Chapter 222: God Whispers to You (Two in One)

——My book friend Sang, the cherry blossoms in my hometown are blooming.

(Cherry blossoms are in season from January to March, and even in May.)
It's May now.

It’s not the season of cherry blossoms – it’s the season of red leaves.

——After the moon rises in the blue sky, wild geese arrive with the rustling of red leaves.

In Japan, October is also known as the "Red Leaves Month". The Japanese love red leaves as much as cherry blossoms, and when the red leaves are at their best, the TV will broadcast the latest "Red Leaves Front" (Momijizensen). In order to grab the best spots to view the red leaves, the roads leading to the red leaves viewing spots in various parts of Japan are often jammed, which is called the "Red Leaves Stagnation (Momijijiyutai)".

After seeing it on TV, Zhuo and Ling also came to see the red leaves.

In the middle of the meal, Zhuo left the table for a while to go to the bathroom. Unexpectedly, when he came back, he saw Ling being approached by a man he didn't know.

This person is a few years older than Zhuo. I don’t know if he is a working person or a college student.

His face was red and he was still a little staggering. He was already very drunk.

Not far away, under another ginkgo tree, a group of people were pointing at him and laughing.

I'm afraid this person is one of them.

“It’s really ugly.”

When he sees someone losing control because of the atmosphere or drunkenness and then causing trouble for others, Zhuo feels disgusted from the bottom of his heart.

It's not that he wants to deny the excitement after drinking, but he never wants to become the kind of person who brings trouble to others after drinking.

People cannot be led by three things: the first is alcohol, the second is emotions, and the third is the surrounding atmosphere.

Especially in public.

Zhuo tried hard not to let the disgust show on his face as he walked towards Ling who looked calm.

Anyone could tell that Zero was giving off an aura of "don't talk to me" at this moment, but no one expected this person to actually try to strike up a conversation with Zero.

In a way, this was quite remarkable, but Zero had already begun to move his eyes, which he thought were very beautiful, to scan the man's body, probably his neck, abdomen, and knees. Now was not the time to be sentimental about this man.

The man stretched out his hand, probably trying to force Ling to go enjoy the flowers.

However, Zhuo had already put his arm around Ling's shoulders from behind and pulled her to his side.

"This scene seems familiar... When we first met, a car rushed by the side of the road..."

He and Ling just met that time, and Zhuo reached out and pulled her over to avoid the vehicles. Although the situation this time was not so serious, and Ling was also capable of handling it, Zhuo still did it.

The two of them came out to play in a happy mood, and it would be best if they didn't ruin their mood.

And even though he knew that Ling had the ability to solve it, Zhuo's inner "possessiveness" still didn't want him to touch Ling. How sick...

Being pulled suddenly seemed to frighten Ling, but after seeing Zhuo's figure, the fluctuation in her eyes quickly calmed down.

It shouldn't be an illusion. He thought that at that moment, Zero wanted to punch him.

But the target was not supposed to be him, but another man.

Based on her usual style, she would most likely give the man a standard back throw or a clean uppercut to the abdomen and jaw before the man could touch her.

However, doing so might... definitely anger the drunkard, not to mention that there were his accomplices over there. Of course, Zero could beat them, but it would cause trouble and affect the mood and atmosphere of this viewing. Perhaps it was because of these reasons that Zero had to endure and ignore this person in the end.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's really timely."

"sorry."

It was because of his absence that Ling was entangled by others. Zhuo had no intention of defending himself on this point and had no way to do so.

Then Ling did not hide behind Zhuo like an ordinary girl, but grabbed his sleeve with her fingers to show her attitude and stood side by side with him. This might also be a way to protect Zhuo. If the other party still wanted to attack, she could beat him down immediately.

This is zero concern.

However, Zhuo felt a little useless, like a fox relying on the power of a tiger. To put it bluntly, he was just relying on the power of his master.

Zhuo has never advocated solving problems with violence.

"There is a violent side to human nature. Wherever there are people, there is violence. If you want to control violence, you need to master greater violence. If you want to end violence, you must first become the greatest violence." - This is Herzog's outlook on life, not Zhuo's.

Zhuo admitted that Herzog was right.

But he doesn't like or even hate using violence to solve problems.

We should be reasonable in our conduct and actions. Violence should only be a means to make others reason with you, rather than a means to make others listen to your reasoning.

Zhuo thinks so.

But now I have no military force and need Zero to act like a threat, which is a bit unfair.

He turned his gaze to the man in front of him and found that the man continued to stay where he was after waving his hand in the air.

really.

The other person's face was red unnaturally, and when he got closer, he could smell the alcohol on his breath.

This person was indeed drunk.

For a drunk person who has basically lost his brain, you can use strong means to stop him, but that person will end up in a miserable state, and the fight will also scare others.

It would be better to leave early.

Zhuo didn't think he could reason with a drunk man.

What's more, if a fight breaks out, there will inevitably be physical contact, and the degree of contact may exceed one's own to some extent, which is really unpleasant.

"I'm sorry. This girl is mine, and she's underage. Bye."

Zhuo smiled as kindly as possible, conveyed the message clearly to the other party, and then quickly pulled Ling away from the man.

Fortunately, the man was not a completely unreasonable hooligan. Even though he was unconscious, he knew he had done something wrong, so he just stood there and watched him leave without chasing after him.

When they reached a place where the man could no longer be seen, Zhuo stopped and looked at Ling. She was also looking up at him, as if she had been looking at him all the time.

Although the expression is natural, there is always an indescribable feeling on the cheeks, as if they are much more lively.

The somewhat misty azure blue eyes looked up at Zhuo, as if glaring at him, which made Zhuo shrink back a little.

Although Ling showed such an expression, she still grabbed Zhuo's sleeve, as if telling him not to try to escape.

The irresistible fragrance made Zhuo's heart beat even more restlessly.

"…When did I become your thing?"

She questioned in a slow, low voice.

After a while, Zhuo finally understood why Ling had been staring at him.

At that time, Zhuo didn't think much about it, he just wanted to make himself look like Ling's boyfriend as much as possible. And that line seemed to make Ling very concerned.

"...Uh, that was just a temporary solution. Please forgive me. If I don't get you away quickly, that weird guy will get even more complacent."

Zhuo's goal was to get Ling out of trouble in the most flexible way possible. Judging from the results alone, he succeeded, but the lines seemed to need some further consideration.

In the final analysis, that line might be unnecessary...but seeing Ling being approached by another man, the possessiveness that subtly seeped into his heart prompted Zhuo to subconsciously say that sentence.

Now he had no right to complain to the man.

Because everyone's actions are controlled by their own desires.

Although he thought so, Zhuo was still looking at Ling... She was using her clothes as if she was sulking, or angry, and trying to find something from Zhuo's answer, and explained the situation.

As a result, Zero frowned slightly again.

"…I understand this, but I have to consider the way I speak." "I was wrong."

“Everything needs to be considered in terms of method and order. No matter which aspect is wrong, it won’t work.”

"Got it, got it. I won't say that again, sorry."

Although it was a temporary solution, Zero seemed unhappy about being told that it was his own thing.

Zhuo apologized frankly, but he didn't expect Ling to frown even more than before.

"…Do you really know everything?"

"So I'm sorry."

"Простофиля."

"what?"

Ling suddenly said something confusing, which Zhuo couldn't understand.

And Ling was like a parent who saw his child fail a test. His usually expressionless face flashed an unusually cute roll of the eyes the moment he turned his back to Zhuo.

Then she took a step back, and even though her back was turned to Zhuo and he wasn't looking, she stepped accurately on the instep of Zhuo's foot.

Zhuo just screamed "It hurts, it hurts" exaggeratedly and let her torment him.

Then Zero seemed to believe it, immediately removed his shoes and turned back to look at his expression.

After watching it for a while,

"Squat down a little."

"What."

"Squat down a little."

"……Oh."

Being stared at by Ling with an absolute gaze, Zhuo had no choice but to succumb to her power and slowly bent down.

To be honest, this posture is a bit ambiguous. When a boy bends down to a girl who is shorter than him, it is easy to associate it with a kiss. And it is likely to be a kiss on the forehead, because only in this way does the boy need to bend down, not lower his head.

"what!"

It was indeed a forehead, but it wasn't a kiss, it was a loud snap of the fingers.

But it actually didn't hurt much, just a momentary sting, and the strength was controlled very well.

He shouted so exaggeratedly mainly to hide his inner feelings.

If she were to touch me so closely again, my sanity would be in danger.

In the cool autumn, Ling wore relatively thin clothes.

The bad thing is that Zhuo only bent down a little bit, and when Ling flicked him with her fingers, Zhuo would become aware of the thing that only girls had when she came close to him, and his consciousness was about to fly away.

I could only shout it out to hide my feelings.

Zhuo gently broke away from Ling, then put one hand on Ling's forehead to separate her.

Originally, it was not good to touch a woman's hair without permission, but now he needed to calm down and couldn't continue to see that face, so he had to do this. Although he still had some concerns, Zhuo still touched it.

Just like that, Zero became much more obedient. She seemed to like this kind of touch very much.

Zero seemed to have finally calmed down.

Because although her angry look didn't seem to change, she no longer wanted to use violence against Zhuo.

Then, the palm of his hand placed on the other's forehead began to advance involuntarily, gradually moving slowly and weaving through her hair.

And Zero didn't resist at all.

Looking at Zero allowing himself to touch him, although he wondered if it was really okay to be so defenseless, he also felt very happy.

Because this represents her trust, and also represents the closeness of the girl that Zhuo likes to herself.

In the ginkgo forest that was half lit up red, Zhuo and Ling enjoyed this peaceful time together.

He thought to himself that it was a luxury to be able to play and fight with Zero like this, and when he looked at Zero, he found that there were pieces of red leaves stuck in her hair.

Long hair is easily stained by leaves, and if you stand under the tree all the time, the leaves will seem to turn into a veil decorated with red.

"I didn't expect broken leaves to stick to my body so easily. Look, I just took them off."

Zhuo pinched off a few petals stuck to her hair and placed them in Ling's palm.

Then her clear blue eyes blinked.

"Although beauties and red leaves are a perfect match, it's a problem if so many of them stick to your head. Look, there they are again."

As she spoke, another red leaf fell on her long light golden hair.

Zero, a beautiful girl with fair skin and a temperament that makes strangers stay away, really matches the falling red hue, but Zero definitely doesn't want to be covered in red leaves.

Looking at Ling's hair being blown by the breeze, Zhuo pinched another broken leaf and placed it in Ling's palm. However, Ling did not look at his palm again, but looked at him.

"…So why is this happening?"

"Well, it's gravity, of course."

"No... Never mind, there's nothing."

After saying that, Zero shook his head.

Then she pulled a white, patternless handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped up the broken leaf.

Zero's movements were very slow, as if he was treating a very precious treasure.

It was obviously an ordinary behavior, but in Zhuo's eyes it was particularly dazzling and sacred. He felt as if he had seen something that he shouldn't have seen.

"What are you going to do with this?"

“…made into pressed flowers and used as bookmarks.”

"You don't read much."

"To ask such a question..." Zero turned to look at him, "...That's why you're asking such a question."

Zhuo has heard Ling say several inexplicable things today, and he really can't understand them.

But since Zero said so, then so be it.

Zhuo thought it would be better not to ask too many questions.

He looked at Ling and found that she was looking at the broken leaves in the handkerchief with a look of... pity? ...

Soon after, Zero noticed his gaze, looked at him, and then turned his face away as if he was upset.

This rare, even never-before-seen childish side made Zhuo hold his breath for a moment.

He was just taking a walk with her, but Ling cherished it as a memory because of his close feelings towards Zhuo.

Take the cherry blossoms just now for example. Didn’t Zero want to press and preserve them just to commemorate this moment?
Still the same look.

What shouldn't be seen? This is what shouldn't be seen!
It’s like God whispered a few words in your ear: You can’t escape even if you have wings.

　I won’t take any leave this month, so today counts as a leave.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)