Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Qianqian.”

I froze.

I didn’t dare turn around.

The sound of footsteps drew closer as Elder Brother stepped over the withered grass and stopped behind me.

“I’m leaving. The bus won’t wait.”

“Are you… coming with me?”

I didn’t say a word, but tears welled up and spilled over without warning.

He looked at my tear-filled eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently as he let out a heavy sigh.

Then he took a step forward, his palms cupping my face like iron pincers.

His lips were scalding, crashing against mine with a desperate, reckless force.

His tongue forced its way past my teeth, seeking mine out to entwine and bite.

Then he gave me a hard shove with his hips. “You’re coming with me.”

I broke into a loud sob, my fists and nails flailing against him without restraint.

“What took you so long?”

***

“Do you really love him?”

Many years later, Ah Mian sat on the sofa opposite me and asked the question calmly.

I lowered my head to light a cigarette. “I really love him. For him, I…” I paused. “…I gave up everything.”

Ah Mian gave a cold laugh. “That’s because you had nothing to begin with.”

“Back then, you couldn’t even figure out your own life. How could you tell the difference between love and dependency?”

“You simply had no other choice, and you were desperate for a hero to drop from the sky and save you.”

“Don’t be stupid, Zhao Qian. That was survival, not love.”

Ah Mian was the first female college student from our village. She had truly relied on herself to rank in the top twenty of the entire county and get into a key university.

She was now a lawyer in this southern city and had even made a bit of a name for herself.

She’s smarter than I am, so what she says should carry some weight.

But I felt wronged.

How could what I felt for Elder Brother not count as love?