Chapter 53: Qin An’s Confession
After meeting Leng Qing Qiu, Lu Zhiyin left first with Qin An. Before she left, she told Leng Qing Qiu that she wouldn’t be able to live with her for a while, but she would look for her later.
Although Leng Qing Qiu was reluctant, due to the life-saving favor and her love, Leng Qing Qiu didn’t say much.
“…Um, aren’t you with Long Qinxin? Why did you agree to Leng Qing Qiu’s pursuit?”
Qin An walked beside Lu Zhiyin. She felt awkward helping Lu Zhiyin push the wheelchair, and she didn’t know where Lu Zhiyin was going, so she just followed her aimlessly.
She was a bit bothered by Lu Zhiyin’s conversation with Long Qinxin, and felt inexplicably sour in her heart.
Had she fallen for Lu Zhiyin? Fallen for the person who helped her during her lowest point, who was willing to risk her life and fortune to help her reach a high position?
Qin An found this idea absurd, but she dared not vehemently deny it in her heart.
“Agreed? Did I say something like that?”
Lu Zhiyin tilted her head.
She looked at Qin An.
“I don’t like Leng Qing Qiu. She has done more terrible things to me than you have. Also, please don’t misunderstand my relationship with Long Qinxin. I was kidnapped by her and brought home. I detest Long Qinxin just as much as I detest Leng Qing Qiu.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the wheelchair’s tires and Qin An’s footsteps stopped simultaneously.
Lu Zhiyin’s words had a significant impact on Qin An, and also raised many questions in her heart.
She didn’t think she could ask all her questions, so she picked the most important ones.
“…Then why did you go to such great lengths to save Leng Qing Qiu?”
Qin An asked the question that puzzled her the most.
“Well… it was just a dying wish from my parents. They told me to depend on each other and look after each other, so I did as they said. Besides, I really have no one to rely on. Although Leng Qing Qiu treated me badly, at least she prevented me from being kidnapped by human traffickers and sent to a brothel, or from encountering incidents like home invasions.”
Lu Zhiyin casually fabricated a lie to fool Qin An, not only explaining her reason for saving Leng Qing Qiu but also revealing her lack of support to Qin An.
This was Lu Zhiyin showing weakness to Qin An.
“You said you were kidnapped by Long Qinxin, why didn’t you call the police?”
Qin An didn’t think too much about it. She asked her second question.
“Heh…”
Lu Zhiyin didn’t answer immediately.
She let out a light laugh, then started her wheelchair and continued moving forward.
“If I called the police and they arrested her, then what? She has money and can get out of the police station quickly. Then I would face an even more dire situation.”
Lu Zhiyin closed her eyes.
“…”
Qin An fell silent. As Lu Zhiyin’s wheelchair was about to drive off the sidewalk and onto the road where cars occasionally passed, Qin An grabbed the armrest of the wheelchair.
She adjusted the direction for Lu Zhiyin and then fell silent.
The two fell into a long silence.
Qin An’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. She lamented Lu Zhiyin’s terrible situation, and then she thought about the people she had bullied, who might have been in a situation as bad as Lu Zhiyin’s.
Qin An began to regret her past actions.
“…I’m sorry.”
Qin An finally broke the deathly silence between them with an apology.
She looked at the girl’s gray and white hair. The thought of running her fingers through her hair flashed in her mind, but she quickly stopped fantasizing about such an intimate act.
“…It’s okay if you don’t hear this, I’m sorry, I can’t forgive you.”
Lu Zhiyin turned her head to look at the ashamed Qin An.
She would not forgive Qin An.
“I know…”
Qin An didn’t expect Lu Zhiyin to forgive her.
She felt a sense of suffocation. She wanted to express her feelings for Lu Zhiyin, but it was like a lump in her throat, and she couldn’t utter a single extra word.
After the brief exchange, another long silence followed. Qin An escorted Lu Zhiyin back to the apartment.
She herself rummaged through her own apartment, which was kept tidy and clean.
She remembered what she did when she first met Lu Zhiyin. That day, she had stolen Lu Zhiyin’s phone.
Qin An thought that if she remembered correctly, she shouldn’t have thrown the phone away.
After turning her home upside down, she successfully found what she was looking for.
The somewhat old phone lay quietly beneath the shoe cabinet, its screen and casing covered in dust.
The phone had already turned off due to low battery. Qin An didn’t know if it was broken, she just wanted to return it to its owner.
Looking at the heavy phone in her hand, Qin An’s thoughts drifted back a few months. Normally, Qin An should have distributed the stolen items to her subordinates. However, the item was so old that none of her subordinates were willing to accept it, so Qin An brought it back, thinking she’d throw it away when she had time, but she had long forgotten where she had put it.
“Ha…”
With a long sigh, Qin An closed her eyes. When she closed her eyes, her mind was full of Lu Zhiyin’s face.
Sad, angry, upset, calm, but it seemed there was no happiness?
Qin An took the phone and left the apartment building. She went to a convenience store downstairs to buy a plastic rose.
She didn’t have any extra money and didn’t know what to give. She just speculated that Lu Zhiyin, being a girl in her prime, would probably like flowers.
So, Qin An bought a cheap plastic rose.
She returned to her home, found a black pen and a red sticky note.
“I’m really sorry about what happened before. I’ll try to make amends, please give me some time. Also, I think… I kind of like you?”
Qin An’s handwriting was not good, and since she hadn’t used a pen for a long time, her writing was crooked. Fortunately, it was still legible, so it didn’t turn into gibberish.
Slowly writing down everything she could think of in a short period, Qin An hid the red sticky note in the petals of the plastic rose.
Then, holding the rose and the phone, she went to the apartment across the hall.
This was Long Qinxin’s apartment. Lu Zhiyin was lying quietly on the sofa, as if she was about to fall asleep.
Seeing Lu Zhiyin, who hadn’t noticed her, Qin An felt a bit nervous.
She patted her thigh, then placed the plastic rose and Lu Zhiyin’s old phone on the coffee table.
“Um… this phone is yours, I’m returning it to you. Regarding what happened before, although I know you won’t forgive me, I still want to say it again, I’m sorry.”
Qin An bowed and then fled like a rabbit with its tail on fire.
“…Finally… is it going to be completed…”
Lu Zhiyin immediately noticed the sticky note in the rose. She peeled off the note and saw Qin An’s clumsy confession.
Lu Zhiyin thought Qin An was a fool, as usual.
