Li Huiqing

The person who had called out her name was Li Huiqing. The exact reason why she wanted to avoid the man was for only one reason. He was Cao Yang's friend.

Li Huiqing was nice. She admitted that the man was a very kind man. However, she was a very paranoid person.

Since Li Huiqing was Cao Yang's friend, she did not trust being with the man one on one. No matter how many times she has seen him or talked to him, she did not like being with him in one wrong. Or rather, she did not like to be with anyone close to Cao Yang.

In her understanding, no matter how gentle or friendly Li Huiqing behaved, she would still be off-put. Just because a man was considerate to you, it does not mean he could be compassionate on the inside. Besides, with how despicable Cao Yang is, she believed that Li Huiqing would also be as contemptible.

Even if Li Huiqing is not as degrading as Cao Yang, he would still be disreputable in some way or form. Otherwise, how could the two become friends?

Seeing that her name was called, she decided to turn back and greet him. Though she did not care for public opinion, she still wanted to be seen as a courteous or polite person.

"Hello, Li Huqing," she politely greeted without a smile.

"Wow… Still no smiles," Li Huiqing said jokingly.

Being the non-joker that she is, she did not care for his humor and ignored it as she sat on a chair that was three seats away from Li Huiqing.

"Still so cold too," Li Huiqing said when he saw her ignoring him after giving him acknowledgment. "Being that icy, you won't get any friends you know."

Still ignoring him, she ordered some norimaki sushi, ebi tempura, hiyayakko, and zaru udon. The only thing left now was for her to wait for the food to finish being made and served to her.

"Sigh… Qiao Jinghua I know that you hate me for being Cao Yang's best friend, but… Must you be this cold," Li Huiqing asked, giving up on trying to hear her speak to him.

Not caring that she was ignoring him speak at all, he continued talking. Today, he just needed a listener and she happened to be the person that appeared in from of him at the crucial time.

"Actually… Do you know why I'm here eating alone in a Japanese sushi restaurant," Li Huiqing asked knowing he won't get an answer.

"Cao Yang's old man found out about all the things he did behind the scenes. I don't know who turned in all of the evidence or how they caught him. I just thought that the years of us being friends had never been as good as what the old man thought," Li Huiqing answered himself.

"When we were young, the elders worried that Cao Yang would not have a friend so they tried to get a kid that could be close to him. I was just an orphan and their offer of a nice house and warm food tempted me. They told me that all I had to do was play with their young master," Li Huiqing continued spilling out.

"From the day I was taken in, to this day now, I've never had to question myself so much. As his friend and brother, I should feel mad and relate to him but yet instead, I feel as though the stress on my shoulders has been relieved. As though it has been lifted from me," Li Huiqing admitted.

"Qiao Jinghua, do you think this is horrible of me as a friend," Li Huiqing asked expecting her to not answer.

"No," she answered.

Though it was only one word, he was felt really happy. His expectations of her not answering had made him crestfallen, but her actually giving him an answer raised his mood by a hundred times than when he came into the restaurant.

Since she was an active participant in Cao Yang's she continued on with, "Cao Yang was a despicable inhumane person that did things to satisfy his own greed and lust."

After saying that, she stayed silent for a while so Li Huiqing thought that she was finished, but she actually went on with, "If there is anything horrible about you, it is that you did not turn the man in earlier despite the alarming buildup of evidence due to cowardness and fear."

Li Huiqing was feeling better when she said that he was not horrible, but yet she had to say something so contradicting making him feel a thousand times worse now. Though, what she had said was right. He was a coward and a man that feared power.

However, what she said was the honest truth and instead of just making him feel horrible, it also empowered him to improve himself. He was a man. He should not be cowering in the entirety of his life.

If he made himself fear so many things, he would have a regretful death. He was really thankful to her. Though all the things she said were just facts and not even advice, it helped him become a stronger and better person morally and ethically.

"Thanks for saying that Qiao Jinghua," Li Huiqing said while chuckling.

Li Huiqing was much happier now after hearing her though he still knew that she really did not care. Even while eating his bowl of udon noodles, he was smiling in silliness.

In her thoughts, she said, "What is he smiling so stupidly for?"

In fact, Li Huiqing had a crush on her. She just did not know. She still would not know even after she died in this life. Only finding out in her next life when her soulmate had confessed his feelings to her.

While she was still thinking about him smiling freakishly, her food was finally served to her by the white outfitted chef. As the chef set the plate of food over the brown glazed wooden long table that looked like a bar table, she looked over it and started to salivate. If there was one thing she loved and trusted more than herself, it was mother nature that gave her the ingredients to be able to have these delectable dishes.

As she ate her food while showering it with love and warmth, Li Huiqing stared at her over the three seats that separated them. Despite being on the same table, as the restaurant only served six customers at a time, Li Huiqing felt as though she was far from him. Li Huiqing thought that it might be because she was never talking to him despite all the attempts he has made.

Or maybe it was because he only ever stared at her from a distance. Like those young nerdy boys with a crush and never confessed until they found that the girl also liked them inadvertently. In fact, he thought he was even shyer than those young boys with crushes because she was such a cold beauty.

Not only was he close to Cao Yang, but he was also as she said, a "coward". Li Huiqing was afraid that when he did confess to her, they would never be able to talk again. The number of words that she speaks to him are already the minimum, so he was more than afraid that she would probably stay silent to him for a lifetime.

Being able to talk to her and even have her listen to him, was already a blessing that he waited for every day or every time he got to meet her. Though he would hide his emotions of crushing on her because of Cao Yang.

He and Cao Yang were not really the true close friends that everybody thought they were. He first met Cao Yang when they were both twelve years old. At that time, he was still an orphan and had not been adopted by the Cao Family at first.

Only when he proved that he could be obedient to Cao Yang did they finally start the process of adopting him into the family. Though adopted, he was not added into the family, but to a mistress of Cao Yang's father.

There was one time that he had argued with Cao Yang. Arguments were a natural part of being friends but in reality, the both of them held different positions. He was not really a friend, but more like a servant or dog.

He learned this when Cao Yang's father yelled at him for arguing with Cao Yang. Most of the time, he would get falsely get along with Cao Yang, but during this time, the boy had insulted his family. He did not know if Cao Yang meant it or not, but he would not take any insults towards his family.

However, even after learning the topic of the argument, Cao Yang's father put him at fault instead of the boy who put down his family. His family was already dead and yet, they had to be insulted again. Twice, to be exact. And, by the same blood.

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She was back in her office now as she had finished her dinner. It was late into the night and the stars could be seen shining, though few. Beijing was a famous city, but they were very contaminated and the skies were normally gray and cloudy with storms coming once in a while.

Despite it being night time, she was not sleepy yet. Many things had happened today and though she felt accomplished, she also felt and impediment arriving soon.

Not wanting to go blind though, she decided that it was better to turn off all technologies in her office for now and just stare out the window. She had not closed the window blinds despite it being night time and so when she stared it, she felt that her life was so closely related to the skies that were shown every day.

Her life was pictured as bright blue and full of white clouds that were in happy shapes. Unfortunately, the reality was that she was a dark gray sky full of big ashy clouds ready to pour its rain. Only, she did not rain as she never cried.

In her hypothesis, crying did nothing to solve a problem and it was much better that she never cried for the people in her life. Whether if it was someone she loved, missed, or cared for. She could not cry.

This was for one reason. Her brother had told her tears fixed nothing and only furthered the problem. He had told her this after she had shed a river of tears at their parent's grave. She thought that her crying might have been annoying to him or so because he had a very dissatisfied face or expression.

No matter how many times she said that she would not trust her brother again, she would still have trust in the base of her heart. They had been siblings for so long that it had been ingrained her that he was someone she could rely on. Though, she also agreed with herself that he was poison to her and not medicine.

Even medicine could kill though, so what did it matter.

As she continued standing, staring out the window to only see the blankless sky and the once in a while appearing shining stars, she also thought about her future once again. Though she had Qin Xifeng that was helping her to have a will to live, she also had a brother that destroyed her will to live.

Not only that, but she also had people that were untrustworthy and would betray her. She did not know who those people were, but she knew that they were related to either Cao Yang or her brother. In a sense, she was disappointed, but she still had hope that her brother would turn for the better for some reason.

Hours had passed by and the sun was rising now. She could see the glorious sunlight that shone and blinded her eyes when staring at it rise from the east. At that moment, she had but one wish. It was more normal for people to wish upon a star, but she was wishing on the rising sun.

As she clasped her hands together to make the wish, she prayed, "Heavens, I ask for one thing. I ask that bad memories of this time be nothing but a dream."