Xue Ling hesitated for a long while between jumping out of the car herself and kicking Wen Jiuzhe out of the car, and the anger in her heart slowly dissipated.
She hadn’t known Wen Jiuzhe for just a day; three or four years ago, Wen Jiuzhe was already like this, often not speaking like a human being.
Being angry with him a bit longer would count as falling into his trap.
People who didn’t know Wen Jiuzhe thought he was a cool guy who didn’t like to bother with people; those who knew him a little thought he was a smiling, carefree person who didn’t care about anything; those who knew him best were clear that this person was cheap and extremely punchable.
Xue Ling was already used to it. If one day Wen Jiuzhe suddenly stopped being cheap, Xue Ling would suspect that he had changed into a different person.
When she was in a relationship with Wen Jiuzhe, Xue Ling realized one thing: Wen Jiuzhe, like all men, was someone who would lie.
When he didn’t want to speak, there was no way you could pry a single truthful sentence out of his mouth.
The other men Xue Ling had seen lie were mostly doing it for themselves.
For example, that biological father of hers—when she was in elementary school, he even came to look for her, crying and telling her that he missed her, hoping she could persuade her mother to go back with him, saying that the divorce back then was unavoidable and completely her mother’s fault for making trouble out of nothing and not caring about the family.
He probably thought she was young and didn’t remember things from when she was little, so he came to lie to her.
Her uncle also lied. He earned some extra money outside, but lost it playing mahjong with people; when he went back, he lied to her aunt that he hadn’t earned any money.
At night he went out to play cards with friends, and when her aunt asked about it, he said he had gone fishing.
The male classmates at school also lied. It was clearly them who confessed to her and she didn’t agree, yet when they turned around and chatted with others, they said that they had rejected her.
But Wen Jiuzhe’s lying was different from other people’s. He usually wasn’t doing it to cover up his own mistakes.
He seemed to think she was abnormally fragile; any bad possibility or bad news would crush her, or even scare her to death.
So no matter whether it was a big matter or a small one, he would always pretend everything was easy and fine, letting her bear not the slightest pressure.
When he encountered difficulties, he wouldn’t say a word, only wanting to solve them himself.
Expecting him to speak frankly was better replaced by expecting someone to invent a truth serum.
Xue Ling had also suffered as the mute girlfriend for a long time; her dissatisfaction accumulated day by day and finally erupted.
Did he really think that if he didn’t say anything, she wouldn’t be able to guess it? What a joke—she was very good at playing deduction games!
Don’t expect to get ready-made answers from a man’s mouth; the real answers have to be found by yourself.
First, make a mind map.
Xue Ling took out her tablet, pried out the pen and poked at it.
Wen Jiuzhe’s purpose—one possibility was for himself, the second was for her.
Xue Ling knew very clearly in her heart that the possibility related to her was greater.
Wen Jiuzhe, this dead poser, actually cared an awful lot about the matter of her turning into a zombie.
Known fact: the reason she became this kind of special zombie was the Wen family’s Taisui.
Wen Jiuzhe had never said it outright but had acknowledged it indirectly; Wen Xuan was also suspected to have turned into a zombie like her, and it could basically be confirmed that it was likewise because of Taisui.
Seen this way, the Wen family’s Taisui should be very precious and rare. If the Wen family still had Taisui, after Wen Jiuzhe made a trip to the Wen family, it would have been impossible for him not to get hold of it to let her try it, so back then the Wen family should not have had any Taisui left.
They soon left Anxi City, and Wen Jiuzhe never mentioned Taisui again.
Thinking it through carefully, judging by Wen Jiuzhe’s personality, the more he avoided talking about something, the more he mulled it over in his own mind.
Now it was known that his destination was actually Andong City.
What was in Andong City?
Not long ago they had mentioned Wen Jiuzhe’s older sister, Wen Yi. Xue Ling could very easily think of Wen Yi, who was also in Andong City.
Wen Jiuzhe’s relationship with the Wen family members was not good; unless it was necessary, it would be impossible for him to go look for Wen Yi.
So, was it possible that he thought Wen Yi had Taisui in her hands, and that was why he wanted to go find her?
Back then, Wen Jiuzhe had Taisui in his hands, and Wen Xuan had also eaten Taisui. Then as a child of the Wen family as well, Wen Yi might also have been allocated Taisui at the time?
༚༅༚˳ . . ˳༚༅༚
Wen Jiuzhe was driving. After a long while of not waiting for Xue Ling to hit him, he turned his head and glanced at her several times.
Seeing her holding the tablet, constantly poking it with the pen, deep in thought, as serious as she used to be when doing problems.
“What are you thinking about, so serious?”
Xue Ling didn’t even lift her head. She typed her conjecture into the notepad and directly had the tablet read it out loud.
“I already know what you want to go to Andong City for. You want to go find Wen Yi to get Taisui……”
Although the electronic voice reading without any inflection sounded very funny, Wen Jiuzhe couldn’t laugh.
He focused intently on the road ahead. After listening, he let out a “mm,” and said nonchalantly, “You were quiet for so long just thinking about this? I thought you were thinking about how to teach me a lesson. I was nervous for nothing.”
Xue Ling narrowed her eyes to observe his expression, and in her heart she had already confirmed her own conjecture.
Since when had this kid driven so attentively? He looked like he was focusing on driving, but in reality he was spinning his little brain, thinking about how to continue deceiving everyone.
The tablet’s electronic voice sounded again: “You are trying to change the subject. I guessed it.”
Your ex-girlfriend is being so sincere with you, and you’re still playing mind games with your ex-girlfriend.
Wen Jiuzhe: “……”
“Tsk.” He stopped staring at the road, took her tablet to look at it. “Suddenly so smart—why are you guessing this kind of thing? Wouldn’t being a bit dumber and not thinking about anything make life happier?”
Xue Ling snatched the tablet back and, using the electronic voice at maximum volume, broadcast a sentence to him again: “You forced me to do this!!”
She could have thought about nothing at all, letting him carry that heavy psychological pressure alone and go crazy, right?!
“Such a simple matter, what’s there to hide from me? Can’t you just tell me directly?”
What was wrong with this dog’s train of thought—sometimes going straight to the brain, sometimes winding around in circles.
Wen Jiuzhe was silent for a long time. “How can I tell you something that isn’t confirmed yet?”
“What if Wen Yi isn’t in Andong City, what if she no longer has Taisui, what if Taisui is useless to you…… If I tell you, won’t you be disappointed?”
“So what if I’m disappointed? It’s not like I’ve never been disappointed before. Disappointment is a very normal emotion.”
“When I was little, during holidays I hoped my mom would come back to see me, but she was too busy with work and didn’t come back—I’d be disappointed; I didn’t get into the school I wanted, I was disappointed too; I didn’t win the small appliance I liked in the supermarket raffle, also disappointed…… There are so many disappointments in life. What’s the big deal?”
Wen Jiuzhe fell silent for an even longer time, rarely left somewhat at a loss for words.
He thought of his mother.
His mother’s health was poor. People with poor health who were always confined to bed would overthink things. Even bad weather could make her emotions sink and worsen her condition.
When he was bullied outside, when neighbors and townsfolk made snide remarks, when relatives came to the door to collect debts…… all bad news would leave her in unbearable pain.
Over time, Wen Jiuzhe got used to it—never showing anything bad in front of her, never saying things that would put pressure on her. Whenever something happened, his first reaction was to shoulder it himself and hide it from her.
There was nothing serious about it. As long as her body could be a bit healthier and she could be a bit happier, that was enough.
There were only two people he cared about: his mother and Xue Ling.
Toward Xue Ling, he also subconsciously treated her the same way he treated his mother.
But Xue Ling seemed not to need that kind of treatment from him.
Wen Jiuzhe stopped bantering and said calmly, “I hope you can live easily, without disappointment.”
Xue Ling: “……”
She started flipping through videos on the tablet. Wen Jiuzhe didn’t hear her respond for quite a while; when he turned his head to look, he found that she was seriously browsing TV dramas.
Before long, a drama started playing.
A woman with a miserable expression held a man whose mouth was bleeding and cried loudly, shouting, “Erniu! Why didn’t you tell me you had this illness!”
The man was on his last breath and said, “I was afraid you’d worry, Guihua’er. If I didn’t tell you, you could live happily and easily……”
Amid sorrowful and rustic music, Wen Jiuzhe felt a kind of wordless mockery.
Xue Ling didn’t let it play for long before switching to another drama, this time a Republican-era spy drama.
“Comrade Zhenxiang, I have no feelings for you at all. Please don’t come looking for me again in the future!”
The scene cut; the stubborn-mouthed man had been shot. He clutched his abdomen and grabbed the woman’s hand, saying, “Saying I don’t love you was a lie. My situation is very dangerous—I could meet with misfortune at any time. You’re still young. I don’t want you to be sad for me.”
The woman cried and called for Brother Feng. Beside them, another man who was also injured rushed over, slapped him, and cursed, “If you’re afraid my sister will be sad, then don’t say it for your whole life—best take it to the grave! Why are you talking about hardships at a time like this!”
After a tearful episode ended, the ending song played, singing, “Oh~ I really do love you~ My concealment toward you was actually all a confession~”
Wen Jiuzhe had never watched this kind of drama, but he felt that this kind of idiotic plot was pointedly suggestive.
Xue Ling still felt it wasn’t enough and switched to another costume drama.
It was still a man and a woman pulling at each other. The male lead loved the female lead very much, but because of family reasons, he had to marry another female supporting character of matching social status. The family even threatened that if he didn’t break up with the female lead, they would deal with her.
So the male lead, with an expression of heart-rending pain, said the cruel words that he didn’t love the female lead at all.
Thus the two parted in grief. After that, the female lead found another male supporting character. As a result, when the male lead who had said he wanted to break up saw this scene, he couldn’t accept it and continued to pester the female lead.
“Don’t go! Yan’er, I had my difficulties back then! I don’t like her at all—I only like you!”
“At this point, what use is there in saying these things!”
As the two argued, they suddenly started kissing.
When the male and female leads said certain lines, Xue Ling would turn her head and give Wen Jiuzhe a meaningful look.
When the male and female leads started kissing, Wen Jiuzhe also gave Xue Ling a meaningful look and sighed with regret.
Xue Ling: “What are you regretting?”
At last, she turned off the melodramatic TV drama, and the car once again fell into silence.
“How do you feel after watching it?” Xue Ling asked.
“It feels… very educational.”
Xue Ling suspected whether he had really been educated: “Then what did you understand?”
Wen Jiuzhe gave an answer using his signature test-taking logic: “Back then when I told you we should break up, I should’ve said it while crying.”
Oh no—he really learned something from it.
Xue Ling had originally wanted him to just say things directly instead of bottling them up, but he said crying while saying it?
Crying while saying it. She still hadn’t seen him cry with her own eyes—red eyes, tears pattering down? She couldn’t imagine it.
“Cry for me now and I’ll forgive you.” The way Xue Ling said this sounded like a clearance sale at a loss.
“You mean it?”
“I mean it. Cry and beg me to forgive you.”
Wen Jiuzhe really found a place to pull over, turned to face Xue Ling, and brewed his emotions for a bit, as if preparing to cry his eyes out.
Then he looked at Xue Ling and suddenly snorted with laughter.
Xue Ling knocked on the seat cushion urging him on—she told you to cry and you’re laughing, hurry up!
Wen Jiuzhe stopped laughing, looked out the window at the desolate scenery, then turned back. Meeting Xue Ling’s expectant gaze, he couldn’t help the corners of his mouth lifting again.
What are you laughing at!
Xue Ling helped him put on a very tragic song to create the atmosphere.
It had the opposite effect. This time Wen Jiuzhe directly laughed himself over, saying, “I just thought of that spy drama earlier—that man was half-dead and still confessing, and then got slapped unconscious by the guy next to him, hahahahaha!”
Originally it wasn’t that funny a plot, but the way he said it made Xue Ling really want to laugh too.
“And that costume drama—the male lead saying he didn’t love the female lead, that look, that expression—who would believe it, so ridiculous.”
Xue Ling: Right, their acting was bad, so when breaking up the female lead could tell he didn’t mean it—only you are a born Best Actor, when you broke up you acted like it was completely real.
Xue Ling looked at her ex-boyfriend with pity and analyzed it for him: “This is exactly where the male lead is smart. That’s why he can still end up with the female lead in the end, while you’re still the ex-boyfriend.”
Wen Jiuzhe: “……”
“Are you crying or not? Hurry up.”
“I can’t cry.” Wen Jiuzhe leaned back against the seat. “My head is full of those stupid-ass TV dramas you just played. I feel like every single one is hilarious.”
Xue Ling: You say they’re funny, but somehow you’re the funniest one of all.
“Don’t you think you’re very similar to them?”
“I don’t think so. Not similar at all.” Wen Jiuzhe said brazenly. “I wouldn’t make you as sad as those female leads.”
Xue Ling wanted to retort, but after thinking it over carefully, she actually couldn’t refute it.
Because compared to sadness, when she thought of Wen Jiuzhe, she was indeed angry far more often.
For more than three years, on every night she couldn’t sleep, she would often get so angry thinking about the past that she’d mentally come up with a hundred ways her ex-boyfriend could die.
Sadness? It wasn’t even as sad as when she thought about her mother.
