HC Chapter 14

Chapter 14: I Hate You (III)

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“Is it good-looking?” Jing Rong followed her gaze and asked with a smile. His arm stretched out across the table.

Dong Ci unconsciously nodded. From up close, it looked even more beautiful.

This string of beads was very delicate, while the round bulbs were shiny and lustrous. If one squinted, it was also possible to see the Buddhist scriptures engraved inside.

Jing Rong stroked the etched words with his fingers, and explained after a few seconds of silence, “This was given to me by Qiao Qiao. She said that she hopes I would be able to calm my inner anger and become a gentle person.”

This was the second time that Dong Ci heard this name come out of his mouth. She withdrew her gaze from the beads and abruptly asked, “Who is Qiao Qiao?”

“Are you curious or jealous?” Jing Rong replied with a smile, his eyebrows gently rising. He didn’t expect her to ask this question.

Observing Dong Ci’s silence, he extended his hand and tapped the tip of her nose, his smile further warming up.

“If you admit that you are jealous, then I will tell you who she is.”

Dong Ci knew that her next words would make him unhappy, but she still said, “I just wanted to tell you that if Qiao Qiao is the person you like, then you should treat her better. If you like her, then you should be consistent and not… continue to entangle with me.”

Pat pat—

After Dong Ci voiced her opinion, the only noise that remained between them was the sound of rain falling on the ground outside the window. For a moment, neither of them had anything to say.

She looked at Jing Rong, but his eyes weren’t on her. Instead, his gaze was directed at the table, and the face was expressionless – there was no joy, and there was no anger.

There were a few guests who came into the restaurant. After Dong Ci’s mother wrote down the dishes they ordered, she went to the kitchen and began cooking.

Dong Ci stood up to help, and Jing Rong didn’t stop her. When she brought out the dishes to the guests’ table, the teenager was still there.

He was sitting in the same position, with his eyes directed at the scenery outside the window. His chin was lazily supported by the back of his hand as the cool breeze slowly blew his hair and ruffled his clothes. The whole person radiated loneliness.

The dishes on his table were already cold, and Dong Ci knew that he wouldn’t eat them. She hesitated for a moment, then walked over and prepared to clean up the table, but Jing Rong suddenly turned his head and looked at her.

“Xiao Ci,” he called, his gaze was as flat as a surface of a mirror. Yet, looking at the little girl standing in front of him, he still gently smiled and slowly spoke, “Actually, I have been feeling confused during my stay in the United States. Even after I returned to China, I was still perturbed.”

Jing Rong motioned in Dong Ci’s direction, silently indicating for her to sit down. Then, carelessly stroking the beads on his wrist, he continued, “Actually, I want to ask you a question.”

“What’s the matter?”

Ever since he entered the shop today, Dong Ci always felt that his behavior was a little abnormal. Although she wasn’t used to this side of Jing Rong, she instinctively felt that now it was easier to get close to him than in the past.

“For so many years, I have been doing things the way I wished to, regardless of the opinions of other people. But one day, I was told that the way I behave is wrong… I strived to live the way she wanted, but now I am even more confused.”

Jing Rong looked up at Dong Ci and quietly asked, “If you were in my place, what would you do?”

Although she didn’t completely understand what he meant by saying those things, Dong Ci still told him her opinion, “If I am really in the wrong, then I will try to change. If I am not in the wrong, but someone else is, then I will just follow my own path.”

“Your own path?”

At the time, Dong Ci didn’t know how her advice would affect her future. She didn’t realize that someone as selfish and self-confident as Jing Rong will never doubt his rightfulness.

It doesn’t matter whether it is right or wrong. In his eyes, only his own opinion is right. Paranoid and indifferent, self-absorbed, and fearless – no matter who they are, such people will always be terrible.

“You’re right,” Jing Rong suddenly said as the mist in his eyes disappeared, leaving a smiling and radiant expression behind. He quietly stared at Dong Ci, looking gentle and harmless, with only a touch of sharpness peeking through.

He seemed to be like a different person from the one who came into the store earlier, yet as Dong Ci carefully observed him, she couldn’t find any differences.

When he was about to leave, she handed him an umbrella. Jing Rong was already half-covered in the rain as he prepared to step out of the restaurant, so he was startled when it suddenly appeared above his head. His dark and obscure eyes immediately bore into Dong Ci, the rain becoming like a background to his slender and cold figure.

“What are you looking at?”

The way Jing Rong stared at her made the hair on her body stand up. Originally, she wanted to say something to him, but it was suddenly forgotten. After she thought about it for a moment, Dong Ci still couldn’t remember it, so she decided not to bother with it.

“Actually, I couldn’t understand why Qiao Qiao would give me these beads. I don’t believe in the Buddha, and I was never a compassionate person – wearing them gives me a very ironic feeling.”

Jing Rong stood in the rain, his body protected by the umbrella. He looked down at the beads on his wrist with slightly lowered eyebrows. Then he raised his head and took a few steps in Dong Ci’s direction.

“Although I won’t try to understand the meaning behind the beads any longer, and continue walking down my own path, I will still wear them since she gave them to me. What do you think?”

As Jing Rong approached her, so did the coldness of the rain. When only a few steps were separating them, the sound of the rain obscured his low voice, and Dong Ci couldn’t make out his words.

“What did you say?” she looked up at him with confusion, her bright eyes were clear, and there was no impression of Jing Rong’s words in her mind.

Jing Rong couldn’t hold back. He leaned over and lightly bit her lips, then quickly walked away.

He is really unpredictable…

Dong Ci wiped her mouth with dissatisfaction, then subconsciously glanced back at the restaurant. It was a relief that no one noticed what just happened.

Heading back inside, Dong Ci walked to the table that Jing Rong vacated and prepared to clean it up.

“Bill, please!”

She quickly abandoned the table and rushed to settle the guests’ bill. After she sent them away with a polite smile, her expression abruptly stiffened. Suddenly, Dong Ci’s heart was filled with strangeness and suspicion.

Vaguely, she seemed to recall something. Her eyebrows furrowed and she remembered why she had chased after Jing Rong in the first place.

That bastard, he hasn’t settled the bill after eating!

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After the spring rain, the weather began to warm up. This was obviously something that made people happy, but Dong Ci’s mood was getting worse with each passing day.

After that time, Jing Rong came back to school, but the relationship between the two of them was completely different from that of the start of the term.

“Can you not be so close to me?”

Today, the math teacher was explaining a very complex type of question. Dong Ci tried to carefully listen, but Jing Rong next to her no longer remained as cold as he was in the past. He kept on whispering in her ear during the whole lesson and interrupted her thoughts countless times. Finally, Dong Ci could no longer keep up with the teacher’s steps.

There was nowhere else to vent the fire that burned in her chest. As a result, after the class ended, she wanted to study by herself, yet Jing Rong continued to paste himself to her and she couldn’t get rid of him.

“You’re in a bad mood?” Jing Rong asked, his long arms keeping her trapped in a hug. Taking advantage of his height, he wrapped the whole person into his embrace, from time to time reaching out to tease her.

“Jing Rong!”

It was time for class, and as long as curious students looked in their direction, they could see the pair’s ambiguous posture. Dong Ci couldn’t push him away. Finally, she angrily bit his shoulder.

“Sss-” Jing Rong released an involuntary hiss of pain.

This girl, is she a dog? Why does she like biting so much?

Jing Rong took a deep breath, his arms loosening around her body. Instead, his eyes narrowed with a little bit of danger as a hand reached out to squeeze her chin, making her still.

“I haven’t begun to pamper you yet, but you’re already showing me your temperament?” he questioned, looking at her with a smile. The hold on her chin didn’t loosen up. Instead, the strength with which he was holding it increased.

“You said that you wouldn’t bother me when I am studying, but look at what you’re doing now!” Dong Ci’s jaw was beginning to ache from the pinching, but she didn’t ask for mercy.

When she was emotional, her cheeks tended to blush. Jing Rong lifted her small face and suddenly thought that she looked very cute. Resisting the urge to take a bite, he snorted and proudly lifted his chin.

“This was what you said all by yourself – I don’t remember agreeing.”

“But when the term just started…”

“Hush-” Jing Rong pressed his finger against her small mouth, preventing her from speaking. “Don’t mention it to me. This matter really makes me mad when I think about it.”

“…”

“I, your father, have grown up so big and I always do what I want. No one dares to order me around.”

Remembering the first day of school, Jing Rong’s expression cooled down as his head lowered until his forehead leaned against Dong Ci’s. “Speaking of which, I was a fool to have listened to you back then. From today onwards, you have to obey me. Understood?”

“I don’t understand!”

“Oh?” Jing Rong nodded – he wasn’t annoyed. His big hand hugged her closer.

Dong Ci was a little scared that he would get angry. Although she didn’t know what he wanted to do, she instinctively felt that it wouldn’t be anything good.

“You don’t understand? Then why not take you to the front, and let our classmates see what kind of person you really are.”

“No, you can’t!” Feeling his wandering hand, Dong Ci was almost scared to tears. She tightly clasped Jing Rong’s palm within her own, fearing that he would do something else. “You can’t do this to me…”

“Will you listen to me in the future?”

“I, I’ll listen,” Dong Ci answered with shaking voice.

“That’s good,” Jing Rong nodded his head with satisfaction, gently rubbing her hair as he continued, “As long as you’re obedient, I will be happy. Everything depends on your efforts.”

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