Lin Zhi: ? ? ?
--------------------
Author's Note:
Lin Zhi: You shameless!
Jiang Lai (Hearless Version): Which way should I lick? Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2022-05-13 18:39:20 and 2022-05-14 21:34:18!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Lingran (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 73
At 11 a.m., the sun was high in the sky, so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.
After washing up, Lin Zhi slowly walked down the stairs, supporting her back. She wanted to put her hand down and pretend nothing was wrong, but her aching back prevented her from doing so. As she got older, she should buy some medicated plasters to apply.
Only Jiang Wanqiu and Min Xuehua were downstairs; Jiang Chuanmin was probably in the study.
Seeing Lin Zhi come down, Min Xuehua smiled and waved, "Little Zhi, why are you so late..."
"Cough cough."
Jiang Wanqiu reminded her, and Min Xuehua then took back what she was about to say, her eyes crinkling with laughter, just like a mother-in-law looking at her daughter-in-law.
Lin Zhi blushed and changed the subject: "Teacher, I'm leaving now. Lai Lai went to bed a little late last night, so don't wake her."
How could Min Xuehua let people go so easily?
"Oh dear, it's eleven o'clock. The food is ready. Why don't you stay for dinner? You don't have anything urgent to do at home, do you?"
Lin Zhi then realized it was already noon, and she shook her head: "Nothing's wrong."
Min Xuehua gave Jiang Wanqiu a look, and the latter immediately understood, getting up and going upstairs to wake up the lazybones.
Lin Zhi had cleaned the room thoroughly, even wiping the floor next to the bed with a wet wipe. Although it wasn't that excessive, she was still worried that sweat or something else might have dripped on it last night. She had also packed up the toilet paper from the trash can and given it to the cleaning lady. Now, there was only one person in the room, lying face down on the bed with her beautiful back exposed. She was fast asleep and didn't even wake up when someone came into the room.
Jiang Wanqiu squatted down, resting her chin on the bed, staring at Jiang Lai's sleeping face—which was neither particularly good nor bad—for a long time before finally shouting, "Get up! The sun's already high in the sky!"
Jiang Lai suddenly woke up from her dream, her heart pounding wildly, a look of astonishment on her face: "Aunt...Aunt?"
Most of her drowsiness vanished, and Jiang Lai, clutching her blanket, asked with a mournful face, "Auntie, what are you doing?"
Jiang Wanqiu didn't reply to her, but instead took Jiang Lai's hand with a half-smile and examined it for a long time before nodding in satisfaction: "Our Lai Lai has grown up. Luckily, this hand is just like mine, so slender and long."
Jiang Lai awkwardly withdrew her hand, and it took her a long time to react: "Where's my sister?"
Jiang Wanqiu raised her hand and flicked Jiang Lai's nose, laughing and scolding, "You silly goose, your sister was about to leave, but your mother stopped her. Hurry up and wash up, go downstairs for dinner, and then we'll go see a movie."
What movie do you want to watch?
"Are you still half asleep? Of course it's your movie. Your mom has something to do later and won't be available, so I'll go with you."
Jiang Lai belatedly realized that her aunt was helping her go on a date with Lin Zhi. As long as her aunt was with her, even if someone took a picture, she wouldn't be able to say anything. After all, she had to be careful until she caught the person behind the scenes.
Jiang Lai instantly perked up, got out of bed to change her clothes and take a shower. When she came downstairs, the table was already full of a sumptuous lunch.
The Jiang family has always advocated thrift and frugality. They would never prepare a regular lunch as lavishly as a New Year's Eve dinner. The only reason for this was probably because Lin Zhi was there, and Min Xuehua had specifically instructed them to do so.
Jiang Lai washed her hair in a hurry, and it was still dripping wet. Jiang Chuanmin saw this and, as expected, gave her a scolding.
Lin Zhi didn't know who handed her the towel, but by the time she came to her senses, the person was gone. She had been talking to Min Xuehua, so she figured it must have been her aunt or Jiang Wanqiu who gave it to her. Now that she had it, she felt she should make a good impression on Jiang Chuanmin, so she walked up behind Jiang Lai and started drying her hair.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Chuanmin couldn't help but criticize Jiang Lai: "Look at Xiao Zhi, you should learn more from her in the future."
Jiang Lai was willing to listen to any praise of Lin Zhi, regardless of whether it was criticism of her.
"Yes, yes, you're right."
After lunch, Jiang Wanqiu drove Lin Zhi's car to take the two younger relatives to a movie theater in the suburbs. It was less crowded and much quieter than the ones in the city.
On the bus, a few people chatted and the topic came up with the marketing account that spread rumors about Jiang Lai.
Jiang Wanqiu: "So, are all the people in your company working overtime because of this? Shouldn't they be paid overtime?"
Lin Zhi responded: "Yes, the legal department is handling this matter. It's not too troublesome to file a lawsuit, but finding the real person who spread the rumors is the real problem. However, that person is unwilling to reveal who is behind the scenes or how much money they have been paid."
Jiang Wanqiu: "That's quite a tricky matter. Can't you find out? Don't they need to contact each other?"
Lin Zhi shook her head: "The time is too short. We just contacted the owner of the marketing account last night."
Jiang Lai interjected, "My sister is amazing. It's alright, it's just a matter of time."
Looking in the rearview mirror, Jiang Wanqiu saw Jiang Lai grinning with her teeth showing, her mouth almost reaching her ears.
The movie theater wasn't crowded; there were even one or two empty seats during a showing. After all, nobody would travel all the way to the suburbs just to watch a movie during the Lunar New Year.
Lin Zhi and Jiang Lai sat next to each other. Jiang Wanqiu had bought seats in front, and she wasn't going to get involved in the young couple's romance. Jiang Lai pulled her hat down, covering most of her face, and with the movie theater pitch black, it was difficult to see her face clearly.
Jiang Lai had already seen it once, and since she was the one who acted in it, there wasn't much to see. Throughout the entire movie, she kept watching Lin Zhi, and the two of them held hands tightly in the shadows without letting go.
Lin Zhi was engrossed in watching, and when she saw Jiang Lai leading her underlings to beat someone up like a big sister, she couldn't help but laugh. She leaned close to Jiang Lai's ear and said, "You're so cool."
Caught off guard by the compliment, Jiang Lai was a little flustered: "Th...thank you."
This movie mainly tells the story of Jian Ning, played by Xia Fanrou, who comes from a poor family and therefore becomes a target of bullying by everyone at school. Unable to bear the bullying, she transfers to the school of Yu Xin, played by Jiang Lai, where she meets the male lead Yang Guang, the second female lead Yu Xin, and Wu Xuezhi, who has an ambiguous relationship with Yu Xin but no future.
Lin Zhi watched the movie more attentively than anyone else, since it featured two of her own artists.
This is a film about mutual redemption, with an overall gray tone that gives it a sophisticated feel.
As the movie was about to end, Yu Xin ran to the rooftop to try to persuade Jian Ning to come down, but Jian Ning believed that death was a relief. Just as she was about to jump, Yu Xin rushed up and grabbed her hand. Jian Ning opened her mouth and said something silently. A few seconds later, Yu Xin said, "I will not leave you," and then jumped over the railing with her.
The screen suddenly went black, and all that could be heard were the sirens of fire trucks, the sound of safety airbags, and the noise of the onlookers, all mixed together, giving one a splitting headache and making it very noisy.
The last scene of the movie is Jian Ning waking up in her hospital bed. The scene is warm and sunny, with sunlight streaming through the window and falling on Jian Ning's pale face. She looks at the magpies chirping on the branches outside the window and smiles.
This concludes the article.
As the movie theater lights came on, many people had red, swollen eyes from crying, and were still wiping away tears with tissues as they left the theater.
Lin Zhi couldn't stop crying. Jiang Lai handed her a tissue, and she thanked her and took the tissue.
Jiang Wanqiu didn't cry, but felt a little depressed after reading it: "I'm going to the restroom. Wait for me at the door in a bit."
Jiang Lai gave an OK sign.
Once Lin Zhi had calmed down, only the two of them and a cleaning staff member remained in the movie theater. As the two of them got up to leave, Jiang Lai tugged at her sleeve just as they were about to go out.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Lai stuffed a box into her pocket: "This is a gift for you. I was planning to give it to you after watching the movie yesterday, and also to tell you about my family, but you stood me up."
Lin Zhi then realized that she had forgotten to prepare a gift for her. Considering the fact that she had stood her up, she apologized guiltily, "I will definitely make up for the gift."
Jiang Lai waved her hand: "It's okay, I already received the compensation and gifts last night."
Lin Zhi punched her lightly in embarrassment and anger. Just as she was about to say something, she heard the housekeeper walking over. She grabbed Jiang Lai's hand and hurriedly walked out of the movie theater.
Jiang Wanqiu hadn't arrived yet, and it was too cold. Lin Zhi was worried that Jiang Lai would catch a cold, so she waited for her in the car.
It was much warmer inside the car, and Jiang Lai took off her scarf and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Lai Lai".
"Um?"
Lin Zhi turned to look at her, but felt as if she were seeing Yu Xin, and her heart ached especially: "Is Yu Xin dead?"
Jiang Lai was taken aback, then belatedly realized that Lin Zhi hadn't quite shaken off the movie. She smiled and leaned over to kiss the corner of Lin Zhi's lips, saying, "Do you want me to explain it to you?"
Lin Zhi nodded: "Random guesses online are all inaccurate."
Indeed, several versions of analysis had already appeared on the first day of the movie's release. Lin Zhi had seen them in advance, and there were all sorts of opinions. She didn't know which one to believe. The lead actor was right in front of her, so was it necessary to go online to watch them?
"In fact, there is no such person as Yu Xin."
"What?" Lin Zhi's eyes widened, as if the world had collapsed.
Jiang Lai laughed and said, "Why do you look like that? Don't you believe me?"
"What you said makes me feel like I wasn't watching a movie, but dreaming."
"Hahaha, it really is a dream. Jian Ning didn't transfer schools at all. The foreshadowing was already laid at the beginning of the movie. She committed suicide, and everything that followed was just her imagination. However, she still couldn't redeem herself and ultimately chose to jump off a building. Yang Guang calling 119 was also a kind of redemption, but it only saved Jian Ning because Yu Xin was a figment of her imagination, while Jian Ning wasn't, so she survived."
"So... what exactly did she tell you?"
Jiang Lai thought for a moment and said, "She said, you can't watch over me forever."
Lin Zhi felt a chill run down her spine: "So what did you say?"
Jiang Lai smiled, and the two leaned very close. She whispered in Lin Zhi's ear, "I will."
The sound of her heartbeat seemed to echo in her ears. Lin Zhi suddenly felt that she was Jian Ning, and Jiang Lai was her Yu Xin. Yu Xin would always be with Jian Ning, and so would Jiang Lai.
The movie is fake, and the content is Jian Ning's fantasy. In the end, it is just a dream of Jian Ning's.
But life isn't a lie. The warmth from her palm made Lin Zhi truly feel Jiang Lai's presence; this person was real, not just a figment of her imagination.
"Lai Lai, it's so good to have you."
Jiang Wanqiu could vaguely see two figures embracing each other through the car window. She smiled with relief, stepped back a few meters, and waited a few minutes before walking over.
--------------------
Author's Note:
In the next chapter, Jiang Lai will be working seriously!
My darlings who have pre-ordered from this column, please take a look! What I'll be writing next depends on your continued support. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my books between 2022-05-14 21:34:18 and 2022-05-15 21:49:33!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Lingran (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 74
Holidays are always too short, and people from all walks of life get busy again, with employees full of energy and enthusiasm.