Chapter 107 Chapter 107 (Two in One) How could the Third Brother...
In the distance, a loving couple sat opposite each other, with their four adult children sitting around them.
Bai Songxu, whose morale had been low for a long time, opened the gifts and regained his former energy. He kept moving in front of everyone, checking their gifts one by one, with a bright smile on his face, and was as noisy as a white Samoyed wagging its tail.
Bai Qingqing finished the last steamed dumpling in one gulp, propped up one leg on the chair, leaned back, and watched them make a fuss patiently.
After staying in this world for a long time and looking at these characters full of life, she felt that even this virtual world had become a little more real.
Accompanying them day after day, she could feel each person's living body and blood, and the subtle changes in their moods and thoughts.
They are no different from the real people in the real world, but they are trapped in this fictional world, spending their lives unconsciously following their fate.
Ao Teng's figure approached from the gate in the light.
First, I saw a group of people sitting together on the sofa in the deputy hall, opening gifts in a lively manner.
He turned his eyes around and quickly looked around. He saw Bai Qingqing leaning on a chair with her legs propped up in the restaurant in the distance. He smiled and walked towards her.
At the birthday party yesterday, Ao Teng, who had been living at the Bai family recently, spent a long time with his wife and children. After the party, he went home with them. Bai Qingqing didn't expect that he would come back so early this morning.
At this time, Ao Teng came close to her. She chewed and swallowed the last bite of the steamed bun, looked up and asked him: "Why did you come back today? Why don't you stay at home for a few more days?"
"My wife is at work and my son is at school, so I'm alone at home. I might as well be your assistant." Ao Teng smiled and sat down on the empty chair next to her.
"You are the only one who is idle." Bai Qingqing summed it up for him.
Before, Ao Teng followed her all day long because he was afraid that his life would be in danger.
Now I'm totally free.
As she said last time, the Feng Shui master would most likely not attack him again. She thought Ao Teng would leave in a few days, but now it seems that he intends to continue the assistant game to the end.
"Well, as the CEO of a film and television company, you can't let me do everything myself, right?"
"I usually write scripts, and now I'm also your assistant. This means I have multiple jobs, so it's very busy." Ao Teng lifted up his long legs, and the toes of his black leather shoes swayed, reflecting the sunlight.
Ao Teng hung around her every day, dressed in a suit and tie, looking like he was ready for work.
Bai Qingqing smiled and didn't argue with him.
When he entered the room just now, Uncle Yan pointed at the gift and said a few words to him. Bai Qingqing tilted her head and said, "This is the gift Jiang Mu Ning sent you. Don't you want to go and take a look?"
Ao Teng didn't care: "Let's watch it later, it won't be a problem."
He was among the guests from the Bai and Ao families yesterday, but he didn't get close. From a distance, he could hear his niece's voice intermittently.
The other relatives were confused and first thought they were hallucinating. Later they thought they were standing too far away and missed the voice of the person in front of them.
He has experience in listening to his heart.
She had seen the situation at the scene yesterday thoroughly, and she began to dislike her former niece, whom she had previously loved quite a lot.
I felt sorry for her injury the night before, but yesterday I heard that Bai Muning did it on purpose and wanted to frame Qingqing. What he said before he left was also very gossipy. He was going to make their whole family unhappy.
Ao Teng had no interest in the gifts that Jiang Muning brought back to the Jiang family without hesitation.
I still feel that the scene ahead is a bit dazzling.
Ao Teng thought about it and added, "It's okay even if it's lost."
There was a hint of disgust in his tone. In the distance, Bai Songxu was vying to see Bai San's gift. Bai Siqi turned his palms behind his back to prevent him from snatching it, and stood up to leave.
Bai Qingqing listened to Ao Teng's tone and glanced at him in surprise, not understanding why his attitude towards Jiang Muning had suddenly changed so much.
But Bai Qingqing took her feet off the chair, stretched her ankles, and prepared to see something she was more curious about.
She didn't get up yet, stretching her arms while saying, "If you have nothing to do, go and open the presents. I'm resting at home these two days and I don't have any plans. You're just sitting here doing nothing."
Ao Teng was very obedient and replied with a sigh: "Okay, then let's go and see what my former niece gave me."
He paused for a moment, and when he saw that Bai Qingqing didn't plan to go with him, he asked, "You're not going?"
Ao Teng left, and Bai Qingqing also stood up and looked towards the fourth floor.
Bai Siqi's head passed through the corridor and disappeared into the corner, probably into his room.
Bai Qingqing did not go through the deputy hall, but took another route upstairs, leisurely took the small elevator, and went up to the fourth floor.
He stopped at the door of Bai Siqi's room, flexed the knuckles of the two fingers behind his back, figured out that there was someone inside, then he let go of one hand and knocked on the door a few times without any sense of rhythm.
Bai Siqi is always slow in opening the door.
She guessed that the person came from his studio.
The door opened in front of her in an instant, and the two people inside and outside looked at each other from above through the door frame. The air was silent.
Bai Siqi didn't expect to see Bai Qingqing.
Ever since Bai Qingqing revealed his secret feelings and questioned him repeatedly, Bai Siqi has been keeping a distance from his sister, and would intentionally or unintentionally avoid her sight when they were in the same space.
Bai Qingqing didn't seem to have just discovered his thoughts.
I'm afraid she had already noticed something from their daily interactions, but she just didn't say anything until he took the initiative to talk to her...
As soon as the conversation started, her interest in him suddenly seemed to grow. Before, she was always indifferent and a little distant when she saw him, and remained indifferent despite his repeated attempts to show his affection.
But now she always takes the initiative to talk to him, and even... comes to his room to find him.
Bai Siqi stood at the door, with a gentle and calm face, and sighed in his heart.
He thought he had everything planned out.
He arranged for Mu Ning to return to his home and take the surname Jiang. He also arranged for his own sister. He planned to give Bai Qingqing all the care and love he deserved for his sister after Mu Ning left, and hoped that she could live in friendship and peace with Mu Ning.
But now he realized that Bai Qingqing had never been part of his plan.
She just... followed her own heart and was quiet for a short while.
As Bai Siqi stood there silently thinking, Bai Qingqing stared at his face.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, she smiled politely and walked directly into the door. Her slender figure passed through the gap between him and the door, entered his room, turned around and looked back at him: "I hope I didn't disturb Third Brother!"
It's like the hunter and prey on the grassland switching offense and defense.
Under her brilliant smile illuminated by the warm sunshine, he became the deer running away in panic.
Bai Siqi reached out calmly, pushed the door behind him halfway, put his hands in his pockets, and maintained his gentle expression, which was no different from usual: "Why are you here?"
Bai Qingqing had been to his room once before, and this time she was very familiar with the place, walking around inside as if it was her own room, without any hesitation.
After walking around the room twice, he continued to wander towards the studio.
Bai Siqi quickly followed behind her, frowning slightly: "Do you have anything to say to Third Brother?"
"Well, it's nothing serious. I'm just curious about what Jiang Mu Ning gave you." Bai Qingqing looked around on his display shelf, picking up his ornaments and then putting them down again.
He walked around the huge workbench and finally stopped in front of his easel.
Next to the easel was a slender black stand with a photo of Jiang Mu Ning on the horizontal bar, half of which was covered with transparent plastic film. It was obvious that its owner wanted to preserve it carefully.
"When you were opening your presents just now, I took a look. I saw that you seemed to treasure the presents you received. I was curious, so I came to take a look." Bai Qingqing smiled with a row of neat little white teeth, pointed at the photos on the slender display stand, turned around and smiled at him:
"It turned out to be her photo. It is indeed worth cherishing."
Bai Siqi's face looked a little ugly.
He walked quickly to the display stand and looked at Bai Qingqing with a vigilant and defensive look, as if he was afraid that she would do something shocking.
He now felt that Bai Qingqing was a dangerous person and her next move was unpredictable.
"Don't be so nervous. I won't tear up your photo. What are you afraid of? I have no ill will towards you." Bai Qingqing retracted the finger that was pointing at the photo, straightened up and smiled.
Of course she had no ill will towards Bai Siqi, she only had it towards Jiang Mu Ning.
Before, she couldn’t say clearly what the situation was with the heroine of this small world. Tiandao made them enemies, and she was also thinking of bypassing the heroine of the novel and directly killing Tiandao to solve the problem.
After all, Bai Muning didn't do anything before, so his crying and actions are understandable and it's normal.
But the situation changed the moment Bai Mu Ning turned into Jiang Mu Ning and he grabbed her hand and stabbed it towards himself.
They became the real enemy.
"I saw Jiang Mu Ning gave Bai Songxu some sneakers and a game console. Why did your good sister give you this?"
There are eight Polaroid photos on the display stand, six of which were taken after Jiang Muning returned to the Jiang family. She changed into a green Chinese cheongsam, with her long hair tied up and wearing a kingfisher-inlaid gemstone flower and fruit pattern hairpin, looking elegant and gentle.
A family photo taken with her Jiang family’s parents, four elderly people, her aunt Jiang Zhenru, and some unknown people.
There are two more photos, which were taken by Bai Siqi for her at the banquet yesterday, one is a group photo of the Bai family, and the other is a solo photo of her.
The meaning is ambiguous.
"What do you want to say?" Bai Siqi felt that there was something else behind her words.
"Your eyes are not innocent, and her mind is not innocent either..." Bai Qingqing took back her two hands and clasped them together, then she made a hand gesture and opened up a realm in the studio, accommodating Bai Siqi inside.
"Third brother is so smart, use your brain to think it through. She only sent you these few photos, what does it mean?"
What else could it mean?
Of course, it was Mu Ning who told him about her situation after returning to the Jiang family and introduced the Jiang family...
Bai Siqi's thoughts suddenly paused, and the expression on his face that was about to speak restrained. A trace of clarity suddenly squeezed into his mind, splitting his thoughts.
Mu Ning's photo was not posted in their family group, nor was it sent to his parents. He was not told about his eldest brother. He only sent the developed photo to him...
He followed Bai Qingqing's gaze and looked back at the display stand. For the first time, he examined the photos one by one.
The Jiang family's group photo was completely different from their family's group photo. When the two photos were put together, he realized that he and Mu Ning were two families from now on.
But since that solo photo was taken by him and was sent back by her, its meaning became somewhat ambiguous.
Your eyes are not pure, and her mind is not pure either...
Bai Qingqing's voice echoed in his mind, like a demon in a nightmare whispering in his ear.
Bai Siqi replied: "I took all the photos of Mu Ning from childhood to adulthood over the years. She would send the photos to me... There is nothing wrong with that."
"Oh, really..." Bai Qingqing nodded, and suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Bai Siqi, I asked you this to make you realize that she was deliberately seducing you. I didn't ask you to please you, did I? Do you think you two are in love with each other? You have feelings for her, and she is interested?"
"Bai Qingqing!" Bai Siqi was furious, and her eyes suddenly met her teasing eyes. Finally, as expected, she heard shocking words from her mouth.
At this moment, he felt relieved.
His chest rose and fell violently. He calmed his anger and said in a steady voice, "It's insulting to a girl to say that."
"But if it's true, is it still an insult? Your restraint on her is because you like her, and why did she hint at it?"
[She is so close yet so distant, yet she keeps showing her affection. She knows that you like her and you are struggling with pain and drinking day and night, but she still keeps getting closer to you. ]
[She will pull you into the abyss step by step, turning your love for her into obsession, splitting into a second personality, and the main personality's vision will be damaged due to psychological damage, falling into complete darkness.]
In the original novel, Bai Muning, because of his brother-sister relationship, could not bear to see Bai Siqi fall into depravity, so he drank day and night and developed a second personality. The main personality also lost one eye due to psychological problems.
She knew that Bai Siqi liked her, but she still approached him again and again, hoping to heal him.
But her careful care, concern and consideration would only drag Bai San into a deeper abyss.
[In the end, he cut off his own hands in front of Bai Mu Ning's painting and committed suicide on a small stool, becoming a genius artist that the whole world regretted.]
Bai Qingqing's eyes were filled with pity.
Looking at Bai Siqi who stopped talking, he slowly loosened his grip.
Forget it, even if I open up a domain for him to isolate him from the influence of the way of heaven, what does it matter?
The characters in the book do not exist independently in fragments. In their continued lives, their thinking will change so much as long as they are not isolated from the influence of the plot.
She sighed and lowered her eyes, glancing at Jiang Mu Ning's photo with indifferent eyes, and felt that the possibility of pulling Bai Siqi back to her camp was slim.
He didn't notice Bai Siqi's shocked eyes and dazed expression.
Bai Qingqing...what did she just say?
…
Bai Siqi's head buzzed, as if hit by a heavy hammer.
Bai Qingqing's thoughts were clearly expressed word for word, and in the studio where only the two of them were present, they could not be clearer.
Every word in her inner voice reached his ears without omission, making him unable to help but imagine the scene along with her inner voice.
Bai Qingqing's inner voice is language, and there is no doubt that what she says will actually happen in the future. The whole family has confirmed this.
It's not that he didn't notice something strange in her voice these past two days, when she mentioned the original book, the plot, and that Mu Ning was the heroine.
But so what?
This world is fake, and it cannot change his feelings towards Mu Ning, nor can it change his pain. Whether it is true or false, what difference does it make what plot everyone is following?
But Bai Siqi was still somewhat shocked by Bai Qingqing's idea of his future.
Will he become an alcoholic in the future, go blind due to psychological problems, develop a second personality, and eventually commit suicide in front of Mu Ning's portrait?
Bai Siqi looked at the whiskey next to the palette.
He habitually drinks a few sips while painting, which would help him to be in a better creative state, but he has always been restrained and would not drink more than three cups a day.
If he has work to do outside the home that day, he will not drink alcohol, regardless of whether he needs to drive or not.
Bai Siqi continued to look at Bai Qingqing. Seeing her slightly lonely expression, he sighed slightly, as if he had given up something and his heart was in turmoil.
No matter what Bai Qingqing came here for today, or why Mu Ning gave her the photo as a gift, Bai Siqi felt that she could no longer think.
He needed to digest her feelings.
His...future.
Bai Qingqing saw that Bai Siqi was distracted and thought he was thinking about what she said.
She didn't plan to say anything else. Let Bai Siqi think whatever he wanted. Anyway, it wasn't something she could change with just a few words.
She turned on her toes and walked out around the workbench, saying, "I've seen the gift Jiang Mu Ning gave you. My curiosity is satisfied. I won't bother you any more. I'm leaving now."
She turned and walked towards the door.
Bai Siqi looked at her slender back with dazed eyes. He followed Bai Qingqing in a daze and sent her to the door of the room.
When he spoke again, his voice became hoarse, and he replied, "Okay."
Are my words so impactful?
Bai Qingqing looked at him in confusion, not knowing what the third son of the Bai family, whose heart was as deep as the sea, was thinking about every day. She scratched her neck, turned around and ran away.
I met Butler Xu on the way.
She said that the gift Miss Mu Ning sent to her had been delivered to her room and was placed on the window next to her.
Also, the white chrysanthemums on the windowsill are wilting, so I wanted to ask her if she could throw the flowers away.
Bai Qingqing frowned briefly, and felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about Jiang Mu Ning's gift and Li Qingqing's white chrysanthemum put together.
But Ms. Xu was unaware of this and didn't know what to say, so she thanked him and said she would take care of the flowers herself when she got home.
Bai Qingqing had originally planned to go downstairs to look for Ao Teng, but she didn't go. She ran back to her room, pushed the door open, and saw the gift and the vase placed not far away.
The box that Bai Mu Ning gave her was not small. It was wrapped in daisy yellow wrapping paper and tied with a light blue and white ribbon.
She moved the gift box toward the corner of the table, away from the windowsill, and tore open the packaging to reveal the skirt inside.
Bai Qingqing lowered her head, laughed, and opened the skirt in the gift box.
The white and gold gauze long dress is somewhat similar to the dress Bai Si specially ordered for her in England.
It's also very subtle that Jiang Mu Ning gave her this gift.
She recalled Li Qingqing's reaction when she received the gift in the novel, but the details were so trivial that she couldn't remember what gift Li Qingqing received when she opened the gift box.
She had no choice but to look at the long skirt in her hand again, loosen her fingertips that were holding it, and let it fall back into the gift box.
Then he turned and walked to the windowsill, picked up the white chrysanthemums that had wilted and turned yellow in the glass vase, threw them into the trash can in the room, and picked up the vase to pour out the water.
*
Ao Xinyi stood by the bar, tilted his head back and poured himself a large glass of cold water. After drinking it in one gulp, he placed the glass on the counter with a "pop". His mood and breathing fluctuated violently, and he couldn't help coughing twice.
She looked at the flowers that Mu Ning had sent on the bar, and the look on the third brother's face as he carefully put away the gift kept flashing in her mind.
Although she was old, her eyesight was very good. She saw at a glance that when Xiaowu rushed to Laosan and wanted to see his gift, Laosan raised his arm high.
What was held in the palm of his hand was Ningning's photo.
She had also been through the youth and acted in many romance dramas, so she was very familiar with the expression of the Third Brother.
To say that it is a brother-sister relationship is an exaggeration.
Why didn't I notice that the third brother had this thought before? When did it start? Why did he like Ningning? !
Before their identities were clarified, they were siblings!
Ao Xinyi wanted to say that she was overthinking and had seen it wrong, but the slightly nervous expression of the third brother lingered in her mind, and she really couldn't convince herself that she was overthinking.
Now that she has seen it, maybe others can see it too.
Ao Xinyi's mind was in a mess. He reached out for a glass of cold water, tilted his head back to drink it, and made a decision.
She wants to arrange a blind date for the third child!
Ao Xinyi put down the cup, turned around and took action immediately.
Ao Teng raised his eyes and saw his sister walking by angrily. He asked his brother-in-law who was playing chess opposite him in confusion: "What's wrong with your wife? Is she unhappy?"
Bai Shuting followed Ao Xinyi's back, threw the chess piece, and chased after her.
Ao Teng: "..."
Well, he asked unnecessarily.
…
Two days before the recording of the fourth episode of "Heart Signal", director Wu Weiran notified the group and reminded the six guests to arrange their schedules.
Jiang Muning came back at noon with a suitcase.
He pushed the box by himself, and it seemed that the wounds on his body had healed, and there was nothing unusual in his movements and speech.
Most people were not at home. Bai Shuting and Bai Lincheng were working in the company, Bai Siqi was working outside, and Bai Heyun and Bai Songxu were out playing.
The living room was quiet.
Ms. Xu poured her a cup of scented tea as usual and asked about her injuries, as if Jiang Mu Ning was still Bai Mu Ning, who had just been away from home for a few days to work.
Jiang Mu Ning took the teacup and said, "I'm much better now. My family found me a great acupuncture master. I'm fine now."
After she went out, her temperament seemed much gentler and more elegant, more like Nie Wanqing whom she met a few days ago.
Ms. Xu remained calm, sighed softly in her heart, and smiled, "That's good. Madam is at home now, shall I go and call her down?"
"No need." Jiang Mu Ning leaned over, put the scented tea back on the coffee table with both hands and smiled: "I deliberately didn't tell my family because I wanted to give them a surprise. Mom is reading in the greenhouse at this time, right? I'll go find her myself."
Seeing Ms. Xu nod, Jiang Muning stood up happily: "Thank you for the tea, I'll go."
After she finished speaking, she ran away.
Bai Family Garden, glass greenhouse.
Intermittent coughing sounds came from inside.
Ao Xinyi sat in a rocking chair and read a book. He drank a sip of water to moisten his throat, lifted the shawl on his shoulders and pulled it tighter.
Jiang Muning saw her figure outside the greenhouse, walked around Ao Xinyi, tiptoed closer to her, covered her eyes with his hands from behind, raised the corners of his lips, and smiled in a pinched voice:
“Guess who I am?”
Ao Xinyi: "..."
"Who else could it be, my little princess." Ao Xinyi took the hand that was lightly covering his eyes, held it in his palm, turned his head to look to the side, and looked into Jiang Muning's eyes.
There was no surprise in his eyes, nor any joy of meeting her.
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