hsntnovel Chapter 21: Speak the Truth More?
Chapter 21: Speak the Truth More?
In that instant, a multitude of thoughts flashed through Jiang Xingni's mind.
The little girl with black hair and golden eyes silently walked to the window, opened it with a snap, and stared silently at Pei Zhaoye outside.
Pei Zhaoye's smile didn't fade; instead, he gave Jiang Xingni a feigned innocent look: "You didn't invite me..."
He Jingtong shook the hand holding his collar threateningly. He looked up and saw He Jingtong's light green eyes staring at him silently.
Pei Zhaoye sighed silently in his heart, then corrected himself of the unfinished sentence: "...Shall we go inside and sit down for a bit?"
He always knew he was good-looking, and at this time, Pei Zhaoye was very good at using his face to gain favor with others.
Jiang Xingni also admitted this point—to be precise, the faces of those who can enter the main characters are not too ugly. Of course, how can people in the real world be tricked into spending money if they are too ugly?
She stepped back, making room for the two of them to enter the house through the open window.
"Is this your manners?" The little girl raised an eyebrow, leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and looked at the uninvited main group.
He Jingtong clicked his tongue, then stretched out a hand and pushed Pei Zhaoye forward.
"He wanted to come." He Jingtong pointed at Pei Zhaoye, then sat on the windowsill, as if the whole thing had nothing to do with him.
Jiang Xingni's gaze, which seemed to be both smiling and not smiling, swept over him. He added, seemingly unconcerned, "Song Juexiao and Xiao Jiming are both busy, so it can only be Pei Zhaoye and me who came."
Pei Zhaoye didn't care about He Jingtong's words. He sat down in the only chair in the guest room as if he were a familiar person, rested his chin on his hands, and smiled at Jiang Xing.
"Yes," he said. "I forced He Jingtong to come here. So, how about coming with us? To investigate the aftermath of the wordless book?"
He Jingtong glared expressionlessly at Pei Zhaoye's back. Pei Zhaoye didn't see it, but Jiang Xingni, who was standing opposite them, saw it clearly.
"Didn't you say during the day that you weren't planning to go?" she said lazily.
Although Jiang Xingni already knew they would come looking for her while reading the comic, she really didn't expect them to come so quickly.
"Because we've found the adults to be unreliable." Pei Zhaoye lied through his teeth, every word he uttered was a lie. "Besides, Xingxing, we really need you."
Jiang Xingni's gentle smile fell on Pei Zhaoye's face, as if he hadn't noticed that the others hadn't said many truthful things.
"You still remember that my special ability is to see the truth, right?" Jiang Xingni's tone was gentle and soft as she looked at the two people in front of her with a warm smile.
He Jingtong was silent for a moment, then jumped out of the window. As for Pei Zhaoye, he turned around abruptly the moment he heard the sound, but it was too late.
He only saw He Jingtong silently wave at him, signaling him to take care.
Pei Zhaoye's physical skills are not bad—but only at a passable level, and compared to the other members of the main group, they are considered poor.
Not to mention compared to Jiang Xingni.
If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Xingni happened to learn how to distinguish lies from others from those kids in the early morning, and that these two hadn't said a single word of the truth—not even a mix of truth and falsehood! They were simply lying outright—Jiang Xingni could feel his radar beeping wildly while they were talking.
"I suggest you tell the truth," the little girl said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll know if you lie—unless you have some weird habit of lying even though you know I know."
Pei Zhaoye's smile froze for a moment.
Then, he laughed again, seemingly unconcerned.
The boy shook his head, his purple eyes looking at Jiang Xingni quietly and intently.
After a long silence, he finally spoke: "So you knew I was lying?"
His voice even carried a hint of surprise.
"Okay." Jiang Xingni heard him chuckle briefly, his eyes filled with a gentle smile. "Then I'll try my best to tell you the truth more often in the future, Xingxing."
Jiang Xingni: ?
The girl stared at him suspiciously: "Since lies can be exposed anyway, why not tell the truth more often?"
Pei Zhaoye's response was a muffled hum from his throat, neither admitting nor denying.
"I'm not lying now." Pei Zhaoye continued to extend his hand to Jiang Xingni, making an inviting gesture. "Would you like to come with us to investigate? We all think we'll need you, and we think you'll join us."
This time, Pei Zhaoye did not lie; he told the truth.
Jiang Xingni raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on his: "As you all think, I will."
Without needing much explanation, Pei Zhaoye led Jiang Xingni to the window. The two looked at each other for a moment, then Pei Zhaoye said calmly and confidently, "What are you waiting for?"
"What are you waiting for?" Jiang Xingni asked cautiously.
"Of course I'm waiting for you to take me away," Pei Zhaoye said softly. "What else am I waiting for?"
"Don't expect me to be able to jump off the seventeenth floor without getting hurt like He Jingtong," Pei Zhaoye said, then, seeing Jiang Xingni's expression, he corrected himself.
"Don't think I can be like He Jingtong, able to... uh." He hesitated, unsure what word to use to accurately describe He Jingtong's actions, and finally said, "Run away."
Jiang Xingni couldn't help but say that it wasn't entirely wrong to call it running away; in a sense, He Jingtong had indeed abandoned Pei Zhaoye and run away on his own.
The girl chuckled softly at Pei Zhaoye, "Alright."
She said, "It seems your teammates are determined that if you can't convince me, you shouldn't come back either."
"They're our teammates," Pei Zhaoye corrected casually.
Jiang Xingni grabbed him by the collar and made him squat on the windowsill of the seventeenth floor.
Jiang Xingni originally thought Pei Zhaoye would struggle, but she saw that Pei Zhaoye was like a cat being held by the scruff of its neck, not even struggling, just hugging his arms, looking very trusting.
He even had the leisure to chat with Jiang Xingni, saying, "Considering this situation, I don't think I'm the kind of person who's particularly heavy-hearted, right?"
No, that's not true. Jiang Xingni silently weighed his weight, and it was still within her reach of lifting him with one hand.
"So where is the meeting place you agreed on?" Jiang Xingni asked.
Pei Zhaoye turned around and looked at Jiang Xingni's face: "Oh, so we were assigned to the same group."
Jiang Xingni: ...?
Jiang Xingni almost threw Pei Zhaoye down.