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Chapter 9 – Rediscovery
Neither of them got out of the car. Xu Shiqi let Wen Jialuo lead her back into the flow of traffic. She thought the girl would find a relatively small and quiet space, at least to have a cup of tea, before unraveling her confusion. However, the car kept driving farther away, eventually leaving the urban area and heading onto the highway.
Even though the car was enclosed and it was hard to hear the outside sounds, Xu Shiqi watched as the colorful city nightscape slowly transformed into a single color, and her heart began to calm down. Not knowing where the car was headed, Xu Shiqi simply closed her eyes for a moment of rest.
When she finally felt the car stop, she realized she had dozed off for a little while. The interior was dark, and she could only adjust her eyes to the light from the moon. She stretched her sore neck and turned her head to find the driver was already gone.
Pushing open the car door, she saw cars on the distant highway rushing by like shooting stars. For a moment, Xu Shiqi didn’t know where she was. She noticed the girl who had brought her here standing at a distance, silhouetted against the bright moonlit sky.
In this completely unfamiliar situation, Xu Shiqi didn’t feel scared. She continued to feel her way around in the moonlight, realizing the ground was uneven and soft. She slowly climbed up and eventually stood beside the girl. Looking down, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Before her was a shimmering water surface, dazzling like silver. Because it wasn’t as vast as the sea, she didn’t hear any sound of water. The surface seemed to be gently brushed by a breeze that swept toward her from afar. Xu Shiqi closed her eyes and took another breath. The wind was cool but mixed with an unpleasant odor, which made her frown.
“This is an artificially dug lake. The ground we’re standing on is the earth that was excavated from the lake.”
Wen Jialuo’s voice had grown calm. Xu Shiqi glanced at her phone; it had already been over an hour since they left. She didn’t know where they had driven to, but it was clear that Wen Jialuo’s previously disturbed state of mind had now settled like the calm lake.
Feeling the unidentifiable wind blowing, Xu Shiqi noticed that Wen Jialuo seemed disinclined to speak again, so she asked, “Have you changed your mind and decided not to talk?”
“Actually, there’s not much to say,” Wen Jialuo replied, her voice still composed and calm. “Didn’t you hear from my sister?”
Xu Shiqi remained silent for a moment. After driving so far, she didn’t want to say anything? This was the nature of capricious people; they were beyond understanding. Xu Shiqi felt a bit impatient and couldn’t help but mock, “So, you really haven’t grown up? Hurt your family for someone you have a crush on?”
“The current harm,” Wen Jialuo gazed at the silver water, murmuring, “is to avoid another, greater harm.”
Xu Shiqi was momentarily stunned.
The girl’s words struck her like an arrow from afar, piercing her heart deeply. So that was it. Xu Shiqi felt the blood in her heart surge, suddenly understanding. She looked at the water’s surface, her expression somewhat dazed. Due to certain reasons, she might have to give up some things in her life, which was inevitable, yet it was something she was determined to do. However, when someone could live well but deliberately harmed themselves and others, she always felt discontent—discontent with their lack of understanding, discontent with their lack of appreciation.
She had always thought Wen Jialuo was such a girl, holding onto a happiness that could be easily satisfied yet ignoring it, choosing to seek those illusory feelings to satisfy her own desires while dragging others down with her. This was why, in their brief encounters, she had felt free to challenge her again and again without hesitation.
But it seemed it wasn’t like that.
Perhaps she, like herself, truly had her own difficulties.
No one spoke, not even the wind. And in this silence, Wen Jialuo suddenly awoke and turned to face the woman beside her, just as she fell into a pair of contemplative eyes.
This woman had a gaze that seemed to see through everything, shining like stars in the dark night. She barely turned away, feeling annoyed that her earlier words might have revealed too much information. After all, she was just her cousin’s classmate and was not really familiar with her. However, it was undeniable that some masks worn in front of family could be easily removed when facing a stranger.
Alright, if you really want to hear it, then I can give you this answer.
Without any preamble, Wen Jialuo began to slowly recount her past.
“He was my senior. When I first entered the school, he was the one who welcomed our group of freshmen,” Wen Jialuo seemed to smile. “It sounds just like those romantic novels. He was tall and handsome. He spoke gently and looked impressive while playing basketball. He was the school heartthrob, and half of the girls in the department were crazy about him. He received love letters in bags and the tears shed by girls for him could fill this lake again.”
“I was one of those girls, but I never wrote him a love letter or cried for him. Liking someone should be a quiet affair, right? I always thought I was appreciating him from a distance, while on the surface, I appeared arrogant and dismissive.”
“Actually, it was because I was too proud that I harbored such reserved dreams,” Wen Jialuo said softly. “Eventually, a senior girl caught his attention, and she smiled so brightly that it seemed to make the world lose its color. That senior girl was beautiful—not just beautiful, that description doesn’t do her justice. If half the girls in the department liked my senior, then half the boys were infatuated with that senior girl. I heard they entered the school at the same time and had feelings for each other, but perhaps due to pride or some other reason, they both hesitated to confess their feelings first. I don’t know how they ended up together, but by the time I found out, I realized I couldn’t extricate myself, couldn’t turn back, and could never forget.”
“When he belonged to everyone as a senior, it was enough just to see him every day. But when he belonged to someone else, just seeing him became painful.”
“I never knew that unrequited love could be so painful…”
Wen Jialuo’s voice gradually took on a bitter tone.
“I heard you didn’t find the person you had a crush on?” Xu Shiqi asked softly. By her description, such a boy must stand out and wouldn’t require much effort to find.
“Do you believe it? No one, not even my parents or my cousin, has heard me say this,” Wen Jialuo smiled and said, “They only know I have a crush on someone. But since I never had any real interaction with my senior, and besides, unrequited love is a hidden sweetness, no one can discover or share it.”
Xu Shiqi squinted and fell silent. Highly emotionally intelligent people often suffer; she gradually began to believe everything this girl said.
“Actually, that’s not the main point. The main point is, after a summer vacation of longing and torment, I finally made a decision: no matter the outcome, I should strive for it so I wouldn’t regret it. But after school started, do you know what happened? They got married before graduation.” Wen Jialuo seemed to sigh, “Such courage, just as expected of the person I like. So, the words I wanted to say became unspoken, piling up in my heart day and night, turning into a disease.”
“Actually, I still had a chance. They were about to graduate, and it’s tough to find a job now. I heard he has high standards, so he was still wandering among the job-seeking crowd. But I was different; if I wanted to, I could introduce him to a great job—high salary, respectable, with a bright future. But if I used that to win him over, becoming the villain often portrayed on television, I wouldn’t be able to stand myself. Even so, I don’t know if I could win his heart or if everyone would end up hurt in the end.”
“Our family has strict upbringing and would never allow me to do such a thing, even if he was the only person I loved in my life.”
“Actually, your family loves you. If they love you, they would forgive everything about you,” Xu Shiqi said slowly. But by the end, she shook her head slightly, feeling her words were rather empty.
“Do you know?” Wen Jialuo said softly, “I once heard a saying: There’s no path that makes everyone happy.”
Xu Shiqi felt that the arrow from earlier might still be lodged inside her, as the blood in her heart continued to flow slowly, making her feel cold. She curled her hands tightly around her arms, her lips trembling slightly: “You’re right. There’s no path that makes everyone happy!”
Wen Jialuo turned to look at her and saw Xu Shiqi staring blankly at the water’s surface, a stark contrast to the carefree way she usually mocked her. After a moment of thought, Wen Jialuo said, “Everyone has their secrets, and it seems you have yours.”
Xu Shiqi smiled faintly. “Unfortunately, I have no desire to share them.”
“That’s okay,” Wen Jialuo shrugged. “Next time you feel like talking, I can set aside some time to be your sounding board.”
“Then I’ve completely earned it today, right?” Xu Shiqi feigned surprise.
Wen Jialuo fell silent for a moment and then said candidly, “I’m sorry for saying that earlier.”
Ah, the little devil now had pure white wings. Xu Shiqi gently sniffed, as if a feather had brushed lightly against her: “It’s fine; it’s true that you asked your mom for help.”
“Say what you want,” Wen Jialuo responded somewhat lazily.
Xu Shiqi smiled, perhaps because the girl had exposed those unknown secrets and the darkness she had harbored, finally letting out a long breath.
“Now that you’ve said it, do you feel more at ease?”
Wen Jialuo suddenly thought this woman not only had a pleasant voice but was actually quite nice. She turned to face Xu Shiqi and seriously extended her hand: “Let me introduce myself. My name is Wen Jialuo, nice to meet you.”
Xu Shiqi looked at the thin hand, resembling a delicate master’s, and gently shook it: “I’m Xu Shiqi. Please take care of me.”
The two of them playfully reintroduced themselves, and when they saw the smiles in each other’s eyes, they both relaxed considerably.
“By the way, where is this place?” Xu Shiqi finally remembered to ask.
Wen Jialuo pointed in a direction: “If we drive for another hour and a half, we’ll reach the neighboring city. I have work tomorrow.”
“What?” Xu Shiqi gasped softly. She saw Wen Jialuo turning to head down the dirt slope, seeming intent on driving straight to the neighboring city, which made her anxious. “I’m not going to work there; you have to take me back!”
“No way. I can’t handle going back and forth like that,” Wen Jialuo made her stubbornness clear again. “You’re coming with me; you can go back on your own tomorrow.”
Xu Shiqi quickly walked a few steps to catch up with her, staring at her. “What if our conversation goes poorly tonight? You wouldn’t just leave me on the highway, would you?”
“How could I?” Wen Jialuo replied as she opened the car door, looking around. “Don’t you think the environment here is beautiful?”
Having adapted to the surrounding light, Xu Shiqi glanced in the direction Wen Jialuo was looking and shivered. They were standing by this desolate artificial lake; what if something went wrong? She swore she saw Wen Jialuo’s two little tiger teeth gleaming ominously.
“Well then,” Xu Shiqi suddenly laughed. “I want to see how you usually eat. I believe your mom would love to discuss this with me, and it would be my way of showing gratitude to her.”
Wen Jialuo initially looked at her as if she had seen a ghost, then turned the steering wheel and said somewhat impatiently, “Don’t keep bringing that up. As you said, it’s just a matter of a few words in my mom’s eyes. So let’s not mention it anymore, okay?”
“Fine,” Xu Shiqi nodded as she gathered her long hair.
“I only have one bed, so you’ll have to sleep on the sofa,” Wen Jialuo added.
Xu Shiqi was speechless and simply nodded in agreement.
“Also…” Wen Jialuo’s voice lowered, “Please keep what I told you today a secret.”
“I understand,” Xu Shiqi replied clearly.
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