Chapter 37: Wei Ji wore a light gray casual suit, the hem fluttering in the breeze...

Pei Jiqing's eyes were nearly burned by such sincerity.

The light was too bright, too hot, like sunlight shining directly into his pupils, making his eyes ache. He subconsciously wanted to look away, but the heat glued his gaze to it.

Heart-pounding, agitated.

Even though Pei Jiqing had deeply experienced the fickleness of true love, when Lin Qin confessed his feelings, his heart couldn't help but beat wildly under his ribs, as if someone had grasped a handful of scorching sand, rolling through his veins and spreading to every part of his body.

He had once been this passionate, but later turned to a cold ash.

It was truly attractive, like placing a feast before a hungry person, the aroma lingering in his nostrils, making his stomach cramp.

Pei Jiqing could choose to agree, but the reality was that he couldn't.

"Xiao Qin, no."

Pei Jiqing couldn't stay here forever.

It was warm here, the sunlight soft, even the breeze carried a gentle sweetness. But Pei Jiqing knew he was just a bird perched temporarily beneath the eaves, feathers still stained with the moisture of past rain, unable to dry or shake it off. He

could only fly forward.

Lin Qin's confession was truly beautiful.

When that voice fell into his ears, it lingered in his heart, numbing his fingertips. It was so pure, so pure that it reminded him of himself long ago.

Uncle Yan and Uncle Lin were also kind to him.

Hot soup never burned, and the dried bedding was fluffy as clouds.

But none of this was reason enough for Pei Jiqing to stay.

He had fled Chen Huixing's back, colluded with Cen Yuean to undermine his position as commander, and completely betrayed him. He must be utterly resentful of him now.

Just imagining Chen Huixing's eyes sent a sharp, sharp pain through Pei Jiqing's stomach, like swallowing a handful of broken glass. If they ever met again, what kind of cold gaze would that person glare at him with? Is it anger, disappointment, or indifference after the trust is completely crushed?

Pei Jiqing didn't expect Cen Yuean to keep it a secret for him.

He just happened to have Cen Yuean's handle. Such an excellent politician is always good at turning gentle words into knives with a smile, and every knife is bloody, but it is impeccable.

Pei Jiqing got a chance to escape by trying to get the skin

of the tiger. But being pregnant with Chen Huixing's child is like carrying a bomb with you.

Every slight fetal movement is like a countdown, reminding Pei Jiqing that there is still a bad relationship in this body, a hot potato.

But Pei Jiqing has no choice.

Pei Jiqing came here and deliberately avoided the news of Ling City. He could only hear the roar of the waves. Those few words about Chen Huixing, any one of them could set off a tsunami here.

He couldn't implicate other people.

Lin Qin showed disappointment but still agreed.

His eyelashes drooped, and he forced a smile, but the smile was too light, too thin, and too forced.

On their way back, Pei Jiqing wondered if he had been too direct and would undermine the young man's self-confidence.

The night breeze carried a cool breeze of dew. The footsteps of the person next to him were slower than usual, and the sound of the soles of their shoes rolling over the sand was particularly clear.

Lin Qin, however, noticed Pei Jiqing's hesitation and said, "Brother, I'm not that fragile. Besides, I think I'm a bit abrupt. After all, you haven't been able to forget your previous partner yet."

Lin Qin's tone was slightly hoarse.

Pei Jiqing said, "...It's really hard to forget."

Chen Huixing was a very unforgettable person.

Lin Qin said, "He treated you very well, right? Like my father treated my father?"

In Lin Qin's mind, the template for love in the world was his parents.

When Yan Bo looked at Lin Bo, his eyes were always so gentle that they could drip water. Time had worn on them rather than worn them down. That kind of love was too perfect.

Pei Jiqing looked at Lin Qin in front of him, not wanting to tell him about his hypocrisy outside Nan'an.

There is no pure love in this world. It is all mixed with various purposes, dirty calculations, and false warmth. Even if love is born, it is accompanied by a thorn that penetrates deeply into the flesh and blood, causing dull pain with the heartbeat.

Pei Jiqing: "There is no standard of good or bad in this world, but I really can't forget him."

Those so-called "good" and "bad" have long been fermented into vague marks in the memories over the years. It can't be called love, but it is definitely not pure hatred.

Lin Qin nodded and said he understood.

Pei Jiqing wanted to explain but felt that such a misunderstanding would be better if Lin Qin could give up her thoughts about him.

Sometimes lies are like knives that can cleanly cut off obsessions that have not yet taken root.

It was May when Pei Jiqing came here. When the wind carried the fragrance of locust flowers into Nan'an, Pei Jiqing was pregnant with a child of more than two months.

The freezer in the convenience store was filled with a cold white mist. Pei Jiqing had just finished seeing the doctor, who said he could eat half an ice cream this time. His fingertips had just touched the chocolate crisp wrapper when a sudden electrical noise came from the TV above his head.

When Pei Jiqing looked up, the LCD screen was showing the gilded dome of the military auditorium. The camera swept across rows of epaulettes with shining stars, and finally stopped at the familiar face in the chief seat.

Cen Yuean's sideburns were trimmed shorter than he remembered, his gold-rimmed glasses had silver rims, and even the arc of his smile was carefully measured. He heard those beautiful official words flowing from the loudspeaker.

The spotlight of the handover ceremony was too bright, and the wrinkles at the corners of the old commander's eyes were clearly illuminated.

When the bronze seal was handed out, the camera deliberately gave a close-up - Cen Yuean's palm was facing up, and his five fingers stretched out to receive the heavy power.

When the camera swept across the first row of seats, Pei Jiqing's pupils suddenly contracted.

Chen Huixing sat there, his suit as black as ink, his hair combed back, revealing his sharp brow bones.

He was like a sword in a sheath, calm and cold, but one could still smell the lingering blood.

His eyes were so dark that they seemed like a vortex formed from the abyss, and the emotions surging inside were hard to see.

The place where the ring was once worn was now empty. Perhaps in the near future, another ring would be placed there to match the diamond that was bright enough and expensive enough.

Pei Jiqing suddenly looked away.

He didn't feel guilty at all.

Not guilty at all.

This idea had been deeply rooted in his mind for a long time.

Pei Jiqing thought that he would never give away things that he couldn't get easily in his life. Even if he had to break them with his own hands, even if they had to sink together, he would never let anyone get what they wanted.

The moment Pei Jiqing turned around, the wind suddenly stopped.

A figure stood beneath a nearby sycamore tree. Wei Ji, dressed in a light gray casual suit, the hem gently lifted by the breeze, seemed intently blending into the leisurely afternoon, yet somehow at odds with the bustling atmosphere around him.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on his shoulders, illuminating his deliberately cultivated casualness.

He raised his hand to greet Pei Jiqing, his watch reflecting a cold light in the sunlight, his eyes piercing Pei Jiqing's slightly bulging belly.

Wherever his sight reached, even the air seemed to solidify into transparent amber.

The afternoon sun lazily spread on the white tablecloth of the open-air cafe, and the waiter approached with a menu.

Wei Ji lowered his eyes and carefully reviewed the drink menu, asking in an almost considerate tone: "Does this contain caffeine?" "Is the juice freshly squeezed?" "Have you sterilized your cups?"

Each question sounded very strange, and finally Pei Jiqing was too bothered to do it, closed the menu, and gave the waiter a perfect smile: "Give me a glass of juice without adding anything, and give him a bottle of..."

The waiter's eyes immediately showed appreciation, and that look clearly said that Wei Ji was a "considerate" good man.

Pei Jiqing said: "...How did you find this place. "

Wei Ji's coffee spoon drew an elegant arc in the porcelain cup, and the sound of metal hitting bone china was particularly crisp. When he raised his eyes, he revealed the expression on his hands: "Jiqing, I haven't seen you for so long, I thought you would talk to me about the past."

Pei Jiqing: "No need, how did you find me."

Wei Ji's eyes pierced Pei Jiqing's face, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "Have you forgotten that when we escaped before, you used the identity of Pei Qing, and it was me who got you the certificate."

Pei Jiqing didn't expect Wei Ji to still remember.

After Wei Ji finished speaking, he suddenly said quietly: "Jiqing, you are not fair at all."

Pei Jiqing frowned: "What?"

"Chen Huixing angered you, and you left him," the jealousy on Wei Ji's face was too naked, casting a distorted shadow on his outline, "but you are still willing to give birth to his children."

The last few words were bitten very hard.

Pei Jiqing's voice was cold: "Wei Ji, that's enough. The obsession swirling in Wei Ji's eyes finally broke free: "

I sometimes wonder, what am I inferior to Chen Huixing—"

His voice suddenly rose, like a string stretched to its limit: "Then I realized I was too soft-hearted. I should have marked you from the beginning, regardless of your wishes. Otherwise, we wouldn't have parted!"

Each word, wrapped in years of accumulated resentment, exploded in the air.

The orange juice drew an arc in the air, then splashed onto Wei Ji's face, the pulp sliding slowly down his jawline.

"Are you awake now?" Pei Jiqing's voice was colder than the ice in the glass.

Wei Ji raised his hand to wipe the juice from his face, his knuckles white from the force. The sugar was sticky on his skin. "Jiqing, come with me. What's the point of following that brat?"

The ending tone was seductively rising, as if he were still the old lover who was good at sweet talk.

Pei Jiqing suddenly felt extremely tired: "Wei Ji, why don't you understand? We are already in the past. "

Wei Ji's eyes were full of doubts, like the thin ice on the lake in winter that was about to crack: "I just don't understand, Jiqing, how can you change your mind so quickly? The Chen Huixing before, and that kid now, am I worth your turning back?"

Pei Jiqing looked at him: "Then let me tell you, Wei Ji, I hate betrayal the most! My mother was abandoned, and she suffered all her life, so I hated you so much back then! I wanted to kill you."

Pei Jiqing's words startled the dusty ashes in his memory, and those deliberately forgotten scenes suddenly came alive, the silhouette of his mother crying alone, the never-ending rain in the downtown area, and every long night of his youth that was eaten away by hatred.

Wei Ji: "So you marrying Chen Huixing is revenge against me?"

"No, I married him because I liked him at the time. You probably don't know how the police came so quickly back then-"

In the pause, everything seemed to be still, and Wei Ji suddenly didn't want to listen anymore.

"I did it. "

Wei Ji will never know in his life that it was Pei Jiqing who called the police when he was arrested.

Pei Jiqing felt that Wei Ji was too rotten.

Rotten like a rotten fruit, with a shiny skin but already crawling with maggots inside. After he betrayed him, Pei Jiqing looked at him with only disgust, disgust for his hypocritical affection, disgust for his caring tenderness.

What would happen if he ran away with him? What would be Pei Jiqing's fate.

Maybe he would be abandoned like his mother, swallowing the bitter fruit alone; or maybe he would be reduced to a plaything like many Omegas, eventually being squeezed dry and discarded. Either way, it made him sick to the bone.

Wei Ji suddenly laughed, and the laughter seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his chest, with a twisted sense of pleasure: "So that's the case, then what did you do to Shen Huixing? I heard that he lost his position as commander-in-chief."

Pei Jiqing agreed.

Wei Ji spoke faintly and commented: "Jiqing, you are still not cruel enough. If you were cruel enough, you shouldn't have looked at me for the last time. You don't have to worry about A'long's daughter. You've been with Chen Huixing for so many years, and no one should know more about his affairs than you. If you just spilled the beans, it would ruin his reputation and make him lose his job, but you didn't. "

This sentence was like a needle, accurately piercing Pei Jiqing's nerve endings.

He looked at Wei Ji coldly, and the emotions surging in his eyes finally returned to a dead silence.

Yes, he didn't.

It wasn't because he was soft-hearted, but because of a certain hatred. He wanted them to remember that everything they lost was destroyed by their own hands.

Not Pei Jiqing.