Five Fingers

  In my questioning tone, Qiao Nanmu remained calm and composed, his eyes devoid of any extra expression. He replied calmly, "You ask me why? This question I want to know more than you."

  "Why don't you resist? Don't you have a girl you like?" I rarely lost control, my hair flying wildly in the cold wind, my body trembling uncontrollably, "What's the reason after all?"

  Qiao Nanmu looked at my flustered appearance, bent down to pick up the clothes I had thrown on the ground, and forcefully put them on me, not forgetting to carefully help me fasten the buttons. But the more he did this without a word, the more I felt afraid.

  "The girl I liked has long been dead." Under the quiet night sky, his voice carried a hint of desolation that was hard to detect, and even when he said the word "dead", there wasn't a single change in his expression.

  I turned pale and stared at him in disbelief, unable to react.

  "I told you, didn't I? I've known since I was a kid that I would marry Gu Qing. Your intense reaction is understandable, after all, we're not familiar with each other. But Gu Qing, don't forget, we have a long future ahead of us." He reached out his hand to help me tidy up my hair, his movements gentle and skilled. His icy fingertips brushed against my forehead repeatedly, making me shiver uncontrollably. Qiao Nanmu, however, remained unperturbed as he continued to fix my hair, his voice slightly lowered as he asked, "Gu Qing, do you know how she died?"

  I shook my head, shaking it repeatedly, wanting to speak but unable to utter a single sound.

  "She was driven to death. Because she knew that the Qiao family would not acknowledge her, knew that it was impossible for us to be together, so she jumped from the 20th floor and died on the spot." Qiao Nanmu stretched out his hand, and on the tip of his middle finger, a letter was clearly engraved, an "X" as clear as day, right in front of my eyes.

  It's said that the index finger is the closest to the heart, and this finger is connected to the heart. Qiao Nanmu carved the letter on his index finger, indirectly carving the girl into his heart.

  "You're crazy!" I slapped away Jianan Mu's hand, wanting to brush off the chill that came with it. All I felt was endless coldness, the coldness that Jianan Mu brought me.

  "Are you scared?" Qiao Nanmu looked at me with a slight curl of his lip, saying in an almost indifferent tone: "I used to hate you, Gu Qing. I kept thinking about how to get revenge on you, but when I saw you, I realized I didn't hate you after all." A hint of pity suddenly appeared in his eyes, "You're just a pitiful person, what right do I have to hate you?"

  He said, "Since that's the case, why not us? I don't like you, and you don't like me either. Isn't that just fine?" Anyway, he would never again be moved by another person for the rest of his life. Since he didn't dislike Gu Xiang, then marrying her wouldn't be a problem, right? He could spoil her, give her everything she wanted, except love.

  "Qiao Nanmu, we don't even share the same worldview, do you think we can get along well together?" I suddenly felt like laughing, "I won't be with someone I don't like, you may be willing, but I'm not."

  "It doesn't matter." Qiao Nanmu only said, "I won't force you. Since this is the path you've chosen, then go ahead and follow your own way. Until one day when you're covered in scars, you'll understand that for two people to be together, it's not just about those romantic feelings, but also about having a tacit understanding of each other."

  "I'll wait for the day when you come to me and say, Qiao Nanmu, I regret this." Those were Qiao Nanmu's last words to me that night, he said it with such certainty, as if he had already foreseen everything.

  "I won't regret it!" I looked at him, stubbornly raising my head, saying with a tone that was ten times more affirmative than his.

  Qiao Nan smiled and let it go, thinking that it was good for her to experience what he had gone through. He had some ruthless thoughts, "Gu Qing, I've warned you before, but you didn't listen, so don't blame me now."

  He just needs to wait, wait for the day she regrets it, and then she will slowly grow up, at that time he can marry her again, maybe better.