Chapter 24: I Hate That You Married Xue Erbai.

“Xiaobai, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

“You really do look a lot like your mother.”

Ji Wushan was half-hidden behind Xue Erbai and said nothing, but that didn’t bother Song Quwen in the slightest.

As if she’d only come to say those two things, she immediately moved on to small talk with Xue Erbai.

Xue Erbai knew this kind of situation all too well.

But right now, all her attention was on the hand Ji Wushan was gripping tightly behind her.

Their fingers were tangled together. She didn’t even need to look to know Ji Wushan was trembling.

Ji Wushan didn’t like Song Quwen.

Neither did Xue Erbai.

So she tightened her grip a little more, keeping Ji Wushan from having to face Song Quwen directly.

“Thank you for the compliment, Mom. Actually, I don’t just look like my mother; I look like my father too.”

Xue Erbai was doing it on purpose. She simply didn’t want to be polite to Song Quwen, who’d scared Ji Wushan into this state.

When she saw Song Quwen’s expression stiffen just as she’d hoped, she secretly squeezed Ji Wushan’s hand and asked in a sweet, soft voice, full of innocent confusion, “Mom doesn’t go online? You didn’t even know Sis Sheng was injured a few days ago?”

Song Quwen’s lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, then thought better of it.

Xue Erbai didn’t care what she had wanted to say; whatever came out of her mouth definitely wouldn’t be something she or Ji Wushan wanted to hear anyway. So she went on, “I’m very busy filming outside with Sis Sheng, and when we get back today, we still have to go to the studio.”

“Another day, I’ll come with her to visit you.”

There was a faint edge of sarcasm in her voice, and Song Quwen’s face darkened further. Her gaze flickered with something Xue Erbai couldn’t quite make out.

She didn’t want to make sense of it either. She was too indignant on Ji Wushan’s behalf, and those words were already the most tactful ones she could manage.

She’d thought of far harsher things more than once.

What kind of mother was this?

She didn’t even know her daughter had been hurt, didn’t care at all, and then the moment they met, she launched into a fierce lecture about how Ji Wushan never answered calls or replied on WeChat. What kind of good child blah blah blah…

Even Xue Yanhe, who was always busy with work and usually paid little attention to her life, wouldn’t speak to her like that when she suddenly remembered to ask about her schoolwork.

And yet Xue Erbai kept smiling as she tugged Ji Wushan’s hand forward, wrapped an arm around her waist, and looked straight at Song Quwen. Her tone hardened. “If there’s nothing else, Sis Sheng and I are leaving.”

Song Quwen looked at Ji Wushan, but her words were aimed at Xue Erbai. “I didn’t expect Xiaobai to be this considerate toward Shengsheng.”

“She’s my wife. Of course I should be considerate to her.”

“If Sis Sheng doesn’t answer the phone later, I’ll answer for her too, Mom.”

As she spoke, Xue Erbai started walking. Ji Wushan followed beside her, and when she looked at Song Quwen, she even curled the corner of her lips, though her voice stayed icy. “Mom, I’m leaving.”

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It wasn’t until they’d gone a fair distance that Ji Wushan realized Xue Erbai’s hand had been on her waist the entire time.

She shifted a little awkwardly and whispered, “We’re going into the TV station.”

Xue Erbai’s fingertips paused, but she didn’t let go right away. Instead, she tightened her hold and pulled Ji Wushan over to the entrance, almost pressing her into the corner.

Only then did she finally take her hand again as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It was as if she were silently giving her strength.

After a long moment, she swallowed and asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Why don’t you go in first? I’ll buy you something to eat.”

“Do you want something to drink?”

Actually, Xue Erbai had a lot she wanted to say, a lot she wanted to ask. But some things were never easy to say, never easy to ask.

Didn’t she have conflicts with Xue Yanhe too?

She did.

After Xue Yanhe divorced Xue Shan, she went through several girlfriends.

Even the fact that Xue Erbai herself had been conceived through IVF—Xue Yanhe had told her that when she graduated from university.

Thinking about it now, it was something she had never expected.

She had been among the first batch of IVF children in China, and without enough financial support, it would have been impossible to get through it all.

That made her feelings about Xue Yanhe’s behavior complicated.

It must have been hard to try so many times; Xue Erbai felt sorry for her.

But… because of sexual orientation and the desire to leave behind an heir, she found it very hard to understand.

At least with the way she thought now, it was hard.

So every family has its own hard-to-recite scripture; she didn’t want to touch Ji Wushan’s wound, and she even wanted her to forget it.

Taking advantage of Ji Wushan’s silence, she softened her voice even more. “Do you want to eat it?”

How could Ji Wushan not understand? She bit her lip and, a little dependently, took hold of Xue Erbai’s fingers. In a low voice, she said, “…Yes.”

“But can we wait until after the recording?”

“Okay!~” Xue Erbai answered brightly, then led her farther inside.

Before they went in, she heard Ji Wushan whisper, “Thank you.”

Xue Erbai just smiled and didn’t answer.

The station was crowded with people coming and going. Quite a few staff members knew Ji Wushan and immediately recognized her.

The show’s leaked candid shots had already spread. Now that they were openly holding hands like this, Xue Erbai felt her mood lift quite a bit.

Usually Ji Wushan was cool and composed, but right now she was clearly uncomfortable, subconsciously trying to pull her hand free from Xue Erbai’s palm.

Xue Erbai wouldn’t let her.

Ji Wushan struggled, but it was useless.

So she simply let Xue Erbai hold her all the way to the lounge, where they finally separated.

Mao Ying was waiting inside. When she saw them arrive, she hurried to her feet, but there wasn’t time for much small talk; the two of them went over the script together.

After Ji Wushan finished her makeup, she went out.

At the door, she turned back and stood beside Xue Erbai, saying softly, “Stay with Mao Ying. I might… not be able to look after you.”

Xue Erbai nodded and stood up as well, softening her voice. “Okay, I know~”

“You work hard!”

This time, unlike before when she had only watched from afar, she was by Ji Wushan’s side.

Even though they were still in the shadows, it felt completely different.

Last time, Ji Wushan hadn’t known; this time, during breaks in filming, she would occasionally look toward Xue Erbai.

And the look in her eyes was different too.

Different from before she lost her memory.

Different from right after she lost her memory, and even different from when she was on the show.

Xue Erbai had never paid much attention to Ji Wushan’s mother, Song Quwen. To her, that woman was someone she had met only once in childhood.

It was also because of that incident that Xue Erbai first met Ji Wushan.

Back then, Xue Yanhe had rarely had free time and had taken her to an amusement park. By coincidence, they ran into Song Quwen there with Ji Wushan.

Ji Wushan had been dressed very cutely, in a white dress with a bob haircut, quiet and still.

Unlike Xue Erbai, who was in the middle of growing out her hair at the time.

Her outfit was cute too—at least much cuter than Xue Erbai’s. She’d been in the middle of growing out her hair, and her half-long, half-short mess stuck out everywhere; the short-sleeved shirt and shorts she wore weren’t exactly clean either, and she was basically a little wild thing.

Ji Wushan disliked her a little and even told her to go wash up.

Xue Erbai didn’t notice and only wanted to play with Ji Wushan.

So she hadn’t paid Song Quwen much attention at all.

Later, they didn’t run into each other often, and she rarely saw Ji Wushan either.

Xue Erbai went to elementary school near her second aunt’s home. Back then, the company wasn’t too busy; her second aunt had a nominal position there and took care of her cousin while also taking care of Xue Erbai. By the time her cousin got to middle school, she needed more care, so Xue Yanhe arranged for Xue Erbai to board at school.

What a coincidence—it was the same school Ji Wushan had attended, but by then Ji Wushan had already graduated.

Later, it was only because of Ji Wushan’s college entrance exam that Xue Erbai, using her connections, found out she had wandered around outside Sichuan Media’s gates countless times before finally running into her.

Just one brief meeting; even now, she still didn’t know whether Ji Wushan had ever seen her.

But now, she could ask!

That different look gave her confidence, just as seeing Ji Wushan’s instinctive closeness to Song Quwen had given her a lot of courage.

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The lights dimmed as the recording ended. Mao Ying was standing beside Xue Erbai, and when she saw Xue Erbai take the water to hand to Ji Wushan, Xue Erbai leaned over and said something to her in a low voice. Mao Ying then handed over Ji Wushan’s water bottle.

It was a plain white thermos, very small; in Xue Erbai’s hand, only the lid was visible.

Kind of cute.

When Xue Erbai handed the bottle to Ji Wushan, Ji Wushan looked a little surprised and took it with a soft word of thanks.

“You’re welcome.”

“By the way, I want to ask—did you pick this cup?” Xue Erbai asked casually. Ji Wushan’s hand on the bottle trembled slightly; instead of answering, she changed the subject and asked, “What time are we going to the birthday banquet tomorrow?”

“Mm… probably sometime after noon tomorrow.”

They had been married for three months, but they had never actually taken part in each other’s family affairs.

If not for Ji Wushan’s accident and amnesia this time, tomorrow would have been Xue Yanhe’s first time meeting Ji Wushan.

Xue Shan had never met her either, and as for the rest of the family, that went without saying.

Even her younger uncle’s family, whom she wasn’t that close to, knew nothing about it; just a few days ago, they had still been urging her to get married in the group chat.

So when Xue Yanhe told her to arrive early, Xue Erbai automatically took that to mean after noon.

It was an evening banquet; why would she go that early?

And the time she gave was clearly a relief to Ji Wushan.

Noticing that, she teased her in a familiar, intimate tone. “Scared to meet the parents?”

Ji Wushan’s breath caught; after a very slow nod, her gaze drifted away.

Xue Erbai didn’t notice at all, completely caught up in the fact that she’d guessed what Ji Wushan was thinking. Smiling, she reached out to take Ji Wushan’s hand. “You don’t need to be scared. Tomorrow, I’ll protect you the whole time!”

“…Okay.” Ji Wushan nodded dazedly, and Xue Erbai still didn’t notice anything. As they walked out of the TV station, she kept talking about their plans for the evening.

“Let’s eat out tonight? Then go to bed early. You can take a bath… watch out!”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Ji Wushan nearly stepped into empty air. Xue Erbai reacted instantly, wrapping an arm around her and scolding her without missing a beat. “Be careful, Sis Sheng!”

Ji Wushan was startled too; she clutched Xue Erbai tightly, almost burying herself in the crook of her neck.

So Xue Erbai couldn’t see the moisture gathering in her eyes, only that her gaze had fallen on the car parked by the roadside…

The window was rolled halfway down, and Song Quwen’s face appeared in profile.

Their eyes met.

A few seconds later, Ji Wushan answered Xue Erbai in a very soft voice: “I know. I’ll be careful.”

“That’s good. After all… I can’t stay by your side forever.”

Xue Erbai answered quickly, lightly patting her back.

She was clearly a few years younger than her; though… according to the memories Ji Wushan had lost, that might not have been true.

But Ji Wushan still felt something different.

That brief feeling of dependence only grew stronger.

This was the first time in her memory that someone had stood by her so openly.

The unease that had seeped out from deep in her bones was being smoothed away little by little.

“Thank you… Xiaobai.” Her voice was very low and hoarse; only Xue Erbai, close to her ear, could hear it. She could also clearly feel that the moment those words left her mouth, Xue Erbai’s body stiffened slightly, and she held her even tighter.

Her tone was a little too casual on purpose. “You’re my wife, aren’t you? Besides, it’s only a small thing. Why are you making it sound so serious!”

Ji Wushan turned to look at her, and Xue Erbai looked away.

But before she did, she caught it clearly: that gaze was gentle and earnest, even a little more serious than hers.

The unease in her heart shifted and began to pound even more wildly.

What she’d actually wanted to say was not that she’d almost missed her step on the stairs, but that as nothing more than a contractual marriage partner, Xue Erbai being willing to shield her from her mother’s pressure and scrutiny made her deeply grateful.

But when the words reached her lips, her throat tightened, and she couldn’t get a single one out.

Even with seven missing years, she still dared to be certain.

She definitely, absolutely had never experienced anything like this before. Xue Erbai’s favoritism was very likely the first time in her life she had ever felt anything like it.

Because the WeChat message from Song Quwen sitting on her phone was proof enough.

[You definitely wouldn’t dare tell Xue Erbai what happened that day, would you?]

She had also seen the messages Song Quwen sent before.

After losing her memory, she hadn’t replied; before losing her memory, she had.

The most recent reply was still about this matter.

[Don’t you want to know why I hate it so much that you married Xue Erbai?]

[Come see me, and I’ll tell you everything.]

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Author’s Note: Xiaobai: I hate you too!!