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Chapter 28: Questions from Others
Suddenly, things took a turn.
Qiong Hua had not expected Lin You to speak back so sharply.
“I’m not just interested in him, I love him. No one in this world loves him more than I do.”
Lin You laughed, mocking her. “Love? How ridiculous. Everyone in the Qin family loves him more than you ever could.”
“You don’t love him as much as I do. If you did, you would have visited him at least once, knowing how busy and intense his training is.”
Lin You couldn’t believe Qiong Hua would say something so audacious, as if Lin were the intruder in this relationship.
Deep down, Lin You questioned her own feelings. Did she truly know if she loved Qin Lang, or if he even loved her? She had never had the courage to ask, and Qin Lang was hardly someone to profess love out loud.
Seeing her silence, Qiong Hua felt satisfied, confident she’d struck a nerve in their relationship.
“Do you know how much I worry every time he’s on a mission? I lose sleep over it. But you? You go about your day like nothing’s wrong, chatting with colleagues, showing no sign of worry.”
Lin You rolled her eyes. Did Qiong Hua really expect her to wear her worry on her face all day?
Unbothered by Lin’s dismissive look, Qiong Hua pressed on
“Do you know what his favorite food is? His favorite song? Do you know how much effort I’ve put into learning everything about him?”
“He loves sweet and sour pork and the song “Boundless Ocean and Vast Skies” by Wong Ka Kui,” Lin replied calmly. She knew these things about Qin Lang from their high school days, but he liked braised pork belly more now.
Lin You thought to herself, “She’s not even close to knowing him well, she’s delusional.”
Qiong Hua added one more blow “In the past, he even took me shopping and bought me flowers.”
Lin You felt a pang at the mention of flowers. Since they’d met, Qin Lang had never bought her jewelry or flowers, things she’d brushed off before but now felt irritated about, especially now that she knew he’d given those things to someone else.
Qiong Hua continued flaunting a necklace Qin Lang had supposedly given her a four leaf clover one from Van Cleef & Arpels. Lin You recognized it as a line Professor Song had once bought her in every color, though she rarely wore them.
“This was from him. When I joined the Special Ops team, he gave it to me as a token of safety and success on missions.”
As Qiong Hua went on, Lin You turned and walked away without a word, her patience exhausted.
That night, Lin You lay in bed, replaying Qiong Hua’s words, her mind filled with envy and frustration.
The next day, Lin You showed up at the medical team with dark circles under her eyes.
At lunch, Xiao Nan noticed. “Lin, did the commander return?”
Lin You shook her head.
“Then why do you look so sleep deprived?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Dr. Liu circled her, inspecting her closely before concluding, “You missed him too much and couldn’t sleep alone.”
Qiong Hua visited the clinic again that afternoon, her proud stride as she passed Lin You only fueling her irritation.
Lin wondered why Qiong Hua still worked here, staying so close to Qin Lang under the guise of “skill.” She felt like she, Qin Lang’s wife, was the one repeatedly subjected to his admirer’s antics. She wanted to respond, to ask Qin Lang, “Do you love me? Do you care for me?” But she never could.
Qin Lang returned late one night. Lin You was in bed but wide awake, hearing him change and then enter the bathroom.
After he returned, he lay down beside her, holding her close.
Lin You was pretending to sleep, unsure of how to bring up her concerns. Soon, though, she heard his steady breathing as he drifted off, clearly exhausted from the mission. The thought of waking him up just to ask something felt cruel, given the risks he faced daily.
The next morning, still feeling the weight of yesterday, she tried to voice her concerns as Qin Lang held her.
“Qin Lang, did you ever… like Qiong Hua?”
He looked at her, visibly frustrated. “Why are you asking me this again?”
She detected impatience in his tone, and a silence fell between them as he held her close.
“Let’s just sleep,” he muttered, closing his eyes.
The distance between them felt more than physical as they lay together in silence, each with their own unspoken frustrations and questions. Though physically close, their hearts felt separated by miles.