Chapter 3 Memories (2)

  Liu Jing put her hands behind her back and interlocked them, refusing to shake hands with this man named Chen Jun.

  Chen Jun felt a wave of awkwardness, his stiffened hand involuntarily raised in an unnatural gesture, pretending to be calm as he scratched his hair, forcing out a strained smile on his face.

  "Does Mrs. Liu like that kind of coffee?" Chen Jun asked with a humorous tone, avoiding Zhen's gaze that swept back and forth without stopping.

  Liu Jing raised her head, smiled faintly, and in the instant when their eyes met, Liu Jing read the deep curiosity and inquiry in his eyes, as well as another kind of gaze that she couldn't grasp or understand, which was hidden and not revealed.

  " Foam milk flavor!" He bowed his head, politely nodded, and pulled Zhen to sit down beside him. Turning his head to look at her, he asked: "What's wrong?" Secretly thinking: This girl is being shy! It's me who brought the awkwardness! How many girls hide their humble feelings, so they don't dare appear in public, afraid of leaking something, that's the biggest joke under heaven.

  "It's nothing, you two are chatting quite well, hehe!" Zhen's smile clearly had a hint of unhappiness, Liu Jing thought to herself: What's wrong with her? This isn't what she wanted me to see, could it be that she has something else hidden from me.

  "Here's the coffee, Jane. Your favorite espresso." Chen Jun carefully poured some sugar for Liu Jing and the two of them, elegantly lifted the spoon to stir the coffee, gently placed the spoon down, and made a inviting gesture: "Ladies first."

  This was the first time Liu Jing saw Chen Jun, and she didn't leave much of an impression, but since then, Liu Jing often received some mysterious gifts, small ones like flowers, big ones like expensive perfume, and books that Liu Jing liked to read.

  Liu Jing looked for the person who sent the gift, but there was only a message with an anonymous address and an anonymous sender.

  In the house shared by Liu Jing and Zhen, on the bed, Liu Jing took out those inexplicable things that had flown in and said: "Zhen, these things are all yours, I'm dizzy, I don't know who is so bored to send these things over."

  "Hmm... quiet. I really envy you, whoever it is likes you, unlike me, like a broom star, wherever I go, I'll be met with disdainful eyes, ah! Maybe this is fate! Destined to be lonely for life." Zhen said dejectedly.

  "Pfft! You heartless thing, I, Liu Jing, still owe you?!" Liu Jing angrily pushed her and handed over all these trinkets to her: "Perfume, I don't like it. Hmm...these shiny bracelets and whatnot, I don't want them either. This 'Dream of the Red Chamber' book, I'll keep."

  "Heh heh, looks like some people have wasted their efforts." Zhen smiled slyly and picked up a bracelet to play with.

  From the other's complex expression, Liu Jing felt that Zhen must know who sent her these things. Blinking her ink jade-like eyes, she thought to herself: how can I get all the words out of her belly? She looked at the other person, deep in thought for a moment.

  "Jen, are we good friends?"

  "Really? You want to say something, then come on." Zhen put down the thing in her hand and said with a serious expression.

  "Hmm... how does it feel working at a bar?" Liu Jing asked, intentionally beating around the bush.

  "Hmm... not bad, eh! But I plan to leave the bar at the end of the month. Thinking of going to Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Hong Kong... Wow! I want to travel all around the world, that's my dream." Zhen said with a relaxed tone, lying on the bed, her eyes shining bright with infinite longing.

  "You really want to go to a distant place, without considering me? Can you bear to abandon your own parents and that naive little brother of yours?" Liu Jing was shocked, explaining that her feelings for Zhen were also a matter of life and death. This bastard actually wanted to throw everything away and go to a distant place, his heart is too wild.

  "Hmph! You... How dare I say that I'll abandon you? Who knows, maybe someday I'll still have to rely on you for a meal. What kind of person are you? A spoiled rich girl with a wealthy family, friends and classmates who like you, and a bunch of admirers. Losing me won't make a big difference. As for my parents, they now have their precious son, and I'm just an extra person. It's better to leave as soon as possible!"

  "You're asking for a beating, aren't you! What kind of person I am, you don't know? My parents have money, it's theirs, can I rely on them to support me for my whole life? Get out! And another thing is that your advantages are more than mine, strong, hardworking, diligent, and also..."

  "Hypocrisy! Is it? Is... I want to marry a rich man, as the saying goes, money isn't everything, but without it, nothing is possible."

  Zhen's words kept echoing in Liu Jing's ears, it was that day when they were together, she borrowed a few hundred yuan from Liu Jing and left A city. The last time they met when she returned home, Zhen had changed greatly, becoming so unfamiliar to Liu Jing.

  "Are you asleep?" Chen Jun knocked on the door, Liu Jing could imagine him wearing a grayish-brown bath towel around his waist, standing at the door in slippers, tentatively knocking. As long as Liu Jing responded, he would definitely stick around and wouldn't stop talking nonsense.

  Liu Jing ignored his shouting and knocking, instead burying her soft pillow to cover her ears, resisting all the noise from entering her eardrums.

  After a long time, there was no more noise at the door, and I knew Chen Jun must have gone to his bedroom to sleep.

  Liu Jing didn't know how many times she had turned over in her bed, but her mind was still stuck on the memories of being with Zhen. The memories were like a broken piece of glass, and also like a naturally formed puzzle, which couldn't be completed without every single piece.

  Close your eyes, and that bloody face will stubbornly appear in your mind. Turn over, turn over again, remembering what Dad and Mom once told Liu Jing, after having a nightmare, as long as you turn over, you'll forget the scene of the nightmare.

  But Liu Jing felt that this method seemed to have lost its effect tonight, maybe it was really "the day has its thoughts and the night has its dreams".

  In a daze, Liu Jing felt that there was someone standing in front of her bed, still with disheveled long hair and a face full of blood appearing before her. She wanted to shout, but her voice couldn't make a sound.

  The woman's face was stained with blood, her features indistinguishable. It looked like Zhen, yet not quite like Zhen. A strange and eerie power gripped Liu Jing's mind, making him unable to resist the evil aura emanating from this woman.

  "Huffing and puffing, Liu Jing took big breaths to calm her racing heart and the discomfort in her body. Her clear-headed consciousness told herself that this was just a nightmare. Liu Jing really wanted to struggle out of this delusional illusion. She even felt that her hand had already touched the switch on the bedside table and turned it on, but the bedroom remained dark."

  The woman's lowered head was almost touching Liu Jing's face, staring at her bursting eye sockets and the flowing blood from a distance of just a few inches, a pungent smell suddenly rushed into Liu Jing's nostrils.

  Liu Jing struggled hard, using her innate strength to shout loudly... Ahhh...! The consecutive nightmares after Zhen's suicide made Liu Jing feel very tired...

  "Quietly 'dang dang' quietly."

  The sudden knocking at the door brought Liu Jing back from her nightmare, her whole body drenched in sweat, her forehead cold and clammy, her fingers not feeling any covering object.

  Liu Jing bent down to look at the ground, only to realize that the quilt had somehow ended up on the floor. Picking it up, the sound of knocking on the door and the "ding-dong" alarm clock mixed together entered Liu Jing's eardrum.

  Groggily getting up, opening the door, a gust of cold wind rushed in from the open door, and I shivered.

  "Are you having another nightmare?" Chen Jun wrapped his arms around Liu Jing, stubbornly pressing her head against his broad chest. He gently placed a pair of hands with the scent of nicotine on Liu Jing's forehead. The reason he was so careful in every move was that Liu Jing had an inexplicable terror deep down, and to this day, people of the opposite sex were still hateful monsters in her eyes, until she met Chen Jun.

  For the first time, Liu Jing didn't resist as his hand landed on her forehead. He seemed to have gained encouragement, his breathing became heavy, and his hands slid down to her waist. Immediately after, his lips approached hers. Liu Jing's heart began to pound violently against her chest, and an overwhelming sense of fear suddenly filled every nerve in her body.

  "Don't..."

  "Alright, alright, I won't touch you, see my hands are stretched out straight." Chen Jun was shocked by Liu Jing's big reaction and hastily stretched out his hands in a straight line, explaining as he spoke.

  Chen Jun is six years older than Liu Jing, and being with him makes her feel very secure. She quietly regards him as a reliable big tree, and takes his pampering and care for granted, just like a father's love for his daughter. She also treats him like an elder brother to act spoiled with.

  Liu Jing's vision was blurry, knowing that she was indeed tearful at this moment, but she refused to let him wipe her eyes. She pulled out a tissue from the bedside table and sat on the bed with a melancholy expression.

  Chen Jun was stunned for a long time, cautiously approached Liu Jing's body, raised his hand stiffly for a moment, and then gently patted Liu Jing's shoulder.

  "Sleep, Jing'er. Tomorrow is Sunday and I'll take you to Luodai for fun." Chen Jun said, then let out a faint sigh, quietly closed the bedroom door and left.

  Liu Jing didn't know how many times this had happened, every time she yearned for him to get close, but every time that kind of irrepressible fear would occur.

  Liu Jing has been introverted and reserved since childhood, so she became inseparable friends with Zhen because Zhen was also lonely like Liu Jing due to family poverty and having a double mentality of pride and inferiority.

  Lost Jane, who else is left? Chen Jun... But I've disappointed him time and again, he might get tired of me, maybe one day he'll lose his care and affection for me, Liu Jing thought to herself in a restless night.

  Perhaps Chen Jun was curious about Liu Jing because of her different behavior from other girls. In today's chaotic and bizarre social circle, it is rare to find a girl like her who is so rigid, stubborn, and conservative. Since childhood, Liu Jing has rejected all males, even her own father would feel inexplicable disgust.