Chapter 230: He Has Lost Her Forever
A familiar voice, a panicked call.
Jin Shi Yue gripped Jin Yan Ting’s collar, his thrown fist stopping almost instantly. He turned his head, saw Lian Li, and then slowly released his grip, taking a step back as if nothing had happened.
He asked her casually, “Why are you back so suddenly? Missing your boyfriend?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Jin Yan Ting landed a fierce punch on his jaw. Jin Shi Yue turned his head, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Lian Li was terrified. Before they could start fighting again, she ran in front of Jin Shi Yue, spreading her arms to shield him protectively.
“Enough! Stop fighting!”
Lian Li looked up, her bright black eyes meeting Jin Yan Ting’s, her face full of fearless bravery. “Brother Yan Ting, I told you I wouldn’t break up with him. If you have a problem, take it out on me.”
It was the second time.
The last time at Jing University, under his gaze, she had taken another man’s hand and stood resolutely on his opposite side.
Jin Yan Ting’s face was bruised. The physical pain was not even a fraction of the ache in his heart. His eyes darkened, and he asked with difficulty, “Do you like him that much?”
“Yes!”
Lian Li replied without hesitation, “I only like him. I won’t like anyone else besides him.”
As her words fell, an endless silence descended, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Lian Li couldn’t see Jin Shi Yue’s state behind her.
The light from the crystal lamp cast onto his broad shoulders, illuminating his deep, sharp, handsome face. His sharp black eyes gradually softened with a warm hue.
Even though Lian Li had said she liked him, Jin Shi Yue still worried she would listen to Jin Yan Ting and break up with him.
It was only at this moment, seeing her unwavering resolve, that Jin Shi Yue truly felt Lian Li’s intense love.
She had said she would give him something unique, and she would.
Lian Li faced Jin Yan Ting, her slender waist suddenly encircled from behind, pulled powerfully into a solid chest.
She pressed into Jin Shi Yue’s embrace.
Jin Shi Yue gently rested his chin on her head, his casual tone laced with a smile. “Out showing affection again.”
Lian Li didn’t turn around. Her left hand fumbled backward, and Jin Shi Yue, understanding, grabbed it, enclosing her hand in his palm.
Lian Li’s back was against Jin Shi Yue. She rolled her eyes towards Jin Yan Ting and asked him, “You owed me a wish before. Does it still count?”
Actually, it was more than one. Every year on Lian Li’s birthday, Jin Yan Ting would ask her what she wished for, and she would say nothing. He would then tell her to think about it and ask him later. Over ten years, she had accumulated ten wishes.
Jin Yan Ting guessed what she was going to say, but he still endured the sharp pain in his heart and said in a deep voice, “It counts.”
Lian Li said, “You are both his brother and my brother. I hope to receive your blessing. If not, then I hope you won’t let me affect your brotherhood.”
Her meaning was clear.
Regardless of whether Jin Yan Ting supported it, she would be with Jin Shi Yue.
Lian Li didn’t want to do anything that would harm the Jin Family, nor did she want to affect the relationship between the two brothers. But that didn’t mean she would back down.
However, she was unaware that before she arrived, there was no brotherhood between Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting; it was purely a contest between two men.
Jin Yan Ting asking Lian Li to break up was like a spark falling into dry forest.
A raging fire spread, burning away their precarious peace.
Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting, consumed by rage, swung their fists at the people they least expected to fight.
And Lian Li’s appearance, her resolute declaration of “no breakup,” was like a bucket of cold water, dousing their burning anger.
Everything tonight, including Jin Yan Ting’s confession, Lian Li could pretend never happened, but they could never go back to how things were.
She and Jin Yan Ting were no longer children. She had a boyfriend, and he was of an age to get married; they should have boundaries.
Even if Jin Yan Ting and Duan Shi Qing didn’t end up marrying, he would marry another girl. Whether for his sister-in-law or for Jin Shi Yue, Lian Li would keep her distance from Jin Yan Ting.
“If you’re willing, we’ll be brother and sister forever, and I’ll still call you brother,” Lian Li said to Jin Yan Ting. “You held an umbrella for me and shielded me from the rain back then. I’ll remember your kindness forever. If you ever need me to do something, I’ll still agree, but it will only be within the scope of gratitude and brotherhood.”
It was only at this moment that Jin Yan Ting accepted reality.
He had lost her forever.
Jin Yan Ting looked at Lian Li with a silent gaze, his expression one of undisguised defeat.
“Big Brother, your sister-in-law is stubborn and speaks her mind. If she upset you, I’ll treat you to a meal another day,” Jin Shi Yue said with a lazy demeanor, completely unlike his previous gloomy and fierce self, his punches landing hard and wild.
Lian Li heard him and turned to look at him, suddenly remembering why she had come back. Her gaze shifted downwards, and she stared intently at Jin Shi Yue’s chest.
Due to the lighting, the stains on his camouflage uniform were not very noticeable.
“What is it?” Jin Shi Yue looked down at her, a smirk on his lips. “Staring at me like that, what mischief are you thinking of?”
Lian Li ignored Jin Yan Ting’s presence and reached out, her fingertip brushing against the clothes on Jin Shi Yue’s chest.
“Are you hurt?”
Jin Shi Yue let out a soft hum. “I won’t die.”
Lian Li’s eyes reflected his indifferent, casual demeanor. She pursed her lips tightly, then said to Jin Yan Ting, “Brother Yan Ting, we’re leaving now.”
With that, she grabbed Jin Shi Yue’s arm and, frowning, pulled him away.
Jin Shi Yue was beaming, letting her lead him away.
Uncle Jiang stood nervously in the corridor. After seeing Lian Li and Jin Shi Yue off, he rushed into the restaurant and, upon seeing the mess, his pupils trembled.
The Young Master and the Second Young Master, brothers, had turned against each other and fought?
Their faces were both injured, and they looked quite serious. How hard had they hit each other?
Uncle Jiang didn’t dare to look around and cautiously asked, “Mr. Jin, do you need me to clean up immediately?”
Jin Yan Ting rested his right palm on the dining table and waved his left hand a few times, indicating no, and told Uncle Jiang to leave.
Uncle Jiang, feeling anxious, didn’t linger and quietly retreated.
After the chaos, the warm and ambiguous atmosphere of the restaurant had long since vanished, leaving only brokenness, disarray, and pain.
The old wall clock ticked rhythmically.
Emotions ran wild, burning like fuel along with pain and anger, all in silence.
Jin Yan Ting’s eyes were red, his heart feeling as if it were being seared by a branding iron, a constant, dull ache.
At twelve years old, an age that should have been carefree, Lian Li, burdened with worries, came to Jin Yan Ting, who was eight years her senior.
From initial wariness and strong defenses to eventually opening up. In the blink of an eye, they had spent ten years together, and looking back, it seemed as if all those days were vivid.
In spring, they planted peach trees, and Lian Li dug in the garden, getting her face dirty; in the hot summer, Jin Yan Ting declined dinner invitations to pick her up from school after her college entrance exams; in autumn, fallen leaves landed on her hair, and Jin Yan Ting reached out to brush them away, giving her a custom robot; in the snowy winter, Jin Yan Ting fell ill from the cold, and she tenderly and kindly cared for him.
The seasons flowed by, and now, they stood at a crossroads in their lives, heading in different directions.
As long as Lian Li had liked him, Jin Yan Ting felt he still had a chance, that he could salvage things, that they could go back to the past.
But now, he realized he was terribly mistaken.
Now, his liking her was the greatest harm he could do to her.
The only thing he could do for her was to stop liking her.
Was he willing?
How could one willingly let go of someone they truly liked?
But at this point, he couldn’t blame anyone else.
If he had realized his feelings for her earlier, realized the strength she brought him, would the outcome have been different?
