Jiang Qingyan opened his eyes and looked down at the girl sleeping with her head resting on the side of the bed.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the stray hairs that had grown out of her head, his eyes full of tenderness.
The next moment, the girl's eyelids twitched, as if she was about to wake up.
He quickly withdrew his hand and closed his eyes.
Soon, he felt the girl leave the bedside. Her gaze lingered on him for a few seconds, and then she naturally took his hand.
"Jiang Qingyan, please wake up soon..."
Her voice was gentler than ever before.
Jiang Qingyan was somewhat flattered. He opened his eyes and saw the girl's gentle gaze.
He paused, his hand instinctively stiffening.
The girl looked at him with surprise and delight: "You're awake! That's great! You're finally awake..."
Seeing that he was awake, she seemed very excited, and she tightened her grip on his hand.
Jiang Qingyan frowned slightly, withdrew his hand, and propped himself up to sit up.
He looked at her, his expression unchanged.
"Zhizhi, I'm sorry about what happened before. I didn't mean to lie to you."
At this point, the girl's expression clearly paused for a moment. She said, "It's okay, as long as you're alive."
The girl's feelings were obvious.
Jiang Qingyan looked at her quietly, the tenderness in his eyes gradually fading.
"You're not her, so who are you?"
The girl was startled for a moment: "Jiang Qingyan, I am Nan Zhi, don't you remember me?"
“Yes, you are Nanzhi, but you are not her…” Jiang Qingyan lowered his eyelashes and said slowly, “She never looked at me with those tender, watery eyes. There was no flattery in her eyes, and she would not forgive me easily…”
The girl's joy gradually faded.
"Jiang Qingyan, you like her, don't you?"
“Yes.” Jiang Qingyan looked up at her.
Looking into the depth of his eyes, so genuine, so raw.
The girl's face paled slightly: "You've never liked me, have you?"
Jiang Qingyan did not avoid eye contact: "Yes."
The girl's joy gradually faded, and she slumped into a chair.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked, "That night I took Chinese medicine, there wasn't anything between us, was there?"
If his leg had healed a year ago, he could have easily left the room.
Jiang Qingyan recalled that night and said with a faint smile, "When you came in that night, I was already asleep. When I woke up, I wanted to kick you out, but you fell asleep on my bed. Not long after, someone pushed open the door, and then it turned out like what they said."
"It's not that I didn't want to explain at the time, it's that you interrupted me..."
She thought back to that night when the door was pushed open and so many people were pointing and whispering about her outside; Jiang Qingyan did want to speak.
But she was too angry at the time and lost her temper, so she pushed Jiang Qingyan off the bed.
She remained silent for a long time, then asked unwillingly, "Then why did you agree to marry me? Why were you so good to me?"
"Because I had no choice but to marry him."
Jiang Qingyan seemed to have shed his gentle exterior, revealing his cruel and bloodthirsty side.
He said so bluntly, "Being nice to you is just an act."
The girl exclaimed excitedly, "So you've been lying to me all along?"
Jiang Qingyan retorted, "Compared to your insults and abuse, what are my words?"
The girl seemed to have been brought back to her original form in one fell swoop.
She thought about how she had bullied Jiang Qingyan before.
In her previous life, she had never been kind to Jiang Qingyan before he was alive.
She insulted and humiliated him, and even pushed him off his wheelchair several times, embarrassing him in front of others.
She only realized her mistake after his death.
so……
It was never his fault.
Although he lied to her, he never said he liked her.
In the end, he didn't die because he was protecting her; it was because she provoked Xiao Kai that he was harmed in that way.
And this time, it was also because of her.
She is the one who ruined him into this state.
She had absolutely no reason to blame him for faking his death or for his deception...
Because all of this was her own fault.
She laughed, and as she laughed, tears streamed down her face.
She lowered her head, not wanting Jiang Qingyan to see her disheveled state.
"Jiang Qingyan, I'm sorry..."
Jiang Qingyan never wronged her; it was she who wronged him.
She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, then suddenly looked up and asked, still unwilling to give up, "Jiang Qingyan, if I hadn't bullied you like that, if I had been nicer to you, would you... would you have fallen for me?"
Jiang Qingyan looked at her, "No."
"Why?"
"Because you are not her."
Even if they have the exact same face.
She is not herself after all.
Because the one he fell in love with at first sight was only her.
Or perhaps it's those eyes.
Or perhaps it's that lovable and interesting soul who never treats him as a disabled person.
Or it might just be because it's her.
Hearing this, the girl finally gave up.
She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Jiang Qingyan, I'm giving her back to you. You two must be happy."
After saying that, she closed her eyes and leaned back slightly.
"Zhizhi, he loves you. Go back."
"But I don't love him, it's you who loves him."
"Zhizhi, stop deceiving yourself. You love him. You've been in love with him for a long time."
"...How is that possible?"
“Zhizhi, if you don’t like him, you won’t be sad because of his deception.”
"..." Nan Zhi thought back to the moment she learned that he was not dead, and she was indeed overjoyed.
Later, when she saw his intact leg, although she hated his deception, she still couldn't help but care for him after seeing him unconscious.
"Don't be like me, only to regret it when you lose it." The girl suddenly smiled, "Now that I think about it, maybe what I loved wasn't Jiang Qingyan, but his kindness towards me..."
She has lived for so many years, and was spoiled from childhood. No one taught her to cherish what she has.
She entered the entertainment industry solely to pursue Jiang Jiashu.
She never gave Jiang Qingyan a second glance, and even after becoming his wife, she treated him so badly. Yet, even if he was just acting, he was still very good to her...
That's why she was so sad after his death.
She committed suicide simply because she was abandoned by the Jiang family and severed ties with the Nan family.
Only after all hope has been lost will she realize how precious Jiang Qingyan's kindness is.
All of this has nothing to do with Jiang Qingyan.
But this life is not the same as the last one.
Things are different now.
No one knows whether Jiang Qingyan died in his previous life or not...
If I could do it all over again...
No, there's no way to start over.
There's no going back anymore.
She shed a single, clear tear, her consciousness slowly faded, and she ceased to exist.
Nan Zhi opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Qingyan, who was looking at her expectantly and nervously.
"Zhizhi..."
Nanzhi looked at Jiang Qingyan's hand covering hers on the back of her hand.
She asked, "How do you know I'm not her?"
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