Chapter 104 Sword Dao Opportunity 3 Gong Shi Moyu could no longer remember...
Gongshi Moyu could no longer recall the scene when he first met Xie Jiaoyue.
They've been neighbors since childhood, and the two families have always lived together. Both sets of elders watched them grow up, and they're as familiar with each other as family.
He was three years older than Xie Jiaoyue. The memory of a three-year-old child is too vague. He could only infer from the words of the adults that when he and Xie Jiaoyue first met, Xie Jiaoyue, who could only roll around on the ground, raised her chubby little hand and slapped him.
The reason was also strange. It seemed that he saw his older brother snatch his toy and he did not resist, so Xie Jiaoyue first took the toy herself, then slapped him and stuffed the toy into his arms.
The adults told them this as an amusing story, but he couldn't understand the fun in it. He just felt strange and couldn't figure out what little Xie Jiaoyue was thinking.
But no matter what Xie Jiaoyue was thinking, her slap didn't hurt him, and the toy was indeed returned to his hands.
According to the adults, he was originally indifferent to Xie Jiaoyue, but after that incident, his concern for Xie Jiaoyue became obvious.
Gongshi Moyu herself did not think so, believing that this was just the adults' imagination.
However, he does not deny that he favored Xie Jiaoyue as he grew up, nor does he deny that he almost treated Xie Jiaoyue as his younger sister.
After all, Xie Jiaoyue was the one who drove away the harsh nanny, and later there was the class monitor who stole his credit, the academic representative who pushed his work onto him, and so on. Xie Jiaoyue solved all of these problems.
Until he grew up and started to get involved in the family business, his life was full of ups and downs because his parents were often away from home. Xie Jiaoyue helped him overcome many harmless obstacles and cleared the rough and arduous road ahead for him.
He couldn't figure out Xie Jiaoyue's thoughts, but he was willing to treat Xie Jiaoyue as one of his own.
In his previous life, as Xie Jiaoyue grew up and her ability to cause trouble increased, he, who was always meticulous and unwilling to lie, even lied for Xie Jiaoyue.
The events of that day are still vivid in my mind.
It was a Saturday morning in summer.
Their parents did not send them to private schools, so Xie Jiaoyue, who is currently a senior in high school, also needs to get up early for class on Saturdays.
Gong Shi Moyu, who was already in college, was enjoying her summer vacation at home when she turned her head and saw Xie Jiaoyue, her neighbor who was in her final year of high school, at the window.
Xie Jiaoyue, dressed in a loose blue school uniform, leaned lazily against the floor-to-ceiling window on the first floor of his house, waving at him.
One corner of the French windows could be opened directly to let people in, but Gongshi Moyu did not do so. Instead, he walked to the door, opened it, and went around to Xie Jiaoyue's side.
"Jiaoyue, you should be at school at this time." Gongshi Moyu wanted to push up his glasses, but found that he wasn't wearing them, so the world in front of him wasn't very clear.
Xie Jiaoyue leaned against the window without moving: "Brother, I don't want to go today."
"Uncle Xie can ask for leave for you."
"My dad and mom are probably on the plane right now, and I can't reach them, so they can't ask for leave for me."
Where is your brother?
Xie Jiaoyue pouted, "He's on the plane too. He won another award for playing the piano yesterday, and they're going to celebrate for him today." She was quite unhappy, her cheeks puffed up with anger, "They said I'm a senior in high school and can't just take leave, so they're not taking me."
"They're right. You should really focus on your studies now and not skip classes."
"Brother, please, your voice sounds so much like my own brother's. Please help me ask for leave. Just make up any excuse and tell my homeroom teacher. Everyone else is playing, and I'm the only one who has to go to school. I'm not happy."
Gongshi Moyu did not accept this reason.
“No.” Gong Shi Moyu had already picked up the car keys. “I’ll take you. You’re already late. If your homeroom teacher criticizes you, I can share the blame with you.”
While he was getting his car keys, Gong Shi Moyu had already found his glasses, and after putting them on, the whole world became clear again.
Including Xie Jiaoyue's face.
It had much less color than usual, looking pale and listless, like a small white flower on a cloudy day, wilting and lacking spirit because it couldn't see the sun.
I'm sick.
No, Gong Shi Moyu calculated the time and realized that Xie Jiaoyue might be menstruating.
Why not just say it directly? Why use such a flimsy excuse to get him to help you ask for leave?
He had met Xie Jiaoyue's homeroom teacher once before. He was not an unreasonable person who didn't care about the students' health. If Xie Jiaoyue had spoken up, her homeroom teacher would have agreed.
Looking at Xie Jiaoyue's pale face, Gong Shi Moyu wondered if it was because she didn't want others to know that she was someone who was weak because of her period.
Indeed, he had never encountered Xie Jiaoyue in a weakened state before.
How strange, Gongshi Moyu couldn't understand Xie Jiaoyue's thoughts at all.
Xie Jiaoyue usually pretends to be weak and acts cute and charming in front of people around her without any psychological barrier. So why does she refuse to say it when she really needs others to take care of her?
Although he didn't understand Xie Jiaoyue's stubborn way of thinking, he knew that if he exposed her directly now, Xie Jiaoyue would not admit it, but would deny it repeatedly and leave.
Xie Jiaoyue always finds a way to achieve her goals.
Gongshi Moyu glanced at Xie Jiaoyue's pale face several times before finally sighing.
He couldn't bear to see Xie Jiaoyue wandering around with such a dark complexion.
"Come in." Gong Shi Moyu took out her phone. "Give me your number, I'll ask for leave for you."
Gong Shi Moyu dialed an unfamiliar number: "Hello, I am Xie Jiaoyue's brother." He hesitated for a moment, then made up a reason to deceive others for the first time: "Today is the birthday of an elder in the family. The elder wants Xie Jiaoyue to be by his side to celebrate together, so I am asking for leave for Jiaoyue."
Even after Xie Jiaoyue, the homeroom teacher, agreed and hung up the phone, Gong Shi Moyu was still somewhat dazed.
He just made up a reason so naturally and said it in such a calm tone; his heart only started racing after he told me about it.
Lying is such a simple thing.
No, it was only this simple because Xie Jiaoyue was lying.
Compared to the psychological pressure of lying, he seemed even more unable to let go of Xie Jiaoyue, who was sickly yet stubborn, in front of him.
Gong Shi Moyu took Xie Jiaoyue's schoolbag and placed it in the guest room on the first floor.
He said with a stern face, "I've arranged the leave for you, but you're a senior in high school now. Even if you're on leave, you can't fall behind in your studies. You can stay here and review your lessons. I need to go upstairs to handle today's work."
After saying that, he led Xie Jiaoyue into the guest room, then turned around and left, closing the door for Xie Jiaoyue.
He deliberately made footsteps to indicate that he was leaving, then quietly walked to the central air conditioning control panel wearing soft, silent cotton slippers and turned the temperature up a few degrees.
Although the room had a bed, it only had a thin summer blanket. If the air conditioning was too cold, Xie Jiaoyue would probably feel uncomfortable.
Gong Shi Moyu tugged at his collar, loosening his shirt slightly.
It was a bit hot, but he could bear it.
"Brother Moyu, Brother Moyu, what are you daydreaming about? They've all left, we should keep moving forward."
Gong Shi Moyu snapped out of her reverie about her previous life and her gaze fell on Xie Jiaoyue, who looked the same but was dressed differently. For a moment, she was in a daze.
Gong Shi Moyu subconsciously responded softly to Xie Jiaoyue's request: "Yes, let's continue forward. You go first, and I'll cover your rear."
He and Xie Jiaoyue walked one after the other on the rugged mountain path, his gaze falling on Xie Jiaoyue wearing the shawl he had made himself.
Even in a different world, Xie Jiaoyue hadn't changed much; she was still the Xie Jiaoyue he knew.
And what about him? The one who was willing to break his principles and lie for Xie Jiaoyue, willing to endure the uncomfortable high temperature for Xie Jiaoyue, willing to tolerate Xie Jiaoyue's occasional willfulness, not to expose Xie Jiaoyue's bravado, and to protect Xie Jiaoyue's dignity, has he never changed?
So when did he start liking Xie Jiaoyue?
Gong Shi Moyu found that he could not pinpoint a specific time. He and Xie Jiaoyue had known each other for so many years, and taking care of Xie Jiaoyue had become a natural thing. At first, it might have been a simple friendship and affection, but it slowly changed, like soft white glutinous rice gradually turning into mellow wine. His feelings for Xie Jiaoyue also gradually transformed into a secret affection for her that he did not want to leave her in the course of their daily interactions.
He still remembers when he had just graduated from university, his father threw him into a company abroad and left him there for almost half a year.
During those six months, Xie Jiaoyue's image frequently appeared in his mind.
He often secretly investigated everything related to Xie Jiaoyue, such as the confession wall at X University, where Xie Jiaoyue studied, and searched for whether anyone was secretly confessing their feelings to Xie Jiaoyue.
If someone secretly confesses their feelings to him, he will conduct a thorough background check on the boy, like he's working on a project, investigating all his strengths and weaknesses. He'll then furrow his brow at the boy's flaws, but he won't dare to directly message Xie Jiaoyue to warn her to be careful.
Dark and secluded, like a poisonous mushroom growing in a damp and gloomy cave, spreading its toxic spores in all directions.
But he himself was unaware of it.
At the time, he thought he was genuinely concerned about his neighbor's younger sister because he was afraid she would be deceived by those unreliable boys at X University.
But this was just a lie, a lie he used to deceive himself.
Lying is something you automatically master once you start; you can deceive not only others but also yourself.
He deceived himself for many years, making himself believe that he was just an ordinary, caring older brother who looked after his neighbor's younger sister. In the end, he even came to believe it wholeheartedly.
His thoughts deceived himself and Xie Jiaoyue.
Unbeknownst to Xie Jiaoyue, he had been secretly spying on her for so many years.
Gong Shi Moyu closed his eyes briefly, looking slightly pained.
Mushrooms in the shadows have no right to see the sunlight.
From ahead came Xie Jiaoyue's lively, sun-like voice: "Brother Moyu, look! We can already see the thatched hut! We're almost there!"
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