The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Stars
The car was driving incredibly fast. Duan Jiayang clutched the grab handle, completely disoriented in the back seat and unable to tell where Lin Ke was taking her.
Uncharacteristically, Lin Ke didn’t pull any tricks. When they arrived, Duan Jiayang was slightly out of breath. Lin Ke wasn’t in a hurry to get out of the car. After Duan Jiayang’s breathing smoothed out, she went to open the car door.
“Come here,” Lin Ke said in a low voice.
Duan Jiayang saw that she was still wearing her seatbelt and didn’t intend to get out. She thought she had forgotten something and walked over directly. Lin Ke’s fingers landed on her face without any politeness and pinched hard. She pinched her cheek with so much force that it hurt. Duan Jiayang just frowned and glared at her.
Duan Jiayang stepped back, freeing her hand. She raised her hand and touched her cheek, rubbing it twice. “That hurts.”
“Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t go crazy?” Duan Jiayang asked.
“I didn’t go crazy,” Lin Ke said, looking up at her. “If I hadn’t been in control, you wouldn’t be going home now. I would have taken you to a hotel.”
“The car wasn’t even bumpy today.”
I felt a lump in my throat. I had nothing to say.
Yes, she wasn’t crazy. Duan Jiayang felt like she was about to go crazy herself.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Their conversation was very strange. Duan Jiayang held the bag and walked to the entrance of the restaurant. Lin Ke’s car didn’t move. It was brazenly parked at the entrance. Duan Jiayang hesitated again and again, but finally walked in.
These days, it was so hot it was ridiculous. Duan Jiayang didn’t have much of an appetite for eating out. Lan Yao had booked a porridge shop. They could eat some cold dishes with their porridge.
Duan Jiayang put the bag on the chair next to her and went to wash her hands. Lan Yao glanced at the things on the chair. When Duan Jiayang came back, she handed her a tissue. Duan Jiayang’s eyes were on the window, watching when the silver Maybach would leave.
Lan Yao glanced at her fingers, then looked up at her and said, “Lin Ke brought you here?”
Duan Jiayang said, “Mm, it was on the way.”
It was a small restaurant. They didn’t need to order too many dishes. They ordered some stir-fried green beans and some vegetables. The last thing to come was the chilled mung bean porridge.
The restaurant was on the second floor. When the dishes came, Duan Jiayang’s eyes were still looking outside.
Lan Yao wiped the spoon and plate clean. “Jiayang?”
“Hmm?”
Lan Yao handed her a bowl of porridge. Duan Jiayang said thank you. She held the spoon to her mouth. It tasted good.
Lan Yao asked, “Why do you have only one high-heeled shoe?”
Duan Jiayang felt a bit uncomfortable. A shoe was a very private thing for a woman. She had only brought one shoe today and didn’t know what to say. She thought for a long time. “I’m getting it repaired. This one is broken.”
“Is Lin Ke helping you repair it?” Lan Yao took a sip of porridge. Her tone was flat, but it hit Duan Jiayang like a ton of bricks.
Duan Jiayang didn’t understand what she meant. The cold porridge felt hot in her mouth. “Huh?”
Lan Yao wiped her lips with a tissue. “I had a meeting with Lin Ke today, and she had a shoe like this.”
“Oh?” Duan Jiayang was a little dumbfounded. Lan Yao glanced at her finger again. Without having to explain further, Duan Jiayang realized it herself. Lin Ke had worn the ring.
The lemon water in her mouth became sour and bitter. Duan Jiayang tried to stay calm. She ate very slowly and had no appetite at all.
When she left the restaurant, the Maybach was no longer there. Duan Jiayang bit her lip. She looked to the left. Lan Yao opened the car door and said, “What’s wrong?”
“I…” Duan Jiayang felt very awkward. She lowered her head slightly and said, “Well, my friend asked me out. I need to go.”
Lan Yao said, “Should I give you a ride?”
“No need. It’s very close to here.” Duan Jiayang hooked her finger on her backpack and said, “Mm, when you have time later, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
Lan Yao pursed her lips, then nodded after a moment. “Okay.”
The date ended very hastily. Although Lan Yao didn’t say anything, Duan Jiayang felt very uncomfortable. When her car left, Duan Jiayang exhaled heavily. She almost squatted down with her head in her hands.
Duan Jiayang looked at the ring on her finger. She looked up at the restaurants on both sides. She took out her phone, found her contacts, and accepted the request she had been holding for a long time.
The previous additional message popped up instantly: “I’m sorry, my little lamb, I was wrong.”
Duan Jiayang became even more angry. She felt like throwing her phone. She turned off the screen and sat on a nearby massage chair. The thing kept telling her to pay. Duan Jiayang chose a quick massage. The more she massaged, the angrier she became.
Duan Mei Mei: “Where are you?”
LK replied a minute later: “At home.”
After replying, Lin Ke took a sip of tea, then was hit by a bag. She looked up. Duan Jiayang was standing three empty seats away from her. Her expression wasn’t good, and her chest was heaving.
Duan Jiayang gritted her teeth. “Don’t think… I don’t know you were following me.”
This was a teahouse. It was simple and quiet. Duan Jiayang walked over and sat across from Lin Ke. “Did you wear my ring and my high heel to see Lan Yao today?”
Lin Ke said, “No.”
“You’re still lying. I already know everything.”
“I didn’t wear your high heel,” Lin Ke added seriously.
“Then you wore my ring?”
Lin Ke didn’t respond, tacitly admitting it. Lin Ke’s eyes reflected her face. Her expression wasn’t righteous, but it had an unclear meaning. Duan Jiayang didn’t dare to respond. She sensed that she couldn’t win against Lin Ke. She lowered her head to pick up her bag. Lin Ke grabbed her fingers.
Lin Ke’s voice was neither cold nor flat. There was no hint of an apology. She said, “Yes, I wore it. But I didn’t show off to her. It’s not like I pointed at it in front of her and said, ‘Lan Yao, this is my little lamb’s ring. I took it off her finger with my mouth.’ Did you ask her if I said that?”
Duan Jiayang was left speechless. Her chest felt stuffy. Duan Jiayang wouldn’t ask. She couldn’t say it. That was their secret.
“But…” But something felt wrong.
“Should I have thrown your high heel in her face instead of putting it next to me?” Lin Ke’s tone softened. “I admit, for a moment, I did think about throwing the shoe in her face. But I held back.”
“Of course, I’m not ruling out that I deliberately wore it for her to see, because I also wanted someone to be jealous. What I did was despicable.”
“And what about her? All I did was help you with the shoe, and she deliberately misinterpreted it and told you. Isn’t she maliciously trying to provoke a conflict between us?”
Her voice was very low, and every word was a temptation to Duan Jiayang.
Duan Jiayang felt dizzy from what she was saying. She looked up and saw her neck. She wanted to reach out and strangle her many times. How could she be so bad? And… she was unrepentant.
Duan Jiayang said, “Can you stop forcefully pushing your way into my world?”
“Because the gap you leave open is only so big,” Lin Ke looked up at her.
I was speechless. I couldn’t respond.
Lin Ke squeezed her hand hard, making her bones hurt. She seemed to have a lot to say, but she swallowed it all back, and in the end, she only filtered out one sentence.
“You can’t wear a ring casually. Wearing it means a lifetime.”
Duan Jiayang took a breath and slowly pulled her hand away. The ring was still on her finger. “My fingers are my freedom. I can wear it however I want.”
The restaurant was still quite crowded on Monday, but Duan Jiayang didn’t have the luxury of caring whether people were watching their entanglement. Duan Jiayang ran out of the restaurant, hoping she could turn into a cheetah. She sprinted the whole way.
After she left, Lin Ke sat there for a long time. She held a small teacup, her hands clasped together, and slowly rubbed them. The fragrance of the tea gathered in the cup and slowly wafted out. A few white jasmine flowers were in the bamboo-green cup.
She lowered her head to sniff the tea. The fragrance made her greed reach its peak. She was both enjoying and devout.
**
After returning, Duan Jiayang felt all kinds of uncomfortable. She was so angry she was almost sick. She couldn’t figure out where the problem was.
Ever since Lin Ke came back, nothing tasted good. She really wanted to refute all the twisted logic Lin Ke had said yesterday.
Duan Jiayang forced herself to go to work. She was ready for a fight. Duan Jiayang turned the ring on her finger listlessly. Yang Ruiqi looked at her, and she looked menacing and a little haggard. She said, “Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to take a day off? You look a bit pale.”
Duan Jiayang’s head was pounding and about to explode.
Duan Jiayang looked at the two of them. In her desperation, she decided to tell them what happened yesterday. “I have a friend. She’s in a messy entanglement with someone. A ri… her necklace was lost, and that person picked it up and wore it. Then she scolded her, and that person admitted it. What do you think she should say to scold her back?”
Yang Ruiqi and Yu Xiao were dumbfounded. Li Yuanchen leaned over and said, “Just call her shameless.”
“She would say, ‘Yes, I’m shameless, as long as I have you.'”
Yu Xiao and Yang Ruiqi seemed to have their tongues tied. After a long pause, they said, “Duan Jiayang, isn’t this that classic question? Your friend is…”
“No, it’s… a veterinarian friend of mine. She’s gentler and doesn’t know how to curse. I don’t either.”
“This…” The few of them were at a loss. “Being pestered is a bit hard to handle.”
“She’s not exactly pestering me. How should I put it? I’m going to take a leave… Forget it.” Duan Jiayang looked at the director’s office and got annoyed again.
Before Lin Ke came to work, she always came and went as she pleased. She was not feeling well either. What was the point of struggling? She wasn’t going to struggle anymore in this life.
Duan Jiayang walked out with her bag and bumped into someone. Duan Jiayang was just walking straight ahead. She turned sideways to let her pass.
Duan Jiayang: “…”
Yang Ruiqi and Yu Xiao saw that the director was back. They lowered their heads and continued to work. Yang Ruiqi was sure that the director wouldn’t come out for a while, so she turned around and tapped Yu Yan’s desk. “Don’t you think Duan Jiayang’s ring is a little strange?”
“What’s strange? She wouldn’t buy a fake one, would she?”
“No… I remember Duan Jiayang’s ring was silver with a blue eye. I even went to check it that day. This one is silver with a green eye. This one costs 550,000…” Yang Ruiqi was about to get married, so she was very interested in rings. This new one was set with two total 2.88-carat emeralds.
“Did she buy two?” Yu Yan hadn’t really paid attention, but hearing her say that, she had a bit of an impression. That day, Duan Jiayang had taken it out and said it was only 300,000.
“I don’t know…”
Duan Jiayang walked quickly and leaned against a tree at the company entrance. She had a belly full of words, but she couldn’t use a single one. Her head was spinning…
She wanted to go and argue with Lin Ke. She had thought of how to counter her, but when she saw Lin Ke, she couldn’t say a word. This was really not normal.
She went home and lay down until evening, feeling depressed. She felt better and took her car keys to go out. When she arrived, she came to her senses and realized that she had come to where Lin Ke lived.
If you endure for a moment, you’ll get angrier the more you think about it. If you step back, you’ll feel more and more wronged.
She decided to confront her.
If she didn’t vent her anger today, she swore she wouldn’t be a human being.
Duan Jiayang was blocking the entrance to Lin Ke’s residential area. The sky was fiery red in the summer. Looking at the evening scenery, she felt a little calmer.
Lin Ke should be off work by now. The work group didn’t say she would be working overtime.
But she didn’t wait for Lin Ke’s car. Instead, she waited for Lin Ke’s mom, Lin Wan. A black Porsche drove in. Because the light was dim, the headlights were on.
Lin Wan had sent Lin Ke abroad back then, and Lin Wan had also gone for two years. Later, she came back early. It was hard to imagine that a person with such a flawed character was an artist.
Duan Jiayang didn’t like dealing with her. She would usually turn around and leave when she saw her. But in this atmosphere, she really didn’t want to leave.
Lin Wan lowered the driver’s side window. She looked at Duan Jiayang, who was standing by the car, with displeasure. Lin Wan naturally didn’t like her either, and she didn’t want her to get involved with Lin Ke. Her eyes were full of repulsion. Lin Wan asked coldly, “Why are you here?”
Duan Jiayang leaned against the car door and glanced at her from the side. In her eyes, Lin Ke and Lin Wan were the same. Scolding her was no different from scolding her daughter. After all, a daughter’s debt is paid by the mother.
“To be with your daughter,” Duan Jiayang said vengefully and maliciously.
As expected, Lin Wan’s face turned ashen.
Duan Jiayang curled her lips triumphantly. After holding it in all day, she finally vented her anger. After she spoke, she turned and opened the car door. After a few seconds, her movements stopped.
The window of the Porsche’s back seat slowly lowered. Behind the gray glass was Lin Ke’s smiling face.