After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: He Finally Admitted It, He Liked Tao…

Tao Ning was in a daze, half-asleep, when the system suddenly called out in his mind:

Simpleton, Zhao Jingqun is calling you!

…Oh.

Rubbing his eyes, Tao Ning sleepily opened them. He turned his head and, even in the dim room, he could see the man’s fierce gaze fixed on him.

When he saw that Tao Ning was awake, the ferocity in his eyes softened a little.

Tao Ning was still groggy and too tired to think. “…What… is it?”

“…”

This simpleton had just secretly kissed him and already forgotten?!

The man’s gaze grew even darker. After a moment, he said gruffly, “Nothing.”

After he spoke, there was no response for a long time, because the little thief who had stolen a kiss had fallen back asleep.

Zhao Jingqun was so angry that a vein bulged on his forehead. He sat on the bed and took a moment to compose himself before reaching under his pillow and taking out a thin letter.

He glanced at the defenseless, sleeping Tao Ning, then quietly walked to the window and sat on the stool the young man had used since he was a child. Using the moonlight that poured down like the Milky Way, he carefully opened the love letter.

The corners of the man’s mouth unconsciously turned up because of the words “Brother Jingqun” on the letter. So this simpleton liked him that much—

Dear Brother Zhao Jingqun, my name is Tao Ning. I am eighteen years and three months old. I live in Huangmeng Village, Cloud Mist County, Group 12, Number 2.

My hometown is surrounded by endless mountains, like an infinite and invisible chain, trapping people on the mountaintops. I once thought I would be forever confined, living with my sister Tao Yuan and my nephew Xiao Meng in this small world.

Until I met you, Brother Jingqun.

Your eyebrows are like two winding rivers, your eyes are like the peaks of mountains, your nose is like a steep cliff, your mouth is like the green grass and trees in the mountains, and your temperament is like a soaring eagle… With you by my side, I feel as close and fond as I do in my hometown…

Zhao Jingqun rubbed the cigarette burn on the web of his hand, and the smile on his face was no longer hidden. His gaze swept over every word until he reached the last two lines of the love letter.

…Brother Jingqun, I really like the clothes you gave me. I will cherish this gift very much, but…

“The heart that rejoices because of you is the most precious gift you’ve given me ①.”

The young man’s love letter was innocent yet beautiful. After reading the last word, Zhao Jingqun took a deep breath. His heart was pounding violently and hadn’t stopped since he opened the letter… He didn’t expect this simpleton to be so articulate on paper.

He stared at this love letter that he could tell the young man had written with 100% sincerity. He was lost in thought for a long time before the light in his eyes finally dimmed.

He carefully sealed the love letter, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and went out to smoke.

Zhao Jingqun sat on the concrete steps outside. Before long, there were dozens of cigarette butts on the ground. It wasn’t until a sudden downpour started late in the night that he returned to the room to continue sleeping.

Splash, splash.

The rain got heavier and heavier, and the mist in the mountains grew thicker. Later, the thunder and lightning barely stopped.

On the television, the local morning news began to issue an orange heavy rain warning: heavy rain and torrential rain are expected for the next week. Several middle schools in the city have suspended classes. The public is reminded to be vigilant against floods, and people in the mountainous areas should be on guard against secondary disasters such as flash floods and landslides…

…

“Jingqun! Are you there? Are you awake?!”

Bang, bang, bang!

The knocking on the door didn’t last long before the door was kicked open. Zhao Jingqun had even darker circles under his eyes than in the previous days, and his expression was grim. When he saw that it was Tao Yuan who came in, his face softened a little. “What’s wrong?”

Tao Yuan was out of breath, her eyes red, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. “Liu Sanqi came over early this morning to ask Ning Ning to take you guys. Now they can’t be reached! It’s raining so heavily outside, and the mountain roads here are not easy to walk on. When it rains heavily, the rocks on the mountain can collapse. Can you contact…”

Before she could finish, the man who had been frowning was already dressed and rushing out, without even grabbing anything to shield him from the rain. Tao Yuan shouted from behind, “I’m coming with you!!”

“…Mom, what’s wrong?”

It was only around nine in the morning. Xiao Meng rubbed his eyes.

Tao Yuan squatted down and hugged him, trying to keep her voice calm. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep for a while. When Mommy brings Uncle back, I’ll cook for you, okay?”

Xiao Meng nodded. “Then I want scrambled eggs with tomatoes.”

Tao Yuan agreed. She pretended to be calm as she sent him back to the room, then quickly grabbed two raincoats and ran into the heavy rain.

As soon as she ran to the village entrance, Tao Yuan noticed some familiar villagers were heading toward the mountain road one after another. She grabbed a slow-walking one and asked, “Did the mountain collapse?!”

The villager she grabbed nodded. “Probably. Anyway, the village chief told us to hurry and help.”

“Did you get in touch with Sanqi?”

“We’re worried that the secretary ran into trouble, so he told us to hurry over and check.”

Tao Yuan was so anxious she could die. She cursed, “Then what the hell are you doing standing around?! Hurry up!” After saying that, she left the person and ran away.

The villager “spat” at her back. “That rude woman…”

When Tao Yuan rushed to the mountain road, she almost fell on her butt, because her worst fear had come true.

The mountain had a landslide!

And this collapse was very serious. Almost a fifth of the mountain had collapsed. More and more people gathered at the disaster site, and the village chief was shouting anxiously, “Hurry up! Don’t move the rocks around randomly! Sanqi and the others are still down there…”

Next to him, there was a young woman crying heartbrokenly, who didn’t look like a person from the mountains, and another young man who looked like her stood there with a pale face.

Zhao Jingqun stood in front of them, soaked to the bone. The rain slid down his taut face. His expression was uglier than ever, his eyes were bloodshot, and he roared, “Where’s Tao Ning?!! Why are only you two here? Where’s Tao Ning!!”

The man was like a wild beast that had lost its chains, its body consumed by a violent rage, as if it wanted to burn everything around it.

He Niannian was so terrified that her whole body trembled, and she couldn’t even speak properly. “He… he… to save me…” By the end of her sentence, she was completely sobbing, “He’s trapped underneath…”

“Shut up!!”

Zhao Jingqun’s eyes instantly filled with blood. He roared, interrupting her words. His eyes were so red they looked like they were bleeding, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

Finally, he took a deep breath, and the words were squeezed out from between his teeth, “If anything happens to him, none of you will have a good life for the rest of your lives.”

After speaking, he ran to the pile of collapsed rock, which was three to four meters high, and started digging with his hands like a madman, constantly shouting, “Simpleton… don’t scare me…”

He was enveloped in a deep sense of guilt and regret. He blamed himself for asking someone to pick up the He siblings yesterday. He blamed himself for staying up so late last night. He blamed himself for not hearing Tao Ning wake up this morning…

Rain mixed with sweat streamed down his face. In an instant, the man was completely shattered. His expression of fear was as if he had lost his most precious prey, his most precious treasure.

After an unknown amount of time, the world was dark.

The man knelt on the ground, his hands already bloody. All ten of his fingers were torn and bleeding all over the ground, which was then washed away by the rain. He could hear the commands of the rescue team and the shouts of Zhao Jingsui and Tao Yuan.

But he couldn’t hear any of it.

The man’s mind was full of images of the young man smiling and then being crushed by a rock. Just imagining these scenes made him tremble all over with fear.

Zhao Jingqun had completely lost his mind. Just as he was about to keep digging without a stop, a surprised cry came from nearby: “They’re here!”

The rocks were pushed aside, and the rescuers were pleasantly surprised to find that the three people who needed to be rescued were incredibly lucky. They were protected by a huge rock that, along with the road and the mountain wall, formed the most stable triangular force.

Although the opening was narrow, it was enough for them to get out.

And the three people who had been waiting for rescue for almost a day, their eyes lit up when they heard the sound. Tao Ning, who was closest to the opening, felt the light and saw the faces of the rescuers, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Early this morning, the secretary suddenly came to find him and said that two people were going back to the city and asked him to go along to see them off. Tao Ning went with him. At that time, the rain hadn’t started to fall heavily yet.

But halfway there, a downpour started, so heavy it almost drowned the world. The electric scooter also stalled. Tao Ning had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, so he told the He siblings to get off the scooter first and find a place to hide from the rain.

After He Niannian got off, she was already in a bad mood from the rain. She thought Tao Ning was holding a grudge and was going to abandon them on the mountain. She refused to go far, and then the landslide suddenly happened.

It was Tao Ning who pushed her away.

She was still terrified thinking about it now.

The system was also very scared:

Thank goodness you’re okay, simpleton!! Otherwise, I would have to apologize with my life!

As it spoke, the system made a sound like a cry of “woo woo woo,” a very standardized, mechanical “woo woo woo.”

Tao Ning’s glasses were nowhere to be found. As he followed the rescue workers’ instructions to crawl out little by little, he didn’t forget to comfort the system:

I’m fine, don’t worry.

When he finally saw the light of day again and was standing firmly on the ground, before he could even stretch, a violent gust of wind rushed toward him.

Following it was a hug that used all the strength of a person, mixed with a faint smell of smoke and a strong smell of blood.

The force of this embrace was so great that it seemed to want to crush the young man into his flesh and bones, to completely and tightly squeeze him into his heart, like an out-of-control beast that had finally found its prey, its treasure that held its chains, and was so eager to envelop it with its body.

“…Tao Ning… you… you scared me to death.”

The man’s embrace was trembling, and his voice was trembling as well. There seemed to be a hint of imperceptible sobs.

Tao Ning was stunned and a little dazed. He couldn’t fully comprehend what was happening until the embrace loosened bit by bit. Tao Ning looked up, only to meet the man’s bloodshot eyes. His lips trembled: “You won, Tao Ning… You won.”

What did he win?

Tao Ning was a little confused. The next moment, the man hugged him again, the force still so great that it made him breathless. After a moment, a very low and hoarse voice whispered in his ear:

“Let’s be together, simpleton.”

He finally realized that the fear of losing the young man was more terrifying than anything else. He could no longer bear for this to happen a second time.

He finally admitted it. He liked Tao Ning.

He, a hooligan, had fallen for a simpleton.

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