Sleepy? Take a Nap

Xi Shulan’s case had gone more smoothly than Xi Zhen had expected with Bai Mo handling it. The next day, the moment Xi Zhen arrived at the hospital, Bai Mo “sent” her away.

“Sis, go home,” Bai Mo said at the ward door. “I’ve got my mom here.”

Xi Zhen looked at him but didn’t agree right away.

“Really, go back. You’ve already been here two days; there’s a pile of things waiting for you in A City. Besides...” Bai Mo glanced into the ward and lowered his voice. “My mom... she’s the type to overreact when something happens.”

Xi Zhen was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. “Call me if anything comes up.”

“Mm.”

“Write down whatever the doctor says; send it to me every day.”

“Okay.”

“And...” Xi Zhen paused, glancing at the dark circles under Bai Mo’s eyes. “You should rest too. Don’t let her get better only for you to collapse.”

Bai Mo froze for a beat, then laughed. “Got it, sis.”

Xi Zhen left quickly; Li Xingqing was waiting for her downstairs. The car was parked in the same spot, the window rolled down halfway, revealing Li Xingqing’s refined face. Xi Zhen pulled open the passenger door and got in. Cool air was blowing through the car, and there was a cup of coffee in the cup holder.

“Any problems on Bai Mo’s side?” Li Xingqing asked.

“Mm. He can handle it.”

Hearing that, Li Xingqing didn’t ask any more. She started the car and drove out of the hospital. By the time they got on the highway, the sky had fully brightened. Orange-red light spread across the horizon; Li Xingqing leaned back in her seat and didn’t touch the coffee.

“Sleepy?” Li Xingqing asked.

“No.”

“Take a nap. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Xi Zhen didn’t answer. Her hand rested on her knee, her fingers slightly curled. After a while, she felt a hand reach over and gently take her fingers. She didn’t respond; not long after, her hand was turned over and their fingers were interlaced.

“Li Xingqing,” Xi Zhen called.

“I’m here.” Li Xingqing answered automatically.

“Can you drive with both hands?”

“...Oh.” That hand let go and obediently returned to the steering wheel.

They drove for two hours; the morning highway was still fairly clear. By the time they reached A City, it was only nine. Since it was Sunday and not a workday, neither of them had any intention of putting in extra hours.

As soon as Li Xingqing exited the highway, Xi Zhen said, “Take me home.”

Her voice was quiet. Li Xingqing’s fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel; she signaled, changed lanes, and drove toward the building where Xi Zhen lived.

When the car stopped downstairs, Xi Zhen unfastened her seat belt, pushed open the door, and got out. She took a few steps, then turned back to look once. Li Xingqing was still in the driver’s seat, window down, her face fully visible as she watched her in silence.

This time Li Xingqing didn’t ask to go up, but that somehow made Xi Zhen feel a little uneasy.

She wanted to invite her up, yet that also felt a little strange.

“Go on up,” Li Xingqing said, watching Xi Zhen hesitate.

“You should go back and get some proper sleep,” Xi Zhen reminded her.

“Okay.” Li Xingqing nodded, making as if to start the engine, then slowly rolled up the window.

Xi Zhen no longer had any reason to look back, so she went straight upstairs. Only after watching Xi Zhen disappear inside did the person who had just pretended to leave quietly withdraw her gaze.

Li Xingqing had no intention of leaving; she rested her hand on the steering wheel, her fingertips tapping it idly.

Then the car window was knocked twice.

Li Xingqing turned her head. Outside the window stood a woman in a well-cut smoky-gray trench coat, though the coat was wrinkled, as if it hadn’t been ironed in a long time. Its collar was crooked, and the cuffs were stained with some dark mark. Her hair was also a mess; the permed curls were loose and fluffy, with a few strands stuck to her cheeks, damp with sweat.

She was bracing herself against the car door, her fingers trembling slightly. She wasn’t wearing a ring. Her nails were cut very short, but the edges were uneven, as if she’d bitten them herself. Bending over, she caught her breath a few times, then lifted her head to look at Li Xingqing.

“President Li,” she said.

—It was Song Xunqing.

Li Xingqing didn’t move. Sitting in the driver’s seat with one hand still on the wheel, she examined the woman outside expressionlessly, as if looking at a stranger.

Song Xunqing knocked again, harder this time. Her smile was still there, but impatience had already begun to show in her eyes.

Since Li Xingqing had been in a pretty good mood recently, she finally showed mercy and lowered the window a crack. “What is it?”

Song Xunqing looked at the narrow opening and twitched the corner of her mouth. “President Li, don’t be so distant. I just want to say a few words.”

“We have nothing to say.” Li Xingqing withdrew her gaze and was about to raise the window.

“Wait.” Song Xunqing immediately grew anxious when she saw the movement. “Then what about Xi Zhen? Don’t you want to know?”

Li Xingqing’s fingers paused on the steering wheel, then resumed tapping, unhurried. She didn’t speak, but she also didn’t roll the window back up, as though weighing how much truth and how much falsehood were in Song Xunqing’s words.

After waiting a few seconds and seeing that Li Xingqing hadn’t rejected her, Song Xunqing leaned in a little and lowered her voice.

“President Li, you and Xi Zhen are back together, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer, as if she’d already confirmed it herself. “Then do you know what kind of person she used to be? I mean, many years ago.”

Li Xingqing looked at her.

“She wouldn’t have told you she’s from B City, would she? Hahaha. Do you know what her mother did back then? Do you know how she treated me back then?”

Li Xingqing stopped moving and turned to look at Song Xunqing.

“Finished?” Her tone held nothing but annoyance.

Seeing her like that, Song Xunqing was startled. “You don’t want to know?”

“I don’t.” Li Xingqing answered quickly.

“President Li, don’t let her fool you. That kind of person looks harmless, but she’s the best at using people. Back then she relied on that trick..."

“Miss Song.” Li Xingqing cut her off. Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear. “You came to me just to say this? To say she’s bad? To say she’s not worthy of me?” She looked straight into Song Xunqing’s eyes. “You went to a lot of trouble just to stir things up between us?”

Song Xunqing’s smile was starting to crack. “I’m just trying to remind you...”

“No need for your reminder.” Li Xingqing continued, “I’m sure you still don’t understand the relationship between Xi Zhen and me.”

Without waiting for Song Xunqing to react, Li Xingqing quickly went on, “It’s me shamelessly clinging to her and chasing after her; it’s me forcing things one-sidedly; it’s me refusing to repent; it’s me begging her to love me.”

“So don’t keep indulging those little schemes of yours, or else... I don’t mind making sure there’s no such person as Song Xunqing in this world.” Her gaze turned cold as she stared at Song Xunqing as if looking at a dead thing.

Song Xunqing’s face changed. Her mouth moved, but she didn’t know what to say.

Li Xingqing shut the window decisively and drove off, leaving Song Xunqing there alone.

When the car merged onto the main road, Li Xingqing gripped the steering wheel tightly; her knuckles turned white.

The light ahead was red. She stopped, leaned back in her seat, and placed both hands on the wheel, clenching and unclenching them again and again. Her fingers weren’t quite listening to her. She took a deep breath, slowly let it out, then inhaled again.

She rolled the window down a crack, and the summer heat rushed in with the wind, brushing against her face with a faint itch.

She stared at the red light ahead and counted the seconds one by one. Thirty-seven, thirty-six, thirty-five...

Only she knew what was churning inside her; it was jealousy, so intense it felt like she might go mad.

She was jealous that even someone like Song Xunqing, that piece of trash, had once met Xi Zhen when Xi Zhen was still a teenager. Jealous that Song Xunqing had known Xi Zhen earlier; jealous that she knew what Xi Zhen had been like before she became who she was now.

Li Xingqing pulled the car over to the roadside, turned on her hazard lights, and lay down over the steering wheel. She didn’t cry; she just stayed there with her face buried in her arms.

She and Yin Yi were mother and daughter. The unbreakable blood tie had buried the seeds of Yin Yi’s hidden mental illness deep inside her heart, little by little. Then all it took was a spark from someone else, and it burned up in an instant.

Li Xingqing took out her phone and called her assistant, asking her to come pick her up; then she continued to bury her face in the crook of her arm. Her phone in the cup holder lit up once; what also caught her eye was the cup of coffee she’d bought for Xi Zhen. She hadn’t taken it with her.

It was a message from Xi Zhen: she’d gotten home and was asking where Li Xingqing was.

Li Xingqing typed a few words, deleted them; typed a few more, and deleted those too.

She wanted to say, “Song Xunqing came looking for me.” She wanted to say, “I’m jealous of her.” She wanted to say, “I really want to see you when you were a teenager.” But in the end, she said none of it; she only replied, “On the way.”

After sending it, she thought she was really stupid.

But Xi Zhen didn’t notice anything was off at all, and instinctively didn’t disturb Li Xingqing while she was driving.

The assistant arrived very quickly. By the time An Ning got there, she just happened to see her boss toss the coffee she’d bought into the trash can.

The paper cup hit the rim and missed the opening; a few drops spilled out. The dark brown liquid ran down the side of the cup, soaking a scrap of waste paper on the edge of the bin.

Li Xingqing didn’t bend down to pick it up, and she didn’t look at it a second time. She simply drew back her hand and shoved it into her pocket.

She walked over briskly and asked, “President Li, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Li Xingqing straightened up and handed her the car key. “Take me home.”

An Ning took the key and didn’t ask any more questions.

Li Xingqing walked around to the passenger seat, leaned back, and closed her eyes. The car was very quiet; only the soft hiss of the tires over the road could be heard.

“An Ning,” Li Xingqing suddenly said without opening her eyes.

“Yes, President Li?”

“Help me check someone.”

“Who?”

“Song Xunqing.”

An Ning didn’t ask why; she just nodded. “Okay. What should I check?”

“Check what she’s been doing lately, who she’s met, and what’s happened to her.” Li Xingqing paused, then opened her eyes and looked at the streets flashing past outside the window. “Check why she showed up downstairs at Xi Zhen’s place.”

“Okay, I’ll check right away,” An Ning said.

Li Xingqing said nothing else. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

When the car turned into Li Xingqing’s neighborhood, An Ning glanced at the back seat in the rearview mirror. Li Xingqing had her eyes closed, as if dozing lightly.

“President Li, we’re here,” she called.

Li Xingqing opened her eyes, sat up straight, then got out of the car. She had only taken a couple of steps when she stopped and looked back. “An Ning, tell me when you find something.”

“Understood, President Li.”

Li Xingqing nodded and turned to walk into the gate. An Ning stood beside the car, watching her figure disappear through the entrance door.