Volume 10: Pro and Con
Chapter 24: The Lying Game
Chen Jianing missed the canned tea her grandmother used to make. She would sprinkle in tea leaves she had grown herself, pour in boiling hot water from an old kettle, and watch as the clear water was steeped by the tea leaves, its color growing deeper and deeper. Finally, she would add longans, goji berries, raisins, and rock sugar. She herself liked to sprinkle in a handful of rose petals. The first steep was a little bitter, as the rock sugar had not yet dissolved, but the second steep was enough to make one feel refreshed and relaxed. She would wear her pajamas and slippers, hold an enamel cup, and chat with the old woman by the stove used for boiling water.
Ever since she left home for university, she had never had the tea from her hometown again. She missed that peaceful, calm atmosphere, free from strange looks.
Liking Lu Li was not a very surprising thing. Trapped in a hotel with no relatives, thinking she had a terminal illness, and there was a handsome boy who took meticulous care of you. For several months, the two of them were together day and night; he even changed her underwear for her. Under such circumstances, she naturally developed feelings for Lu Li. Besides her family, she had never met anyone who had been so good to her.
She had heard that girls who hadn’t yet stepped out into society were very simple creatures. They liked a person based only on “is he good to me” and not “are we suitable for each other.” Chen Jianing felt there was some truth to this. When she liked Lu Li, she hadn’t considered at all whether they were a good match. Even knowing he already had someone in his heart, she still shamelessly sidled up to him.
…
She pulled up a few blades of grass and threw them away fiercely. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would go to the bank of this canal outside the school, sit on the grass by the shore, and watch the river flow, as if all her troubles were being washed away by the water. She remembered that it was here that she had first met Lu Li. She had been unlucky that day; a wood chip had gotten into her shoe, and she had to take it off by the river. Lu Li happened to see her in that embarrassing state. Perhaps from that moment on, she had lost all face in front of Lu Li.
She sat from afternoon until evening. The sun in the river’s reflection rose in the east and set in the west, changing from a dazzling gold to a dusky orange-red.
She didn’t know what she should do anymore, didn’t know how to live her future, didn’t know how to handle her relationship with Lu Li. She possessed all the confusion a young girl should have.
Footsteps came from behind. She turned her head and met a pair of shining eyes. She had always thought Lu Li’s eyes were very beautiful, sparkling, and full of hope.
Lu Li sat down beside her, his breathing still a little ragged. “I’ve been looking for you from the pedestrian street all the way to Mulan Center. I forgot you like to come to the canal.”
Chen Jianing lowered her head and fiddled with a blade of grass. “I’ll go to work.”
“I’m not here to rush you to work.” Lu Li looked at the cowlick on top of the Annoying Ghost’s head. “Jianing, can you tell me why you always love to lie?”
“…Why should I tell you…” She was sullen.
Looking at the gradually darkening sky, Lu Li suddenly said, “Chen Jianing, how about we play a game?”
Chen Jianing ignored him.
Lu Li continued, “Let’s play a game. From now on, neither of us is allowed to tell the truth. Whoever breaks the rule first loses, and the loser has to grant the winner any one request. How about it?”
Chen Jianing finally looked up, a look of disdain on her face. “What kind of game is this?”
“Are you playing or not?”
“No. You’ll definitely cheat. And I won’t know if you’re telling the truth or not.” Chen Jianing continued to lower her head and pull at the grass roots. Lu Li felt the lawn was getting the short end of the stick. If this girl was unhappy every few days, the lawn would be plucked bald sooner or later.
“If you don’t dare to play, then forget it.” Lu Li patted his butt, brushed off the grass clippings, and made a move to get up. This girl, Chen Jianing, was very easy to provoke. “You’re the one who doesn’t dare to play.” She was incited in just a few sentences. No wonder she was always getting into conflicts with people. Lu Li shook his head and sat back down on the grass.
“Then the game starts now, okay?” Lu Li asked.
“Okay.” Chen Jianing nodded. Lu Li clapped his hands. “Alright, you’ve already lost.”
Only then did the Little Tiger react. The previously listless and dejected Little Tiger was now so angry she was flailing her arms and legs, pushing at Lu Li’s chest with all her might. “This doesn’t count! This doesn’t count! You cheated, I’m not playing anymore!”
Lu Li pretended to think. “Then this one won’t count. But this is the last time. So it officially starts now, okay?”
“Hmph.” Chen Jianing shot him a fierce glare, but in Lu Li’s eyes, it wasn’t fierce at all, but rather delicate. Perhaps it was because this girl was too petite and her features were too exquisite.
“I’ll add another rule. We must take turns, one sentence each. No staying silent, you know?”
“I don’t know!” Chen Jianing was smarter this time and didn’t fall for Lu Li’s trap. This rule of not being allowed to tell the truth seemed tailor-made for her, but she wasn’t sure if it was a trap set for her by Lu Li. So she asked tentatively, “Among the girls around you, who do you like the most? An Baili, Zou Yameng, Wen Hupo, or Chu Jingyi?”
“Of course I don’t like any of them.” Lu Li was righteous, saying it as if it were true. “I am a man who is not close to women. I don’t like any of these girls.”
Lu Li’s serious demeanor amused Chen Jianing, and she also let down her guard. “You are the most, most, most shameless boy I have ever seen.”
Lu Li asked with confusion, “Is that the truth?”
“You guess.” Chen Jianing giggled, her previous gloom swept away.
“Then I’ll ask you too. If your dad and I fell into the water, and you had to save one for the other to be saved, who would you want to save?”
Lu Li’s question instantly silenced Chen Jianing. Her little head spun wildly. Lu Li could almost see her forehead getting redder and redder, as if her brain were overloading.
“I wouldn’t save either of them!” Chen Jianing suddenly answered, then immediately realized this answer was a bit ambiguous and angrily changed it. “I’d save them both!”
Lu Li felt his stomach cramp; it was from holding back his laughter. The fun of teasing a little person was something an ordinary person could hardly imagine. Realizing she was being laughed at by Lu Li, Chen Jianing angrily threw out another question. “If you had to pick one of the girls around you to marry, who would you choose?” This question had to be understood in reverse: who was completely excluded from Lu Li’s consideration, or rather, who did Lu Li like the least. This was definitely a landmine question. Lu Li believed this Annoying Ghost would probably use his answer to tattle on him. But since he had dared to set this game rule, he had anticipated most of Chen Jianing’s questions.
“Of course, it’s Zou Yameng. She is my sister in the legal sense. Being able to marry my sister is something I’ve dreamed of,” Lu Li said without changing his expression. This sentence was invulnerable, whether understood literally or in reverse.
Before the Little Tiger could think of the next question, Lu Li threw out his first bomb.
“Jianing, does that tall, big guy you said you liked before really exist?”
