I Suggest You Don't Lie

[A sane person pretending to be crazy × a crazy person pretending to be sane]

In a lifetime, you meet tens of thousands of people. You pass most of them by after a brief encounter, without leaving any impression behind.

Xin Bai is an exception.

She brushes past a woman wearing a pearl necklace on the street and learns that she just bought a cup of coffee that tasted mediocre.

A boy in a blue hat drops his toy. Xin Bai picks it up and returns it to him, accidentally brushing his fingers. She learns that he just had a huge fight with his parents and is angrily planning to run away from home.

Then there is the short man who bumps into Xin Bai’s arm as he hurries past.

And that is why she sees him kill a man in a dim room, then clean up the scene with bottled water.

-

Xin Bai’s latest problem is that she keeps nodding off in class.

Lu Shiyi offers a timely suggestion: she could wear a rubber band around her wrist.

When she feels sleepy, she can snap it against her wrist, training herself to associate drowsiness with pain.

One day, Lu Shiyi applies this theory to himself.

Whenever he thinks of Xin Bai, he touches a cigarette to his arm, until a distinct circular scar appears on his tanned skin.

The theory is sound, and the conditioned reflex is successfully established. But it also goes against his intentions.

Whenever he feels pain, he thinks of Xin Bai.

-

The room is dim. This is how Lu Shiyi turns Xin Bai down:

“Xin Bai, you’re still too young. You only see me as your older brother, and since I happen not to be him, you think you’re in love with me.”

“You haven’t met many people. You’ll meet plenty more in the future, and you’ll find someone you truly love. If I accepted you now, I’d only be hurting you.”

His tone is so sincere it almost sounds like he’s pleading with her to understand.

After he finishes, Lu Shiyi watches Xin Bai for a reaction. She ought to react somehow. She can hate him or curse him, anything.

But Xin Bai nods, as if she agrees with him, and calmly says, “But, Teacher Lu, do you know what I used to be like?”

“I used to fight with people every day and never paid attention in class. I was going to find out what happened to my brother and then join him. I never even planned to go to college. You’re the one who made me the person I am now. I never imagined I could become like this.”

“Teacher Lu, you’ve already ruined me.”

Please note before reading:

1. Ten-year age gap, both are each other’s first and only love, and all romantic scenes take place after they are adults.

2. There’s a little criminal investigation, but the heroine has a huge golden finger, so there isn’t much detective work. She mostly works backward from the results to find the evidence.

3. The bulk of the story is still about romance.

Hope you enjoy reading!

Theme: The dead are gone; the living must go on.