“We just ran into each other at the hospital. I wasn’t driving, so my sister brought me back with her.”
Jiang Wangshu’s lips curved into a smile of just the right depth as she walked over and stopped in front of Shen Xiaqing.
Xuan Xiaoyu’s steps were small and slow, and Shen Qing, holding her hand, walked behind Jiang Wangshu. Hearing Jiang Wangshu so skillfully produce an excuse, Shen Qing instantly frowned, her expression turning ugly.
In the seven years she’d been away, Jiang Wangshu’s situation in the Shen family had not been as good as she’d imagined.
Suppression, interrogation, control…
Shen Qing could see Shen Xiaqing’s wariness toward her.
She wanted to curse.
The moment Shen Qing’s lips began to move, she caught the warning look in Jiang Wangshu’s eyes.
Fine. She’d hold it in!
The housekeeper took the bag of medicine Jiang Wangshu was carrying. After washing their hands, they took their seats beside Shen Xiaqing.
The people at the table resumed eating. Shen Xiaqing sized up Shen Qing and Xiaoyu expressionlessly, and no one dared say much. The atmosphere grew awkward except for Shen Qing, who acted as if nothing were wrong, serving Xiaoyu food bite by bite.
“Mom, I ran into my mom at the hospital today. She was probably worried about your health, so she made a special trip to the hospital to adjust your prescription and prepare a few more doses of medicine. I brought them back, we’ll brew them in a bit.”
Years ago, Jiang Shan had been Shen Xiaqing’s personal physician, and the two were close friends. After founding Ren’ai Hospital with her connections and financial backing, Jiang Shan never gave up the post of personal physician, continuing to look after Shen Xiaqing’s health and enjoying her full trust.
Hearing this, Shen Xiaqing nodded and gave an “mm,” but she still didn’t believe it was the coincidence Jiang Wangshu claimed. “I remember your health has always been excellent, Shen Qing. How is it that the moment you returned to the country, you happened to fall ill enough to need the hospital?”
Shen Qing was extremely annoyed by the interrogation-like questioning, and instantly forgot all about Jiang Wangshu’s warning. Fortunately, she still remembered Xiaoyu was sitting beside her, and she forced herself to suppress her anger with deep breaths, lowering her voice as well: “Where I go is none of your business. You talk more than a cop interrogating a suspect. Are we eating or not?”
Jiang Wangshu’s chopsticks froze mid-motion, her heart jolting in alarm, and she hurried to smooth things over.
“It was Xiaoyu who was sick. Xuan Zhi was busy with work and asked A-Qing to look after the child. You may not know yet Miss Xuan is the partner A-Qing mentioned the other day. This is her child.”
Jiang Wangshu reached past Xuan Xiaoyu and secretly tugged at the hem of Shen Qing’s clothes.
She was reminding her to stay calm.
“Xiaoyu, come say hello to Grandma.”
Hearing the pretty auntie call her name, Xuan Xiaoyu looked up from her rice bowl, smiled shyly, and called out “Grandma” to Shen Xiaqing in the tiniest voice.
And Shen Qing’s anger vanished the instant Jiang Wangshu reached out and tugged at her clothes, like a parched desert finally receiving a silent, gentle rain falling fine and dense, as if to soothe the scorching heat of every single grain of sand.
Shen Xiaqing responded to Xiaoyu with unexpected warmth, the very picture of a loving elder, then turned to Shen Qing with a satisfied smile. “So the partner you mentioned was Xuan Zhi.”
“Since it’s her, bring her over to our home soon so I can meet her. Let the two families have a meal together. If things go well, you two should settle things soon.”
“Settle what?” Shen Qing frowned.
“Get engaged.”
In an excellent mood, Shen Xiaqing instructed Jiang Wangshu: “Invite your Jiang family as well. I’m leaving this matter to you make sure it’s done properly.”
“So you’re that eager to meddle in my affairs?” Shen Qing gave a couple of cold laughs. “Where were you before? You never cared about me growing up, and only now you remember you have a daughter and want to question me about my marriage. Am I being too generous, giving you face like this…”
“A-Qing.” Jiang Wangshu called out to stop her, afraid she would say something even more outrageous and provoke Shen Xiaqing’s displeasure, getting herself shipped off abroad again.
After a pause, Jiang Wangshu said to Shen Xiaqing, “Mom, I’ll take care of this matter. Don’t worry.”
…
Shen Qing once again backed down.
After dinner, Shen Xiaqing played with Xuan Xiaoyu for a while, then, running low on energy, returned to her room. Seeing her leave, the rest of them found excuses to depart as well.
Only the three of them remained in the hall. Shen Qing received a call from Xuan Zhi. Hearing the excited voice on the other end, she knew the negotiations had gone smoothly.
“Mission accomplished. I snatched up such a great business deal, just wait to count the money.”
“I’m coming to pick up Xiaoyu soon. She hasn’t been fussy, has she?”
Shen Qing replied flatly, “No.”
Having worked with Shen Qing for so many years, Xuan Zhi immediately detected something off in her tone. “Hey, what’s going on? Something’s wrong with your voice. How could such a deflated sound come from you? Not happy about making money?”
“No. Hanging up. Wait for me.”
Standing by the window, Shen Qing happened to see Xuan Zhi’s car pull up downstairs. She would have to go down and explain the absurd family banquet that was coming and the topics that would be raised at it.
Hanging up, she turned to look at Jiang Wangshu, who was playing with Xuan Xiaoyu. Only she would have the patience to entertain a little kid, surely. The scene reminded her of her first meeting with Jiang Wangshu.
Neglected since childhood, Shen Qing had developed the temperament of a little hellion.
The year she turned four, Shen Qing and Shen Dai were left in the garden by their nanny to play on the swings. Shen Dai’s health was poor, and this was the first time Shen Qing had ever played with her. Shen Qing was thrilled and took a real liking to this playmate. Unfortunately, Shen Dai could only sit under a tree in the nanny’s arms, watching Shen Qing on the swing with envy, unable to join in.
When the nanny went inside to fetch a shawl for Shen Dai, Shen Qing quietly ran over to her and asked, “Jiejie, do you want to play too?”
Shen Dai nodded hard, gazing longingly at the swing that should have been built for her, the one she had never once played on.
“Can you play on it?” Shen Qing asked carefully, her voice almost a whisper.
A childish voice answered eagerly. Shen Dai said, “Yes.”
Shen Qing believed her jiejie knew everything.
Before, she couldn’t understand picture books, and the other kids at kindergarten called her a little dummy. So, when the nanny wasn’t looking, she had sneaked into her sister’s room to ask for help. Her sister didn’t laugh at her; instead, in a voice just as childish as her own, she told her the little stories in the picture books.
After that day, Shen Qing memorized the stories, and when she went back to kindergarten, no one mocked her anymore instead, she gained a few friends who wanted to hear her tell stories.
So this time too, she took her sister’s word for granted.
She helped her sister, whose voice was hoarse, onto the swing, struggling to steady her small body as she pushed her sister, who was slightly taller than her.
At first her sister was happy. It was the first time Shen Qing had heard her laugh like that, and a smile spread across her own face too. But then her sister didn’t seem so happy anymore. The laughter was fleeting, followed immediately by her pained, ragged breathing.
Shen Qing was startled and quickly stopped pushing the swing, but the swing hadn’t stopped yet. In her panic, she grabbed hold of the hemp rope, and even when she fell heavily to the ground, she didn’t let go. Finally, the swing came to a halt amid the nanny’s cry of alarm. Her sister was carefully lifted off by the trembling nanny and hurried back to the main house without looking back, while she was completely forgotten.
The pain left her unable to straighten up, her body sunk into the mud. She wanted to go see what had happened to her sister, but she couldn’t. Somehow, she felt that in that moment, everything she was had been buried in the mud too.
Reeking, rotting.
Instinctively, she called out “Mama,” very softly, scattering into the wind, soon to vanish without a trace. No one would notice her.
But then she met the angel who saved her.
She said her name was Jiang Wangshu, that she had come along with Jiang Shan to treat Shen Dai. The adults were busy, so she’d come out to wander around, and in a daze she’d heard Shen Qing’s cry of “Mama.” She’d been drawn to the garden, where she found Shen Qing hiding among the flowers.
It was early winter, and the temperature in Haicheng had dropped sharply, yet Shen Qing was thinly dressed, filthy all over, the exposed skin of her palms still scraped from her fall, her eye rims red like a pitiful little dirty bun.
Jiang Wangshu didn’t mind the mud on her at all. She gently gathered her into her arms and soothed her softly. Feeling how cold her skin was, Jiang Wangshu took off the red scarf her grandmother had knitted for her before she came to the Jiang family and wrapped it around Shen Qing.
“A-Qing, is Miss Xuan here?”
“A-Qing?”
Her eyes slowly came back into focus. She hadn’t expected the memories from childhood to remain so vivid. Whether that was a good thing or bad, Shen Qing let out a long sigh.
“Mm, I’m taking Xiaoyu out.” She took Xuan Xiaoyu’s hand, picked up her little backpack, and headed for the door.
“You’re not inviting Miss Xuan in?”
Her steps froze. Shen Qing asked in disbelief, “You want her to come in that badly?”
Jiang Wangshu didn’t understand, but she nodded anyway. “This is your home too. Once you two get engaged, she’ll be moving in sooner or later.”
Sometimes Shen Qing really couldn’t tell whether Jiang Wangshu knew the truth and was pretending not to, or whether she genuinely believed her story that the partner was real.
But when she thought about how she and Xuan Zhi behaved around each other in front of Jiang Wangshu, she really couldn’t think of any intimate gesture between them that would make her so firmly believe Xuan Zhi was her partner!
“Do you want me to get engaged to Xuan Zhi that much?” Shen Qing tried to make things clear. “Then if I told you we’re not even a couple, would you still want us to get engaged?”
“A-Qing, stop joking. That day you said you’d bring your partner back home, and Miss Xuan came back with you.”
I wasn’t joking.
Looking at Jiang Wangshu’s utterly serious eyes, she knew she’d played the joke too far. Back then, she’d only wanted to make her jealous. Jiang Wangshu used to know her better than anyone, no lie could ever slip past her eyes. So how come she couldn’t see through it this time? Shen Qing couldn’t figure it out no matter how she thought about it.
After a long silence, Jiang Wangshu said, “I want you to be happy.”
But without you, I won’t be.
Not wanting the misunderstanding to go on any longer, she was about to speak the words of explanation when they were interrupted by a suddenly ringing phone.
Shen Qing picked up her phone. The two characters “Xuan Zhi” kept flashing on the screen.
No need to guess, it was a reminder to send Xiaoyu out the door.
Shen Qing was so furious he wanted to curse someone out. Gritting his teeth, he pressed the answer button, threw a single word at the other end “Wait”, and hung up.
“Go back to your room and wait for me. Don’t fall asleep yet, I have something to tell you, something I need to explain clearly. I’ll come back right after I drop Xiaoyu off.”
“It’ll be quick.”