Chapter 109

"You like it, that's all that matters." Xie Shiqing's red lips curved slightly, the arc now much more pronounced.

"Has Ning Ning thought about where to have dinner?"

"Not yet." Zhong Ning pondered for a moment and said, "I picked the place for lunch, so you can choose for dinner. It's only fair to take turns."

"In that case, could we… have dinner at your home?" Xie Shiqing bit her lip a little uneasily, each word seeming to spill out like a difficult confession. "In my current condition, it's a bit inconvenient to go to a restaurant."

Zhong Ning suddenly understood.

Xie Shiqing was still in a wheelchair. With her proud personality, it was already pushing her limits to come out and have someone push her around campus. The time she wandered everywhere in hospital clothes was during a mental breakdown—she had lost all regard for her appearance then.

Now that her rationality had returned, finding it difficult to dine out was completely normal.

So she still accompanied her to a restaurant at noon… Was it that she had forced herself so far that she didn’t even dare to say no?

Zhong Ning felt a pang of regret, realizing she hadn't noticed this at all. She felt genuinely sorry for her.

"Then let's go back to my place."

As expected, Xie Shiqing visibly relaxed.

"But I can't cook. Should we order takeout?" Zhong Ning asked.

"Is that okay?" Xie Shiqing tilted her head slightly, asking in a pleading tone.

Zhong Ning rubbed her temples. "Don’t do that," she said earnestly. "If you have any thoughts or needs, just say them directly. Don’t tiptoe around trying to accommodate me."

"But… I want to make you happy. I don’t want you to be upset." Xie Shiqing lowered her gaze. "I’m the one who did wrong. Wanting your forgiveness and trying to please you—shouldn’t that be what I do?"

"And I won’t feel wronged. I like Ning Ning. If Ning Ning is happy, then I’m the happiest person in the world. I’m doing this willingly."

Hearing her words, Zhong Ning was left speechless.

Logically speaking, someone who had made a mistake should indeed make amends. And wanting to make the one you like happy was also perfectly reasonable.

But she still felt that something was off, though she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly.

Zhong Ning hesitated, unsure whether to speak or not. She wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. Say that she no longer blamed Xie Shiqing? That was impossible.

Before she could sort out the tangle in her mind, Xie Shiqing pulled out her phone and leaned closer. "What does Ning Ning want to eat tonight? We can order now—it’ll take a while for it to be delivered."

The thread Zhong Ning had just started to untangle was once again disrupted, falling back into a chaotic mess.

Food, of course, was the number one priority in life. Xie Shiqing kept introducing signature dishes from various restaurants, describing their taste and texture in detail, leaving her with no room to think about anything else.

"Then let's order from this one."

The apartment complex had an elevator, but there was a threshold at the entrance that made it difficult for a wheelchair to pass through.

Zhong Ning didn’t think too much about it. She bent down and directly lifted Xie Shiqing into her arms. The bodyguard followed behind, naturally and wordlessly carrying the wheelchair into the house with them.

After returning the wheelchair inside, Zhong Ning turned around to go back downstairs, and before she could turn back again, the door had already been closed.

Alright then.

The people around Xie Shiqing were all highly perceptive—anyone who was clueless wouldn't last even a minute under her.

So this wasn’t surprising.

Zhong Ning’s room actually hadn’t been tidied up yet. She had planned to unpack everything last night, but Xie Shiqing had disrupted those plans.

It was a small duplex, with bedrooms on both floors and quite a lot of space. The upstairs view was naturally better, but she was still hesitating because going up and down the stairs was a bit troublesome.

So both suitcases were left in the living room. One of them had already been opened, and toiletries had been taken out.

Zhong Ning placed Xie Shiqing on the sofa, then closed the suitcase and pushed both of them into a corner to keep them from being in the way.

"Do you want something to drink? The fridge only has Coke, Sprite, and yogurt."

She hadn’t had time to go shopping yet—those were just things she had casually grabbed from the supermarket downstairs.

Xie Shiqing sat on the sofa, looking inexplicably restrained. The environment was completely unfamiliar to her. The air was filled with unfamiliar scents, and the sofa was covered with a patterned throw that felt a bit rough to the touch.

Zhong Ning's voice drifted in and out. Xie Shiqing kept turning her head, like a sunflower following the sun, attentively listening to every faint sound the other made.

"Just a little water is fine," Xie Shiqing said.

While waiting for Zhong Ning to rinse a cup and pour the water, she mentally reviewed all of her words and actions from earlier today, silently assessing herself.

Very good—nothing wrong, pitiful and perfect.

After experiencing two near-breakups in a short span of time, Xie Shiqing had fully grasped how resolute Zhong Ning could be. People around them all thought she was the more self-centered one, but she believed that Zhong Ning's self-possession far surpassed her own.

Zhong Ning was like a solid sphere—flawless, unyielding, immune to external pressure or change.

Even if she could stir emotions and use the power of words to sway her, she could never hope to change her or make her yield to her own desires. Xie Shiqing had already paid the price for that mistake.

She couldn't tell the whole truth—once Zhong Ning found out she had been used, she would never forgive her.

But she couldn't lie entirely either. Real lies would eventually be exposed, and any falsehoods involving Zhong Ning that had real-world consequences would be noticed immediately.

Therefore, Xie Shiqing decided to mix truth with lies.

The past events were real; her feelings and thoughts, fabricated.

But who could know her true thoughts anyway? Just like she said—she had no friends. No one knew all her feelings. The impact her past had on her was something only she could define with her words.

She was going to portray herself as a pitiful person—someone surrounded by pain, tormented and mocked by fate.

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