Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 402 That Black Sweater

This time, it was Lin Qingping's turn to be stunned.

It was touching that he believed she was innocent, but even if she wasn't innocent, his indifference and belief that it was his own fault only intensified the warm feeling that had been growing inside her.

“Gu Juncheng…” she murmured.

"Lin Qingping, you've suffered." He reached out to touch her face, but found his hands were covered in oil. Looking down, he realized that he had just hugged her, and her clothes must be oily too. He felt embarrassed. "Go... change your clothes first."

Lin Qingping also wanted to go.

Things changed too quickly, and she wanted to use this time to calm herself down and think things through.

She nodded, turned around, and went back upstairs.

After changing her clothes, Gu Juncheng had already placed the minced meat on a plate and put it in the steamer. He had also washed his hands. Seeing her come down, he rubbed his hands awkwardly. "Lin Qingping, I... I'm not a very good cook. My stir-fries are terrible. I can only make some simple dishes..."

Lin Qingping certainly knew his limited cooking skills; otherwise, he could have easily made steamed meatloaf and stewed chicken without any seasoning. But what was he trying to say?

“I’ll do even better once we get to the island,” he said, looking at her, a blush rising to his dark face.

"Okay." She smiled, but she wanted to know what it was that made him need to think so much. Was this letter a decision he had considered for a long time before making? "Gu Juncheng, you've thought about it for so long, have you made up your mind?"

When this topic came up, he seemed to relax suddenly and nodded, "I've thought it through. I won't let Yu Chengzhi get away with this."

Lin Qingping was also taken aback. "You...you said you needed to think about it carefully, is this what you're thinking about?"

"Of course." He gave me a look that said, "Why are you asking me that?" "Of course I need to think carefully about how to teach him a painful lesson without affecting you."

He fell into deep thought, "Giving him a beating would be too lenient."

After saying that, he looked at Lin Qingping in surprise, "Why do you ask that? What do you think I need to think about?"

"It's nothing." Lin Qingping's eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly shook her head. "Have you thought it through?"

“Of course,” he said. “Let him lose what he wants most. It’s not unfair to him; he deserves it.”

Lin Qingping nodded and said softly, "You can wear that sweater. I can knit it; I'll just knit another one when it's worn out..."

However, she still had a question in her mind: "Gu Juncheng, what happened to your black one from before?"

The issue of that black sweater has been brought up before, but only briefly, without any in-depth discussion.

"I threw it away," Gu Juncheng said casually.

"Throw...throw it away?" Lin Qingping asked in surprise. "Didn't you cherish it?"

“I cherished it very much. We come from the countryside. Although my family is better off, we are not wealthy. In the past, our clothes were always patched up layer upon layer. This habit was deeply ingrained. But later, when they became too worn out to wear, and I didn’t know how to mend the sweater, I just threw it away.” He explained calmly, as if it were just an ordinary piece of clothing.

These words left Lin Qingping completely bewildered. "No, Gu Juncheng, do you even know who knitted that sweater for you?"

"Didn't my mom buy it?" he said matter-of-factly. "My mom can't knit, and neither can my sister. If it wasn't bought, where else could it have come from..."

At this point, he suddenly realized something, "Lin Qingping, you mean..."

"I didn't mean anything, I didn't mean anything else, it was bought! It was bought!" Lin Qingping was dumbfounded, but not so dumb as to tell him that it was woven by someone else.

So, he always thought that Liu Fen bought it for him?

"No, Lin Qingping, you didn't knit this, did you?" he asked, grabbing her. "You know I saved you, are you thanking me?"

Lin Qingping was even more stunned. What kind of thought process led her to think that she was the one who knitted it?! But she wouldn't pin the blame on Chen Xia for what she did. "No, no, I don't know who saved me at all! It must have been your mom who bought it!"

But Gu Juncheng wasn't stupid; he was just not good at expressing himself, but he was very perceptive of the subtle changes in people's expressions.

Lin Qingping's changing expression told him that this sweater definitely wasn't bought by his mother, but rather knitted by someone else, and if that person wasn't Lin Qingping, then it could only be someone else...

“Lin Qingping.” He grasped Lin Qingping’s shoulder. “I don’t know. My mother sent it with a pile of clothes, without writing a letter.”

"Oh." Lin Qingping had started the conversation, but she didn't want to listen anymore, so she just gave a soft reply and nudged him. "Hurry up and cook, I'm hungry."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Her heart was pounding, and she was quite overwhelmed. She needed to calm down, but she was also worried that if she left, he would overthink things. So she turned back and said, "Hurry up and make it delicious. I need to give you a score!"

"Oh..." But Gu Juncheng was still not sure what she meant by that sentence. Was she angry or not?

Steam began to rise from the pot, the water in the steamer was boiling, and there was too much water in the pot, which was about to overflow. He quickly turned around, put the lid on the coal stove, and continued to steam the water. He was in a flurry of activity.

Hearing the clattering sounds coming from the kitchen, Lin Qingping smiled slightly, picked up a book, and sat down at the long table. On the table were freshly washed grapes, which he must have bought himself.

He said, "I'll do better once I get to the island," a statement that seemed familiar.

In his previous letter, the last sentence was almost identical to this: Lin Qingping, after you go to the island, please watch my actions!

Standard format for elementary school students writing self-criticisms.

He said that she must not have been satisfied with the last letter.

Actually, it wasn't that he was dissatisfied; judging by his standard of "sincerity," that letter was indeed very sincere.

The letter clearly explained his series of mysterious actions, starting from when he filed for divorce.

Because he was afraid that she would be too sad if he died in that mission, he thought it would be better to divorce him and make her hate him. Hate is much better than sadness. As for his relationship with Chen Xia during that time, the police found him through the school. His school was special and everything had to be reported, so he clearly explained why the police came looking for him and his relationship with Chen Xia. The school asked him to handle the matter properly, so he went with the police.

Of course, he was also very sincere and clear in his letter: even if it wasn't through the school, if Chen Xia really was at the police station and the police came looking for him, he would still go. It had nothing to do with who Chen Xia was. If anyone from the village came to the capital and something like this happened and needed help, he would go.

As for later, even though he knew she misunderstood him and Chen Xia, he still played along, making her misunderstand even more, all to make her more decisive in breaking off her relationship with him, and so on.

These things were written on two pages.