Talking by the window
After Ah-Qing finished boiling water in the kitchen and came out, she found that the door had already been closed.
The two people were standing in the same room, but were far apart.
Kim Hee-ro sat on a stool picking at the dead skin next to her fingernails, while Jiang Yi-lin stood by the door looking out the window, her ears still unusually red.
"Have some hot water first." Aqing brought the hot water to Jin Xilu first, while she secretly observed the woman who had suddenly appeared, looking travel-worn.
From the moment she pushed open the door, A-Qing knew she was nothing like her. Jin Xilu's hair, face, and clothes were soaked through by the snow, but there was not a trace of fear or regret on her face as she was crushed by the wind and snow.
She just stood there, doing nothing and saying nothing, but her eyes were telling the people around her, "Just watch, you can't stop me anyway."
As Jin Xilu stood up, took the water, and thanked him briefly, she was also observing Aqing in front of her. Aqing was so fair-skinned, but her fair skin was almost too much to bear.
The woman wore a white eye patch that completely covered her right eye, while her left eye had a light gray pupil. Her mouth was a standard cherry-like small mouth, with a lip color as pale as an unripe fake cherry.
Finally, Kim Hee-ro found the reason for her discomfort: this kind of white was too monotonous. Even though her clothes were gorgeous and rich, people could still see the emptiness in her heart at a glance.
The two looked at each other, then quickly looked away without asking who the other was.
Kim Hee-ro was certain that she had never seen this person before.
"A-Qing, come here." Jiang Yilin called her name softly.
Jin Xilu turned her head before A-Qing, her eyes fixed on Jiang Yilin's every move, and then asked, "So your name is A-Qing."
"Yes." Aqing paused for a moment as she put down the teapot, speaking very little, and it was unclear who she was addressing.
"A-Qing, where are you from? I've never seen you before." Jin Xilu stood up, feeling a little guilty. She was just trying to make conversation.
A-Qing didn't answer, but walked to Jiang Yilin's side and silently bent down to help him tidy up the wet patch on his sleeve, deliberately avoiding any possibility of eye contact with anyone.
After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Yilin stopped Aqing from tidying up her hands, took her hand in his own, glanced at Jin Xilu opposite him, and slowly asked, "Jin Xilu, what is your purpose in coming here today?"
Jiang Yilin seemed to have reverted to her harsh demeanor from when she first returned. Her lips were taut, and her gaze swept over her body lightly but never lingered, constantly drawing her in and pushing her thoughts further and further away.
"Oh right, you reminded me. I heard you're going to steal Xin Xuan's ashes for a memorial service." Jin Xilu twitched the corner of her mouth. She couldn't get close to Jiang Yilin at all, and could only watch him from afar.
Jiang Yilin didn't take her seriously. While talking, he pulled Aqing's hand and led her away from the drafty window.
So much so that his voice seemed to come from near and far, and when it reached Kim Hee-ro's ears, it took on a mocking tone.
"You already knew everything, and you still ruined my plan. What, did you come here to show off your skills?"
"Yes, Jiang Yilin, you are no match for me. You've been a coward since you were a child, hypocritical, incompetent, and so arrogant that everyone will stay away from you!" Jin Xilu stood up, her voice filled with suppressed anger, ignoring the thorns on her hands that had torn open, blood gushing out and gathering into a drop.
A-Qing stood beside Jiang Yilin, their arms touching. Her braided black hair swung heavily down her back as she spoke with intense emotion: "That's too much, Miss Jin! The clan leader isn't what you say he is!"
"How many years have you known him? I'm going to tell you to your face that the man standing next to you is the most arrogant, the most mean-spirited, and the most self-righteous man in this town."
She pointed her finger at Jiang Yilin, wanting to unleash a torrent of abuse, but after a long pause, other words came out. She suppressed her anger and said, "Jiang Yilin, you deserve it, you deserve it, you deserve that no one truly understands you until now."
Only after she finished speaking did she realize that she was already in tears.
Jiang Yilin, who had been watching Jin Xilu's madness with a cold eye, reacted upon hearing this, but not to her.
Upon hearing these words, A-Qing's first thought was to protect Jiang Yilin. Just as she was about to rush forward to stop Jin Xilu from saying anything more hurtful to Jiang Yilin...
After taking two steps, Jiang Yilin grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. The two of them had a cool and aloof temperament that blended well, and even when they looked at the same person with cold eyes, their eyes were exactly the same.
"Ah Qing, needless to say, she's always been like this since she was little. Anyway, we're getting married soon, and you're the one who understands me, right?" Jiang Yilin said this in a gentle, tender voice, as if afraid of breaking someone's heart.
"Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to introduce myself to A-Qing." Jin Xilu had heard that Jiang Yilin had brought a woman back to the Jiang family a long time ago. At first, she really thought it was fake, just a cover for Jiang Yilin.
Now reality has slapped her hard in the face.
"Hello, Jiang Yilin's current fiancée. I was her former fiancée." Jin Xilu never imagined that one day she would utter such nonsense.
“Miss Jin, I’m not trying to compete with you, but I just want to say that there’s only one Jiang Yilin, and none of us are him.” Even when A-Qing was angry and anxious, her expression was soft. Was there a hidden silver needle in her expression? The answer is no.
With a third person present, the two actors' acting skills soared, and their eyes seemed to be tempered with fire, evoking a burning pain with every glance.
Finally, before leaving the cabin, Kim Hee-ro uttered one last harsh word.
"Jiang Yilin, when you die, I will never shed a single tear of heartache for you."
Jiang Yilin didn't watch her leave, only saying, "Whatever."
Kim Hee-ro rushed into the vast snow, her black cotton-padded coat becoming a seed in the world that had not yet sprouted.
Someone rushed out and pushed the umbrella towards her; it wasn't Jiang Yilin, it was Aqing.
"You will absolutely regret what you said today." Aqing was a classic beauty, and every smile and frown of hers was breathtaking. If it weren't for the disability in her right eye, she would have been even more dazzling, instead of being so silent.
"Thank you, take good care of him." Jin Xilu didn't drop the umbrella. Before entering the cabin, she sent a message to He Canyang, asking him to drive up the mountain to pick me up. She only left after arguing and slamming the door when the time was almost up.
Watching Kim Hee-ro's resolute figure as she left, Ah-ching thought to herself: Kim Hee-ro, I envy you. You have the courage to do anything and the ability to love someone with such strength and tolerance.
As she was about to turn back, A-Qing glanced at the window as if torturing herself.
As she had expected, a white figure stood by the window. She pulled her expensive, comfortable white dress tighter around herself and decided to indulge in this last beautiful dream, to become a blind person in people's eyes.
Two rows of footprints in opposite directions appeared on the snow, but the snow soon covered them.
Sitting in He Canyang's car on his way back, I pretended not to see his worried, hesitant expression as he scratched his head, wanting to ask but not daring to.
Kim Hee-ro lay on the car seat, feeling dizzy, but she still wanted to take a gamble.
"Did you just go to see Jiang Yilin?" He Canyang hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help asking.
"Mmm." Kim Hee-ro turned up the car's heater, her voice already a little hoarse.
He Canyang slammed his hand on the car's steering wheel and cursed, "Is he still the Jiang Yilin I know? He's like this, and you dare to come out?"
"No, he also sent an umbrella." After saying that, Jin Xilu glanced at the umbrella placed on the back seat. It was an umbrella she had never seen before. It seemed that Jiang Yilin had gone to see Jiang Lianyin before going to the mine.
He Canyang successfully grasped the key point in the wrong words: "Huh? There's someone else next to him. Is it that woman? Let me tell you, no matter how much the rumors go around, I don't believe Jiang Yilin would fall in love with someone else."
“Yes, she has a name, her name is A-Qing, do you know her?” Jin Xilu said, and before He Canyang could express his thoughts, she added, “Never mind, who she is has nothing to do with Jiang Yilin not liking me anymore.”
It was rare to hear Kim Hee-ro say such disheartening things. The last time he saw her looking so listless was around the time her grandmother had just passed away. He thought she had gone away to heal for a few years and had recovered by now.
Not knowing whether to continue comforting him, He Canyang tried to follow up with Jin Xilu's words, but he hadn't given up and asked another question.
"Jiang Yilin, did he really say that?"
"Yes, he also said that A-Qing is his fiancée. I met her today. She's a very beautiful woman, and she speaks very gently." Jin Xilu rested her hand on the car window, looking at the pine trees already covered with frost, and wondered how many more days it would take for winter to end.
"No, are you really not sad? You two had a misunderstanding, and I thought that when you came back, you had talked it out and made up." He Canyang was just about to say some awkward words of comfort when...
Then Kim Hee-ro admitted, "I'm sad, but there's nothing I can do about it. He said it himself, and they're getting married."
He Canyang racked his brains but couldn't imagine that Jiang Yilin and Jin Xilu had ended up like this. However, after thinking about it, he thought about himself and realized that he wasn't much better than Jin Xilu. So he argued with Jiang Yilin and was called a brainless elementary school student, and then kicked out.
Just like Kim Hee-ro, just like Kim Hee-ro, the more I think about it, the more something seems wrong.
Damn it! What on earth is Jiang Yilin doing? Is he deliberately pushing them away, trying to make some kind of self-sacrifice?
He saw through Jiang Yilin from a young age. To put it nicely, the young master had a temper and a sense of distance and propriety. In reality, he was a naive and innocent girl who was unloved by her parents and lacked love from a young age. After making all the necessary preparations, she was willing to sacrifice herself and dedicate herself to others.
After a moment of silence, Kim Hee-ro suddenly called his name.
"He Canyang, you have to do me a favor."
Upon hearing Jin Xilu's words, He Canyang was so excited that he almost slammed on the brakes.
Damn it! What's Kim Hee-ro doing now?
Seeing He Canyang's shocked expression, Jin Xilu repeated, "I'm serious, after thinking it over, the best and most effective way to force marriage is through having a child."
"So, I need to get pregnant right away."
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