Temporary Farewell
Is it a confession?
Lu Yinxi opened her eyes blankly, her expression dazed.
The living room lights were bright, while the bedroom was dim. Jian Qing stood in the half-light, her gaze clear and cold, looking at her, and asked, “Will you stay?”
The cold voice reached her ears. Lu Yinxi moved her lips, wanting to answer something, but didn’t know where to start.
Will you stay?
Was she asking if she would stay tonight? Or in the future?
It’s not difficult to stay tonight, the difficult part is the future…
She can’t even see her own future clearly, so how can she talk about the future?
Having inexplicably arrived in this world within a book, no one gave her a choice. When leaving this world, will she have a choice?
After breaking through this layer of ambiguous relationship, can she give Jian Qing a future?
Or should she disregard the future and enjoy the moment?
Lu Yinxi remained silent for a long time. The bedroom was completely quiet, and the ambiguity in the air gradually dissipated. Rationality slowly returned, and the warmth of her body cooled down.
Jian Qing noticed Lu Yinxi’s hesitation, released her left hand, and gently caressed the tear mole at the corner of her eye with her fingertip. Then, she placed a tender kiss at the corner of her eye and softly said, “It’s okay, take your time to think.”
The more considerate Jian Qing was, the more guilty and self-blaming Lu Yinxi felt.
A stabbing pain, like a thousand needles, spread through her heart. Lu Yinxi reached out to embrace Jian Qing’s neck, held her tightly for a moment, then withdrew from her arms and retreated to her own bedroom as if fleeing.
As the softness in her arms left, Jian Qing watched Lu Yinxi’s hurriedly escaping figure and pressed her thumb against her own lips.
A little kitten was treading back and forth on the tip of her heart.
Lu Yinxi returned to her bedroom, feeling disheartened. She washed up, changed into her pajamas, lay down on the bed, and stared wide-eyed, unable to sleep.
Because of this relationship, she had examined herself countless times, constantly weighing between the real world and the virtual world. Which one was more important?
Unfortunately, this wasn’t an arithmetic problem of addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. She couldn’t calculate a perfectly correct answer.
The next morning, when she got up, Jian Qing had already left for work.
Lu Yinxi finished breakfast, checked her luggage, and then went to the balcony to memorize her script for a while.
At noon, Jian Qing came back. Seeing no one in the living room, she paused for a moment and then went to the balcony to look for her.
The sunlight on the balcony was bright. Lu Yinxi had rolled up her sleeves, tied up her hair, and was trimming the potted plants with scissors under the sunlight.
The script was spread out, casually tossed on the small table.
Jian Qing silently sat down and picked it up to read.
There were several glaring medical errors in the script. She circled them with a pencil and noted the correct procedures.
Lu Yinxi noticed her arrival, smiled at her, and said, “The food is ready.”
Jian Qing responded with a hum.
Neither of them mentioned what happened last night, pretending it never occurred.
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Jian Qing flipped through the script page by page. When she reached a particular page, she frowned slightly and asked, “Is there a kissing scene?”
Lu Yinxi played the second female lead in the drama, and had a romantic subplot with the third male lead. The only kissing scene was a moment where they kissed through a mask.
Jian Qing circled the word “mask” and put a big cross over it, saying, “Incorrect demonstration, it’s unhygienic.”
The purpose of a mask is to block germs, and who knows how many invisible dirty things are on it? How could anyone kiss through that?
Lu Yinxi, squatting on the ground trimming the plants, laughed and asked, “So, do you want me to kiss him without the mask?”
Jian Qing was silent for a moment, then circled the entire scene and crossed it out. She said seriously, “This is a serious drama, not an idol drama. Intimate scenes aren’t needed. If students’ parents see it, they’ll report it.”
“Alright—” Lu Yinxi elongated her tone, with a hint of a smile at the end. She stood up and walked to the sink to wash her hands. “I’ll talk to the screenwriter and director about it. Let’s eat first.”
After eating, the two went to the balcony to bask in the sun.
Jian Qing continued to read the script and asked Lu Yinxi, “Do you actors develop feelings because of acting?”
Lu Yinxi thought for a moment and said, “Living and working together on set every day, it’s definitely easy to develop feelings over time. But I won’t; I only see it as a temporary working relationship.”
This wasn’t her first time acting. She knew how to get into character and how to step out of it.
Jian Qing looked at her, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Living together? You don’t have to stay at the hotel with them. I’ve arranged a place for you.”
Lu Yinxi didn’t respond.
She had originally planned to return the bank card to Jian Qing today and mention her future plans to move out. However, after what happened last night, saying these things now would seem like she was trying to break off their relationship, which could easily lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.
Jian Qing asked, “Any objections?”
Lu Yinxi countered, “Can I have any objections?”
Jian Qing calmly said, “No, but you can make suggestions.”
Lu Yinxi softly replied, “I get a bit scared living alone. I would prefer to stay at the hotel usually, so my colleagues can look out for each other. When you come to the university town, I can go over to accompany you. Is that okay?”
Jian Qing thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
She had once spent an entire morning cleaning and decorating that house, carefully styling it in a way that Lu Yinxi would like. Now, just because of Lu Yinxi’s comment about being scared to live alone, she abandoned her previous plan and didn’t mention all the effort she had put in.
Jian Qing continued to ask, “Do you need me to hire an assistant for you?”
Lu Yinxi chuckled and shook her head, “I’m not some big star with lots of events and schedules. I just need to stay on set every day and act diligently. It’s like you going to work at the hospital; I don’t need an assistant.”
Jian Qing said, “I have an assistant.”
Lu Yinxi remembered, “Oh right, you have a research assistant who helps you with clinical trials. How is Uncle Chen, the one I helped you screen last time? He should have received the new drug by now, right?”
During that time, she was hospitalized and didn’t witness his medication process firsthand.
“Yes, he successfully joined the group. He has received the first dose, and so far, there haven’t been any adverse events.”
“That’s good. I hope the new drug is effective for him. By the way, aren’t you taking a nap this afternoon?”
Jian Qing has a habit of taking a midday nap, usually for 20 to 30 minutes.
“I don’t have a shift this afternoon.”
Lu Yinxi persuaded, “You can still go rest for a while.”
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Jian Qing calmly replied, “I’m not sleepy.”
Lu Yinxi remembered that Jian Qing always had little sleep. She used to be so exhausted that she could fall asleep even while drying her hair. How could she not be sleepy today? Unless…
Is it because she wants to spend more time together?
This realization surfaced in her mind. Under the sunlight, the warm breeze seemed to make her feel a bit tipsy, warm and floaty. Lu Yinxi’s eyes softened like they could melt into water as she looked at Jian Qing.
Jian Qing stared at her for a while and then reached out to block her gaze. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Lu Yinxi softly asked, “Why?”
Because I can’t resist wanting to kiss you.
She didn’t have the courage to say this out loud; she just silently looked at Lu Yinxi.
Lu Yinxi took her hand down and held it in hers, looking down to see a 5 cm long scar.
Gently stroking the scar with the pad of her index finger, Lu Yinxi felt both pity and regret in her heart. She softly apologized, “I’m sorry for leaving you with a scar. I don’t know when it will disappear. I shouldn’t have…”
Facing this apology, which came two months late, Jian Qing withdrew her hand and lightly tapped Lu Yinxi’s forehead with her fingertip, calmly saying, “I’ve never blamed you.”
Lu Yinxi smiled and said, “Of course, you didn’t blame me; you just retaliated.”
Actually, it couldn’t really be called retaliation. It was just that when she had a toothache and couldn’t eat, Jian Qing would deliberately eat delicious food in front of her, mock her with a few cold remarks, and intentionally tease her.
From beginning to end, Jian Qing had always shown her a very special kind of tolerance.
Lu Yinxi seemed to sense something and asked Jian Qing, “Do I look a lot like your first love? Or do I look like someone you know?”
Why are you so good to me?
Jian Qing remained silent for a moment, her dark eyes looking at Lu Yinxi. She slowly said, “I have never liked anyone else.”
The implication was that there was no first love, but she did not deny the latter part of the question.
These words fell into Lu Yinxi’s ears, and she was stunned for quite a while.
Never liked anyone else—does that mean she has only liked her?
Is this a confession?
It seems like it, and yet it doesn’t…
Her emotions felt like riding a roller coaster, up and down, filled with sweet and bitter feelings in her chest. Lu Yinxi wished she could lay her true heart bare, place it under the sun, and show it to her, clearly telling her: I like you, I want to be with you.
But these words couldn’t be spoken. Lu Yinxi only said, “Give me some time. I have many things to say, but I can’t promise anything right now. Wait until January next year, and I’ll tell you then, okay?”
If by January next year, she still couldn’t return to her original world and remained in this virtual world, she would decide to live well in this world.
A flash of amusement passed through Jian Qing’s eyes, and she nodded in agreement, “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Lu Yinxi also smiled, grabbed Jian Qing’s left hand, looked at the scar in her palm, and lowered her head to plant a careful kiss on it.
“This Audi is for you to use. I have another car for getting around.” After driving Lu Yinxi to check into the Galaxy Hotel, Jian Qing handed her the car keys.
Lu Yinxi grabbed the car keys and waved them in front of her eyes, “Dr. Jian, aren’t you afraid I’ll take the money and run, leaving you with nothing?”
Jian Qing gave a faint smile but said nothing.
Lu Yinxi understood that lending her the car was a subtle way for Jian Qing to express her hope that she would visit often. She didn’t refuse and softly said, “If I’m free in the evening, I’ll drive into the city and take you for a ride to the beach.”
Jian Qing ruffled her hair, “I have classes in the evening. I’m leaving now. Take good care of yourself.”
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“Okay, I’ll drive you back to the city, and then I’ll drive back myself.” Lu Yinxi wanted to stick with her a bit longer.
“Silly,” Jian Qing gently flicked her forehead and declined, saying, “I’ll take the subway back.”
“Then I’ll drive you to the subway station.”
This time, Jian Qing didn’t refuse. There was a bit of a distance from the hotel to the subway station.
After seeing Jian Qing off into the station and watching her silhouette disappear into the crowd, Lu Yinxi returned to the car feeling down. She touched the steering wheel, trying to feel the warmth left by Jian Qing.
But what warmth was there?
Only her own foolish infatuation.
It had only been a few minutes since they parted, yet the longing had already started to spread to every corner of her body.
Lu Yinxi took out her phone, intending to ask Jian Qing which station she had reached. As soon as the phone keyboard popped up, there was a “knock knock” sound on the car window.
She saw that familiar, beautiful face outside the window and was stunned for a moment. She rolled down the window in confusion, “Jian… President Jian?”
Jian Yan took off her sunglasses, revealing a polite smile, “I thought this license plate looked familiar. Little one, give me a ride to the Galaxy Hotel.”