Fell In Love With My Older Sister’s Friend - Chapter 96

Xu Luzhi left and is now studying at the best university in the country. Her life is even busier and more colorful than when she was at Lin University. Not only does she have experiments, but also various clubs and inter-school activities, and the people around her are becoming increasingly outstanding.

The first month of freshman orientation is the most hectic. This time it was a complete university life experience, following a full two weeks of military training, coupled with a whirlwind of classes and activities. Xu Luzhi couldn’t find time to return to Lincheng in the first few weeks after school started.

She could only video chat with Lin Qingyue from time to time to satisfy her longing, but Lin Qingyue wouldn’t allow her to talk for too long, saying she was afraid of delaying her studies.

Xu Luzhi blinked, looking wronged: “Sister, are you tired of me?”

Lin Qingyue’s voice softened: “How could I be? I just feel… your assignment is due soon, you haven’t written it yet, right?”

Xu Luzhi pouted: “I can finish that in a little while, I just left it until now.”

She looked pitifully, leaning close to the screen, staring fixedly at Lin Qingyue, unwilling to look away: “Sister is so stingy, you won’t even let me look at you.”

Lin Qingyue couldn’t resist her persistence, so she agreed to Xu Luzhi’s request, placing the phone far enough away so that every movement was fully visible on camera.

The young girl then sat calmly at her desk, flipping through a book and tapping on the keyboard, occasionally glancing up at the woman on the screen. In a trance, it gave Lin Qingyue the illusion that she was live-streaming.

Xu Luzhi observed Lin Qingyue’s every move through the camera: lying on the sofa reading a novel, spacing out, eating fruit, eating snacks… everything seemed normal, and her expression was languid as usual.

She just noticed that Lin Qingyue was wearing red dresses more and more often deep red, dark red, pink, rose red changing between different gradients, yet it never looked gaudy on Lin Qingyue, each style exuded a different kind of charm.

And at some point, Lin Qingyue’s habit of styling her hair had also changed to pinning up her long hair at the back of her head, securing it with a long hairpin tilted to one side. It didn’t look gentle, but rather more vibrant and bold, like that of a wealthy madam.

When Xu Luzhi asked, Lin Qingyue just dismissed it lightly: “I’ve been liking red recently.”

“Doesn’t it look good?” She smiled flirtatiously at the camera, bewitching and sensual, which inexplicably reminded Xu Luzhi of blood-red roses.

Her heart tightened, but she still answered seriously: “It looks good.”

Lin Qingyue smiled faintly, and Xu Luzhi suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Across the distance of the screen, she couldn’t quite grasp Lin Qingyue.

The faint aloofness in the woman’s eyes seemed as if she could ascend to immortality and fly away at any moment, or perhaps she had already prepared herself to never see her again.

Otherwise, why would her peach blossom eyes hold such thick sorrow when looking at her?

It was like a heavy peach blossom rain falling under the bright spring sun, so dense it couldn’t be dissolved, intensely vibrant yet mournful.

And Xu Luzhi couldn’t ask, nor did she dare to ask.

She had tried to probe Lin Qingyue: “Sister, do you have anything… you want to do, or any plans?”

The young girl’s eyes shone like stars, making Lin Qingyue’s heart tremble, but she shifted her gaze away and said firmly, “No.”

Her eyes were bright, and she shook her head resolutely: “…There really is nothing I can tell you, Little Zhizhi.”

For anything else, she could have acted spoiled towards Xu Luzhi without worry.

But not for this matter. She wouldn’t let Xu Luzhi know anything beforehand, nor did she want her to know afterward.

Lin Qingyue could face any outcome, whether it was mutual destruction or imprisonment, but Xu Luzhi could not. Her flower had just begun to bloom she couldn’t withstand any risk.

Even though merely knowing wouldn’t constitute being an accomplice, Lin Qingyue was unwilling to have even the slightest possibility of implicating her girl.

She wanted to keep Xu Luzhi completely out of it, pure and innocent.

As the National Day approached and the weather grew cooler, Lin Qingyue saw him by the roadside with increasing frequency.

At first, it was just a fleeting glimpse of a figure, secretly trailing behind her. In the last few days, it had become brazen. He even sat at a table opposite her at a barbecue stall, openly scrutinizing her.

Lin Qingyue avoided making direct eye contact with him, only sweeping her gaze over the man from head to toe inadvertently.

He was exactly the same as he was a year ago, only he had completely shaved his head. His shiny scalp and his insolent expression made him look more like a street thug.

And the way he looked at Lin Qingyue was undisguised and unwavering, as if he were looking at his possession.

And, in the secular sense, Lin Qingyue might indeed be considered his possession.

His biological daughter, who ran away at seventeen, had lived with him day and night for seventeen years, obedient and accepting of any scolding or blow.

But after his wife left, she used a mudslide that swept through the mountain village as an opportunity, hitched a ride with the rescue workers, and ran away from his grasp without warning.

He searched for seven years, and then she ran away again.

But it didn’t matter he had plenty of time to look slowly. If his daughter was successful and had money, she should spend it all on him; if his daughter wanted to find her mother, she should return the wife he found to him.

In his view, everything was naturally his due, as natural as eating or drinking, requiring no thought at all.

His wife was bought with money, so she should serve him tirelessly for a lifetime; his daughter was raised through hardship, so she should spend money on him and provide a bride price for him.

This was fair, wasn’t it?

Unfortunately, neither of them obeyed, and his temper grew worse. Fortunately, he was idle all day and had plenty of time to slowly wear down the little brat.

A father searching for his daughter was natural calling the police was useless. Even if he hit her in the street, it would only be considered a family dispute.

The man was fully aware of these things, but at that moment, he wasn’t thinking that far ahead. He was just shamelessly admiring the beautiful woman sitting at the table opposite. She was truly beautiful, looking exactly like her mother. If she weren’t his own daughter, he would really have to find a way to buy her and take her home.

Lin Qingyue felt as if thorns were pricking her back, but she still took a slow, deep breath, draining the juice in her glass. She glanced down at her outfit.

A dark red long dress, exposing a large part of her back, made her skin look fair as snow beneath it, as delicate as tofu, completely unaggressive.

The color of the dress was carefully chosen a subdued red, like a faded red rose, not drawing attention. Even if blood stained it, too many traces wouldn’t be visible.

Her hair was still pinned up in a bun, firmly secured at the back of her head with a long hairpin.

The high heels on her feet were the kind she usually wore, convenient for movement.

It seemed everything was ready she had repeatedly checked and rehearsed it countless times in her mind. But now, at this critical moment, she felt a sudden urge to flee.

She knew very clearly that if she left, she might gain a moment of peace, but in exchange would be endless nightmares, and the safety of her mother and Zhizhi.

She had done everything in her power, searched through every legal statute. As for the final outcome, she could only do her best and leave the rest to fate.

Lin Qingyue slowly stood up. As she rose, her fingertip accidentally brushed against the Ping An Kou (Peace Buckle) at her waist a cool, moist touch.

She clutched this small object tightly in her palm with a pang of heartache, and Xu Luzhi’s smiling face appeared before her eyes.

She had initially intended not to wear it when going out, afraid of damaging it, but an inexplicable impulse led her to tie it around her waist. The jade looked oddly beautiful and melancholic against the dark red of her dress.

Zhizhi had said, Be safe and sound.

Lin Qingyue curved her lips silently; she also desperately wanted to be safe and sound.

If it weren’t for Xu Luzhi, she might have been prepared for mutual destruction. But now, she wanted to return alive, to live well.

She needed to go find her girl.

While Lin Qingyue was lost in thought, she saw the man rise sluggishly and follow her at a short distance. Her heart tightened.

The situation had reached this point; there was no turning back. It was either you die or I live.

She wasn’t afraid of what he might do to her; she only feared that this crazy and obsessive man would harm those she cared about.

Lin Qingyue followed the planned route, walking at an unhurried pace, as if she hadn’t noticed the person behind her at all. She even pulled out her phone as she walked and posted a picture of the barbecue on her social feed.

One corner of the photo showed a skewer of barbecue, another showed the sunny, bright sky, dazzlingly glaring, and a third corner revealed a piece of the man’s clothing.

Lin Qingyue stared at the blue sky in the photo for a while. She wasn’t sure if she would have another chance to see such a beautiful sky without the barrier of wire mesh.

Following the established route, she slowly walked to the riverbank near Lin University, which was the back gate of the campus. This area was very deserted, rarely frequented by people. There were no high railings by the river, just bare earth, making it easy to fall in if one wasn’t careful.

The water below was deep.

The surveillance cameras at the Lin University guardhouse could clearly capture this entire area—high-definition, color, and with audio.

Lin Qingyue stopped walking casually, pretending to admire a cluster of small flowers blooming by the river. A heavy cough came from behind her.

Her heartbeat skipped a beat. She turned around slowly, looking at the man somewhat sluggishly: “Who are you?”

The man’s rough voice replied, “Don’t you even recognize your own father?”

Lin Qingyue looked past him, towards the flowing river, and said faintly, “My father died a long time ago.”

“You little brat, how dare you speak like that?” The man was immediately enraged and lunged forward to slap her. Lin Qingyue sidestepped and dodged it.

She was agile, and without anything to hold back, she became even less afraid of him.

“So you can dodge now,” the man cursed with vulgarities, his eyes scanning the roadside, seemingly looking for a handy weapon.

If a child is disobedient, a good beating will make them behave. The word “reason” did not exist in his vocabulary; he was the law.

Lin Qingyue watched him coldly, calculating the man’s age nearly fifty. Years of eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling had already caused his body to decline; his belly protruded as if he were pregnant, and his back was hunched over.

She even spotted a few strands of white hair on his head.

At a glance, he looked somewhat pathetic, but when she saw his look of utter disregard and the bulging muscles on his arms and legs muscles developed from long years of farm labor he was still imposing.

A country man, strong, and even slightly shorter than her. A punch from him would certainly not be pleasant.

The scene of her mother being beaten when she was little flashed before Lin Qingyue’s eyes. Her mother was beautiful, educated, and extremely proud. Even while screaming from the blows, she refused to beg for mercy.

Her teeth were clenched until they bled, her stubbornly beautiful face stained with crimson under the dim light, her long hair dishevelled, making her look like a female ghost from a horror movie.

And she, huddled in the corner, knew that if she went over to protect her mother, the beating would only get worse.

Lin Qingyue didn’t want to recall it any further and closed her eyes in pain. People were always too quick to sympathize with men who sympathized with those ignored women?

She took a deep breath and spoke first: “I’m leaving now.”