Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

Chapter 66 The Pulse of the Heart

Jiang Yan watched the black sedan slowly drive away until it completely disappeared around the corner of the alley before turning back into the house.

He changed into slippers and went to the living room. He saw that the power indicator light on the induction cooker on the dining table was still on red, and the oil stains left on the baking tray had solidified into a thin layer of white grease. A few pieces of burnt garlic lay forlornly in the corner.

Jiang stretched out her hand to turn off the power to the induction cooker, then stacked the dishes one by one and carried them into the kitchen, turning on the tap to start washing the dishes.

After putting the washed dishes into the drainer, he wiped his hands and turned around to see Lin Xiaolu floating at the kitchen doorway, quietly watching him.

"Wei? What's wrong with you?" Jiang Yan leaned against the stove. "You haven't said a word since just now. This isn't like you."

Lin Xiaolu didn't get angry and argue as usual, nor did she complain about his hand-wiping posture, which resembled that of an old man. Instead, she bowed and said, "Jiang Yan, thank you."

Seeing this, Jiang Yan paused in wiping his hands, a look of surprise on his face. "Thank me for what?"

Lin Xiaolu lowered her eyelashes. "Although she took over my body, and although I don't like her, she is my future self. Although I can understand her fear, if I always follow the rules and am afraid of change, I will despise myself. So thank you for helping her."

After hearing these words, Jiang Yan understood why she had wanted to facilitate the cooperation between the two from the beginning.

He smiled gently, his eyes narrowed, then turned and took a can of Coke from the refrigerator, opened it, and placed it on the dining table.

Then he turned around and raised his hand, "Alright, third party, I wish us a pleasant collaboration."

Lin Xiaolu was stunned for a moment, then laughed. But as she laughed, a tear welled up in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and gently wiped it away, then stretched out her translucent hand and gently touched Jiang Yan's palm.

The two people's hands, separated by just one centimeter, formed a wonderful composition under the warm yellow light.

Jiang Yan's gaze shifted from the translucent hand, following the thin line connecting the two, and slid down to Lin Xiaolu's face.

Her doe-like eyes still held a layer of moisture that she hadn't had time to conceal, her eyelashes were wet, and the tip of her nose was slightly red.

Lin Xiaolu was also looking at him.

She looked at Jiang Yan's hand suspended in mid-air, at the faint silver-blue light reflected in his dark eyes, and at the lingering gentle smile on his lips.

She suddenly sensed that something was off about the atmosphere.

It wasn't because Jiang Yan did anything strange.

It was because her heartbeat suddenly quickened.

But she was clearly just a phantom, she didn't even have a physical heart.

The feeling was so strange that she instinctively wanted to run away. So she hurriedly looked away, floated to the dining table, and put her face close to the Coke can, pretending to smell the sweetness of the carbonated drink.

"Ah, Coke, oh Coke, why do you smell so good?"

Her voice was a half-tone higher than usual as she rambled on about the ingredient list of carbonated drinks, from caramel color to phosphoric acid, and then from phosphoric acid to caffeine, as if the strange feeling from just a moment ago would automatically disappear as long as she kept talking.

Jiang Yan slowly withdrew his hand, listening to her muttering without exposing her, but just watching as a very faint pink tinge appeared on the edge of her translucent earlobe.

He smiled and shook his head. After all these years of drifting, he still couldn't lie any better.

He turned around, went back into the house to get his pajamas, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When he came out after showering, he saw Lin Xiaolu still lying next to the Coke can, her eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought.

Jiang Yan walked to the sofa and sat down, picked up the remote and turned on the TV. He stared at the TV screen, but his focus was clearly not on the picture.

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Xiaolu floated to his side, tilting her head to look him over.

Jiang Yan rubbed his temples. "I'm reviewing tonight's events. The future you is too good at hiding things. I still haven't fully seen through you. Also, she confided in me tonight, and I still feel... I can't get over it, after all, I lied to her."

Looking at his slightly furrowed brows, Lin Xiaolu suddenly understood why he had been so sullen ever since Lin Yun'er left that evening.

"So you regret it?"

Jiang Yan shook his head. "It's not that I regret it. The cooperation with her has to go through. I have no room for regret. It's just that I feel this method... wasn't clean enough."

Lin Xiaolu was silent for a moment, then spoke softly, "Jiang Yan, have you ever considered that she might already know you're not a time traveler?"

Jiang Yan's pupils contracted slightly, and he turned to look directly at her. "You heard her inner thoughts?"

"Ani, I was too busy making fun of you to pay attention to that."

Lin Xiaolu lowered her head somewhat embarrassed, but quickly raised it again and said, "But think about it, she is me from the future. Although her personality has changed, her mind is still the same. I can sense that you are lying, so of course she can too."

"She asked you if you could speak Chinese, and you answered her in such fluent Chinese. Your reaction was so fast that it didn't seem like you were recalling something; it was more like you were using a skill you already had."

"But she didn't expose you; she even went along with what you said, giving you an out by using your identity as a shield. Why do you think that was?"

Jiang Yan stared at the ceiling for a while, then gently exhaled.

"Because she needs a reason."

"Yes." Lin Xiaolu nodded. "She needed a reason to convince herself because you could indeed break the backlash. You made up a story about a time traveler from China for her, and the story was logically plausible, so she chose to believe it."

"It's not because she's stupid, but because she desperately needs someone who can break the rules."

"She carried it all alone for years, watching those bad things happen one after another, and there was nothing she could do. I understand that feeling all too well. Now that someone has suddenly appeared who can change the things she couldn't change, even if she has doubts, she will choose to believe."

"Because what she fears more than being deceived by you is returning to a state where she can't do anything."

Jiang Yan lowered his eyes, his fingers slowly tapping the sofa. "So you also think that she never fully trusted me from the beginning?"

"I believe she doesn't completely trust you." Lin Xiaolu tilted her head, a meaningful smile appearing on her lips. "But that's not important. What's important is that you're allies now. You can take a long-term view. In future cooperation, you can slowly tell her the truth, or you can never tell her. It's up to you. It depends on what you want to do and how much trust you can build in the future."

After hearing these words, Jiang Yan suddenly chuckled and turned to look at Lin Xiaolu: "Why are you so smart today?"

Lin Xiaolu rolled her eyes: "I've always been smart, you just didn't realize it before."

"Yes, yes, Lin Xiaolu is the smartest." Jiang Yan stood up, put the remote control back on the coffee table, stopped at the bedroom door, and glanced back at her.

"You're right. Whether she believes it or not, we're already allies. So instead of worrying about whether she's seen through me, let's focus on what's next."

He paused, then suddenly remembered something, turned around, leaned against the door frame, crossed his arms, and looked at Lin Xiaolu.

"By the way, she just said she wants me to go with her to a certain place two days a week from now on. Do you know where it is? Don't tell me you're complaining about me again."

Lin Xiaolu paused slightly.

Jiang Yan noticed this subtle reaction and raised an eyebrow: "You know?"

"I..." Lin Xiaolu turned her face away, "I know, but I don't know if I should say it."

"Why shouldn't you say it?"

Lin Xiaolu lowered her eyelashes and gently picked at her nails. "Because this is something she's kept in her heart for a long time. It's not something that can be casually discussed; it's something very, very heavy."

Jiang Yan looked at her profile and nodded slightly: "Alright, I won't force you to tell me, but if you think I should know, then tell me; if you think it's not the right time yet, then don't tell me."

Lin Xiaolu bit her lower lip and remained silent for a long while.

The only sounds in the living room were the low laughter coming from the television and the occasional night breeze passing by outside the window.

Then she looked up, her doe-like eyes filled with a complex emotion that Jiang Yan had never seen before.

"This is Taeyeon unnie's house."