Ji Hua noticed that the little girl had been spacing out a lot lately, dropping her head and wondering about who knows what. The way she looked at Ji Hua was also mixed with a complex emotion, not quite daring to meet her gaze.
On several occasions, Ji Hua caught Wen Huaiyue watching financial news videos of Wen Yao and Meng Wang on television. How could a young child possibly be interested in that?
Obviously, it meant that these two people held some significance for her.
Ji Hua watched her series of strange behaviors with a cold gaze and said nothing, but she already had a rough idea in her heart.
The little girl had figured out who Wen Yao was, and given this, she had probably remembered the original owner as well. In the child’s mind, the original owner was likely a truly bad woman. Yet now, this same bad woman had rescued her and slept next to her every day.
Living with the bad woman who stole her sister’s husband—Ji Hua was quite curious about what the child must be thinking inside.
That day, just as she came out of the shower, Ji Hua found the little girl tapping away at her phone. When the girl saw her, she hurriedly and frantically put it down, her face betraying a guilt she couldn’t hide.
Ji Hua raised an eyebrow playfully. She picked up her phone and checked the recent browsing history; the latest entry was the call log, though the call hadn’t been dialed out yet.
That phone number was one Ji Hua remembered from the original owner’s memories—it belonged to Wen Yao.
Casually glancing at Wen Huaiyue, Ji Hua dried her hair and asked in a chatty tone, “What were you doing with my phone?”
Wen Huaiyue was wearing pink pajamas. Her eyes blinked frantically in panic as she stammered out a defense, “Play, playing a game.”
“Hah!” Ji Hua let out a scoff from between her lips, closing in on her and staring straight into her eyes. “Is making a phone call a game too?”
Wen Huaiyue did not know how to respond. Her skills at making up excuses were far from practiced, and she could only wring her clothes helplessly, unable to squeeze out a single word for the longest time.
Ji Hua grabbed her by the chin, a faint, mocking smile in her voice as she asked, “Do you remember Wen Yao? Do you remember Meng Wang?”
Wen Huaiyue’s eyes widened abruptly.
Ji Hua let out an understanding “Ah.” “So you do remember.” Using her finger, she gently rubbed the tender skin of the little girl’s chin. “Then do you remember me too? Your Yao Sister must have mentioned me, and you’ve seen me before, haven’t you?”
Wen Huaiyue remained completely silent, her body trembling slightly.
“Do you hate me?” Ji Hua asked with a gentle smile.
Suddenly, Wen Huaiyue shoved Ji Hua away. The emotions the child had suppressed for days finally tore open a breach, and a tangled mess of complex feelings burst out from within.
She remembered her family, and she also remembered Ji Hua. She knew Ji Hua was the bad woman from her impressions who had even planned to strangle her. Although she rarely saw Ji Hua in the past, every time she did, Ji Hua was either in the middle of some mad episode or being described by others as thoroughly rotten.
Undeniably, she had been afraid of Ji Hua in the past. She had hated her, too; her mind was simple—who told Ji Hua to bully her sister?
Yet now, Ji Hua slept with her every day and cooked for her. Even though the woman spent most of her time scolding her, to a child who had just been kidnapped, anyone could serve as a lifeline, and she would cling to it for dear life.
Ji Hua’s coldness and her occasional, prank-like gentleness caused her defenses to crumble inch by inch. Without a doubt, she depended on Ji Hua.
Yet deep down, fear remained—especially knowing the kind of person Ji Hua was in her past memories, and the fact that Ji Hua clearly knew her family yet kept her trapped here, ignoring a child’s urgent yearning to go home. Amidst her fear, unreasoning resentment inevitably brewed in her heart.
Filled with anger, she shouted, “You are a bad person! You clearly know who my sister is, but you just will not let me go home. You even bit me!”
Ji Hua grabbed her ponytail and yanked her backward without exerting much force. Withdrawing the smile from her face, she spoke in a flat tone, “Oh, are you complaining about me? Little kid, do not forget, it was me who fished you out of the river. You have been eating and living off me all these days. Without me, you would not even know where you died.”
“And now you are complaining about me.” Ji Hua spoke very, very softly, her words carrying an unstoppable chill. “Your sister is going to be very sad.”
Children do not understand worldly sophistication; they act entirely on whim, naively and cruelly driving daggers into others. Wen Huaiyue was no exception. After blurting everything out without a second thought, she belatedly realized she might have said the wrong thing and tried to explain with a pale expression, “Sister, I…”
“Forget it,” Ji Hua withdrew her hand. “An unraisable creature.”
Just as Wen Huaiyue reached out to pull on her sleeve, Ji Hua caught her by surprise and bit down on the back of her neck.
“Ah!”
Wen Huaiyue let out an instinctive cry. Ji Hua bit down even harder than before, her sharp teeth repeatedly gnawing at the scar. A mark overflowing with desire and selfish possession was branded into the skin once more, the sharp pain mixed with a tingling numbness coursing through her nervous system.
Pain, itchiness, terror—spreading infinitely.
Unlike her previous silence, Wen Huaiyue pounded on Ji Hua’s shoulders, crying and shouting for her sister.
After a little over a minute, Ji Hua slowly pulled away. As usual, she contentedly licked her lips and smiled quite brightly. “What are you crying for? It is not like I am going to eat you.”
Wen Huaiyue’s long eyelashes glistened with teardrops, fluttering tremulously.
That night, Ji Hua and Wen Huaiyue slept together as before, but Wen Huaiyue did not hug her.
Ji Hua felt irritated for a moment, but it passed quickly, and soon she returned to her usual indifferent self. Wen Huaiyue wasn’t as cold-hearted; she kept her eyes wide open all night, staring at the dim yellow nightlight.
She watched for the entire night.
Their relationship grew rigid once more. Ji Hua seemed to find her too much trouble to deal with, avoiding her outside of basic mealtimes.
Living under the same roof, the opportunities for them to cross paths dwindled significantly. Panic gripped Wen Huaiyue’s heart; subconsciously, she knew the words she’d spoken that night must have upset Ji Hua, but she had no idea how to make amends.
Ji Hua refused to speak to her, not even sparing her a glance. Like a little puppy, the girl frantically sought out opportunities to approach her, only to fail to catch up to Ji Hua and spin around in circles on the spot out of anxiety.
The more she failed to catch up, the more silent she became. Keeping to herself became her daily routine over those few days.
This period quickly came to an end. That day, Ji Hua was sketching in the living room, and Wen Huaiyue curled up on the couch, watching her in silence with a direct, unblinking gaze, looking like a pretty wooden doll.
Someone knocked at the door. Without lifting her head, Ji Hua said, “Go open the door.”
Without a word, Wen Huaiyue went to open the door, but froze when she saw the person standing outside.
Standing outside were Wen Yao and Meng Wang.
“A-yue!” Wen Yao immediately squatted down and pulled her into an urgent embrace. “Sister finally found you. Thank goodness you are okay!”
Wen Huaiyue stood stunned for a moment before saying, “Yao Sister?”
“It is me, it is your sister. I am sorry it took me this long to find you.” Wen Yao’s voice carried an uncontrollable crying tone, and Meng Wang reached out to stroke her hair, comforting her, “A-yue has been found, it is over now.”
Busy checking her over to see if she had any injuries and finding none, Wen Yao let out a relieved breath. “A-yue, you really scared me to death. Did this family save you?”
Suddenly, Wen Huaiyue remembered that Ji Hua was inside—Yao Sister’s most hated person. If the two of them ran into each other, would they…
Meng Wang said, “Let’s go inside and thank this family first.”
Wen Yao nodded repeatedly, holding Wen Huaiyue’s hand as they walked into the courtyard. Unease swirled in Wen Huaiyue’s chest.
Wen Yao pushed open the living room door and saw a young woman sitting on the sofa, long hair draped beside her face so her features were unclear. Leaning forward slightly, Wen Yao spoke, “Hello, I am Wen Huaiyue’s sister. Thank you so much—it is you?” Her voice suddenly pitched upward.
Ji Hua brushed the hair away from her face, put down her drawing board, and looked up at her with an unhurried expression. Resting her arms on the armrests, she smiled slightly. “Thank me for what? Go on, continue. Miss Wen.”
Meng Wang was also slightly startled. All the way here, they only knew the family consisted of a young woman, but they never expected it to be Ji Hua.
Wasn’t she dead?
Meng Wang’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. He stepped in to answer for Wen Yao, “We are very grateful that you saved A-yue. As a reward, whatever you want, we will give it to you.”
Seeing Ji Hua’s expression was very poor, filled with astonishment and a trace of disgust, Wen Yao wasn’t completely unreasonable. After all, Ji Hua had indeed saved A-yue this time.
Regardless of what her hidden motives might have been, solely because of this fact, she could not act arbitrarily; this time, she owed Ji Hua a favor.
Past grievances aside.
She nodded. “Yes, thank you very much for taking in our A-yue for a period of time. If there is anything you want, we will do our best to help you.”
Wen Huaiyue’s hand was still tightly held by Wen Yao, her eyes darting sideways toward Ji Hua. Ji Hua lifted her eyelids, lazily threw a glance at Wen Huaiyue, and then withdrew her gaze.
Focusing her attention on Wen Yao, Ji Hua rested her chin on her hand and said with a mocking smile, “Can I have anything I want?”
“Yes, as long as it is something we can do,” Wen Yao replied.
Spinning her drawing pencil, Ji Hua smiled and said, “I want—” She paused before saying word for word, “—your younger sister, Wen Huaiyue.”
Wen Huaiyue’s eyes widened in shock.
Wen Yao’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “What did you say? Are you messing with me?”
Meng Wang was also stunned for a moment before speaking rationally, “Miss Ji, that is probably not realistic. Can you pick something more normal?”
“What is not normal about it?” Ji Hua looked uncomprehending, spreading her hands innocently. “I am just asking for a person. I am not going to harm her, what are you afraid of?”
“I am afraid!” Wen Yao thought bitterly. Did this woman plunge into the ocean and get water in her brain? Has she become addicted to stealing people away from around her?
She even dared to set her sights on her younger sister!
Gritting her teeth to rein in her temper, Wen Yao said, “Ji Hua, act like a human being! Can you think of something normal? This is my fucking sister, not an object!”
Wen Huaiyue scratched the palm of Wen Yao’s hand. Wen Yao looked down and said gently and softly, “Don’t be afraid, Sister will definitely take you home today.”
Ji Hua caught the cozy little interaction between the two of them and sneered inwardly in her heart.
Damn it, how annoying.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Yao told herself not to lose her temper. “Ji Hua, I am very grateful that you saved my sister, but I cannot agree to that condition. I am taking her home today; she is about to start school, alright?”
“Then why the hell did you ask?” Ji Hua said mercilessly.
Meng Wang soothingly squeezed the back of Wen Yao’s hand and told Ji Hua, “Aside from that, is there anything else you want?”
Ji Hua looked at them expressionlessly and let out a cold, forced smile. “I haven’t thought of it yet. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Now, get lost.”
Wen Yao looked like she was about to explode, but she managed to suppress it hard. “Then you can tell us when you think of it later. Thank you again for saving my sister. We won’t disturb you any longer, we’ll take our leave.”
With that, she made to pull Wen Huaiyue toward the door, but Wen Huaiyue stopped and didn’t move.
“What is wrong?”
Wen Huaiyue glanced at Ji Hua, made up her mind, and said, “Yao Sister, can you come pick me up tomorrow? Today I…” She pressed her lips together. “I want to stay here for one more night, is that okay? Yao Sister, Brother-in-law.”
Wen Yao was completely bewildered by this sudden turn of events. She remembered always telling Wen Huaiyue to stay away from Ji Hua in the past, especially since Ji Hua was someone even she was afraid of when she went mad.
What was going on now? Was her sister actually reluctant to leave? She actually wanted to spend another night with this woman.
Did her brain get flooded with water too?
Wen Yao wore an expression as if she had eaten a whole bitter melon. Meng Wang had noticed earlier that Wen Huaiyue kept glancing intentionally or unintentionally in Ji Hua’s direction, and he understood immediately.
Wen Huaiyue had probably developed a dependence on Ji Hua.
He patted Wen Yao’s shoulder. “Let’s come back to pick her up tomorrow.”
Wen Yao glared at him. “Did your brain get flooded with water too?”
Meng Wang looked innocent. “It is A-yue’s request. Don’t worry too much about it.”
In Wen Yao’s impression, Wen Huaiyue was very obedient and rarely asked her for anything. Now that she finally had a request, it wasn’t easy to flatly reject it.
Helplessly, she glared at Ji Hua once more before saying to her sister, “Then I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”
As she moved to head outside, Ji Hua’s lazy voice drifted from behind: “Close the door on your way out.”
Wen Yao replied, “I’ll give you!”
Before the final curse word could leave her mouth, Meng Wang dragged her out with quick reflexes, turning back to say to Ji Hua, “Sorry to trouble you with taking care of A-yue a little longer.”