End of Chapter 31
The moment the pungent smell of disinfectant entered Jiang Le's nostrils, her mind suddenly became clear.
She lay in bed, the anesthetic slowly wearing off. The wound on her lower back began to ache persistently, dully, and with every breath it pierced the area, a constant reminder of its origin.
Jiang Le moved his hand with difficulty and touched the slightly cold back of the hand of the person guarding the bed.
Jiang Congyue, who was lying on the bed, woke up immediately with a start. Her eyes were still bloodshot and she looked very tired. She sat up straight and said in a hoarse voice, "Wake up. Don't move. Does it hurt?"
Jiang Le wanted to shake her head, but it affected her wound. She couldn't help but take a deep breath, and her face turned even paler. "It's okay." Her voice was weak and dry, and she could only reply with two or three simple words for the time being.
Jiang Congyue immediately stood up and carefully moistened her lips with a wet cotton swab, her movements gentle as if she was treating a fragile treasure, her fingertips trembling slightly.
"Su Wen..." Jiang Le asked in a low voice.
"...dead." Jiang Congyue lowered her eyelashes, hiding the complex emotions in her eyes. "The search and rescue team searched all night and only found one of her shoes. In that situation, the chance of survival is almost zero..."
Her tone was calm, as if she was explaining the ending of an insignificant person.
Jiang Le was silent for a moment.
Su Wen's madness and death were like a grotesque and tragic drama. The woman who had always called him "Le Le" and "friend," obsessed with likability, finally vanished completely, carrying both truth and hypocrisy.
They didn't feel much joy in their hearts, but instead felt an indescribable suffocation.
"Where's the USB drive?"
Jiang Congyue pulled the silver-white USB flash drive from his pocket and placed it in her hand. "In the chaos, I swapped the two USB flash drives, and the one left at the scene was taken away by the police as evidence."
"Lin Yueying and Lin Zhen were taken in for questioning. Unfortunately, there's no direct evidence to suggest they were involved in the incident. They'll likely be released soon. Su Wen's actions were deemed to be the result of a mental breakdown."
Capital and power always find loopholes, and this result is not surprising. No one cares how a madman got hold of this USB drive or how he was able to contact Jiang Congyue.
Jiang Le regained some strength, looked at her and asked, "What about you? Didn't the police ask you why you were there?"
"I took advantage of the chaos to get away," Jiang Congyue said with a smile. "Lin Zhen was depressed and refused to communicate with anyone. The police couldn't get any information out of him. Lin Yueying was even simpler. He was obsessed with money."
Jiang Le thought back to the text message she'd received before rushing into the warehouse. It was clearly Jiang Congyue's handwriting. In her haste, she hadn't noticed it was signed by Su Wen. After all, Su Wen had been using "Li Xin" to try to gain her sympathy.
She chuckled softly, taking everything into consideration without leaving a single detail untouched.
Jiang Congyue can always arrange everything.
Jiang Le closed her eyes. The pain in her wound was so severe that it made her heart feel bitter. She wanted to reach out and hug her, saying thank you for all the hard work she had done, but she didn't have the strength to lift her hands.
"It's over. It's all over."
She couldn't reach out to hug Jiang Congyue, but Jiang Congyue hugged her tacitly.
Jiang Le looked up at Jiang Congyue, "Then we..."
"Let's start." Jiang Congyue pressed his head heavily on her shoulders, and then rubbed them gently.
It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone. Jiang Le drank all kinds of soups cooked by Jiang Congyue every day. He became swollen all over and his body was shiny from head to toe.
Li Yan, Gulina and others also came to visit her. When they saw two identical faces, they were shocked for a moment, and then Li Yan exaggerated the description. After a while, they put aside the injured Jiang Le and started chatting with each other.
The two funny guys got together and hit it off immediately, as they had similar interests and it seemed like they had met too late.
"..." Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue should have thought of this scene earlier. They looked at each other and said, "Look, these are the friends you picked for me."
Jiang Congyue shrugged and didn't care.
When Li Yan finally finished his chattering, everyone's eyes fell on Jiang Le, who was lying pale on the hospital bed.
"Hehe, it's rare to see Mr. Jiang, who is always serious, have a day like this. Come here." Guli took out a long selfie stick from somewhere.
When everyone saw this, they gathered around Jiang Le's bed.
“Crack—”
A quick and crisp shutter sound was heard, and before Jiang Le could use his hands to cover his now not-so-good-looking face, the photo was permanently preserved in Guli's camera.
In the photo, Jiang Le was surrounded by people in the middle, with her shoulders affectionately hugged by Li Yan. On the other side was the "Michelin" combination with their teeth grinning from ear to ear. Jiang Congyue sat on the bed a little further away, with a relaxed posture and a very faint but real smile on the corner of her mouth.
The most striking thing is that her eyes were not looking at the camera, but at Jiang Le. There was an unignorable tenderness and a kind of tranquility of relief in her eyes.
Guli eventually developed the photo, framed it, and placed it next to the bedside table in their bedroom.
Jiang Le's injuries gradually improved, and his life seemed to be back on track, but it was completely different from before.
One evening, she was processing documents in the study. The wound on her lower back started to ache again, and she frowned slightly.
Jiang Congyue, who had been sitting quietly beside her looking at the documents, immediately stood up, walked behind her, and pressed his warm palms precisely around the sore scar, kneading it with moderate force.
"Rest when you are tired." Jiang Congyue's voice was low.
Jiang Le relaxed his body, leaned back against the chair, and looked up at her. "It's okay, just a little sore. You're smarter than the roundworm in my stomach."
Jiang Congyue's fingers gently combed through her hair, "That's right."
She said it lightly, but why was she still so painful? Jiang Le didn't ask, but just smiled.
Sometimes late at night, Jiang Congyue would wake up from a nightmare, breathing rapidly and her body cold. At this time, Jiang Le would always wake up first, hold her in his arms, and gently pat her back until her tense body slowly relaxed and she fell asleep again.
They licked each other's wounds and used this silent tacit understanding to repair their past broken lives bit by bit.
"Next time we have a day off, let's go to the beach."
Jiang Congyue was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth rose slightly, "Okay."
After that, they went to many places together and saw countless beautiful scenery. Every time they went to a place, they took a photo.
Later, they could no longer store the photos above their bed, so they had to clear out a room to display them.
Sometimes, when Jiang Le had nothing better to do, she would flip through the photos one by one. She had always felt that Jiang Congyue was nothing like her. She was so dull, while Jiang Congyue was so cheerful and lively. Now she realized that in every photo, they were both so full of life and joy.
Jiang Le also slowly tried to make Jiang Congyue happier and more lively.
However, she stopped flipping through the photos and was shocked to find that she was getting older little by little, while Jiang Congyue was becoming more and more beautiful.
Finally one day, Jiang Le was the same age as Jiang Congyue. On their birthday, such a special day, the two of them of course invited their friends to celebrate together.
Guli was the first to come in. She shook off the falling snow from her shoulders. "Wow, this is amazing," she exclaimed at the two girls' faces. "They look just like twins."
"Of course not! Don't question the sculpture skills of China's Michelangelo!" Li Yan's eyes sparkled, and he excitedly bumped into Chen Ting beside him.
Milin arrived shortly after, carrying a heavy small box. "Guess what I brought!"
Li Yan looked over curiously, "What?"
"Wine! It's just homemade wine at home, not too strong. They were clamoring for some before, but my mom didn't make any yet. This time, I'll let you drink as much as you want!"
Several people cheered happily.
Jiang Congyue and Jiang Le didn't hire a chef. The two of them were busy in the kitchen, cooking some home-cooked dishes.
After everyone arrived, they sat around the table, raised their homemade wine and shouted, "Happy birthday to Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue!"
After dinner, they played a few more games before preparing to eat cake.
Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue sat side by side in front of a cake with a "30" candle on it, clasped their hands together, closed their eyes, and made a wish. Several people around them held up their phones to record the event and excitedly sang the birthday song.
Finally, they both opened their eyes at the same time, blew out the candles, and then looked at each other with a smile.
Others started to make noises, “What are you doing?”
They were all having fun, and then they started eating cake and smearing the cake on each other's faces to share the joy.
After the battle, everyone's face was covered with cream, and Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue in the middle had the worst faces, with only two helpless eyes blinking.
"Hahaha--"
With the sound of a shutter, another photo and memory was saved.
After sending away the noisy people, Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue were too lazy to clean up the mess, so they would just invite someone else tomorrow.
I don't know if it was the aftereffect of the mild homemade wine, or if the two people had ulterior motives.
The next moment, they were lying on the bed together, looking at each other with blushing faces.
This sight was incredible, it immediately ignited the fire in my heart, and then the sound of kissing could be heard.
Jiang Congyue opened her arms, her face flushed as she whispered to her, "Happy birthday, Jiang Le."
"Happy birthday, Jiang Congyue." Jiang Le couldn't hide the lust in his eyes. He raised his head hastily and said it, then covered it up again.
This time, she won't do the same stupid thing as before.
…
The night was deep, and outside the window, a light snow had begun to fall again. Yet, the room was warm and cozy, filled with the warmth and intimacy of passion. Jiang Le lay on his side, his fingertips occasionally curling Jiang Congyue's hair scattered on the pillow, his eyes tracing her peaceful sleeping face.
The old injury on my lower back always feels a little sore in the cold weather, but at this moment, it is gently wrapped in another kind of full satisfaction, and the discomfort becomes insignificant.
Jiang Congyue didn't seem to be sleeping soundly. Her long eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes and met Jiang Le's focused gaze. She smiled and subconsciously moved closer to Jiang Le. Her voice was hoarse with a slumber, "Why aren't you sleeping yet? Aren't you tired?"
"Look at you." Jiang Le smiled faintly, and gently rubbed her increasingly radiant and beautiful cheek with his fingertips. "You look so beautiful."
Jiang Congyue glared at her in reproach, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise. She put her arms around Jiang Le's waist, pulled him in, yawned, and said leisurely, "I've seen it for so many years, what's so rare about it?"
"Jiang Congyue," Jiang Le poked his head out of her arms and looked at her intently, "You love beautiful people so much, will you still love me who is slowly getting older?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Congyue seemed to have heard a joke and couldn't help laughing for a long time. She rubbed Jiang Le's hair and said, "Yes."
"During those years, have you ever seen me dislike and hate myself because of my old and ugly face? Besides, I have spent much more time with that face than you have. Would you hate me back then? Huh?" Jiang Congyue's eyebrows curved, with a hint of teasing in his expression.
Jiang Le immediately shook his head alertly and said decisively: "No."
Jiang Congyue looked at her tense expression, as if she were facing a formidable enemy, then laughed happily. He touched her face with his lips affectionately and continued, "You're not afraid of getting old, but that I'm slowly getting younger. You're afraid that this will push us further and further apart."
"But Jiang Le, no one stops loving themselves just because they're old, just like I love myself even though I'm old and wrinkled. I will always love you."
Jiang Le felt dizzy, as if he was drowning in Jiang Congyue's gentle words. Then she took his arm and encircled him into her territory.
She made a soft "hmm" sound in Jiang Congyue's arms, stopped talking, and just snuggled up to her even tighter.
The days seemed to have really sailed into a peaceful and warm harbor. They were like each other's shadows, inseparable, and they understood each other with just a glance.
The past events are locked in the past, leaving only the daily life.
However, Jiang Congyue discovered that Jiang Le was becoming increasingly anxious. She was almost demanding about maintaining her appearance. She would carefully study various skin care products that she had never touched before, insist on exercising, and strictly control her diet.
Sometimes, he would even lose himself in front of the mirror, his fingers lightly brushing the corners of his eyes and eyebrows, as if confirming something.
Jiang Congyue wanted to say something, but her words were stuck in her throat. She understood that what Jiang Le feared most was that she would leave.
Jiang Le felt her physical strength wasn't what it used to be, and it took her longer to recover after working all night. A few more strands of her hair had quietly turned gray. She looked in the mirror, her eyes tinged with fatigue, and then compared them to the still radiant Jiang Congyue beside her.
They should have been exactly the same, but now Jiang Le felt that time seemed to have accelerated only for her.
One day, Jiang Le went to the room where the photos were stored alone under the pretext of sorting out old things. She locked the door and flipped through the albums that recorded their footprints and smiles over and over again, occasionally leaving clear marks on the photos.
Her smile gradually became wrinkled, her eyes became more steady, and even a hint of fatigue could be seen occasionally. Jiang Congyue's beauty seemed to be solidified. The years only made her more mature and charming, but left no signs of aging.
Her finger stopped at a photo taken at the beach last year. The sun was shining brightly, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes were clearly visible when she smiled. The girl next to her, Congyue, had smooth and firm skin, and smiled brightly and freely. She looked more than five or six years younger than her.
Eight years have passed since Jiang Congyue returned.
When Jiang Le was touching her face in a daze, someone gently held her hand from behind. She came to her senses in surprise and looked back.
The person in the photo jumped out, came to her side, and said with the same smile, "Why are you looking at photos again?"
Jiang Congyue couldn't count how many times she had come to this room this month. He wanted to give her some time alone to think things over, but he didn't want to wait for her to come out and only see her forced smile.
"Lele, let me tell you something in secret." Jiang Congyue whispered in her ear, "I might be punished, but I don't want you to be worried every day even though we're finally together."
When Jiang Le heard the word "punishment", she froze instantly, then immediately shook her head to indicate that she didn't want to hear it, but the words still whispered into her ears.
Jiang Le stood there in a daze, staring at her with eyes wide open in disbelief, muttering, "Are you telling the truth?"
"When have I ever lied to Lele? Of course it's true." Jiang Congyue frowned slightly and then smiled brightly.
She finally pushed Jiang Le out of the room. For the first time, Jiang Le was ecstatic and kept asking, "Is it true?"
Every time she heard Jiang Congyue say "yes", she felt a little more at ease.
Jiang Le has never been anxious since then, and her complexion has improved compared to the days when she used any skin care products.
At night, she whispered to Jiang Congyue, "Forever, is there anything in this world that is truly forever?"
Jiang Congyue was uncharacteristically silent, without her usual smile. He lay flat on his back, shoulder to shoulder with her, his expression indifferent. "Yes, life will end, but it's only a brief separation. Everything will return to its former glory forever."
Reproduce...
Jiang Le closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep...
——
Jiang Congyue: 57
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