Chapter – 66
“The warmth given during the coldest and hardest times — even if it’s only a little — is enough to be remembered for life,” Kong Huizhi insisted.
“Think whatever you want. To me, it doesn’t matter,” Lin Qingyi replied. She neither could nor wanted to care about what Kong Huizhi thought. After all, it wouldn’t affect her anyway.
“Then… can I pursue you?” Kong Huizhi asked, gathering her courage.
“You won’t succeed. Don’t waste your effort.”
The reason Lin Qingyi agreed to meet her was precisely to reject her clearly, so she would appear less often in front of her — most importantly, less often in front of that stupid vase she disliked seeing hovering around her.
“Because you like Shi Yue more.” Kong Huizhi spoke with certainty.
“That seems unrelated to you.”
Lin Qingyi used the formal “you.” She didn’t want to talk about Qin Shiyue with Kong Huizhi. It felt uncomfortable — the layer of ice in her chest had not yet melted.
“I understand. I won’t cause you trouble.”
Sensing Lin Qingyi’s faint hostility, Kong Huizhi realized that not only could she not make her goddess like her, she had instead made her dislike her slightly. It was painful.
Love really was unequal — Shiyue once liked her so much, yet she didn’t like Shiyue. Now she liked Lin Qingyi, and Lin Qingyi didn’t like her. Having seen how Shiyue refused to give up back then, Kong Huizhi knew that for the one who doesn’t reciprocate, being liked becomes a burden. So she didn’t want to trouble Lin Qingyi.
“It’s best if you can accept it. Thanks for the meal. I’m full — I’ll leave first.”
Lin Qingyi symbolically moved her chopsticks a bit to give Kong Huizhi face, but she truly had no appetite. Toward Kong Huizhi she had little emotional reaction — neither liking nor disliking. If there was dislike, it was only toward the identity of “the person Qin Shiyue once liked,” not toward her as a person. Most of Lin Qingyi’s emotions were directed at Qin Shiyue.
“Mm.”
Kong Huizhi nodded. Lin Qingyi’s attitude told her she was probably just one among many pursuers — not even a special one.
Facing a table full of food alone, Kong Huizhi had no appetite either. She felt miserable.
What could be more tragic than your white moonlight falling in love with your ex-wife?
After Lin Qingyi left the dinner, Bai Wenxi immediately texted Fang Xinhua:
“Don’t worry, nothing happened. My Teacher Lin’s dinner with your Second Baby’s ex-wife lasted less than twenty minutes. She probably rejected her.”
Chapter 40
After receiving Bai Wenxi’s message, Fang Xinhua couldn’t help smiling.
If Erbao and the movie queen Lin really ended up together, she would definitely give Manager Bai a huge red envelope.
Looking at her own Erbao — absent-minded, almost ready to go catch someone cheating — Fang Xinhua wondered: was she jealous of the ex-wife, or jealous of the movie queen?
“Manager Bai said Lin Yinghou is heading back to the hotel. Are you going over tonight to rehearse lines?” Fang Xinhua asked.
Qin Shiyue’s heart — which felt like it had been soaking in sulfuric acid — suddenly seemed lifted out of it.
“They finished eating so quickly?”
Her tone carried an unconscious cheerfulness. The last time she invited Lin Qingyi to eat, it lasted much longer. Comparing the two, Qin Shiyue felt she had won.
“Maybe Miss Kong’s dishes didn’t suit Lin Yinghou’s taste,” Fang Xinhua smiled, thinking how quickly Erbao’s mood improved.
“Then they definitely didn’t suit her taste.”
Maybe the person didn’t suit her taste either.
“So are we going to the Bowman Hotel to find Lin Yinghou now? If we leave now and walk there, we should arrive around the same time she does.”
Thinking about how Lin Qingyi took the drink Kong Huizhi handed her while ignoring her own lemonade, Qin Shiyue still felt upset.
“Tonight… I’m not going,” she said pettily.
“I noticed Lin Yinghou didn’t actually drink your ex-wife’s drink — the amount didn’t decrease,” Fang Xinhua said. Clearly she was bothered that Lin Yinghou hadn’t chosen her lemonade.
Qin Shiyue was surprised — yet couldn’t suppress a small joy. Then she wondered: what’s there to be happy about?
“If she wasn’t going to drink it, why accept it? She always considers Kong Huizhi’s feelings more and never cares about mine…” Qin Shiyue snorted, still feeling wronged remembering the scene.
“Maybe Lin Yinghou thinks she’s closer to you — people are polite to outsiders,” Fang Xinhua said.
Qin Shiyue suddenly felt that made sense.
With people you’re familiar and close to, you’re less polite; politeness is reserved for strangers.
So… Lin Qingyi also thinks she’s closer to her?
That realization made Qin Shiyue’s heart feel much more at ease.
