Chapter 36: The Taste of Tears

“Really?” Mo Liang’s voice hitched, like she didn’t dare believe it.

“Really. I won’t kill you. Look carefully. Do you know who that person on the floor is?” Jiang Qing patted her back. Only then did Mo Liang gather the courage to look at the person on the floor.

The person’s chest was still rising and falling, which was how she confirmed it wasn’t a corpse. But the face was so swollen that his features were mashed together. She couldn’t recognize him at all.

“I… I don’t recognize him.” Mo Liang shrank back and said quietly.

To be honest, even his own mother wouldn’t recognize him like this. And from Jiang Qing’s tone, was she supposed to know this person?

She risked another glance. Still didn’t recognize him.

Seeing this, Jiang Qing pressed a hand to her forehead.

“This is Lin Yu. You should know him, right?”

Lin Yu?

Mo Liang searched her memory for a while before it came back to her. Wasn’t he the one Shen Zhiyi rejected?

But she couldn’t understand why Jiang Qing would have someone beat Lin Yu like this. Both legs were ruined. The bone showing on his arm was stark white.

“He tried to hire people to kidnap you and Shen Zhiyi before. I ran into them.” Jiang Qing said it lightly, her tone calm.

What?

Mo Liang froze completely at that answer.

No way! How could you just happen to run into something like that?

Doesn’t that mean you’ve been following me? And could you please not say such terrifying things with that calm face? Bastard!

But she didn’t dare say a single word of it out loud.

“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Jiang Qing stroked her head, as if waiting for Little Yellow Hair’s praise.

Mo Liang forced out a smile uglier than crying.

“Thank you… So can I leave now? I just remembered I have something at home.”

She truly didn’t want to stay in this room another second. She looked at Jiang Qing with pleading eyes.

She stole a glance at the bloody human shape on the floor, then quickly pulled her gaze back. If she stayed any longer, her legs would turn to jelly and she wouldn’t make it out the door.

“No. Did that person scare Sister Mo Liang?”

Jiang Qing looked at the mess on the floor. She seemed to agree that the sight was affecting her mood. But when she thought about how this animal had dared to target her Sister Mo Liang, she felt his current state was too light.

She’d had people investigate already. Two years ago, Lin Yu had run over and killed a mother and child while driving, then paid money to make it go away. So this counted as doing justice for heaven.

“Sit on the bed.” Jiang Qing led Mo Liang to the bedside. Mo Liang sat obediently and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look at the floor.

She heard Jiang Qing’s voice.

“Deal with this person.”

After hearing that, Mo Liang couldn’t help but crack one eye open. She saw two burly men in black pull a burlap sack from somewhere, stuff Lin Yu into it, and carry him out.

Then another burly man in black came in, wiped the floor clean without a word, and left, closing the door behind him.

The whole process was impossibly quiet. Only a faint smell of blood lingered in the air, reminding Mo Liang that what had just happened wasn’t a nightmare she’d made up.

“Not scared now, are you?” Jiang Qing sat down beside her, voice gentle.

‘Do you take me for an idiot? I’m even more scared now.’ But Mo Liang still nodded her little head hard.

“Can I go? I won’t say a word about today…” She tested the words quietly, eyes drifting toward the door.

“Do you still remember the places I took you earlier?” Jiang Qing suddenly asked. There was a cautious expectation in her eyes. Mo Liang hesitated, then nodded. Jiang Qing’s eyes instantly dimmed.

“Liar. You don’t remember at all!” Her voice was much softer, but it sent a chill down Mo Liang’s back.

‘Damn, she can tell that too?’

She had only nodded because she was afraid that if she said she didn’t remember, this crazy woman would cut her down the next second.

Now that she’d been caught, she could only brazen it out.

“No… I remember…”

“Then tell me. Where did we go just now?” Jiang Qing stared at her fixedly.

Mo Liang’s mind raced. She started making things up.

“That… the place with ice cream, and… the place selling things… street…”

The more she spoke, the guiltier she felt. Her voice grew softer and softer. Jiang Qing just watched her without speaking, her eyes turning colder bit by bit.

“Wuu… what exactly do you want?”

Mo Liang was about to break down. How was she supposed to know why Jiang Qing insisted on taking her to those places? Did those places mean something special?

“Those were all places you took me to! And you say you forgot!” Jiang Qing’s voice trembled. She stared hard at Mo Liang.

“Huh?” Mo Liang looked completely blank.

‘What kind of joke is this? Why don’t I remember any of it?’

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to save her life.

Something like, I was joking, how could I forget? But when she met Jiang Qing’s reddened eyes, the words stuck in her throat.

Jiang Qing didn’t give her another chance to speak. She leaned in and sealed Mo Liang’s mouth with her own.

“Mmph…”

Mo Liang instinctively wanted to push her away. Both hands pressed against Jiang Qing’s shoulders, but somehow the strength she put out drained away halfway.

She remembered Jiang Qing’s expectant look from before, those red eyes, and suddenly she had no strength left.

She closed her eyes, stopped struggling, and let the other woman kiss her.

The room was utterly quiet. Only their tangled breathing could be heard.

Mo Liang thought she must have been scared stupid. Otherwise, why would she taste something bitter and salty in this kiss?

Were those Jiang Qing’s tears?

Mo Liang tasted it. Salty. It must have seeped in from the corners of their pressed lips, right?

Her mind was a mess. ‘I’m the one who should be crying, right? What are you crying for?’ But she had no time to think. Jiang Qing’s kiss was urgent and deep, cutting off any strength she had left to think.

The motel mattress wasn’t soft. When she fell back, it gave a light sound. Jiang Qing pressed down right after, both hands braced beside her ears, long hair falling to cage her in a small patch of dimness.

The other woman kissed her without pause. Mo Liang thought she should push her away, should be angry, or beg for mercy.

But this time she did nothing. She just quietly enjoyed it. Was this a gentle kiss? More like rough, if anything. And was she actually enjoying it?

She didn’t hate it. She couldn’t even say she rejected the other woman. Her chest just felt painfully full.

The room was very quiet. Only their rising and falling breaths remained.

She suddenly didn’t want to think anymore. Why was Jiang Qing crying? Why hadn’t she dodged? Forget it all.

At least in this moment, as long as she wouldn’t regret doing this, that was enough, right?

She tilted her chin up slightly and responded to the other woman as if meeting her halfway.

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