indianbanksassociation Chapter 118 Drunken Truth Revealed: Lin Zhou, Actually, I've Had a Crush on You for Years
Chapter 118 Drunken Truth Revealed: Lin Zhou, Actually, I've Had a Crush on You for Years
The main lights in the bedroom were off, with only a small bedside wall lamp on.
The warm orange glow was somewhat dim, as if casting a hazy filter over the ambiguous night. The air was filled with the faint scent of red wine, mixed with the pleasant smell of Su Qingge's shower gel, creating a pungent, almost overwhelming aroma.
Lin Zhou braced himself with his hands on either side of Su Qingge, his posture extremely passive.
He looked at the woman beneath him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glazed over, his Adam's apple bobbing, his voice tightening slightly:
"A secret? What secret do you have to tell me now? Can't we talk about it tomorrow when you're sober?"
He had a premonition that once this secret was revealed, the worldview he had built up over the past seven years might collapse.
"No...you have to tell me now."
Su Qingge gripped his collar tightly, her knuckles turning white with force. She tilted her head slightly, her usually aloof phoenix eyes now brimming with tears, like a spring river about to burst its banks, shimmering and heart-wrenching to behold.
"Lin Zhou, you're such a big idiot."
She suddenly cursed, her voice soft and sweet, with a strong nasal tone and a sense of grievance:
"Do you think... I only became blind enough to fall for you in the last few years?"
Lin Zhou was taken aback for a moment: "Huh? What else could it be? Were you captivated by my singing just now?"
"Pah! Dream on."
Su Qingge spat lightly, extended a finger, and tremblingly gestured a number before poking it into Lin Zhou's chest:
"ten years."
"Lin Zhou, I've had a crush on you... for ten whole years."
boom--!
Lin Zhou felt a "buzz" in his head, as if a hand grenade had exploded on the top of his head.
ten years?
What a joke!
How old were they ten years ago? That was high school! What was the original owner of this body like back then? He was the school's most famous "top simp," always following Chu Yuwei around like a puppy, bringing her breakfast, taking notes, and being her sucker.
And what about Su Qingge?
She was the aloof school beauty, the student council president who kept strangers at bay, and the "female demon" who would mock and punish the original owner of this body every time she saw her!
In the original owner's memories, Su Qingge was simply his nightmare.
"Honey, have you been drinking fake alcohol?"
Lin Zhou reached out incredulously to touch her forehead. "Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else? I'm Lin Zhou! The Lin Zhou who got reprimanded by you eight hundred times during my three years of high school!"
"I didn't mistake you for someone else! It's you, you bastard!"
Su Qingge slapped his hand away, her emotions suddenly running high.
She suddenly stood up, and emboldened by the alcohol, she took the initiative, cupping Lin Zhou's face in her hands and forcing him to look directly into her eyes:
"Why do you think I gave you a public reprimand? Why do you think I'm constantly monitoring you and deducting points from your record?"
"Because you're blind!"
Tears finally slid down her cheeks, landing hot on Lin Zhou's hand.
"Back then, all you cared about was that green tea bitch Chu Yuwei! You bought her breakfast, queued up for her water, wrote her those sickeningly sweet love poems... Do you know how angry I was when I saw that?"
"I'm just so angry! Why? Why does that hypocritical woman get to fawn over you, while I... I can only stand back and watch?"
Su Qingge became increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, her voice choked with emotion, as she intermittently recounted the girlish secrets buried by time:
"I deliberately picked fights with you, deliberately deducted points from your grades, deliberately read your apology letter in front of the whole school... I just wanted you to look at me! Even if it was a look of disgust, at least... you would see me."
Lin Zhou was completely petrified.
He felt that his values were undergoing an unprecedented reshaping.
So all that "targeting" and "making things difficult" back then wasn't because of dislike, but because of... jealousy?
What kind of ridiculously arrogant brain circuit is this?
This is something only elementary school boys would do, right? Bullying the girl they like to get her attention?
"No... honey, your tactics are way too sophisticated!"
Lin Zhou was both amused and exasperated, yet a surge of indescribable bittersweet emotion welled up within him. "Why didn't you say so earlier? If you had, the original owner... cough, I would have already abandoned the darkness and embraced the light!"
"Can I even bring myself to say it?"
Su Qingge sniffed, buried her face in Lin Zhou's neck, and rubbed her tears all over him.
"Back then, I was the eldest daughter of the Su family and the school beauty. How could I possibly take the initiative to pursue... pursue a simp? I had my pride too."
"and……"
She paused, her voice becoming even softer, as if speaking to herself:
"Besides, you liked her so much back then. What if I told you and you rejected me? Then I wouldn't even have a reason to pick a fight with you anymore, would I?"
Lin Zhou fell silent.
He reached out and hugged the fragile woman tightly in his arms.
He could feel her body trembling, and he could feel the deep affection that had been suppressed for ten years.
It turns out that in this seemingly unequal marriage, Lin Zhou wasn't the only one who felt inferior; Su Qingge was too.
She used the toughest shell to wrap up the softest, most timid heart.
"Then why did you later...marry me?"
Lin Zhou asked softly, this was the biggest question in his mind.
On that rainy night seven years ago, she clearly had better options. With her family background and looks, even if she were blacklisted and abandoned by her family, as long as she was willing to humble herself, there were plenty of wealthy young men willing to marry her.
Why Lin Zhou, who had nothing to begin with?
"Because... that night, you were all I had."
Su Qingge raised her head, her eyes unfocused, her thoughts seemingly drifting back to that rainy night:
"That day I was kicked out of my house, my agency wanted to blacklist me, and everyone avoided me like the plague. I stood on the street, scrolled through my contacts, and finally only dared to call you."
"I know you're poor, I know you're incompetent. But I also know that if it were you... you wouldn't have locked me out."
She looked at Lin Zhou, a poignant smile playing on her lips:
"Lin Zhou, do you think I only went to you that day because I had nowhere else to turn?"
"No."
"Actually... I did it on purpose."
"I ran away from home, didn't go to a hotel or a friend's house, but took a taxi straight to your shabby rented room."
I want to take a gamble.
"I'm betting on whether you'll take me in, and whether you dare to marry me."
"If you hadn't opened the door that day, or if you had refused me... I really was planning to jump off that building."
Lin Zhou's heart suddenly clenched with pain.
He never knew that behind that rainy night lay such a high-stakes gamble with his life at stake.
She was gambling the rest of her life on a man's conscience.
fortunately.
Although the original owner was useless, he still had a conscience.
Fortunately, he caught her.
"fool……"
Lin Zhou sighed, lowered his head, and kissed away the tears on her face. "You're not allowed to gamble anymore. My life is yours. You can win however you want."
Su Qingge felt a little ticklish from his kisses, shrank her neck, and smiled through her tears.
The effects of the alcohol seemed to be kicking in again; her eyes began to glaze over, and her eyelids started to droop.
But she still clung tightly to Lin Zhou's clothes, refusing to let go, muttering some indistinct words.
"Lin Zhou...actually, there's something I've been reluctant to throw away..."
"What is it?" Lin Zhou coaxed patiently.
"It was...it was during my second year of high school..."
Su Qingge let out a hiccup, a strange blush appearing on her face, as if she had remembered something shameful:
"That rubber snake you stuffed in my desk."
Lin Zhou was taken aback.
That snake?
Wasn't that the culprit that caused the original owner to receive a major demerit and almost be expelled from school? Su Qingge was so frightened that she screamed on the spot, and the whole class can testify to that.
"What happened to that snake?" Lin Zhou asked instinctively. "Didn't the teacher confiscate it and throw it away?"
"I didn't throw it away..."
Su Qingge shook her head, a silly smile on her lips, her voice growing softer and softer, as if she were about to fall asleep.
"I... secretly picked it up."
"That was the first time you gave me a 'gift'... It was scary, but... it was from you."
"I hid it... in the very bottom of my jewelry box... it was my... token of love..."
After saying that, Su Qingge finally couldn't hold on any longer, her head tilted to the side, and she fell asleep completely in his arms.
Lin Zhou was left alone, bewildered in the wind in the silent night.
A... token of love?
A scary rubber snake?
How on earth does this woman's brain work?!