Chapter 82: You Know, I Like You
Source: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5896087
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Wei Qingyu looked at Chen Linji standing not far away and was a bit surprised.
She calmly glanced around, then quietly walked to Chen Linji's side. "Uncle Chen, why are you here?"
Chen Linji gave Wei Qingyu a kind smile but didn't answer directly. "How have you been lately? Is it going well learning from Feng Yue? Uncle feels like you've been busy these days and not really keeping in touch."
His words sounded like care, but in truth they were a reminder to Wei Qingyu.
How could Wei Qingyu not hear it? She lowered her head a little and spoke with apology. "Sorry, Uncle Chen, I've just had a lot going on lately."
"It's fine. That day I only happened to hear from Liu Yue and knew, the little classmate you asked An Cen to treat passed away." Chen Linji said as he lifted his head to look at the mourning crowd in the distance. He patted Wei Qingyu's shoulder in comfort. "Don't be too sad. Life and death are uncertain, everything is fate. We who are alive must live well."
That heavy palm made Wei Qingyu's shoulder tilt a little, and in her sight Ji Xiao also wavered slightly.
If only Ji Xiao could see it that way.
The wind blew past the evergreen tree making a rustling sound. Chen Linji followed Wei Qingyu's gaze, then slowly said, "Qingyu, the reason Uncle came to find you this time, besides checking on you, is because I have something else to tell you."
"The first phase of our plan has gone quite smoothly. The few proposals you gave also worked very well. Soon we'll be moving into the final phase. In the next month we'll need to work hard, then Uncle won't have to hide our relationship anymore. Our people can step out from the dark into the light. By then, if you want to leave the Ji family, I can also find a way."
Hearing this, Wei Qingyu's heart tightened a little. She said, "No need to rush the moving out matter."
She looked at Chen Linji and calmly added, "Actually, Uncle Chen, we can use the boiling frog method*. Pretend to slip up and let Ji Qingyun think I'm still a bargaining chip. He won't completely relax, but at least he won't be too guarded either."
*The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.
"This initiative must always stay in our hands."
"Mm, what you said makes sense." Chen Linji nodded in agreement, then said, "That Ji Qingyun is best at tricks. When we step into the light, we need to be even more careful. You'll still have to suffer a bit."
Wei Qingyu saw that Chen Linji didn't bring up helping her "escape" from the Ji family again. She secretly let out a breath of relief and shook her head. "As long as the final result is good, it doesn't count as suffering."
"Next, Uncle plans to work with the Jin family of Century Group and take back all the companies that the Master left behind step by step. After all, Qingyu, you also said we can't rush for quick success and fully expose ourselves." Chen Linji spoke as he looked at Wei Qingyu with thought. "These few times I visited the Jin family, I met their eldest son Jin Nanfeng a few times. He's one month older than you and a very good Alpha. I heard during this year's school anniversary you already met Jin Nanfeng, is that right?"
A sudden bad feeling rose in Wei Qingyu's heart. She softly gave Chen Linji an "Mm."
Hearing this, Chen Linji's eyes showed a pleased smile. "Uncle also heard he'll transfer into your school next semester. By then you can try to interact with him."
Wei Qingyu understood Chen Linji's meaning and wanted to refuse. "Uncle Chen..."
But Chen Linji waved his hand and cut her off. "Hey, it's just making a friend, you don't need to resist like this."
He was like an unignorable streetlight by Wei Qingyu's side, and in the original text he was a loyal supporter of the Wei-Jin romance.
"Even though you're an Omega, aren't you still keeping a good friendship with the Ji family's Young Miss, who's also an Alpha? Besides, I don't think that Jin Nanfeng is some rotten second-generation kid. Give it a try."
Chen Linji didn't speak too bluntly, and he didn't give a hard order either.
Just hearing him place Ji Xiao and Jin Nanfeng side by side, then indirectly step on Ji Xiao while praising Jin Nanfeng, made Wei Qingyu feel full of resistance in her heart.
"Besides, in the future our two families can't avoid social dealings. Having such a friend will also help with our company's growth later. What do you say?"
After saying this, Chen Linji looked at Wei Qingyu.
Wei Qingyu also understood the benefit. With a calm tone like compromise, she nodded. "I understand."
Hearing this, Chen Linji was very satisfied and nodded.
After that he reminded Wei Qingyu about some other matters, then as the funeral ended he blended into the crowd leaving.
Wei Qingyu stared at the black hat growing smaller among the people, her eyes deep.
The wind only lifted the long hair at her cheek, covering the flash of defiance in her gaze.
The small piece of bone at the back of her head tore through flesh and grew barbs.
Maybe she was just this kind of person, born to be rebellious.
There could be benefits tied to interest, but she would never mix in even half a bit of love.
She had set her mind on Ji Xiao. In this life no one should think she would ever turn back.
….
The withered rose sank into the rotten soil, and summer vacation slowly came to an end.
The rest of the time Wei Qingyu was busy. Every sleepless night, Ji Xiao could see that the light in Wei Qingyu's room stayed on for a long time. Then she would lean against the bay window, as if keeping her company, counting the stars one by one.
Sometimes she could count from one to a hundred, sometimes from one back to zero.
Ji Xiao was like that star hiding behind the dark clouds, quietly accompanying her moon without saying a word.
Her time with Wei Qingyu changed from every moment in the past, to only twenty or thirty minutes at the dining table, where she asked and answered.
Later, what was left between them was only formulaic greetings.
—Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening.
At the cold dining table sat two quiet girls.
Their shadows overlapped, yet not one of them spoke first.
Ji Xiao felt maybe Wei Qingyu really let go of her.
After all, she was the heroine. Her destined hero was about to appear with the plot moving forward.
By then her feelings for Ji Xiao would also fade away with the strong match of her pheromones with Jin Nanfeng.
This heartbreak had no screaming or clinging. It just faded away without sound.
Like a person sinking into the deep sea, with a few uneven bubbles rising, no struggle, drowned by the seawater.
Thinking this, Ji Xiao suddenly let out a bitter laugh, and the staircase in her sight blurred with a thin mist.
Source: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5896087
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
She blinked skillfully a few times as usual, and her lashes easily broke the barrier formed by her tears.
Then as always she calmly went downstairs, acting like nothing happened, to eat breakfast.
Only this time she didn't see Wei Qingyu at the table.
Aunt Wu saw Ji Xiao staring at Wei Qingyu's empty seat and quickly said, "Miss, Miss Wei hasn't come down for breakfast. Today's the first day of school, maybe she overslept. Do you want me to go call her?"
Hearing this, Ji Xiao quickly pulled back her gaze and coldly tossed out a sentence. "What does it have to do with me?"
After that, she went straight to her seat.
Aunt Wu didn't dare say anything more. She brought over the breakfast already prepared and set it in front of Ji Xiao. "Today is the first day of school. There's a double-yolk egg in the sandwich, wishing you good luck on the Third Year placement exam."
Hearing Aunt Wu's words, Ji Xiao's calm heart rippled.
Placement exam again. It turns out she had already been in this world for a year...
It felt like things had happened in this year, yet also like nothing had happened.
The plot in the original story still followed its timeline, the events still happening at their fixed times. Only the middle was filled with more details, yet it all felt even more powerless.
Whether she can survive till the end is unknown now.
Ji Xiao looked at the sandwich in front of her. Two pretty golden yolks gave off a tempting shine, like waiting to be slaughtered.
As a silent fight against fate, Ji Xiao bit the sandwich hard.
She might step back to stop Wei Qingyu from following Qi Qi's path, but that doesn't mean she'll accept fate and walk to a dead end.
At worst she'll take the money she made from her fund and hide in some small mountain village where no one can find her, and be a village teacher with no official post.
Anyway her life is rotten, at worst she'll just die.
There's nothing worse than that.
But Wei Qingyu can't do that.
She's the heroine. If she follows the original plot, she'll have a bright future. She hasn't taken back what her parents left her, and Ji Xiao can't slow her down.
Thinking that, Ji Xiao frowned again.
Her own problems have nothing to do with Wei Qingyu, so why is she thinking of Wei Qingyu again?
The cafeteria felt even more heavy. Ji Xiao finished breakfast, yet the sandwich in front of her still sat neat on the plate.
Wei Qingyu still hasn't come down from upstairs. Or she left early again like before, and Aunt Wu didn't even notice.
That's fine.
Everything went back to the starting point.
A trace of hidden sorrow showed in Ji Xiao's eyes. She picked up her schoolbag and walked straight out of the house.
The driver had parked the car at the door early in the morning, waiting right on time for Ji Xiao to get in.
"Bang."
"Bang."
The moment Ji Xiao closed the car door, another door on the other side opened.
Wei Qingyu carried her white canvas schoolbag, just like the first time Ji Xiao saw her when she went to school a year ago.
That familiar mint scent brushed past Ji Xiao's face with a cool touch, carrying the freshness of long absence.
The girl's look was calm, her back straight, as if nothing had happened. She sat with Ji Xiao as naturally as she did every day before the summer break.
Ji Xiao seemed to realize something. She raised her hand, wanting to open the car door and get out.
Yet at the same time, a cool and firm hand pressed her down.
The long-sealed flutter on Ji Xiao's heart woke again because of this touch.
She knew what Wei Qingyu meant. Forcing down the wild beating that betrayed her heart, she ordered coldly, "Let go."
"If I let go, will you still stay in the car?" Wei Qingyu's voice was extra calm, as if she was just asking a trivial matter.
"No." Ji Xiao answered in a deep voice, telling the truth.
The air conditioner lowered the pressure inside the car to freezing. Ji Xiao forced herself to bear the pain and lifted her eyes to meet Wei Qingyu's.
But Wei Qingyu looked like she already knew Ji Xiao would say such words. Her face showed no change.
She looked at the rare gaze Ji Xiao cast on her. Her lashes slowly lifted.
In those turquoise eyes, there was cold indifference, yet it read as burning heat. That extremely calm voice struck hard on Ji Xiao's heart.
"Ji Xiao, please understand. If you want to get out of the car and walk to school, then I’ll get out and walk with you. If you want to ride the car to school, then I’ll sit in the car with you. If you want to waste time on this kind of pointless matter, then I’m happy to keep you company. If today you’ll be late for the exam because of this and your grade gets invalidated, then I’ll go with you into the poor student class."
"I do not mind."
Hearing Wei Qingyu’s firm voice, Ji Xiao’s hand, pressed down by her, moved slightly.
She almost could not believe her ears. Looking at the girl before her, she asked in shock, "Wei Qingyu, what are you doing?"
A sudden soft laugh broke the silence of the car.
In Ji Xiao’s sight, a white tumi flower bloomed.
Wei Qingyu held Ji Xiao’s hand tight. Her pale pink lips curved upward bit by bit. "You know, I like you."
That voice was cold and burning, full of love yet covered with clinging vines of obsession.
