Read I Told a Lie - Chapter 47

Chapter 47

The evening breeze was cold, like slaps landing on her face.

She didn't know what to say, what to do, or even whether her decision was right or wrong.

But she had to do it this way. She didn't want to become, without even realizing it, the person Jiang Li hated most someday.

Fortunately, her mother came back, and her focus shifted entirely to her studies and her mother.

She thought that perhaps her decision was the right one.

Isn't it said that she's only suited to playing alone? So whether Jiang Li is there or not doesn't really matter, since she's been doing this alone for so many years.

There's no need to be so dramatic.

Anyway, those girls' secret thoughts are something they can't be told to others.

Sooner or later, this day will come; it's just a matter of widening the distance and returning to the original closing position.

It's okay, it's okay, it's just that the day came a little earlier than usual.

Guan Nan tried her best to convince herself.

"Guan Guan, Yang Yang," Sister Zhen finished cooking, and as she always remembered, she opened the door and stood at the entrance of the building, calling out loudly, "Dinner's ready!"

This incredibly familiar feeling from his memory made Guan Nan momentarily stunned.

She turned around and looked across the empty stairwell. The distance, neither too long nor too short, seemed to hold the past that had never left, always there.

The past and the present are intertwined, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

For a fleeting moment, she seemed to see her younger self climbing the stairs.

Zhenjie took the biscuit from her hand, brushed the crumbs off her, and hugged her with a smile. She then patted Ran Mingju on the shoulder and said, "You naughty mother, you made Guanguan climb up by herself."

Ran Mingju smiled, held up the cookie that Guan Nan hadn't finished, and stuffed it into Zhen Jie's mouth: "Eat yours."

"Still so loud." Ran Mingju's voice came from the corridor, waking Guan Nan from her reverie. Only at this moment did she truly feel that her familiar mother had returned.

“Yes,” Sister Zhen patted her again, coquettish yet self-righteous, “I have a loudspeaker in my throat.”

"You didn't say anything yourself, but someone else went and shouted, and you complained that they were too loud."

"You're so annoying."

They entered the room as they talked.

The familiar environment and familiar people, but a sense of unfamiliarity that arose from within her made her timid.

Fortunately, that initial awkwardness faded away thanks to Sister Zhen's influence.

At the same time, Qi Yang strode up, carrying several bottles of drinks he had taken from the grocery store.

The two entered the room one after the other. Guan Nan, just like when they were children, was in charge of pouring drinks, while Qi Yang went to the kitchen to serve rice with bowls and chopsticks.

"In the shop—" Ran Mingju wanted to say something.

Sister Zhen asked her to sit down: "Why are you worrying so much? I told Yangyang to close the door. There aren't many people here today because it's a holiday. It's cold sitting there. You might as well come up here earlier to warm up."

Today, Qi's father went to the countryside for dinner, so it's just the four of them at this table.

I didn't hear anything at the table during the meal; it was mostly Sister Zhen talking, constantly telling Ran Mingju things that their children hadn't noticed. If you listened carefully, she was actually complaining about Hecangyuan and its changes.

Sister Zhen belittled herself, explaining various things and events in a simple way while also saying that she was slow to learn.

“I’m just a country bumpkin anyway, everyone dislikes me. You’re smart and learn things quickly, so you’ll be responsible for teaching me from now on.” Sister Zhen put a full bowl of food on Ran Mingju’s plate, all of which were her favorite dishes, and said it in a matter-of-fact tone, “If you don’t teach me, I won’t talk to you anymore.”

Ran Mingju: "How could I possibly learn that?"

"You have to learn even if you can't. Who will teach me if you don't learn?" As if she hadn't heard the bitterness and dejection in her voice, Sister Zhen instructed her, "You must learn it. The organization has given you a task, so you have to complete it. Don't make so many excuses."

Seeing that Ran Mingju had agreed, he then said that she was acting like a rogue.

Guan Nan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The meal went more smoothly than I expected.

Before going to bed, Guan Nan habitually checked her messages and logged into QQ.

The messages showed that Jiang Li had sent her several messages. After hesitating for a few seconds, she couldn't resist clicking on them to take a look.