MTMIO Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Why Are Even You Deceiving Me?

The evening rush hour traffic delayed Lu You for half an hour. Seeing that she was about to be late, she called her grandmother.

She was anxious as she moved at a snail’s pace, but her grandmother seemed unconcerned.

Perhaps worried that she was too anxious, she deliberately made her tone relaxed, but the acting was exaggerated, too relaxed, giving the impression that she was hoping she would be late.

Lu You smiled, feeling that her thoughts lately were always inexplicable.

Stopping and starting all the way, it was almost seven o’clock when she arrived at Ningfu Mountain.

A poster at the restaurant entrance displayed a photo of a Halloween limited-edition cake, which looked quite appealing, like a figurine. Lu You went to the front desk and ordered one for her grandmother’s mysterious friend. After all, being late wasn’t ideal.

Passing through the lobby and corridors, the outdoor area was a long corridor with a different view at every step. The wind sneaking through the half-open windows howled and spread to her ears, creating a sense of detached tranquility.

Having walked most of the way, she vaguely heard voices seeping out from the cracks of a private room door. Near the end, Lu You looked up to confirm the name of the private room and stopped.

Through a door, she could faintly hear the conversation inside.

“… Judging from Yunxi’s probing, I think it should be stable. Don’t overthink it.” Zhong Shuyun’s voice.

Lu You’s hand, raised halfway, suddenly stopped.

Why is Teacher Zhong here too?

“Yes, this time it’s really thanks to Yunxi. Yunxi, thank you, thank you.” Her grandmother’s voice, sincere and hoarse.

“I also want to thank you, Yunxi. Fortunately, you mediated.”

A woman’s voice, unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar.

Lu You frowned, unable to recall where she had heard it before, her thoughts interrupted by the content of the conversation.

Mediated what? Thanked for what? And what was Teacher Zhong probing about?

Then she heard Yue Yunxi’s helpless yet gentle voice seeping through the door, drilling into her ears.

“Including yesterday’s message, you’ve thanked me at least five or six times. Don’t do that, you don’t need to thank me all the time…”

Her grandmother’s mysterious friend, Yue Yunxi knows them too?

Judging by the tone of the conversation, not only does she know them, but she’s very familiar with them. Clearly, Yue Yunxi knew who she was having dinner with today, but why didn’t she reveal a single word to her?

Was it because she didn’t know them, so she thought it was useless to say anything?

While she was distracted, Zhong Shuyun made a joke to lighten the atmosphere, and the room was filled with laughter and chatter.

Lu You grabbed the doorknob, turned it down, and pushed inward.

The people sitting around the round table all looked towards her in unison.

There were Auntie Liu, her grandmother, Zhong Shuyun, Zhong Apo, Zhong Mi, Yue Yunxi, and…

Lu You’s expression froze for a moment, and she stood there stunned, her gaze fixated on that person with difficulty.

Almost instantly, her nose felt sour.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t imagined the scene of their reunion.

Countless times, she had caressed the few photos of this person in her home, fantasized and dreamed about it.

Dreaming of this person coaxing a new life, using her familiar, gentle tone, while she didn’t even have the courage to take a step forward in her dreams, her heart twisted by jealousy, hurting so much that she was about to lose her breath, until she woke up startled.

Later, the photos were always stained with tears, yellowed and worn, blurred so that she couldn’t see the person’s face clearly, and memories were also soaked by time, faded in color.

No matter how hard she tried to consolidate them through repeated recollections, she inevitably allowed this person’s appearance to remain only a vague outline in her memory.

So she pretended to be relieved, fantasizing that when they met again, they might not even recognize each other, passing by each other at an intersection like strangers.

But it wasn’t like that.

It turned out that with just one glance, just one glance, she would recognize her.

That’s right, the first word she learned was “Mama”…

When she was a child, when she fell, got hurt, or encountered something she couldn’t solve, the word that came out of her mouth was also “Mama”…

The person who once occupied her entire world, who possessed all of her love.

The person who deceived her, abandoned her, made her experience disappointment again and again, and turned her love into resentment, how could she be so easily forgotten?

“Sister!” Zhong Mi got up from her chair and rushed over excitedly.

Just then, a waiter entered the room, carrying a porcelain plate with the fairy cake on it in one hand. Unable to avoid her, Zhong Mi bumped into the waiter’s side, and the porcelain plate slipped from his hand.

The crisp sound of shattering suddenly echoed in her ears.

Lu You’s eyelashes trembled, and she lowered her eyes to avoid the scene.

The porcelain plate on the ground was shattered into pieces. The outer layer of the elaborate fairy cake, made of chocolate, broke, and the cake inside, covered with cream, also collapsed out of shape.

This mess reminded her of the model that had been broken a few days ago.

No wonder Zhong Shuyun was selling the small Western-style house to her at such a low price.

No wonder she gave away a whole cabinet of models so easily.

The waiter hurriedly squatted down to pick up the pieces, apologizing repeatedly.

Zhong Apo kindly said to her, “It’s not your fault, it’s okay, don’t cut your hand. Leave the rest there for now, we still have some things to discuss.”

Such familiar words, Lu You’s brow twitched.

–“Slow down, it’s okay, don’t cut your hand.”

Zhong Apo’s past words echoed in her mind, opening a crack in her memory.

In West City, in the old Zhong family house, she had looked in through the half-glass on the kitchen door, and the person inside had just bent over to clean up…

Out of the corner of her eye, Zhang Wenyin was staring at her, slowly standing up while clutching her chest.

Seamlessly connected to that memory.

No wonder, the dishes on the table that day were basically all her favorites.

Except for the braised fish, because the other person’s understanding of her was still stuck in the distant past.

The waiter got up and backed away, Zhong Mi quietly said sorry. After the door was closed, she hugged Lu You’s waist and said affectionately, “Sister, it’s Mom, it’s Mom!”

Zhong Mi was still the same as every time she had seen her before.

Only this time, Lu You was a little different. Her slender body swayed slightly, she didn’t hug Zhong Mi back, and her hand, hidden in her sleeve, was clenched tightly into a fist.

Her fingertips dug deeply into her palm. Even though her nails were trimmed short, the pain didn’t lessen at all.

It felt like it was traveling along her blood, hurting her heart.

It’s Mom…

Lu You’s eyes blurred unconsciously.

–“But my family is pretty complete… Mom is super gentle… They would take turns going to the parent-teacher conferences, my classmates were so envious of me.”

The image of Zhong Mi saying those words in her memory overlapped with the present moment in her tearful vision, full of innocence, her eyes filled with happiness.

So, the gentle mother was her mother.

But at her parent-teacher conferences, she was the only one sitting alone in her seat, enduring the scrutiny of other parents, digesting her loneliness alone.

So, the person Zhong Mi called “Mom” in a soft,Glutinous voice every time was her mother.

But she could only have the chance to call this person “Mom” like Zhong Mi did in her dreams.

So, the mother and daughter who always made her feel envious, the mother was her own mother.

So, her mother really had a new child.

–“She loves her new child, even if there’s no blood relation, they’re more likable than me.”

How did Manman comfort her when she said those words?

Why can’t she remember…

It’s Mom…

Whose mom is she…

“Sister, Mom is finally willing to see you.” Zhong Mi let go of Lu You, turned to the side, tugged at her sleeve, and told her to look at Zhang Wenyin.

Finally… willing…

Then should she be grateful for this act of charity?

Lu You wanted to laugh, but as her gaze turned towards that person in the dampness, tears instantly streamed down her face.

Therefore, she saw clearly the dress Zhang Wenyin was wearing, a velvety, teal-green fabric.

As Zhang Wenyin moved away from the round table, the green skirt swayed out from behind the tablecloth like a green leaf.

Lu You had seen such a scene many times.

In Zhong Shuyun’s old house; at her grandmother’s birthday banquet; in the small Western-style house where she had broken the model.

She held her breath, feeling her heart lighten.

The part that had been cut away felt like a piece of fogged glass, cooling down in the tearing cold wind around her ears, gradually becoming clearer.

So Teacher Zhong’s family had known Zhang Wenyin for a long time.

So at the birthday banquet, the person who had talked to her grandmother in the back door corridor was Zhang Wenyin.

So in the small Western-style house, when she saw Yue Yunxi going upstairs, the figure she glimpsed standing outside the third room on the second floor was Zhang Wenyin.

So from the moment Yue Yunxi asked her to tune the piano for Zhong Shuyun, it had been a setup.

Zhang Wenyin was also teary-eyed. She hadn’t let go of the hand clutching her collar, carefully taking a step towards Lu You, “You–”

Lu You’s eyelid twitched, as if startled, her whole body trembling, and she took two steps back.

“Xiao Lu, this is your mother, don’t you remember?” Zhong Apo said softly, intending to mediate.

Lu You opened her mouth, her throat feeling faintly painful and blocked.

Zhong Shuyun said, “Your mother has always been thinking about you.”

Zhong Mi also echoed, “Yes, she always mentions you when she’s with me, she misses you very much.”

“Because she misses me, she can give her displaced maternal love to another child, right?”

Lu You lowered her eyes, she heard her own voice sounding strange, moistened with dampness, but with a subtle smile in her tone,

“So when you coax Zhong Mi to sleep, do you think about whether I’m hiding in the quilt, crying secretly?

So, when you go to parent-teacher conferences for Zhong Mi, do you think about whether I’m hoping that you can attend once more as a mother?

So, when you let Mimi call me sister, have you ever thought that I would be jealous of her for having the kind of feelings that I can never have, no matter how much I desire them!”

Zhang Wenyin was sobbing and shaking her head, wanting to deny it, but unable to refute the fact. She could only say weakly, “I’m sorry, Youyou…”

Her grandmother said with difficulty, “Youyou, your mother, back then… she had her reasons.”

“Because she had her reasons, she couldn’t contact me even once for so many years.” Lu You slowly took a breath, looked up at Zhang Wenyin, whose red eyes were still filled with tears, but were particularly calm, “Mom’s feelings can easily be transferred to another person, so why should I be stuck in the past?”

She called her “Mom” so easily, without a trace of independent emotion.

The room fell silent. Perhaps her reaction had exceeded everyone’s expectations, so much so that they didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

Lu You’s voice was hoarse, like she had swallowed rough pebbles, each syllable grinding and aching,

“You all knew she was by my side, you were all helping her re-enter my life, but not one of you told me the truth. Why did you have to keep me in the dark, why did you have to lie to me every time I got close to the truth…”

Lu You’s eyes gradually filled with mist again, her gaze sweeping over everyone who stood up, suddenly stopping, meeting Yue Yunxi’s deep, dark eyes.

Why are even you deceiving me.

Yue Yunxi was suddenly shocked.

“No, it’s not like that, Mom didn’t want to… intrude into your life.” Zhang Wenyin choked, “We were just afraid that you wouldn’t be able to accept it…”

“What makes you think I can’t accept it? If you think I can’t accept it, why are you meeting me now? And what makes you think I can accept it now?”

Lu You paused, as if at this moment she finally saw clearly what the knife that had cut out her heart looked like, and suddenly smiled, “… So… Yue Yunxi’s probing… that’s what it meant…”

So it’s The Truman Show; so it’s Pinocchio who tells lies; so those probes, again and again, were all laying the groundwork for today.

As she smiled, large tears rolled down.

Yue Yunxi felt an unprecedented panic, took three steps in two to get in front of her, and reached for her hand.

Lu You almost instinctively put her hands behind her back. The only thing she didn’t avoid was the gaze that was always fixed on her, unable to control the blurring in the constantly accumulating water mist.

“… You can disrespect my free will, you can disrespect my feelings. But please… at least treat me like a person, not some puppet whose emotions and thoughts can be manipulated. You think you’ve probed enough, you move the strings in your hands, and I have to follow your rhythm.”

Her moistened eyelashes lowered heavily, and her hoarse voice rolled with a grainy texture of grievance: “Don’t be so unfair to me…”

Why, when they were all people close to her, was no one standing on her side, considering that her soul also needed an outlet.

Yue Yunxi’s hand was still hanging in the air, Lu You blinked, and tears fell directly on it.

Her fingertips curled up, making it difficult for her to tell whether Lu You’s tears were too hot, or whether the pain in her heart had been transmitted to her knuckles.

Before it was even settled, she already had a sense of hurried and defeated.

She should have realized long ago that Lu You, who possessed absolute empathy, was more delicate and sensitive than ordinary people. The reason she could understand and pity the pain and suffering of others was because that kind of pain would be projected into her own heart tenfold.

What’s more, it was pain she had experienced firsthand.

“This meal is suitable for your whole alliance, not for me, enjoy.” Lu You bent down and bowed, trying to salvage the little dignity she had left, quickly turned around, and left the private room without looking back.

Still that long corridor she had come through.

The mountain breeze always had a temperature that exceeded the season, especially when it was humid, passing through the flower windows, blowing her long hair into curls, and scraping her cheeks like ice knives.

She finally raised her hand and wiped the wetness from her face.

It was still raining outside, and the plane tree leaves were peeling off the branches, thrashing painfully in the wind, her gaze cast towards the top through the opening of the flower window.

In the gray night sky, there were no stars to be seen, only the silence that the moonlight couldn’t reach.

—

The car drove aimlessly on the wide road. Lu You sadly realized that she seemed to have nowhere to go.

The phone in her pocket vibrated from time to time, long or short, but she didn’t take it out to look at it even once.

The red traffic lights in her vision became more and more blurred, she stepped on the brakes and raised her hand to rub her eyes.

The back of her hand was wet.

The car finally parked in a parking space by the riverbank. Looking forward through the rain-soaked windshield, the river stretched to the sky.

Lu You rested her arm on the steering wheel, leaned over, and put her forehead on it.

Without light, the car window blocked the sound of the wind and waves, and the world was dark and silent.

So quiet that she listened to her empty heart, as if it had lost the energy to beat.

Her mind was blank, she felt like she was really a puppet at this moment, a puppet with a broken string.

Without emotions, without thoughts, and without the ability to act.

She didn’t know how long had passed, but the phone, which had been quiet for a while, started vibrating again.

Turning off the phone or turning on airplane mode, these two thoughts supported Lu You to sit up and take her phone out of her pocket.

Unlocking the screen, there was a long string of messages, some SMS messages, some calls, and most of them from WeChat.

She should have turned it off directly, but uncontrollably, she still clicked on them to read.

The calls were all from Teacher Zhong, three of them, but she didn’t answer any of them, so Teacher Zhong didn’t call again.

The SMS messages were from her grandmother.

The first one told her to drive safely.

The second one told her that Yue Yunxi would send them back, and told her not to worry.

The third one told her to wait until she calmed down, and then go see that person when she wanted to.

In WeChat, the top message was from Zhong Mi, asking: [Sister, please don’t ignore me [crying]]

Chen Feifei had also sent more than a dozen messages.

Mostly photos of tourist scenery, and some photos of small objects.

Finally, she sent a voice message, her tone very subtle, saying: “Yoyo, look at the beautiful scenery, it can make you happier…emmm, by the way, my mom suddenly wants to go back to her hometown! We’re on the way back to our hometown now, we’ll be there tonight. My hometown is so boring [decline], cough cough, if you… are free, come find me!”

The bottom message, sent by “Eleven”: [The spare car key is returned to you, on the carpet in your back seat.]

There was nothing from Yue Yunxi.

Next to the pinned ceramic deer head portrait, below the [Full Moon] nickname, was still the previous message reporting that she was safe.

It was hard to describe how she felt.

She was hoping that Yue Yunxi would send something.

But she was also afraid that Yue Yunxi would really send something.

It seemed like no matter what the content was, it would be a fuse that would completely explode her emotions at this moment.

Her fingers pressed on it, clicked on the input box, hovered until the screen went dark, but she couldn’t squeeze out a single word, so she cut out of the window again.

After a moment, she slid her phone back into her pocket, leaned back against the seat, closed her sore and tired eyes, and breathed long and slowly.

Because of the message sent by Tao Xin, she remembered the file bag behind the seat, and slowly opened her eyes again.

Lu You got out of the driver’s seat, went around to the back seat, and pulled the file bag out of the seat cover pocket.

Then she got back in the car and turned on the reading light.

After hesitating for a moment, she tore open the mouth of the file bag and reached inside.

A piece of paper, a letter, and a deer-shaped USB flash drive.

The USB flash drive was one that she had lent to Tao Xin before, and hadn’t gotten back.

On the paper, there was an introduction to a professional scumbag identification and breakup team. After taking an order, the team leader would customize the perfect crush for the scumbag/woman/mistress based on the individual’s preferences, personality, hobbies, and personal needs. The packaged breakup artist would connect with the client to discuss and develop a specific breakup plan.

Further down, there was an introduction to the team members.

In the Golden Breakup Artist column, the name “Chu Xiao” was written, with several color photos of her next to it, the image of a well-behaved girl with straight black hair and bangs, a sassy girl with medium-length hair, and a wavy perm that resembled Yue Yunxi in one-third of the photos…

Specialties: Plastic surgery-style makeup skills, super-strong imitation ability, including but not limited to voice, personality, and small actions.

Finally, there were several transfer screenshots.

One of the accounts was circled in red pen.

The last one was the identity verification information triggered by the transfer to this account. The screenshot clearly showed the name of the account holder——

Yue Yunxi.

This content made Lu You’s heart feel a tremor, like it was raining outside with cold, heavy rain, and she was falling down.

She thought that she had already hit rock bottom when she was in the private room.

Her fingers were cold as she inserted the USB flash drive into the USB port. The control panel showed that there was a voice recording.

She clicked to play it.

A strange woman’s voice came from inside: “Yes! It was your sister who found us, who found me, to put on makeup and dress up like her, and imitate her voice. But, I learned another person’s personality, to be considerate, meticulous, and to be keenly aware of your emotions, and then approach you! Okay! Give me back my phone! It’s really unlucky, I can even meet you while teaching people how to ice skate part-time. Don’t blame them for doing this, you still have to blame yourself for being dishonest–”

The voice recording stopped abruptly.

Lu You’s breathing paused slightly, her gaze falling on the envelope in her hand.

In the car without air conditioning, there was a chill that was slowly being eroded by the cold air.

Her hand was frozen stiff, and it was extremely difficult to unfold just a piece of paper.

The pink and white stationery was printed with some light-colored peach patterns, and Tao Xin’s delicate handwriting was on it.

Lu YoYo:

Hope this letter finds you well.

This isn’t actually the first letter I’ve written to you. I’ve written before, and put it in the mailbox at your door, but unfortunately, it didn’t reach your hands.

Honestly, I really hoped you could see it back then.

I really hoped that after you saw it, you could tell me, teach me, what I should do.

Brewing a second time, I still feel that these unwritten words form fragments that are so difficult for me.

Mostly because, for me, this isn’t just a letter, it’s more like preparation before a major surgery. I have to dissect all the rotten parts of myself, and lay the symptoms out in front of you.

Do you know, I’m holding the pen, and I don’t even know where to start.

Before writing the letter, I just put Chu Xiao’s information into the file bag, I think I should be angry, but she’s right, it’s my own fault.

It was I who brought about this situation.

I told you before, I have a younger brother.

I still dream of that scene to this day. One night, my younger brother cried because he was hungry. I felt that my mother was tired from taking care of him, and I wanted to help her share the burden. So I got out of bed and wanted to make milk for my younger brother, but I accidentally spilled the milk, and the water splashed on my hand, it was so hot and painful.

But my mother only had my younger brother in her eyes. She blamed me for spilling the milk powder, complained that I used such hot water, and asked if I wanted to scald my younger brother to death!

You must still remember, right.

I told you about this.

Every time I recall it, every time I talk about it with my friends, I’m always trying to explain that I really didn’t want to scald my younger brother, I was jealous of him, I hated him, but I never thought of hurting him…

My friends all go along with me, saying that it’s normal for children to knock things over, and how could I know the temperature the first time I made milk.

Only you, only you asked me, if my hand was burned, did it hurt, did I take good care of it? Did it leave a scar?

Do you know, that was the first time I received such concern, even my mother didn’t care about me like that.

I can’t figure out why I’m also my parents’ daughter, but they only have my younger brother in their eyes?

The more I can’t figure it out, the more I crave love. I need love, I desperately need your concern. So at that time, I was thinking, I want to be friends with you, very, very good friends.

I want to be best friends for life.

We want to be the best in the world.

And my sister was the second person to make me feel cared for.

I broke the ceramic that my dad bought for my brother. You know, my dad, he was especially angry at the time, and he had been drinking, so he took off his belt to whip me. I felt like I was going to die, I was really going to die.

It was my sister who hugged me and took a belt for me, and that’s when my dad stopped.

For me, you two are the most important people.

So, I’m very scared, I’m especially afraid of losing you.

I knew that my sister seemed to like you, and I panicked especially. Those few nights, I frequently dreamed of the past, dreaming of my parents holding my younger brother, they were so happy, and I was just an dispensable, transparent person.

I dreamed of my parents getting a divorce, they were arguing endlessly, arguing about who would raise my younger brother, no one thought of me, no one wanted me.

I’m so scared, after you two are together, I’ll become that dispensable, unwanted, transparent person again.

I don’t know what to do, I’m all messed up.

At that time, there was only one thought, I can’t let you two be together, I can’t let you know that my sister likes you, I have to do something to make my sister give up. Let’s keep the relationship between the three of us on a plane.

But I failed.

I’m sorry.

I didn’t think it would end up with me pursuing you.

I didn’t think that our relationship would reach that point.

You asked me before, why I didn’t kiss you, I couldn’t answer you at that time, and it made you feel very insecure, I’m really sorry.

Now I can tell you.

I didn’t dare, because I knew that paper can’t contain fire, if you knew all of this one day, you’d probably hate me to death.

So I was very scared, I didn’t dare.

I was afraid that if we broke through that layer, we really wouldn’t be able to go back at all.

I was afraid that if I treated you like that, I wouldn’t leave you any way out, and I’d really be finished.

……

Seeing this, Lu You closed her eyes and folded the letter.

After a moment, she pressed her hand against her wet cheek and laughed softly.

The tears on her wet eyelashes fell on the letter, leaving spots of wetness.

That constantly falling heart seemed to have fallen into a sealed transparent jar, and every beat was consuming oxygen.

Faintly, there was a burning pain.

No wonder…