“An Xin… why did you do that?” As the night wind brushed against Ling Cheng’s face, he looked at the girl pulling him forward ahead.
“Because I didn’t want to be alone.” An Xin’s voice carried a hint of loneliness.
When he heard An Xin’s voice, it was as if a string inside Ling Cheng’s heart had been plucked. At this moment, An Xin wasn’t the terrifying yandere who would spike his drink—she was just a friend in need of help.
“Then let’s go on a trip together. Just the two of us, leave everything behind.” Thinking this, Ling Cheng took a big step forward to walk shoulder to shoulder with An Xin.
An Xin could hardly believe Ling Cheng’s attitude had changed so quickly. Biting her lip, she asked softly, “Why, A Chen? Shouldn’t you be angry right now? After all, I threatened you into this trip…”
“Maybe because I wanted to travel too. Besides, the game was a huge success—how could we not celebrate properly?”
“Liar. Your expression is still flustered, A Chen. Are you trying to lower my guard so you can snatch my phone?” An Xin stopped in the shadow of the flickering streetlights, looking at Ling Cheng, who was half a step ahead.
“It’s not like I can help being flustered—it was my first kiss, and there are compromising photos too…” Ling Cheng admitted this openly. Even now, his heart hadn’t settled.
Standing under the warm glow of the lights, Ling Cheng took a deep breath and looked seriously into An Xin’s eyes. “But when I see someone in need of help, and that someone is my friend… I just have to force myself to calm down first.”
“You’re such a softhearted fool. Even someone who kidnapped you—you still call them a friend and want to help them?”
“Something like that. Just think of it as me accepting your exclusive travel companion commission.” As he comforted An Xin, Ling Cheng’s heart gradually calmed, and he began to accept everything that had happened.
“Unfortunately… this trip might not be that pleasant. And I don’t just want to be your friend.”
A darkness deeper than despair flickered in An Xin’s eyes. “Maybe I’ll take you somewhere no one knows, make you lose everything you have now… maybe even lock you up somewhere.”
Perhaps it was Ling Cheng’s gentleness that had touched her—she inexplicably added, “Right now, you still have a chance to run.”
“So you’d support me for the rest of my life? I could stay home and play games every day!” Even after hearing her terrifying plan, Ling Cheng still held her hand.
“It wouldn’t be that nice. I might not even let you have internet. I might even fake your death…” Held by Ling Cheng’s warm hand, An Xin let down the mask on her face.
“Hahaha.” Seeing An Xin’s on-the-verge-of-tears expression, Ling Cheng laughed instead. Because An Xin was still An Xin after all. “And you were just calling me a softie. You’re a terrible kidnapper, miss! What kind of criminal tells the hostage their plan?”
“Who knows?” Hearing Ling Cheng’s laughter, tears streamed down An Xin’s face. “Maybe…”
Just as An Xin was speaking, a speeding motorcycle roared past, drowning out her voice. But Ling Cheng, watching her lips, already understood everything.
“So let’s go on this trip together. I’ll make you happy, and then I’ll change your mind. Then we’ll come back together.” This time, it was Ling Cheng who took An Xin’s hand and led her toward the station. After all, now he had a mission objective—he had to execute it properly.
“Nothing will change. If you contact them, I’ll do something terrible to you.” An Xin’s heart ached. Something was sprouting inside her, even though her heart was supposed to be a barren wasteland where nothing could grow.
“Where do you want to go? Any destination in mind?” Ling Cheng acted as if he hadn’t heard her threat and asked about the trip destination.
“I don’t know… Anywhere where no one knows us.”
“Then let’s head north. We’ll go see the snow together.”
“Okay.”
Later, in the car heading to the airport, An Xin leaned on Ling Cheng’s shoulder. “Aren’t you scared, A Chen?”
“Maybe a little. Going to a strange city… but having you with me makes it feel better. Kind of like walking down a dark road alone is scary, but with another person, it’s much easier.”
“Even with all your sweet talk, I’m not changing my mind. Words are the best liars.” An Xin gripped Ling Cheng’s hand tightly.
No matter what he said now, she wouldn’t let go. Because she was afraid that if she woke up, Ling Cheng would be gone.
“Oh, by the way, A Chen… your first kiss is already gone, you know.” Remembering it was his first kiss, An Xin felt a hint of pride.
“I kind of expected it when I saw the photos… still, losing my first kiss without even being conscious of it feels a bit wasteful.”
“It’s okay. Once your world only has me in it, we can kiss anytime, anywhere.”
Hearing An Xin’s serious tone, Ling Cheng waved his hands frantically. “That’s not the kind of wasteful I meant!”
After a two-hour drive, they finally reached the airport, bought tickets, and boarded the plane.
Throughout the entire process—security check, ticket purchase, boarding—An Xin never let Ling Cheng out of her sight.
Even now, An Xin couldn’t understand: after she had done something so terrible, why didn’t Ling Cheng hate her at all? Why, when she had revealed her weakness, hadn’t he run away?
Maybe it was because of the photos, she tried to convince herself. In An Xin’s understanding, if you do something wrong, you get hated and pushed away.
But how could that idiot A Chen’s acting be that good?
No matter how she puzzled over it, she and Ling Cheng were on the plane. The mental strain of the entire day had already exhausted her.
After boarding, as she finally relaxed a little, An Xin unknowingly fell into a deep sleep, her head resting on Ling Cheng’s shoulder.
In her dream, An Xin dreamed of her past. She dreamed of that segment called the Cage of Love.
In the dream, An Xin walked through a long corridor filled with fragments she couldn’t forget.
“An Xin, why did your grades drop again? How many times do I have to tell you—you’ll have plenty of time to paint when you grow up!”
A burly man shouted at the timid young girl. On the floor lay not only a test paper with a score of 96, but also torn-up A4 paper.
The girl covered her red, swollen cheek and kept apologizing. “I’m sorry, Daddy… I’ll do better…”
Her mother came in then. Instead of comforting her crying daughter, she picked up the test paper from the floor. “Your father and I work so hard every day to raise you, and this is how you repay us?”
“I…” The girl wanted to defend herself. She wanted to tell her mother that this test had been really hard—none of her classmates scored 100.
“Idle pursuits sap the will!” The father’s roar made the girl unable to even open her mouth. “You said you liked painting, so I enrolled you in painting classes. And now you’re getting grades like this? Do you think you have the right to make any more requests?”
“Think hard about what you’ve done. No dinner until you finish your homework today.”
Even in her dream, An Xin felt suffocated, as if she were sinking into the bottom of the sea. But her dream was not yet over.
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