Chapter Sixty-One
After hearing this, You Congxi froze for a few seconds. The two parents in front of her continued their small talk without noticing, while behind her, a certain jerk was talking nonsense right next to her. The two were so close that she could even smell his unique, refreshing scent.
Her chest began to thump again.
Come on with this set...
“Xiaoxi,” Jing Ling, who was in front, turned around and took a few steps toward us, “Let’s go home.”
Shen Yue had already moved a few steps away the moment You Congxi's mother turned around. Hearing this, she was a little disappointed, but she still gave her a look to indicate that she was fine and told her to go home quickly.
"Let's go back too. Dad will show you something today." Zhao Xinli, who was standing next to him, sighed helplessly as he saw his eldest son's eyes still glued to the girl.
You Congxi over there had already pulled his suitcase and was heading towards his doorstep.
Shen Yue felt a little melancholy, but Zhao Xinli, too lazy to watch him act like a wife-waiting stone, simply turned around and headed home.
"Ugh, this fingerprint lock is broken... Luckily I remember the password, I need to find someone to fix it..." Jing Ling muttered.
Shen Yue didn't know what had happened. All he knew was that You Congxi, who had left cleanly and decisively, took the opportunity to look back at him and wave her phone at him.
He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket, and a WeChat notification showed that he had an unread message.
See you downstairs at 6:30.
Shen Yue was stunned. When he looked up again, he could only see a corner of the girl's clothes and the sound of the door closing.
...Holy crap.
He read those few words again, and his whole body felt like fluffy down after being sunbathed. He felt both dreamy, like he was walking on clouds, and he couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.
I received a very light tap on the back of my head.
Shen Yue turned his head and saw Zhao Xinli frowning, looking at him with disappointment and said, "Get the hell out of here and go home right now!"
Shen Yue was in a good mood and everything was fine. Even if Zhao Xinli asked him to run a hundred laps around the neighborhood, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Stand at attention, legs in, salute, and Shen Yue, with a stern face and head held high, declares in a firm and powerful voice: "Yes, Sir!"
Zhao Xinli stared at his son, who ran into the house like a silly dog, and his temples and teeth ached all at once.
That little rascal!
"Does David know you're going back to China?" You Congxi put her suitcase in the entryway, bent down to find slippers in the shoe cabinet, and handed them to Jing Ling.
“What’s it to him?” Jing Ling took the shoes and sat on the shoe-changing stool that You Congxi pushed over. “He doesn’t have that much power to control my personal freedom.”
You Congxi had already changed her shoes. She stood next to Jing Ling, stretching out her arm to support her. Upon hearing this, she raised an eyebrow and her gaze swept over Jing Ling's face in a searching manner.
Did they have a fight?
Jing Ling, supporting herself with You Congxi's hand, stood up. Having finished her display of power, she felt a little uneasy. After hesitating for a few seconds, she said weakly, "You know everything..."
You Congxi finally couldn't help but laugh twice.
She had never seen Jing Ling, who was usually so arrogant, like this before, like a fighting rooster whose tail had been pecked off.
But it was her domineering mother who made her feel at ease, and from the first time they met in the office, she was reserved and tried to please her... To be honest, You Congxi felt an indescribable discomfort, as if a hard pebble had been stuck in her heart.
"How many months pregnant? Did the doctor recommend a long-haul flight?" You Congxi poured her a glass of warm water, her gaze falling on her barely visible belly.
"Less than three months?" Jing Ling took the water, a little embarrassed. She took a sip, swallowed, and looked at the chair next to her. "You're not that weak... You haven't eaten, have you? Mom will make you some food."
"No need, please sit down," You Congxi said, spreading her arms in a gesture of restraint. She then glanced at the insulated lid on the dining table. "Auntie made it, so you can just eat what's ready."
"Oh...oh okay," Jing Ling paused for a moment, then remembered, "I forgot, look at my memory..."
"Wash your hands before eating..." Just as You Congxi was about to lower her arm, a soft, warm body pressed against her.
She paused for two seconds, then the warmth dissipated. Jing Ling awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear, coughed lightly, and urged, "Go wash your hands quickly."
Now I finally know where she got her awkwardness from.
It wasn't until they sat down at the table to eat that Jingling mentioned his daughter's boyfriend: "Your... Xiao Shen, when did you two get together?"
"Huh?" You Congxi paused, holding her chopsticks. It took her two seconds to realize who "Xiao Shen" was. "Chen Yue? They're not together."
"Not here..." Jing Ling almost dropped the stir-fried pork she was picking up. She put the meat in her bowl, her eyes wide. "Why didn't you say so in the office just now?"
“I already said,” You Congxi said nonchalantly, taking a sip of soup. “I said I’m still thinking about it.”
“You…” Jing Ling put down his chopsticks, frowning as if he couldn’t understand what she was thinking. “Didn’t you say you liked him in the elevator just now?”
"Hmm," You Congxi shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth, mumbling dismissively, "Let's eat, it'll get cold soon."
After eating for a while, You Congxi felt the gaze above her head like an itchy tickle. Feeling a little helpless, she swallowed the meat in her mouth, looked up, and said again, "Let's eat, Mom?"
When she met Jing Ling's calm, smiling gaze, she was taken aback.
“Xiaoxi,” Jingling slowly picked up a piece of green vegetable with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth, chewed it slowly, and said leisurely, “Mom will tell you a story.”
"No..." You Congxi instinctively tried to stop him.
“When I was in high school, it must have been more than 20 years ago,” Jing Ling said. “Back then, there was no such thing as separate desks for boys and girls. In my second year of high school, a boy transferred to our class. He was very handsome and looked like John Lone.”
You Congxi stuffed vegetables into his mouth.
“The girls in the class would stare at him, but I was different,” Jing Ling said with a hint of pride. “Back then, I liked Bruce Lee. Two dragons cannot share one mountain, so I really disliked him.”
You Congxi almost choked on the rice in her mouth, so she had to drink a bowl of soup.
"As a result, the teacher arranged for him to sit next to me as my deskmate. Later, at the graduation party, the teacher told me that it was because I was too talkative and could chat with anyone sitting next to me, but this transfer student was the least talkative," Jing Ling said, resting her chin on her hand, unable to stop smiling. "Unexpectedly, this guy with such a cold personality became my deskmate for two years. Not only did he not make me quiet, but I also managed to win him over and we had a two-year early romance."
You Congxi blinked: "Is this my eldest uncle or my second uncle?"
“Get lost,” Jing Ling said. “This is my first love. Your father, that pig, is not worthy of being associated with her.”
"And then?" You Congxi asked, suppressing a laugh.
"Later...then we broke up," Jing Ling picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and chewed slowly, his expression very calm. "Before the college entrance exam, we agreed to apply to the same university, but he went abroad to study and we lost contact afterward."
You Congxi remained silent.
“But what Mom wants to tell you is,” Jing Ling laughed again, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair from You Congxi’s temple behind her ear, her tone light and cheerful, “that in all things, the result is not the most important thing; the most important thing is the process.”
“I was very happy and joyful with Yu… my deskmate, and that’s enough,” Jing Ling said. “Everyone comes into this world and the final result is death. What we are meant to experience is the process of life. From learning to speak to taking our first steps, then going to school, graduating, and working… even if the general framework is the same, everyone’s life is different.”
“Xiaoxi,” Jingling called her softly, “What Mom wants to tell you is, don’t give up from the beginning just because you’re afraid of losing it.”
You Congxi picked up his water glass and took a sip of water as if to cover up his actions.
There was a few seconds of silence at the dining table.
You Congxi lowered her eyes, staring at the grains of rice in the bowl, and said, "If you were to go back to before you married You Yuanming, would you still marry him?"
Even knowing that the outcome will be failure, would you still choose to start over?
Jing Ling didn't say anything.
You Congxi chuckled and looked out the window next to the dining table. At this time of day, most of the windows were lit, but downstairs in the apartment complex, there were only a few children gathered around the exercise equipment, laughing and playing, chasing each other, revealing a tall figure that was being hidden...
“Yes,” Jing Ling said frankly. “If I hadn’t married him, I wouldn’t have had you. And… even if he were a pig, he would have seemed like a cute pig to me back then.”
“Daughter, what I want to tell you is that life is about experiencing things. Many times, the result is not that important. When we look back, the result may just be a small knot in a knotted rope. What is really important is the rope between the two knots.”
“Mom…” You Congxi’s eyes followed the black figure outside the window. Her heart was pounding like a drumbeat before the chorus, making her eardrums ache. “I’m full, you can eat slowly. I’m going out for a bit.”
The man seemed to have seen her through the window as well, stretched out his arm, jumped up, and waved at her with a dazzling smile.
"Sigh..." Jing Ling looked at her retreating figure in surprise. Before he could say "Come back soon," the sound of the door slamming shut stopped him in his tracks.
The elevator numbers moved so slowly it was like they were playing in reverse.
She stared at the flashing red numbers, feeling as if every second was stretched out and stuck in her throat. Her hands, clenched and unclenched in her pockets, pounded so hard they felt like they were going to jump out of her throat.
All hesitation, awkwardness, and anxiety were kicked away by this out-of-control heartbeat!
The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and just as the middle-aged woman carrying a shopping basket was about to enter, You Congxi, like a bullet, grazed her and flew out, leaving only a hurried "sorry."
"Oh dear!" the older woman exclaimed, pointing at her and jumping up and down. "These young people nowadays are all crazy!"
You Congxi flung open the unit door, and a gust of cold wind instantly hit her face. She ran a few steps, but stopped abruptly a few steps away from the person.
He stood in the halo of light drawn by the streetlamp, the dim yellow light dancing on his hair and shoulders, like an unreal dream.
"Aren't you coming over?" He smiled, opening his arms to her. His voice was slightly slurred by the wind, but it carried an undeniable warmth.
You Congxi took a deep breath of the cold air, which carried his scent, and finally lifted her foot, one step, two steps—almost simultaneously, a tremendous force pulled her into a warm, firm embrace.
The light also enveloped her.
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