Chapter 35 35 "I will only... like you"
Being caught by him, Chen Zhan hastily turned his eyes away, denying it insincerely, "Who... peeked at you..."
"You." He said these two words as if it was a matter of course.
“…”
She tensed her body and turned her face away, as if trying to cool the heat within her. But when the cool breeze blew over her, she felt no relief.
Although she didn't say a word during the rest of the journey, the throbbing of her heart could not hide her uneasiness at the moment.
He Jingsui sent him to the school gate before leaving. Before leaving, he didn't say anything, but just tapped Chen Zan's forehead with his finger, with a lazy smile on the corner of his lips.
The night wind was lingering, and all the warmth seemed to be concentrated on my forehead.
Chen Zhan watched him turn, put his hands in his pockets, and slowly walk away. He raised his hand and waved casually at her twice, his tall, slender figure finally blending into the darkness. She repeatedly pondered the meaning of his actions, but she couldn't fully understand them.
Lou Yan's condition improved quickly. She went to the hospital for another check-up. The doctor told her to take good care of herself and remember not to get too emotional.
After sending the man home, Chen Zhan returned to school shortly afterwards. She had been running to the hospital whenever she had free time, and had fallen behind on her studies. She planned to spend a week catching up on all her lessons after returning to school.
She had been immersed in the studio for these days, and when she stopped to take a breath, she learned something she had never expected.
On a free afternoon that day, He Shiyi followed Chen Zan to the studio to paint. On the way, he received a call from Jiang Qiannan asking if he had seen He Jingsui.
He Shiyi held his phone in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, dipping some blue paint from the palette to color the painting in front of him. Facing the slightly anxious voice on the phone, He Shiyi replied calmly, "No, you two are like you're wearing jumpsuits every day. You don't even know where he went?"
"Now that I know, why would I call you?" Jiang Qiannan's voice was filled with anxiety. "I really don't know where he is. He's been gone for two days. The coach just asked about him and got furious. If he doesn't come back for the next training session, he'll be punished!"
Realizing the seriousness in Jiang Qiannan's words, He Shiyi also became anxious, "Then I don't know where he is. We haven't chatted recently."
He Shiyi was so anxious that his heart was beating fast, and he didn't know what to do for a while.
Glancing at Chen Zhan's face, as if silently asking her what was wrong, He Shiyi pursed her lips. It was also a desperate measure. She took away her phone and asked her, "Zhan Zhan, has my brother contacted you recently?"
"No," Chen Zhan asked her, "What's wrong?"
"Jiang Qiannan called me and said he couldn't get in touch with my brother recently. He hasn't been to school for training for two days."
"Has something happened?" Chen Zan's heart sank when he heard her say that, and he became worried.
"I...I don't know."
The uncertain answer made Chen Zan a little absent-minded.
He Shiyi was still discussing with Jiang Qiannan where He Jingsui might go, but Chen Zan seemed unable to wait even a moment. She took out her cell phone from her schoolbag and sent a message to He Jingsui.
【Chen Zhan: Are you there?】
The message was sent successfully, but it fell on deaf ears.
[Chen Zhan: I have something to talk to you about. Can you please reply to my message?]
The other party remained dead silent.
When texting didn't work, I tried calling, but got the same response: the call couldn't be connected.
He Jingsui seemed to be cut off from the outside world.
"Where's his house?" Chen Zan suddenly thought of something and turned to ask He Shiyi, "Have you been to his house to look for him?"
He Shiyi also asked Jiang Qiannan on the phone, and Jiang Qiannan said no, "I've been so busy with training lately. My schedule is packed every day. How can I have time to go out?"
Jiang Qiannan on the phone was extremely worried.
Their conversation was right next to his ears. Chen Zhan listened to a few words and said to He Shiyi, "Why don't we go to his house and take a look?"
He Shiyi agreed, but turned around and was tripped up by the professor of the professional course.
“…”
"How about I go?" Chen Zan let her mind her own business.
"Will this be very troublesome for you?"
Chen Zhan shook his head and said it was no trouble, "Because I also want to find him."
…
Chen Zan still remembered where He Jingsui's home was. She took the bus alone to the nearby area. The afternoon sun made her face burn painfully, and the sunlight was so bright that she couldn't open her eyes.
Sweat soon appeared on his forehead. Chen Zan raised the back of his hand to wipe it, then walked towards He Jingsui's house holding a parasol.
Along the way, Chen Zhan was not at peace. She thought in advance about the possibility of meeting him later and facing him asking her why she came here. She was afraid that she would not be able to give a reasonable answer.
But when she arrived at the door of He Jingsui's house, the turbulent waves in her heart gradually sank to the bottom of the sea.
The door was ajar, so she pushed it open and walked into the living room.
Without any lights, the villa seemed even more deserted. Her footsteps were soft as her sneakers stepped on the smooth floor. Before she had gone far, she could vaguely smell the pungent smell of cigarettes and even alcohol.
Chen Zan covered her chest, coughed twice subconsciously, swallowed, and continued to walk inside, but everything inside made her stop in her tracks.
There was no light on in the room and the curtains were drawn tightly. There was almost no light in the huge living room, and the strong smell of alcohol and the pungent smell of cigarettes mixed together.
In the dim shadows, she could vaguely see the man leaning against the ground. His figure was almost completely submerged in the darkness. Chen Zan could not see his face clearly, but she could feel his discomfort and torment at the moment.
Her heart ached slightly, and she walked towards him, but accidentally stepped on a can on the ground. The can made a loud noise in the quiet and enclosed space.
His voice sounded low and deep, full of vigilance and danger, "Who's there?"
Chen Zhan didn't care about that. He walked over quickly, knelt on the floor, and leaned against him.
"He Jingsui..." There was heartache in her voice.
An unexpected voice rang in his ears at this moment. He Jingsu thought he was dreaming. He tilted his head to look in the direction of the voice, but his eyes were blank and stunned, as if he wanted to see the girl's face clearly through the darkness.
But he couldn't see clearly.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Only that voice rang in his ears, pulling him back from the edge of decadence.
"How could you drink so much alcohol at home by yourself? And end up like this?"
Chen Zhan wanted to pull him up from the floor, but he was too heavy. He was pulled back before he could even exert half his strength.
She staggered and was about to fall into his arms. In the dim light, she didn't know how close she was to him. It was not until he tilted his head to talk to her and his hot breath mixed with alcohol hit her face that she roughly estimated that they were only a few feet apart. If they moved a little closer, they would touch each other.
His voice was a little hoarse after drinking, "Why are you here?"
Chen Zhan was surrounded by his breath, and the warm heat made her dare not move. She fluttered her eyelashes lightly, her body stiffened, and she pursed her lips, "I came... to find you."
The force pulling her wrist loosened, and Chen Zan retreated to create some distance between him and her. She was still kneeling beside him. In such a dim space, she could only see a vague outline.
Her intuition told her that he was in a bad mood.
Chen Zhan changed from kneeling to sitting. She sat down next to him with her knees wrapped around her, and asked him cautiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Perhaps the dim space magnified his inner desire to talk, or perhaps it was because he had never been cared for by others.
He chuckled at himself, then looked up, staring blankly at a certain spot in the darkness, his voice hoarse, and regarded Chen Zan as the only person he could confide in.
"Yesterday was my mother's death anniversary, and he came with that woman." He Jingsui found it ridiculous, "and that woman was pregnant with his child."
"Chen Zhan, don't you think this is ridiculous?"
Ye Qingfei is a very ordinary woman, without a wealthy family or a royal family. She has made it to the big city from a small town entirely through her own efforts. He Jinzhou admires her tenacity very much. Over time, they fall in love with each other and fight to be together even if their parents don't agree. Not long after their marriage, Ye Qingfei gave birth to He Jingsui. In order to raise He Jingsui well, she willingly gave up her own future and stayed at home to be a good wife and mother.
But happiness did not last long. When He Jingsui was 18 years old, she suddenly fell ill and died in the hospital. At that time, He Jingsui happened to be out participating in a shooting competition. He won the first championship in his life. When he returned home, he was greeted not by his mother's gentle smile, but by a cold corpse.
He knelt beside Ye Qingfei's bed, reading the last letter Ye Qingfei left for him, enduring the heart-wrenching pain over and over again.
Even before Ye Qingfei's funeral could be held, He Jingsui heard from others that his father, He Jinzhou, was going to marry the daughter of the Tao family with three letters and six betrothal gifts.
That day he went to He Jinzhou like crazy, grabbed his collar with red eyes and questioned him about this matter.
What he got in return was a slap from He Jinzhou, "He Jingsui! Do you still have any respect for your elders?!"
The slap was quite heavy, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of He Jingsui's mouth. Half of his face was numb, just like his heart.
It was quite ridiculous. He looked at him coldly, "You haven't answered my question yet."
Both of them were angry. He Jinzhou looked at him and said, "So what? My marriage with the Tao family was arranged by your grandfather. There is no room for negotiation."
"What about my mom?" He Jingsui clenched his fists, his joints cracking. With red eyes, he pressed him, "Why did you marry my mom in the first place?"
He Jinzhou didn't say anything.
The way he acquiesced to his guilt made it all seem like a joke.
He Jingsui found it ridiculous, "So you think that my mom is dead and no one can help you, right?"
"He Jinzhou, how could you do such a beastly thing?" He Jingsui gritted his teeth, stabbing him in the heart with the harshest words, "Don't you think he's a scum?"
"Pa!" He Jinzhou was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He slapped He Jingsui again and told him to get out.
"Okay, I'll leave."
He Jingsui said coldly: "I will have nothing to do with you from now on."
So, for all these years, he never returned to the He family. He only wanted to stay where Ye Qingfei once was. But as the years went by, he slowly lost sight of Ye Qingfei's gentle figure. All he could see was the mess.
On the anniversary of Ye Qingfei's death, he got up early, put all the medals he had won during this period into his pocket, bought Ye Qingfei's favorite snacks and flowers, stopped a car on the side of the road and rushed to the cemetery.
Just after he finished talking to Ye Qingfei, he saw two images of people he never wanted to see in his life.
He Jinzhou brought Tao Ling to his mother's grave.
His expression changed instantly, and even the air pressure around him dropped. Standing in front of the tomb, he didn't move. His voice was extremely distant, and he only looked at He Jinzhou. "What are you doing here?"
He Jinzhou didn't say anything. It was Tao Ling beside him who spoke first. She called him Asui affectionately, "We want to come and see your mother..."
"Who are you?" He Jingsui's casual and cold words instantly made Tao Ling's throat choke. He glanced at her delicate face with contempt, his eyes as if he was looking at garbage.
His rudeness simply ignited He Jinzhou's anger. He Jinzhou criticized him calmly, "He Jingsui! How can you talk to your elders like that?! It's absolutely lawless!"
"Then how do you want me to talk to her?" He Jingsui sneered, looking nonchalant. "Is it like you?"
"you!"
Tao Ling beside him seemed very sad, frowning slightly to pretend to be fragile, and even covering her stomach with one hand.
He Jing then chuckled softly, then saw his father reaching out his hand, "Are you okay?"
Tao Ling pretended to be strong and shook her head.
She finally looked up at him, looking very pitiful, and told him, "Actually, we came here this time to tell your mother some news."
"Jin Zhou and I have a child..."
"A Sui, you won't be alone anymore."
Chen Zhan hadn't expected this to happen. She felt as if her heart was about to break. A sour feeling spread to the area around her eyes, as if she would burst into tears the next moment.
"Chen Zhan, I actually envy you."
He Jingsui said: "You have a mother and a father, and a complete family."
"But for me, the person closest to me betrayed me and left me..." He laughed again as he spoke. In the dim light, Chen Zhan saw a tear sliding down from the corner of his eye.
She also shed tears, quietly and silently.
Chen Zhan grabbed his hand with trembling fingers, and tried to pick up the broken pieces of his soul from the ground with a tense voice.
"He Jingsui, I won't betray you, and I won't leave you." She felt so uncomfortable, her tense voice still trembling as she told him word by word, "I will only..."
Tears fell down.
Those three words came out of her mouth tremblingly.
"I like you..."
As the voice fell, his shoulder felt heavy, and the boy next to him leaned his head forward.
His lips moved slowly, and he muttered indistinctly.
"Me too……"
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The author has something to say: Do you know why I wrote about Asui picking up Zhanzhan from the hospital and taking him back to school? I just wanted him to be envious and to pave the way for the following plot.
Actually, I feel that the foreshadowing of this story is quite good, much better than that of other stories. It depends on whether you can notice it!
Don’t cry, be patient, we will be in love in a few chapters!
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