After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Failed

Song Zhi reached out and gently touched her cheek. Her fingertips were moist, and when she pressed down harder, she felt the soft skin of her face.

She had learned to be alone since she was four or five years old. This word now had a nicer-sounding synonym: independence.

But it didn’t change the essence of it she had a father who wished she were dead.

So she could only stumble along and learn to be alone, to sleep alone, eat alone, and go to school alone.

Parents, to her, only existed in words.

And this is what Song Guan would say to her:

If you’re a good girl this week, I’ll let you see your mom.

So she looked forward to it again and again, for a very long time, but her hopes were dashed every single time. She went from obediently standing at Song Guan’s feet and looking up at him to coldly ignoring him whenever they passed each other.

Until her tenth birthday, when she did see her mom.

But that was also the last time.

Later, as she grew up, Song Guan, finally losing his patience, sent her abroad. She couldn’t make new friends because she had lost the ability to be sincere with people.

She had lost the ability to be patient with people. She couldn’t understand or empathize with human emotions. And being friends meant you understood me and I understood you, mutually.

She didn’t have that ability; she was a freak in the crowd.

Shen Ying was different for her. Shen Ying didn’t need her to understand, didn’t need her to give. Shen Ying only needed her to stand still, and then she would give her love.

Song Zhi was experiencing the feeling of being cared for.

This feeling was good, but this feeling was also very bad.

Because she had it, she was afraid of losing it. She was afraid that one day, this care would no longer belong to her.

Song Zhi stayed there for a few more minutes, and when the tears on her hand had dried, she slowly walked out.

Her ankle was badly twisted in that moment, and walking was excruciatingly painful. Since there was no one around now, she walked with a limp, her posture very unsightly.

Song Zhi was a woman who loved beauty, cared about her image, and had her own pride. But at this moment, in this empty place, she was suddenly a little tired. She wondered if she was caring about and wanting too many things, if she was too greedy, which was why she couldn’t get anything.

Why was she constantly losing instead?

She walked slowly forward. When she reached the alleyway, just as she was about to turn, a few men walked toward her.

Song Zhi always paid attention to her surroundings. The moment she heard footsteps approaching, her limping leg immediately straightened, stepping on the ground one after another. At first glance, she looked no different from usual, but if someone looked closely, they would see that her seemingly normal foot, when lifted, arched into an unnatural curve.

She walked forward, looking straight ahead. As she passed the group, her peripheral vision caught the sight of the leader’s high-arched eyes. She turned her head abruptly, and Zhao Zhongdui and the two men in their thirties had already walked far away.

His purpose was clear. He walked with a swagger but was very fast, and in a short while, he reached the building that Song Zhi had just left.

If Song Zhi hadn’t been mistaken, that person should be Zhao Zhongdui.

He was here for Shen Ying. Song Zhi was surprised by this person’s courage. Her warning had been so clear, yet he still dared to walk into her line of fire.

She quickly walked to the tenement building.

The two buildings facing each other blocked the sunlight. The tenement building in front of her was in the shadows, while the one behind her was bathed in sunlight, like a pair of black and white fish swimming. This was the place where she had lived for a month, but only at this moment did she truly see it carefully.

A strange new place.

Song Zhi lifted her leg to go up. She had already taken the first step, but then she hesitated.

She wondered if Zhao Zhongdui dared to be so bold because he had a confidence she didn’t have. For example, Shen Ying’s permission.

For example, Shen Ying’s affection.

She was frank and passionate in front of Shen Ying, but at this moment, when Shen Ying wasn’t there and she could only hear her own heart beating, her belated fear sprang up.

She didn’t dare to go forward.

Song Zhi stood quietly at the entrance to the stairs, not daring to go forward but unwilling to go back. Time became thick and slow. She merged with the darkness, standing silently in the darkness. Every minute and every second was a struggle.

She didn’t know how long she had been standing there when a voice sounded in her ear.

“Oh, little girl, why are you standing here? Aren’t you going up?”

Song Zhi’s eyes turned, and she saw a head of white hair in the darkness. The nagging voice in her ear was very familiar. Because she hadn’t moved for so long, her stiff brain slowly began to turn.

Oh, this was the auntie who was standing next to the neighbor across the hall when she came down earlier.

Song Zhi’s clear voice was a little hoarse. “I have something to do; I’m just about to leave.”

“You’re not having a fight with Xiao Shen, are you? That’s good. I was afraid you had listened to Sun Jue’s nonsense and were afraid to go find Xiao Shen.”

“How could that be!”

The auntie laughed. Song Zhi couldn’t see, but her heart inexplicably calmed down.

She was like the peacemaker Song Zhi had seen on her way home countless times as a child, standing between two children.

The voice was soft and gentle, the smile kind. She would pat the two children’s heads and coax the stubborn children into submission, and then they would awkwardly apologize and hold hands. The two would then walk home shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, and laughing.

Song Zhi was always a member of the audience, watching from her car with envy. She had never been so warmly comforted, nor had she ever held hands so awkwardly.

She was always alone.

The auntie laughed and said, “Although Xiao Shen didn’t say anything, I can see that Xiao Shen really likes you.”

Song Zhi’s heart suddenly jumped.

Likes me?

The auntie didn’t notice her subtle thoughts and continued, “She asked me before how to make clothes not rub against your skin. I thought she shouldn’t need that. Don’t laugh, but we’ve been neighbors for so many years, and she has only asked me for help twice. This is the second time.”

“What about the first time?”

“The first time,” the auntie’s topic changed. “Do you know why Sun Jue has been talking bad about Xiao Shen behind her back?”

She tried to find a tactful way to put it.

Facing her question, Song Zhi just widened her eyes and looked at her. “I don’t know.”

This expression made Song Zhi look very confused, and confusion was an expression of wanting an answer. Song Zhi didn’t have the patience to wait for others to notice her intention and answer. She was about to ask.

The auntie said, “It’s because she thinks Xiao Shen killed her father.”

“What?” Song Zhi subconsciously asked and then reacted. “Since Shen Ying didn’t tell me these things, it means she doesn’t want me to know. I’ll wait for her to tell me.”

The auntie laughed again. “I thought so too. But isn’t that good? You think about her, and she thinks about you. What kind of conflict can two young people have? As long as two people are sincere and care for each other, what can’t be resolved?”

She was like a mother comforting two quarreling children. Song Zhi was speechless for a moment. After a while, she said, “You’re right. I was thinking too much. Thank you.”

Song Zhi thought, she’s right.

Song Zhi’s eyes curved. “I’m going up now.”

She walked up the stairs. Her leg was much better now. According to her past experience, the pain would disappear completely in a few minutes, but she couldn’t even wait that long.

She walked to the door quickly and steadily.

The old iron door was wide open, and the inside was visible at a glance.

Song Zhi reached the entrance to the stairs. At this moment, her leg no longer hurt. She was about to step inside when the two men who had been with Zhao Zhongdui came out. In that moment, Song Zhi didn’t know what she was thinking. When she saw Shen Ying behind the two men, she took three steps at once, and in a moment, she was on the stairs going up.

She didn’t stop until she reached the third floor. She stood there, lowered her eyelashes, and looked down at the two people below.

Her mind was a mess, with all kinds of thoughts, but her thinking was clear. She had only one question: What was their relationship?

What kind of relationship would allow Zhao Zhongdui to ignore her warning and go to Shen Ying’s home, and for Shen Ying to come out with him?

While she was thinking about the question, she tasted the sourness bubbling up in her heart.

Shen Ying and Zhao Zhongdui came out one after the other. Shen Ying walked very fast, and Zhao Zhongdui kept following her, trying to get closer. However, his shoes, which were as swollen as a boat, wouldn’t allow it, so there was always a small but not insignificant distance between them.

Shen Ying ignored the person behind her and was about to go downstairs with her eyes straight ahead. At this moment, she seemed to sense something and looked up abruptly. Fortunately, Song Zhi had been watching her and had a premonition when she was about to look up, so she immediately took a step back.

Song Zhi didn’t know why she did that. Perhaps she had backed down again the moment she saw the two of them come out. This made her realize that she was actually a coward.

She was not as brave and fearless as she thought she was; she was afraid.

She was afraid that when Shen Ying saw her, she would still turn away, especially in front of Zhao Zhongdui. This would make her feel humiliated. She didn’t want to be a pitiful person who couldn’t get love in front of others.

She didn’t need other people’s mockery or pity, but if that person was Shen Ying, she could accept it.

In that short time, the two had already gone downstairs.

Only when her angle no longer allowed her to see the two of them did Song Zhi follow them. She followed behind their car until the two entered a high-end restaurant.

The restaurant was near the city center. Its silver-gray trapezoidal exterior radiated a beautiful light in the dark. At night, there would probably be a light show. The sourness in Song Zhi’s heart was about to overflow. After the two entered the revolving door, Song Zhi immediately got out of the car.

“Miss, do you need valet parking?”

The doorman asked. Song Zhi saw the two people in front of her disappear around a corner, their figures quickly becoming smaller and smaller. She immediately threw the key to the doorman and walked quickly forward. “Just leave the key at the front desk.”

Song Zhi walked to the corner and saw the two people walking toward her.

Song Zhi: “!”

Why was Shen Ying coming out again?

She didn’t have time to think too much. Seeing that the three of them were about to collide, she suddenly retracted her foot. The leg that was just moving forward gracefully turned a corner, as if she had originally intended to go out, and walked toward the place she had just come from.

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