Chapter 20: The Big Deceiver Who Plays with Emotions

  SM Entertainment has a training facility in Cheongdam-dong, where trainees practice, and as a girl group that has already debuted, many people naturally have some privileges as seniors.

  Jung Soo-jung was holding a bag of popcorn pacing back and forth in front of the practice room door, waiting for her sister after finishing her practice.

  My own sister, and an extremely unreliable one at that.

  After waiting for ten minutes, Zheng Xiujing finally waited for the person to arrive and burst out complaining: "Sister, as an artist who is about to debut, can't you have a sense of time? At the agreed time, you are at least half an hour late every time."

  The girl who came over rummaged through her own ears, moved in an equally unimpressive eight-character step, flicked the nonexistent earwax between her fingers, and after waving her hand said: "My home is so far away from here, today just happened to be a traffic jam, I can arrive this early already is uncle driver super level play, so don't always complain to your sister me, understand?"

  Zheng Xiujing stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth and said indistinctly: "Dad and mom went to Los Angeles on business, as an older sister, you don't even care about what your only younger sister is doing every day. Not only did you grab my pocket money, but also made me wait for dinner, this is...this is something Uncle can tolerate, but Auntie can't!"

  "Is it tolerable or not? Who can tolerate it?" Zheng Xiuyan slightly lowered her eyelids, raised her hand and patted Zheng Xiujing's head, saying, "If you don't know idioms, then don't say them. Are you losing face or not? As your sister, I'm worried about your studies, Xiujing."

  Jung Ji-hyun slapped away her sister's salty pork hand and muttered: "Acting like you know, it was him who taught you."

  Upon hearing Zheng Xiujing's words, Zheng Xiuyan's face was covered with a layer of frost, and her originally cold face now looked like an iceberg: "Don't mention that bastard."

  Jung Ji-hyun said with a hint of resentment: "That bastard helped you get out of so many troubles when he was in Los Angeles, but you don't even know how to be grateful."

  "What right does someone who normally scolds people more harshly than I do have to mock me?"

  "Sister, as an older sister, you should learn to cherish your younger sister."

  "Oh."

  Jung Ji-hyun said discontentedly: "It's too insincere."

  Zheng Xiuyan glared at Zheng Xiujing, if it weren't for this girl being born with more strength than herself, she should be taught a lesson: "Are you going to eat or not, starving yourself to death!"

  Jung Soo-jung suddenly felt absurd and said: "Jung Soo-yeon, but I've been waiting for you for half an hour!"

  "Come on, come on, let's eat first. Dad and mom will be back tonight, we still have to go pick them up at the airport, how can we do that on an empty stomach?"

  The two sisters walked side by side on the road. Zheng Xiujing thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "Sister, do you think Dad and Mom can get any news this time when they go back?"

  "God knows."

  Jung Soo-jung thought it would be better for her to stop talking about this topic, as every time she brought it up, Jung Soo-yeon would become extremely irritable.

  "By the way, sis, what about Tiffany sis who's always with you every day?"

  "He's gone and mixed with the wrong crowd."

  "Who is it, male or female?"

  "Jung Ji-hyun, I know you're at an age where you're curious about everything, but sometimes can't you just not ask so many questions? It's tiring for me to answer them too."

  Jung shook her head: "Tsk, tsk, no wonder you can't be the team leader. Indeed, the outcome of all things in this world is decided by the differences between people beforehand. Sister, I think you're really a big weirdo."

  .....

  .....

  Tiffany never forgot her original intention and felt a bit disappointed looking at Chu Jingyan who was overjoyed to be able to go home.

  "I was thinking of taking you to experience the beauty of the world and then cleansing your dark soul." As she said this, Tiffany glanced at Chu Jingyan and weakly said: "But I found that you seem to have no desire to be saved at all."

  "When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and crucified on the cross, what kind of mentality do you think Jesus had in facing death?"

  "Karma's a bitch, as the facts have proven, Judas paid the price he deserved." Tiffany replied, though she didn't understand why Chu Jingyan suddenly asked this question.

  "I feel about the same."

  "Tiffany obviously dissatisfied with Chu Jingyan's words: "Where is it almost the same?"

  Chu Jing smiled and said, "Of course I wouldn't dare compare myself to a saint, but if it's about going to an amusement park or shopping to vent my emotions, I think my way is more suitable for me."

  "Tiffany asked doubtfully: 'Is it useful?'"

  "Of course it's useful."

  Chu Jingyun drove the car and glanced at the two girls in the back seat through the rearview mirror, thinking for a moment before asking: "Have you ever been to China?"

  Tiffany shook her head, but Kim Tae-yeon raised her right hand and said in a low voice, "When I was young, I went to the capital of China."

  "Oh?" Chu Jing asked with a smile: "How does it feel?"

  Kim Tae-yeon thought for a moment and then said: "The place is very big, no matter where you go, there are many people, it's very prosperous."

  "After listening, Chu Jingyu said slowly: 'Although I am Chinese, unfortunately, I have never been to the capital. When I had the ability to return to my country and take a look at my motherland, I didn't go to any big city because I think all the big cities in this world are almost the same, as if they were carved out of the same mold.'"

  "Same high-rise buildings, same busy people rushing to work, same steel and concrete, except for the language spoken, there's not much difference."

  "Stop it," Tiffany said: "What does this have to do with the self-cultivation you were talking about earlier?"

  "Listen carefully to what I have to say." Chu Jingyan was unusually patient today.

  "What was I saying just now?" Chu Jingyan thought for a moment and said, "At the end of my second year in Seoul, I had some savings. You also know that I'm a very boring person with no need to spend money anywhere. One evening while watching TV, I remember they were broadcasting news about the Olympic mascot."

  "Then I found out that I had never been to China at all."

  "What it's like there, and people who speak the same language as me, with the same bloodline, suddenly sparked a strong curiosity and interest in me."

  "So I went back to China."

  "Where did he go?" asked Kim Tae-yeon curiously by her side.

  "Shangri-La, a beautiful place just like heaven."

  "When a person travels, or returns to their hometown, it feels somewhat subtle. I deliberately avoid big cities and head to places similar to Shangri-La. Honestly, I believe that the local environment nurtures the local people, so in such beautiful places, the people are naturally also very beautiful."

  Chu Jingyan fell into reminiscence, and the two girls in the back seat also listened very seriously. The carriage was quiet, and Chu Jingyan continued: "The indigenous people there are very simple and hospitable. When you're thirsty or tired, sitting on a stone bench, someone will offer you fruit and spring water. Many times I think that if it weren't for many reasons beyond my control, I would be happy to live there for a lifetime."

  "Tiffany listened and asked with some emotion: 'Is this your self-cultivation?'"

  "It's not over yet."

  "After leaving Shangri-La, continue walking forward. The place looks a bit poor and barren, and naturally there are no tourists from all over the world to boost the economy. It's really poor, except for basic food and clothing, there's nothing else to ask for."

  "I found a village at the foot of the mountain, with very few people, only dozens of households, low and humble earthen houses, muddy roads, and the most simple and unadorned people."

  "What were you doing there?"

  "Look at the mountain, look at people." Chu Jing said with a smile: "I've been looking for a long time, but I still can't help but look at each other."

  I was boarding with a family, the parents were out working, leaving only an elderly person and a pair of siblings, the sister was slightly older, I remember she was twelve years old at that time, and the brother was very young, only five years old.

  "Can you imagine a twelve-year-old girl starting her chores before dawn, every day the pigs haven't even gotten up yet she has to get up and prepare their food, then help her brother get dressed, next go prepare breakfast, the hottest dishes are always reserved for her brother and grandparents, while she herself will just quickly tidy up the house during that time, then hastily eat a few mouthfuls before going off to school."

  The school is very far from the girl's home, it takes an hour to walk there, but the girl has never been late.

  "The girl learns naturally and is very good, sometimes when the teacher is not around, she can even go on stage to replace the teacher to give a lesson."

  Chu Jingyuan said, "I've always been curious about what's supporting that girl to live such a life. So I followed her to school, followed her to work in the fields, and helped take care of her younger brother and elderly relatives. It was strange that there wasn't any frustration or boredom, but instead I could do these things well and felt more and more happy. My mood became inexplicably good, and even now I'm not clear why. Do you guys know the reason?"

  Taeyeon and Tiffany shook their heads.

  "The children there are transparent and clean from the inside out, no matter what they do, if they can save a dollar, they will be happy for a long time. What can you do with one dollar? In China's big cities, not even a bun can be bought."

  "I lived there for a whole month, and if I could, I would have liked to continue living there, but in the end, I left, leaving some money behind, very little, I thought it was too little, but for that family, it was actually enough for a year's worth of living expenses, and even more."

  "Tiffany asked in puzzlement: 'Why not leave a little more?'"

  "Nonsense, I also need to eat, what can I eat if I give it all to them?" Chu Jingyan said matter-of-factly. "Besides, can't you see that giving money to someone I don't even know is already like a meteor hitting the earth?"

  "Tiffany nodded in agreement and said, 'Indeed it is.'"

  "Back in Seoul, everything went back to normal, and it became a habit that I formed from then on. Every year, I would return to that small village to visit the family and help them out within my capabilities."

  "I think the Peach Blossom Spring in Tao Yuanming's writing should be a place like that."

  Taeyeon and Tiffany were a bit quiet, the two often complained that practice life was too hard, the body suffered a lot of injuries, and the tears shed were countless. Now it seems that compared to the protagonist in Chodingy's story, the suffering for dreams should also be considered a kind of happiness.

  "So." Chu Jingyan paused for a moment before continuing, "I've said all this just to tell you guys."

  "I am mentally very healthy and positive with no darkness."

  Tae-yeon, Tiffany: “............”

  After saying so much and being emotional for so long, this man with such a strange mindset is just trying to prove this point? Is this considered emotional deception?

  Taeyeon and Tiffany both knew about it but pretended they didn't.

  What a big scammer.

  Collecting too little, seeking recommendations, seeking collection.