Chapter 25 [VIP]
"Hmm..." Startled by the touch, Chenmian trembled slightly, her eyes flashing as she glared at the young man beside her.
Lin Langli slowly withdrew his hand, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at his family in front of him: "I want to eat lamb. Do you have any lamb here?"
The creature, compared to a lamb, turned its head away and lowered its eyes as Shen Ci looked at it with a puzzled expression.
After lunch, Shenmian returned to her room, slumped in the rocking chair on the balcony, and slowly sorted through the thoughts swirling in her mind.
He must like his older brother, right? His older brother treats him so well; that quiet protection and occasional indulgence are his strongest support in this family. It's only natural that he would like Shen Jinshan.
Moreover, he recalled the scene of his older brother carrying him back in the early morning. He could have asked someone else to carry him, but his older brother was willing to bend down for him. If he didn't like him, why would he do that?
Therefore, Shen Jinshan was kind to him, which is why he liked her. He wasn't as eager as one might imagine.
Her dormant mind stirred slightly, and her cheeks gradually warmed up; she was almost drowning in the excitement of confirming her feelings.
Two knocks.
The sudden knocking interrupted his reverie.
Before Chenmian could respond, the door was pushed open rather rudely. He casually turned around, and when he saw who it was, his expression froze for a moment, and his fingers gripping the armrest of the rocking chair tightened unconsciously.
Lin Langli wore glasses, and now that it was late autumn, he was wearing a sweater jacket, which made him look quite scholarly.
He asked in a deep, muffled voice, "What is it you need?"
Lin Langli approached, his fingers touching the vines of the rocking chair above the boy's head, and asked in a low voice, "Where did you get scratched last night?" His voice was very low, like a lover's whisper, but the content made Chen Mian's nerves tense.
Was this concern? Or a reminder of his embarrassing state last night? Chenmian's mind raced, ruling out the absurd option of the former, and she shook her head: "Only the back of my hand is broken; the rest of my body was just hit, not broken."
Lin Langli leaned forward slightly, took Chenmian's hand which was resting on the armrest, and looked at it. There was a band-aid on it, and the bottom was a bright red color.
Shen Mian felt extremely uncomfortable as his wrist was gripped by the other's warm palm. Lin Langli was becoming increasingly unrestrained, barging into his home and behaving intimately without any boundaries, completely disregarding whether Shen Mian wanted to or not.
Chenmian tried to pull his hand back, but the other party increased the force slightly, making him unable to move.
They stared at each other, and Chenmian whispered, "Wasn't it a bit too much for you to touch me back then?"
"Is that so?"
“…Please stop doing this,” Chenmian mustered her courage, but her voice lacked confidence. “I think this is very wrong.”
Lin Langli chuckled, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes behind his glasses: "Then I also think it's very wrong that you secretly like Shen Jinshan."
His thoughts were laid bare, and Chenmian's cheeks flushed instantly. He glared at him, but quickly crumbled under the other's smiling yet utterly devoid of warmth. He lowered his head, almost pleading, "Please...please don't tell anyone about this, okay?"
Lin Langli released his grip, stood up straight, and looked down at him expressionlessly.
After a few seconds of chilling silence, he suddenly reached out again, his palm covering the sleeping head. This time, his movements were gentle, and even his tone became unusually mild, with a coaxing undertone: "Then you shouldn't like him."
Chenmian opened her mouth, stammering and hesitating, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.
Whether you like something or not, it's not something you can control so easily.
Seeing his reaction, Lin Langli's eyes suddenly turned cold, and his tone became sarcastic again: "You've been brothers for over ten years, and you think you can just say you like someone? Chenmian," he stared at Chenmian's beautiful, slightly flushed cheeks, his words falling clearly and distinctly, "Can't you have any shame?"
Shen Mian felt utterly ashamed after being told off. Lin Langli's revelation that he liked Shen Jinshan made him feel even more humiliated and indignant than the previous kiss that had a forced undertone. At this moment, just a few words from the other party were enough to make him want to cry.
"Isn't it all because of you?" Ignoring everything else, Chenmian simply blamed others.
"?"
“Because you want to get rid of me…” Chenmian paused for a moment, then continued nonchalantly, “You know perfectly well that I’m not as good as you, and my health has always been poor. If I’m left outside and no one takes care of me, I’ll definitely have a hard time. So I have to find a way.”
Lin Langli's expression turned slightly surprised by these words.
He quickly curled the corners of his mouth and said, "You have hands and feet, yet you're always thinking about relying on others. Aren't you ashamed?"
"I don't rely on you, and I'm not going to just go out and find someone to rely on. What's so shameful about it?" Even as she said this, her voice gradually faded away.
Lin Langli's scalp tingled at the first half of Shen Mian's sentence.
How can someone be so spineless?
He couldn't hold back any longer. He bent down, grabbed Chenmian by the collar, and moved closer. Chenmian still had that innocent expression on her face, her beautiful face saying, "What can you do to me?"
Lin Langli gritted his teeth, scrutinizing the face closely, anger clashing with a more complex emotion within his chest.
The door creaked open, and someone else came in.
Chenmian turned her head to look and saw that it was Chen Ci. She immediately stopped her secretly competing and retreating movements and relaxed.
When Shen Ci arrived, he saw Shen Mian looking terrified as Lin Langli coldly grabbed her by the collar and forced her to cower in a rocking chair.
"Lin Langli!" he roared, walked over and slapped Lin Langli's hand away, forcefully standing between the two.
Chenmian got off the rocking chair and explained in a teasing tone, "Chen Ci, it's nothing, don't be so fierce." She was clearly stirring up trouble.
Shen Ci's arm veins bulged again. Shen Mian waited for the two to start fighting, but unexpectedly, after a few seconds of suffocating confrontation, the gunpowder smell in the room dissipated strangely.
Shen Ci turned his head and gave him a forced smile: "Don't pretend, I called you here to ask you something." He then shooed Lin Langli out.
"I talked to Dad. You and Lin Langli might not be a good match for living together. How about you move in with me when you go back?"
Shen Mian was moved; Shen Ci still cared about him. But the timing was too unfortunate. If it had been a day earlier, if she had said it yesterday during the day, he would have immediately agreed with great joy.
But Lin Langli happens to know his secret and is trying to control him. He ran away and stayed on the mountain all night, making a big fuss. Lin Langli might still have some reservations, but if he really leaves with Shen Ci, it's hard to guarantee that Lin Langli won't go all out and expose his intentions to everyone.
His eyes darted around, and he didn't immediately agree. Shen Ci's lips, which had been propped up, gradually straightened, and his eyes turned cold. He knew the answer.
"I thought you never wanted to live with him, and you were so anxious about it. Turns out I was just being presumptuous. Fine, Chenmian, don't complain to me about anything in the future."
With a few words, Shen Ci concluded that he had become the subject of a play between Shen Mian and Lin Langli. Overwhelmed with anger and embarrassment, he forcefully shook off the boy who tried to hold his hand and walked out.
Outside the door, Lin Langli hadn't left; he was leaning against the wall, waiting.
As Shen Ci emerged, he caught a glimpse of someone else out of the corner of his eye, let out a cold snort, and was about to utter a few sarcastic remarks.
The door opened again, and Chen Mian hurriedly chased after her, explaining, "Chen Ci, don't think like that."
Running too fast, he bumped into Shen Ci, who hadn't moved. Shen Ci didn't change his expression, turned to the side, and casually put his arm around the boy's shoulder, half-encircling him in his arms, his actions clearly showing possessiveness.
For some reason, Chenmian's behavior of chasing after him, or the intimate behavior between the two in front of Lin Langli, made him feel strangely comfortable.
With Shen Ci holding her shoulders, Chen Mian was still a little dazed. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Lin Langli was still in the corridor. Was he waiting for Shen Ci to come out so he could settle scores with him?
He suddenly felt embarrassed. The hesitation he had just been having about whether to coax Shen Ci into agreeing to move in vanished instantly. Shen Mian became incredibly obedient and asked in a low voice, "I'm going to take some photos and then get a massage. Do you want to come along?"
After changing her clothes and styling her hair with hairspray, Chenmian sat by the window in her room, picking out earrings from the small jewelry box she had brought with her.
It was a cloudy day, and the light in the mountains was soft but not bright enough. He thought for a moment, then picked out a translucent jade earring and compared it to his earlobe.
It seemed to be the first time Lin Langli had seen him wear earrings, and his gaze lingered on the small, emerald-green object for a moment.
Seeing this, Shen Ci sneered and explained, "He was sickly when he was young. Everyone says that the underworld prefers boys, so they pierced his ears and let him grow his hair long, hoping to pretend he was a girl and fool the underworld into keeping him."
A slight unease flickered through Lin Langli's mind. He knew very little about the past of the man in slumber. And was his health really that poor when he was a child? Although he had been sick more often than others lately, it didn't seem to be at a critical point where he was "about to die."
But what came out of his mouth was, "Does he still have long hair?"
"I stopped keeping it a long time ago, many years ago." Shen Mian had already tidied up, and a jadeite pendant was now on her slender wrist, making her skin appear even more translucent. Lin Langli looked up and overturned his previous thought; Shen Mian was clearly just naturally beautiful.
"Hurry up, hurry up." He didn't dare keep the two of them waiting too long, mainly because it was rather awkward. He subconsciously wanted to go out with someone as before, but now that the two people he was supposed to be holding arms with were both there, Chenmian could only focus on not holding either of them.
The air in the mountains was fresh and the temperature was a bit cold. It was only after I stepped outside that I remembered the night I spent in the mountains.
He looked at Shen Ci on his right and asked, "Someone gave me a bottle of water last night. His name is Zong Bingwen. Do you know him?"
Shen Ci: "Yes, we know them. This development was a joint effort between us and their family. They have government connections."
Sensing something was amiss, Shen Ci pressed, "You two bumped into each other in the middle of the night?"
Chenmian hesitated for a moment, then said, "He's probably out walking his dog. That's how dog walkers are. He's a really nice guy."
“If you know him, please thank him for me. I was crying the whole time, and he even handed me a handkerchief.”
After saying that, he repeated it again: "He's a really nice person."
Shen Ci turned his head and stared at Shen Mian's eyes carefully. They were a little red, but not swollen. He couldn't help but wonder why Shen Mian had said, "I've been crying." Why did he brush it off at noon and refuse to tell him?
The argument with Lin Langli... He also vaguely sensed that since returning from the Shen family's old house, Shen Mian and Lin Langli had become strange, and there was always an atmosphere between the two that he could not understand at all.
He knew everything about Shen Meng from childhood to adulthood. But ever since Lin Langli returned and the two moved in together, Shen Ci gradually felt a sense of loss of control.
He really hated that Chenmian was keeping things from him and not telling him. Did she think he couldn't handle it?
A sense of annoyance rose within him, as if he had been concealed and looked down upon by the slumbering. Shen Ci's expression darkened, and he wanted to ask again.
But after saying these words, Chenmian acted as if nothing had happened and stopped thinking about Zong Bingwen. Seeing a particularly large tree with an exceptionally lush canopy in front of her, she carelessly ran to the tree to take pictures.
Shen Ci, carrying a camera, took pictures of him expressionlessly.
After taking the photos of the sleeping man, he came over to look at them, gave a couple of comments, but didn't say he was satisfied or offer to take more photos for them.
That selfish little bastard.
I've always been like this since I was little; I only know how to take and don't know how to give back to others.
Shen Ci took two steps to catch up, and seeing Lin Langli watching from the side, he suddenly had the idea to take a picture with Shen Mian.
Shenmian wouldn't allow him to stand up straight, and only agreed to take pictures with Shen Ci if he bent over a little. His actions were also excessive. He pinched Shen Ci's chin and made exaggerated expressions, but his face was so beautiful that even with his features moving randomly, he still looked cute and lively.
After taking a few photos, Chen Mian called out to Lin Langli, "Do you want to take a picture with Shen Ci? Haha, you two are twins."
Lin Langli put down his camera, looked up at the two of them, and Chenmian heard him move his lips and say, "Chenmian, I'll take a picture with you."
For a moment, he felt like he was being fawned over by the two brothers. Needless to say, Shen Ci felt a secret sense of pride when Lin Langli suddenly softened his attitude. When Lin Langli leaned over, he didn't even make the other bend over to make them appear the same height.
But it was different from being with Shen Ci. In the photos, Shen Mian saw that his face was slightly stiff, while Lin Langli had his fingers on Shen Mian's waist, seemingly embracing him.
Shen Ci also felt that the pose was inappropriate, and with a stern face, he wanted to delete it. However, Shen Mian's hand trembled, and he snatched the camera and threw it to Lin Langli, then laughed it off and went to the next place.
Last night, I walked too much, hiding and dodging, and soon after I fell asleep, I started complaining that my legs and feet were sore and I wanted to go for a massage.
But there was still a long way to go. Chen Mian refused to move, so in the end, Chen Ci had no choice but to squat down and let Chen Mian lean on his shoulder. He said coldly, "Aren't you ashamed? When passersby see a big man like you, you're acting like a mentally challenged child who needs to be carried."
Chenmian didn't see anything wrong with it and retorted seriously, "I wouldn't think that way if I were a stranger. If someone carried me, it must be for a special reason, like a sprained ankle or something. You're the one who thinks that way all the time."
He then turned to Lin Langli and asked, "Don't you think so?"
Lin Langli ignored them, watching the two bicker like a young couple. He recalled the scene at the hot spring yesterday afternoon, where they were also making a ruckus. Shen Ci seemed quite aloof, and his reputation at school could barely be described as cold and aloof. How come he became a completely different person when he was with Shen Mian?
His displeasure grew stronger, yet his gaze was irresistibly drawn to them, and he kept glancing at them out of the corner of his eye.
Why?
Lin Langli lowered his head and examined his own heart.
Shen Ci carried Shen Mian past him and walked further and further away. Lin Langli lagged behind, watching the two of them laughing and playing around. Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
When he was pretending to be friendly with Shen Mian before, he accompanied her to class, went shopping with her, and even opened a personal payment account for her. Everything he did seemed to be imitating her.
Whom did he learn from? It turns out it was Shen Ci.
Why would Shenmian choose Shenjin Mountain as her next backer instead of Shenci? Lin Langli felt that even if Shenmian made this request, Shenci would definitely not refuse firmly; he would probably just give a few words of criticism and then reluctantly agree.
Thinking about it this way, Shen Mian really had poor judgment. By choosing Shen Jinshan, he couldn't see through Shen Jinshan's gentle exterior to his true nature, and he didn't know how the other party casually talked about him when he wasn't around.
He didn't choose him either. Well, Lin Langli thought calmly. It was understandable that Shenmian didn't choose him. In fact, he was the one who prompted Shenmian to make that choice.
But that can't be blamed on him. He didn't harm Shenmian's body, even though he indirectly harmed him, and he didn't retaliate against Shenmian for the mistakes and sins he had committed.
At school, he also had to take care of that silly cat all day long, and in addition, he had to take care of that idiot, Chenmian.
Lin Langli thought about it calmly again. Shenmian had indeed treated him badly in the past, but he was so stupid that he would feel ashamed to retaliate. Many times, he didn't even need to take action. He only needed to block Shenmian's clumsy schemes, and Shenmian would suffer a lot on his own.
For example, last night, he only threatened and pressured her a little, and she was so frightened that she ran into the deep mountains and forests and stayed there all night.
He raised his head and glanced ahead again. Shen Ci carried Shen Mian on his back, his steps steady. Shen Mian had one hand loosely resting on Shen Ci's shoulder, while the other hand hung limply at his sides, swaying gently in the air with each step.
Lin Langli's gaze was fixed on the back of Shen Mian's drooping hand—a white band-aid was abruptly stuck there.
A faint yet undeniable sense of annoyance welled up within him, along with a touch of subtle guilt.
Lin Langli asked himself, if Chen Mian changed his mind and wanted to climb not Shen Jinshan, but him, would he be willing?
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