Chapter 72: Hold It In! I Absolutely Can’t Make a Mistake!!
Outside the door, Bai Bing’er was still wearing that bright red long dress. At this moment, however, the dress was completely soaked by the rain. Thankfully, red wasn’t a particularly see-through color, so at least she wasn’t indecently exposed.
Still, her alluring and curvaceous figure made Lin Tian unsure where to rest his eyes. He hurriedly turned his head, cleared his throat, and spoke.
“You… Why are you here? And how did you end up completely soaked?”
Bai Bing’er’s face was slightly flushed, partly because of the rush as she ran from another villa through the rain, and partly because of her emotional state. Her previously smooth, well-kept long hair was now wet and clinging in strands to her forehead, ears, and lips.
She was a woman who loved heavy makeup. In her view, only a thick layer of makeup could mask her true emotions. There was a time when she wanted to show her true self to everyone. But when some people treated her like a freak because of it, she stopped trying. Since then, makeup had become a kind of armor for her.
But no matter how well-applied, makeup couldn’t withstand a downpour. After just a minute of running in the rain, it had all smeared. Now, the red lipstick on her lips and the makeup around her eyes had all been ruined by the rain. Yet, even with her messy appearance, Bai Bing’er’s beauty remained stunning.
In fact, perhaps her thick makeup had always concealed her true, natural beauty, something no one had really seen until now. And under the rain, that breathtaking, raw beauty was beginning to emerge. She gasped for breath, eyes shining with excitement and emotion, along with the joy and comfort of finally seeing Lin Tian.
Hearing his question, she softly opened her mouth, her voice lacking its usual lazy tone.
“Lin Tian, I…”
The words halted. She had planned to spill her heart out to him upon seeing him. To confess everything: that she could hear his inner thoughts, that her approach wasn’t random, but because she felt safe around him, because he understood her. And that she had nothing to do with Jiang Yifeng, and that it was Shang Chan spreading nonsense…
But when the time came, Bai Bing’er suddenly realized she didn’t want to tell Lin Tian about being able to hear his thoughts. Call it selfishness, or fear of misunderstanding, or fear of distancing him… Something deep down told her: if Lin Tian found out, something bad would happen. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say.
In the past, she despised people who hid their true thoughts, those two-faced hypocrites. Yet, she found herself unwilling to be honest with him. It conflicted with everything she had believed in for over a decade. Bai Bing’er’s eyes flickered, her face paling from its previous flush.
Anyone who hadn’t lived her life couldn’t possibly understand the weight of this moment. A girl born with the ability to see through others, holding onto her ideals for more than ten years only to have that faith shaken by Lin Tian.
She stared at him, her eyes full of conflict, confusion, panic, and pain. She wanted to be honest, to stay true to herself.
But looking at Lin Tian’s face, one that wasn’t necessarily handsome but was resolute and full of character, she opened her mouth again and again, unable to speak. She placed her pale hand on the doorframe, her mind in chaos, dizzy.
Lin Tian, meanwhile, was thoroughly baffled. It had been more than thirty seconds since he asked his question. In that time, Bai Bing’er had gone from excitement to blankness to pallor and bewilderment. It wasn’t a change of expression; it was a transformation!
For a moment, Lin Tian thought it was actress Zhao Mengmeng at the door putting on another Oscar-worthy performance. And it’s not that he was being impolite by not letting her in even though she was soaked. It was just… not appropriate!
A man and a woman alone. He was still wearing a bathrobe! And Bai Bing’er, dressed like that… if anyone saw, it’d be impossible to explain. So he had to harden his heart and keep her at the door.
Seeing her so lost, Lin Tian didn’t know what to say. Who knew why she ran through the rain to find him? And what was going through her head?
[What’s going on with this woman? Could it be Shang Chan’s words got to her, and now she’s having a meltdown? But judging from her initial expression, that doesn’t seem right…]
[Damn… you know, from this angle, Bai Bing’er really does live up to her second-female-lead status. That beauty is insane! With that heavy makeup before, you couldn’t tell, but now with the natural look, she’s almost on par with Shang Chan! Though the smeared makeup is kind of rough…]
Bai Bing’er, lost in her dilemma, suddenly heard Lin Tian’s inner voice.
She froze. Not realizing it was his thoughts, she instinctively asked:
“…Do I look bad right now?”
A woman always cares about her looks. Bai Bing’er was no exception.
Lin Tian was caught off guard.
[Did she run here in the rain just to ask that?]
Even though he thought, Of course you don’t look good! Your makeup is all over the place! what he said was: “No, how could Miss Bai ever look bad…”
Lin Tian gave a polite smile. No way he’d say she looked awful. He wasn’t suicidal. Upon hearing his words, Bai Bing’er suddenly realized that it had been his inner voice.
Phew… luckily I only asked that. Didn’t slip up.
She let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t even mind that he lied, just glad she hadn’t let anything more important slip. And then, it hit her.
If her subconscious was trying to hide this ability from him… then did anything else even matter?
In that moment, Bai Bing’er felt her beliefs, the ones she’d held for over ten years, shatter. Even she, with the power to hear the truth in others, had things she didn’t want to reveal. Had she been wrong all along?
Her expression turned bleak. The collapse of a person’s worldview isn’t something others can easily understand. She looked at Lin Tian, her eyes hollow, and softly asked:
“Lin Tian… do you think insisting on being real… is wrong?”
Lin Tian paused, puzzled by the sudden question, but still answered seriously:
“Of course it’s not wrong. I mean, maybe a little pretense is inevitable in life, but staying true to yourself, that can’t be a mistake. And the world isn’t always just black and white, right?”
Bai Bing’er smiled bitterly. She thought he was just trying to comfort her. After all, everyone has moments of insincerity. Even she had now fallen into that category.