Chapter 42
The few of them returned to the ward, with the woman bringing up the rear; nothing on her face gave away what she was feeling.
With a bang, the door was shut.
The two of them both jolted and exchanged a glance. In each other’s eyes, they could read the same words: good luck to you.
They were doomed!
Before the woman could say anything, Xia Wanwan struck first. “Mom, you can’t blame us for this.”
The woman gave her a cool look. “Then should I blame myself?”
“Who told them to have such bad luck and run into me? If Alai hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve beaten her until she couldn’t recognize her own face!”
Cheng Shuyang was a little helpless. “Who exactly did you take after to get this personality…”
“She bullied Alai. If I see her again next time, I’ll still hit her!”
“Xia Wanwan!”
The woman’s voice turned cold at once.
“Why are you yelling at me so loud?!”
The girl’s eyes instantly reddened. “This wasn’t my fault in the first place.”
“...And why are you crying now?”
The woman sighed, her tone softening by a fraction. “I’m sorry. It was Mom’s fault; I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. I’ll apologize, okay?”
“Fine, that’s more like it.”
The girl wiped at her tears and winked at Jiang Lai.
Jiang Lai looked at her, and the corners of her mouth twitched. She had looked so wronged a second ago, and the next she was already making faces at her. How could one person switch moods so fast?
“What are you staring at me for?”
The girl grabbed her arm and lowered her voice. “You think I’m making fun of you, don’t you? I’m telling you, if I hadn’t reacted fast, both of us would’ve gotten a scolding from my mom just now.”
Jiang Lai gave her a thumbs-up. “You’re amazing.”
“Of course—ow.”
A hand tapped her head, neither light nor heavy. She covered it and looked at the woman with grievance.
“Alai, does anything still hurt? I’ll go call the doctor to take a look at you.”
She looked at the girl, her expression gentle.
Xia Wanwan pouted.
“I haven’t even asked you yet; why are you here?”
After settling Jiang Lai, the woman finally remembered to ask about her daughter.
Xia Wanwan was sitting on the sofa, chewing on the orange she had snatched from Jiang Lai’s hand, her words a little muffled. “I was worried about Jiang Lai. Anyway, there was nothing to do at home, so I thought I’d come see her... Ow, Mom, why did you hit me again?”
She clutched her head and looked at the woman with resentment.
But the latter acted as if she hadn’t seen it; she kept her head down and carefully peeled away the orange pith. Only when she was sure it was clean did she hand the fruit over to the girl.
“Mom, you’re biased. I’m your daughter; why are you more concerned about Alai than me?”
“Alai is a patient. Why are you jealous of everyone? Besides..."
She smiled and pinched Jiang Lai’s nose. “I just like Alai. Who told you to spend all day making me angry?”
“Oh—”
Xia Wanwan dragged out the sound on purpose, her tone full of teasing. “You like Alai the most?”
“Of course..."
Before she could finish, she caught the flash of amusement in Xia Wanwan’s eyes. Only then did she realize what she’d said; the tips of her ears immediately turned red.
The girl looked as though she had discovered a whole new world. “Mom! Your face is red!”
“You’re asking for a beating.”
The woman reached out and tapped her on the forehead. The redness on her ears spread like rouge. “You’re even daring to joke about me now, hm?”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“...Forget it. I’m going out to find the doctor.”
The woman fled the ward as if escaping.
Jiang Lai sat on the bed and watched her hurried figure. She couldn’t help speaking up for her. “Wanwan, Aunt Cheng is thin-skinned. Don’t say things like that next time...”
“Jiang Lai, why are you so ungrateful?”
The girl sat up straight with a whoosh. “I’m obviously helping you, okay?”
“Then thank you. But really, there’s no need next time.”
“With the way you are, even if you chased after my mom until she was in her coffin, you still wouldn’t catch up.”
Jiang Lai picked up a pillow and threw it at her. “What nonsense are you spouting? Who talks about their own mother like that?”
The girl nimbly dodged the flying pillow. “I’m telling the truth. Alai, my mom is so much older than you; there’s an age gap between the two of you that’s destined to exist. You have to work hard, or else there won’t be that much time left for you to wait.”
Jiang Lai had to admit that Xia Wanwan was right.
There was a gap between her and the woman; a celebrated actress high above the clouds, and an unknown designer with no real name to her.
The difference in status, and the difference in age; between them, there truly wasn’t much time.
Outside the door, the woman leaned against the wall, constantly adjusting her breathing. Now and then she fanned herself with her hand to cool the heat in her face.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened.
She looked over at the sound.
“Shuyang? Why are you standing in the hallway?”
The man wore a puzzled expression.
She reached out and took the flowers from his hand. “The room was too stuffy, so I came out for some air.”
The man couldn’t resist teasing her. “Really? But your face doesn’t look very good. Don’t tell me you got so attentive while taking care of Alai that you caught something from her?”
“Director Zhang.”
The woman gave a helpless smile. “When did you start joking like young people do?”
The man laughed heartily, then peeked through the glass in the ward door. “All right, back to business: has Alai woken up? Can I go in and see her?”
She nodded with a smile and opened the door.
The conversation inside cut off at once; the two sides stared at each other.
“Why did everyone go quiet?”
The woman walked in behind the man, smiling warmly. “Alai, Director Zhang specially came to see you.”
Then, with her back to the man, she gave Jiang Lai a meaningful look. The girl immediately understood and pulled a chair over to the side.
“Thank you, Director Zhang, for coming to see me.”
The man waved it off and sat down. Then he looked at the silent girl beside her. “And this is...?”
“This is my daughter.”
The woman introduced her. “You probably haven’t met her before.”
“Yi Zheng’s wife, huh? Sure enough, just like her mother; beautiful and graceful.”
Xia Wanwan forced out a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Thank you, Director Zhang.”
Honestly, aside from her mother, she wasn’t willing to give a pleasant face to anyone from the crew right now; whether he was a director or someone else, it made no difference.
“How are you? Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m fine. These are all old problems of mine; you don’t need to worry.”
“Ah, no matter what, you were still wronged this time.”
At that, Cheng Shuyang moved without a sound to Jiang Lai’s side and tucked the blanket in around her. The smile on her face faded a little. “Director Zhang, through this incident, we should take it as a warning. Otherwise, how can anyone guarantee the safety of the crew in the future?”
“Th-this...”
The man looked hesitant. After a moment’s struggle, he said, “Shuyang, we’ll strengthen things in this area from now on; something like what happened to Alai today will absolutely not happen again.”
“Then if someone makes a mistake, don’t they need to be punished?”
“Aunt Cheng..."
Jiang Lai sat up and lightly touched the woman’s palm. The coolness of her fingertips eased the tension she had been holding; she smiled at her to show she was fine.
The man rubbed his hands together. “Shuyang, for my sake, let it go this once, all right?”
“Director Zhang.”
The woman lifted her eyes, her voice completely even. “You should know that after so many years in this industry, I’ve never been someone who cares about whose face I’m looking at.”
As soon as she spoke, her gaze fell on the girl’s hand, wrapped up like a zongzi. Her eyes darkened.
Noticing her look, Jiang Lai awkwardly tucked her hand into the blanket.
“Alai this time... if I hadn’t discovered it, what would the consequences have been? And how would you have explained it to her mother?”
The man’s hand paused; his face showed even more guilt. “Don’t worry, I’ll make Lin Wanqiu apologize to Alai.”
The woman said nothing, apparently not accepting it.
The man had no choice but to turn a pleading gaze toward Jiang Lai.
The girl tugged at the woman’s sleeve and said softly, “Aunt Cheng, maybe let it go. I’m fine now anyway.”
Before the woman could answer, a lazy voice came from the ward entrance. “Jiang Lai, you really don’t understand what Aunt Cheng is thinking at all!”
Everyone looked over. Xu Zhiyi was leaning against the doorframe, a faint smile on her lips, her gaze moving back and forth between the two of them.
“Teacher Xu..."
The woman let out a soft scoff and handed her the fruit basket she was holding. “I told you, you really are a block of wood. Your Aunt Cheng is trying to get justice for you, and you? You’re out here begging for mercy on their behalf.”
“Why are you here?”
The woman didn’t care about Cheng Shuyang’s attitude and pulled up a seat to sit down. “Can’t I come see Jiang Lai?”
Because of Xu Zhiyi’s sudden arrival, Cheng Shuyang had no choice but to swallow the words she had been about to say.
She could only soften her tone. “Director Zhang, don’t let something like this happen a second time.”
“That you can rest assured of.”
Only then did the man finally relax. He was also quietly thinking that from now on, Jiang Lai would have to be a key protection target. If she were ever wronged, the first person who would not agree would probably be this woman.
At the hospital entrance.
Lin Wanqiu angrily threw the flowers in her hand into the trash can; nowhere to vent her rage, she could only turn the blade toward the silent man behind her.
“Just now, why didn’t you help me when I was dealing with Xia Wanwan?”
Qin Huaicheng frowned. “You girls were fighting; what was I supposed to do jumping in? Besides, she didn’t hit that hard at all.”
“Not hard?”
She raised her arm as if hearing a joke. “Are you blind? She almost scratched me open. Don’t tell me you still have Jiang Lai on your mind!”
“Can you stop making a scene for nothing?”
“Making a scene for nothing?”
Her voice suddenly rose. She grabbed the chain bag in her hand and slammed it hard against the man’s body. “Do you also think I did it on purpose, that getting a little wronged was what I deserved?”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“You!”
The man took two steps toward her. “Dare to say it; wasn’t this done on purpose?”
“I... I really didn’t.”
“Then why were you asking around me about Jiang Lai being afraid of the dark? And at the manor, why wouldn’t you let me be on the same team as you? Was it because you were afraid I’d ruin your plan?”
The girl’s eyes instantly went red. “You’re talking nonsense.”
“Enough!”
The man ran a hand through his hair in irritation, his voice pressing down hard on his anger. “Lin Wanqiu, Jiang Lai and I are already in the past. Why do you keep refusing to let her go? Do you have to make it end in someone dying before you’ll be satisfied? Can’t you act a little more mature?”
As if she had never seen him so angry before, she unconsciously stepped back several paces. “...I didn’t think that much at the time.”
The man took a deep breath and cut off her explanation. His voice was tired. “Enough. This is a hospital; watch your words and behavior.”
With that, he walked toward the door on his own.
Seeing this, Lin Wanqiu stamped her foot but could only follow after him helplessly.
The moment she stepped outside, her eyes landed on the floor where Jiang Lai was staying. Her hand gripping the bag tightened again and again.
“Jiang Lai, just you wait. One day, I’ll pay back every bit of humiliation I suffered today.”
Author’s Note: