Chapter 43
The day Jiang Lai was discharged from the hospital, the weather was awful.
A fine drizzle hung in the air, leaving everything damp and sticky.
Xia Wanwan had already parked her car by the entrance. The moment she saw the two of them come out, she honked to get their attention. Only after both of them looked over did she raise an eyebrow and stroll over.
She shoved an umbrella into the girl’s hands, then casually lifted the suitcase and put it in the trunk.
Jiang Lai subconsciously reached out to help her, but just as her fingers touched the handle, warmth suddenly wrapped around her hand.
The woman’s hand rested over the back of hers; the tips of her fingers still carried the moist chill of the rain as they brushed along Jiang Lai’s skin.
She froze, then looked up and met the woman’s eyes.
“I’ll do it. You’ve just recovered, so don’t overdo it.”
“I’m fine, Aunt Cheng.”
Jiang Lai rolled up her sleeve and showed off her biceps. “Look, I’m in great shape.”
The woman’s brows and eyes curved. “All right. Next time, I’ll definitely let you do it.”
Jiang Lai was still about to argue when Xia Wanwan cut in bluntly from the side, “Enough. Both of you are princesses; I’m the only one born to be a maid. I’ll do it.”
Jiang Lai was amused by her. Just as she was about to help, Xia Wanwan shot her a warning glare, and she sheepishly rubbed the bridge of her nose.
The woman had already gotten into the car and was calling softly to her.
“Ah Lai, get in.”
“Oh, okay.”
Inside the car, Jiang Lai yawned and idly looked around at the decorations. As she looked, her gaze unconsciously drifted to the woman’s slender, well-shaped fingers.
The fingertips were neatly trimmed, with no extra adornment, and tinted a healthy pink.
*Aunt Cheng’s hands are really beautiful...*
She stared a little too long, until the woman called to her and their eyes met by accident. Panicked, Jiang Lai quickly looked away, silently cursing herself for being such a hopeless fangirl.
“What are you looking at?”
“Hahaha, nothing.”
She laughed awkwardly and pointed at the misty sky outside. “The scenery is pretty good, right?”
“Pfft.”
Xia Wanwan, who was driving up front, couldn’t help laughing out loud.
What a clumsy excuse. Jiang Lai wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the ground and disappear into it.
“Is it? It really does look nice.”
The woman shifted in her seat, amusement glinting in her eyes.
Jiang Lai’s face turned bright red. She pretended to adjust the hem of her clothes and couldn’t get a single word out for a long while.
“All right, back to the point.”
The smile on the woman’s face faded slightly. “No matter what you do in the future, make sure your safety is absolutely guaranteed. If you don’t like something, you don’t have to do it; do you understand? You absolutely cannot let something like this happen again.”
Jiang Lai obediently nodded.
“Although Lin Wanqiu apologized to you this time, you still have to remember that it’s better to avoid trouble when you can; stay away from her.”
Jiang Lai had just been about to nod when an idea suddenly struck her. “Aunt Cheng, if I’d been the one at fault this time, would you still side with me like this?”
The woman gave a soft laugh; her tone was gentle, yet undeniably sincere. “No matter the environment or the occasion, I would always believe you unconditionally.”
Jiang Lai could no longer hear any of the sounds around her. In her ears, there was only the thunderous beat of her own heart, pounding over and over against her eardrums.
The woman’s words kept replaying in her mind.
Like a pebble tossed into a still lake, sending ripples across the surface.
Even Xia Wanwan, who was driving, looked utterly stunned; she kept glancing at the two of them through the rearview mirror.
“Mom, what are you saying?”
The woman closed her eyes, her voice a little hoarse. “Keep your eyes on the road.”
Xia Wanwan pursed her lips, but didn’t dare say anything else.
Jiang Lai looked at the woman’s profile, so gentle it didn’t seem real at all, and the tips of her fingers began to feel faintly numb with heat.
“Aunt Cheng, if you keep being this good to me, you’re going to spoil me.”
“Fool.”
The woman opened her eyes and tapped the back of Jiang Lai’s hand. “Principles still need to be discussed; at the same time, no one should have to suffer injustice.”
Jiang Lai blinked at her, looking innocent.
“It’s fine. I’m here.”
The woman said nothing more, only patted her leg in quiet reassurance.
As the car neared the guesthouse, Jiang Lai spotted Song Shiyuan pacing by the entrance from a distance.
“Hm? Is your senior waiting for you?”
“Yes!”
Jiang Lai lowered the window and waved at the figure outside. “A-Yuan!”
Song Shiyuan heard her voice and quickly walked toward them.
The moment the door opened, the girl’s hand reached out in front of her. Jiang Lai smiled and clasped it, then jumped down from the car.
The smile in Song Shiyuan’s eyes was impossible to hide. “How are you feeling? Better?”
“Of course.”
Jiang Lai lifted her chin proudly. “I’m Jiang Lai. I’m as healthy as can be.”
“Only a few days apart, and your talent for bragging has already improved.”
The intimacy between the two of them, so openly displayed and with no regard for anyone else, fell into the woman’s eyes. Her fingertips unconsciously curled inward; the movement was like fine needles, pricking at her vision.
The girl didn’t smile in front of her with that same restraint. The curve of her lips, the ease in her expression—it was something she had never seen before.
Her heart suddenly sank.
“Mom?”
Xia Wanwan’s voice came from behind her. “Why are you still standing outside? Why don’t you go in?”
The woman withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes to take the luggage from her hands. “Nothing. Give me some of the bags; I’ll help you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Xia Wanwan didn’t think much of it and handed over one item.
Before she could even take it, someone else snatched it first.
“Aunt Cheng, I can do it.”
What met her eyes was Jiang Lai’s brilliantly smiling face. Without waiting for the woman’s reaction, Jiang Lai followed Xia Wanwan into the guesthouse.
The woman had just been about to step after them when someone behind her called out, “Teacher Cheng.”
She stopped and turned back to look at the girl standing in the light. “Shiyuan? Do you need something?”
Song Shiyuan’s voice was gentle. “During the time Ah Lai was sick, I wasn’t here. Thank you for taking care of her.”
“No need to thank me. She’s my junior; it’s only right.”
“No matter what, I still want to thank you. If you’re tired later, I’ll take over caring for Ah Lai.”
Cheng Shuyang still wore a proper smile. “There’s no need. I’m much older than all of you; I naturally have more experience taking care of people.”
“Teacher Cheng.”
Song Shiyuan spoke again.
“What is it?”
The woman’s voice was already carrying a faint edge of displeasure.
Song Shiyuan looked straight at her. “The kindness you’ve shown Ah Lai, I’ll remember it. If there’s anything you need from me in the future, just say the word.”
“...What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Teacher Cheng, you’re an elder, and we’re juniors. Some boundaries—I hope you can keep them clear..."
The warmth on the woman’s face visibly cooled, but her good upbringing kept her from losing her temper at the girl.
“I like Jiang Lai. The kind of liking that isn’t small.”
She looked at the girl in front of her, who was not much younger than Jiang Lai, and suddenly felt a little amused, though her heart was also filled with an unfamiliar bitterness.
“What happens between Ah Lai and me, I’m afraid isn’t something you can interfere with.”
“That’s only what you think.”
Song Shiyuan suddenly took a few steps forward. The woman’s overwhelming presence didn’t make her retreat in the slightest. “If you don’t have any other intentions toward Ah Lai, then I ask you to mind your limits.”
The air suddenly froze.
The two stood facing each other in silence.
The woman suddenly smiled, but the smile never reached her eyes. “Miss Song, rest assured. I have no interest in younger people.”
After that, she didn’t look at the girl again and walked into the house. The sound of her shoes striking the floor seemed heavier than before.
Only after she left did Song Shiyuan seem to lose all her strength. She let out a long breath and unclenched the hand she had kept tightly closed, revealing a thin layer of cold sweat.
“Ah Lai, this is all I can do for you.”
During dinner, Jiang Lai sharply sensed that the atmosphere at the table was strange.
Lin Wanqiu and Qin Huaicheng obviously had no interest in making themselves uncomfortable; they finished eating early and went back to their rooms, leaving only Song Shiyuan sitting there and eating with the rest of them.
Her teeth absently worried at a rib, but her eyes kept darting back and forth.
“Don’t space out when you’re eating. It’s bad for digestion.”
When she came back to herself, a few peeled shrimp had already appeared in her line of sight.
The woman was slowly wiping her fingers; when she saw Jiang Lai looking over, she raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like them? Then give them back to me.”
Jiang Lai’s head immediately shook so hard it looked like a rattle drum. Hugging her plate, she leaned back.
“I’m full. I’m feeling a little unwell, so I’m going upstairs to rest first.”
The woman rose, pushing her utensils away. Her whole body seemed to radiate exhaustion.
Jiang Lai swallowed the food in her mouth with effort. “Then I’ll walk you back.”
“No need.”
The woman pressed down on the girl as she tried to stand. “Finish your meal properly. I can go back by myself.”
“But you don’t look very well. What if you fall...”
“I won’t.”
Holding onto the handrail, the woman swayed slightly as she climbed the stairs.
Jiang Lai suddenly felt that even the ribs she loved most didn’t taste good anymore. Everything had gone dull and flavorless.
After dinner, Jiang Lai lay contentedly on the bed.
Xia Wanwan passed by and kicked her in disgust. “You still have the nerve to say you had no appetite. I don’t think you ate any less.”
“You don’t understand. People are iron, rice is steel; skip one meal and you’ll be hungry.”
“I’m not talking to you. You’re always in the right.”
Xia Wanwan sat on a stool and started drying her hair with a hair dryer. Jiang Lai lay on the bed and watched her. “Aren’t you going to check on Aunt Cheng? I feel like she’s in a pretty bad mood.”
Without turning around, Xia Wanwan said, “My mom doesn’t like being disturbed when she’s in a bad mood.”
“Oh...”
Jiang Lai hummed, still feeling uneasy.
The hair dryer suddenly stopped. Xia Wanwan turned around with a wicked smile. “But if it’s you, that’s a different story...”
Before Jiang Lai could figure out what she meant, Xia Wanwan shoved her out the door. “I’ll be waiting for your good news.”
The next second, the door slammed shut without mercy.
Jiang Lai touched the bridge of her nose, which had nearly been hit.
“Well, I’m just going to check on Aunt Cheng...”
She kept comforting herself in her head, but her feet honestly carried her toward the woman’s room.
On the way, she ran into Xiaoman coming out of the woman’s room. Her eyes lit up. “Xiaoman!”
“Ah Lai-jie.”
Jiang Lai couldn’t resist teasing her. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. What were you busy with during that time?”
Xiaoman chuckled. “Nothing much. Something came up at home. I handled it, so I’m back at work now.”
“It’s so late. Why aren’t you resting yet?”
The girl sighed. “Aunt Cheng suddenly got stomach pain, so I went out to buy her some medicine.”
“No need to buy any. I’ve got some in my suitcase.”
At that moment, she felt immense respect for her mother. Thank goodness she had listened to her.
“Really?”
Xiaoman didn’t hesitate at all. She stuffed the key card in her hand into Jiang Lai’s palm. “Ah Lai-jie, then could you please take it to Aunt Cheng later?”
“Don’t worry. You should go back and rest early.”
Jiang Lai tucked the key card into her pocket and thought of the woman’s weakened figure as she left; her steps quickened a little.
Xiaoman waved at her from behind. “Thank you, Ah Lai-jie.”
Jiang Lai looked back and smiled, then opened her own door.
Not bad; at least now she had a perfectly legitimate reason to go see her.
Author’s Note: