Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

After a long while, Lin Xi's crying gradually subsided, turning into intermittent sobs.

She seemed to have exhausted all her strength, lying limply against his chest, her fingers still unconsciously clutching the fabric of his chest as if it were the only piece of driftwood for a drowning person.

As she sensed her emotions gradually calming down, Shen Jingyuan finally felt relieved.

He reached out and awkwardly stroked her back repeatedly. After a long while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Xixi...it's my fault."

Shen Jingyuan lowered his eyes, not looking directly into Lin Xi's eyes, but instead focusing his gaze on the strands of her hair that fell across his chest, as if this would give him the courage to say the words that had been buried in his heart for so long.

“I kept it from you before… because I was afraid.” His fingertips trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly. “I was afraid that if you knew, you would feel awkward, you wouldn’t know how to face me, and you would… be sad.”

He took a deep breath, pursed his lips, and slowly revealed the inferiority complex that had been buried in his heart for many years.

"Back then... you hated me so much. I was afraid that when you found out the truth, you would feel indebted to me. I was even more afraid that... you were only willing to be with me out of guilt because you felt you had wronged me."

These words, which sounded almost like pleading, would never have been uttered by the Shen Jingyuan of the past.

But at this moment, seeing Lin Xi crying her heart out for him, and thinking about the shock and pain she felt when she learned the truth, he felt that his ridiculous pride and concerns were as fragile as a joke in the face of her tears.

He tilted his head slightly, gently stroking her soft hair with affection, a hint of loneliness creeping into his lowered eyes.

“Before I went to Tongzhou this time…the night I saw you in the courtyard,” his voice was lower and sounded somewhat strained, “I actually…wanted to tell you.”

His fingers lingered on Lin Xi's vest, his fingertips slightly curled, feeling the warmth of her body transmitted through the thin fabric. The scene of that night under the osmanthus tree, when she handed him a talisman and said fiercely, "I'll settle the score with you even if I have to go to the underworld," flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of fear.

His voice trembled noticeably, "But... I'm afraid, afraid that... what if I don't come back..."

Shen Jingyuan's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his voice strained as if it were being squeezed from deep within his chest.

"If you know nothing, perhaps... you won't live with a sense of indebtedness and regret all the time. Perhaps... you won't be so hard on yourself. As time goes by, you'll gradually forget me."

At this point, as if he had exhausted all his strength, he closed his eyes tightly, concealing the turbulent emotions within them, "Go and start a new life, live a peaceful and smooth life..."

He spoke the last few words very softly, as if repeating a reason he had told himself countless times to convince himself, or as if offering a blessing he didn't mean.

"Idiot! Shen Jingyuan, you big idiot!" After a long silence, Lin Xi suddenly raised her head, her red eyes filled with tears.

She gripped Shen Jingyuan's collar tightly, her voice urgent and fierce, "Have you ever thought that if, if you really don't come back this time, I'll never know the truth! I'll spend my whole life believing that Xu Yucheng saved me back then, and I'll spend my whole life remembering that I was blind and misjudged him!"

"I treated you like that back then! I'll never know that I owe you my life. How can I... how can I forgive myself?!"

She became more and more agitated as she spoke, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls. "You only think about not making me feel guilty, not making me sad, but have you ever asked me what I want? What I want is to know the whole truth! To share the past with you! Not to be kept in the dark like a fool, unable to even tell who to be good to, or who to remember the good deeds of!"

"I..." Shen Jingyuan was speechless after being questioned by her. He could only reach out his hand with heartache, wanting to wipe away her tears, but before his fingertips could touch her face, she slapped his hand away hard.

"You're a complete idiot!"

Looking at his pale face, pale from being bedridden for so long, and seeing the regret and helplessness on his face, Lin Xi felt a sudden surge of burning anger rising in her heart, mixed with heartache and tenderness, raging through her chest, desperately needing an outlet.

Seeing her tears, Shen Jingyuan felt his heart ache unbearably. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but unexpectedly, Lin Xi suddenly exerted force on him without warning, pushing him down onto the hospital bed.

"Ugh!" Caught off guard, Shen Jingyuan's back hit the mattress, and he let out a muffled groan. He instinctively tried to prop himself up with his elbows, but Lin Xi pushed him back down even harder.

"Pity... Ugh!"

He raised his head with some difficulty, met Lin Xi's gaze helplessly, and was about to speak when Lin Xi suddenly leaned down and kissed his lips fiercely, silencing him.

Shen Jingyuan froze, his pupils contracted sharply, completely unprepared for her sudden action. The overly intimate distance and the soft touch on his lips left his mind blank for a moment, and he subconsciously turned his head slightly, trying to avoid her.

However, in the instant he turned his head to the side, a drop of warm liquid unexpectedly fell onto his cool cheek.

These are Lin Xi's tears.

Shen Jingyuan's eyelashes trembled suddenly, as if burned by the tear. His movement to turn his head froze halfway, and his gaze subconsciously shifted upward, meeting Lin Xi's eyes, which were so close to his own.

Those eyes, which were always bright and lively, were now red and swollen, staring at him intently. They were filled with a complex mix of anger, determination, grievance, fear, and a desperate gamble, almost setting him on fire.

Tears streamed down her reddened eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto his face, settling between their pressed lips, leaving a slightly salty taste.

Shen Jingyuan felt as if something was gripping his heart tightly, causing a sore and swollen sensation, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Seeing her silently weeping yet stubbornly kissing him, and her eyelashes trembling slightly from crying, his initial struggle instantly faltered.

He resignedly closed his eyes slowly. The hand that was on her shoulder, which he was about to push away, paused for a moment in mid-air, then changed direction and slowly moved to the back of her neck.

The kiss was haphazard, even carrying a stinging, defiant bite, yet it made Shen Jingyuan's heart flutter more than any previous intimacy between the two.

Lin Xi's tongue, somewhat clumsy yet exceptionally forceful, pried open his teeth and plunged in. His tense body gradually lost its strength, retreating step by step under her awkward yet persistent attack.

The only sound in the room for a moment was the intertwined, rising and falling breaths of the two people.

It wasn't until much later, when Lin Xi released his lips with a panting breath, that her warm, wet kisses landed on his prominent Adam's apple, giving it a light bite. Only then did Shen Jingyuan snap back to reality from his heart-pounding dizziness.

"Uh!"

A short, startled gasp escaped his throat. His body jerked violently, and he instinctively reached out to push Lin Xi away from his neck, but his limbs were weak from prolonged breathing difficulties, and he couldn't muster any strength.

On the hospital bed, the officer, who was recovering from serious injuries, turned his head in a panic, his breathing completely disordered, and his voice trembling violently.

"Xixi... goodbye..."