In the following week, Mu Chuwei seemed to have disappeared from Lin Lanzhi's life. He didn't show up at school for a whole week, and she had no news from him.
Her mood plummeted and hit rock bottom, as if she was trapped in a black swamp and couldn't get up no matter how hard she tried.
To her now, even the air seemed stuffy.
She needed to find an exit in the closed space. She wanted to know news about him, even just a little bit, whether good or bad, but she didn't want him to suddenly disappear without a trace like now.
When school was over on Friday, Ye Ziran's appearance opened the exit.
He parked the ordinary black car on the side of the road and leaned against the car wearing a pair of sunglasses. The afterglow of the setting sun cast a layer of golden halo on his body, making him look like a figure walking out of a painting.
The moment Lin Lanzhi saw him, her dull eyes instantly lit up, and she immediately ran towards him. When she came in front of him, she asked, "How has Chu Wei been these days?"
Ye Zilang's body stiffened slightly, then he took off his sunglasses, curled the corners of his lips bitterly, and said, "I haven't seen you for so many days, I know you care about him very much. But you know I used to like you, too. The first thing you said when we met was to ask about another man, which hurt my heart too much."
Lin Lanzhi suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and forced a smile and said, " I'm sorry , I just..."
I'm just too eager to know news about him.
Ye Zilang patted her shoulder and comforted her, "It's okay, don't take it to heart, I was just joking with you. Besides, I came here today because of his matter."
"About his matter?" Lin Lanzhi stared at him nervously and asked with bated breath, "What matter?"
Ye Zilang looked around and said with a wry smile: "This is not a good place to talk. Let's find a place to talk properly."
Half an hour later.
Inside the restaurant.
Ye Zilang and Lin Lanzhi sat face to face, with several half-eaten home-cooked dishes on the table. He drank a sip of soup gracefully, raised his head, smiled helplessly and said, "Since we met, we have eaten together several times, but it seems that we have never finished a meal completely. I didn't expect that this time we finally had a peaceful meal, but it was because of someone else's business."
Lin Lanzhi's cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly said, "If you want in the future, I can invite you to my house to eat the food I cook myself."
Ye Zilang deepened his smile and said, "I hope I have that honor."
Lin Lanzhi smiled faintly, but then her expression became complicated and hesitant. Ye Zilang saw through her thoughts and stopped talking about irrelevant things. He went straight to the point: "Do you want to hear Chu Wei's story?"
Lin Lanzhi nodded.
There is no doubt about it, she wants to know everything related to Chu Wei.
Ye Zilang leaned back slightly, leaned against the back of the chair, sat in the most comfortable posture, and began to tell her: "When Chu Wei was very young, his mother abandoned his father and young him in order to find her own happiness. This has always been an irreparable wound in his heart. So he forced himself to work very hard since he was a child, to make himself better, to let his mother know how regrettable it was to abandon him, but no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many awards he won every year, his mother would never have the chance to know. Later, he finally realized that if he wanted his mother to notice him, he had to stand in a higher and more dazzling place..."
He paused, looked at Lin Lanzhi who was staring at him seriously, curled his lips, and continued: "So he met me. He wanted to be a dazzling star, and I wanted to make a star famous. We worked together very well. In less than a year, Chu Wei became a hot new star in the circle. But this is not enough. He can only be regarded as a domestic idol. He has not yet entered Hollywood and opened up the international market. Just a month ago, he finally got the chance. I think you and I both know that with Chu Wei's strength, he will definitely be famous internationally, so that his mother abroad will have the opportunity to see his brilliant achievements..."
Lin Lanzhi's eyes became moist unconsciously. It turned out that he had such a heavy past. It turned out that he was also a child who longed to be loved since childhood. It turned out that they were the same kind of people.
"So, nothing can go wrong at this time, especially this kind of gossip, which can sometimes cause a star 's popularity to plummet. Have you ever thought that if you stand next to him, you might very well hinder his progress?" Ye Zilang said the key point mercilessly.
Lin Lanzhi did not answer him directly, but tried to suppress the bitterness and sadness in her heart, and said in a hoarse voice: "In fact, he still loves his mother very much."
Ye Zilang was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Although that stubborn guy said that he just wanted his mother to see his success and regret it, he must still be very lacking in love in his heart. Maybe one day when his mother sees how outstanding he is now, she will come back..."
Lin Lanzhi took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision that was so important that it would affect her life. She tried hard to hold back the tears in her eyes, pulled the corners of her lips and said, "I know what to do."
After returning home, she locked herself in her room and did not go out for the whole night, not even having dinner. She did not know if anyone knocked on her door, as if she had completely forgotten about it. She just held her phone for an hour before she mustered up the courage to send a text message to Mu Chuwei. Unexpectedly, her phone vibrated at this time, and an unread text message appeared on the screen.
Her heart started beating faster instantly. She held her breath and nervously and excitedly opened the text message: "Zhi'er, I'm sorry I haven't contacted you these days. I have been fighting against the company, but they still did such an excessive thing. I don't know how to face you. I hope you don't feel sad. I will definitely find a way to clarify the truth."
A teardrop fell on the phone screen, creating a splash of water.
Lin Lanzhi bit her lips tightly to prevent herself from crying out loud, but the tears in her eyes could not be stopped and flowed freely on her face. She cried while replying to the text message: "How can I not be sad? Do you know how many tears I have shed and how many times I have cried in the past few days? You said she disappeared and there was no news at all. What is this? Why don't we break up!"
When she typed the last word and sent it, she felt like she was about to die from sadness. Her heart was twitching and she was in excruciating pain.
She actually didn't blame him at all, even if he hadn't sent any news these days, she didn't blame him. She was just worried about him, and she knew he must be thinking about her, but she couldn't say all this, if she wanted to break up, she could only bury these words deep in her heart.
She couldn't be a stumbling block to him, she couldn't hinder his success.
I don’t know how long it took, but a text message from Mu Chuwei finally appeared on the screen: "Okay, let’s break up then."
At that moment, the piercing pain made her hands tremble so much that she could hardly hold the phone. She felt lost and desperate.
Why could he accept the breakup so calmly and respond so straightforwardly?
Just when she was about to drop her phone, it vibrated again. It was a new text message from Mu Chuwei: "But you have to promise me not to cry. Your tears will make me feel helpless. Zhi'er, I originally wanted you to live in the tearless city I built for you, but we just started and I have brought you so much harm. I hate myself. I don't deserve to be with you."
Lin Lanzhi's emotions finally collapsed. She collapsed on the bed powerlessly as if her tendons and veins had been pulled out, her face as pale as a paper man.
She kept sobbing and crying, her heart was in a knot and she felt like she was about to suffocate and die in pain.
What awaits her ahead is endless darkness, and she will forever lose the last light in her life.
Time passed quietly. After a few days, although Lin Lanzhi was still sad, her mood gradually recovered.
Mu Chuwei neither showed up at school nor contacted her again. She thought her life would continue to be peaceful, but she didn't expect that a group of reporters would block her door that morning.
As soon as she walked out of the door, the group of reporters who had been waiting for a long time came to her and asked impatiently, "Ms. Lin Lanzhi, are you and Mu Chuwei really not boyfriend and girlfriend? Is it for the sake of Mu Chuwei's career development that you have to temporarily sever your relationship?"
"Excuse me, there are recent rumors that Mu Chuwei is about to enter Hollywood. What do you think?"
"Ms. Lin Lanzhi, are you really just a fan of Mu Chuwei? Then why did he appear in the amusement park that day? Is it really just a coincidence?"
"What was Mu Chuwei's reaction after you forcefully kissed him? Do you have any thoughts on taking the next step with him? For example, going to a hotel to get a room..."
Under the reporters' repeated questioning, Lin Lanzhi's reaction was not as confused and panicked as last time, but she still didn't know what to do. When she understood the last person's words about going to the hotel to get a room, her face turned extremely pale in an instant, and her body trembled so much that she could hardly stand. She wanted to escape and drive away these unreasonable reporters.
Why did they question her so much even though she had broken up with him? What would they do to make her let him go? They had even come to her house. What would the neighbors think? Her life and that of her family would definitely be affected...
The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, and the more panicked she became. She backed away step by step, shaking her head helplessly, and looked at them with pleading eyes, asking them not to ask any more questions.
At this moment, a pair of warm arms embraced her in time, and a familiar breath surrounded her. She turned her head subconsciously and saw Lin's mother staring coldly at the group of reporters and shouted angrily: "If you don't leave, I will call the police to report you for harassing residents!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she dragged Lin Lanzhi back into the house. After closing the door, Lin Lanzhi stood there, while Lin's mother walked around the living room angrily, saying, "Reporters nowadays are getting more and more shameless. They can say anything to write news! Damn it, they dare to say this about my daughter, I won't forgive them! No, I'm going to take a basin of water and throw it at them!"
As she was about to go to the bathroom, Lin Lanzhi and Lin Xiao quickly stopped her and asked her to calm down. Lin Lanzhi stopped her mother and said, "Mom, I'm fine. I can't hear what they say anyway."
Mother Lin's body stiffened, and her eyes turned complicated as she looked at her daughter.
Lin Xiao was a stubborn person, and in a hurry he said without restraint: "Mom, my sister is right, she can't hear you anyway. Didn't you take advantage of your sister's inability to hear you and often say some unpleasant things in the past?"
Mother Lin's expression instantly turned ugly. She glared at her son and said angrily, "How I scold my daughter is my business! What right do others have to say such nasty things about her? Those hateful people have no right to say anything about my daughter!"
She became more and more excited as she spoke, and in the end she almost shouted, her whole face turning red.
Lin Lanzhi looked at her furious mother, and her eyes became wet unconsciously. She suddenly found the courage from nowhere, stretched out her arms and hugged her mother tightly, buried her head in her mother's shoulder, sniffed, and tried to force back the tears of emotion, but the corners of her lips could not help but curl up. She sobbed and said, "Mom, thank you..."
Lin Xiao, who was standing aside, scratched his hair in confusion. Was his sister crying or laughing?
Mother Lin let her daughter hug her, her eyes gradually moistened, and all kinds of complicated emotions surged in her heart. After a long while, she wiped her tears, separated from her daughter, looked at her, and said with a sob: "Daughter, it's all my fault. I have been venting my anger on you all these years. I always blame you for pestering my father to go to the amusement park, which led to his car accident. In fact, it's fate, how can I blame you? And you also lost your hearing after that incident. For so many years, you have been living in the shadow. I didn't take good care of you and care about you. I am really an incompetent mother. I was wrong, daughter, I'm sorry..."
"Mom..." Lin Lanzhi looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. She was choked up and couldn't speak. She could only shake her head vigorously. After a long while, she recovered and said after sniffing, "Mom, as long as you don't blame me..."
"Silly child." Mother Lin stretched out her warm hands and gently wiped away the tears on her face, then said, "Mom shouldn't have blamed you. In fact, I have always loved you over the years, but many times, I didn't know what to do..."
Mommy always loves you...
This sentence completely untied the knot in Lin Lanzhi's heart that had been there for many years. She couldn't help but hug her mother tightly again, crying and saying, "Mom, I love you too..."
A relieved smile appeared on Lin's mother's face, and she patted her daughter's back gently, just like she did when she was a child to comfort her.
When everyone's emotions gradually calmed down, Lin's mother pulled Lin Lanzhi to sit on the sofa, looked at her gently, and said, "Lanzhi, winter vacation is coming soon. When the vacation comes, you can go to Singapore to see your aunt. She has called several times and asked you to go over to play. It's a good opportunity for you to go and relax."
Lin Lanzhi's eyes dimmed a little. After thinking for a moment, she finally nodded.
If I continue to stay here, scenes like the one just now might happen again. My life will never calm down, and my mood will be even more unsettled. Perhaps leaving is a good choice.
But if she left, wouldn't she never see him again?
Thinking of this, her mood became even more depressed. She kept comforting herself that she would eventually forget him, she would eventually forget him...