Convenience Store on a Rainy Night (Part 2)
Jiang Yichun raised his head and looked towards the door.
He Yinxin was soaked to the bone, water dripping from every strand of his hair, yet he was tightly protecting something in his arms.
As soon as he stepped through the door, he strode towards Jiang Yichun.
"Koharu."
Rainwater covered his glasses, obscuring his vision.
But Jiang Yichun could see his burning gaze through the water droplets.
He finally walked up to her, took off his glasses, and gently placed the things he was carrying on the table.
Jiang Yichun sniffed, put down the small cup of instant noodles in her hand, and looked at the insulated lunch box.
A familiar aroma of braised meat wafted straight into her nostrils.
He Yinxin gazed at her with his clear almond-shaped eyes, then lowered them: "Xiaochun, I'm here. I... I shouldn't be late this time, right?"
Jiang Yichun straightened his neck and casually placed the glass jar on a chair to the side: "Not late, just in time. Humph, better than standing me up last time."
Her heart had clearly softened, but the stubbornness in her bones and the shadow of being deceived always made her respond to him with barbed words.
He Yinxin nodded with a wry smile: "Yes. Something happened in my family last time, so..."
Jiang Yichun interrupted him, muttering, "I...of course I know, I'm not blaming you. Family is always the most important."
"Well, I'm still a little unhappy, after all... I haven't seen you for a month."
"I'm a little worried you'll die."
He Yinxin frowned, grinned, and placed her hands on the table, but quickly moved them down: "I won't die. I'm not sick. I just have irregular sleep patterns."
Jiang Yichun glared at him: "I, of course I know, I'm just worried about you... Can't you tell, you stupid bot?"
He Yinxin's cheeks flushed slightly, and he lowered his head: "I can tell, I'm very... happy."
“You said you missed me last night, and at that moment I felt like I was about to die.”
"My heart is beating very fast..."
Jiang Yichun shifted his gaze, rubbed his burning ears, and muttered softly, "That's quite an exaggeration. But what happened last night was my fault."
"I shouldn't have done so many outrageous things to you, I almost pulled down your pants."
"I even kissed you."
She lowered her head and rubbed her hands together.
She liked him and wanted to take things further, but those words stuck in her throat.
She stood before him, her high wall already invaded by plants, their roots spreading, until the wall collapsed with a crash.
But she stood inside the wall, unsure whether she should take another step toward him.
She didn't know if he could fully embrace the real, imperfect woman who had hurt him, or if they could walk out of the forest together.
So she chose to stay where she was and return to the starting point.
"So, can we pretend nothing happened?" Jiang Yichun murmured.
After a moment of silence, He Yinxin gasped for breath.
His hands gripped the table tightly.
"Xiaochun. You... kissed me. I gave you my first kiss. You said you liked me the most."
"Are you telling me now that it was a drunken outburst?"
His voice grew increasingly agitated, punctuated by soft sobs: "I don't want to forget."
"Is everything you said a lie?"
"Don't you like me at all?"
His voice trembled violently.
Jiang Yichun still didn't look up at his eyes, but she could already imagine his tear-stained eyelashes.
Her fingertips traced the glass beside her as she tried to lower her voice: "I don't know, maybe a little. But I'm afraid to be with you."
"Because our relationship is still based on deception."
"Sister Xixi."
She had intended to respond to his hurtful questions with a sharp and sarcastic tone, but the tone that came out was rather soft and weak.
When faced with exams and the trivialities of life, she can always think of a solution immediately. However, when it comes to relationships, it's like she's walking into a forest she's never been to before.
She didn't know who threw her into the forest; she only knew that she could never find a way out.
Jiang Yichun gripped the glass tightly, veins bulging. She hoped the boy in front of her would be like the "rotten banana," choosing to get up and leave because of her sharp words.
However, she also hoped that he could talk to her more, at least to help her find some way out of the forest.
"Xiaochun, actually I think it's not just about this. It's also because of your father, isn't it?"
He Yinxin's words exploded in her ears like a thunderclap. Jiang Yichun raised her head and met his eyes.
His eyes were brimming with tears, but not a single tear fell.
Jiang Yichun's nose tingled with emotion, and she lightly tapped the table: "How did you know?"
She felt completely exposed under his almond-shaped eyes.
He wasn't wearing his glasses, and she was fully dressed, yet she felt as if he had completely seen into the deepest pain in her heart.
The feeling of being completely seen through sent chills down her spine. She smoothed her soaked hair and remained silent.
He Yinxin rubbed her eyes and replied softly, "You were drunk that day and told me about your family."
"So, I roughly know."
"I can understand why you push me away time and time again; it's never your fault."
"It's always been my fault."
"If I had shared the bill with you as my true self back then, would things have turned out differently?"
"I think you wouldn't share an order with me if you found out I'm a guy."
"I can watch you from afar without disturbing you, and you can happily study."
"We might have some overlap in our application materials for graduate school, but we won't sign that contract. We'll probably just have a simple senior-junior relationship."
No one will be harmed.
He Yinxin lowered her eyes and let out a long sigh.
Perhaps his cheap sacrifices really couldn't win her forgiveness, perhaps last night's passionate encounter was just a final burst of light before the relationship broke down, a pipe dream for him.
He, a mere gardener, presumptuously believed that if the high walls collapsed, he could join hands with her.
But she remained standing in her garden, silently watching him.
Because the first seed he planted was named "lie," the "lie" she feared most.
However, He Yinxin did not want to push her away like last time. His eyes were filled with tears, but he still looked directly into her eyes, and even more so into his own reflection in her eyes—himself who liked and loved her.
Without her, I wouldn't be the hard-working but free person I am today.
He took a deep breath and continued to pour out the words that had been weighing on his heart: "I still want to say that you have really given me so much strength."
"The first time I saw you was in the cafeteria. I was just curious at the time, wondering why some people could be so happy while eating."
Jiang Yichun gently gripped the hem of her skirt with one hand. Even though she had heard this confession before, she still didn't interrupt him.
“I’ve heard about you from many people around me. They say you’re smart and kind. But these are just other people’s opinions. I think my subconscious wanted to get closer to you back then.”
"Later, I approached you in that despicable way, and I gradually came to understand what kind of person you are."
"From my own perspective."
The two met eyes, and Jiang Yichun's gaze faltered for a moment, but he did not look away.
“You possess a very powerful strength. I don’t know how to put it, but I was indeed influenced by that strength, which gave me a lot of courage.”
“If it weren’t for you, if you hadn’t eaten with me, if you hadn’t taken me to Grandma Tianfang’s barbecue stall, if you hadn’t pulled me away when my parents blocked me, I might have lived a miserable life.”
"Even eating is just a task to be completed."
Tears streamed down his cheeks, mingling with the lingering raindrops on his face, pattering down and wetting his collar.
"But I know you're afraid of falling in love, and you don't trust the opposite sex. Because I saw you reject a boy in the cafeteria with my own eyes."
"What? At that time, you... you were there?"
Tears welled up in Jiang Yichun's eyes, but she remained sharp in her words: "Then why didn't you tell me about that day, that day at the library?"
Why didn't you tell me that you discovered my fear of falling in love?
Why did you push me away without saying anything?
He Yinxin wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and a slight smile appeared on her lips: "Because I'm a coward."
"It always has been."
"Because I was afraid of breaking up with you, I kept putting off the Xi Xi matter until you found out."
"When you question me, I fear your fear."
"I don't want to talk about your fear of love in front of us."
"I thought that by giving you a way out, and me a way out, and by giving each other a choice, you wouldn't be afraid."
"Even if we end up as strangers or enemies, I'll accept it."
“I don’t want to use your family background or your fears as bargaining chips in our relationship.”
"I don't want to use my family background as an excuse to escape blame."
"This is despicable. This is not how I see love."
He Yinxin covered his eyes with one hand, his calm voice already drowned out by sobs.
His string of words struck Jiang Yichun's heart like asteroids hurtling towards a star.
Her mind went blank, and she couldn't think of any words to respond to him.
Jiang Yichun took out a napkin from his bag and placed it on the table: "Old He, don't cry... you really are a coward."
"Wipe away your tears first, it's a bit silly to be like this."
She paused, and a sentence slipped out of her mouth unconsciously: "Actually, I think you're quite different from the guy I rejected."
"At least... you are much more respectful of people than him, and you are also much more cowardly and foolish than him. You don't even know how to cater to his preferences or use public opinion."
"You even made up a lie to give me an umbrella so I could accept it without feeling guilty. And you were so foolish as to confront the people who egged you on when you were being egged on."
Jiang Yichun looked up and gazed at the continuous rain outside the window: "He Yinxin, you are really silly."
"I hate how silly you are."
As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach growled again.
Jiang Yichun continued angrily, "I was stupid too. I put on makeup and it all got soaked by the rain just to go on a date with you, you idiot, and I haven't even had a proper dinner yet."
He Yinxin wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, sniffed, and pushed the lunchbox in front of her: "I made pig's trotters."
"Eat it while it's hot."
"Let's talk after we eat, okay?"
"Just like the first time I saw you in the cafeteria, you were eating pig's trotters back then."
"We met because of a pig's trotters contest."
He Yinxin forced a smile at her: "I don't know what will happen to us in the future. This pig's trotter may be the last meal we eat together."
"I've made myself clear. The contract has expired. What our relationship will be in the future is up to you."
"I want to use this to say goodbye to you properly."
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