Cen Lingqiu lit all the candles she had brought and placed them on the coffee table. The room was no longer dark, only filled with a warm, yellow light.
She sat on the sofa, very close to Yu Mingjiao.
“Did you eat a proper dinner tonight?” Cen Lingqiu turned her head, her gaze fixed on Yu Mingjiao. “You probably just ate whatever, didn’t you?”
Yu Mingjiao sat upright in her wheelchair, tacitly admitting it.
Cen Lingqiu: “So why do you keep avoiding me and not letting me bring you food?”
Yu Mingjiao: “Because I don’t want to see you. And I don’t want your apologies.”
She was honest and direct. “I want you to feel sorry for me forever.”
I want you to live in guilt forever.
Hearing this answer, Cen Lingqiu propped her chin on her hand and couldn’t help but lower her head and chuckle. “You really are straightforward.”
She added, “As for me, I don’t expect you to forgive what I’ve done to you; that would be asking too much. I just hope, can you not avoid me?”
Yu Mingjiao’s gaze was unfocused as she stared blankly at the flickering candlelight.
She didn’t speak.
Cen Lingqiu said slowly, “Yu Mingjiao, just try to accept it a little, okay?”
She had recently asked the System about the female lead’s family background and relationships.
Yu Mingjiao had no friends. Her mother committed suicide when she was three, her father was an alcoholic gambler who didn’t care about her, her stepmother was vicious, and her stepsister was selfish.
She had never felt a single bit of love growing up.
Cen Lingqiu could understand her loneliness.
On some level, she and Yu Mingjiao were the same.
“Yu Mingjiao, answer me.”
She remained quiet.
“Yu Mingjiao, that’s very impolite, you know,” Cen Lingqiu said. “It’s fine in front of me, but you can’t be like this in front of others.”
Yu Mingjiao finally spoke. “Why.”
“What.”
“Why can’t I be like this in front of others.”
Cen Lingqiu understood and thought for a moment. “Because… I won’t dislike you for it, but if you’re impolite to others, it will make them unhappy.”
Yu Mingjiao’s eyes remained on the candlelight as she whispered, “Insincere.”
Cen Lingqiu smiled.
“By the way, are you afraid of the dark?” Cen Lingqiu suddenly asked.
Her tear-filled eyes, trembling body, and unusual behavior of not wanting to be alone led Cen Lingqiu to guess that she was afraid of the dark.
Yu Mingjiao’s eyelashes trembled, a silent admission.
Cen Lingqiu leaned against the sofa and sighed softly. “I don’t like the dark either.”
At her grandmother’s house, she only had a tiny room. It was narrow, windowless, and damp, shrouded in dimness all day long.
The room had only one very, very dim lamp.
She envied her younger brother and sister’s bright rooms with huge windows.
Yu Mingjiao’s mood was heavy and lifeless. In this dim environment, her hands were still trembling slightly, her long eyelashes quivering erratically. She seemed trapped in a terrifying darkness, devoid of any sense of security.
She must still be very scared.
Cen Lingqiu saw some drawing pens on the coffee table and picked up a black one.
“Give me your hand.”
Yu Mingjiao didn’t understand and instinctively refused, “No.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” She grasped Yu Mingjiao’s hand and turned it palm-up. “Don’t move.”
Her palm felt itchy. Cen Lingqiu was drawing on it. Curious about what she was doing, Yu Mingjiao didn’t move.
“Done.”
Yu Mingjiao lowered her eyes.
A “:)” smiley face was drawn on her palm.
She raised her eyes, looking at Cen Lingqiu with a puzzled expression.
“It’s a smiley face,” Cen Lingqiu explained. “Drawing one when you’re feeling anxious might make you feel much better.”
This was one of Cen Lingqiu’s secret habits.
On the many occasions she was locked in the storage room by her grandmother, she always liked to draw a smiley face on her hand, probably because she felt it was the only sincere and gentle thing around her.
Her grandmother was fierce, her grandfather was cold. Cen Lingqiu’s parents had taken her younger brother to the big city to work and live, leaving her alone at her grandmother’s house.
There were other grandchildren in her grandmother’s house, and her grandmother disliked her intensely, often verbally and physically abusing her. No one in the family ever smiled at her.
Over time, Cen Lingqiu developed the habit of drawing smiley faces on her palm.
Yu Mingjiao looked at her speechlessly. “Are you crazy?”
Cen Lingqiu’s lips curved slightly. “Don’t wipe it off before the power comes back on.”
Yu Mingjiao looked at the smiley face on her palm and, as if by some strange impulse, didn’t wipe it off.
Cen Lingqiu’s gaze swept over the scar on Yu Mingjiao’s arm, and she murmured, “Is the wound on your wrist any better?”
It took Yu Mingjiao a few seconds to realize she was asking about the wrist-slitting wound. She lowered her eyes, covering the scar, her expression gloomy. “Is there any point in asking this?”
Cen Lingqiu was silent for a few seconds. “You’re right.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of you after you were discharged from the hospital.”
Yu Mingjiao was silent.
After a long while, she finally spoke. “There’s no need for such guilty words. You loathe me, and I hate you. Words like these don’t belong between us.”
She whispered, “They’re just disgusting.”
Cen Lingqiu gave an emotionless smile. “Is that so?”
“Yu Mingjiao, you’re too absolute.”
“Between people, anything can happen. Love, hate, loathing, desire—they can all befall one another.”
You can hate someone, and you can also love them. No one can say for sure.
Yu Mingjiao sneered dismissively and said nothing.
After that, neither of them spoke. Cen Lingqiu sat calmly beside her, and Yu Mingjiao silently stared at the candlelight.
In the dim, quiet space, there were no arguments, no questions, only the faint sound of their two breaths. There had never been a quieter moment.
Yu Mingjiao slowly calmed down. She was no longer trembling, and her anxiety had subsided.
Cen Lingqiu was very close to her, and she could again smell that faint cherry blossom scent. It was a pleasant smell that was inexplicably reassuring.
Perhaps she was tired. Yu Mingjiao’s gaze began to lose focus, and her head started to nod. The moment her eyes closed, Cen Lingqiu caught her.
“Yu Mingjiao?”
The person in her arms was already asleep.
Click—
The power was back on.
Cen Lingqiu carried her into the bedroom, tucked her in, left a small night light on for her, and then closed the door and left.
A dreamless night.
When Yu Mingjiao woke up, daylight was already streaming through the gap in the curtains.
She looked at her phone. 8:11.
Is it morning already?
But when did she fall asleep?
Yu Mingjiao thought for a moment and remembered last night’s events.
Cen Lingqiu must have carried her in. Did she stay with her all night?
She went to the bathroom, and just as she was about to wash her face, she saw the smiley face on her palm.
That woman drew it.
She’s clearly older, yet she does such childish and naive things.
She stared at the smiley face for a long time, her memory uncontrollably drifting back to last night.
That woman’s cool and detached face under the dim candlelight, the faint and warm cherry blossom scent, and the calm tone of voice with a hint of a smile—she remembered it all.
She remembered it very clearly.
This woman was a stranger.
Yu Mingjiao washed the smiley face away. Black streaks of water ran down her palm, and soon, the smiley face disappeared down the drain.
She went to the living room, and in front of the refrigerator, she immediately saw a sticky note.
【I’ll leave breakfast at your door tomorrow morning. Remember to get it. Don’t skip it. —Lin Qiu】
Yu Mingjiao went to the door and, sure enough, saw an insulated container.
She looked at it for several seconds before picking it up.
Cen Lingqiu had made millet congee, pan-fried dumplings, and a few delicate, exquisitely shaped white buns in the shape of animals.
They were all still steaming hot.
She wondered what time that woman had woken up to make them.
She had originally intended to ignore the breakfast again, but her words from yesterday suddenly echoed in her ears.
“Yu Mingjiao, just try to accept it a little, okay?”
In her entire life, she had rarely received kindness or goodwill from others. Any warmth she received was impure. Her father only wanted the inheritance her mother left her; her stepmother was just trying to create the image of a good stepmother. Lin Dong only wanted her to submit to him.
It was all insincere.
She loathed this kind of cheap warmth, so she rejected, was disgusted by, and refused all goodwill.
Was Lin Qiu like that too?
Could she trust the goodwill of the woman who had hurt her?
Would she always be as gentle as she was last night?
Yu Mingjiao lined up the food and remained silent for a long time before stiffly picking up a spoon and very, very slowly scooping up some congee.
The warm, sweet millet congee slid into her mouth, giving her body the greatest warmth.
She hadn’t eaten a proper hot meal in a very, very long time. Most of the time, she didn’t eat at all, or just had bread or instant food.
So congee was this sweet.
The congee in her memory was very bitter.
Yu Mingjiao ate very slowly, but she finished the congee and ate a little of everything else.
She had no classes this morning, so she wasn’t in a hurry to go to school. She stayed home and finished a design draft she had accepted a few days ago.
She was majoring in product design and occasionally took on various design commissions.
Cups, cabinets, all sorts of designs.
She drew quickly, her design inspiration was unique and abundant, and her skills were exquisite. It didn’t take long for her to finish. She then sent it to the client, who was very satisfied and praised her greatly.
After finishing this, she went to read books on jewelry design. Her mother had been a jewelry designer, and she had inherited many related books and original drafts from her.
Yu Mingjiao had few interests, with jewelry being the only one. When she didn’t have class, she often studied various gemstones, as well as her mother’s original drafts and books.
She shut herself in her room and drew jewelry designs all morning. She only got up to go to school when her alarm went off.
Yu Mingjiao had washed Cen Lingqiu’s bowls. She took them with her when she left, hesitated for a second at the opposite door, and then rang the doorbell.
The door opened quickly, but it wasn’t Cen Lingqiu. It was the short-haired woman.
“For Lin Qiu,” Yu Mingjiao said, handing the items to her.
“For who?” Wen Zhi thought she had misheard.
Cen Lingqiu had just finished blow-drying her hair. Seeing Wen Zhi standing at the door talking to someone, she casually asked, “Wen Zhi, is someone here for you?”
“No.” Wen Zhi had a look of disbelief on her face. Holding the insulated container, she turned her head and said in a strange tone, “They’re here for you.”
“Me?” Cen Lingqiu walked over and saw Yu Mingjiao. “Oh, it’s you. Why haven’t you gone to school yet?”
Yu Mingjiao’s expression was cold. “I’m going now.”
“Wait,” Cen Lingqiu said. “It’s raining heavily outside. I happen to be going out, so I’ll take you to school.”
“No need.” She refused flatly and was about to leave, but Cen Lingqiu grabbed her wheelchair, pushed her inside, and then shut the door. The series of actions was so smooth and swift that it left both Yu Mingjiao and Wen Zhi completely bewildered.
Yu Mingjiao was furious. “What are you doing?”
Cen Lingqiu: “I’m just going to change my clothes. It’ll be quick.”
Only then did she notice that Cen Lingqiu was still in her pajamas.
She was wearing a black silk nightgown that reached her thighs, revealing her well-proportioned, fair calves. The neckline was low, showing a hint of cleavage, and her long, chestnut-colored wavy hair was casually let down.
She also had a pair of slender, fox-like eyes, thin red lips, and fair skin.
Perhaps because she had just woken up, her detached and cool features had a casual yet enchanting quality.
She rarely saw Cen Lingqiu like this.
Yu Mingjiao wanted to leave, but Cen Lingqiu pushed her into the living room. “Wait for me for five minutes. Wen Zhi, help me look after her.”
With that, she went into her room.
Wen Zhi thought she was hearing things.
Look after who?
Oh, Yu Mingjiao.
Damn it, has Lin Qiu lost her mind?
This is Yu Mingjiao, the person she wanted to kill.
Why has it come to this?
Wen Zhi crossed her arms, leaned against the kitchen counter, and stared at Yu Mingjiao with furrowed brows.
Her expression was fierce, and with tattoos on her chest and arms, her stare would make anyone feel creeped out.
Except for Yu Mingjiao.
Yu Mingjiao felt her gaze and raised her eyes to meet it.
Their eyes met.
When Wen Zhi met her eyes, she shivered for no reason and looked away.
Crap.
What kind of eyes are those.
She thought.
They’re like a snake’s.
Those eyes were pitch-black, without a hint of light, like two stagnant, dried-up pools of water—decayed and cold, utterly devoid of life, filled only with a chilling gloom.
Black straight-cut bangs, long straight hair, pitch-black eyes—she looked just like a female ghost from an old movie.
She has a drop-dead gorgeous face, so why is she so strange?
Could this kid have been driven mad by Lin Qiu’s torment?
Wen Zhi was speechless.
She averted her gaze, not liking Yu Mingjiao’s eyes.
Being in the same room with her, it felt like the air itself had turned cold.
Cen Lingqiu finally came out, changed.
“Jeez.” Wen Zhi took a deep breath. “You’re finally done changing.”
“Why do you say that?” Cen Lingqiu looked at Wen Zhi. “I only took five minutes, that’s not long.”
Wen Zhi leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I’m telling you, stop messing with her. Look what you’ve done to such a beautiful person. Be a decent human being.”
Cen Lingqiu: “…”
She just changed her clothes, what’s the big deal?
“Stop talking nonsense.” Cen Lingqiu pushed her away. “I’m leaving.”
She pushed Yu Mingjiao’s wheelchair towards the door.
Before she left, Wen Zhi called out, “Remember to come to my bar tonight.”
Cen Lingqiu waved her hand in response.
Watching the two of them leave together, she still found it surreal.
She felt like she was hallucinating.
She made a phone call.
“Hey, Lao Chen, book me an appointment with a psychiatrist.”
“Did you like the breakfast I made?” Cen Lingqiu chatted with her in the elevator.
Yu Mingjiao: “It was terrible.”
Cen Lingqiu: “You’re lying.”
Yu Mingjiao ignored her.
Cen Lingqiu was just teasing her. The fact that Yu Mingjiao was willing to accept her food was already a huge step. A small crack had begun to form in the cold, stiff barrier between them.
“Don’t make it for me anymore,” Yu Mingjiao said, her voice cool.
“I can’t hear you,” Cen Lingqiu replied calmly.
“…”
Arriving at the parking garage, Cen Lingqiu lifted her into the passenger seat and remarked, “You should eat more. Your bones are digging into me.”
Yu Mingjiao shot her a cold glance, as if to say, It’s not like I asked you to carry me.
“Why are you glaring at me?” Cen Lingqiu fastened her seatbelt for her.
She then went to put the wheelchair in the trunk.
The car started moving.
It was raining heavily outside, and neither of them spoke.
Mutual silence was the norm for them, and it was also the most suitable way for them to interact at present.
Cen Lingqiu parked the car in a sheltered spot and lifted her into the wheelchair.
“I’ll take you into the school.”
Yu Mingjiao took the umbrella and refused coldly, “Your kindness ends here. You can go now.”
“If you’re going to be kind, you should see it through.” Cen Lingqiu snatched the umbrella from her and started pushing her forward.
“Lin Qiu,” Yu Mingjiao called out, questioning her coldly, “Do you have any respect for my words now?”
Cen Lingqiu detected a hint of insincerity in Yu Mingjiao’s words. If this person truly wanted to refuse, she would resort to any means, even throwing a fit, to express her unwillingness. But if she wasn’t that resistant, she would just complain verbally.
She had somewhat grasped a way to get along with her: at certain times, she had to ignore her words.
Just like now, Cen Lingqiu directly ignored her words and took her into the school.
Yu Mingjiao had an incomparably beautiful face, while Cen Lingqiu’s aura was cool and detached, like autumn rain—distant yet gentle, setting them apart from the atmosphere of the surrounding students as if they were on a different page.
The two of them together attracted quite a bit of attention.
Cen Lingqiu didn’t mind the students’ gazes. The original owner was only twenty-four, but Cen Lingqiu was already twenty-eight. In her eyes, these students were just children.
But Yu Mingjiao was different. She was only twenty, had strong self-esteem, and hated it when people stared at her.
Ever since she was young, she didn’t know if it was because of her face or her disabled body, but many people always stared at her.
She utterly loathed their gazes.
Yu Mingjiao clenched her fists, gritting her teeth tightly.
A disgusting bunch of people.
Her vision was suddenly obscured. Cen Lingqiu had placed her own hat on Yu Mingjiao’s head.
She leaned down and said in a low voice, “Wear the hat. I just bought it and only wore it for the first time today, so it’s not very dirty.”
She thought for a second. “If you really find it disgusting, just bear with it. You can throw it away when you get to the classroom.”
After speaking, she gently patted Yu Mingjiao’s head as a form of comfort.
Yu Mingjiao blinked, and the icy coldness in her eyes, hidden under the hat, inexplicably faded a little.
After taking her to the classroom, she closed the umbrella and gave it to her.
Yu Mingjiao had forgotten her umbrella when she left, and Cen Lingqiu only had one in her car. Since she was driving and her work was indoors anyway, she gave the umbrella to Yu Mingjiao.
“Here’s the umbrella. If it’s still raining heavily tonight, wait for me in the classroom.”
After giving her instructions, Cen Lingqiu left. Luckily, the rain outside had lightened a bit. She ran straight out.
Yu Mingjiao looked at the umbrella in her hand, then at Cen Lingqiu’s retreating back.
“Mingjiao, let’s go in. The teacher is about to take attendance,” An Wu urged her.
“Mm.”
Cen Lingqiu got back in the car and wiped her face with a tissue.
She had to admit, the school was truly huge. It was worthy of being the best university in the novel.
Cen Lingqiu almost got lost.
She started the car and drove towards the art museum in the south.
Her job today was to provide consecutive interpretation for x.r, one of the most famous high-end luxury jewelry brands in the country. The brand was holding a jewelry exhibition at the largest art museum in Lan City today, and had invited many foreign brand companies and designers to participate.
Cen Lingqiu interpreted for them fluently, and overall, it was a success.
At the end, the director invited her to a meal. The two of them dined at a French restaurant, where the female director continuously praised her professional standards and then chatted about other things.
The gist was that their brand hadn’t had any innovation for a long time. Designers had come and gone in waves, and the remaining group had also run out of inspiration, lacking any creative spark.
The female director took a sip of red wine. “Sigh, if only that designer were still alive. With her talent and ability, she could definitely have made our brand even more perfect.”
Cen Lingqiu had a detached personality and disliked such meaningless socializing, so she could only listen politely.
Later, the female director mentioned that she was planning to hold a jewelry design competition open to the public.
Hearing this, Cen Lingqiu’s eyes darted.
She remembered.
This luxury brand was the company the female lead would join. The female lead later became x.r’s chief designer, not only taking x.r to new heights but also earning a good reputation both at home and abroad, achieving both fame and fortune.
It was just that the female lead had been locked up in the manor by the male lead for too long. By the time she got out, she had no academic qualifications and no connections. It took her a lot of hard work and time to get a job at x.r.
When this competition started, the female lead was still in the manor, so she naturally missed the opportunity.
But right now, this was an opportunity, the one Yu Mingjiao had missed.
As long as the female lead entered x.r, her life’s value could be realized, which might reduce her self-destructive tendencies.
But she learned that this competition was only open to people with certain achievements and power, or to their brand’s loyal customers.
It was very difficult for ordinary people to enter; the threshold was too high.
Rather than a jewelry design competition, it was more of an exchange and networking event for the powerful and influential.
Even so, this competition was very important for Yu Mingjiao.
“Director Zhou,” Cen Lingqiu said nonchalantly, “My mom seems to have bought a whole bunch of your company’s jewelry recently.”
The original owner’s mother was a VIP client of x.r.
Director Zhou heard the hidden meaning in her words. “Yes, Madam is very suited to our jewelry. It complements her well.”
“My mom also really likes your products. She’s always telling me to pay more attention to your new releases.” Cen Lingqiu took a sip of wine.
“But I think always choosing from one brand might be a bit monotonous.”
Director Zhou smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with being loyal. What’s suitable is what’s best.”
Cen Lingqiu smiled lightly. “But it seems my mother has bought almost all of your company’s styles.”
Director Zhou went along with her. “Oh? So what are you thinking?”
Seeing her toss back a question, Cen Lingqiu didn’t hide her intentions any longer.
“You just said you’re holding a design competition to create more new products, right?”
She thought it was something else. “Xiao Qiu, are you interested in participating? No problem, I’ll just tell the relevant personnel directly—”
“Not me,” Cen Lingqiu said slowly. “It’s for a—sister of mine.”
“Oh? Is she capable?” Director Zhou expressed her doubt, not quite convinced. “This isn’t just any competition, Xiao Qiu.”
“She will win.”
Cen Lingqiu said without a moment’s hesitation.
