Chapter 209: How Did My Girlfriend Become So Smart
Lu Yan Ying was stunned. “It’s… it’s over.”
“We’re done talking, so I’ll be going now,” Lian Li said, standing up and bidding farewell politely.
Lu Yan Ying quickly stood up. “Lian Li!”
Lian Li paused her steps.
Lu Yan Ying met her gaze, her tone inexplicably softening. “Your aunt really cares about you. She truly loves you.”
Lian Li replied courteously, “I understand. Thank you for telling me this.”
“Then would you like to come back with me for a meal?” Lu Yan Ying tentatively asked.
“No, thank you,” Lian Li said. “I believe she truly cares about me, and I believe she has her difficulties, but the fact remains that she knows me but doesn’t acknowledge me.”
“It’s not like that… she doesn’t not want to acknowledge you. She just thought you would blame her, thought you wouldn’t want to see her…”
Upon hearing this, Lian Li didn’t reply further and turned to leave without looking back.
Lu Yan Ying meant well, coming to mediate.
But harm is harm, and not acknowledging someone is not acknowledging them. Can any amount of difficulties or reasons make up for it?
People always forget their pain once the wound heals.
For Lian Li, even if the wounds caused by harm healed, they would leave scars, constantly reminding her over the years that there was once a person who had plunged a knife into her heart.
Returning to Yu Jing Palace, the servants were preparing lunch in the kitchen. The living room was empty. Jin Shi Yue was likely still in the study room in a meeting. Lian Li changed her shoes and collapsed onto the sofa.
The sofa was soft, its plush fabric brushing against her cheek, making her instinctively nuzzle into it.
Jin Shi Yue walked out with a calm and steady gait. Seeing a pair of fair, tender legs peeking out from a corner of the sofa, he walked directly towards them.
Lian Li buried her face in a pillow, like a quail, but more lively and cute than a quail.
Jin Shi Yue pinched her nape with his slender fingers. Lian Li felt ticklish and reached out to push his hand away, but it was enveloped by Jin Shi Yue’s large hand.
Lian Li sat up helplessly, asking with annoyance, “What are you doing?”
Jin Shi Yue squatted in front of the sofa, his gaze lower than hers, requiring him to tilt his chin up to look at her. “Who did you see?”
“Xu Jingxi,” Lian Li paused for a second, then added, “and Lu Yan Ying.”
She looked at the man in front of her, her eyes slowly rolling as she asked, “Lu Yan Ying asked me to go back to the Lu Family for dinner. Do you think I should agree?”
“Do you want to agree?” Jin Shi Yue looked directly into her eyes with his dark gaze.
Lian Li shook her head. “No.”
“Then don’t agree.” Jin Shi Yue placed one hand on her waist and cupped her face with the other, his thumb rubbing her skin.
Even if the outside world had countless reasons to forgive Ji Tan, Lian Li didn’t want to forgive, so she wouldn’t.
Lian Li’s gaze swept over Jin Shi Yue’s sharp features. After a moment, she asked, “What about your friend?”
Jin Shi Yue had said Xu Jingxi was his friend’s fiancée, and he likely wasn’t lying to her.
But his friend was a male university student?
This was completely beyond Lian Li’s imagination.
“Song Xiao,” Jin Shi Yue said, looking up at Lian Li, speaking unhurriedly. “Song Xiao is my friend from the Military Region, and Xu Jingxi’s fiancé.”
Lian Li remembered Xu Jingxi’s phone wallpaper also showed someone in a military uniform.
“He died while on a mission,” Jin Shi Yue said. “The person you saw wasn’t Song Xiao.”
Lian Li’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He died?
But the male university student looked so much like Song Xiao…
Jin Shi Yue’s tone seemed casual, yet something heavy was invisibly growing.
Before Lian Li could figure out what it was, he suddenly hugged her, resting his forehead on her shoulder, his voice low and deep. “Lian Li.”
Lian Li’s heart couldn’t help but tremble.
She could vaguely guess that Jin Shi Yue and Song Xiao had a close relationship, and Song Xiao’s death was more or less related to Jin Shi Yue.
But Xue Shufan had said before that Jin Shi Yue had caused the death of his brothers-in-arms, and Lian Li didn’t believe it.
“What’s wrong?” Lian Li asked.
Lian Li expected to hear something heavy, but instead, Jin Shi Yue sniffed the air near her neck and said, “What did you eat? It smells so strong.”
“…”
Lian Li pushed him away forcefully. “Durian pizza.”
Jin Shi Yue smiled and hugged her again. “On purpose?”
He disliked durian, and she insisted on eating durian pizza. Wasn’t that on purpose?
“I didn’t,” Lian Li denied. “I wasn’t planning to come back for lunch. I just finished eating and will wander around this afternoon. By the time I get back tonight, there won’t be any smell on me.”
Jin Shi Yue sniffed her neck, then along her chin, cheeks, ears, all the way to her hair.
His thin lips brushed against her skin, making her tingle. Lian Li couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you doing?”
“Smelling to see where else you have the smell,” Jin Shi Yue said.
Lian Li was a bit speechless, yet found it quite amusing. “Who eats durian pizza and gets it in their hair?”
Jin Shi Yue appraised the smile on her face and raised an eyebrow slightly. “Why don’t you be the first person to do that?”
“I don’t want to,” Lian Li refused.
He still wanted to smell her body. Lian Li had no choice but to wrap her arms around him, stopping him from moving further. “Stop smelling.”
“Happy now?” Jin Shi Yue asked.
“Mhm,” Lian Li said. After a moment of silence, she asked softly, “How exactly did Song Xiao die?”
She was willing to probe into his world, so there was no reason Jin Shi Yue wouldn’t tell her.
He was the kind of person who didn’t care if his pain and weaknesses were known to the whole world.
His only concern was that Lian Li might become unhappy.
“Song Xiao temporarily switched mission locations with me and was killed by hidden mercenaries,” Jin Shi Yue said, his tone as casual and indifferent as ever.
Lian Li, however, heard something else. She paused and then said, “Why did he switch locations temporarily?”
“He and Xu Jingxi had agreed to get married after the mission ended. He switched locations to be closer to Xu Jingxi.”
At that time, Jin Shi Yue had scoffed, thinking they were too lovey-dovey, unable to bear being apart for even a few days, and needing to be so close even on missions.
The current Jin Shi Yue could understand Song Xiao. No amount of being lovey-dovey with the person you like seemed to be enough.
From Jin Shi Yue’s brief words, Lian Li could piece together the full story: Jin Shi Yue and Song Xiao had switched missions privately, and Song Xiao had died in the place where Jin Shi Yue should have been.
Xu Jingxi was an intelligent, sharp, and big-picture-oriented war correspondent. She wouldn’t blame Jin Shi Yue for Song Xiao’s death.
As for Jin Shi Yue, would he think he had caused Song Xiao’s death?
Lian Li wasn’t sure.
She hugged Jin Shi Yue tighter. Jin Shi Yue rested his face on her shoulder, both of them drawing warmth from each other through their embrace.
Lian Li softly asked, “Are you not sleeping well at night because of this too?”
If it were just excitement, Jin Shi Yue wouldn’t have been unable to sleep for so many consecutive nights. If Song Xiao’s death and its after-effects were added, it would make sense.
Jin Shi Yue chuckled in her ear. “How is my girlfriend so smart?”
He still had the mood to tease her.
Lian Li remained silent, simply holding Jin Shi Yue tighter.
She liked hugging him, even though it revealed her loneliness.
Lian Li: “How long has it been since you slept well?”
“Five or six hours,” Jin Shi Yue said lazily.
Five or six hours was the time she left the villa in the morning.
With her around, he could sleep well?
What would he do after she went abroad?
Xu Jingxi: White Moonlight Substitute （get）
