Peerless Beauty – Chapter 94

Bad Thing

A bad thing that was not an illegal crime

Jian Qing raised her head and stared at Jian Yan for a few seconds, didn’t pay attention to her, and led Lu Yinxi away.

            

At night, the bright lights just came on.

Pushing open the glass door of Galaxy Mall, Lu Yinxi looked at the bustling traffic and asked Jian Qing beside her, “What do you want to eat for dinner?”

Jian Qing, not being picky, said, “Up to you.”

            

Lu Yinxi offered some choices: “Chinese food? Western food? Buffet? I heard there’s a good buffet steak restaurant nearby. Do you want to try it?”

“Try.”

With just these words, dinner was settled. Lu Yinxi opened the map navigation to search for that restaurant’s specific geographic location, and conveniently opened an app to reserve a table.

            

“How’s your relationship with President Jian?” During the gap while waiting for the dishes, Lu Yinxi opened the topic, inquiring about Jian Qing’s relationship with her sister.

“Ordinary.”

No hatred, no love, never wanted to be close.

            

Before in her life, only Ruan Xi and Ruan Sheng were put into her heart.

She only cared about these two people, only hated those who harmed them.

Besides this, she didn’t have strong feelings for anyone else here, as if she was always drifting outside this world, watching them being lively. She didn’t blend in, nor did she want to, living in this world lonely for ten years like a day.

            

If she hadn’t met Lu Yinxi, she planned to live her life alone.

“Mm… ordinary is ordinary. Today is our first official date, so let’s not care about other messy people.” Lu Yinxi shifted the topic, raising a glass of red wine, “Come, let’s toast.”

Jian Qing lightly clinked glasses with her: “Do you want to meet my family?”

            

“Family… Aunt Ruan has already passed away… are you talking about your father? I’m fine with anything, it’s up to you. If you want to take me to see him, I’ll go; if you don’t, then I won’t.”

“Then we won’t see him.”

Her father, Jian Zhenghe, would not agree with the two women being together. Her concept of family ties is weak, and she doesn’t need his consent.

            

Lu Yinxi asked her, “You and your father don’t really keep in touch; is your father-daughter relationship not good?”

“Can’t speak of it,” Jian Qing shook her head, “It’s just no emotion. Parents don’t have to love their children, and children don’t have to love their parents.”

This idea is somewhat cold and thin, contrary to the traditional concept of loyalty and filial piety.

            

Lu Yinxi thought for a moment and said, “I love my parents. My father is very good, and my mother, although she rarely communicates with me, I know she loves me too. My viewpoint isn’t quite the same as yours, but I can understand your perspective.”

Maybe it’s because of childhood experiences with those biases and narrow-mindedness, her thoughts are exceptionally sensitive and delicate, making it easy for her to feel others’ small emotions. She stands in others’ shoes to think about problems and can’t bear to hurt people. Subtly, she learned to tolerate and understand different viewpoints.

Jian Qing jokingly said, “What viewpoint do I have that you can’t understand?”

            

Lu Yinxi hesitated a bit and softly said, “Illegal crime. If you did something illegal, no matter how much I like you, I wouldn’t understand you. One must walk the right path…”

Jian Qing was amused by these nearly naive words, her lips faintly smiling, and asked, “What is the right path?”

Lu Yinxi seriously explained to her, “Not skewed, not tilted, conforming to the law, judging deeds, not hearts. A person’s heart might have wild, dark thoughts, but if they don’t put them into practice or actively hurt innocent people, being an ordinary law-abiding citizen is walking the right path.”

            

This is also the road of most ordinary people.

This world isn’t just black or white; there are too many gray areas. Bad people can become good, and good people can become bad. There’s no eternally unchanging good. The law is the bottom line, and morality is the requirement.

Jian Qing asked, “If someone harmed the person you love, wouldn’t you want to harm them?”

            

Lu Yinxi thought about it and honestly said, “I would, as hatred is a common human emotion.”

She continued, “But I would also weigh—whether to seek momentary satisfaction, dirty my own hands, and risk my entire future. I could leave it to the law, using legal means and rules to punish.”

Jian Qing said, “Good doesn’t necessarily beget good rewards, and evil doesn’t necessarily beget evil rewards.”

            

Lu Yinxi nodded, “I know there’s no absolute fairness or justice. Good people might not be rewarded, and bad people might live carefree, but I just want to be a rule-following individual.”

She took cancer as an example, “Like cancer, our bodies have a set of fixed rules. Those cancer cells are essentially normal cells that have mutated and become rule-breaking cells, acting as they please and randomly differentiating.

Some may be discovered by immune cells and extinguished;

            

Some may not be caught, expanding and growing, attacking and killing normal cells, and seizing the nutrients of normal cells;

But in the long run, the final result is either they are extinguished, or they and the human body are eliminated together.”

Jian Qing is much older, and Lu Yinxi knows that with just a few words, she cannot shake her already formed worldview.

            

She just wanted to share such a concept with her.

Jian Qing didn’t try to persuade Lu Yinxi to accept her viewpoint, quietly listened until the end, gave a faint smile, and said nothing more.

Most people’s lives are very ordinary; they don’t encounter any darkest moments, nor do they have any highlights. Everyone is an ordinary good person, but as long as there’s one person who abandons moral conscience, it can lead people into hell.

            

The kinder the person, the weaker and easier they seem to bully.

Fortunately, her little girl is not weak; she learned self-protection, counterattack, and disguise during her childhood.

This kindness isn’t cowardly, but a choice.

            

She isn’t kind, but she likes the kind little girl.

After dinner, the two walked by the lakeside in the park.

Street lamps cast a warm yellow light, hazy and ambiguous. The night breeze brushed by, making the surrounding bushes rustle, and ripples appeared on the lake’s surface.

            

Lu Yinxi hooked Jian Qing’s little finger and turned her head to look at her.

A faint warm glow covered her body.

Lu Yinxi quietly muttered, “Why would you think of coming to the park for a walk?”

            

Like a retired old person, taking a hundred steps after a meal.

Jian Qing faintly glanced at her, “It’s quiet, and there are few people.”

The mall was crowded and noisy, and she had already been there for several hours today. For the remaining time, she wanted to recover her energy in a quiet place with fewer people.

            

Lu Yinxi released her hand, imitating an old cadre, with both hands behind her back: “Comrade Jian Qing, let’s talk about a sunset romance.”

Jian Qing lifted an eyelid, “First, dance a square dance for me to see.”

“Dream on, why don’t you first sing a mountain song for the Party to hear?”

            

Lu Yinxi couldn’t help but imagine the two of them in old age, perhaps every night, coming out after dinner, walking with hands behind their backs, watching old ladies dance the square dance, watching old men gather at the chess table, pondering the next move…

As she thought, she felt something was missing from her hand.

She asked Jian Qing, “When we’re old, do you want to raise a big dog? The kind you can take out for walks.”

            

Jian Qing, without a word, refused, “No, I won’t. It’ll shed hair.”

Her home’s floor must be spotless and clean.

Lu Yinxi quietly hummed a bit, “What about a cat?”

            

Jian Qing said, “Cats shed even more hair and can’t be walked.”

“But I want to raise one.”

“Then you can.”

            

All principles are conceded for her.

Lu Yinxi heard, glanced around, saw not many people, and couldn’t help but lean over to kiss Jian Qing’s cheek.

This ice block won’t say any nice sweet words, but an inadvertent sentence always makes her heart skip a beat.

            

After playing at the ice skating rink for several hours, in the evening, Lu Yinxi rubbed her calf and said, “My legs are a bit sore.”

Jian Qing heard, like a cat smelling the aroma of meat, lightly walked over, her expression unchanged, and asked, “Want me to rub them for you?”

Lu Yinxi saw her gaze and silently lowered the hem of her bathrobe to cover her calf, “No need…”

            

She just feared that being rubbed would make them even more sore tomorrow.

Jian Qing made an “oh” sound, picked up a bottle of medicated oil, threw it to Lu Yinxi, turned to water the flowers on the balcony, and two minutes later, returned to ask Lu Yinxi, who was applying the medicated oil, “Need help?”

It’s hard for her, such a cold-eyed, cold-faced person, to put on such an enthusiastic appearance.

            

Lu Yinxi burst into laughter, still refusing, “No need.”

Jian Qing lightly flicked her forehead and walked away again.

At night, lying in bed, she didn’t disturb her and obediently hugged her to sleep.

            

The next morning, a patient left the peaceful ward.

People often leave here, nothing unusual. After finishing her talk with the patient, Jian Qing specifically went to the peaceful ward to visit the patient covered with a white cloth, Lan Bin.

The day before yesterday, he had already been in critical condition.

            

When she saw the critical condition notice on the computer, after work, she specifically walked to his bedside to tell him about his biological daughter and said to him, “I’ll bring her over to see you tomorrow.”

Once a person has emotions, they have a weakness and become easy to manipulate.

Lan Bin was always waiting, with all his might, gritting his teeth to hold on, waiting for Jian Qing to bring his daughter to see him.

            

By this morning, he finally took his last breath, still waiting, leaving the world with endless pain and regret.

Jian Qing watched the caregiver move his body, hands behind her back, fingertips resting on her wrist, lightly tapping, her mood somewhat joyful.

She did a bad thing.

            

A bad thing that was not an illegal crime.

It was a bad thing, but to her, it was something worth celebrating.

In the evening after work, Jian Qing went to a restaurant to order Lu Yinxi’s favorite dishes, packed them, and took them home.

            

Returning home, the house was completely silent.

Lu Yinxi leaned against the window, her forehead pressed against the cold glass, her slender figure reflected in the window.

In her hand, she held a paternity test report without an official seal, as if completed secretly.

            

Jian Qing softly called her name.

She turned around to look back.

Jian Qing saw the document in her hand, her gaze froze for a second, and she walked over step by step, softly asking, “Did you rummage through the things in my study drawer?”

            

Lu Yinxi subconsciously wanted to step back, but behind her was the floor-to-ceiling glass window, so she couldn’t step back.

She explained, “It wasn’t intentional. When I opened the drawer to find a pen, I accidentally found it…”

Jian Qing reached out, pulled away the document, threw it to the floor, held Lu Yinxi’s hand, pressed her against the glass, her lips lightly touched the brown tear mole at the corner of her eye, and explained in return, “I didn’t do anything bad…”

            

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