Chapter 39

Xue Ling hesitated for a moment between jumping out of the car or kicking Wen Jiuze out. Slowly, her anger began to fade.

This wasn’t the first day she knew Wen Jiuze. He had been like this three or four years ago—often speaking incoherently.

If she stayed angry at him for too long, she’d end up being fooled by him.

People who don’t know Wen Jiuze think he’s a cool guy who doesn’t like to talk to others. Those who know him a little think he’s a friendly person who doesn’t care about anything. But those closest to him know that he’s a mean person who deserves a beating.

Xue Ling had gotten used to it. If Wen Jiuze suddenly stopped being a jerk one day, she’d wonder if he’d turned into a completely different person.

When dating Wen Jiuze, Xue Ling realized one thing: Wen Jiuze, like all men, lies.

When he didn’t want to talk, you couldn’t pry the truth out of him.

Most of the other men Xue Ling had known lied for their own sake.

For example, her biological father came to see her when she was in elementary school. He cried, told her he missed her, and hoped she could persuade her mother to go back with him. He said the divorce was forced and that it was entirely her mother’s fault for causing trouble and ignoring the family.

He probably thought she was too young to remember her childhood, so he tried to lie to her.

Her uncle lied too. He made extra money but lost it gambling. So, he went home and told his wife he hadn’t made any money.

When Xue Ling went to play cards with her friends, and her aunt asked, she lied and said she had gone fishing.

The boys at school would lie too. They’d confess to her, but when she didn’t agree, they’d turn around and tell others they rejected her.

But Wen Jiuze’s lies were different from the others. He usually didn’t lie to cover up his mistakes.

He seemed to think that she was extremely fragile, and any bad news would crush her or even scare her to death.

So, no matter what happened, big or small, he’d act relaxed to shield her from any pressure.

When difficulties arose, he’d stay silent and try to solve them himself.

It was easier to get him to spill the truth with a truth serum than to get him to speak honestly.

Xue Ling had suffered long enough with her mute ex-boyfriend, and the dissatisfaction that had built up over time finally exploded.

Did he really think she couldn’t figure it out if he didn’t tell her? What a joke! She was excellent at playing detective games!

Don’t expect ready-made answers from a man. You have to dig up the real answers yourself.

First, let’s make a mind map.

Xue Ling took out her tablet, grabbed a pen, and started working.

Wen Jiuze’s motives were twofold: one for himself and the other for her.

Xue Ling understood this clearly because her chances of success were greater.

Wen Jiuze, who was pretending to be indifferent, actually cared deeply about the fact that she had turned into a zombie.

It was known that the reason she became such a special zombie was due to the Wen family’s Tai Sui.

Wen Jiuze didn’t say it directly but indirectly admitted that Wen Xuan was likely to have turned into a zombie-like her, and it was almost certain it was because of Tai Sui.

From this, it seemed that the Wen family’s Tai Sui was very precious and rare. If the Wen family still had some, Wen Jiuze would have gone there to try and get some for her, so they probably didn’t have any left.

They had left Anxi City quickly, and Wen Jiuze never mentioned Tai Sui again.

If you thought about it carefully, according to Wen Jiuze’s personality, the more he avoided talking about something, the more he was actually thinking about it.

Now, it was clear that their destination was Andong City.

What was in Andong City?

Not long ago, they had also mentioned Wen Jiuze’s sister, Wen Yi. Xue Ling quickly thought of Wen Yi, who was also in Andong City.

Wen Jiuze had a bad relationship with the Wen family, so he wouldn’t look for Wen Yi unless it was absolutely necessary.

So, was it possible that he thought Wen Yi had Tai Sui and wanted to find her?

Wen Jiuze had Tai Sui in his hand before, and Wen Xuan had eaten it too. As a child of the Wen family, Wen Yi might have also been given Tai Sui?

…

Wen Jiuze was driving the car. After a long time without Xue Ling hitting him, he glanced at her several times.

He saw her holding the tablet, poking it with a pen, and looking thoughtful, as serious as if she were doing homework.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

Xue Ling didn’t even look up as she inputted her speculations into the notepad and had the tablet read them aloud.

“I already know what you want to do in Andong City. You want to find Wen Yi to get Tai Sui…”

Although the electronic voice was flat and emotionless, Wen Jiuze couldn’t laugh.

He focused on the road ahead. After listening, he hummed and casually said, “You were so quiet for so long just thinking about this? I thought you were thinking of how to teach me a lesson. I was nervous for nothing.”

Xue Ling narrowed her eyes and observed his expression, confirming her guess in her heart.

When had this kid ever driven so attentively? He seemed focused on driving, but he was actually thinking about how to continue hiding the truth.

The tablet’s electronic voice spoke again: “You were trying to change the subject, and I guessed it right.”

Your ex-girlfriend was so sincere to you, but you were still playing tricks on her.

Wen Jiuze: “…”

“Tsk.” He stopped paying attention to the road and took her tablet to take a look. “You’re suddenly so smart. Why are you guessing this? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable if you were a little dumber and didn’t think about anything?”

Xue Ling snatched the tablet back and shouted at him with the loudest volume the electronic voice could reach: “You forced me to do this!”

She could just stop thinking about anything and let him go crazy under the heavy psychological pressure.

“Why hide something so simple from me? Can’t you just tell me directly?”

What’s wrong with this dog’s brain? Sometimes it works logically, and other times, it’s all over the place.

Wen Jiuze was silent for a long time before he spoke, “How can I tell you something that isn’t certain?”

“What if Wen Yi isn’t in Andong City? What if she doesn’t have Tai Sui anymore? What if Tai Sui is useless to you? If I tell you, won’t you be disappointed?”

“What’s wrong with being disappointed? It’s not like I haven’t been disappointed before. Disappointment is a very normal emotion.”

“When I was a kid, I hoped my mom would come back to see me during the holidays, but I’d be disappointed if she was too busy with work and couldn’t make it. I was disappointed when I didn’t get into the school I wanted, and disappointed when I didn’t win the small appliance I liked in a supermarket lottery… There are so many disappointments in life. What’s the big deal?”

Wen Jiuze fell into a longer silence, unable to respond.

He thought about his mother.

His mother was in poor health, and being in bed all the time made her overly anxious. Even bad weather would depress her and make her condition worse.

He was bullied outside, neighbors made sarcastic remarks, relatives came to collect debts… all the bad news would make her miserable.

Over time, Wen Jiuze got used to it. He never showed her any bad news, never said anything that would put pressure on her, and his first reaction whenever problems arose was to deal with them himself and hide them from her.

It wasn’t a big deal, as long as she was healthier and happier.

There were only two people he truly cared about—his mother and Xue Ling.

He subconsciously treated Xue Ling like his mother.

But Xue Ling didn’t seem to need that kind of treatment.

Wen Jiuze stopped joking and said calmly, “I hope you can live an easy life and not be disappointed.”

Xue Ling: “…”

She started flipping through the videos on her tablet. Wen Jiuze didn’t hear her respond for a while. He turned around and saw she was watching a TV show seriously.

After a while, the show started playing.

The woman, with a sorrowful expression, hugged the man, who had blood on his lips, and cried, shouting: “Erniu! Why didn’t you tell me you had this disease?”

The man, barely hanging on, replied weakly, “I didn’t want you to worry, Guihua. By not telling you, I hoped you’d live happily and peacefully…”

In the sad, sentimental music, Wen Jiuze felt a silent mockery.

Soon after, Xue Ling switched to another show, this time a spy drama set in the Republic of China.

“Comrade Zhenxiang, I don’t have any feelings for you. Please don’t come to me again!”

The scene shifted, and the tough-talking man was shot. He covered his stomach and grabbed the woman’s hand, saying, “I lied to you when I said I didn’t love you. My situation is very dangerous, and I could get into trouble at any time. You’re still young, and I don’t want you to be sad for me.”

The woman cried and called out to Brother Feng. A man, also injured, rushed over, slapped him, and cursed, “If you’re afraid my sister will be sad, then don’t ever tell her about it. It’s better to keep it in your coffin. Why are you talking about it now?”

The tear-jerking scene ended, and the closing theme played: “Oh~ I really love you~ The secrets I keep from you are actually confessions~”

Wen Jiuze had never watched such TV shows, but he felt this ridiculous plot carried a hidden meaning.

Xue Ling still wasn’t satisfied, so she switched to a historical drama.

It was the usual triangle struggle. The hero loved the heroine dearly, but due to family reasons, he had to marry another woman of the same social standing. His family also threatened to deal with the heroine if she didn’t break up with him.

So, the male lead, with a heartbroken expression, said he didn’t love the female lead at all.

The two sadly broke up, and then the heroine found another man. However, the hero, who had said he wanted to break up, couldn’t accept this and continued to harass the heroine.

“Don’t go! Yan’er, I had my reasons for doing that. I don’t love her at all. I only love you!”

“What’s the point of you saying this now?”

The two started arguing and suddenly kissed.

When the male and female leads were delivering certain lines, Xue Ling turned her head and looked at Wen Jiuze meaningfully.

When the kissing scene started, Wen Jiuze also looked at Xue Ling meaningfully and sighed regretfully.

Xue Ling: What are you regretting?

Finally, she turned off the melodramatic show, and the car fell silent again.

“How do you feel after watching it?” Xue Ling asked.

“It feels… very educational.”

Xue Ling wondered if he had really learned something: “Then what did you understand?”

Wen Jiuze answered in his own way: “When I broke up with you, I should’ve cried.”

Damn, he really did learn something.

Xue Ling originally wanted to tell him to just say what was on his mind instead of keeping it bottled up, but did he really respond by crying?

Crying? She had never seen him cry, with red eyes and tears falling? She couldn’t even imagine it.

“If you cry in front of me now, I’ll forgive you,” Xue Ling said as if she was giving away something precious.

“Are you serious?”

“Really. You cry and beg me for forgiveness.”

Wen Jiuze actually found a spot to park the car, turned to face Xue Ling, and gathered his emotions, as if preparing to cry.

Then, he looked at Xue Ling and suddenly burst out laughing.

Xue Ling tapped the cushion impatiently, urging him, “I told you to cry, and now you’re laughing! Hurry up!”

Wen Jiuze stopped laughing and glanced out at the desolate scene outside the window. When he turned back to look at Xue Ling’s hopeful expression, he couldn’t help but smile.

What’s so funny?

To set the mood, Xue Ling played a very sad song for him.

However, the result was the opposite of what she intended. This time, Wen Jiuze burst out laughing. “I’m just thinking about that spy drama we watched earlier. The guy was half-dead, but he still confessed his love, only to be slapped unconscious by the person next to him. Hahaha!”

The plot didn’t seem that funny at first, but after he said that, Xue Ling couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“And in that costume drama, the male lead said he didn’t love the female lead, but with that look in his eyes, that expression—who would believe it? Ridiculous.”

Xue Ling nodded. Yes, his acting was terrible, and the heroine saw through his lies when they broke up. But Wen Jiuze, you’re a natural-born actor, and you acted so convincingly when we broke up.

Xue Ling sighed at her ex-boyfriend, pitying him, and said, “That’s the cleverness of the hero, so they end up together. You, however, are still the ex-boyfriend.”

Wen Jiuze: “…”

“Are you going to cry or not? Hurry up.”

“I can’t cry.” Wen Jiuze leaned back in his chair. “My mind is full of those stupid TV shows you just played. Honestly, they’re hilarious.”

Xue Ling thought, You say they’re funny, but you’re the funniest one.

“Don’t you think you’re a lot like them?”

“I don’t think so. Not at all.” Wen Jiuze replied shamelessly. “I wouldn’t make you sad like those heroines.”

Xue Ling wanted to refute it, but after thinking carefully, she found that she had no way to refute it.

Because compared to being sad, she was indeed more angry when she thought of Wen Jiuze.

For more than three years, on every sleepless night, she often became so angry thinking about their past that she imagined a hundred ways her ex-boyfriend could die.

Sad? It doesn’t even compare to the sadness she feels when she thinks of her mom.