After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Trust builds a High Wall.
Zhou Nianzhi didn’t go to her street stall to sell hair clips in the afternoon. Although she didn’t sell many, the cost was low, so all in all, she still made a little money.
Before, her days were packed, but now that she had some free time in the afternoon, she stayed at home to spend some quality time with Sheng Ning.
Sheng Ning didn’t like to use her phone. When she wasn’t sleeping, she would watch TV. Occasionally, she would also write some things, but most of the time, Zhou Nianzhi noticed that Sheng Ning was just spacing out.
Sometimes, Sheng Ning would unknowingly shed tears. Zhou Nianzhi wanted to go and comfort her, but she was stopped.
Sheng Ning would wipe away her tears and say with a smile, “Mom is fine, you go and do your work.”
But there were also times when Sheng Ning couldn’t handle her emotions well.
“Zhi Zhi…” When she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Sheng Ning would rub the calloused palm of Zhou Nianzhi’s hand with her fingertips and say in a trembling voice, “Why was I named ‘Sheng Ning’? It sounds like I’m going to get sick.”
Zhou Nianzhi knew that no matter how carefully she hid her suffering—even applying ointment to her aching back in the bathroom and wearing her worn-out shoes when her mom wasn’t looking—her mom would still see through everything.
“Grandpa and Grandma must have wanted you to live a very peaceful life, which is why they gave you that name,” Zhou Nianzhi comforted her.
“Life will be more peaceful in the future, right?” Sheng Ning stopped crying and prayed in her heart.
“It will,” Zhou Nianzhi nodded.
As long as they could survive, things would get better.
Because they would never know what would happen the day after they opened their eyes.
A few days later, in a milk tea shop.
“What!” Zhou Nianzhi looked at Lin An sitting in front of her in astonishment. “Is it really that good?”
“Mhm,” Lin An replied. She looked the same as before. Her appearance hadn’t changed much, but she spoke and acted a little more maturely than before.
“I have a relative who recently made a fortune and opened a new restaurant. They’re looking for a store manager. You don’t have to go every day, but mainly to arrange the staff. I think you’re very suitable,” Lin An lowered her head to take a sip of her milk tea, then continued, “It’s up to you. You can go if you want to.”
Zhou Nianzhi was a little hesitant. Although she still trusted Lin An, who she had grown up with, she remembered how her mom had been deceived, so she didn’t agree right away.
But the pay and the position…
It was very tempting.
“I think you participated in many competitions in college, so you’ll definitely do great,” Lin An, seeing Zhou Nianzhi’s hesitation, explained, “Besides, my relative originally wanted me to do it, but I thought I wasn’t up for it and I also want to stay and live in the South. Since you’re also here, I recommended you.”
“I…” Zhou Nianzhi lowered her head, her voice soft. “I’m afraid I won’t do a good job.”
Lin An almost spit out her milk tea.
“Nianzhi, look up. Look at me,” Lin An said, her voice quick and firm.
Zhou Nianzhi was confused, but she still did as she was told and looked up obediently.
“Be honest with me,” Lin An said with a serious face. “Where did you hide the old Zhou Nianzhi?”
Zhou Nianzhi smiled and replied, “I am Zhou Nianzhi.”
“Wasn’t the old Zhou Nianzhi so confident? Sometimes I was even jealous of you. You never had any self-doubt,” Lin An said. “And now you’re worried about not doing a good job as a store manager.”
Lin An clicked her tongue twice. Before Zhou Nianzhi could say anything, she started to analyze on her own. “Is it because you broke up with Song Yuli that you became like this?”
Zhou Nianzhi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “What are you thinking? How could it be because of the breakup?”
“Did she say bad things about you?” Lin An seemed to have completely ignored Zhou Nianzhi’s words. “Or did she slander you after you broke up? Or did she find a new girlfriend who’s only a little bit better than you?”
“Lianlian,” Zhou Nianzhi’s eyes were almost squinted shut from laughing. “What are you thinking about all day?”
“Love and hate, of course. You know I love reading novels, watching TV shows, and movies,” Lin An looked out the window, pretending to be someone who had seen all the love and hate in the world. “I really thought you two would go a long way, just like the protagonists on TV. I didn’t expect this!”
To show her sadness, Lin An let out a long sigh.
Listening to her sigh, Zhou Nianzhi didn’t know whether to laugh at how simple-minded Lin An was, as she didn’t have to worry about life’s hardships and only cared about love, or to feel sorry for herself, because what Lin An said was also a reality.
After they got together, most of their friends were surprised, but no one thought they would break up.
Because they loved each other too much back then.
Although they didn’t go to the same college for their own futures, distance was no obstacle to their relationship. In fact, being apart made them cherish each other even more.
Zhou Nianzhi would travel a long distance just to see Song Yuli.
Song Yuli would thoughtfully prepare all kinds of things that Zhou Nianzhi liked.
So, their friends would often look at them with a “disgusted” expression while they were showing their affection, but in reality, they were touched by how close they were.
Their complementary personalities were like glue that stuck them together. No matter what the difficulty was, nothing could separate them.
But the reality was that they still broke up.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about this,” Lin An saw that Zhou Nianzhi’s expression was a little off, so she changed the topic. “Nianzhi, do you remember Yunyun? Qin Yunyun.”
“Of course I do. We were so close,” Zhou Nianzhi pulled herself out of her sadness and forced a smile. “We used to love going to her house. Her bed was so soft, and we would just lie on the bed and chat.”
Lin An picked up her milk tea to take a sip but put it back down, staring at her hands. “She’s already married.”
Zhou Nianzhi said “ah.” At first, she was a little surprised, but then she thought, Everyone gets married. It’s no big deal.
“That’s good. She has someone to take care of her now,” Zhou Nianzhi said.
Lin An lowered her eyes and gave a muffled “It’s not good.”
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Nianzhi heard the change in Lin An’s tone and said with a laugh, “It’s just a marriage. What could be so bad about it?”
“But she’s only twenty-four,” Lin An became more upset as she spoke. “The reason I didn’t come to see you last time was because I heard Yunyun was going to have a baby.”
Zhou Nianzhi was a little shocked and didn’t say anything. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t be as lighthearted as she was a moment ago.
“Nianzhi, I know that getting married was Yunyun’s decision. If she wants to get married, she should. I should bless her and be happy for her,” Lin An said non-stop, as if she wanted to say everything on her mind in one breath. “But, I just can’t.”
Lin An looked up at Zhou Nianzhi and said, “Ever since you disappeared, Yunyun was my only really good friend. I know that the people I meet now can only be called ‘colleagues.’ Only the friends from before are true friends.”
Zhou Nianzhi nodded, feeling sorry for Lin An. She had left to get away from the pain, but in doing so, she had unintentionally hurt their hearts.
Lin An said, “So after I got off work, or on weekends, whenever I had free time, I would ask Yunyun to go shopping with me. We would buy clothes together, and when we were tired at night, we would go eat a nice meal. That way, I wouldn’t feel so upset about the stress of work. Don’t you think this is a good life?”
Zhou Nianzhi “mhm”ed.
“But Yunyun got married,” Lin An said softly, burying her head and looking downcast. “After she got married, no one goes to the supermarket to buy clothes or eat late-night snacks with me anymore. When I call her, she says she’s busy. I ask her what she’s busy with, and she says her husband is about to get off work, and she has to hurry and cook.”
“It’s unbelievable. I just can’t believe it. You probably can’t imagine how shocked I was to hear that,” Lin An shook her head, as if she was replaying the feeling from that day. “That’s Qin Yunyun. The Yunyun who has a cute name but wants to be cool every day.”
The Qin Yunyun in Zhou Nianzhi’s memory had a round face, wasn’t very tall, but had a very short haircut. Her favorite phrase was, “Don’t call me ‘Yunyun,’ call me ‘Sister Yun.'”
But everyone still called her “Yunyun.” At first, she would patiently correct them, but later, she just gave up and let everyone call her whatever they wanted. She would just often ask everyone if she looked cool today.
The free-spirited Qin Yunyun seemed to never worry about anything. She just wanted to put on a baseball cap, get on her skateboard, and zoom over to Zhou Nianzhi’s or Lin An’s house just to show off her skateboarding skills. Then she would still say, “I look cool like this, right?”
Lin An said, “She doesn’t even skateboard anymore. She thinks it’s too dangerous.”
The girl in the hat on the skateboard, who skated so fast that she disappeared from their sight in a blink of an eye.
Zhou Nianzhi wanted Qin Yunyun to wait for her.
Because this time, she still hadn’t said, “Yunyun, you’re the coolest.”
“I don’t dare to say these things to Yunyun. I also hope she’s doing well,” Lin An raised her hand and held her head. “But I just feel a little wronged, as if my treasured possession for so many years suddenly fell into someone else’s hands.”
“It’s okay. I understand you,” Zhou Nianzhi knew about Lin An’s grievances and comforted her. “It’s all in the past. People always have to look forward.”
Suddenly, Lin An looked up again, her eyes filled with complex emotions, and said to Zhou Nianzhi, “No, you don’t understand me.”
“If you understood me, you wouldn’t have left without a word…” Lin An was a little choked up. “I can accept you and Song Yuli being all lovey-dovey and going on dates and occasionally not having dinner with me, but I can’t accept that you would abandon us, your good friends, just because of a breakup…”
Zhou Nianzhi was speechless. She didn’t know if she should explain the real reason for leaving home that year to Lin An. But after thinking about it, it was better to keep all those dark, disgusting things to herself. Why should she let the innocent Lin An know about all of it?
So, she had no choice but to temporarily pin the reason on Song Yuli.
“I’m so sorry…” Zhou Nianzhi could only apologize repeatedly.
“Don’t apologize,” Lin An said, wiping away the tears from her eyes. “I want you to tell me that you won’t disappear without a word again.”
“Okay, okay, I promise,” Zhou Nianzhi nodded incessantly.
Lin An then remembered the topic they were discussing earlier and said, “So, are you going to take the store manager job? I can take you there this afternoon. If you’re worried, you can hire two bodyguards to protect you, just in case I’m lying to you.”
Zhou Nianzhi laughed a few times and said, “It would be pretty hard for you to travel all this way just to lie to me.”
“Yeah, I even took time off and rode the high-speed train for almost a day, then took a taxi to find you, just to ‘lie’ to you,” Lin An said, standing up and walking ahead.
Zhou Nianzhi immediately followed her, smiling and saying, “I’ll trust you this one time.”
“Just this one time?” Lin An said without looking back, “Then I’ll also trust you this one time. I’ll trust that you won’t disappear on me again.”
The broken friendship was mended, and trust built a high wall.