Chapter 23
Bo Muyu didn’t drive the car Bo Mingliang had given her to work.
It wasn’t because she was concerned about idle gossip, but because she had a little idea of her own.
If things were the same as before, then she could still ride in the same car with Jiang Chenyin. She was still thinking about how she could see Jiang Chenyin more often. Because they both had work, she couldn’t play with Jiang Chenyin every few days like she did when she was a child.
The only way was to live together.
So, what should she do this time?
She thought about it with her head down on the subway. The phone in her hand suddenly lit up with a WeChat message from Lin Chuwan.
“By the way, send me a message when you’re near my house. I’ll come out to meet you.”
She replied and then fell back into deep thought. Perhaps she could try the steps Yang Shuhan had mentioned before.
Her parents were surprised that she had learned to cook a few more dishes after living with Jiang Chenyin for a month. Ye Xialan had even said that it seemed like a good idea to let her learn to take care of herself.
Before Jiang Chenyin had someone closer to her, she had to be more proactive, otherwise it would really be too late.
That kind of relationship was very long-term. She was destined to be far away from Jiang Chenyin. Before that, let her be this close. A year, half a year, a month or two were all fine. It was better than nothing.
The Lin family lived in a detached villa. By the time Bo Muyu got near Lin Chuwan’s house, Lin Chuwan was already waiting outside the door.
The temperature had dropped a little today. Lin Chuwan stood outside the door with a faint smile on her lips, wearing a long coat.
Bo Muyu quickened her pace and pulled Lin Chuwan a few steps under the eaves. “Sister Chuwan, you don’t have to come out and wait for me. How are you feeling?”
Lin Chuwan smiled and led her into the house. “It’s okay. I’ve almost recovered. I just caught a cold a while ago. But you, you didn’t have to bring anything.”
“I just brought some fruit. You shouldn’t be out in the wind when you’ve just recovered,” Bo Muyu replied, not forgetting to remind her.
“Is that Xiaoyu?”
A warm, middle-aged female voice came from inside. Bo Muyu stood still and replied, “Yes. Hello, Auntie. It’s been a while since I’ve come to see you.”
She stood up straight, her head slightly lowered, both polite and proper.
Lin Chuwan smiled faintly and took the fruit from her hand, giving it to the auntie who had approached.
“Oh, what’s with the formality?” Mother Lin walked over with a beaming smile. “It’s really been a long time since you’ve been here. Xiao Wan told me you’ve started working.”
“Mmm, I was quite busy a while ago. It’s only recently that things have eased up a bit.”
“Is that so…” Mother Lin said with concern. “Then stay for lunch. Auntie has told the kitchen to make your favorite dishes.”
Bo Muyu’s lips curved slightly. “Okay. Thank you for the trouble, Auntie.”
Mother Lin affectionately pulled her further inside. “Come and sit down. Don’t just stand there. Xiao Wan, you come too.”
Bo Muyu glanced around, and Lin Chuwan chuckled softly, “Sister Muqing is on a business trip. She’s been gone for a week.”
Bo Muyu nodded but didn’t speak. Although Song Muqing was also her senior like Lin Chuwan, Bo Muyu wasn’t familiar with her. She had only had a few conversations with her because of her interactions with Lin Chuwan.
The three of them chatted in the living room until lunchtime.
After lunch, Mother Lin, being older, didn’t chat much longer. She told Lin Chuwan to entertain her guest well and then went to her room for a nap.
Lin Chuwan took Bo Muyu to her own room.
On her desk were two photo frames. One was a group photo of Lin Chuwan, Song Muqing, and Mother Lin. In the photo, Mother Lin had a kind face. On either side of her were the gentle-eyed Lin Chuwan and the always-cold-faced Song Muqing.
The other photo frame held a picture of a man in a suit, with clear, gentle features, handsome and distinguished.
“Brother Youfan…” Bo Muyu murmured, “Long time no see.”
Lin Chuwan stood beside Bo Muyu, her gaze also falling on the photo frame. She sniffled softly.
She smiled brightly. “If my brother could hear you, he would definitely say to you too, long time no see.”
“If he could hear…” Bo Muyu touched the photo frame, a sour feeling rising in her heart. She turned to Lin Chuwan and said, “If he could hear, he would definitely have a lot to say to you.”
“He’s already told me,” Lin Chuwan said with a gentle smile.
“What?” Bo Muyu’s eyes widened.
Lin Chuwan smiled warmly, reached out to pick up the photo frame, and then led Bo Muyu to the sofa to sit down.
A ray of sunlight fell on the photo frame, and for a moment, Bo Muyu couldn’t see Lin Youfan’s face clearly.
“He told me with his life that when you have someone you want to cherish, someone you want to protect, you should never keep your thoughts and feelings sealed up in your heart. Everyone has some secrets, but when you’re with such a person, the last thing you should do is deceive and conceal.”
Her voice had grown much deeper, carrying an indescribable emotion, as if tinged with pain.
As she spoke, her thumb gently and tremblingly caressed the person in the photo frame.
“Is it because Brother Youfan did something like that?” This was the first time Bo Muyu had heard Lin Chuwan say such a thing.
But this question left Lin Chuwan at a loss for an answer. She leaned forward slightly, blocking the sunlight, and Bo Muyy could only see her slightly trembling eyelashes.
In the end, she just smiled and said to Bo Muyu, “Just remember what I said. If one day you have someone you want to cherish, no matter what, don’t hide your feelings from them. Don’t even hide the fact that you like them. Don’t assume that your own choice is the right one. A one-sided decision can never be right or wrong.”
“Why?” Bo Muyu didn’t quite understand.
She didn’t seem to understand much of what Lin Chuwan was saying, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what she didn’t understand. And if she were to say she understood a little, she hadn’t really listened carefully.
“Because there are many things that the other person won’t know if you don’t say them. Even if you’ve mulled it over in your heart until it’s worn out, the other person won’t know. Concealment and making decisions on your own will eventually lead to an irreversible outcome, with no room for recourse.”
She paused, turned to look at Bo Muyu, and suddenly shook her head and smiled.
“Why am I telling you all this? You probably don’t understand.”
“No, I understand,” Bo Muyu couldn’t help but reply.
Lin Chuwan still shook her head. “I’m telling you this now in the hope that you’ll understand, but on second thought, I hope you never understand.”
Bo Muyu had only understood the literal meaning, a partial understanding at best. Such things with no room for recourse, that kind of helpless sorrow, how could someone who had never experienced it understand?
She only hoped that Bo Muyu would never have to face such a choice, because only on the day she faced such a choice would she truly understand the meaning of her words. But by then, how could she possibly go back?
If Bo Muyu could understand a little of what Lin Chuwan had said before, she really couldn’t understand these last few sentences.
But, a person she wanted to cherish, a person she wanted to protect, she had one.
“No,” Bo Muyu said softly but seriously. “I do have someone I want to cherish and protect. And I’m not hiding anything from her. I want to tell her all my thoughts, and I have indeed done so.”
If the fact that Old Master Jiang had sought her out and she had learned that Jiang Chenyin had a past could be disregarded, then that was the case.
Since she was a child, she had never hidden anything from Jiang Chenyin, including being confessed to by boys at school, being pestered by classmates to be friends, and so on. She might not have told her parents everything, but she had told almost everything to Jiang Chenyin.
“Wait, what did you say?”
Lin Chuwan’s thoughts were inevitably drawn away by Bo Muyu. Had she not understood the nature of the emotion she was talking about? In her impression, Bo Muyu did not have any object of mutual affection.
Sometimes she felt that Bo Muyu’s reaction to things was slower than the average person’s. For example, in the past, some classmates had hinted very clearly, but Bo Muyu just didn’t understand their crushes. It wasn’t until those people clearly said, “I like you,” that Bo Muyu understood.
Every time she heard Bo Muyu talk about these things, she couldn’t help but laugh, but she didn’t say much to Bo Muyu. Insensitivity to feelings was innate. She could teach her once or twice, but she couldn’t keep an eye on Bo Muyu every time. Someone who understood Bo Muyu would naturally know what to do.
Bo Muyu repeated, “I said, I do have such a person.”
Lin Chuwan was suddenly curious. “Can you tell me? I’ve never heard you talk about it.”
“I’ve told you before,” Bo Muyu said, a hint of confusion in her eyes as she looked at Lin Chuwan. “It’s Auntie Yin. I’ve told you many times.”
Lin Chuwan was stunned for a long while, then covered her mouth and laughed.
Bo Muyu’s face was serious, a hint of confusion in her eyes. “What are you laughing at? I’m telling the truth.”
“I know, I know…” Lin Chuwan tried hard to suppress her laughter, put down the photo frame, and put an arm around Bo Muyu’s shoulder. “I know it’s true, but Xiaoyu, familial love and romantic love are different. What you have with your Auntie Yin, that’s familial love. But what I’m talking about is romantic love.”
Before Bo Muyu could ask a question, Lin Chuwan had composed herself and said to her slowly, “Romantic love is when you want to spend a very, very long time with this person. You want to do many, many things with this person. You will hope that the days you spend with this person have no end. Even if you know that you will both grow old one day and leave this world, you will greedily hope that this day will come later.”
Lin Chuwan’s voice slowly flowed through Bo Muyu’s heart, but it only made her more confused.
Because the feeling Lin Chuwan was describing was so similar to how she felt about Jiang Chenyin. She hoped to be with Jiang Chenyin for a long time, a very long time. She knew that Jiang Chenyin would most likely be far away from her in the future, but she still cherished the present time.
As long as the person who would make Jiang Chenyin pour all her focus into them didn’t appear, then these days could continue.
She hoped that these days would not end, that that person could appear a little later.
“Familial love, romantic love…” Bo Muyu murmured in a low voice.
Lin Chuwan’s lips curved up. “When you meet someone, you’ll understand.”
She was still being a little vague, but Bo Muyu would understand the difference between the two. It was just that the words she had said before, she hoped Bo Muyy would never understand.
