Chapter 2972: You Are My Fashion Darling 31

The jungle turned into another world in the rain.

Raindrops hit the leaves of broad-leaved plants; the mud on the path was softened by the rain, leaving a footprint with each step; vines hung from the trees, shaken left and right by the rain, like wet curtains.

Min Heng stood in front of a large tree, soaked through.

His emotions completely lost control in this heavy rain.

"Do you know how much I hate you?" His voice was broken by the rain, but each word carried the force of gritted teeth.

"Since the first period, you've been pressing down on me; no matter how hard I try, you always have a few points more than me. What gives you the right?"

"Jin Chen! Speak up! Are you mute?!" Min Heng's voice was hoarse, almost a roar, trying to overpower the noisy rain: "Do you think staying silent solves anything?! I tell you, I've had enough! I've had enough of you always being this half-dead state! I've had enough of you getting everything without doing anything!"

Rainwater flowed down his distorted cheek, mixing with his gritted-teeth hatred.

Jin Chen leaned against the nearby tree trunk.

The tree's canopy was dense, its branches lush with leaves, blocking some of the rain for him but not all; rainwater dripped through the gaps in the leaves, landing on his shoulders and hair.

He drooped his eyelids, listening to Min Heng speak, with no intention to reply, blankly staring at the hysterical Min Heng before him, hearing him use the most vicious language to attack himself over and over, attack his uncle Adams, and attack his relationship with Chenshu.

Min Heng took a step forward, rainwater trickled down from his forehead to his cheeks and into his collar, "Because of Chenshu, because you got involved with Chenshu. Do you think I didn't notice?"

"You don't have to do anything; he paves all the way for you, even treating your neurasthenia..."

Jin Chen's eyelids lifted slightly.

"Do you know why Chenshu won't let you withdraw from the competition?" Min Heng's voice lowered, turning sinister: "It's not because you're outstanding. It's because he's interested in you. Once he loses interest, you'll be nothing."

Jin Chen did not get angry.

He just felt a bit strange.

The things Min Heng said, in the past each sentence could sting him, but now listening feels like hearing a stranger tell someone else's story.

That anger and resentment, that sting of being stepped on a sore spot, did not appear.

Jin Chen even felt that what Min Heng was saying had nothing to do with him.

He recalled how he and Min Heng met. How did they become friends? It seemed like backstage at some event, Min Heng came over to greet him, saying he had seen his works and admired him. Then they exchanged contact information, occasionally chatting, occasionally meeting for a meal. And then…

What happened after that was a bit fuzzy.

It's not that he can't remember; it's that recalling it always feels like something is off, a kind of fuzziness.

Jin Chen realized something.

This fuzziness began only after Chenshu appeared.

From the moment Chenshu barged into his life, the vague mist that had shrouded his memories began to quietly dissipate; many relationships once taken for granted, such as his brotherly bond with Min Heng, revealed their fragile and distorted nature.

In Jin Chen's eyes, Min Heng shifted from a friend whose peace needed maintaining to a concrete, pitiable yet hateful person.

And today, now, in this heavy rain, watching Min Heng lose control, Jin Chen suddenly had a premonition.

After today, this fuzziness will completely disappear.

So Jin Chen stood here, not leaving.

Min Heng grew more excited as he spoke, taking two more steps forward. Only a few steps remained between him and Jin Chen; rainwater streamed down both of them, converging into tiny rivulets on the ground.

"You have neurasthenia, you have PTSD," Min Heng's voice trembled, unclear whether from cold or anger, "You say, if something happened here… a flare-up, a fall, a bite from something—could you still work as a model for the rest of your life?"

"I'm just a little later than you. Just a little. If, back in the first period, Chenshu had taken a liking to me, the person standing here now…"

Min Heng suddenly lunged with his hand, intending to shove Jin Chen hard down the steep slope.

Just as Min Heng's hand was about to touch Jin Chen's shoulder, a black umbrella appeared in the rain curtain.

Jin Chen instinctively looked up.

Chenshu stepped out from behind the trees, holding up an umbrella; the rain was too heavy to see his expression clearly.

And at the instant Jin Chen looked up, Min Heng's lunging hand arrived, wind whistling and hatred driving it straight toward Jin Chen's chest.

Jin Chen dodged backward, his back slamming hard against the rough, wet tree trunk, his forearm scraping harshly against the rough bark.

"Jin Chen!"

Chenshu's gaze sank, frighteningly deep, as his fingertip lightly tapped the umbrella handle.

Jin Chen staggered, his foot slipped, but he barely managed to steady himself, avoiding the worst outcome.

Min Heng's foot slipped, his body flung backward as he tried to grab something to steady himself, but his fingers only caught a wet leaf; he rolled down into the nearby thicket, submerged in waist-high grass.

Chenshu had already walked up to Jin Chen, grabbed his wrist, turned it over to see the gash torn by the tree trunk; blood seeped from the wound, diluted by the rain into a pale red, trickling down his forearm.

"Why didn't you dodge?"

Jin Chen watched him examine the wound, blinking.

That fuzziness really vanished; everything became clear.

The things Min Heng said, the things he did, including all their interactions since they met, suddenly became crystal clear.

Jin Chen lifted his eyes, looking at Chenshu, and belatedly felt a twinge of guilt.

He could indeed have dodged; Min Heng's strike couldn't have reached him, but he still wanted to see what would happen afterward.

As it turns out, what happened was that Chenshu got angry.

Jin Chen lowered the corners of his eyes, stepped forward to lean in; the umbrella was small, so the two of them crowded together shoulder to shoulder, speaking in a nasal tone tinged with rain, slightly drawn out, a pitiful whine: "It hurts so much, Chief Chenshu."

Chenshu: "……"

Jin Chen's expression was very innocent, the corners of his eyes drooping, his lips slightly pursed, rain sliding down his cheeks.

Chenshu looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed.

Jin Chen seized the moment to wrap his arms around Chenshu's waist, leaning in and burying his face in the crook of his neck.

Chenshu relaxed, letting him lean on him, slightly turning his head past Jin Chen's shoulder, coldly glancing at Min Heng still struggling painfully in the thicket; the words he whispered into Jin Chen's ear were gentle: "Next time you see a lunatic, remember to stay far away and run without looking back, got it?"

Jin Chen gave a light chuckle, "Oh."

In the thicket, Min Heng happened to lift his head just then, meeting that gaze; the strength to climb up seemed instantly drained, leaving him only able to lie limp in the cold mud, shivering.

Chenshu didn't glance at him a second time, tilting the umbrella toward Jin Chen to block the rain still falling.

Let's go.