Chapter 47
Tick, tock.
The wall clock ticked away second by second as the two of them stood locked in silence.
After a long while, Jiang Lai finally seemed to give up. Little by little, she loosened her grip on the woman’s wrist.
“Sorry, Aunt Cheng. I didn’t mean to.”
Her voice was a little hoarse.
“It’s fine. I’ll turn on the light.”
Cheng Shuyang lifted a hand and switched it on. Warm yellow light instantly flooded the room.
Jiang Lai turned around, and their gazes collided.
Only then did Cheng Shuyang clearly see Jiang Lai’s eyes, swollen and red like walnuts, with the tip of her nose flushed too. The tears she had barely managed to stop seemed to rise again the moment she saw her.
The air froze at once.
“Jiang Lai, how long have you been crying to get like this?”
Her voice was very soft. She raised a hand to wipe away Jiang Lai’s tears, but afraid the girl would pull away, she stopped halfway and never quite brought it down.
Jiang Lai turned her face aside, unwilling to look at her. “Not that long.”
The woman didn’t believe her. She was probably crying as soon as she got back to the homestay, hiding in her room the whole time...
Cheng Shuyang sighed and turned Jiang Lai’s face back toward her. “Alai, tell me. What happened? Who’s been making you feel wronged?”
The woman’s palm cupped her face. Jiang Lai’s tears surged up again, and she could only bite down hard on her lower lip, refusing to make a sound.
“Foolish girl..."
The woman’s fingertips brushed over the lip she was biting, her tone full of pity. “Don’t keep biting. You’ll hurt yourself. Be good.”
“If it hurts, it has nothing to do with you...”
“How could it not? Alai, how could you think that of me?”
The woman’s gentle voice was like a key, and the grievances and forced composure Jiang Lai had been holding up all afternoon collapsed at once. She covered her face with both hands, and her tears came pouring out like a burst dam, spilling through her fingers.
Cheng Shuyang panicked immediately. She fumbled for tissues, but as she turned, the girl clamped tightly around her wrist. The force nearly pulled her off balance; she staggered a few steps and looked at Jiang Lai in a daze.
“Alai?”
The girl’s sobbing voice reached her ears. “Why do you still care about me?”
“What nonsense are you talking?”
She took Jiang Lai’s hand in hers again and looked down, seeing her bloodshot eyes. Grievance and unease churned in them, and Cheng Shuyang’s heart tightened hard.
Jiang Lai choked out her answer: “Don’t you have Yu Tian now? Why are you still looking for me... I’m not obedient, and I always make you angry. I’m not as good at making you happy as Yu Tian..."
The girl’s accusation turned even the usually calm corners of Cheng Shuyang’s eyes red.
She cupped Jiang Lai’s face gently, her thumb wiping away the tears that kept falling. Her voice was rough, as if it had been rubbed over sandpaper. “How could you think that? Tian-tian is Tian-tian, and you are you. How can the two of you be compared?”
Hearing the woman call Yu Tian by that overly intimate nickname, “Tian-tian,” Jiang Lai’s eyes reddened at once. She turned away and refused to meet the woman’s gaze again.
Cheng Shuyang realized her slip too late.
“Alai, I’ve known Yu Tian for a long time. Some habits can’t be changed overnight.”
“I know. It’s not your fault; I’m the one being unreasonable and making you upset..."
Jiang Lai sniffled, her shoulders shaking.
The woman let out a soft sigh. “Alai, do you really need me to coax you?”
“Whatever you want. Anyway..."
Before she could finish, someone pulled her suddenly, and she fell into a warm embrace.
She froze at once. The scent of white gardenias filled her nose; beside her ear was the woman’s slightly hurried breathing, along with an apology that sank straight into her heart.
“I’m sorry.”
“Cheng... Aunt Cheng?”
“Alai, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice your mood in time and made you sad.”
The woman patted her back gently. “It was my fault. I didn’t take your feelings into account. I won’t do that again.”
Something seemed to block Jiang Lai’s throat. Her body suddenly went weak, and she leaned against the woman’s shoulder.
“Tian-tian is just what I’ve been used to calling her before. It slipped out.”
Whatever else the woman said, Jiang Lai didn’t hear a word. Her eyes were fixed on the jade-like line of Cheng Shuyang’s neck, and as if possessed, she leaned in and bit down.
“Hiss..."
The woman gave a muffled gasp, but she didn’t push her away.
She hadn’t used much force, but Jiang Lai had two little fangs, sharp enough that the instant they broke the skin, Cheng Shuyang’s breathing caught for half a beat; instinctively, she tightened her grip on the girl’s clothes.
The pain at her neck spread in fine, dense waves, mingling with the girl’s warm breath, coiling around her heart like a thorny vine.
Cheng Shuyang sighed, as if yielding, or perhaps helpless.
“Gently..."
She raised a hand and lightly pressed it to the top of Jiang Lai’s head, her voice trembling a little. “Alai, if you keep biting, you might leave a scar..."
The girl said nothing, but tears kept dropping one by one onto her shoulder, as if they were about to burn a hole straight through her heart.
“Cheng Shuyang, I hate you..."
Jiang Lai accused her through tears.
The woman stiffened all over, her fingertips trembling. Taking a deep breath, she forced her voice steady. “...How rude. I’m your elder. How can you call an elder by name?”
Jiang Lai lifted her head and looked at her through blurred tears, her eyes stubborn. “Cheng Shuyang.”
She called the woman again, each word clear. “I’m being insolent, I’m being rude. What can you do about it? If you can, hit me.”
“You..."
The woman was left speechless by her shamelessness. The stinging pain at her neck also reminded her that she ought to teach this little junior a lesson for not knowing her place.
But... forget it. The child was still young.
All the words she had wanted to say turned into a sigh; she wiped away the remaining tears from Jiang Lai’s face. “...Forget it. As long as you’re happy.”
“What do you mean, forget it?”
Jiang Lai pushed her away. “You make it sound like I’m really the one making a fuss!”
The woman smiled and coaxed her. “I said it wrong, all right? I’ll apologize to you.”
“Hmph.”
“So..."
The woman straightened and spoke softly, “Alai, tell me. What did Yu Tian say to you?”
Jiang Lai lowered her head again. After a while, she slowly said, “Why didn’t you tell me you don’t like the smell of oranges? Why did you force yourself? Why... did you treat me like an outsider?”
“Yu Tian told you that?”
“Mm..."
“Alai, I never treated you like an outsider.”
The woman looked at her and said seriously, “I just thought these were all minor things, and things from a long time ago. Besides..."
She gave a light smile. “The orange scent on you smells very nice. I like it a lot.”
Jiang Lai suddenly lifted her head, tears still in her eyes. “Huh? You’re serious?”
“Of course I’m serious.”
Cheng Shuyang brushed the loose strands of hair from Jiang Lai’s forehead. “If there’s anything you want to know in the future, come ask me. Don’t listen to what other people say; I’ll tell you everything.”
The warm yellow light cast both their shadows onto the wall. Jiang Lai burrowed into the crook of the woman’s neck, and the grievance in her heart slowly eased.
After a moment, she noticed the wound on the woman’s neck and finally said hoarsely, “Wait for me.”
The woman nodded lightly.
There was no medical kit in her room, so Jiang Lai had to run to the front desk to ask for one.
By the time she returned, the woman was bent over the drafts on her desk.
“These are..."
“The new designs for the second half of the year. Do you like any of them? I’ll give them to you.”
“Then I’ll have to pick carefully.”
“Take your time.”
Jiang Lai crouched down and took a clean cotton swab from the first-aid kit. “Aunt Cheng.”
The woman reached out and slowly unfastened another button.
The girl’s embarrassed gaze darted away; she didn’t dare look at her.
“You weren’t embarrassed when you bit me just now. Why are you shy now?”
Jiang Lai’s ears instantly turned red, and she still couldn’t bring herself to look at the woman.
“I wasn’t doing it on purpose just now...”
That burst of impulse had already vanished without a trace, leaving only embarrassment. She wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
“All right, I won’t tease you.”
When the cool liquid touched the woman’s skin, she couldn’t help flinching slightly.
Jiang Lai didn’t even look up, but her movements grew even gentler. “I’ll be done very quickly. Bear with it.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Lai hadn’t bitten that hard; perhaps because the woman’s skin was delicate, the mark had actually turned a faint blue-purple.
“All done.”
After a long while, Jiang Lai finally lifted her head, threw the used swab into the trash, and held out a hand to the woman. “Do you want me to help you up?”
“No need.”
The woman brushed her hand aside, her face slightly red. “Don’t forget to eat dinner. I’ll head back first.”
“Cheng..."
The woman didn’t listen and hurried out of the room.
She had just... bitten Cheng Shuyang, right?
Bit Cheng Shuyang?
Huh!?
Only when her mind finally caught up did Jiang Lai remember what she had just done to the woman. She couldn’t help reaching up to touch her own lips; it seemed the woman’s warmth was still lingering there.
Bang, the door was shut hard by the woman.
She ran into the bathroom, filled the sink with cold water, and buried her entire face in it.
Only at the brink of suffocation did she lift her head, gasping desperately for air.
Damn it, why would she feel something toward Jiang Lai? Was she just single for too long? But...
She lifted her nightgown and looked at the wound in the mirror; a perfectly clear set of teeth marks.
She reached out and touched it lightly. It hurt a little.
“That child really bites hard..."
She shook her head, straightened her clothes, and only after confirming she looked no different from usual did she go downstairs with a head full of thoughts.
The others had already finished eating and gone back to their rooms to rest. Only Xia Wanwan was left on the sofa, hugging snacks and watching a movie. When she saw her coming down, she waved.
“Mom, did Alai eat?”
“Yes, she ate.”
She answered her daughter absentmindedly.
“I knew it. You really do have a way with her.”
Footsteps sounded from the stairway, and Jiang Lai appeared in their line of sight with a cup in hand.
“Alai?”
Xia Wanwan ran barefoot to her side.
Jiang Lai glanced at the snacks in her hand. “Eat less, or you’ll get fat at night.”
“I won’t. I’m going to go run later.”
Xia Wanwan huffed proudly and returned to the sofa, curling up with her legs crossed.
“Aunt Cheng, milk.”
She set a warmed cup of milk down in front of the woman.
“Hm? Thank you, Alai.”
“You’re welcome. As for the stomach medicine, you can come get it from my room later?”
“All right.”
The woman smiled and tapped the tip of her nose. “Alai is the one I like best.”
“Then I’ll head upstairs first?”
“Oh, right.”
The woman suddenly called her back. “In a while, Wanwan and I want to go abroad to take a look. Would you like to come with us?”
“Would you welcome me if I went?”
“If you’re willing, of course I’d welcome you.”
Author’s note: