Chapter 64

By the time they made it to the right floor, Zhao Dan was already waiting at the door.

The moment she saw them, she launched into a familiar scolding. “Why are you only getting up here now? Didn’t you come into the building ages ago?”

“We ran into Aunt Li downstairs and chatted with her for a bit, so we were delayed,” Jiang Lai said, smoothing things over as she pulled the woman into the apartment.

“Did Sister Li recognize Shuyang?”

“No. Aunt Cheng was wearing a mask, and Aunt Li’s eyesight isn’t very good yet.”

“That’s good.”

Only then did Zhao Dan relax. Smiling, she looked at the woman behind Jiang Lai. “Shuyang.”

“Teacher, hello. I came to visit you so suddenly today and didn’t let you know in advance. I’m really sorry. This is some fruit I bought for you. Please accept it.”

“Oh, you’re too polite.”

Zhao Dan reached out to take the things from the woman’s hands, and her gaze then fell on the slightly flushed skin of her face. “Shuyang, why is your face so red?”

“It’s nothing. Maybe I moved around too much when I climbed the stairs just now, so I’m a little hot now. It’s fine.”

“Mom, what are we eating for lunch today?”

Jiang Lai poked her head into the kitchen, then leaned back out again.

“Braised pork ribs, boiled shrimp, and I’ll make a soup too.”

“Make the ribs sweet and sour. Aunt Cheng likes that.”

“Teacher, it’s fine. I’m not picky.”

The woman tugged lightly at Jiang Lai’s sleeve, signaling with her eyes that it really didn’t matter.

Jiang Lai said nothing, only moved closer and lowered her voice. “Whether you’re picky or not is one thing, but I still have to make what you like. If I could cook, I’d make it for you myself.”

“You’re so considerate toward Xiaoyao; you should learn to cook yourself.”

Jiang Lai’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. Better to act today than wait for another day. Mom, why don’t you teach me how to cook today?”

“Oh, no need.”

Both her wrists were grabbed at once.

She knew why Zhao Dan didn’t want her in the kitchen; she was probably afraid Jiang Lai would blow the place up. But this woman...

She turned to look at the woman, not understanding what she meant.

“You don’t need to learn to cook. I’ll do it.”

“But...”

“It’s fine. I’ll go do it. It’s just a small thing.”

Naturally, Zhao Dan caught every little exchange. Smiling, she walked into the kitchen; not long after, her voice drifted out from inside.

“Ali, there’s some cooled chrysanthemum tea on the table that I prepared for you. Drink a little more. Have you been eating too much spicy food lately? Why are even your lips split?”

“Pfft!”

Jiang Lai spat out all the water she had just taken in, spraying it all over herself.

“Slow down.”

The woman hurriedly grabbed tissues from the table and wiped the water off her collar. “No one’s competing with you for it; why were you drinking so fast?”

Jiang Lai choked until her face turned red, waving her hand as she coughed. “N-no, I just swallowed wrong by accident.”

“Serves you right. I told you not to act so impulsively...”

Jiang Lai stared at the pot of water and suddenly got a mischievous idea. She poured a cup and set it in front of the woman.

“What’s this...”

“Aunt Cheng should drink more too.”

Jiang Lai smiled innocently, looking so proper and respectful it was as if she were a junior paying homage to an elder. “Otherwise it’s easy to get overheated like me.”

A double meaning, pointed in more ways than one.

Of course, Cheng Shuyang understood. The finger holding the cup paused, and she lifted her eyes to look at the girl across from her; an helpless smile rose on her face.

This girl was clearly trying to persuade her to drink water, but the hidden meanings in her words were enough to give anyone a headache. And yet she looked so innocent that it was hard to call her out.

“All right.”

She took a small sip. The girl wanted to see her flustered, but she simply wasn’t going to let her have her way.

The girl’s smile froze for half a second, then she wilted like a deflated ball and angrily picked at the peel of an orange, muttering under her breath, “So boring. I never win an argument with you.”

“Do you really need to compete for a win or loss with me?”

Jiang Lai stuffed the peeled orange into her hand. “No, it’s fine... I’m the petty one.”

The woman bit into the orange in her hand; its sweet juice spread through her mouth.

“I’m going to check on my mom and see if she needs any help.”

As she said that, she stood up; the woman immediately stood as well.

“I’ll go.”

The woman pressed her back down onto the sofa.

While the two of them were pushing against each other, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.

Jiang Lai instinctively moved in front of the woman and looked at Jiang’s father, who had just come home from work.

“Dad, you’re back.”

“Mm.”

The man tossed his keys onto the table and let his gaze fall on the woman.

Cheng Shuyang didn’t back down either; she greeted him neither humbly nor arrogantly. “Hello, Uncle.”

Jiang’s father merely glanced at her and said nothing, turning to walk toward the bedroom.

“Dad, Aunt Cheng said hello to you. Why are you ignoring her?”

Jiang Lai couldn’t hold it in and went to the bedroom door, pounding on it.

“Ali!”

Hearing the noise, Zhao Dan hurried over and pulled her away, looking at her like she was hopeless. “Why did you call your father out? If he gives Shuyang a hard time, won’t your heart ache when you see it?”

Jiang Lai mumbled under her breath for quite a while, but no one could make out what she was saying.

The woman smiled and tapped the tip of her nose. “What were you mumbling about? I couldn’t hear a single word.”

“I said...”

Her expression changed all at once. “I like you the most.”

“Save it.”

The woman clearly didn’t buy it. She turned her face away and went straight into the kitchen to help Zhao Dan, leaving Jiang Lai standing alone in place, awkwardly scratching the side of her nose.

“Teacher, let me help you.”

The woman entered the kitchen and, by the way, closed the door behind her.

Zhao Dan didn’t stand on ceremony either; she pointed at the potatoes beside the sink. “Then help me peel these potatoes.”

“Okay.”

With only the two of them in the kitchen, Zhao Dan felt it was necessary to probe a little and see how far things between them had progressed.

“Xiaoyao.”

“Mm?”

“You... and Ali, how far have you gotten now?”

“Teacher, what do you mean? I don’t really understand.”

The woman’s face was pale, and she didn’t dare meet Zhao Dan’s eyes.

“You’re still hiding it from me?”

Zhao Dan gave a soft laugh, put down the vegetables in her hand, and instead took the woman’s hand. “Ali has already told us everything. She said she likes you and wants to spend her whole life with you.”

The woman lowered her eyes. “A lifetime is so long. Ali is still young; maybe in the future she’ll meet someone she likes even more.”

“Ali is my daughter. I believe she won’t.”

“Teacher, don’t worry. As long as Ali is with me, I won’t let her suffer. I can take good care of her.”

“I believe you. But...”

Zhao Dan suddenly changed the subject, looking a little curious. “When did the two of you get together? I didn’t notice a thing.”

“Hm?”

Cheng Shuyang was stunned for a moment; she truly hadn’t expected Zhao Dan to switch topics so quickly.

Her cheeks reddened. “It was the last time I went to Guxian to find her. I got a little too emotional, and then I couldn’t help myself...”

“That’s what I thought. That girl Ali has looked at you differently from the very beginning; that wasn’t the way you look at an elder.”

Just as the woman was about to explain, Zhao Dan waved her hand. “You don’t need to explain it to us either. Who Ali likes and who she wants to be with is not something we have the right to interfere with. It’s just that she likes to act spoiled in ordinary life, and sometimes she doesn’t make sense. You’ll have to bear with her a bit.”

The ease in Zhao Dan’s tone left Cheng Shuyang slightly dazed. After two seconds, she let out a breath and said briskly, “I thought you’d be against me being with Ali.”

“Against what?”

Zhao Dan wiped the water off her hands. “Ali really likes you; that alone is better than anything else. Besides, Ali is genuinely happy when she’s with you. That one reason is enough.”

“But!”

Zhao Dan winked at her. “Our Ali is really something; she actually managed to win you over. As expected of my daughter; she’s got skill.”

The woman couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhao Dan’s lips also curved, full of affection.

The door was pushed open a tiny crack; Jiang Lai poked her head in from the living room. “My dear mom, when will lunch be ready? Your daughter is a little hungry.”

“There are snacks you like in the bag. I’ll go get them for you; have something to tide you over first.”

“It’s fine. I’ll wait for you all together.”

She slipped into the kitchen and naturally crouched down beside the woman. Her bangs brushed lightly over the back of the woman’s hand; the woman took off the elastic band from her own wrist and casually tied Jiang Lai’s hair into a loose low ponytail.

“Wash two more potatoes. I like eating them.”

The girl kept her head down, washing the potatoes with great energy. Her voice was bright and lively, like a little bird that had just flown out of its nest, chirping nonstop.

The woman smiled and answered, “Okay. I’ll listen to you. However many you say, I’ll wash that many.”

Her hands never stopped moving, but her body unconsciously leaned closer and closer to Jiang Lai, until there was no gap left between them.

Zhao Dan paused in what she was doing, looking at the two figures crouched on the floor. Neither of them said anything, yet it seemed as if an invisible thread was tying them together; every movement between them carried intimacy.

She suddenly smiled. Actually, having two daughters didn’t seem bad at all.

Later, when they sat down to eat, the atmosphere was a little subtle.

Jiang Lai didn’t mind at all; she kept putting dishes into the woman’s bowl, afraid she might go hungry.

“Aunt Cheng, try this. My mom made it so well.”

“And this one too; this is good too.”

“This, this...”

“Jiang Lai.”

Jiang’s father’s face darkened. “Have you completely forgotten the rule that you don’t talk while eating or sleeping?”

Jiang Lai looked unconcerned. “I didn’t forget. Back then when I talked during meals, you never yelled at me either...”

Jiang’s father: “...”

“All right, all right, eat. Don’t say anything unhappy.”

Zhao Dan smiled and stepped in to smooth things over.

The woman gently placed the peeled shrimp into Jiang Lai’s bowl. “All right, eat a little more; otherwise you’ll get hungry later.”

“Mm.”

When facing the woman, she changed into a completely different expression again; that contrast was a little unsettling in Jiang’s father’s eyes.

The flower he had painstakingly raised was not only taken away, pot and all, but was now always siding with her...

For the entire meal, Jiang’s father ate with no appetite at all.

Afterward, Cheng Shuyang called out to the man just as he was about to return to the bedroom.

“Something wrong?”

He was still his usual ice-cold self, but his tone had softened quite a bit.

The woman also noticed the slight change and smiled faintly. “Mr. Jiang, about Ali, let’s talk.”