Chapter 140: It Turns Out Loving Only One Person For Life Means You Won’t Die
Jiang Ning blinked her big eyes, somewhat uncertain: “For me?”
Xie Jingyan gave her a sidelong glance: “I’m treating you, pick one quickly.”
Jiang Ning smiled at the female clerk, pointing to the strawberry cake on the far left: “I want this one.”
The strawberry cake was quickly packaged and handed to Jiang Ning.
The female clerk smiled and said: “Here’s a fork for you, please enjoy.”
“Thank you.” Jiang Ning thanked her.
Xie Jingyan paid the bill.
A fifteen-yuan cream cake.
Topped with a few strawberries.
Jiang Ning held the chestnut in one hand and impatiently started eating with the other.
Sweet food lifts one’s mood; her brows relaxed, visibly happy.
Xie Jingyan watched from behind, looking at her satisfied expression, but thinking to himself that this fifteen-yuan cream cake might be the cheapest cake Young Lady Jiang Ning had ever eaten in her life.
But Jiang Ning didn’t have so many thoughts.
This was the first small cake someone else had ever given her in her life.
She rarely ate these things before because she had no money; a cake costing over ten yuan could buy three days’ worth of groceries, so she only bought herself a very small one on her birthday.
Make a wish, then tell herself happy birthday.
Xie Jingyan’s lazy voice sounded: “Jiang Ning, is it good?”
Jiang Ning turned to look at him, mumbling: “It’s good, very sweet.”
Xie Jingyan was silent for a moment before asking: “Do you girls like boys who take the initiative?”
Jiang Ning almost spat out a mouthful of cake: “What?”
Xie Jingyan’s ear tips turned red, but his face remained nonchalant: “Nothing, just asking casually.”
Jiang Ning fell silent.
What? Using her to gain experience in picking up girls?
Then go chase Wanyuan?
Just thinking about it made Jiang Ning quite annoyed.
So she shot him a glance: “We girls don’t like boys who take the initiative but are scumbags and like to play around.”
Xie Jingyan: “?”
Taking the initiative doesn’t work either?
He couldn’t help asking: “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you have a scumbag look, so girls pass on you from that alone!”
Xie Jingyan: “…”
Is it his fault for being good-looking?
It’s his parents’ good genes; he won’t take the blame for that.
Moreover, where was he a scumbag? Perhaps when he was very young, he saw the ups and downs of relationships; on a busy street with people coming and going, while his mother held him and wailed in grief, there were many happy reflections of families cuddling together—his family was just a snapshot of misfortune; later he met Father Xie, who loved his mother very much, her smiles increased, her eyes brightened, she no longer shed tears or had hysterics; it was Father Xie’s appearance that healed her.
It was also at that time that little him gained a concept of loyalty.
Turns out loving only one person for life won’t kill you.
So Xie Jingyan thought, if he really liked a girl in the future, he would love her without reservation.
But when it really came to him, he always couldn’t take that step, too many concerns and thoughts, afraid of being let down, afraid of being played with, afraid of giving everything and not making it to the end.
If love is a game of strategy, then the one who falls first is definitely the coward in the game.
Xie Jingyan sighed lightly: “You say I look like a scumbag, but I see you’re not much better.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She glared at him angrily: “What’s wrong with me!”
At least she wasn’t trying to flirt everywhere!
Xie Jingyan snorted coldly: “If you don’t like Wei Jin, don’t string him along; it’s hard on him too.”
And even coming to him to be a matchmaker.
Dream on!
Jiang Ning refused to accept it: “I refused him, I didn’t string him along.”
“You refused him?” Xie Jingyan was surprised; this was truly a pleasant surprise.
Jiang Ning looked at him with disdain: “I’m not like certain people who fish; I have morals.”
Xie Jingyan: “?”
Though he didn’t quite understand what Jiang Ning meant, he finally heard some good news.
“High school students should focus on studying, not think about random things.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
The least qualified person to say that is him, okay.
Kissing her a few times, muttering Wanyuan’s name while sleeping—couldn’t be treating her as Wanyuan’s substitute, right?
The more Jiang Ning thought, the more ridiculous it seemed.
In her lifetime, could she really experience this substitute trope? Just thinking about it made her numb all over.
She jabbed at him coldly: “You really have the nerve to say it so righteously; whether you’ve thought about it, you know in your heart.”
Xie Jingyan: “?”
He tensed for a moment—was he found out?
That shouldn’t be.
Jiang Ning instantly caught his abnormality.
Feeling guilty, huh, dead scumbag.
The two each harbored their own thoughts.
Xie Jingyan was still pondering the meaning of Jiang Ning’s words.
His heart skipped a beat—could his forged identity have been discovered?
Xie Jingyan calmed down and slowly sorted through these matters in his mind.
From when Jiang Ning suddenly deleted him, then inexplicably ignored him for a while, refusing to interact with him; if not for Jiang Yan’s matter, they wouldn’t have reconnected.
Even after reconnecting, Jiang Ning kept a safe distance from him.
Xie Jingyan’s heart sank, not knowing where he had slipped up.
But this was just his one-sided guess.
Xie Jingyan’s expression remained normal as he replied in his usual tone: “What do I need to think about? I’m not like you, with Gu Lanli by your side, Wei Jin delivering a love letter, oh right, and your favorite online relationship—excluding those two, dare you say you haven’t dated early?”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She was instantly speechless.
She’d almost completely forgotten about the online relationship.
He had the nerve to say that, when he was just like her, deceiving people online.
Jiang Ning was glad she’d discovered it early.
She coughed lightly: “What online relationship? I was just playing around.”
Xie Jingyan smiled faintly: “Playing around? Did you dump him?”
Jiang Ning carefully observed Xie Jingyan’s expression and, seeing no abnormality, slowly said: “Yeah, high school students should focus on studying— what, you wanna stand up for him?”
Xie Jingyan suddenly laughed out loud: “No, I want to say you dumped him well; it’s really impressive that you have such awareness.”
Jiang Ning’s suspended heart slowly settled.
Looks like Xie Jingyan hadn’t discovered her yet.
She didn’t want to continue the topic, so she changed it: “Are we there yet? We’ve walked pretty far.”
Xie Jingyan’s smile faded as he pointed to the last building: “Right there.”
The two entered the residential community; the buildings there were dated, and some people were walking in the community’s green spaces.
The deeper they went, the fewer people there were.
Until they reached the front of the last building.
Jiang Ning looked somewhat stunned at the empty, dilapidated floors, especially the third floor, covered in traces scorched by a big fire, reduced to rubble; because it had been uninhabited for so long, the whole building was overgrown with green vines, and damp moss grew in the corners.
Jiang Ning pointed at the uninhabited building: “Are you sure this is Wanyuan’s home? How did it get burned like this? No one lives in this building?”
Xie Jingyan tilted his head up, his gaze sweeping inch by inch over the pitch-black walls; this was the balcony, where his mother used to grow her favorite narcissus; the glass containers for the narcissus were licked by the fire and shattered, leaving only a few blackened glass shards scattered lonely on top.
He blinked lightly, as if the scene of his loved ones still being alive emerged before his eyes.
His throat felt a bit dry; after breathing in and out several times, he slowly said: “This is my home; because someone died here, the residents all moved out.”
Typo correction.
