## Chapter 91: Confession
“Lingjing, Lingjing, wake up…”
Sitting by the still-warm kitchen stove, Jiaming unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the girl, curled up in a ball, deep into his embrace. He reached under her clothes, under her skirt, desperately rubbing her icy limbs. Though he had no supernatural abilities, he possessed a formidable level of Qi Gong. With a heart filled with anxiety, his palms radiated warmth like a furnace. Soon, the girl’s heartbeat began to return to normal. A moment later, two rows of eyelashes, still wet with tears, fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. Then, she slowly lifted her head, gazing at the boy who held her.
In the darkness, it was impossible to see anything clearly. It wasn’t until his hand gently brushed against her cheek, and he softly whispered, “Lingjing, it’s okay now…,” that she finally relaxed. Her stiff body loosened, leaning more comfortably into his chest. Soon, she spoke in a voice slightly hoarse and choked with emotion, “Jiaming… I finally found you…”
“Yeah, I found you, Lingjing. It’s okay now… it’s okay now…”
“Jiaming… are those bad guys gone? You… you didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“They…” As he spoke, gunshots continued to echo from the distance. Jiaming took a deep breath and said, “Let’s not talk about that now. We need to find a safe place to hide. Hey, don’t move, I’ll hold you…” Lingjing was still recovering and found it difficult to move. Jiaming held her in his arms, the Hai Shark’s submachine gun in his hand, but he dared not turn on the flashlight. As they rounded the corner of the kitchen, he picked up a plastic coffee pot used for brewing coffee and placed it in Lingjing’s lap. The coffee inside was still warm, better than nothing.
Moments later, they vanished into the darkness…
“…because we couldn’t find you, and we heard it was dangerous down here, Sha Sha wanted to come down and look for you. She was stopped by Ya Han when she was about to leave, and I took the opportunity to run away. When I reached the first floor, I heard that the nearest stairs were occupied, and everyone was taking a detour. I followed two uncles and escaped to the dining room. We were about to be caught, so they told me to hide in the freezer… It was so cold in the freezer. I was holding the gun and didn’t dare go out. I pushed a few times, but I didn’t dare push too hard, and the door wouldn’t open. In the darkness, I felt that you would come and find me, Jiaming, and you really did come to find me…”
Gunshots, voices, and the sound of wind and rain echoed from afar. The beams of flashlights occasionally flickered from outside the window. In the tiny room, Lingjing snuggled obediently in Jiaming’s arms, whispering softly. A blanket wrapped around their bodies, the coffee pot was plugged in, emitting a faint tremor and a tempting aroma of hot coffee. If you ignored certain external factors, the scene could almost be mistaken for a cozy couple sitting on the couch watching TV together.
He poured a cup of hot coffee for Lingjing, allowing her to warm her hands and sip it slowly. Jiaming rubbed her still-chilled legs and feet, then took out the pendant from his pocket and put it on her. “Wear what I give you, you’re mine. No matter where you go, I’ll find you. But don’t be so impulsive next time, okay?”
She gently rubbed her cheek against his, took a sip of coffee, and nodded. “Jiaming, how did you find me?”
“Me? I was actually upstairs the whole time. Later, I found Sha Sha and Ya Han. They heard you ran downstairs, so I followed. Luckily, I was curious and opened that freezer. Otherwise…” Jiaming chuckled lightly, “Maybe we really have a telepathic connection. You were thinking about me inside, and I really came running over. You know, if I had come a little later…”
His soft words were filled with an overwhelming fear and lingering dread. Tears welled up in Lingjing’s eyes, and she pressed herself tightly against him, “I’m sorry…” She had no extraneous thoughts about the things Jiaming naturally omitted. Perhaps every woman sees the man she loves as the best man in the world. In Lingjing’s heart, Jiaming was unassuming in small matters but absolutely resolute in important ones. Although, aside from this incident, Lingjing hadn’t experienced anything truly significant, she held this belief in her heart. No reason, no proof needed, she just believed in him.
In the following time, they didn’t speak much, but simply held each other quietly. They didn’t care what was happening with the battle outside, and they seemed to be indifferent to the difficulties that might lie ahead. The aroma of coffee, the comforting embrace, the gentle touch, the small space, in this moment, became everything that neither of them wanted to interrupt.
After a long time, Jiaming seemed to have made a decision and said softly, “Lingjing, I have a secret. I’ve been wondering whether I should tell you and Sha Sha, but now I think…” As he spoke, Lingjing suddenly chuckled, “Jiaming, I have a secret to tell you too. As a trade-off for the secret, I’ll tell you mine first.”
“Uh… oh?” Jiaming was slightly taken aback. “Let me tell you mine first. But you can’t laugh at me… You can’t laugh out loud…”
“Alright, okay.” Jiaming spoke, his expression turning serious. Lingjing pursed her lips, took a deep breath, as if preparing herself. Seeing Jiaming’s serious expression, so different from his usual self, she burst out laughing again, took another breath, and then said, “Actually… actually, Sha Sha and I… we’re not really a lesbian couple…”
“Uh?”
“Yesterday… it was last night, right? Sha Sha listened to what you said, and while I was drunk, she used her finger… used her finger, used her finger…” She mumbled about fingers for a long time, her face flushed red, almost burying herself in her chest. Then, she vaguely glossed over it, “…she used her finger on me… I kept begging her to stop, but she wouldn’t. I started crying… Sha Sha saw me crying, and she cried too. Later… she lay in bed and asked me to do the same to her, but I didn’t…”
“Uh, use… her finger?” Jiaming managed to make sense of Lingjing’s stammering words. His expression was quite amusing at this moment, the kind of awkward expression where he desperately wanted to laugh but was trying his best to hold it in. Lingjing wasn’t Sha Sha, so after her embarrassment, she nudged him with her forehead like a kitten, and as she heard Jiaming’s loud laughter, she said, “Then… then what happened?”
“Then… then we realized the water in the bathtub had overflowed. Then… we cleaned for half the night, and we didn’t get much sleep in the morning, and then you came to bother us again.” She rolled her eyes at Jiaming and whispered, “Actually… when Sha Sha touched me, I… I didn’t find it too unpleasant. It’s just that I knew in my heart that it was wrong. So when Sha Sha did that, I cried… But I also knew why Sha Sha did it. I hope the three of us can be together forever, Jiaming. No matter what, I won’t be jealous of Sha Sha anymore. I’m sorry, Jiaming. You felt a bit awkward yesterday, didn’t you?”
Jiaming smiled, “Actually… you two girls following me, you’re the ones who are wronged. If there’s anything wrong, I should be the one to solve it. But if you two get angry because of each other, I feel… I really don’t have the right to ask you to be good. Although the three of us started as friends and then became like a husband and wife… If it’s pressure or condemnation from others, I’ll definitely stand in front. But if it’s you or Sha Sha who feel this relationship is awkward, then… I really can’t do anything about it. However… I heard that lesbian relationships are pretty good. You really don’t want to try it?” His last sentence was a joke. Lingjing rolled her eyes at him, then leaned against his shoulder and whispered softly, “Of course I know. If it’s Sha Sha, it doesn’t matter what happens. Nobody will say anything, and Jiaming, you wouldn’t hate me because of this. But no matter what, I only want Jiaming to touch me like that. I only want to give my body to Jiaming… like that…”
The rest of her words were too embarrassing for her to say. After confessing her feelings, she quietly embraced Jiaming, no longer speaking. Jiaming also smiled faintly, pressing his lips against her hair. This feeling, it was so heartwarming. Perhaps this was what they called love in books. Before this, he had never clearly understood the difference between friendship, family, kinship, and love. He only knew that these were things he craved and would do anything to protect. Now, the feeling was still warm and fulfilling, but it seemed to be something different.
After a long time, Lingjing softly asked, “Then… what about the secret you were talking about?”
“I…” Jiaming smiled, then suddenly raised a finger to his lips and turned off the coffee pot beside them. “Lingjing, do you trust me?” This was a question that didn’t need asking. Lingjing widened her eyes and nodded earnestly.
“No matter what the secret is, I’ll always be the Jiaming who belongs to you and Sha Sha. I’ll always be the Jiaming you know, okay? I’m just Jiaming, nothing else matters, okay?”
“Yeah, even if you said you were a Martian, I’d still like you. You’re Jiaming.” Lingjing answered softly. Jiaming chuckled, “Go out from here, turn left, three rooms down, then turn right. There are four people in the hallway. They’re the bad guys who came aboard the ship. That’s the secret I wanted to tell you and that I’m about to show you.”
Hearing Jiaming’s words, a flicker of fear crossed Lingjing’s eyes. But she felt Jiaming lift her up and set her aside, wrapping her in the blanket. Thinking that Jiaming was going to lure the people away, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his pant leg. Then, Jiaming bent down, “Trust me, this is the secret I want to show you.” He handed her a cup of hot coffee and nodded reassuringly, slowly backing out of the doorway. Then… he disappeared…