Chapter 110

Only in this way could she fully concealed the excessively intense part of her personality, placing a somewhat understandable filter over it.

Tears were naturally the most convenient tool.

Zhong Ning came back with half a glass of warm water. She first took Xie Shiqing’s hand, guiding her to hold the cup. Once it was held firmly and securely, she released her own hand.

Xie Shiqing took two sips of water. After Zhong Ning took the cup back, she said in a soft voice, “Ning Ning, can you come sit over here?”

“…I’m a little unused to being alone.”

“Sure.” Zhong Ning placed the glass on the coffee table and sat down beside her.

“Can we hold hands?” Xie Shiqing softened her voice even more as she asked, “It’s okay if not, it’s just… I’ve never been here before, so I feel a little uneasy.”

She bit her lip, a look of unease and pleading surfacing on her face.

She couldn’t see, after all. Zhong Ning thought to herself and couldn’t help but soften once again, reaching out her hand for her to hold.

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Xie Shiqing held Zhong Ning’s hand as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. She looked like she was about to make all sorts of silly little noises and tried to lift the hand up and smother it in kisses.

Then Zhong Ning once again pinched her lips.

What the heck, what is this behavior! It’s too much!

Even though Zhong Ning considered herself someone who enjoyed physical affection quite a lot, she still couldn’t stand how Xie Shiqing was acting right now.

The latter had no choice but to reluctantly lower her hand, holding it tightly, squeezing and kneading it like a child who had just gotten their favorite lump of clay and wouldn’t stop playing with it.

Zhong Ning could only feel that her hand was about to be kneaded into a steamed bun.

“Ning Ning, why were you at the mall earlier, and with Assistant Hua too?” Xie Shiqing suddenly asked.

“I told my mother I wanted to compete for the successor position. She told me that whenever I had free time after class, I should follow Assistant Hua,” Zhong Ning answered truthfully. “We were inspecting the mall.”

“It’s not just because I once promised you and made a commitment, but also for myself.”

For the sake of protecting her own conscience, to prevent her inner self from being condemned.

Zhong Ning swore to be someone who could live without guilt.

She didn’t really want the title of the Zhong family successor. As long as Zhong Zinuan lost her competitiveness, that was enough. She wanted this person to be punished as she deserved and never again be able to stir up trouble.

If possible, she hoped her mother could have another child, raise a new successor from scratch. After all, she was still in middle age and had plenty of time. With wealth as vast as the stars, could it also corrupt herself.

Zhong Ning didn’t know, and she had no intention of testing it herself.

Everyone had their own ideals to pursue, and her ideal did not lie within piles of money.

“So that’s how it is.” Xie Shiqing received the answer and fell into thought.

The next moment, she suddenly recalled the mess of things she had said to Zhong Ning during the engagement banquet while crying.

——It’s okay, you just need to leave everything to me. Ning Ning, I’ll help you.

At the time, she thought Zhong Ning… wasn’t very sharp, like something pure and untouched, so she hadn’t held back when she spoke.

Only now, thinking back, did she realize how big a mine she had planted in that sentence.

Had Zhong Ning noticed? Or not? Or had she already forgotten?

But she couldn’t ask—asking would give herself away.

But what if Zhong Ning brought it up?

Xie Shiqing instinctively raised her hand to bite her nail, but her fingertips brushed against the adhesive of her bandages, the friction between them bringing her back to her senses.

If she asked… then she’d just say she was emotionally overwhelmed at the time and didn’t notice what she was saying.

The delivery driver rang the doorbell, ending the topic then and there. Xie Shiqing let out a long breath of relief. Better not bring this up again in the future, in case it triggered Zhong Ning’s memory.

The delivered food containers filled up the entire table. Zhong Ning picked Xie Shiqing up sideways and carefully placed her onto a chair. “Wait a bit, I’ll open all the containers.”

She also had to help her with the food.

That was exactly what Xie Shiqing wanted. She couldn’t see—how could she pick dishes herself? She had to rely on the person beside her to help.

That way, it would feel like Zhong Ning still cared for her, still cherished her.

During the meal, they chatted casually about which dish was delicious, what the texture was like. Wasn’t the warmth of daily life hidden in these simple exchanges?

After they finished eating, Zhong Ning cleaned up the table. The room was left with only the sound of her tidying.

What would they usually do at this time?

Sometimes, Zhong Ning would invite her to take a walk in the garden, to stroll and chat about interesting things that happened on campus, about the professors’ brilliant metaphors, about the animals that sometimes escaped from the agriculture college, about cats basking in the sun, about a single fallen flower petal.

Words from her mouth always seemed to be coated with a soft light called joy, making even the most mundane things feel interesting.

Xie Shiqing knew very well that it wasn’t the events themselves that were interesting, but Zhong Ning’s keen eye and inherently optimistic, romantic soul that gave them new brilliance.

She used to dismiss them with contempt. Though her ears listened and her mouth responded appropriately, her heart didn’t care.

Such boring things—what was the point of talking about them? If not for making her a useful chess piece, she wouldn’t have bothered listening.

How arrogant and conceited she had been, how blind and ignorant.

She had once sat on a mountain of treasure, thinking it was rubble. Now, both the treasure and the rubble were gone, leaving her with nothing but emptiness.

Only now did Xie Shiqing realize what she had truly missed and lost.

And now, Zhong Ning was cleaning up, without saying a word. She was a forgiving person, willing to give them another chance—but that didn’t mean she had so easily forgiven and let everything go.

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