confession
"Mom, what are you doing here again?"
Lin Shanglu scurried through the crowd and grasped his mother's flailing arms. His arrival suddenly intensified the chatter in the crowd, making Lin's mother's shouts and curses seem even more piercing.
The press conference had just ended yesterday. If this ridiculous video were to circulate online again today, Lin Shanglu couldn't imagine how long Hengxing would be affected by public opinion.
Out of consideration for his own face and Hengxing's face, Lin Shanglu glanced at Qi Feng who was greeting Chen Nanxing. Qi Feng understood and politely returned to the crowd to ask the person who was filming with his mobile phone to delete the video.
Lin's mother, a domineering old lady, didn't care about public opinion. She grabbed her son's arm with her backhand, and her nails almost dug into Lin Shanglu's flesh.
"Shang Lu, you're here! I'm telling you, your shameless wife hooked up with a strange man before we even divorced! You absolutely cannot give her half of your property. We can't afford to suffer this loss!"
Mother Lin's voice was sharp and shrill, standing out from the crowd. Lin Shanglu really wanted to cover her mouth and deprive her of the right to speak.
"Mom, you misunderstood."
Lin Shanglu pulled his arm back with force and his voice sank.
"You don't understand the whole story, so don't talk nonsense here."
As he spoke, Lin Shanglu habitually walked in front of Chen Nanxing and Ji Chuan, using his body to separate Lin's mother and Chen Nanxing. This tacit protective posture between the couple for more than ten years completely ignited Lin's mother's anger.
"You ungrateful bastard! You forgot your mother after you got married!" Mother Lin pounded Lin Shanglu's back and wailed, "What kind of magic potion did this vixen give you? You're still protecting her even with her adulterer right next to you!"
Chen Nanxing had suffered a lot of slander from Lin's mother in the past, but she had to swallow her anger because of her status as a daughter-in-law. Now that she is no longer bound by this status, she can finally speak freely.
“Everything looks dirty to people with a heart.”
A faint voice came from under Ji Chuan's leather jacket. The voice was not loud, but it was just loud enough to reach the ears of the four people standing there.
Lin's mother was used to acting arrogantly in front of Chen Nanxing. Now what Chen Nanxing said was tantamount to a provocation in Lin's mother's eyes. Seeing that she was about to make trouble again, Lin Shanglu suddenly exploded.
"Noisy! Noisy! Noisy! What else do you do all day besides noisy?"
His left eye twitched in anger, and it looked like he'd been suppressing his rage for a long time. "Yesterday I told you to leave, but you refused, causing Su Qiao to have a miscarriage at five months. And today you're making a scene in public again. Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? I don't need you to eat or wear anything, so why do you have to come here every day to make trouble? What do you want? Huh?"
The last "ah" was almost shouted out. Before Lin Shanglu became rich, his father died in an accident. Lin Shanglu always felt that he owed his father. After he became rich, he would make up for this debt to his mother doubly. In daily life, Lin Shanglu would do whatever he could to please his mother.
This was the first time that Lin Shanglu's mother had seen him so angry. She was frightened by her son's unprecedented ferocity. She opened her mouth and forgot to cry.
"let's go."
The sound came from under the leather jacket again, accompanied by the action of pulling Ji Chuan's sleeve. Their marriage life lasted for thirteen years, and there were too many visible and invisible things involved, and it was impossible to cut through them with a quick knife. Chen Nanxing took the opportunity to leave and avoid these.
Ji Chuan nodded, circled Chen Nanxing and strode away.
The resolute figure stung Lin Shanglu's eyes. He wanted to call Chen Nanxing, but it seemed as if a glass wall was built around him, isolating all the air, and his voice was blocked in his throat.
He still couldn't shout out.
Chen Nanxing didn't even look back at him. From the time he appeared to the time Chen Nanxing left, Lin Shanglu didn't see Chen Nanxing's face.
This is what the end of a relationship is like: long-lasting pain, short-term pain like a lump in the throat.
After getting away from the farce in front of the hospital, Chen Nanxing took Ji Chuan back to the hotel where she was staying.
The signed divorce agreement stated that the property in City B was transferred to Chen Nanxing's name, but she did not want the Yongjing Mansion where she had been living.
Chen Nanxing is a very nostalgic and stubborn person. She calls Yongjing Mansion her home. Apart from her home, all other houses are just properties, which are no different from hotels to Chen Nanxing.
Since there is no difference, it is better to stay in a hotel, at least it is convenient.
In the hotel suite, Chen Nanxing poured a glass of water for Ji Chuan and looked at Ji Chuan's face for a long time before making a conclusion.
"It's swollen."
"It's okay." Ji Chuan raised his hand and gently touched his cheek, smiling nonchalantly, "I have thick skin, it doesn't hurt."
You can imagine how powerful a slap that can make your face swollen must have been. It would be strange if it didn't hurt. Chen Nanxing had her own judgment. She turned around and made a phone call:
"I'll ask the hotel to send some ice."
The hotel quickly sent the ice cubes over. Since Chen Nanxing had explained the purpose in advance, they also thoughtfully sent an ice pack containing the ice cubes.
Ji Chuan was beaten because of her, so Chen Nanxing was happy to do it for Ji Chuan. She took an ice pack and put it on Ji Chuan's face, and her eyebrows unconsciously frowned again.
She is 70% pretty, but 10% sad and sorrowful, which makes me feel pity for her.
Ji Chuan was very attracted to this kind of looks. He was attracted by Chen Nanxing's looks at first. Every time he saw her slightly frowned brows and sighed silently when she lowered her head, he felt like something was grabbing his heart. He wanted to hold the whole world in front of her, just to make her smile.
Ji Chuan raised his hand and touched it as if he was possessed.
"What's wrong?"
The smooth touch of his fingertips was so enticing that Ji Chuan's mind suddenly became clear. He looked away and rubbed his hands together to come up with a poor excuse: "There was a small flying insect."
Unlike the perfunctory love at first sight, Ji Chuan now feels that what he loves more is Chen Nanxing's unyielding soul hidden under her weak appearance, the kind of tenacity that can face up to anything that happens, like a lily growing on the edge of a cliff.
When he was in college, Ji Chuan didn't understand why some of his friends around him were so deeply in love. It was not until such a person appeared in his life that Ji Chuan began to understand the lingering love stories left by so many infatuated men and women throughout the ages.
He already loved her completely and from the inside out, loved her so much that he couldn't stop smiling just because he blocked her attack.
"why are you laughing?"
Ji Chuan's face was bulging with laughter, and Chen Nanxing's hands were delicate and gentle, properly covering every piece of swollen skin.
The hormones secreted by love blocked the pain, and Ji Chuan's mouth turned up to the sky.
"I'm happy."
Has she lost the pace of the young people? Chen Nanxing couldn't understand: "You're still happy after being beaten?"
"Yeah!" Ji Chuan said foolishly, "I'm happy that you care about me."
“…” I’m so stupid.
The ice cubes were a little cold to his hands, so Chen Nanxing changed his hand.
"It was me who implicated you, and that's why you got beaten."
Ji Chuan didn't think so, and he didn't allow Chen Nanxing to think so.
"No, I'm happy with it because I..."
His eyes were so affectionate that Chen Nanxing, who had experienced it, had already guessed what he was going to say next. She quickly changed the subject:
"By the way, I'm planning to go back to Zhaofeng. If you go, remember to buy a ticket."
Ji Chuan grabbed Chen Nanxing's hand as she tried to withdraw it, his palm resting against the scar on the back of her hand. His clear eyes were glued to Chen Nanxing's face:
"Nanxing, you always seem to avoid talking about this."
The warm yellow overhead light poured down, casting a soft glow on Ji Chuan's outline.
He was indeed young, with the innocence of a young man still between his brows, but the determination in his eyes was unquestionable.
Chen Nanxing looked down at him and clearly saw the heat in his eyes, the kind of heat that almost burned her.
Her hand was so cold from holding the ice pack that she had lost all feeling, but now when Ji Chuan held it in his hand, it felt like it had been plunged into a frying pan, and it was so hot that she couldn't help but pull her hand back.
"...Xiao Ji..."
Ji Chuan gently held Chen Nanxing's hand, controlling the strength so as not to make Chen Nanxing feel uncomfortable nor let Chen Nanxing escape. He brought Chen Nanxing's hand to his left atrium and made a passionate confession.
"Because I like you and I love you, so I want to protect you."
Beneath her palms were the young man's strong muscles and the thunderous heartbeat. Chen Nanxing felt her mind go blank. She had not felt such passionate, direct and unreserved love for a long time. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
But such passionate love for a dying person would be in vain. Chen Nanxing sighed and tried to build a high wall with the age gap:
"Ji Chuan, you are still young, you are just-"
She seemed to have forgotten that what young people lack most is the courage to overcome everything, and the wall of age could not stop Ji Chuan.
Ji Chuan leaned forward slightly and pressed her on the rest of her question: "Just what?"
He seemed to insist on an answer, so Chen Nanxing had no choice but to start persuading him with facts.
"I'm divorced, Xiao Ji, and now I..."
Moreover, she is now in the late stage of cancer and there is not much time left for her. Ji Chuan is still too young and does not understand the weight of time, but Chen Nanxing does, so she must make a decisive move.
"Besides, it's not fair for me to start a new relationship with my exhausted body." Chen Nanxing paused and lowered his voice: "Xiao Ji, you are still too young. It's easy to confuse pity with love."
The last layer of window paper has been broken, and Ji Chuan is not afraid to say more.
"I'm an adult now. I can handle the consequences of every decision I make, and I can differentiate between love and compassion."
He said it firmly, and as if in line with his firmness, Chen Nanxing felt that he was holding her hand with a little force, making Chen Nanxing feel as if she was being held firmly in Ji Chuan's hand.
"I love you. I love the way you grumble about the differences between your worldview and the author's when you read a book. I love the scar on the back of your hand from saving Lihua. I love the red mole on your neck. I love the warmth you leave on my skin. I love you, I love you now."
Every word of "love" was like a hammer, hitting the defense line that Chen Nanxing had carefully built. For a moment, Chen Nanxing admitted that a tiny crack was knocked open in her heart, but it only lasted for a moment.
A moment later, her defenses were flawless.
"Xiao Ji, even if you love me, I'm old, even nearing the end of my life. I no longer have the passion to love you. The courage of a girl at sixteen or seventeen is no longer useful when I'm in my thirties. Maybe I used to think that life was about getting wet in the rain, running, and getting hurt, but now I just want to die peacefully. The best thing is to fight for a way out for those girls trapped in the mountains before I die."
None of these could hinder Ji Chuan's progress. Ji Chuan clasped his hands together and held Chen Nanxing's hand in them.
"I have seen you as you are from the beginning. I don't care about these things."
With his hands clasped together, a very pious gesture, was Ji Chuan praying to her?
Chen Nanxing's emotions were like the sea in a storm, surging and unable to calm down. Her mind was completely disturbed.
He pressed on step by step, and she retreated step by step. Chen Nanxing would never learn the subject of love in her life. She didn't know what to say, but there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. The ringing of the phone broke her distress.
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