DF Chapter 31

Chapter 31 The beginning of life offers countless possibilities for trial and error.

Song Ningqiu arrived in a hurry, and her return trip was also rushed.

She only had one day free, and she had to catch a flight back to Beijing at 8 PM for a meeting.

Song Ji’an hadn’t seen her for a month. Although Song Ningqiu often traveled for business, it wasn’t usually this long without them seeing each other.

They went out for seafood at noon and returned directly to Song Ji’an’s villa to rest in the afternoon.

Song Ningqiu had arrived in Jingjiang last night and hadn’t slept all night, coordinating with Officer Liu. Since the follow-up work no longer required their involvement, she could openly leave with Song Ji’an.

Understanding the situation, Song Ji’an sensibly didn’t ask Song Ningqiu to do anything else with her. She felt that having dinner together later would be good enough.

Song Ningqiu was catching up on sleep in the afternoon, so Song Ji’an asked Auntie Zhou to prepare dinner early, aiming to eat by 5 PM. She occasionally tried to help but was chased out of the kitchen by Auntie Zhou and Auntie Liu.

After being kicked out, Song Ji’an looked at her phone with some worry.

The message she sent to Sheng Jia hadn’t received a reply yet, but their class group was lively.

Jingjiang No. 1 High School took the top spots in this marathon. Class 1 narrowly won over Class 2, but this narrow victory excited Class 1 students even more than Jingjiang No. 1 High School winning overall.

They were probably used to competing with Class 2. As long as they were better than Class 2 in any competition, they could boast about it for a long time.

Someone asked in the group: Where are the class monitor and Ji’an? I haven’t seen them.

Song Ji’an stared at the message, thought for a moment, and replied: We had something come up and had to drop out halfway.

Faced with everyone’s questions about what happened, Song Ji’an could only vaguely say it was a family matter and that Sheng Jia was helping her deal with it, which stopped the inquiries.

They definitely had to keep the police matter a secret. This was a special situation, and without Officer Liu’s permission, she absolutely couldn’t say anything. She and Sheng Jia had already discussed this with her classmates and decided on this explanation.

Song Ji’an was originally looking at her phone to ask if anyone had seen Sheng Jia, but it seemed no one had.

Sheng Jia was always someone who did things quietly, and she didn’t know how serious her injuries were. Song Ji’an herself had bandages on her arm and knee. Sheng Jia had fallen with her, so her injuries probably weren’t much different. Thinking this, she became even more worried.

Staring at her phone, she tried to make a call.

The phone rang, but no one answered.

She made a few more calls, but still no one answered.

While she was looking for her, Auntie Zhou had already prepared the meal. A rich aroma wafted over, and Auntie Liu was setting the table. Auntie Zhou brought up the rice cooker.

Song Ningqiu had woken up from her nap and was now a bit more energetic, slowly walking downstairs in her pajamas.

“Ji’an, come and eat first, okay? Didn’t you say you need to send Song Ningqiu off later?” Auntie Zhou called out.

Hearing this, Song Ji’an put away her phone. She was usually quite mindful of table manners at home and wouldn’t play with her phone at the table. Song Ningqiu had already sat down opposite her, smiling as she rubbed her cheek.

Song Ningqiu had extremely heroic features. Her decisiveness over the years had given her an indescribable sense of authority, but at this moment, her face was soft, and her eyes were relaxed and lazy. She probably only showed such a relaxed demeanor when she was with family.

Four people sat at the table, and they soon started talking and laughing. A warm atmosphere filled the small villa until it was time for Song Ningqiu to go to the airport.

Song Ji’an looked at the night scenery passing by outside the car window and then glanced at her phone. She couldn’t help but sigh softly.

“What’s wrong? You’ve seemed a bit distracted all afternoon.”

A mother knows her daughter best. Song Ningqiu had noticed her strangeness in the afternoon but hadn’t pointed it out.

“It’s Sheng Jia. She hasn’t replied to my messages, and I’m a little worried.” Song Ji’an hesitated, but she didn’t explain Sheng Jia’s special circumstances in detail.

“You like her a lot?” Song Ningqiu asked with a smile.

Song Ji’an nodded. “She’s the most special person I’ve ever met.”

“Maybe she’s just busy with something right now? Try contacting her again tomorrow?”

Song Ningqiu didn’t usually pay much attention to other people’s affairs. Although she was impressed by Sheng Jia, she wouldn’t be overly concerned. However, Song Ji’an’s behavior piqued her interest. Before this, Song Ji’an had never specifically mentioned any of her friends to her.

“If you still can’t reach her, you can have Auntie Liu Xing take you to the places she frequents. If she doesn’t mind, you can also go to her house to look for her,” Song Ningqiu suggested.

Feeling better after her mother’s comfort, Song Ji’an hugged her arm and acted spoiled as usual, “Okay, thank you, Mom. Now I am sending you to the airport, we do not know when we are going to see each other again.”

Song Ningqiu beamed at being called “Mom” in such a sweet voice. “Don’t thank Mom. Take good care of your injuries. Listen to Auntie Liu and Auntie Zhou about your diet. I should be able to take a vacation in another half a month.”

The mother and daughter chatted away in the car like millions of ordinary mothers and daughters. Even Auntie Liu, who was driving in the front, couldn’t help but smile at the heartwarming atmosphere.

–

After leaving in the morning, Sheng Jia had been wandering aimlessly alone. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. It seemed that the moment she saw Song Ningqiu, all her pretenses crumbled.

Seeing Song Ningqiu anxiously checking on Song Ji’an, she felt as if a thorn was growing in her heart.

She got on a bus, moving away from that area. She didn’t know how long she traveled. She just suddenly realized that she seemed to have nowhere to go.

Sheng Jia was sitting on the beach where she and Song Ji’an had come countless times in the past month.

This was Xu Lijing’s secret base, but since Xu Lijing had told them about it, they had come here more often than the base’s owner.

The night wind was cold, at least enough to completely cool down her self-numbing and confusion during this time.

Waves crashed against the beach, bringing in wave after wave of plankton. The smell wasn’t pleasant, but the sea breeze was cold, hitting her face and making her more awake.

Her phone suddenly rang in the silence.

“Sheng Jia, how is it? Do you see reality clearly now?” The voice on the phone was a distorted female voice, crackling with static, filled with mockery.

After the Xu Lijing incident, she hadn’t replied to any of [R]’s messages for almost half a month, including the texts and calls she sent.

As if understanding Sheng Jia’s thoughts, [R] had fallen silent and hadn’t contacted her again.

But both she and [R] knew that this didn’t mean [R] had given up on contacting her, but rather that the other party had gone into hiding, coldly observing Sheng Jia’s entanglement, hesitation, and weakness, waiting for the moment Sheng Jia recognized reality before impatiently popping up again.

Like today, Song Ningqiu’s appearance had completely shattered Sheng Jia’s facade of peace, revealing the deepest contradictions beneath.

And [R], the snake that had been lurking for days, had crawled out in her moment of greatest disappointment. But what was even more laughable was that this was actually the only person who could confide in Sheng Jia at this moment.

“Seeing Song Ningqiu with your own eyes, you can still remain calm? I said a long time ago, only one of you and Song Ji’an can enjoy the spotlight. You shouldn’t be soft on her.”

“But whether it’s in the past or now, you’re always in the shadows, and she’s in the light. The situation is great.”

Sheng Jia didn’t speak. She allowed [R] to mock her on the other end, finally just chuckling.

“So what? Life has just begun, and there are countless possibilities for trial and error.” Sheng Jia was never someone who could be laughed at. “Even if I take a wrong turn, what impact will it have?”

“As long as Song Ji’an exists, even if Song Ningqiu acknowledges you, your ranking in her heart will never surpass her adopted daughter whom she raised from childhood,” [R] said slowly. “These are your words.”

This ranking represented whether she was valued personally, representing the amount of benefit she could obtain.

Both the palm and back of the hand were flesh, but one was always the palm and the other was the back.

Sheng Jia liked to maximize profits.

And if she wanted to do that, then she and Song Ji’an could only be enemies because it meant she had to take everything that currently belonged to Song Ji’an from her.

Perhaps she could have said such cold and ruthless words in the past, but she couldn’t deny that after meeting Song Ji’an, she had been briefly touched by Song Ji’an’s sincerity and even eroded by the ubiquitous maternal love brought by Song Ningqiu, even though she hadn’t even seen the other party in person at that time.

Now, she could no longer simply maximize profits because she had even greedier desires.

Such desires would only intensify the conflict between her and Song Ji’an.

But Sheng Jia was still immersed in the friendship that Song Ji’an brought, and she even subconsciously protected the other party. Only she herself would be hurt by this.

Just like what she saw today, Song Ji’an being surrounded by everyone – and herself being alone.

The pain in her arm was still there. She raised her hand and clenched her fist, but what came to mind was Song Ji’an’s worried eyes filled with mist.

There were seven missed calls on her phone and a dozen messages in WeChat.

“Don’t be soft,” [R]’s voice came again. “Once you go soft, you’re not Sheng Jia anymore.”

Sheng Jia frowned and hung up the phone.

She looked blankly at the sea, finally just sneering, not knowing whether she was laughing at R or at herself.

Song Ji’an was not wrong.

She knew nothing.

But even if she knew nothing, every moment of her existence was hurting Sheng Jia.

Unconscious harm was the most terrifying.

Her carefree life, her independent thinking, her money to spend, her sense of justice without worrying about any consequences.

Penetrating through everything, Sheng Jia could see her complete family education.

Sheng Jia had perhaps thought for a moment of being honest about everything, even if it seemed not bad to coexist with Song Ji’an.

Even just thinking that for a moment had startled her.

Who knew if the Guangfeng Jiyue that Song Ji’an was showing at this moment would turn into another sharp blade stabbing at Sheng Jia after Sheng Jia touched her core interests?

What’s more.

Why?

Why should she coexist with Song Ji’an?

Why should she bear all the suffering?

Sheng Jia didn’t trust anyone, and she couldn’t trust anyone.

But she had briefly harbored delusions about Song Ji’an.

Even if she didn’t know whether her delusions were real or fake, it was enough to make her feel cold.

As if she had lost the most important pillar in her heart at a certain moment, causing her to walk on a tightrope high in the air, teetering on the verge of collapse.

It couldn’t be like this.

It couldn’t be like this.

Sheng Jia lay down on the beach. She didn’t know when the sea had rolled up her legs and wet her pants, but she didn’t want to care anymore.

She stared at the sky above her head. There wasn’t a single star, and the moon hung baldly above her head. She felt something warm overflowing from her eyes.

She thought she was about to lose the ability to feel wronged, but at this moment, the sourness that welled up from the bottom of her heart still made her feel an unspeakable grievance, coexisting with another kind of intense desire.

——She wanted to get Song Ningqiu’s love.

She also wanted to feel the love where someone would care and protect her no matter what she did.

Unique love.

Reckless love.

The selfless love a mother gives to her daughter.

The love she had longed for.

[R] was right.

Sheng Jia was a natural predator.