportunity, I hope I can do my best to make your voice heard."
Zhang Wenqiu stood aside, dumbfounded. Her deskmate was nothing like the Lin Su she usually knew; she seemed more like a feminist pioneer.
The interview finally ended, and just as Lin Su was about to leave, Guan Chenxi called out to her: "Lin Su, are you free these next couple of days?"
Zhang Wenqiu was very surprised: "No, how do you know her name?"
Lin Su glanced at Zhang Wenqiu and said helplessly, "We know each other; we've met twice."
"It's actually an interview with someone I know," Zhang Wenqiu said in surprise. "You were acting like a complete stranger just now."
Guan Chenxi chuckled beside her: "It was indeed an interview with an acquaintance, but interviews are always random, there was no pre-planning, and I didn't know I'd run into her here. So, are you free tomorrow? Let's chat?"
Perhaps she had seen Guan Chenxi's professionalism at work, or perhaps she simply wanted to have a calm and peaceful conversation with Guan Chenxi, so Lin Su nodded: "Where shall we meet, still at that teahouse?"
Guan Chenxi smiled awkwardly: "Okay, but I don't want to be interrupted halfway through."
Lin Su said, "He has things to do during the day tomorrow."
Guan Chenxi nodded: "I have some work tomorrow afternoon, but I'll be free at four o'clock. I'll wait for you there."
Lin Su: "Okay, see you there."
"I still have to rush back to the newspaper office to write an article. See you tomorrow." With that, she left the mall ahead of everyone else.
Lin Su watched her retreating figure and took a deep breath.
Zhang Wenqiu, standing to the side, seemed to be deep in thought: "It seems like you two are having some kind of secret."
There are no secrets.
"So what did you mean by what you were saying just now? Who is this 'he' you were talking about? Your boyfriend?"
"Yes, he's my boyfriend," Lin Su replied calmly.
Zhang Wenqiu's eyes widened: "No way, Lin Su, is what they're saying true! They're saying you and your boyfriend should go see the results together on the day they're released."
Lin Su remained completely calm: "Yes, it's true. You've actually met him."
"I've seen him before?"
Who is it?
"Could it be Zhou..."
On the way back, Zhang Wenqiu was full of resentment, saying that Lin Su was disloyal, didn't treat her as a friend, didn't tell her the truth, and made her look like a clown in front of Zhou Yunqi, blah blah blah...
Lin Su let her complain, her mind preoccupied with how to talk to Guan Chenxi when they met tomorrow, knowing they would definitely still be talking about men.
It's always the same man, coming and going.
-
The following afternoon, Lin Su waited for Guan Chenxi at the teahouse. Guan Chenxi had just finished work and rushed over, saying, "Sorry to keep you waiting."
After sitting down and taking a sip of tea, Lin Su said, "You are much better when you are working than when you are not working."
She smiled and said, "Are you trying to say that I left a bad impression on you before?"
Lin Su did not answer, but the answer was self-evident.
After several encounters, Guan Chenxi realized that the girl in front of her was definitely not as weak and easy to manipulate as she appeared on the surface. Yesterday's interview made it clear that she was a knowledgeable and thoughtful girl.
But I am a reborn person, I know what the future holds, so what do I have to be afraid of, a little girl like her?
So Guan Chenxi said, "I wasn't in a good state of mind those few days. But I still maintain that the two of you won't have a good outcome."
"Why?"
Guan Chenxi smiled and said, "There are some things I can't say, so just take it as my intuition. The main reason I asked you out today was to apologize. I was indeed rude the last two times, and I may have scared you."
"You didn't scare me." Lin Su looked at her calmly. "I understand how you feel, but even without me, even if I didn't know him, would you two have a chance? If you did, you would have been together long ago."
Guan Chenxi looked at the girl in front of her. She looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, with skin so tender it seemed like you could pinch water out of it, yet her mind was mature. She calmly said, "I believe that sincerity can move mountains. If he's still single, maybe one day when he's in his thirties or forties, I'll finally find someone."
Lin Su: "What if he's in his thirties or forties, after all these years, another woman appears in his life?"
She said firmly, "It's impossible."
This absolute tone made Lin Su uncomfortable: "Your tone always makes me feel like you can see the future and know that he will grow old alone."
Guan Chenxi was taken aback.
Lin Su then asked, "Why are you so fixated on him?"
She chuckled softly and said in a low voice, "I don't want to have any more regrets."
"What?"
Did she have any regrets?
Lin Su found it increasingly perplexing as she listened.
Guan Chenxi's eyes dimmed: "Maybe you can't understand, but I've liked him since I was very young. Although he doesn't play with girls much and is hard to approach, I can tell that he's a very gentle person at heart. I secretly collected everything about him. In junior high, I went to his uncle's house very often, ostensibly to play with his cousin, but actually just to hear news about him, even just a few words. As long as I heard it, I would be happy for days."
In her previous life, she waited for him to relent. When he was in the southwest, she wrote him many letters, though he never replied to a single one. Three or four years later, seeing that she was getting older, her family arranged a marriage for her. Before the wedding, she went to see Zhou Yunqi, only to be completely rejected. Heartbroken, she went ahead with the marriage.
However, two years after their marriage, Guan Chenxi discovered that her husband was having an affair, and she chose to divorce him. She has remained single ever since.
In 1990, she managed to interview Zhou Yunqi. By then, he already owned many businesses in Beijing and was a pioneer in international futures trading in China. With government support, he and several other influential figures had established a futures company with a Chinese name, and he was one of the shareholders. He remained as polite as ever. When Guan Chenxi asked him why he was still single, he simply smiled and said he hadn't met the right person.
Not long after, he promised his uncle on his sickbed that he would get married. Guan Chenxi felt that she still had a chance and was about to try to win him over when she unexpectedly died in a car accident on her way to an interview.
Looking back on my life, it seems I haven't accomplished anything, and I died in a hurry.
"If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't want to have any regrets," she murmured almost unconsciously.
Lin Su listened silently, first nodding, and then realizing what was happening.
Wait, let's try again?
Lin Su stared at her with wide eyes.
Guan Chenxi, unaware that Lin Su had become suspicious, regained her composure and smiled, saying to Lin Su, "They say there's plenty of time. You're so young, and I'm so young. There's no need to rush."
However, Lin Su was no longer able to speak.
Everything that was inexplicable now makes sense.
The person standing in front of me, Guan Chenxi, is a reborn individual.
Nothing is impossible. If I can transmigrate into a book, why can't Guan Chenxi be reborn?
No wonder Guan Chenxi said she shouldn't have appeared, no wonder she couldn't accept her existence.
She fell completely silent.
Guan Chenxi, unaware of the situation, assumed that she had been provoked by those words and continued to ask, "Do you like him?"
Lin Su nodded: "Of course."
"How far would you go for him if you liked him?"
Lin Su asked, puzzled, "What?"
"Can he reach the level of his mother?"
"What do you mean?" Lin Su looked at her.
Guan Chenxi curled her lips slightly: "Do you know how his mother passed away?"
"I know, it was suicide."
Guan Chenxi sneered, "That's not called suicide." She looked sharply at Lin Su, "It's called dying for love."
These two words sent a jolt through Lin Su's heart.
"The kind of love he longs for is like his parents', where people are willing to die for each other. Can you do that?"
"Me!" Lin Su was completely speechless; she had never thought of these things.
"I can do it." Guan Chenxi's eyes flashed with a cold light.
"I can do it, but you can't. Do you really like him?"
Lin Su seemed startled and shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, you're too crazy."
"Am I crazy? Ha, I'm not crazy." Guan Chenxi felt that she couldn't be calmer. "I'm just stating a fact. You haven't experienced the darkness he went through, so how can you empathize? As far as I know, after you transferred to him, he was the one supporting you, and he is still supporting you now. You're like a bird kept in a cage by him, protected too well, unaware of how treacherous people can be, and unaware of the darkness and needs in his heart."
She continued to sneer, her words dripping with menace: "You say you like him, but ask yourself honestly, do you really like him? You just enjoy having him take care of everything for you, without wanting to give anything in return. You don't even dare to commit suicide for love, so how can you talk about liking someone? Why should I admit defeat when I'm facing an opponent like you?"
The immense pressure nearly broke Lin Su's mental defenses, and her self-preservation instincts made her stand up abruptly and run out of the teahouse.
Walking onto the street, there was a steady stream of people leaving get off work. The sun was about to set, and the afterglow was still intense, but Lin Su felt cold sweat breaking out all over her body.
Without a doubt, Guan Chenxi was a lunatic, a woman driven mad by love. There was no need to take her words to heart. However, the fact that Zhou's mother had committed suicide for love, her aggressive words, and her reborn identity... all came crashing down on Lin Su, leaving her mind blank.
In her distraught state, Lin Su seemed to hear an urgent voice calling out, "Su Su, Su Su."
The next second, her arm was grabbed, and the man smiled gently at her: "I called you, why didn't you hear me?"
Lin Su snapped out of her daze and murmured, "Zhou Yunqi—"
In an instant, tears streamed down my face.
-
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