Chapter 74: Awakening

Tan Mo vividly remembers making a quiet birthday wish on her birthday two years ago.

At that time, he was still a cripple who couldn't stand up. The first time he fell in love with someone, his heart was moved and the inferiority complex that came with it filled his heart day and night.

I want to see you laugh, I want to see you play, I want to hold you in my arms.

He listened to the song and made his birthday wish, he wanted a hug, a Qiao Lan hug.

But Tan Mo didn't dare to tell Qiao Lan about such a simple birthday wish.

That year's birthday passed, another year's birthday came and went, and now it's been a long time, two years since that wish, and Tan Mo finally feels what it feels like to hold Qiao Lan in his arms.

The girl's body was thinner and softer than he had imagined, the scent of her hair ghosting around her nose, her thin, soft hands clinging to his waist.

Tan Mo doesn't dare move a muscle.

He remembered how often people would try to hug him when he was very young, but the feeling of the hug made him stiff and the touch that landed on his body was more than he could bear.

He refuses to be approached, to be embraced as an expression of intimacy, but after meeting Qiao Lan, he begins to expect it again and again.

Qiao Lan's embrace still made him stiff, but it was different from anything he had ever felt before, because he was overwhelmed, because he couldn't believe it, and because he was so excited, Tan Mo even wished in his heart that Qiao Lan's hands could hold him harder, that they could be more inseparable.

Tan Mo's hands slowly rest on Qiao Lan's back, little by little, inch by inch, pressing her tightly against his chest, and he buries his head, resting his chin carefully but uncontrollably on Qiao Lan's shoulder.

This was the closest he had ever been to Qiao Lan in his life.

With a turn of the head, the tip of Tan Mo's nose could even brush Qiao Lan's neck, and with a dip of the head, her lips could kiss her pale shoulder and neck, their skin burning against each other.

Qiao Lan's voice was soft, like a mutter to himself, but Tan Mo heard it all the same.

Qiao Lan said Tan Mo how can you do this.

Tan Mo's grip on her waist tightened, and he thought Qiao Lan was blaming him, but Qiao Lan continued, "What will I do if you do this, what will I do if I can't leave you..."

As she spoke, the girl's cheek, buried in the crook of his neck, brushed against Tan Mo's hot body, and Tan Mo felt all his self-control wiped clean for a moment, and in an instant he blurted out, "I'm sorry.

"Then don't ever leave."

You don't know what I'm thinking, you don't know what I'm thinking, you'll grow up, and when you do, you'll meet someone you really like... Qiao Lan subconsciously wanted to say that, but he stopped the moment he opened his mouth.

Qiao Lan's fingertips trembled gently as if she was ashamed of the evil thought that had sprung up in her mind at this moment, but she could not help but continue to think that way.

Tan Mo will always grow up, he will always understand, and when he does he will meet someone he likes and wants to spend his life with.

But...

If if there must be such a person...

Why can't this person be her.

He is still young can she not grow up with him slowly, he does not understand can she not teach him little by little, he can not be alone forever, right, he said "then never leave", it means he also want her to be with him all the time, right?

Although Tan Mo's feelings are different from hers, the desire to be with each other and not to be apart is the same. Tan Mo says that they want to go to the same city and university together, and that in the future they will still be able to do what they are doing today, and that anything is possible.

He regretted that he had become so insistent in his love for Qiao Lan, but he could not help but expect a response from her. Tan Mo's outburst of true thoughts brought him to his senses, and the fact that he didn't get a response from Qiao Lan after a long time made Tan Mo's already anxious heart feel even more uncertain.

But just then, Tan Mo heard the soft answering voice of the girl in her ear, and she said

"Good."

Tan Mo said never to leave, and Qiao Lan said, "Okay.

Qiao Lan could feel the hand around her waist tighten after she had said 'yes', so tight that it even hurt a little.

Tan Mo was pressed against the teenager's chest when, as an afterthought, he realised that his hands were already freezing as he held Tan Mo.

She was in a hurry to get downstairs, wearing the thin jacket she had worn in the dormitory, and now that snow was falling from the sky, she was too excited to notice it, and only now did she feel soaked through.

Qiao Lan subconsciously wanted to let go of Tan Mo and let Tan Mo go back as usual, but her mind was in a different place than before, and with the unspeakable shame and guilt of seducing a child, Qiao Lan suddenly whispered.

"MoMo , I'm cold."

Tan Mo wondered if he had been so excited by Qiao Lan's response that he had become delusional, otherwise he would have heard a hint of pouting in Qiao Lan's "MoMo".

The second group of students returned from their evening study session, and everyone inevitably glanced over at Qiao Lan and Tan Mo as they passed by.

Tan Mo shields his body from the view of the others as he carefully identifies Qiao Lan's phrase "I'm cold".

Qiao Lan said she was cold, so should he let her go and let her go upstairs to rest early, but Tan Mo couldn't let go of the hug, not knowing when the next one would be.

Tan Mo suddenly remembered a film clip he had seen somewhere, and was emboldened by Qiao Lan's "yes". He ripped open his coat and covered Qiao Lan in it, wrapping the girl's arms around his waist through the coat, this time more intimately.

The students who were passing by and caught a glimpse of what was going on couldn't help but exclaim, and Bai Yu, who was hiding on the balcony watching the action, covered her mouth and shouted, "Holy shit."

At the end of the day, Tan Mo went home still dazed.

No one knows how apprehensive he was at that moment, when he was afraid that Qiao Lan would push him away.

It is said that the moon makes the heart go haywire, but a snowy night can be just as unsettling.

Qiao Lan didn't push him away, she even let him hold her without struggling or feeling uncomfortable, and finally smiled and said goodbye and asked him to tweet her when he arrived home safely.

She didn't dislike it and she wasn't unhappy, Tan Mo thought to herself.

And did he like it, did he feel happy?

Tan Mo does not know.

Tan Mo can't guess what Qiao Lan is thinking, he can only feel himself clearly. Once satisfied with just a hug, now he has just received it and is looking forward to the next one, and maybe one day there will be a next one and he will still not be satisfied, but will even crave it more.

A desire for hugs, for kisses, even for something more intimate.

Tan Mo even feels a shiver run through her body at the thought of it.

One is always insatiable, and when one gets one thing, one starts to crave other things, and such thoughts cannot be poured out, and they grow hotter and hotter.

As Tan Mo sat in the car, he thought back to every touch and word he had said tonight, and finally stopped his thoughts on the "yes".

Qiao Lan promised him that he would never leave him.

Before that she even said, Tan Mo what if she can never leave him when you do that.

At the time he answered too quickly to think about the other implications of the statement, but now, on reflection, it is Qiao Lan who has gradually started to become more and more inseparable from him.

The bond between the two is mutual, just as Tan Mo cannot live without Qiao Lan, Qiao Lan is becoming inseparable from him.

In that case, could he not make her more dependent on himself, make her more inseparable from him, so that until the end, he could not keep her with him forever?

Tan Mo suddenly clenched his fists.

He shouldn't have thought this way, he was a mentally disabled man and should never have had Qiao Lan tied to him.

But God knows how much he wanted to do it.

Tan Mo took a deep breath and pushed down the desire that had been rising since today.

Uncle Chan looked at Tan Mo in the reversing mirror several times. Tan Mo's expressions were so rich tonight that Uncle Chan was sure something was going on, but Tan Mo didn't say anything, so Uncle Chan had to change the subject to other unrelated matters.

Qiao Yuan, for example, has already undergone a successful operation.

"The kidney source has just been replaced, it is still under observation and it will take at least another month to be fully discharged normally."

"Well," Tan Mo said, much lighter as he turned his attention away.

"You'll call Tan Hecheng again tomorrow."

Uncle Chan: "......"

That's your father...

But when he thought about what Tan Father had done, Uncle Chan didn't say anything and asked Tan Mo what he wanted with Tan Father.

"The same trick as last time, this time checking out the little restaurant in Qiao Family."

Uncle Chan was stunned, checking out the Qiao Family's small restaurant?

Even if there is no investigation, Uncle Chan can guarantee that the hygiene of the restaurant is definitely not up to standard and the parents who taught Qiao's second aunt are definitely not decent businessmen. When Tan Mo said that he was investigating Qiao's father and Qiao's mother's restaurant, he was implying that, like the Law family before them, he would withdraw the Qiao Family's licence so that they could not continue their business.

While understanding Tan Mo's approach, the

"The two of them will be forced to come back to Qiao Lan when they have no choice. Qiao Yuan is recovering from surgery, and the hospital bill plus the medication will definitely not cover 200,000 yuan.

"It's all about getting him to find out", Tan Mo said lightly.

He was worried that they wouldn't have enough guts not to go.

Uncle Chan understood Tan Mo's meaning instantly.

Tan Mo once said he would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy Qiao Lan a clean slate, but he didn't say hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Qiao Yuan get a cure and then give Qiao Lan a clean slate.

Even if hundreds of thousands of dollars go down the drain, it's far more comfortable than actually helping Qiao Yuan.

The Qiao Family are not the kind of people who can be truly taken in by a few words, and their greed is so clearly written on their faces.