Volume 10: Pro and Con
Chapter 25: A Rainbow Reflected in Water
A lie is a lie because the other party does not know its truthfulness. Otherwise, what difference is there between a lie and the truth? Young girls are most fond of lies, not because their morals are flawed, but because they need a little lie to maintain their only bit of dignity.
Across the canal was a commercial street made up of tall buildings, packed tightly together, with a riot of neon lights. The colorful neon lights were reflected on the sparkling surface of the river, and those mesmerizing colors were in turn refracted by the young girl’s eyes, giving her gaze a mysterious beauty. Lu Li remembered Hupo telling him that in painting, there is a technique of hidden color, which refers to blending various complementary colors in a small space, yet not making it seem abrupt or garish to a distant observer. At this moment, Chen Jianing’s eyes held a myriad of colors: the blue of the moon, the purple, green, and yellow of the neon lights, and the red of her cheeks.
“Of course… of course he exists,” she answered subconsciously, urgently trying to prove something, for a moment forgetting the so-called rules of the game.
“Then do you really like him?” Lu Li also sat down on the lawn. The blades of grass were a bit hard, and a little prickly on his butt.
“…I do. Why wouldn’t I like him?”
“How much do you like him?”
“Why should I tell you?” She looked at the shimmering surface of the water, her expression dazed. At this moment, she could no longer be bothered with the so-called rules of the game. If she had to think three times before every sentence, would she still be that Chen Jianing?
“Anyway, whatever we say today are lies and can’t be taken seriously. Just say whatever you want. Otherwise, I’ll just think you made someone up to lie to me.”
“D-do I need to make someone up? Then let me tell you, I like being with him. He doesn’t mind that I’m short or that I have a bad personality. No matter what I do, he’ll understand me! And he’ll be there for me when I’m lonely, lend a helping hand when I’m in trouble, care about my future, and… in short, he’s the best boyfriend…” Although she was enumerating the virtues of “that person,” her tone grew lower and lower, gradually losing its vitality.
Lu Li sighed, attracting her attention.
“What are you sighing for?”
“I’m sighing because I got dumped.”
“You can get dumped by a girl?” Chen Jianing looked at him with confusion.
“That’s right. That girl just said she has someone she likes. I heard her say that person is so perfect he’s flawless. I have no chance at all. Isn’t that being dumped?” Lu Li lay on the lawn, looking at the night sky. He didn’t know since when, but the stars in the sky had become much fewer, leaving only a crescent moon hanging high and lonely.
Chen Jianing was stunned for a moment, looking at Lu Li’s profile. “You’re teasing me again.”
“I’m not teasing you.” Lu Li turned his head to face the Little Tiger. “I feel very sad. The girl I like has rejected me several times and keeps emphasizing that she has someone she likes. I’m not as tall and strong as him, I don’t have any outdoor hobbies, and my personality isn’t as sunny as his.”
Chen Jianing huffed. She knew the lying game was still in progress. Although there was a bit of joy in her heart that shouldn’t have belonged to her, she still told herself that Lu Li was just lying.
“Why do you like that girl? I heard, I heard she’s not a good girl.” Chen Jianing’s voice was trembling slightly. “I heard she interfered in someone else’s relationship, that she knowingly became the other woman. She’s simply a total rotter.”
“I don’t think so. The girl in my memory is a kind, serious, loyal person with no ulterior motives. Even when she’s angry, she’ll still go to work and not let it affect her job. Even when she’s sad, she’s unwilling to let her emotions affect others, preferring to bear it all silently by herself. Even when she’s constantly looked down upon, she’s unwilling to truly retaliate against others. She just locks herself in a small world, observing the outside through a peephole. She needs someone to gently open the door, to understand her, to be considerate of her.” Lu Li let out a laugh. “I’ve always thought her personality was very awkward, but I’ve never felt she was in any way unworthy, undeserving, or shouldn’t be. In my eyes, she’s like a little tiger, baring her fangs and claws, but really just to protect herself.”
He heard sobbing beside him. Startled, he sat up straight and saw Chen Jianing wiping her tears.
“The-the wind is too strong! It blew sand into my eyes!” she said, crying.
Lu Li didn’t expose her. The Chen Jianing of his past life and the Chen Jianing of this life silently merged at this moment. Certain actions of hers from his past life finally had a reason. She had never changed; she had always been the little tiger from his memory.
“Let me blow it out for you.” Lu Li held the girl’s thin shoulders, cupping his hand by her forehead so she could briefly ignore the outside world’s gaze and cry her heart out. One time he remembered vividly, the Little Tiger had been wronged outside, but she had held it in the whole time. When she got home, she had started to wail her heart out. When Lu Li asked her why, she said she didn’t want others to see her weak side.
Being too strong, yet not having extraordinary talent, is not a good thing for an ordinary person.
One must learn to accept one’s own ordinariness, accept the ordinariness of one’s parents, and accept the ordinariness of one’s children. Ordinariness is not a flaw; those who see ordinariness as worthless are the flaw in this society.
“It’s all because the wind is too strong.” He let her lean against his chest. The moment he said this, the Little Tiger cried even harder.
The wind today wasn’t strong at all. The surface of the water was without ripples, and the neon lights lay peacefully on it, silently telling the story of this city.
Among the girls around Lu Li, she was the only one who was the most ordinary, the most common. She didn’t have Jingyi’s family background, didn’t have Baili’s bizarre experiences, didn’t have Hupo’s imported bloodline, and didn’t have Yameng’s peerless talent. She was born into an ordinary family, grew up ordinarily, had the joys and sorrows of an ordinary person, and the sweet and bitter tastes of an ordinary person.
“Wuwu… why didn’t you tell that girl you liked her sooner?” The Little Tiger was a little tired from crying.
Why not sooner? Because there were too many red threads entangled around him, so many that they would stagnate his thoughts, so many that they would make him look before and after, losing the sharp-as-a-blade mentality of his youth. Lu Li asked, “Is it too late to tell her now?”
“…Wuwu… I-I don’t know… y-wuwu, you-you don’t ask me…”
“Then Chen Jianing, I like you. Do you like me?” The plain statement stirred up a terrifying wave. Chen Jianing broke free from his embrace, crying as she pounded his chest with all her might. “You liar! Everything you say is a lie, all lies!”
This was a lying game.
“Then you can lie too,” Lu Li said, catching her pink fists. The Little Tiger was hitting him a little too hard.
Chen Jianing’s eyes were red. She looked at Lu Li’s sincere gaze and replied in a near-shout, “I do! I like you a lot! I like you very, very much!” The reins in her heart broke free. Anyway, these are all lies, so it’s okay to say whatever I want…
“I like you… wuwu…” She had used up all her strength, and her body went limp.
