Paper Lover At Old Town Bookstore Chapter 57

I almost forgot that I was wearing books

The warm yellow wall lamp made the bedroom particularly soft. The two of them were sitting side by side on the edge of the bed, and the wrinkles in the clothes still showed signs of being freshly sorted.He Ping’an held a small velvet box in his fingertips, his knuckles turned slightly white, and the outline of his face looked particularly serious under the light.

He took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and knelt down on one knee facing Xing Qingru.The small box was gently opened, and a simple platinum ring lay quietly inside. The diamond reflected tiny but firm light under the light.

“Qing Ru,” He Ping’an’s voice contained a trace of imperceptible tension, but was extremely clear, “When I was abroad, I failed to protect you. I could only watch you being forced by your family and watch our relationship end in vain. Later, I was displaced, misunderstood, and plotted, but I never let go of you in my heart.”

He raised his eyes, and his eyes were full of deep affection and stubbornness that had accumulated for many years, pouring out all the suppressed love: “I know that I was not strong enough before to give you the stability you want. But now, I have the ability to stand by your side and protect you. Xing Qingru, will you marry me? We will walk together in the future, never separate, and never let anyone bully you again.”

Xing Qingru stared at him blankly, his eyes turning red instantly.Over the years, she has been fighting step by step in the whirlpool of power. She has long been accustomed to being on her own, thinking that she will never be moved by anyone again, and will never believe in love again.

But at this moment, looking at the man kneeling in front of her with blazing eyes, and looking at the not luxurious but extremely sincere ring in his hand, the softest place in her heart was still severely touched.

Pictures of the past flashed by one by one – the youthful days when they were studying abroad, the helplessness and pain when they were forced to break up, the temptation and alienation after reunion, and the ultimate lingering love when they were just tender.It turned out that those feelings that she had deliberately sealed had never really disappeared.

She sniffed and raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled into a smile.After a long moment, she nodded gently, her voice slightly choked, but extremely firm: “I do.”

He Pingan’s eyes instantly burst into ecstasy. He carefully picked up the ring and put it on Xing Qingru’s ring finger. The size was just right.

He stood up and held her tightly in his arms, with such force that he felt like he was going to rub her into her bones and blood: “Thank you, Qingru. Thank you for giving me another chance.”

Xing Qingru leaned in his arms, feeling his strong heartbeat, and her heart felt warm.She put her arms around his back and whispered softly: “It’s me who should say thank you. It’s you who let me know that even in this world full of calculations, there are still people who are willing to treat me sincerely.”

The kitchen of the villa was filled with the aroma of food. I was wearing an off-white apron specially chosen by Song Zhili and was stirring the vegetables in the pot with my head down.He put his arm around my waist from behind, resting his chin on the crook of my neck, and his warm breath swept across my skin: “The food you cooked is to my liking.”

I leaned into his arms, the spatula in my hand kept moving, and my tone was natural and gentle: “Eat more if you like it.”

I used to avoid the word “cooking”, but now I can skillfully control the heat, know that his favorite dishes should have less salt and less spicy, and know that his breakfast must be accompanied by a cup of freshly ground coffee.Song Zhili’s paranoia is still the same, but in our day-to-day interactions, he has gained a touch of gentleness – he will hand me a band-aid from behind when I am chopping vegetables, he will silently turn off the cold water when I am washing dishes, and he will put the kicked-off quilt back on me late at night.

After a certain tenderness, his fingertips traced my back, and his voice was a little uncertain: “Qiu Sheng, you really accept me, right?”

I turned sideways and looked at the anxiety and paranoia in his eyes, and suddenly felt tired and tired.

Those thoughts of escape and determination for revenge gradually faded away in the day after day of cooking, eating, and hugging each other.The year when the book was written, the plot of the novel, and the disputes in the outside world all seemed like a lifetime ago.

I reached out and stroked his eyebrows, and said in a calm voice, “Yes, I accept it.”

I really accepted it.Accepted the days of being imprisoned, accepted his morbid possession, and accepted the fact that she was bent for him.

What about doing the next one?Being held in his arms, placed on the top of his heart, no longer having to face intrigues, no longer having to worry about the unknown of the next second, such a life might not be so bad after all.

Song Zhili didn’t seem to expect me to be so straightforward. He was stunned for a moment, and then he hugged me tightly in his arms, so hard that I almost couldn’t breathe: “Qiu Sheng… thank you.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into his arms, the faint smell of his cigar lingering on the tip of my nose.

The range hood in the kitchen is still humming, and the vegetables in the pot have been fried, exuding an attractive aroma.No matter how chaotic the outside world is, it has nothing to do with me.I just want to keep the fireworks in this small place and the paranoid person next to me who treats me sincerely, and live peacefully.

Only occasionally, in the dead of night, I would think of He Pingan, Xing Qingru, Lin Zhiqing and Zhang Biling, and wonder if they were okay.But just thinking about it, he turned around and fell asleep in Song Zhili’s arms.

The neon lights of the KTV were clearly extinguished on Xu Xingruo’s face. She was chatting with Zhang Biling about the current situation with a smile. The brightness in her eyes was the look that I tried my best to protect back then – there was no family destruction and depression in the original work. She was wearing an off-white dress, talking calmly, and there was a stable happiness hidden in her eyes.

My fingers holding the wine glass tightened slightly, and my throat felt astringent.

No one in the room knew that the girl in front of me who had been kindly treated by fate was my only obsession when I came here; no one knew that I took the initiative to go to work in the company, not to obey the transfer order, but to intercept the commercial frame-up that Hu was about to encounter; no one knew that my entanglement with Song Zhili and being disguised by Yang Changwen originally came from wanting to clear the way for her.

Song Zhili seemed to notice my absence. He rubbed the back of my hand with his fingertips and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong? Are you not happy to see your old friend?”

“No.” I forced a smile and looked back at Xu Xingruo.She is so good, she escaped the tragedy of the original work and lived a bright life.

But what about me?I saved her, but trapped myself in another fate – from being a book runner to being imprisoned, from someone who wanted to control the plot to someone who was coerced by the plot. I even changed my orientation for a paranoid person and accepted an ending that was not mine.

Xu Xingruo seemed to feel my gaze, turned to look at me, raised his glass of wine to signal from afar, and smiled as cleanly as he did when we first met.

I raised my hand in response, but my heart was in turmoil.I can never tell this secret.If I tell you, no one will believe me; if I tell you, it will only break the peace in front of me; if I tell you, it will not change my current situation.

The noise in the box continued. He Ping’an and Xing Qingru were chatting in low voices, Lin Zhiqing was making jokes on the side, and Xu Xingruo was surrounded by people asking about his current situation. Everything seemed so harmonious.

Only I, like an outsider, holding a secret that no one knows, sat next to Song Zhili, feeling the warmth of his palm, but I couldn’t tell whether I was happy or sad.

Fortunately, I didn’t let Xu Xingruo make the same mistake after all; sadly, I couldn’t escape the prison of fate.

Perhaps, this is the fate of the book wearer – we can change the endings of others, but we may not be able to control our own lives.