Jiang Qian spoke seriously:
"From now on, I’m your girlfriend. We can sleep together whenever you want, because I’m actually quite curious about what it’s like with a guy. Exploring human origins sounds fascinating, at least according to books. But there’s one condition—you have to marry . I can only accept doing that with my husband. After we get married, I can support you, but you can't cheat on ."
"Stop!" Lin Zhengran raised his hand. "What nonsense are you talking about? When did I confess to you?"
Jiang Qian looked at him and helped him recall:
"Just now. I told you to make a request, and you said you wanted to sleep with . Isn’t that a confession? I agreed, but only if you marry first."
"Stop again!" He looked helpless. "That’s not what I said! I said everything except sleeping together was fine!"
Jiang Qian nodded. "Yes, but you asked it as a question. You asked if everything except sleeping together was okay, right? And my answer was that sleeping together is also fine—on the condition that you marry first."
Lin Zhengran interrupted, "So the choice is mine, right? Right now, I have no interest in sleeping with you, and that’s not the kind of reward I want. I haven’t even told you what I want yet."
Jiang Qian hesitated, clearly confused.
"Why? I thought sleeping with would be the ultimate request. Do you not find attractive? But plenty of guys have confessed to . I don’t think they were just being polite when they said I was pretty. I’ve also kept my figure in shape—I’m even a C-cup."
Lin Zhengran’s male instincts made him instinctively glance at a certain area. He had never really paid attention to this kind of thing before, but he had to admit, Jiang Qian did have a great figure. He just didn’t expect her to be so blunt about it.
"What are we even talking about? Honestly, yeah, I do find you attractive. A lot of people like girls with long black hair. But just because you’re pretty doesn’t an my request has to be sleeping with you. Besides, I have a girlfriend."
Jiang Qian’s expression was a bit strange at first, but when she heard the last part, she visibly lowered her head, looking a little hurt.
"I know. But before you get married, you still have the right to choose your partner, don’t you? A lover is a lover, a spouse is a spouse. You can change lovers, but a spouse is for life. And I already agreed… Out of the hundreds of guys who have confessed to since I was a kid, you’re the only one I’ve said yes to."
Seeing her change in expression, Lin Zhengran asked curiously, "Jiang Qian, do you like ?"
Jiang Qian’s face turned slightly red. Her pupils shifted as she looked away.
"No," she corrected herself. "I an, not to the extent of liking. I just think you’re a good person, and I care about you a little. So I think marrying you would be okay."
She was being honest. The truth was, she didn’t even know what liking soone really ant. She had never liked anyone before.
Lin Zhengran blinked.
"Is that so? Well, anyway, I’ll agree to your request, but my reward won’t be making you my girlfriend or sleeping with you. I have sothing else in mind—I just haven’t decided what yet."
Jiang Qian looked at him and accepted reality.
"Alright. Then I’ll owe you a huge favor today. I’ll definitely repay it in the future. And before you give yourself to soone else, if your request is to sleep with and get married, I’ll agree to it anyti."
Lin Zhengran chuckled and dropped the subject.
"Got it. Now, let’s talk about you and Fang ng. That’s the real reason you ca to today, isn’t it?"
Jiang Qian nodded.
"I t Fang ng back in second grade…"
The general story was the sa, but Lin Zhengran knew that when people recall mories, they always tell them from their own perspective. The sa story could sound completely different depending on who was telling it.
So if he heard the key points from both sides, he could predict the outco of their conflict in advance.
And sure enough, things were just as he expected.
Jiang Qian genuinely cared about Fang ng and truly considered her a friend. But back then, she had asked Fang ng a question:
"If I hadn’t lent you money first, and today my family was in trouble, would you have lent money?"
That question had deeply hurt her. Even after all these years, she had never completely let it go.
Until… the real conflict exploded a year ago.
Jiang Qian explained, "A year ago, Fang ng’s parents ca over for a visit. My parents were there too. We were talking about university applications, and I said I wanted to go to Stanford. Fang ng’s parents said that when she was younger, her dream was always Tsinghua."
"And then?"
Jiang Qian recalled,
"Fang ng wasn’t in the living room when they asked. I don’t rember what she was doing at the ti. I only rember that later, when I asked her privately about her university choice, she said, ‘Since you’re going to Stanford, I’ll try my best to go with you.’ That was when it hit —I might have been holding her back all these years."
Lin Zhengran sighed. These two were so casual about it, as if Stanford and Tsinghua were just places you could pick and choose.
"So a year ago, you started giving her space? And then last ti, when you two finally had a huge argunt, that was the end of it?"
Jiang Qian looked regretful.
"Yeah… Actually, I made things very clear when we were in the car that day. I just didn’t want to influence her life. That’s all. But I don’t know why it turned out like this. I got over what happened years ago a long ti ago…"
"Really?" Lin Zhengran pressed. "Are you sure you’re really over it? If you were, why do you keep bringing it up?"
Jiang Qian clenched her fists on her lap. "I…"
Lin Zhengran sighed.
"Weren’t you just being super direct earlier? But now, with this, you can’t be straightforward? If you still care about what happened back then, just say it. Tell her how much it hurt you at the ti. Ask her why she didn’t answer you back then. Be honest with Fang ng."
Jiang Qian hesitated. "But wouldn’t that just start another fight?"
"Aren’t you already fighting? Keeping things bottled up doesn’t help. Sooner or later, it’ll beco a ticking ti bomb. The only way to resolve things is to talk it out—even if it leads to an argunt. Best friends fighting is totally normal.
"Besides, you misunderstood sothing. Fang ng might feel guilty about the past, but I think she wants to go to Stanford with you simply because she wants to be with you. It has nothing to do with the past. People change. Maybe she just doesn’t want to go to Tsinghua anymore.
"But instead of believing that, you assud you were holding her back. So you tried to push her away. But isn’t that also a way of influencing her? All she sees is that you don’t want her to go with you. To her, it just feels like you’re trying to break away from her."
Jiang Qian listened carefully, her expression showing a sense of realization.
Lin Zhengran asked,
"You get it now? It’s actually pretty simple."
"Yeah… The way you explained it, I finally understand what Fang ng was thinking. Good thing I ca to you. It’s like you can read everyone’s mind or sothing."
Lin Zhengran smirked.
Well, that’s only because you guys keep coming to with your problems.
Jiang Qian was more decisive than Fang ng.
"I’ll talk to her properly this afternoon."
"Good. That’s for the best." Lin Zhengran glanced at his phone—it was almost ti for class. "Alright, let’s wrap this up. We’ve been talking long enough."
As he stood up, Jiang Qian spoke softly, her red lips parting slightly.
"Thank you. You really are different from the others. You’re a good guy."
Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and she smiled gently.
Reviews
All reviews (0)