Chapter 14 The Agreement
There was still time before school started. I found an apartment and stayed.
I meant to rest, then look for some part-time work nearby.
Early morning, knocking woke me.
I had heard the security in this building was bad. I hesitated over the door.
"Song Sheng, it is me."
Qin Zhimin's voice.
Startled, I opened the door.
Qin Zhimin's eyes were full of red veins, as if he had not slept in a long time.
"What does wish me happiness mean?"
He held his phone up to my face. On the screen was the text I had sent before takeoff.
"So you asked me for half a month just to plan how to run from me, is that it?"
"After I got the text, I went to find you at once. Your roommate told me you had already moved out. I went to the Tattoo Shop too. It was closed."
"Song Sheng, why did you lie to me again?"
Qin Zhimin's face looked close to despair.
"And you?" I was calm in a way that surprised me. "What were you doing on the afternoon of the seventeenth?"
In a flash, his face changed, and it seemed to me he had worked all of it out.
"That afternoon I saw Jiang Qingyao. My mom told me the two families had business between them, and it was better not to make things too ugly."
He rushed to explain. "I did not go see her alone. I brought my younger brother. Maybe when you saw us, he had just gone to the restroom. I can pull the cameras for you right now."
As he spoke, Qin Zhimin dialed his assistant.
I hurried to stop him.
"It is not that I do not believe you."
"Qin Zhimin, the truth is I have a lot of pride."
Qin Zhimin looked lost.
I went on. "I admit I like you. I like you very much.
That is why, back then, I secretly called your mother and asked her to come take you home.
I did not want some future day, when life went badly, for you to say you regretted it.
For you to say, Song Sheng, if it were not for you, I would not have ended up like that. "
"I would not..."
"Qin Zhimin, let us make an agreement."
I wiped the tears off my face and looked up at him.
"What agreement?" He looked a little nervous.
"If after five years we still like each other, then we will be together."
"But..."
"Hear me out first."
I motioned for Qin Zhimin to sit.
"By then, I hope I can stand at a height that matches yours. I also hope you can decide your own life."
"If we can both do that, and we still love each other, that time will be our best beginning."