TSDT - 49

Jiang Ying’s heart skipped a beat, but she managed to maintain her composure. Staring at the text, her mind raced.

“It’s just hay, to keep the mint warm,” she said. “A junior gave it to me a few days ago.”

Zeda was their alma mater too; this reason should be acceptable, right?

But why was his face getting darker and darker?

She felt a little nervous, pondering and continuing to fabricate: “This junior used to be on my committee, then he changed majors... We’re both in Zebian, so we occasionally keep in touch. Last time he heard...”

“You’re lying,” he interrupted her.

Jiang Ying paused: “No, I’m not...”

“You don’t even dare to look at me,” he said.

“...” Jiang Ying looked up at him. His face was utterly devoid of expression, yet she saw a bottomless abyss, saw pain and struggle.

Somehow, she suddenly wasn’t nervous anymore.

Meng Jingshu stared at her gradually calming eyes, his breathing growing more strained.

“It’s that person, Deng Mingke, isn’t it?”

Jiang Ying was truly surprised this time: “How did you know?!”

“Last time I went to look at apartments with you, his honor certificate was bloody placed on the table!”

“Oh...”

He closed his eyes, trying his best to suppress his emotions, and said, “Don’t you think you should explain?”

Jiang Ying remembered how she had told Huang Yanfei that day that her conscience was clear. Why was she shrinking back now? She went over the incident in her mind, feeling there was really nothing out of line, so she told the truth.

“The day after we saw the apartment, I ran into him at the subway station after returning from an outdoor assignment. He said Xu Jiahong had confirmed taking over and thanked me, so he treated me to a meal.”

“A meal...” he pulled at the corners of his mouth. “A meal, and he knew you grew mint, and knew to give you this.”

“Well... you can’t eat a meal without talking, right? We were chatting back and forth, he talked a bit about his major, what they cultivated, and I mentioned that I also grew mint.” The more Jiang Ying spoke, the more she felt she had done nothing wrong, becoming more and more righteous. “He said putting some hay would be better for mint over winter, and that the school had plenty so he could get me some. Then the next day, I happened to pass by the College of Agriculture, and he gave it to me.”

“You remember it so clearly,” he chuckled self-mockingly. “Then do you remember that I also had a part in the mint?”

Jiang Ying said, “If you don’t like it, just throw the hay away. It won’t die without it.”

“Throw it away? Then how will you explain to others?” his words turned cutting.

Jiang Ying frowned: “We haven’t been in touch much since then. I don’t need to explain to him. Meng Jingshu, there’s nothing between him and me.”

He stopped smiling, staring coldly at her: “Then why did you feel guilty? Why did you lie?”

Jiang Ying couldn’t quite explain what she was thinking the moment he asked. She mumbled, “You suddenly asked me so seriously, I got a little nervous.”

This statement, however, infuriated him.

“I’ve been more serious and angrier, and I’ve never seen you scared! Why are you nervous? Is it because you think maybe others are better than me and you want to try them out?! That’s why you were so happy when you heard I wouldn’t be here!”

Jiang Ying was incredulous.

He thought that way?

He knew nothing of her contradictions and struggles, and now he was accusing her of being fickle!

Anger made her sharp: “Yes, you’re right! There are so many men better than you, I fall in love with every single one I meet!”

“I won’t allow it!” He suddenly gripped her hand, with such force that it felt like he might crush her.

The more he lost control, the more she became frantic. She utterly disregarded the pain in her hand, pulling him to move outward. Her phone was casually placed on the single sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. Jiang Ying pulled Meng Jingshu there, her hand already burning with pain.

But she smiled, unlocked her phone with one hand, opened the chat app, and held it out to him:

“See for yourself how madly in love I am with him! And others, you can all see, see how I can’t stand loneliness and try them one by one!” She was still smiling. “But you’ll probably still doubt it, doubt if the records have been deleted, doubt if I have other numbers you don’t know about? Because you simply don’t believe me!”

Meng Jingshu didn’t look. His heart was pierced by her words, like a sieve. He was in unbearable pain, and for a moment, he lost strength and let go of her hand, but in the next second, he trembled and clutched her tightly again.

“Don’t be like this...” He lowered his head, pushing her phone away. “I won’t look. I believe you.”

His breathing was agonizingly slow, each breath incredibly difficult.

Jiang Ying suddenly felt utterly meaningless and powerless. She let go, and her phone thumped as it fell onto the carpet.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have doubted you...”

She remained silent, letting him hold her hands in a desperate plea for her to stay.

He looked up at her, his eyes red, his voice hoarse.

“Jiang Ying, I love you.”

This was the second time he had said “I love you,” and it was more sorrowful than the last. His voice was hoarse and exhausted, so much so that she wondered if there would be a next time. Or perhaps, this love was fated to end.

“Love me... why are you frowning?” Jiang Ying withdrew her hand and gently caressed the lines between his brows.

Meng Jingshu stubbornly and solemnly looked her in the eyes, asking her, “I love you, what about you?”

Her fingertips brushed over his cold brows and eyes, then moved to his smooth cheek, caressing it.

“Not telling you.”

She tilted her head back and kissed him, hiding the tears that slipped down her temples.

The snow grew heavier, falling like goose feathers.

They leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, the white flakes seeming to fall directly onto their skin. Jiang Ying felt cold, but she was already very hot.

Meng Jingshu pressed her hands against the window with one of his own, her upper body unconsciously tilting forward, while her waist was at his mercy.

He exerted himself on her, trading passion for an embrace free of resentment. Whenever her body opened to him, all barriers seemed to vanish. She was his exclusive pure land, where he wished to remain forever.

Jiang Ying saw their reflection in the window. His eyes were as they always were, his obsession as before.

A devil emerged in her heart.

In a breathless gasp, she told him, “You just want to possess, you just like this.”

Like a wicked curse.

His chest heaved violently, pressing tightly against her body, rising and falling like a struggle.

She felt his anger and unease, yet pleasure pierced through the clouds and moon. Her eyes erupted with a fiery light. She consumed his pain, like a leech gorged on blood, trembling with delight.

“You dare say you don’t like it, you dare!”

He excitedly grabbed the lower half of her face, forcefully kissing her. Their lips and tongues intertwined passionately, like a drowning person clutching at driftwood, desperate for a breath of life.

No matter how much she suppressed or ignored it, she still hated him. Yet, in the end, hate and love were not contradictory; hate had also become a part of love. She loved him, loved him so much that no one else could fill her hunger.

Mist formed on the window, and distorted, messy patterns were drawn on it.

A snowflake touched the warm window, instinctively drawn to cling to it, but melted itself instead. Starting from the edge, until only a crystal corner remained. A few scattered bits slid down with the melted snow, falling from the heights.

________________________________________

The next day, the wind died down, and the snow cleared.

Everything from the night before felt like the gradually disappearing snow under a clear sky, an ephemeral dream.

They tacitly avoided mentioning last night’s events.

Meng Jingshu was meticulously trying to maintain their relationship, while Jiang Ying, both ruthless and soft-hearted, didn’t want to argue with him again while he was busy. She didn’t know if it was right or wrong, but she just couldn’t bear to.

Afterward last night, he held her as usual, weaving a net of intimate words, luring her to fall and then enveloping her. Constantly seeing his tender side made her feel more and more like she was the villain.

Even a vampire, once sated with blood, can have moments of mercy. So, when he asked for a kiss before getting out of the car, she didn’t refuse. Everything was the same as usual. It wasn’t an insurmountable conflict; a few arguments in a relationship were no big deal.

It was another day of running errands.

In the afternoon, Jiang Ying was queuing at the courthouse when she suddenly received a message from Hu Ruochen. The young girl said she wanted to drink and had booked a nice bar, asking Jiang Ying to accompany her.

Jiang Ying felt a bit tired and wanted to refuse, but Hu Ruochen sent a pitiful voice message. Jiang Ying also thought it had been a while since she had a drink, so she agreed.

At 5:15 PM, Jiang Ying finished her work for the day.

She told Meng Jingshu, and he immediately called, telling her to wait for him downstairs at the company for dinner together.

His flight was past 8 PM, so the timing seemed just right.

During dinner, Jiang Ying told him that she would be going for drinks with Hu Ruochen later.

His reaction was: “Why her again? How does she always manage to find you when I’m not around?”

Jiang Ying chuckled: “Isn’t it because you’re away more often?”

Meng Jingshu was speechless.

After a few minutes, he probably held back for a while before he couldn’t resist, and said, “Don’t drink when I’m not here. Okay?”

Jiang Ying knew that for him, her drinking had a bad history.

So, she negotiated with him: “Just a little bit, I won’t get drunk. Besides, there are two of us, we’ll look out for each other, it’s fine.”

He said, “With her, you’re more unreliable than by yourself.”

“...”

Yes, Hu Ruochen also had a bad history.

She struggled: “I have my limits, just one drink.”

Meng Jingshu said nothing, just looked at her.

“...” She sighed, “Alright, I’ll watch her drink, and I’ll eat fruit.”

“Mm.”

Agreement reached.

But Jiang Ying thought to herself, “When there’s a policy from above, there are countermeasures below.” If she secretly drank a little, how would he know? Even if he did, what could he do?

Then her sense of侥幸 (luck) was shattered by a single sentence from him.

“You’ll drive my car later. It’ll be safer to settle her down tonight.”

“...”

Ever since Meng Jingshu found out she had a driver’s license, he would occasionally coax her to try his car on their commutes.

What driver could refuse a luxury car?

Jiang Ying rubbed her hands and drove a few times. At first, she felt that the car model was larger than hers and she couldn’t quite handle it, but after a few tries, she became familiar with it. Meanwhile, Mr. Meng smiled faintly beside her, showing a hint of gratification.

Jiang Ying speculated it was probably similar to how an old master of the house felt seeing his main wife and beloved concubine getting along harmoniously.

It was originally a good thing.

But driving... really meant no drinking.

This person was truly thorough!

________________________________________

Walking downstairs, Jiang Ying was looking down, texting Hu Ruochen, when a sudden pain shot through her hand—Meng Jingshu had squeezed it fiercely again.

She looked up, about to snap at him, but then she saw his gaze fixed on something ahead. Jiang Ying followed his line of sight.

...

Deng Mingke and his female companion stood not far away, also looking at them.

“Hi, Jiang Ying,” the other party reacted first.

“Hi,” she smiled stiffly.

“We’re going to see a play later, it’s nearby,” he explained.

“Oh...” Jiang Ying nodded in agreement and said, “Then we’ll go first. Enjoy your play.”

“Thanks, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

A battlefield couldn’t be more intense than this. After just a few words, Jiang Ying’s scalp was already tingling with embarrassment.

The man beside her had a cold expression, saying nothing, but the aura of displeasure permeated the surroundings.

Meng Jingshu walked Jiang Ying to the parking lot, then waited for Assistant Liu to pick him up for the airport.

He unlocked the car but still held Jiang Ying tightly, not letting her get in or even move.

“Hey,” Jiang Ying looked up at him, “You’re going to be angry about this too? You saw it, we’re not very close.”

“Then why say ‘goodbye’ again? No more ‘goodbyes’.”

Jiang Ying was both annoyed and amused, and just wanted to pull her hand away.

Meng Jingshu wouldn’t let her. Seeing her still struggling, he simply lowered his head and kissed her lips heavily, releasing her only after a while.

Jiang Ying immediately kicked him angrily.

The parking lot had cars coming and going, and he was completely oblivious to his surroundings!

Meng Jingshu seemed unfazed, merely stroking her hair and whispering, “Be a good girl at home.”

Jiang Ying retorted, “Are you calling me a dog?!”

He said, “Dogs are better behaved than you.”

Jiang Ying kicked him again: “Watch me tear your house apart.”

He chuckled and said, “As you wish.”

“Hmph.”

Assistant Liu called, and Meng Jingshu finally released her hand.

“I’m off,” he tossed her the car keys. “Keep in touch, be safe.”

“You too.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving.

Jiang Ying sniffled, then gave him a light hug.

“Next week, on my birthday, Grandma said she wants to video call you.”

Just that one sentence sent a shock through Jiang Ying’s entire body, like an electric current, and she felt like she was floating.