Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Nuan kept silent and she heard Wen Moshen’s almost inaudible sigh.
“Is Mushroom still well?”
At the mention of Mushroom, the heat rushed up to Lin Nuan’s eyes once more and she almost couldn’t resist her tears, so she lowered her head even more, saying, “Mushroom is no longer around.”
Wen Moshen’s fingers paused and once he finished wiping his hand, he clenched the tissue in his fist, asking, “When did that happen?”
“The day you came back.”
“Ah…”
Wen Moshen gave a heavy sound as his answer, making it impossible to decipher his emotions.
“So, you were afraid that I’d be upset and that’s why you didn’t dare to come see me?”
Wen Moshen gave Lin Nuan an excuse for why she didn’t visit him after such a long time.
But Lin Nuan was unable to nod without a guilty conscience, so she kept her silence.
“When I passed Mushroom to you that year, it was already old, and none of us can change the ways of life of going through birth, aging, sickness, and death. I was already mentally prepared for it. But Nuan Nuan, I’ve been back for so long, and even those un-important people came to see me. Why didn’t you?”
Wen Moshen’s voice was clearly calm and neutral, but his question made Lin Nuan speechless.
She could hear the meaning behind Wen Moshen’s words—he wasn’t prepared for Lin Nuan to not come and visit him, so he was sad. That’s what he meant.
Lin Nuan didn’t know how to answer. Perhaps it was because she had different kinds of feelings towards Wen Moshen in her heart so she was unable to remain so self-righteous in front of him. She kept thinking that no matter what she said, it would sound too intimate.
Wen Moshen’s gaze focused on Lin Nuan without shifting even for a moment.
So he didn’t miss the way Lin Nuan’s slender fingers clenched slightly and the micro-action of Lin Nuan lowering her head even further.
Wen Moshen’s Adam’s apple bobbled slightly and he decided to stop making things difficult for her, but when he spoke, his voice sounded distant, “Nuan Nuan, after I spent so much effort to come back here, I realized that a lot of things have changed…”
His words made Lin Nuan remember that a few days ago at the entrance of the cafe, Gu Hanyan had once said that in the four years Wen Moshen had been missing, everything that belonged to him had been taken away by his younger brother, Wen Moshi! She didn’t want to see that when Wen Moshen returned, he would find that he had nothing left.
These words coming from Gu Hanyan, her heart would ache, but coming from Wen Moshen, her heart hurt even more.
Lin Nuan clenched her fists.
“So Nuan Nuan, I don’t want the friendship between us… to change too.”
Lin Nuan’s eyes were uncomfortably sore and the rims were visibly reddened.
“En… I understand.” Lin Nuan’s suppressed voice trembled, and it was deep with a heavy muffled sound.
Between them, there were some words, that as long as Lin Nuan never said them, she would still be Wen Moshen’s good friend and Lin Chen’s younger sister. That would never change. Lin Nuan would bury her feelings under the deepest corner of her heart, never to be brought up again.
When she exited the ward, Lin Nuan’s hand still held onto the apple.
The apple had already turned yellow, the top half uneven from Gu Hanyan’s hands while the bottom half was smooth and pretty, peeled by Wen Moshen.
While she waited for an elevator at the elevator lobby, Lin Nuan thought of throwing the apple into the trashcan but kept hesitating.
“Nuan Nuan…” Gu Hanyan called for Lin Nuan.
Lin Nuan didn’t turn around but she casually threw the apple into the trashcan as though she no longer had any feelings.
Gu Hanyan bit her lips and went up to thank her, saying, “Thank you for not telling Moshen about that matter.”
Lin Nuan raised her eyes to look at the number above the elevator door, replying with a cold voice, “You don’t have to thank me, I wasn’t helping you. At that time I too was looking for an excuse to end the long four years of waiting. You… merely gave me a convenient excuse.”