Chapter 52

When the girl said that, the woman stopped short. She turned back in disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe those words had come out of her mouth.

The noise of the night market seemed to fall away all at once, leaving the two of them in a world of their own.

The woman glanced around on instinct. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention to them did she relax a little.

“...There are too many people here. It’s not a good place to talk. Come with me.”

Though she still felt wronged, she also knew she had to keep the bigger picture in mind right now, so she obediently followed the woman.

The two of them gradually left the bustling night market and came to an alley.

“Teacher Cheng...”

The girl’s tearful voice burst beside her ear and, without warning, struck the softest part of her heart.

When the woman turned around, the smile she usually wore was already gone, replaced by a somewhat flustered look.

“Alai, how could you think that...?”

“It’s not that I think that way. It’s that you’ve been making me feel that way all along.”

“I... ”

She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but not a single word came out. The words were all jammed in her throat, making it ache.

Seeing that the woman still wasn’t speaking, Jiang Lai’s eyes reddened, and her grievance only deepened. “You’re always like this. Sometimes you’re so good to me that I think I’m the most important, the most special person in your heart. But other times, you suddenly turn so cold, like a block of ice. No matter how hard I try, I can’t warm you up...”

The nearly pleading accusation made her chest hurt. “Jiang Lai...”

“I hate it when you call me that. I hate everyone who shows up around you. I hate Yu Tian. She can act spoiled with you without a care in the world, because you won’t blame her anyway.”

She sniffled, her voice breaking. “I know you’re much older than me, and you have more to think about, but I’m a person, not a machine. I don’t want to keep guessing why you’re angry, why you’re unhappy...”

Looking at the tear tracks on her face, Cheng Shuyang could only turn her face away with difficulty. She had always thought that controlling her feelings and keeping some distance from Jiang Lai was a form of protection for her, but she had never expected that this protection would end up hurting her so badly...

She seemed to have forgotten that what Jiang Lai wanted from her had always been open favoritism, not restraint and protection.

She reached out and gently wiped the tears from her face, then let her hand rest on top of her hair; her touch was filled with a tenderness she had never shown before. “Alai, I’m sorry...”

“I don’t want to hear you say sorry!”

Jiang Lai caught her hand in both of hers. Her knuckles went white from how tightly she was gripping, and her shoulders shook as she cried.

The woman’s hand hurt from being held that tightly, but she didn’t dare pull away. The heat all over the girl’s body was astonishing, and so were those tears, searing through layer after layer of the calm she had been pretending to have.

“Alai, I really didn’t mean it. I thought that way would protect you. I’m sorry. I forgot about your feelings.”

Hearing the woman apologize, Jiang Lai’s anger instinctively began to ebb.

Cheng Shuyang stepped forward and rose onto her tiptoes to touch her forehead. After a moment, she finally let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I thought you were going to have a fever again.”

“Teacher Cheng...”

“Stop crying, okay? I won’t do it again.”

The girl didn’t answer. She only stepped a little closer, then slowly lifted her arms and carefully hugged the woman.

Her movements were very light, with a hint of hesitation.

For a moment, the woman actually forgot how to react. Her arms stayed frozen in midair, while a faint scent of orange lingered at the tip of her nose.

After a long while, Jiang Lai buried herself in the crook of her neck and spoke in a muffled voice. “Teacher Cheng, please. I’m begging you. Take pity on me, okay?”

The woman’s body stiffened. All her restraint and reason crumbled in that instant. What right did she have to make the girl treat her like this...

Slowly, she lowered her hand and placed it on the girl’s back.

The two of them held each other tighter.

“Okay. I promise you.”

She heard her own voice; it was steady, yet light as a sigh.

The dim yellow light fell over the two of them, stretching their shadows very long, just like the words the woman had not yet finished saying...

Glug-glug.

An embarrassing sound rang out.

Jiang Lai scratched her head sheepishly, her cheeks red. “Teacher Cheng...”

“You ate so much just now, and now you’re hungry again?”

The woman was somewhat helpless, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly as she couldn’t resist ruffling her hair.

“I barely ate dinner, and I cried for so long just now. Of course I’d get hungry.”

“If you have anything you want to say to me, say it; let’s go. What do you want to eat? I’ll treat you. It’s just that from now on...”

She turned around and looked at the girl following behind her, her eyes full of concern. “If you’re going to be mad at me, you still need to eat on time and take good care of yourself.”

Jiang Lai nodded and answered softly, “Got it...”

“Let’s go eat.”

The woman didn’t wait for her; she slowed her pace quite a bit, just enough for the girl to catch up. Jiang Lai looked at her back and felt warm all over. The last bit of grievance in her heart had long since dispersed, and she hurried after her.

“Teacher Cheng, wait for me!”

The girl ran up and took her hand, tilting her head to look at the woman. The moisture in her eyes still hadn’t faded, and her smile was sweet and endearing.

The woman turned sideways to look at her, her heart softening completely. Suddenly, a trace of worry rose in her mind; if she was this easy to coax, what would happen if someone bullied her in the future? She didn’t even know... who would be the one to get the better end of it one day.

The sound of their laughter gradually faded into the distance, and neither of them noticed that among the ruined walls and broken remnants, someone had already seized the first chance.

“Did you get it on camera?”

“Of course. Don’t you trust me when I handle things?”

“Could you really bear to do this?”

“...What’s there not to bear? People always have to fight for their own future.”

“When are you posting it?”

The person laughed and looked at the backs of the two figures not far away. “No rush. We have to wait until they relax, until they’re standing at the highest point, then strike and kill in one blow.”

“Ha, being targeted by a lunatic like you makes me feel a little sorry for them both.”

“Likewise. If you weren’t a lunatic, why would you be working with me?”

By the time the two of them returned to the night market, Xia Wanwan and Gu Xizhou were squatting at the entrance of a shop, eating luosifen.

“Why is it just the two of you? Where are the others?”

Xia Wanwan was eating with her mouth full and said vaguely, “They went back to the inn first. Xizhou and I weren’t full yet, so we’re eating a little more.”

The woman looked at her daughter and thought about how to speak without hurting her pride.

“...Wanwan, how are you eating so much now? Who exactly do you take after?”

“If you’re not eating, Mom, you can’t attack my character like that. How am I fat?”

Jiang Lai, standing nearby, had long since stopped paying attention to what the woman was saying; her eyes lit up as she stared at the food in Xia Wanwan’s hands. “Wanwan, is it good? Let me have a bite?”

“Sigh, it’s really hard on you, eating those plain little dishes every day with my mom.”

The woman shot her a glare. “Does a daughter talk about her own mother like that?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing?”

“Wanwan, let me try a bite...”

Xia Wanwan grinned wickedly. “I prepared it for you ages ago. Let me tell you, this place has such a long line. Xizhou and I stood there forever before we got it.”

“Stop talking and give me a bite already.”

And so the scene below came to be: the three of them squatting at the shop entrance, slurping noodles.

Jiang Lai sniffled and waved to the woman. “Teacher Cheng, have a bite. It’s really good!”

Before the woman could say anything, Xia Wanwan added, “My mom doesn’t like strongly flavored food. She definitely won’t eat it.”

“Then that’s a real shame.”

Cheng Shuyang couldn’t help taking a few steps back and covering her nose; the sour bamboo shoot smell in the air was really hard to bear.

During this time, she even asked the three of them uncertainly, “Are you sure you want to squat in front of someone else’s shop while eating?”

“Mm, we’ll be done soon. Sorry to trouble Teacher Cheng to wait for us a little longer.”

The woman sighed and took a pack of wet wipes from her bag, handing them over. “Alai, eat slowly. No one’s fighting you for it.”

“Mm, okay. Thank you, Teacher Cheng.”

The girl didn’t even look up, her face already red from eating.

Cheng Shuyang leaned against the door panel, watching the three of them eat with such gusto that the corners of her mouth curved. “I’ll go settle your bill.”

“No need, Teacher Cheng. I can pay myself.”

The woman pressed her down as she started to stand. “I’ll do it. Count it as my treat.”

“Then thank you, Teacher Cheng.”

After paying, the woman came back out.

“Mom, if you really can’t stand the smell, go wait for us up ahead.”

“Okay.”

The woman didn’t refuse and stood to leave.

“I’ll wait for you up ahead. Eat slowly.”

She patted Jiang Lai on the shoulder.

After the woman left, the two of them immediately surrounded Jiang Lai.

“What?”

“What did you and my mom go do?”

“...Why should I tell you?”

“Tch. Even if you don’t say it, I know. You definitely went to complain to my mom; your eyes are all red.”

Jiang Lai lowered her head and bit into a fried egg. “If you know, why ask?”

“Alai, I’m worried about you.”

“What’s there to worry about?”

Jiang Lai smiled. “Didn’t they say it already? Falling for someone in secret is the beginning of unhappiness. When you see her ignoring you, you’ll be sad; when you can’t see her, you’ll still be sad. There’s no way around it. It’s a dead end.”

“Anyway, senior is waiting for you.”

Gu Xizhou immediately chimed in, “Teacher Xu is waiting for you too.”

Jiang Lai’s face darkened. “I say, are the two of you ever going to stop?”

“Alright, alright. We’re kidding.”

Xia Wanwan wiped her mouth, looking refreshed. “Full and satisfied. Let’s go home!”

The woman was waiting for them outside a drink shop.

As soon as she saw them come out, she stepped forward.

“Lemon tea, one cup each.”

A breeze blew past, and the smell on the three of them immediately rushed into the woman’s nose; her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The three took their drinks and, with perfect tact, each took a step back. “Teacher Cheng, you go ahead. We’ll follow behind you.”

Their practiced movements amused the woman, and her voice turned light. “I haven’t even said anything, and you’re already avoiding suspicion on your own?”

Jiang Lai held her drink and looked a little embarrassed. “Mostly because we’re worried about offending you. You’d feel bad smelling it; this smell really is pretty strong.”

As she spoke, she even tugged at her clothes and sniffed them before sneezing.

The woman raised an eyebrow and didn’t refuse again. She turned and walked toward the night market exit, her high heels clicking crisply on the stone pavement.

After taking two steps, she unconsciously slowed down, listening carefully to the sounds behind her. Xia Wanwan was whispering to Jiang Lai; the girl’s laughter, mixed with the sound of ice cubes clinking in the lemon tea, was light and bright like beads being strung together.

She looked back once; the three of them were following a few steps behind, not too close and not too far.

The sour bamboo shoot smell in the air had also been thinned by the evening breeze; mixed with the scent of orange, it no longer seemed so hard to bear.

“Walk a little faster.”

She called out, her voice carrying a hint of barely noticeable indulgence. “If you go back too late, you’ll end up going to bed late too.”

“We’re coming.”

A rustle of footsteps immediately came from behind them. Jiang Lai jogged two steps forward, then stopped half a step behind her.

“Teacher Cheng—”

The woman pinched her nose and pretended to be annoyed. “Remember to shower when you get back tonight. Otherwise, don’t even think about staying with me tomorrow.”

“Roger that. Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t stink up your nose.”

Jiang Lai promised her solemnly.

“Then... Alai, good night.”

“Teacher Cheng, good night.”