Chapter 35
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
"Qin Wanshu, what tea do you like?" Zuo Qinghuan asked Qin Wanshu, who accompanied her for shopping.
"There's a saying: 'Green tea in summer, red tea in winter, and oolong tea throughout the year.' Green tea is unfermented, bitter, and cold, not suitable for women; red tea is fully fermented, sweet, and warm, and not suitable for drinking in summer as it can easily cause internal heat. Oolong tea, being semi-fermented, strikes a balance between the two, neither too cold nor too hot, and helps clear heat, restoring bodily fluids," explained Qin Wanshu earnestly. It's evident that Qin Wanshu pays considerable attention to health.
"You can choose the tea set; I don't understand any of this." Zuo Qinghuan looked at the diverse tea sets, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Qin Wanshu seemed quite interested in various tea cups and tea trays, taking a considerable amount of time before carefully choosing an exquisite purple clay teapot. Given the prevalence of counterfeit purple clay teapots in the market, Zuo Qinghuan was fortunate to have Qin Wanshu, an expert in antique identification, accompany her. The petite purple clay teapot posed no challenge for Qin Wanshu's discerning eyes.
When Zuo Qinghuan went to pay, she was almost astonished – a teapot and six tea cups costing nearly ten thousand. Zuo Qinghuan sneakily glanced at Qin Wanshu, who remained unfazed, silently marveling that tastes and temperament indeed came with a hefty price tag.
In reality, Qin Wanshu had already considered Zuo Qinghuan's financial capacity. Anything cheaper would be deemed subpar, and even if purchased, it would be of no use. On the other hand, something better would be even more expensive, and not suitable for Zuo Qinghuan. Therefore, Qin Wanshu chose a reasonably priced authentic Yixing purple clay teapot with decent quality and value for money.
Zuo Qinghuan was thinking, regretting that it wasn't the benefactor’s credit card but her own little treasury's card. Since opening the coffee shop, her little treasury had shrunk by more than half, making Zuo Qinghuan feel a bit distressed. She believed a few hundred yuan would be decent for a teapot and tea cups, never expecting them to be so expensive.
"Are you Zuo Qinghuan?" Suddenly, a woman appeared uncertainly in front of Zuo Qinghuan. She had been following Zuo Qinghuan and Qin Wanshu for a long time, but Zuo Qinghuan had changed so much that she couldn't be sure if the woman in front of her was really Zuo Qinghuan. Finally, she couldn't help but approach and ask.
"You've got the wrong person," Zuo Qinghuan said indifferently. She didn't expect anyone to recognize her.
"The voice sounds similar. You must be Zuo Qinghuan!" The initially uncertain woman became more certain after hearing Zuo Qinghuan speak.
Qin Wanshu silently observed the sudden situation. Obviously, this woman knows Zuo Qinghuan, but Zuo Qinghuan has no intention of acknowledging her.
"You've got the wrong person," Zuo Qinghuan said, pulling Qin Wanshu away. Zuo Qinghuan believed she had bid farewell to her past, thinking that no one could recognize the current her.
The woman persisted in following them, and only after Zuo Qinghuan and Qin Wanshu got into the car did they manage to shake her off.
Curious, Zuo Qinghuan stole a glance at Qin Wanshu, who had been silent while driving. As a woman, Qin Wanshu seemed unusually devoid of curiosity. Isn't it normal for people to ask questions in such situations?
"Why aren't you asking what's going on?" Zuo Qinghuan couldn't help but inquire.
"Everyone has some secrets; isn't that normal? If you want to share, you'll naturally tell me," Qin Wanshu calmly remarked. When they investigated Zuo Qinghuan before, they had already thoroughly uncovered Zuo Qinghuan's background. Therefore, Qin Wanshu wasn't particularly curious now.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
"You have a considerate personality." Zuo Qinghuan felt a mix of emotions regarding Qin Wanshu's considerate nature. She was grateful that Qin Wanshu didn't inquire about the past she didn't want to recall, yet she also felt a sense of loss. She knew that she was not crucial to Qin Wanshu. Otherwise, anyone slightly interested in another person would be curious about what had happened in their life.
"If you don't want to be recognized, you should consider changing your name," Qin Wanshu suggested, referring to the recent incident.
"The only things she left me that are decent are this name and this face..." Zuo Qinghuan said with a light, ironic smile.
"In fact, I don't look anything like her. She and Li Xin have a similar type of beauty, glamorous and enchanting. However, she is far inferior to Li Xin. She is vulgarly alluring, while Li Xin's allure is ethereal. When I was a child, I often wished I wasn't her biological daughter. You probably don't know that in most families, when a child asks their parents where they came from, parents would say they were picked up. Hehe, I really wished that was true – that I was picked up by her. Then, I wouldn't hate her so much. The most absurd part is that I tried very hard to change my fate, but in the end, I found that fundamentally, I'm not so different from her."
Qin Wanshu remained silent, focusing on driving. She knew Zuo Qinghuan might never have shared these things with anyone else. She was somewhat surprised that Zuo Qinghuan would open up about her past. Qin Wanshu understood that Zuo Qinghuan's past was not as simple as she portrayed. One thing she appreciated about Zuo Qinghuan was her intelligence and diligence. Zuo Qinghuan had a resilience about her, also present in Yan Ruowen, but Zuo Qinghuan was more worldly-wise and adept at navigating social nuances. Yet, beneath that worldliness, she retained a trace of innocence.
"Can't you let go of the past?" Qin Wanshu suddenly asked. Everyone has something they can't let go of to varying degrees and letting such obsessions shape one's entire life isn't wise.
Zuo Qinghuan looked at Qin Wanshu in surprise. Letting go? She wished she could forget the past. How could she not let go?
"Have you ever desired something you couldn't obtain?" Qin Wanshu inquired. Often, the inability to obtain something leads to an inability to let go.
"Yes, but now I don't need it anymore. Let's not talk about these depressing matters. Let's go back and try the new tea set we bought," Zuo Qinghuan concluded the topic. Perhaps what she sought could be found in Qin Wanshu.
“Okay." Qin Wanshu nodded. She didn't particularly like seeing Zuo Qinghuan in a disheartened state. She was more accustomed to the Zuo Qinghuan who was always scheming, twisting right and wrong, and filled with resilience.
…
"Sister Qi, guess who I ran into today?" Du Xiaoli exclaimed excitedly to Wang Qi. She knew Sister Qi had been looking for Zuo Qinghuan for a long time.
"Who?" Wang Qi asked absentmindedly, stroking the Persian cat in her hands.
"Zuo Qinghuan, really Zuo Qinghuan. She has changed a lot, I almost didn't recognize her. Today, she went without makeup, looking very pure, quite different from when she used heavy makeup before..." Du Xiaoli chattered away.
"Is it really her? Where is she?" Wang Qi couldn't help but stand up, her tone becoming somewhat excited. She had been searching for Zuo Qinghuan for a long time, almost ready to forget about this woman. Now, she reappeared. The woman who initially annoyed her, later pretended to be a caring sister, and finally disappeared without a word. Wang Qi was filled with anger towards Zuo Qinghuan.
"She pretended not to know me, but I think it should be her. She was with a classy and attractive woman who seemed quite wealthy. Oh, by the way, I noted down their license plate number," Du Xiaoli said in a fawning manner.
Seven years ago, she was seventeen, just like Zuo Qinghuan at that time. However, Wang Qi back then was not the same as the current Wang Qi, and Zuo Qinghuan at that time was also not the same as the current Zuo Qinghuan.
At the age of thirteen, Wang Qi and Zuo Qinghuan were in the same class. At that time, Wang Qi, in Zuo Qinghuan's words, was a combination of brain damage and neuroticism. She liked everything in pink, and dressed herself in pink, thinking she looked cute, but in reality, she was incredibly foolish. Among the fifty students in the class, she always ranked beyond the forty-fifth position in exams, making Zuo Qinghuan see her as a silly pig. However, with a bit of a dark background in her family, her classmates and teachers were somewhat afraid of her. She always had a group of followers behind her, occasionally causing trouble for herself. It was unclear what was wrong with her.
Wang Qi found Zuo Qinghuan displeasing as well. Back when no one knew how to put on makeup, she would come to school wearing makeup, different from the other girls. What she hated the most was that the boys she liked always revolved around Zuo Qinghuan. She took advantage of her position to bully Zuo Qinghuan for three years. Later, Wang Qi realized that, at some point, her feelings toward Zuo Qinghuan had changed. When she began treating Zuo Qinghuan well, Zuo Qinghuan disappeared. Afterward, the Wang family went through a series of changes, and those cruel events transformed Wang Qi overnight. She was no longer the same person she used to be.
Author's Note:
Mm, the story is unfolding...
Wang Qi is the new character.
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