Afterward, Jiang Xule lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with “whys.”
Why did I say those things to her? What does it matter to me whether she smokes or not? She won’t misunderstand and think I’m actually concerned about her, will she?!
As it turns out, people really can’t be too idle; once you have downtime, it’s easy to start overthinking.
Unable to fall asleep even by 2:00 AM, Jiang Xule simply propped up her pillow, leaned against the headboard, and picked up her phone. She figured she might fall asleep once she got tired of playing on it.
She opened WeChat and saw a red notification dot on Moments. Wanting to clear it, she clicked in and discovered that Fang Yize had actually “liked” her post about her rental apartment being flooded…
This like had come after Fang Yize’s confession. Would she regret confessing so early?
Jiang Xule didn’t post to Moments often, and her profile was open to the public; when she did post, it was usually to vent about the eccentrics she encountered at work.
Thus, curiosity got the better of her: what did the eldest miss’s Moments look like? She clicked into Fang Yize’s profile and found that she posted daily.
At a glance, it was filled with a love for life.
There were photos of sunrises and sunsets at school, as well as posts about the unlucky incidents she encountered in her daily life. For instance, if she got a scratch, she would post a picture with the caption: Oh well, oh well, another “red-hot” day!
There were also group photos with friends in various settings—high-end restaurants, nightclubs and bars, sofas in luxury villas, beaches, mountains, tourist attractions, and even a random intersection in Yuegang City.
Scrolling further down, she saw a picture of a windowsill. Lined up across it was a row of glass milk bottles used as planters for various flowers and herbs, their leaves sporting crystal-clear water droplets under the sunlight.
Jiang Xule couldn’t quite understand it. Her family was so wealthy; surely she could afford a proper vase?
Zooming in on the photo, she could see that the glass bottles all had labels with dates on them—nearly all from 2013. Six years ago, their first year of high school.
Jiang Xule kept scrolling through the images until, suddenly, a face appeared on the screen—a face with exquisite makeup, twin ponytails, a wink, and a pout.
The “sweet girl” aesthetic was definitely Fang Yize’s domain.
Jiang Xule stared at the photo of Fang Yize for a while, acknowledging that she was indeed very beautiful. It was no wonder everyone tacitly accepted her as the school beauty of the Class of ’13 at No. 15 High School. She was enjoying the view when she was suddenly “bitten” by her phone—she reflexively jerked and threw the phone away.
She had forgotten that her mattress was still wet from the rain and was currently drying on the balcony. Right now, there was only the bed frame and a bamboo mat. The phone made two loud clangs as it hit the hard surface.
She only felt sorry for her phone for two seconds before she wanted to slap herself for being so mesmerized by Fang Yize’s photo.
So what if Fang Yize hadn’t scolded her when she bought alcohol for the dorm back in tenth grade? It was a fact that she caused her to lose her job; it was a fact that she hindered her from earning money at her stall; it was a fact that she ruined the dress she’d rented for three hundred yuan at the class reunion; and it was a fact that Fang Yize used to “stalk” her back in school, causing her to fall into a ditch!
This wasn’t something that could be settled with a single meal of fried chicken!
Thinking this way made her feel much better. Leaving her phone at the foot of the bed, she lowered her pillow and fell asleep.
Heaven only knows how many times Fang Yize sneezed that night. When she woke up the next day, she felt completely wilted and her nose was stuffed up—likely because she had driven with the windows down, soaking in the night breeze the whole way.
Today was June 1st, Children’s Day. Although high school students didn’t get a holiday for it, Fang Yize still wanted to create a sense of occasion for them.
The box of candies she’d ordered was still at the entrance; Jiang Xule had delivered it. Since she had no classes during the first three periods on Thursday morning, she took a pair of scissors to open the package. She then began portioning the candies into small bags, adding snacks from her own pantry to each little box.
One hour for packing, one hour for writing cards. Forty-five small gift boxes were lined up on the living room floor; looking at them gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
It looked like the plastic bin in her car would be needed again. This thought made her link back to Jiang Xule—she had added her on WeChat last time, so she could just ask her to come over and help move them!
So, she contacted Jiang Xule while stacking the packed boxes.
At that moment, Jiang Xule was hitting walls everywhere with her resume. A high school diploma made it difficult to find work; jobs with low pay didn’t care about education, but she couldn’t get into the high-paying ones.
Standing by the roadside munching on bread, Jiang Xule checked her phone and immediately accepted Fang Yize’s task. She quickly stuffed the rest of the bread into her mouth, washed it down with mineral water, and jogged toward Fang Yize’s home.
Having delivered the package there before, she knew where Fang Yize lived, and it happened to be near where she was job hunting.
Jiang Xule arrived much faster than Fang Yize had planned. Hearing the doorbell, Fang Yize went to open the door and took out a pair of slippers from the cabinet for Jiang Xule to wear.
She usually bought her indoor slippers a size too large, so they fit Jiang Xule’s feet perfectly.
The air conditioning inside was set quite low. Although Jiang Xule hadn’t run for long, June weather was the kind where you could sweat just by standing still. Entering this air-conditioned room where she didn’t have to worry about the electricity bill made her feel like she had come back to life.
Fang Yize didn’t make Jiang Xule start working immediately. Seeing her heavy breathing, she knew how she’d gotten here, so she took a bottle of mineral water out of the fridge.
Her fridge was filled exclusively with mineral water—all kinds of brands, ranging from single digits to three digits in price. There was hardly a trace of soda; at most, there was alcohol, but coincidentally, she had run out of booze today.
“Thanks.” A mouthful of cold water went down, and the stifling heat dissipated further.
“What do you need me to do now?” Jiang Xule asked.
Fang Yize thought for a moment and replied, “What’s the rush? I don’t head to school for another half hour. Sit down first.” Her own voice startled her; she sounded quite congested.
Puzzled, Jiang Xule stood by the coffee table and looked at Fang Yize, who was sitting on the white sofa. “If you still have half an hour, why did you call me here so early?”
“Are you busy?” Fang Yize asked.
Certainly not.
“My time is valuable.”
“One hundred yuan.”
Jiang Xule paused, then gave a cold laugh. “Think being rich is amazing?”
“Two hundred.”
Jiang Xule took a step forward, circled the coffee table, and sat down.
What was so hard about waiting half an hour? Sitting on a sofa, drinking water, and enjoying the AC—and getting two hundred yuan for it? If that wasn’t free money, what was?
“Eldest Miss, please feel free to give whatever orders you have,” Jiang Xule put on a professional fake smile.
Fang Yize had originally just wanted her to sit and rest because she looked tired from running, but who knew she would treat herself like a maid?
In that case…
“I have a bit of a cold. Go mix a cup of cold granules for me,” Fang Yize leaned back against the sofa, holding a tablet. “They’re in the cabinet on the far right of the kitchen.”
“You got it!”
Jiang Xule glanced around the room before heading toward the kitchen. Her voice echoed in the spacious apartment. The kitchen was behind the living room sofa, up two small steps. It was fully equipped with cookware, and even the kitchen had green plants.
Jiang Xule was slightly nearsighted. Even without glasses, she could live normally, but from where she stood, looking back at Fang Yize, her face was blurry—as if covered by a thin layer of pixels.
Was her eyesight getting worse? No, Fang Yize’s house was just too big.
This flat was practically Jiang Xule’s dream home! Decorated in a unified black-and-white palette with matte-finish floor tiles, the entire place felt spacious and tidy.
But Jiang Xule didn’t know how many years she would have to work to afford a place like this. Even if she saved two thousand a month, that was contingent on having a stable job, and now…
She followed Fang Yize’s instructions and found the far-right cabinet. Sure enough, it was packed with all kinds of medicine, along with alcohol, iodine, bandages, and band-aids.
Shouldn’t these things be kept somewhere more convenient? Why are they in the kitchen? The doubt flickered for only two seconds; Jiang Xule didn’t waste time overthinking it. Everyone has different habits.
She poured the granules into a glass, filled it with hot water from the dispenser, stirred it evenly with a spoon, and brought it to Fang Yize.
Fang Yize was looking at the classroom surveillance on her tablet, “voyeurizing” them even when she didn’t have class…
“Here.” Jiang Xule handed it over with one hand.
Fang Yize looked up with her watery eyes, and the two of them happened to lock gazes for a long moment.
Fang Yize leaned lazily against the sofa with no intention of sitting up. “I want you to feed me.”
Bullshit!
Jiang Xule’s grip on the glass handle tightened. Her eyelashes fluttered twice as if she were hesitating.
If she were unwilling, she would have normally snapped, slammed the glass on the table, and walked out. But right now, she was on the clock. She had to be willing even if she wasn’t—who would turn down money?
And Fang Yize, sitting there, was like a walking stack of cash.
Jiang Xule’s expressionless face immediately broke into a smile again. She stirred the medicine with the spoon once more, sat down beside her, and thoughtfully blew on a spoonful.
She leaned forward, holding the spoon to Fang Yize’s lips, and whispered a gentle reminder: “Careful, it’s hot.”
Fang Yize watched her actions with a satisfied smile. However, when Jiang Xule held the medicine to her mouth, she didn’t open it. Instead, she leaned away and reached out to take the entire glass of cold granules from Jiang Xule’s hand.
She tilted her head back and gulped it all down.
By the time she set the empty glass back on the coffee table, Jiang Xule was still holding that small spoonful of medicine. Her dissatisfied gaze followed Fang Yize before landing on the spoon in her own hand.
“What’s this supposed to mean?” Jiang Xule didn’t look up at her.
Fang Yize didn’t look at her either, simply smiling as she replied, “Suddenly, I didn’t want you to feed me anymore.”
She expected Jiang Xule to fly into a rage, but instead, the other girl’s beautiful eyes crinkled slightly. She let out a soft breath through her nose as her lips curled into a shallow smile.
Before Fang Yize could even look up in confusion, Jiang Xule unceremoniously pinched Fang Yize’s soft cheek with one hand and forcibly poured the small spoonful of cold medicine into her mouth.
Her narrow eyes were smiling, but the look wasn’t friendly; it was a dangerous warning.
Fang Yize’s brain stalled, forgetting to swallow the spoonful of medicine in her mouth. She curled up in the corner of the sofa, clutching her tablet, blankly trying to process what had just happened.
At that moment, Jiang Xule parted her red lips and responded to Fang Yize’s previous statement: “But I wanted to feed you. What should we do about that?”