Chapter 28: I Didnât Push Him into the Water
Jian An leaned against the tree trunk with his hands behind his back, his nails digging deep into his palms. His eyes were clouded with gloom as he said, “I didn’t kill Professor Lin. I don’t know why she suddenly…”
Hearing this, Chen Ma was momentarily surprised, but the expression on her face remained skeptical. She let out a weary sigh. “I can’t say for sure whether you killed her or not, but it’s true that Ji-zong hates you. After all, I watched him grow up. He’s been solitary and withdrawn since he was a child, and Professor Lin was the only one he was truly close to. I’ve seen all the pain he’s endured these past three years.”
Jian An suddenly fell silent. An inexplicable cocktail of emotions swirled in his downcast eyesâsorrow mixed with a profound sense of loss.
“Forget it, why am I wasting my breath telling you this?”
Chen Ma cut herself off, placing a hand on her hip as she looked at the sweetly smiling Shen Chuyan in the distance. “This old woman hates people who interfere in other people’s marriages the most.”
With that, she hunched her back and crept forward soundlessly. With lightning speed, she used a long pole to strike a heavy blow against the snow-laden branches of the pine tree.
In an instant, several small clumps of snow came cascading down from the air.
Shen Chuyan, who was busy building a snowman under the pine, didn’t notice the snowballs directly above his head.
“Watch out!”
An anxious warning rang out from behind him, and his entire body was suddenly yanked back by the man behind him.
Although Ji Songting managed to shield him and dodge most of the snow, several small clumps still landed on his hair and slid down his neck into his clothes.
A bone-chilling cold instantly swept through his body. Shen Chuyan huddled shivering in the man’s arms, unable to stop himself from letting out several high-pitched sneezes.
Ji Songting gently brushed the snow off his hair, his eyes filled with heartache and anxiety. “Xiao Yan, how are you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The youth wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist and buried himself in his warm embrace. His nose, reddened from the cold, rubbed against the man’s chest. His voice was full of grievance. “I’m fine, it’s just a little cold…”
Ji Songting immediately took off his only cotton-padded coat and draped it over him. His sharp gaze suddenly caught a dark shadow behind the pine tree, and he barked, “Who’s there? Come out!”
“Ji-zong, it’s me…”
Chen Ma, holding the long pole, walked over with a limp through the thick snow. Her tone was gentle and sincere. “I was just clearing the snow back there. It’s pitch black; I didn’t see the Young Master Shen was here. I almost hurt him by mistake. I am truly sorry!”
Ji Songtingâs face darkened as he issued a stern warning. “Hmph. Be more careful next time. It’s lucky Xiao Yan wasn’t hurt this time, or you’d be looking for a new job.”
“Yes, yes, I understand, Ji-zong.”
Chen Ma bowed her head slightly, her gaze falling on the fragile, startled youth. “Young Master Shen, it was this old woman’s fault. Did I scare you?”
“Itâs okay! I know Chen Ma didn’t do it on purpose. I was just too focused on playing and didn’t notice.”
Shen Chuyan bit his lip delicately, his two tearful eyes blinking in a way that looked utterly innocent.
However, if one looked closely, a flash of vicious, poisonous light flickered within those murky pupils.
While his mouth spoke words of forgiveness, his heart was screaming: You old hag, are you blind? How could you not see a grown man standing under the tree?
Shen Chuyan gritted his teeth in secret hatred, certain that the old woman had done it on purpose. As he shot a subtle glare at Chen Ma, he suddenly spotted Jian An hiding behind the pine tree.
Could it be that these two are working together to frame me? Do they want to make me look like a fool in front of Ji Songting?
At that thought, the corners of his mouth curled into a cold smirk. Ten thousand malicious plans for revenge took root in his mind.
On the other side of the tree, Jian An walked back despondently, forcing himself not to look back.
If he had been the one struck by the snow, Ji Songting wouldn’t have reacted at all, would he?
He was always “asking for it,” constantly dwelling on such possibilities.
Suddenly, the phone in his pocket let out a “ding-dong” notification, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
The cold wind brushed against his hair as he stopped in his tracks.
The screen lit up with a faint glow. The message was actually from Ji Songting: [I’m waiting for you at the swimming pool.]
Why would the other man suddenly send him this?
And… should he go?
If this had been four days ago, before that man burned all his paintings, he would have been overjoyed by this rare message and would have gone to the meeting without hesitation.
But now, he was truly afraid. He was afraid that his already shattered heart could no longer withstand any further blows or torment.
He was even more afraid that the last shred of love he had managed to preserve over the years would be completely destroyed.
Jian An stood dazed for several minutes, his frostbitten hands tightly clutching the cold phone. It felt as though those few minutes of hesitation were longer than the three days he had been imprisoned.
After a long, long time, he finally failed to convince his heart otherwise and sent a reply to Ji Songting:
[Okay, I’m coming.]
Whenever he faced that man, he could never find a reason to say no, nor could he find the heart to refuse.
The doors to the swimming hall were wide open, with only a single beam of light shining from the ceiling above the pool.
Jian An swallowed nervously. Due to the dim light, he could only vaguely see a blurred figure standing by the pool.
He steeled himself and walked over, his fingers clenching tightly. He looked at the silhouette with a panicked gaze and whispered:
“Songting, did you need something? If it’s nothing important, I… I’ll head back first.”
Another glass lamp on the ceiling flickered on, illuminating the dark figure by the poolâand a cold laugh rang out.
As he saw the person clearly, Jian An’s eyes widened. “Shen… Shen Chuyan? Why is it you?”
The other man arched an eyebrow, his eyes filled with a look of pure innocence. “Xiao An Ge-ge~ Why can’t it be me?”
“Where is Songting? He said he had something to discuss with me.”
“You mean this?”
Shen Chuyan waved Ji Songting’s phone, pointing to the message sent to him. A playful smirk curled his lips.
“So you were the one who sent the message…”
A sudden sense of loss flooded his heart. Jian An’s pupils were so dark they showed no emotion, and even his voice lacked strength. “What exactly do you want?”
This arrogant youth before him had once asked him for advice on painting and art as a junior, but things had changed. Now, they were love rivals.
As he looked at Shen Chuyan, who was now a professor at a famous art academy, the last bit of confidence he had as the “Madam” of the Ji family was crushed into pieces.
Jian An abruptly lowered his head, not daring to meet those penetrating eyes. He took a fearful step back.
“What I want, of course, is…”
Shen Chuyan paused intentionally, the triumphant smile on his face vanishing. It was replaced by a look of sinister resentment as he spoke word by word:
“For you to divorce A-Ting.”
“No… based on… based on what?”
Jian An mustered his courage to throw back this single sentence, but his head remained lowered out of inferiority. His voice was weak yet his words were clear, each syllable laced with determination:
“Besides, I love Songting very much. Our marriage, though not a match of mutual love, was agreed upon by both sets of parents. You… you shouldn’t interfere in someone else’s family.”
“Based on what?!”
Shen Chuyan suddenly grabbed his wrist, staring at him. Rage made the whites of his eyes flush red as he said:
“Clearly, you are the third party between A-Ting and me! If it weren’t for your intrusion, I would already be the Madam of the Ji family!”
Shen Chuyan felt that this vent wasn’t enough. His usual soft-spoken manner vanished, completely exposing his overbearing and haughty true face:
“You’re just a wild seed, thick-skinned and shameless. You only know how to climb the social ladder. You’re just like your motherâpure filth. Why don’t you just die? What are you even living for?!”
Hearing these foul words, Jian An had no reaction. His gaze was dull; he felt neither pain nor itch.
Perhaps it was because he had grown used to Ji Songting’s various insults and the even more unpleasant verbal abuse of others over the past three years.
However, the word “die” still caused his heart to twitch. It was like a demon screaming frantically in his ear, tearing at him, egging him on to end it all.
Reason and breakdown alternated in his mind, leaving him in a daze.
Suddenly, a crisp, deep male voiceâone that Jian An loved so much it was carved into his very marrowârang out from the direction of the entrance:
“Xiao Yan, are you at the swimming pool?”
The moment he heard Ji Songting’s voice, Shen Chuyan grabbed Jian Anâwhom he had been about to push into the poolâand dragged him forward. He stood at the very edge of the pool, tightly clutching the other man’s hands.
His arrogant aura vanished in an instant, and the foul language in his mouth turned into a tearful plea:
“Xiao An Ge-ge… I know you love A-Ting very much, and so do I. But I know you’re already married. I don’t have a chance. I’ll leave, just please let me go!”
Jian An was startled by this sudden and massive transformation. His hands were caught in a struggle he couldn’t escape, and he could only let his body sway precariously forward.
Ji Songting, standing behind them, heard these words perfectlyâhis “White Moonlight” being oppressed by his enemy. His pace quickened involuntarily as he shouted in extreme anxiety:
“Jian An! What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t touch him!”
The next second, Shen Chuyan saw his opening and suddenly let go. He fell backward into the swimming pool as if he had been pushed by Jian An.
The freezing pool water rushed into his nose and mouth. He thrashed about frantically, using his hands and feet to stay afloat as he gasped weakly:
“A-Ting… save me…”
Jian An’s eyes widened in horror. His trembling hands hung in mid-air as he stood there like a wooden statue, unable to believe he had “pushed” him…
Seeing this, Ji Songting didn’t hesitate for a second. He dove into the pool and swam toward the youth with a heart full of fire.
“Xiao Yan, don’t be afraid! I’m here!”
He pulled Shen Chuyan out of the water, shielding the other’s head and body with his arm as he swam rapidly toward the shore.
Jian An snapped out of his panic and moved his heavy legs. He was about to go over and check on Shen Chuyan’s safety when he was suddenly shoved aside with great force by the man.
He spoke incoherently, “Songting, let me explain. I really didn’t push him into the water just now…”
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