Chapter 2662 It’s raining in Nancheng tonight 23
The door opened, and a cold and slightly damp atmosphere rushed out. The light inside the room was dimmer than outside, and a chill enveloped the room.
Jin Chen stood at the door, and everything went black in a double sense.
He placed the still-dripping umbrella into the umbrella basket in the entryway and glanced across the living room.
The coffee table was messy, with an open box of stomach medicine on it and a half-finished glass of cold water next to it.
Xie Linzhou followed his gaze and felt inexplicably guilty. He quickly walked over, intending to put the medicine box away.
"Let me see." Jin Chen's voice came from behind, calm, but impossible to refuse.
Xie Linzhou paused, his fingers resting on the drawer handle, and whispered in defense, "...No need, I know what I'm doing."
Jin Chen didn't speak, she just looked at him.
A few seconds of silence lingered between them.
Xie Linzhou finally gave in, slowly releasing his grip and handing over the medicine box. "Here you go."
Jin Chen took the medicine box and glanced at the dosage.
He was quite certain it was nearing noon, and there wasn't even a trace of takeout food in the room.
Xie Linzhou probably only took some stomach medicine to get through the morning.
Jin Chen reached out and gently pinched Xie Linzhou's cold earlobe. "Are you hungry?"
Xie Linzhou turned his head away, avoiding his touch, his voice muffled.
"……fine."
That means you're hungry.
Jin Chen didn't say anything more, hung her slightly damp coat in the entryway, and went straight to the kitchen.
Xie Linzhou sat on the sofa, watching his back, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
Has he forgiven Jin Chen? It seems not.
He hadn't even figured out how to face this person who had deceived him, yet appeared during his most chaotic time and quickly resolved all the troubles.
Xie Linzhou stood up as if to say something to the kitchen, but then silently sat back down.
Jin Chen looks a bit fierce today.
About ten minutes later, Jinchen came out carrying a simple plate of spaghetti with tomato meat sauce.
There was really nothing decent to eat in the kitchen and refrigerator, and it was only in the cupboard that I managed to find some pasta that hadn't expired yet.
If Jin Chen can't even find this, he'll have to just order takeout.
"Come and eat." Jin Chen placed the plate on the table and pulled out a chair to sit down.
Xie Linzhou hesitated for a moment, but still went over.
He deliberately chose to sit opposite Jin Chen, moving the plate in the middle towards himself to keep his distance.
Xie Linzhou picked up his fork, rolled up the noodles without much taste, and put them in his mouth.
He lowered his eyes, staring at the bright red sauce in the plate, and asked in a low voice, "Why did you come?"
Jin Chen's gaze fell on him, noticing his pale face and the dark circles under his eyes from obvious lack of sleep, and she pondered for a moment.
"It's raining today, and my boyfriend might not feel very comfortable in this kind of weather."
Xie Linzhou stopped chewing, his eyes suddenly welled up with tears, large drops fell, hitting the fork in his hand and then sliding down the noodles.
He swallowed the salty noodles, his throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he could only close his eyes slightly to suppress his emotions.
"Why...why you of all people..."
Why is it you who gave me warmth and support I'd never known before, yet it's also you who brought it all back to square one?
"Alright, let's eat first." Jin Chen's voice softened a bit, and she reached out to ruffle his hair. "We'll talk after we eat."
Xie Linzhou bit his tongue, the stinging sensation bringing him back to his senses. He then buried his head and finished the plate of pasta, which actually tasted quite good.
Finally, there was food in my stomach, and the burning sensation was gone.
The pasta in the plate was all gone, with only the sauce remaining at the bottom.
The incessant sound of rain outside the window felt like it was knocking on one's heart.
Jin Chen broke the silence, "The bar opens tomorrow, are you coming?"
Xie Linzhou lowered his eyes, his voice very soft, as if he were murmuring to himself: "No."
"I dont go."
Xie Linzhou never looked up at Jin Chen; his gaze remained fixed on the wooden dining table in front of him, as if trying to see through the grain of the wood.
After a few seconds of silence, Xie Linzhou spoke again, his voice filled with struggle, "Jin Chen, I know... you didn't do anything for Xie Shao, but you helped me solve a lot of trouble."
"but……"
At this point, Xie Linzhou felt as if two versions of himself were pulling at each other inside his body.
A clear-headed and rational man, he wanted to finish saying that sentence.
The other, however, was overwhelmed by unease and surging emotions, desperately trying to stop him and making him want to escape.
Xie Linzhou could taste the blood from the unconscious bite on his tongue, and with all his might, he finally managed to squeeze out the rest of his words.
“But I’m really… scared. When I think about our first meeting at that club, and then… what you said to me online… it was all arranged, it was fake, and I just can’t… accept it.”
After saying this, he exhausted all the strength he had painstakingly accumulated.
Xie Linzhou leaned back in his chair, breathing slightly heavily, his shoulders slumped.
Jin Chen listened quietly, his eyes growing darker as he looked at Xie Linzhou's vulnerable profile, and began to think of a more roundabout way.
He lowered his voice and asked, "Then what should we do, Zhouzhou?"
Xie Linzhou felt a lump in his throat when he heard this question.
Xie Linzhou realized that he might never be able to stay calm in front of Jin Chen; his eyes always betrayed him, and he would easily shed tears.
He raised his eyes and finally met Jin Chen's gaze, his eyes red-rimmed.
“We’re breaking up,” he said.
With those words, Xie Linzhou felt a heart-wrenching pain, as if all the past intimacy had been instantly shattered and could never be restored.
Jin Chen raised his hand and pressed it against the back of Xie Linzhou's neck, bringing their foreheads close together, almost touching.
His voice was deep as he called him by his full name.
"Xie Linzhou".
Just that short sentence was enough to make Xie Linzhou's suppressed emotions break down.
Xie Linzhou jerked back, breaking free of the hand, and raised his voice.
I said we're breaking up!
Xie Linzhou endured the excruciating pain in his heart, not wanting Jin Chen to waste any more of his emotions trying to appease him.
He knew that Jin Chen hadn't done anything wrong later, and had even done a good job, but he just couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart.
Self-blame, pain, despair.
Overwhelmed by emotions, Xie Linzhou blurted out, "I'm an ingrate! I just can't accept a liar! Jin Chen, you're different from me. You have so many choices. Stop pretending... that I'm all you have in your life."
He practically roared out his last few words, tears streaming down his face and dripping onto the back of his trembling hand.
After shouting, Xie Linzhou seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and his voice lowered again, trembling slightly as if resigned to his fate.
"Actually, I don't know you very well either... Maybe we're just not suited to be lovers."
After Xie Linzhou finished speaking, he seemed unable to hold on any longer, closed his eyes, and weakly pressed his forehead against Jin Chen's forehead.
The last sentence was spoken in a breathy, pleading voice, "Please go, I beg you..."
Jin Chen's expression showed no anger as he asked, "You've thought about it for three days, and this is your final answer?"
“…Yes.” Xie Linzhou squeezed out the word with his eyes closed, “I don’t like you anymore.”
[The villain's heart rate is detected +5, totaling 83! 】
The next second, Jin Chen grabbed his chin, lowered her head and kissed him.
The kiss came suddenly, even forcefully.
After a two-second pause, Xie Linzhou's reason told him that he should struggle and push away the person in front of him, but he only became more entangled, intense and tender.
But her body seemed to have a mind of its own, without any intention of dodging. The hand that should have pushed her away involuntarily climbed onto Jin Chen's shoulder, seeking support.
The already swaying scales suddenly tipped to the side that had been abandoned.
Look closely, there are no weights, only a heavy, undeniable love.
Jin Chen felt his response and her kiss became a little gentler.
He freed one hand and pinched Xie Linzhou's sensitive and soft earlobe, gently stroking it.
The familiar gesture made Xie Linzhou subconsciously rub against his palm.
How could he not love her?
It is precisely because the love is so profound that the pain is doubled when the truth is learned, yet even in the midst of this pain, one cannot leave the embrace.
Just as Xie Linzhou was about to give up on what he had just said, Jin Chen pulled away from the kiss.
His lips brushed against Xie Linzhou's ear, responding with the gentlest words.
"Okay, I agree."
Xie Linzhou's pupils contracted, as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water, and he instantly pulled away from the dazed kiss.
He looked up in a daze, watching Jin Chen reach out his hand, his fingertips tracing his lips, "If this is what you want."
Xie Linzhou opened his mouth, but it was too dry to make a sound.
After several seconds, he vaguely and incoherently uttered a completely unrelated sentence, "...opening gift."
He didn't even quite understand why he said that, "I prepared an opening gift for you, and it's been delivered to...Lin Island."
Mentioning the bar named after him, Xie Linzhou's heart trembled uncontrollably once again.
"Thank you." Jin Chen looked at him.
Jin Chen picked up the still dripping black umbrella, opened the door, and went out.
Xie Linzhou sat alone in the suddenly quiet room, listening to the footsteps outside the door fade away until they disappeared.
The warmth that briefly existed in the room because of Jin Chen's arrival seemed to dissipate quickly with his departure.
He remained in that position for a long time, until the sky outside the window grew much darker.
Xie Linzhou suddenly stood up, walked quickly to the window, and eagerly lifted a corner of the curtain to look downstairs.
The parking spaces downstairs were empty, and the familiar car was nowhere to be seen.
Happiness comes and goes, fleeting like the rare, brilliant but ephemeral sunny days in the southern city.
It was only at this moment that Xie Linzhou realized that without Jin Chen by his side, no matter which city on Earth he was in, it was like living in a long, endless rainy season.
Damp, cold, and inescapable.
