Chapter 96
I got on the bus.
Guan Nan lowered her head and silently fastened her seatbelt.
With narrowed eyes, I caught a glimpse of Jiang Li setting up his phone, casually opening the navigation and selecting an address. The car's Bluetooth simultaneously emitted a notification sound.
"..." Hearing the suggestion to go to the next city, Guan Nan looked blank. "It doesn't seem to be on the way."
Jiang Li steered the car around the parking lot and drove out onto the surface. A security guard saluted as they approached, and Jiang Li politely asked, "Did I say it was on my way?"
"I really didn't say," Guan Nan shook his head dryly.
Jiang Li tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow slightly, as if to say, "That's it."
Seeing this, Guan Nan took out her phone and started checking the nearest subway and bus stops. There was a subway station about 200 meters from the Yuyuan exit, but at this moment they were clearly already passing each other.
Scroll down to see other travel options; there's a bus stop nearby.
She gripped her phone tightly, hesitated, and said, "Then I'll get off here. I see a bus stop ahead."
"Oh," Jiang Li replied casually.
The car didn't stop, and Guan Nan assumed he was going to drop her off at the bus stop, so she locked her phone and didn't say anything more. However, the car drove past the bus stop without slowing down or stopping at all.
Guan Nan paused for a second, then turned to look at him.
Before she could say anything, the navigation system started playing.
—"You have veered off course. We are planning a new route for you. Turn left at the next intersection to make a U-turn."
However, the warning sound had no effect, and the vehicle continued to move straight ahead.
The in-vehicle route optimization is still being continuously updated.
Not knowing where the destination was, Guan Nan noticed that he seemed too lazy to talk, and wisely refrained from bothering him.
At first, Guan Nan thought about checking her phone to find something to do, but when she remembered his last words, "I can't live without my phone," she immediately gave up the idea.
So after sending the agent a message that he would be late, he turned off his phone.
As the scenery gradually became familiar, Guan Nan belatedly realized that she was near the museum, and subconsciously turned her head to look at him again.
Guan Nan racked her brains and found a topic, smoothing a strand of hair behind her ear, "Um, by the way, how's your bird doing lately?"
After a two-second silence, Jiang Li looked at her. "What? My bird?"
Guan Nan didn't realize there was anything wrong with what she said, but seeing his furrowed brows, she thought he wasn't faking it and assumed she hadn't expressed herself clearly. "It's just that, make a lot of money, your son."
"Oh," Jiang Li said lazily, his brows relaxing. "They've been picked up."
I left in such a hurry that I forgot to bring the bird with me, and now that I'm asking, it seems like I'm not being sincere.
Thinking about it now, Guan Nan still felt a little uneasy.
The air became quiet again.
Seeing that they were almost at the top of the hill, Guan Nan pursed her lips and said, "Thank you."
Jiang Li remained silent.
The car drove straight through the school gates, without slowing down, and after circling around, it turned around and stopped on the road opposite the school.
Just as she was about to get off the bus, Guan Nan noticed that there were more people around her, and she looked around with her phone in hand.
The man in the sales uniform on the ground was talking to people from time to time, glancing at his phone every now and then, and waving for people to walk away.
At the same time, she received a message on her phone from a real estate agent.
A real estate agent: 【Take your time, no rush】
Real estate agent: [Have we arrived yet?]
After reading it, Guan Nan had a bad feeling.
She looked at the profile picture, then at the person standing opposite her, her expression somewhat blank.
The weather outside was gloomy, with gusts of wind blowing as if it would rain at any moment. The oppressive atmosphere made Guan Nan feel uneasy, and she found it hard to breathe.
She understood what was going on at a glance.
She didn't want to pay attention to the public opinion, but that didn't mean the public opinion would let her off the hook. One new term after another popped up on various platforms, and they tried to apply it to her, whether it was true or false.
At the beginning of the incident, Guan Nan did try to explain and clarify the situation.
However, humans are creatures of preconceived notions. Once certain unspoken misunderstandings have been implanted in them beforehand, it becomes extremely difficult to untangle those knots.
Because people are absolutely certain that what they see at first glance is the truth.
The next second, a phone call came in, and Guan Nan's thoughts instantly returned to their normal state.
She answered the call; the volume from the receiver wasn't quiet, filling the quiet carriage.
"Ms. Guan," the agent on the other end said with a fawning smile, "are you almost there?"
Guan Nan looked out the window and steadied her voice: "Sorry, something came up and I can't make it. Let's do it another day."
After hanging up the phone, I saw my agent's face turn cold. He spat at the open space, muttering some curses, then looked around and beckoned a few people over.
Even after they left, there were still people holding up their phones and looking around.
At 2 p.m., the park was empty and quiet.
The two strolled slowly along the nearly dried-up lake. The boardwalk was lined with withered lotus leaves, and the lotus flowers were nowhere to be seen. On the shore, some people were whipping tops, while others were pushing strollers with children.
Standing in front of the railing, Guan Nan lowered her eyes and silently gazed at her reflection in the water.
She suddenly felt as if she was being suffocated by the pressure, even without reading those sharp-tongued comments or watching video analyses based on various conspiracy theories.
Even so, her back slumped slightly, and she couldn't hold on any longer.
The river was too attractive to her; perhaps jumping in would end it all, and she would never have to listen to or see any of this again. She could also see her mother again.
Guan Nan closed her eyes tightly.
Before she hit the ground, someone grabbed her wrist.
Guan Nan looked up and realized that she had already flipped halfway out of the arc, only to be pulled back by a force.
I sat on the ground, my heart pounding wildly.
She heard Jiang Li coldly question:
What do you want to do?
Guan Nan was slow to think, and looked up at him, the light still a bit dazzling.
Jiang Li looked down at her, his face taut and cold, his eyes indifferent and emotionless, only his heaving chest was visible.
Guan Nan opened her mouth, still somewhat dazed, "Get...get out of here."
"You want to die, don't you?" Jiang Li's face was flushed, his brows were furrowed, and his eyes showed disgust.
Guan Nan's heart tightened, and she lowered her head without saying a word.
Seeing this, Jiang Li gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut again, but he still couldn't suppress the raging anger in his heart. He turned slightly to the side and kicked the ground as if to vent his anger.
After a moment, he calmed his breathing and emotions, and knelt down in front of her.
Jiang Li reached out and gently tucked the hair that was covering her face behind her back. He stroked her face and whispered, "Was it worth it?"
The warm palm is large and strong, silently giving people a sense of security.
With her face pressed against his, Guan Nan felt a slight sense of comfort, but when she looked up again, her eyes were still empty and lifeless. She nodded and shook her head blankly, her voice hoarse and weak, "I'm sorry."
“Who have you wronged?” Jiang Li wiped away her tears with his thumb. “You’ve done everything you should have done.”
They ignore you and don't listen, while netizens follow suit, clamoring for justice. What does this have to do with you? You spend money and effort, only to be thankless and lose everything for these scumbags. Which of them deserves your help?
Neither of them deserves it.
Guan Nan's face was expressionless, and her lips were tightly pursed.
The next second, she grabbed Jiang Li's hand and leaned down, resting her head on his shoulder.
She hugged Jiang Li tightly, her voice choked with emotion: "But, I always feel..."
I haven't done enough, and I haven't given them enough. They've suffered too much by following her.
This was my first time starting a business and leading a team, and I poured my heart and soul into giving them what I thought was the best.
Then, let's look back.
Those who held those things were filled with contempt and disdain.
Jiang Li's hand paused in mid-air, his throat bobbing as he slowly landed on her back: "Whether it's good or bad, there's no need to prove it. Justice resides in the hearts of the people, and anyone with eyes can see it."
However, some people are simply blind and heartless.
The faint scent of sea salt filled her senses. Guan Nan sniffed, greedily reluctant to let go.
She called his name: "Jiang Li".
"Mm," Jiang Li replied.
Guan Nan's eyes were still stinging, and she said in a low voice as if pleading, "Don't pity me."
"······"
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