His scalp suddenly prickled, brows furrowing tightly as he rushed forward in quick strides. Before he could even voice a reprimand, he saw two clear tear tracks staining her cheeks, her eyes red-rimmed like a rabbit's, face deathly pale, her entire body trembling.
"How did you get here?"
Miao Jing's hand trembled as she reached out, clutching the corner of his shirt. Two more tears fell from her cheeks as she weakly uttered a few words: "Someone... at home..."
She cried intermittently, her words unclear. Chen Yi's expression darkened as he draped his suit jacket over her shaking shoulders, guiding her outside. Only then did he learn that someone with ill intentions had tried to pry open doors and windows in the middle of the night, attempting to commit wrongdoing.
They found a man's shoe print, signs of the door lock being tampered with by a sharp tool, and one of the bathroom windows shattered by a stone. Was it for peeping, or something else? Logically, it shouldn't happen—his reputation in this area was fearsome enough to make people tremble at the sound of his name.
Chen Yi took a sharp breath, a fierce expression crossing his face.
Miao Jing clung to his shirt, continuously wiping her tears as she bowed her head: "I've been sleeping alone... for two years... someone was watching me..."
Damn, a teenage girl living alone—how could it not be dangerous?
After much deliberation, truly left with no other choice, Chen Yi switched from his job as a nightclub security guard, becoming a wild wolf forced to return home every night.
Chapter 25: I Thought of You...
The two people in the house kept to themselves, only speaking after Lu Zhengsi entered. Chen Yi bit down on a cigarette and wandered to the living room to smoke.
The room was mostly emptied, with two storage boxes remaining under the bed—items Miao Jing had sorted from the wardrobe when she first returned. Lu Zhengsi asked if she wanted to take them along, but she shook her head.
"These are things from before college—old clothes and some miscellaneous items. They're no longer useful."
Looking at it this way, her personal luggage didn't seem excessive. Many other things were left behind: new curtains, desk chairs, mattress pillows, and various household knick-knacks. Miao Jing turned her head: "Will you handle the rest?"
She was speaking to Chen Yi. Holding his cigarette, he half-turned his body and gave an indistinct grunt. When Miao Jing and Lu Zhengsi were about to leave, he followed them downstairs with an indifferent attitude to see them off.
The car trunk closed, somehow carrying the feeling of leaving home. Lu Zhengsi had already started the engine. Miao Jing opened the passenger door, glanced back, and said, "I'm leaving."
Chen Yi looked at her, his expression stern and frozen. The dark hair at his temples shifted slightly as he slowly and dryly uttered a single word: "Okay."
Miao Jing looked at him, smiling with extreme gentleness, her brows and eyes relaxed and soft. She turned and got into the car, closing the door.
Chen Yi shoved his hands into his pockets, standing casually by the car window, his gaze piercing through the tinted glass with a tangible darkness.
As the car started, she fastened her seatbelt and began chatting with Lu Zhengsi. Miao Jing had returned to Tengcheng in August—time had passed quickly, and she had already lived there for three or four months. She had fully adapted to both life and work. Tengcheng's summer was excessively long and sticky, and only now was there a slight chill in the air. Lu Zhengsi had attended university in the north and missed the crisp, icy air and frost of autumn and winter. Miao Jing, however, was quite accustomed to it—she loved summer, the lush, wildly growing vegetation, and the feeling of damp skin and sweating.The conversation shifted from Tengcheng to their personal lives. Lu Zhengsi pursed his lips and asked Miao Jing if she had lived with Chen Yi during high school—a conclusion he’d drawn from fragments of conversations between Tu Li and Miao Jing, as well as the layout of their home.
"Yes, back then it was just the two of us at home. My mother had moved away, I was studying, and Chen Yi was working."
"The way you and Yi Ge talk often gives me the impression... that the two of you aren’t very close."
Miao Jing smiled. "We used to argue a lot back then, and later we didn’t keep in touch for years. It’s normal that we don’t understand each other well now."
Lu Zhengsi chuckled. "Yi Ge attended your parent-teacher meetings? Did he actually discipline you? It’s hard to imagine you two arguing."
"You overheard that during dinner? He did step in occasionally—like when my grades were poor or I got distracted. After all, there was no one else but him."
"Why did you lose contact after starting university? I feel like you, Engineer Miao, and Yi Ge... are both the type to consider others’ feelings."
Miao Jing glanced at him. "Are you trying to ask if my choosing you as a boyfriend has anything to do with Chen Yi? Or what exactly my relationship with Chen Yi is?"
Caught off guard, Lu Zhengsi flushed slightly. "Well... it is a bit strange... I really don’t quite understand."
"I’ve really caused you trouble." Miao Jing curved her lips, her eyes sparkling. "About this boyfriend matter, why don’t we just end it here? Let me treat you to a meal as an apology, alright?"
"Can’t we be real boyfriend and girlfriend?" Lu Zhengsi tightened his grip on the steering wheel, feeling cornered and compelled to speak plainly. "Engineer Miao, I... I really like you. The first time you spoke to me, I was actually quite excited inside. Lately... our rhythms and personalities have matched well, and we get along great. Couldn’t you... consider me?"
Such an innocent young man. Miao Jing did have a fondness for him—he was straightforward in his actions, and even with his doubts, he hadn’t pressed aggressively, which made her motives seem all the more impure. Hesitating for a moment, she was about to respond when her phone rang—a timely interruption. It was Chen Yi calling.
As the call connected, there was silence on the other end, followed by a slow exhale. Miao Jing knew he was smoking, with that lazy, detached demeanor.
"Miao Jing."
His voice was hoarse and rough, the tone drawn out as if escaping from his throat.
"Hmm?"
Just that single word, and Lu Zhengsi noticed Miao Jing’s voice had transformed entirely—unusually gentle and soft, clear and tender.
"Have you left?"
"I’ve left."
"I’ve thought of you..."
She listened quietly, but he said nothing more, ending the call abruptly. Miao Jing tilted her head to gaze out the window, her profile picturesque, her eyes carrying a trace of solitude.
The conversation was cut short, impossible to resume. Lu Zhengsi realized—Miao Jing was sitting beside him, yet she was already immersed in a peculiar atmosphere, one woven by her alone, leaving no room for others to enter. He felt a pang of loss and frustration. After all this time together, he still couldn’t read Miao Jing. Was she too difficult to understand, or was he simply not perceptive enough?
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