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墨書 Inktalez
The thick Bible was impossible to read in one sitting. Ziya rubbed her sore neck, her gaze landing on page 96 of the scripture, which read, "For the common people, to dedicate oneself for atonement." She let out a bitter smile; the concept of self-sacrifice for atonement felt incomprehensible to her. Why should a sheep be used as a substitute for atonement? After all, sheep are animals that cannot speak and are merely considered food by people. Yet they have lives too. If the Bible is meant to save the people from their suffering, how could it disregard the life of an innocent creature?
Ziya pondered further. If everything could be improved through heartfelt intentions as stated in the Bible, then was there really a need for laws to restrain the evil forces in society? It seemed that the Bible served only to comfort those who valued faith, providing them with a spiritual refuge; it was unrealistic to expect it to control anything.
Having come to this realization, Ziya found the act of reading the Bible somewhat absurd. She closed it and placed it back in the carefully arranged hiding spot that Anqing had prepared. Only then did she feel her eyes sting and her body grow weary, longing for rest.
Yet lying on her bed, sleep eluded her. The words of the Bible still echoed in her mind. Counting sheep... Her head throbbed painfully, and the inability to sleep was truly distressing.
Feeling restless, Ziya couldn't pinpoint the source of her agitation. She picked up her phone from the bedside table and saw it was one o'clock in the morning. While checking her phone, she noticed an unread message on the screen from Sun Meng. Could it be that she too couldn't sleep and sent a message? Curious, Ziya opened the text, noting that it had been sent at twelve fifty. This meant Sun Meng was still awake; what could she be doing?
Ziya read the message carefully: "Ziya... I feel unwell, what should I do?" Sun Meng's words seemed to hide something deeper; what situation was she facing? Ziya wanted to call her but feared interrupting whatever good thing they had going on together. Reluctantly, she decided to reply via text.
"Hey, what's wrong? Tell me."
After sending the message, Ziya forced herself to close her eyes and sleep. Once her eyes were shut, darkness enveloped her retina. She intended to immerse herself in a tranquil atmosphere, but the persistent ticking of the clock on her desk stubbornly penetrated her eardrums. Ziya stuffed a corner of her blanket into her ears; if that didn't work, she wrapped the blanket around her head until that annoying ticking ceased...
Suddenly jolted awake by applause, Ziya saw Sun Meng in a wedding dress, gazing ahead with tearful eyes as she moved forward step by step. Blood trickled from her neck, soaking into the carpet and staining the pure white wedding gown... A child with a pale face clutched at the hem of Sun Meng's dress, their head hanging low like a puppet moving mechanically forward.
Seeing so many witnesses around them, Ziya shouted desperately at Sun Meng and addressed the child as well. She felt herself nearing madness; despite screaming until her throat felt raw, no one seemed to hear her. Was this a dream? Yet an intense sense of unease gripped Ziya deeply. This anxiety made her restless as she waved her hands frantically in an attempt to draw attention.
Suddenly, a series of vibrations accompanied by urgent text message alerts jolted Ziya awake. Realizing she had indeed been dreaming was a relief mixed with frustration—she had barely slept before being plagued by nightmares. Remembering Sun Meng's text, she quickly grabbed her phone again and saw it was sent at two ten. Internally she mused: this girl still hasn't gone to sleep; what on earth is she thinking?
"Ziya, Liang Chao is in the study. I don't know how I upset him. Does Liang Chao know that we invited Zhiqing to look at the house?"
Ziya was taken aback. Sun Meng was probably overthinking it. Although they had invited Zhiqing to see the house, it had been delayed due to her sudden illness. Besides, Liang Chao couldn't be that petty, right? Last time in D City, he clearly stated that he would treat Sun Meng well from now on; it couldn't be that he would disregard his principles so quickly!
"Take a break! Don't think about anything. We'll find a place to talk tomorrow afternoon after work." After replying to the message, Ziya's mind went blank. She felt exhausted but couldn't fall asleep, so she forced her eyes shut. That night, Ziya spent in a daze until morning.
After a simple breakfast, Ziya headed downstairs and drove out of the community. The emerald-green leaves glistened on the branches, gently swaying in the breeze. Red flowers and butterflies danced around each other, while children in the community were either reading or playing under their leader's guidance.
Ziya clocked in at the office, and the morning passed by in a blur. Just ten minutes ago, Zhiqing called her, hoping to have lunch together. Remembering her agreement with Sun Meng to eat at Delight Restaurant today, she hesitated. If she agreed to Zhiqing, it might embarrass Sun Meng since they were going to discuss her marriage with Liang Chao.
Sun Meng came out of the hospital and walked straight to the restaurant where she had arranged to meet Ziya. "Hey! Over here!" Ziya waved as soon as she saw Sun Meng enter.
"What happened to your eyes?" Ziya noticed that Sun Meng's eyes were red and swollen, and her complexion was dull—she looked like a different person from before.
"It's nothing, let's eat!" Sun Meng mumbled, reluctant to explain.
"Fine, if you won't say anything, then I won't eat," Ziya suddenly snapped, putting down her soup spoon with a frown.
"I... Liang Chao left me and went to the study. I couldn't sleep at all, so I got up to see what he was doing. Then I noticed YaYa's bedroom door was slightly ajar, and I heard her moaning. I thought she was sick and wanted to check on her. But when I pushed the door open, I saw two people on the bed... I..."
Sun Meng's words shocked Ziya. "What! Two people? How could YaYa be at your house?" Ziya raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"It was Liang Chao who brought her back. He said it wasn't good for a girl to rent a place outside when there were empty rooms at home, so he let YaYa stay in one of them."
"I remember now, it's that quirky girl, right? She shouldn't be!" Ziya expressed some disbelief at Sun Meng's words. After all, YaYa and Liang Chao were in a master-disciple relationship; it shouldn't be like this...
"I don't believe it either, but when I saw the way they were acting all cozy this morning, I just..."
"Crying... all you do is cry. I doubt you're still that fearless heroine, Sun Meng. Your tears show you're weak and incapable; you can't even keep an eye on your own people, and yet you cry... it drives me crazy. He really doesn't care about his reputation anymore. Let's go confront him right now." Ziya stood up as if she was about to leave, her sudden action startling Sun Meng, who quickly tried to stop her.
"Forget it, I... don't want to separate from him again over this. Besides, I can't be sure that he and YaYa are involved in anything inappropriate. Maybe I just misinterpreted things last night, so..."
"What people call the space between friendship and love is called ambiguity. YaYa and Liang Chao are in a master-disciple relationship; you need to understand that they can't have any ambiguity." Ziya insisted on going to the clinic despite Sun Meng's attempts to hold her back. The clinic was quite far from Sun Meng's home, so there was no one at home for lunch or cooking. Sun Meng usually made do with meals at the cafeteria, which meant Liang Chao naturally had meals nearby with YaYa. Over time, it was only natural for the two of them to develop feelings for each other, yet Sun Meng just couldn't accept this fact.
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