Ling Nuan was taken aback when she was hugged, but she quickly softened her expression and gently patted the girl's shoulder.
"Cry. It'll make you feel better," Ling Nuan consoled.
With this consolation, Huo Qishu cried even louder.
"What's wrong with me? Why doesn't he like me?" Huo Qishu sobbed.
Ling Nuan immediately understood.
She didn't say much but just gently patted Huo Qishu's shoulder, quietly acting as a listener. Under her comfort, Huo Qishu seemed to calm down.
When she stopped crying, Huo Qishu looked at Ling Nuan's shoulder, which was soaked in a large area, with a look of guilt. "Auntie, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Do you feel better?" Ling Nuan asked with concern.
Huo Qishu nodded. Then she glanced at Ling Nuan and asked, "Auntie, why don't you ask me who I'm talking about?"
Ling Nuan smiled. "It's your privacy. If you don't want to say, I won't ask."
"No, I want to," Huo Qishu said.
She needed to vent now, and Ling Nuan became the listener.
"It's Xu Shichen. I've liked him for six years," Huo Qishu said.
Ling Nuan was slightly stunned and swallowed back the words "How old are you?" that were on the tip of her tongue.
If she remembered correctly, Huo Qishu was still a sophomore in college, 19 years old. Six years... She had liked Xu Shichen since she was 13?
Ling Nuan suddenly fell silent.
Could she really tell the difference between love and affection?
Recalling her own 13 - year - old self, she was still obediently studying, probably only thinking about homework and grades.
Huo Qishu murmured on.
She and Xu Shichen could be considered childhood sweethearts. However, due to the age gap, for Xu Shichen, she was just a little kid following behind his friends.
"At first, I just thought he was fun and knew how to have a good time, so I liked to follow him. Actually, I don't know when I started to like him. Auntie, you know... there were some youthful and ambiguous thoughts at that time, and all my references were from him."
When Huo Qishu talked about the past, there was a look of anticipation and also a hint of sadness on her face.
Ling Nuan seemed to understand her a little.
Adolescents are always prone to be infatuated and have more fantasies about love.
When Huo Qishu had fantasies about love, and there was a good - looking and close - to - her opposite - sex around, just like the male protagonist in a novel, how could she not be attracted?
"I confessed my love to him after I finished the college entrance examination," Huo Qishu said.
Ling Nuan was slightly stunned.
Huo Qishu seemed to have the courage typical of her age. A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. At 18, her confession was doomed to fail.
Huo Qishu said, "Actually, I didn't expect my confession to succeed. I knew he thought I was too young. It would be okay when I grew up. The age gap between us is less than ten years. There are so many May - December romances."
Ling Nuan listened, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Huo Qishu didn't need her to say anything. She just needed a listener.
However, as Huo Qishu talked, she seemed to lose her strength.
"Auntie, I don't want to like him anymore," Huo Qishu said.
She smiled while shedding tears. "What's there to like about him? He's old, likes to drink, smokes, and has a bunch of bad habits. I don't know how many relationships he's had. He's an old cucumber. I'm still young and full of vigor. Why should I hang myself on this old crooked tree?"
Ling Nuan hugged Huo Qishu again. "Qishu, life is long. You may feel very sad now, but when you meet the right person in your life, you'll be grateful for giving up at this moment."
Huo Qishu pouted, looking extremely aggrieved. "Auntie, can I really find the right one? Isn't he the one I'm looking for?"
Ling Nuan patted her and consoled, "If a relationship makes you feel tired and sad, then don't doubt yourself. That person is not the right one for you. I know it's painful to cut off a relationship you've invested in, but a long - term pain is worse than a short - term one. Life is always like this."
Huo Qishu didn't know if she had taken it to heart, but at this moment, she still nodded at Ling Nuan. "Auntie, I know."
Huo Qishu's emotions had actually passed their peak.
Now she wiped away her tears and felt a bit embarrassed. "Auntie, you go and have fun. I'll go back to school first."
"How will you get back?" Ling Nuan asked.
"I'll just take a taxi," Huo Qishu replied.
Ling Nuan was worried, so she personally accompanied Huo Qishu to take a taxi. After the girl got in the car, she took a photo of the taxi license plate.
"Let me know when you get to school," Ling Nuan instructed.
Huo Qishu felt as if her heart had come back to life.
She waved at Ling Nuan with a smile. "Auntie, go find Uncle. I'll message you when I get to school."
Ling Nuan stood at the intersection and watched Huo Qishu leave.
After the car had gone far away, she turned around and walked towards the bar. But before she got close, someone bumped into her head - on.
Ling Nuan: "..."
Did she have some kind of magnet on her today?
Why did people keep bumping into her?
However, this time Ling Nuan managed to avoid the collision.
She looked at the person who had bumped into her with dissatisfaction. But when she saw the person's face clearly, she was suddenly stunned.
The man who had tried to bump into Ling Nuan was completely drunk. He almost bumped into someone but didn't show any sign of apology. He grinned and said, "Beauty, why are you in such a hurry?"
He was about to say something else, but when he saw Ling Nuan, he was suddenly shocked.
"Ling Nuan?"
The man shouted in horror, then waved his hands frantically. "I don't know anything."
After saying that, the man turned around and ran, as if there was something terrifying chasing him.
Ling Nuan couldn't help but frown.
Ling Nuan recognized this man.
Li Jin was a resident in her community. They didn't have much contact usually and only nodded in recognition when they met.
If there was any deeper contact between them, it was probably that when Huo Xiao went to her mother and caused her mother to have a heart attack, it was Li Jin who called the emergency number.
Although her mother hadn't been saved, Ling Nuan still remembered his kindness. After the matter was resolved, she specially bought fruits and supplements to thank him.
When Li Jin saw Ling Nuan coming to his door at that time, he repeatedly refused. "Miss Ling, please don't thank me like this. I'm really not worthy of it. Your mother...唉, if I had passed by earlier."
Towards the end, Li Jin seemed a bit guilty. But at that time, Ling Nuan was still in a state of emotional breakdown and didn't notice this. Now, seeing the way he ran away at the sight of her, it seemed there was more to the story.
Ling Nuan watched Li Jin's back as he left for a long time, and finally gave a soft smile.
Not far away, Li Jin dared to stop only after he had run far enough.
He was extremely unsteady on his feet.
He wasn't really drunk. He had just deliberately poured a lot of alcohol on himself. Seeing that Ling Nuan didn't chase after him, he hesitated for a moment and then dialed a phone number.
"Miss Huo... I did as you told me, but she didn't chase after me. It seems she didn't notice anything wrong?" Li Jin felt that things were not developing as he had imagined.
Huo Xiao sneered. "Just do as I say. Don't worry about other things."
Such an obvious plan, how could Ling Nuan not see through it?
But this time, what she wanted was for Ling Nuan to see through it!