Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 47
by Little PandaI Forbid You to See Her Again
Anzhi was frantic, her head beaded with sweat, but she couldn’t find her bicycle anywhere. Her chest felt tight and uncomfortable. The sun was about to set, yet the air was still stuffy and suffocating.
It was getting late. She had to go back.
Anzhi could only give up, her heart aching. That was the bicycle Yan Xi had bought for her. She wiped her eyes. She had cried so hard that she was still hiccupping.
She waited for the bus for a while, but it never came, so she started walking home on her own.
The journey that normally took half an hour by bike felt incredibly long on foot. Fortunately, the route was very familiar. As she walked, her legs began to feel weak, as if she were treading on cotton. The world before her started to flicker between light and dark. Anzhi blinked. One second, she saw the scenery bathed in the afterglow of the sun; the next, it was covered in a layer of gray. She walked with difficulty, still unable to catch her breath. Her ears were ringing, and then the flickering suddenly turned into a screen full of white, snowy static.
Anzhi realized she was suffering from heatstroke. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to pass out. She wanted to quicken her pace toward home, but her feet were soft and unsteady, her chest was tight with nausea, and her vision kept flashing. She finally managed to stumble into her residential complex and make it to Yan Xi’s villa.
She leaned against the main gate, fumbling for her key card with a trembling hand. By now, she was completely drained of strength. She was just about to call for someone.
A series of voices came from inside. It was Yan Xi, sounding very anxious as if speaking to others. “I’ll go out and look one more time. Yiyi, you go call the police. Auntie Liu, you wait here at home…”
Then, the voice stopped.
Just as she was about to say she was back…
“Little Anzhi…” came Auntie Liu Yiyi’s cry.
Anzhi clung to the gate to keep from sliding down. Suddenly, her arm was taken. A familiar scent drew near, and a soft embrace enveloped her—gently at first, then tighter, letting her lean her entire body’s weight into it.
“Auntie…” Anzhi’s eyes stung.
“The bike… the bike is gone…”
“Taotao…”
“Oh my, hurry and bring the child inside! Her face is all pale. This is heatstroke…”
“Yan Xi… can you carry her? Do you want me to… oh… you’re really strong…”
Anzhi’s vision went completely black. She only managed to hear those last two sentences.
Liu Yiyi was also a little frightened. She had been with Yan Xi looking for Anzhi for over an hour. They couldn’t reach her, and they had searched the entire area around the school. Thankfully, Anzhi had returned on her own, but her face was as white as a sheet, and she had fainted before she could even say much.
Now, she was lying on the living room sofa. After being fed half a glass of salt water, Grandma Liu was gently fanning her.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, let her sleep for a bit… Poor child…”
Looking at her red, swollen eyes, Liu Yiyi’s heart ached too.
It just so happened that she and Yan Xi had been planning to take Anzhi out for a meal to encourage her before her exams. On the way to the school, Yan Xi had received a call from one of Anzhi’s classmates.
Yan Xi’s expression had changed the moment she heard the news.
After that, they couldn’t get through to Anzhi’s phone, and they couldn’t find her at school. Yan Xi drove around, circling the entire area, and even got a ticket. After writing the ticket, the traffic cop had just started to say, “Hey, aren’t you that…”
Yan Xi, expressionless, had dropped two words—”Nice to meet you”—and driven off.
Liu Yiyi glanced at Yan Xi. Her gaze was lowered, fixed on Anzhi without blinking.
She walked over and said to Grandma Liu, “I’ll carry her to her room. It’ll be better for her to sleep there.”
With that, she bent down, helped Anzhi up to lean against her shoulder with one hand, and slid her other hand under her thighs. She leaned in and whispered “Taotao” softly by Anzhi’s ear. Even though she was asleep, Anzhi seemed to sense it and reached up to cling to her neck. Then, Yan Xi’s other arm tightened around her, and with a slight exertion of force, she lifted her up steadily.
The motion was executed in one smooth breath, even more naturally than the first time she had held her. Liu Yiyi was dumbfounded.
When Anzhi was just a little thing, Yan Xi often held her in her arms. She had seen it many times and had only thought the image was warm and loving. But now Anzhi was a thirteen-year-old, 1.6-meter-tall young lady. Although thirteen was still a child compared to them, still, but…
Yan Xi was already the tall, long-legged yujie1 type, while little Anzhi was adorable and soft. And this posture was a standard princess carry…2
Why does this scene feel a bit… in… intimate?
The word popped into her mind, and she hardly dared to acknowledge it…
Liu Yiyi shook her head fiercely. What is my brain filled with? Look how calm Housekeeper Auntie Liu is, how unfazed. She’s following behind Yan Xi, muttering, “Slowly, slowly… let her sleep first. I have porridge simmering in the kitchen. I’ll give her some later…”
Liu Yiyi shook her head fiercely again, trying to fling the word from her mind. “Trash Jinjiang, you’ve harmed me deeply…”3
While Liu Yiyi was downstairs shaking her head, Yan Xi came down with a cold expression and said to her, “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To find Tao Zhenzhen.”
“Huh?”
Before she could react, she was back in the car, and Yan Xi was driving at top speed again. Liu Yiyi checked her seatbelt several times and gripped the handle above her. “Wait, wait… slow down, slow down, the police, the police…”
Half an hour later, downstairs in a residential complex, Liu Yiyi leaned against the car door, on the verge of throwing up.
This woman had turned an hour-long drive into a thirty-minute one.
“How did you know… she lives here?” Liu Yiyi finally caught her breath and took out a small mirror to fix her slightly faded, beautiful face.
“She told me. I just didn’t know which building she was in.” Yan Xi took out her phone to make a call, gesturing for the inquisitive Liu Yiyi to wait.
“Tao Zhenzhen, it’s me. I’m downstairs. Are you coming down, or am I coming up?”
Liu Yiyi’s eyes widened. Such an impolite way of speaking?
Wait. Liu Yiyi stole a glance at Yan Xi. Her long eyelashes were lowered, and her face was calm, but Liu Yiyi felt that she was angry. To be honest, Liu Yiyi had never seen Yan Xi angry, not even once. She had a gentle personality—not a pushover, but a kind of softness with polished-down edges. As long as you didn’t cross her bottom line, she generally wouldn’t lose her temper. But then again, she had never seen her lose her temper, so this atmosphere was a bit terrifying.
“Wait… you knew she was back in the country all along…”
“I originally wanted Tao Zhenzhen to wait until after Taotao’s High School Entrance Exam4 to see her, which is why I didn’t tell Taotao… I’ve had Uncle Wang pick her up and drop her off these past few days. I didn’t expect their school to let out early today.” A strand of Yan Xi’s hair blew loose in the wind, and she tucked it back, her gaze fixed on a certain spot.
Liu Yiyi followed her gaze to the approaching woman. So this was little Anzhi’s biological mother, the person who had made her so sad.
She was indeed a beauty, walking over with a slender, graceful bearing.
“Yan Xi?” Tao Zhenzhen walked up to her, glanced at Liu Yiyi, and frowned slightly.
“I’ll make this brief. I don’t agree to you seeing Taotao again,” Yan Xi said, her face cold.
Tao Zhenzhen’s frown deepened. She stared at Yan Xi, then took a breath. “Yan Xi, I thank you for taking care of her all these years, but from now on…”
Yan Xi cut her off. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do it for your sake. I did it for Taotao.”
Only two sentences in, and sparks were already flying. Liu Yiyi silently took a step back and crossed her arms.
Tao Zhenzhen lowered her head slightly, a bitter smile playing on her lips. She whispered the name “Taotao…” then looked up. “That was the nickname my dad gave Anzhi… It seems you two are very close.”
Yan Xi said flatly, “She has been with me for over seven years.”
The two women involved didn’t think anything was wrong with that statement, but Liu Yiyi’s eyes widened. She tilted her head and scrunched up her face. For some reason… that sounds weird…
Tao Zhenzhen sighed. “I just went to see her today. Of course, I hope she can come live with me, to let me make it up to her.”
“Make it up to her? Fine. Let me ask you, if you take her in, will she live with you? Have you discussed it with your husband? Does your current home have a separate room for her? Your other child will be born in a few months, so what about Taotao? How can you guarantee you won’t neglect her? Are you planning to send her to a boarding school? Do you know which high school she wants to get into, or which university she wants to apply to? If you can answer these questions right now, only then will I agree to consider letting Taotao live with you.”
Tao Zhenzhen’s brow twitched, likely irritated by this barrage of questions. Her tone became a bit aggressive. “Yan Xi, she is my daughter. What gives you the right to agree?”
“Oh?” A corner of Yan Xi’s lip curled up. “So you do remember that?”
…
Liu Yiyi secretly took a breath. The atmosphere was so tense… but it was also unexpectedly thrilling. What was this strange feeling?
“What if she’s willing to come with me?” Tao Zhenzhen stared at her.
Yan Xi didn’t hesitate for a second. “Then I still won’t agree.”
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds of the seven years she has been by my side. She still listens to me now. And if she doesn’t… I can sue you.”
Tao Zhenzhen’s brow twitched violently again.
Screech… Liu Yiyi’s teeth were on edge.
“You know that you and Chen Muqi were never married, and Taotao’s surname is Tao. Strictly speaking, you are her primary guardian. For all these years, you completely disappeared, without so much as a phone call. But there’s one thing where you can’t compare to Chen Muqi: he has paid for Taotao’s upbringing for these thirteen years. As for me, I can be considered her adoptive mother. I may not know much about the law, but if I find a good lawyer, I’m ninety percent certain I can sue you for the crime of abandonment.”
“Even if the lawsuit fails, given your current situation, the court won’t necessarily let you continue as Taotao’s guardian. They would make Chen Muqi the guardian. And over the years, Chen Muqi and I have reached a tacit understanding. Between the two of us, he trusts me to take care of Taotao.”
“So Taotao will definitely stay by my side. Therefore, Tao Zhenzhen, as a former classmate, I am now formally telling you: stay far away from Taotao. I forbid you to see her again.”
The author has something to say:
Yan Xi is truly angry. People who are usually good-tempered and don’t get angry are quite terrifying when they do….
Footnotes
- A Japanese term, ‘onee-san’, adopted into Chinese slang. It refers to a character archetype of a mature, cool, elegant, and capable older woman.
- A trope in fiction where one character carries another in their arms (bridal style). It is often depicted as romantic.
- Jinjiang (jjwxc.net) is one of China’s largest webnovel platforms, famous for hosting a vast amount of romance fiction, including many wlw (women who love women) stories. The phrase is a joking way of saying the site has ‘rotted’ one’s brain into shipping characters.
- The ‘zhongkao’ is a crucial standardized test that determines which senior high school a student can attend, significantly impacting their future academic path.
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