Jiang Shitian stopped in his tracks. Without looking back, he said, “I’m not going back. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here to keep you company.”
I let out a soft laugh.
Once this man turned stubborn, he was like a spoiled child—even if that man was the formidable Jiang Shitian.
Old Mrs. Jiang shook her head with a smile, letting me lean into her arm as we walked together into the house.
The three of us sat down in the living room.
Old Mrs. Jiang took my hand and said, “Zhou Li is such a clever girl. If you give me a great-grandson soon, I’ll be even happier.”
My smile froze.
It was important to understand that Jiang Jun and I had no interest in each other. To this day, we had never truly been “together.” I was simply surviving in the Jiang household; as for producing a great-grandson, I was likely powerless to deliver.
Jiang Shitian seemed to sense the tension immediately. He quickly changed the subject. “The old lady loves playing cards. Why don’t you play a round with my mother?”
I hurriedly withdrew my hand and stood up, feeling a bit awkward. “Cards… I don’t know how to play.”
Old Mrs. Jiang and Jiang Shitian looked at each other and shared a light laugh.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know,” the old lady said. “If you don’t mind spending time with an old woman like me, I’ll teach you.”
Jiang Shitian gestured with a smile for me to sit back down and not be so formal.
I sat back down, looking at the tips of my shoes. “I would be delighted. No one ever wanted to play games with me when I was little. I used to be so envious. I didn’t expect to finally have an opportunity like this.”
The old lady looked at me searchingly. “How could no one play with you? Are you an only child? I’ve been out of touch with the world for a long time; I don’t know if you have siblings in the Zhou family.”
I nodded. “In my family, there is my father, my stepmother, and my younger half-sister, Zhou Qing. She is only a year younger than me. Also, there was my grandmother. She was the one who raised me.”
Jiang Shitian sipped his tea, listening intently.
Old Mrs. Jiang asked pointedly, “You said you were raised by your grandmother? Then your father…”
My eyelashes flickered. I lowered my gaze and spoke honestly:
“My biological mother and my father had a premarital pregnancy. After giving me birth, my mother abandoned me because she couldn’t gain entry into the Zhou family. My father married someone else shortly after.
I heard that my stepmother’s family was more powerful than the Zhous back then. So, my grandmother let them live with the stepmother’s family after the wedding. They stayed there for several years.
It wasn’t until I was five years old that my father finally moved back to the Zhou house with my stepmother and Zhou Qing.”
“Did your stepmother treat you well? Did your father compensate you for those years?” Old Mrs. Jiang looked distressed. Even the smile on Jiang Shitian’s face had vanished.
I shook my head and said:
“The first day my father brought my stepmother home, I called her ‘Mom.’ But she said I was calculating and that the greeting felt forced. She didn’t like me. She used to complain to my father in private. She said… she said…”
“Said what?” Jiang Shitian and his mother asked in unison.
I continued:
“She said—
[‘Living in the Zhou house with your mother is so inconvenient. Besides, you have that “extra baggage” (me). I have to endure so much and worry about your baggage. I’m glad I insisted on giving birth to Qingqing at my parents’ house. My family could actually look after her. Otherwise, how could Qingqing have grown up to be so outstanding?’]”
I mimicked my stepmother’s tone, keeping my head down with an expression of practiced endurance.
“At the time, I didn’t understand why a human being would be called ‘extra baggage.’ Moreover, my stepmother made it sound as if my grandmother wouldn’t help her with the child.
Even though I was the one my grandmother raised during the five years my father lived away, my father just kept coaxing my stepmother, telling her she was the one being wronged.
In truth, my grandmother never dared to upset her; she put my stepmother first in everything. Because the Zhou family’s prosperity relied entirely on the stepmother’s family connections.”
“At least you had your grandmother to love you,” Old Mrs. Jiang sighed.
My hands tightened instinctively.
They didn’t know that in my grandmother’s eyes, Zhou Qing was the real granddaughter. To her, I was just an unloved orphan.
In everything, they expected me to settle for second best, always saving the best for Zhou Qing. High-quality, sophisticated things were for Zhou Qing; I wasn’t worthy. I was fit for junk food, while Zhou Qing’s “delicate stomach” was born to eat abalone and shark fin.
“My grandmother also preferred Zhou Qing,” I said with a bitter smile.
Old Mrs. Jiang let out a long sigh. “Have you ever hated your biological parents?”
“I have,” I said firmly.
Jiang Shitian flinched slightly.
I continued: “I feel that if my parents didn’t love each other, they shouldn’t have been together. Bringing me into this world only to ignore me was irresponsible. Since I was a child, I felt like a piece of floating duckweed. Because of that, I became withdrawn.
I had nothing. It wasn’t until I was ten that I begged my father to let me keep a dog.”
“Is that the old dog, Lily, that you brought with you?” Jiang Shitian asked.
My eyes lit up. “You know Lily’s name?”
Jiang Shitian rubbed his cheek. “I heard you call her a few times and remembered.”
I felt a surge of joy. I hadn’t expected anyone else to remember Lily.
I had to admit, Jiang Shitian was composed. Even though he was divorced, I knew he was thinking about Jiang Jun, yet he managed to make me feel valued at every moment.
Old Mrs. Jiang shook her head, looking at me with pity.
“Poor child. Let the past stay in the past. Don’t dwell on it. Now that you’ve married into the Jiang family, you have us! From now on, you aren’t alone. Start over here.”
My nose prickled. Her words touched my heart.
From now on, am I really no longer alone?
But my marriage was just a transaction. Marrying me off to the Jiangs was my stepmother’s idea; she said an alliance would help the family business. I was merely a sacrifice for profit.
I opened my mouth but decided not to reveal the truth. I didn’t want to go against the old lady’s wishes or make her sad.
So, I kept silent about the “alliance” and gave a heavy, vague “Mhm.”
Jiang Shitian quickly broke the mood. “Let’s start the game. If you don’t play for a while, I’m afraid your skills will get rusty!”
Mentioning cards successfully distracted the old lady. She pulled them out and placed them on the table. “Come, come, let’s begin.”
After a round of instruction, I learned the game. Within just two or three rounds, I was beating the old lady.
I soon realized that among the three of us, Old Mrs. Jiang was the weakest player. I, the novice, was in the middle, and Jiang Shitian was the strongest. Eventually, both Jiang Shitian and I started letting her win a few rounds to keep her happy.
The card game ended amid laughter.
Afterward, Jiang Shitian said to me, “The most important thing about games is being happy. Wins and losses don’t matter.”
I nodded in agreement, feeling I had learned something valuable.
…
By the time we left the ancestral home, it was nearly dusk. Jiang Shitian drove me along the tree-lined country roads.
Suddenly, he jerked the steering wheel, and the car turned in a new direction.
“Come with me to one more place,” Jiang Shitian said.