Chapter 46: Feelings of Being Ignored
Kong Nanzhu slept until it was dark. She subconsciously looked for her cell phone, but then she remembered that all her things were left at Xu Qingqing's house and she hadn't taken them back.
She took the phone she usually used for live streaming off the shelf and charged it. As soon as she logged into WeChat, dozens of unread messages popped up.
Xu Qingqing was looking for her like crazy, so she quickly called back and Xu Qingqing answered the phone almost instantly, "Where have you been? You didn't take your phone or your bag. I thought you were kidnapped from my house. I also said that the kidnapper was too picky, only kidnapping pretty girls, and he wasn't even interested in doing it to me."
It's almost like kidnapping, except that they were kidnapped back to their own home.
"I'm sorry to have worried you, baby. Qin Qi came to pick me up suddenly, and we had a little...unpleasant argument. I'll come to get your things tomorrow."
Xu Qingqing raised her voice more than one tone, "If he comes to pick you up, just go with him! Can't you be more ambitious? Shouldn't you wait for him to come with a sedan chair full of diamonds and gold to apologize to you?"
Kong Nanzhu hummed twice. Xu Qingqing knew that she had always put her heart into Qin Qi, and she didn't really expect her to have any quarrel with Qin Qi. She just thought that she was running away from home as a joke.
As soon as Qin Qi came back, she followed him home obediently. What's the difference between this and her husband being bored when he's on a business trip and going to stay at his best friend's house?
"You must explain things clearly to him. Don't be so reckless again. Do you hear me ? The men won't suffer any loss, and you will be the one who suffers in the end. Although it's not a big deal, and I can't say anything about your relationship, you have to learn from this. Don't spoil him so much in the future. He is your man now, not your brother, let alone your son. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, yes, Teacher Xu is right." Kong Nanzhu didn't dare to imagine how Xu Qingqing would react if she knew the whole process.
It was eight o'clock in the evening. Kong Nanzhu had slept for about six or seven hours. There was silence outside. Qin Qi must have gone out. He had to attend many schedules and announcements when he returned to Beijing. So Kong Nanzhu went out without any psychological burden to get a glass of water. As a result, as soon as she walked out of the corridor, she saw Qin Qi sitting on the sofa, wearing glasses and with a stack of documents on his knees. He must have heard the sound of her opening the door and stared at Kong Nanzhu.
"Are you awake? Are you hungry? I'll go cook something for you. There are some dumplings in the refrigerator that my mom asked my aunt to bring. Or do you want some noodles?"
Qin Qi stood up from the sofa. He was wearing a pair of off-white floor-length trousers. The drapey fabric wrapped around his slender legs, making them sway in the wind when he walked. The most ordinary white long-sleeved T-shirt was worn by him with the texture of a big brand. He had obviously taken a shower. His originally styled hair now lay obediently in front of his forehead, without the sharpness and edge that he had in front of the camera. Qin Qi would wear glasses when looking at things for a long time. The silver-rimmed frames made him look more bookish, returning to the identity of a college student.
She had to admit that whenever she saw such a handsome face, it was hard for Kong Nanzhu to stay angry with him, especially when Qin Qi spoke in a gentle tone and was willing to show his kindness to her, it was even harder for her to keep a straight face and ignore him.
"I'm not hungry."
Qin Qi poured water for Kong Nanzhu before he could, and brought it in front of her, looking at her pitifully and expectantly. Kong Nanzhu could not refuse again, and silently took the cup of water from Qin Qi's hand.
Qin Qi seemed to be relieved, and his eyes became bright. "I'll go cook for you. Eat a little. You're too thin."
After not seeing each other for a few days, Kong Nanzhu's face had become smaller. Her face, which used to be pretty, now had a chin as sharp as if it had been cut by a knife.
Kong Nanzhu stood in the living room and watched Qin Qi boiling water and cooking dumplings in the kitchen. It felt unreal.
She had been struggling with herself for so many days, delaying her work progress, cutting off contact with the outside world, and was worried and sad for so many days, but now it seems that nothing has changed.
The conflict between them didn't seem to have any impact on Qin Qi. The two casual sentences he said in the car blocked all her questions. If she continued to ask, it seemed as if she was wrong.
Too fussy and too unsympathetic.
Qin Qi cooked the dumplings and brought them to the table. He then leaned over and watched Kong Nanzhu eat. Kong Nanzhu found it hard to swallow because of his burning gaze. "You can go and do your own thing."
"I'm not busy. I've been waiting for you to wake up. I'll be at home with you these few days."
Kong Nanzhu slowed down his chewing and asked, "Did the filming of the movie stop because of the role change?"
Qin Qi nodded, "Did Song Linyuan tell you?"
This name has become the fuse between them. Kong Nanzhu's eyelids twitched, "Hmm."
Qin Qi was eager to know what they had said and talked about, but he knew that now was not the time to worry about these things. "If you want to know something in the future, just ask me directly and I will tell you. Don't ask anyone else."
Kong Nanzhu was not very hungry to begin with, and after hearing this, she couldn't even swallow the dumplings in her mouth. She put down her chopsticks and said word by word, "He told me this on his own initiative. I won't mention you in front of others."
Qin Qi's eyes dimmed, "You can bring it up. Even if we have to hide our marriage from the outside world, I am still your brother. We are related, so you can bring it up."
Kong Nanzhu did not dwell on this issue. "I will not take the initiative to ask about your work, because there are many things I don't understand, and even if I knew, I couldn't help you. You don't have to explain to me. I trust you."
Qin Qi felt flustered when he heard this. Kong Nanzhu seemed to have secretly made an important decision about his attitude towards him, and this decision might not be what he wanted. "I know I was wrong. The situation was too chaotic that day, and I didn't have a clear idea myself. I don't know how to tell you. Without knowing who attacked me and for what purpose, I was afraid of implicating you, and I was also afraid that you..."
"You're also afraid that I'll tell my parents." Kong Nanzhu raised his eyes and said lightly.
Qin Qi's expression was as if someone had stepped on his foot. He wanted to argue but couldn't open his mouth.
"Even if I didn't tell her, Mom must have known about the suspension of filming, which is a big deal."
Qin Qi counted and found that Kong Nanzhu had eaten five dumplings in total without drinking a single sip of the soup.
"I have my own way of dealing with things. I can't always rely on her to solve problems. By the time she found out, I had already found out the whole story. She only received a result. I need this opportunity to prove that I can deal with problems of all kinds. Otherwise, she will never believe that I can do well on this path."
Kong Nanzhu felt a strange feeling in her heart. She felt that Qin Qi's approach was not wrong. If all emotional factors were put aside, he could even be said to have done an excellent job.
But the one who was forgotten and ignored was her. Qin Qi didn't take her feelings into consideration at all.
"You're afraid that the more I know, the more information I might reveal to my parents. You don't believe that I will stand on the same side with you."
When Kong Nanzhu said this, her emotions did not fluctuate at all. In fact, after thinking it through, she was able to accept the reality calmly.
Qin Qi stood up and walked behind Kong Nanzhu, stretched out his arms and put them around her shoulders. He truly felt how thin Kong Nanzhu was. There was almost no flesh on her shoulders. He tightened his arms to hug her, and his bones hurt.
"I'm sorry, I was too one-sided and selfish."
Kong Nanzhu's pupils trembled. He didn't expect that Qin Qi could say such words. If Qin Qi's apology opened Kong Nanzhu's heart and made her willing to continue communicating with him, then Qin Qi's subsequent remarks completely disturbed Kong Nanzhu's exhausted heart.
"I'm used to it. I'm used to you standing there waiting for me. I'm used to the feeling of you standing behind me when I turn around. It's not that I don't trust you, but I forgot to consider your feelings. I habitually asked you to help me deal with my parents, but I didn't explain it to you right away. I was wrong. I apologize. I won't do this again."
Qin Qi's voice was hoarse and even had a hint of crying at the end. Feeling Kong Nanzhu's shoulders shaking, Qin Qi tightened his arms again. "After realizing that I was drugged, my first reaction was to return to you immediately. This meant safety for me. I definitely didn't use you as a tool to relieve my desires. To be precise, I only have desires for you. Only you can make me feel the primitive impulse to be intimate with you."
This was the first time that Qin Qi expressed his feelings for Kong Nanzhu so directly, it could even be called a confession.
