Sleep, don’t be afraid.
During dinner, Mother Lu emerged from the bedroom. Her complexion had significantly improved, and she jokingly praised Jiang Huaixi: “Huaixi, your cooking skills are ready for the master level.” Then, she turned to Lu Zizheng, who was watching her with concern, and said, “Zhengzheng, you should learn from Huaixi.”
Jiang Huaixi ladled a bowl of soup for Mother Lu and smiled faintly at Lu Zizheng. Lu Zizheng, unconcerned, said, “I don’t need to learn. If I want to eat well, I’ll just come back and find Mom…”
Mother Lu sighed with a touch of indulgence, “You’re a grown up, yet still like a child who never grows up…”
Lu Zizheng, feeling a bit happier, blinked and pouted at Mother Lu coquettishly.
Jiang Huaixi continued Mother Lu’s words with a smile, “Isn’t that right? When she’s unhappy, she still cries. When someone finds out, she gets so embarrassed and angry that she wants to kill them to silence them…”
Lu Zizheng shifted her eyes to glare at Jiang Huaixi, reached out with her chopsticks to grab a piece of food, and threw it into Jiang Huaixi’s bowl: “Eating still can’t shut your mouth!”
Mother Lu simply smiled lovingly as she watched the two of them…
After dinner, Mother Lu insisted that Jiang Huaixi should not lift a finger to clean up. Jiang Huaixi, unable to go against Mother Lu, had to relent. Lu Zizheng then played the role of a dutiful daughter, following her mother into the kitchen to help, but was promptly shooed out with the reasoning: “Just don’t get in the way, go keep Huaixi company.”
Jiang Huaixi sat in the living room, watching Lu Zizheng, who felt unhappy and underestimated, with an amused smile. Lu Zizheng sat down beside her, turned on the TV, and pretended not to notice.
Because she was worried about Mother Lu’s health, Lu Zizheng decided to stay overnight at her mother’s place instead of going home.
After Mother Lu finished cleaning up the dishes, she also came into the living room, and the three of them sat for a while. Then, seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Huaixi got up to leave. This time, before Mother Lu could open her mouth to persuade her to stay, Lu Zizheng spoke first: “It’s quite late, and it’s pretty cold outside. Driving isn’t safe, and you don’t have any urgent matters…” She nonchalantly gave numerous reasons why it was inconvenient for Jiang Huaixi to go home, but she couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.
Jiang Huaixi, however, was already at the door putting on her shoes, one hand on the door handle, her lips slightly curved in a half-smile as she looked at Lu Zizheng: “So, what are you trying to say?”
Lu Zizheng turned her face away, insisting she had already tried to keep her: “Why don’t you just stay…” She finally said it. She stared at the shoe cabinet beside her, refusing to meet Jiang Huaixi’s eyes, though she could feel Jiang Huaixi’s burning gaze on her.
But, to her surprise, Jiang Huaixi declined: “No, I have something to do tomorrow. Are you going home in the afternoon? I might have time to come here and take you back.”
For a moment, Lu Zizheng couldn’t describe her feelings. There was a faint sense of loss and an indescribable emotion that made her tone somewhat downcast: “No need, it’s too troublesome. I can take the bus back by myself.”
Jiang Huaixi tightened her grip on the door handle, gave Lu Zizheng a deep look, and without saying more, greeted Mother Lu once again: “Auntie, I’ll be leaving now.”
Mother Lu nodded and smiled as she cautioned, “Drive carefully on the road.”
Jiang Huaixi opened the door and stepped out, responding, “Okay, I will…”
As the door was about to close, Lu Zizheng was still standing by the door, lost in thought. Mother Lu gently pushed Lu Zizheng and instructed, “Go see Huaixi off. The elevator has been acting up lately.”
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Lu Zizheng looked up at Jiang Huaixi outside the door and noticed that she was also quietly gazing at her with slightly lowered eyes. So she lowered her eyes and agreed with her mother, “Okay.” With that, she followed Jiang Huaixi out the door.
They walked one after the other. In the corridor’s lighting, their tall shadows silently embraced and intertwined…
Fortunately, tonight the elevator was fine. As soon as the button was pressed, the door opened, catching Lu Zizheng a bit off guard.
Jiang Huaixi slightly turned her head and spoke faintly, “Go back, no need to see me downstairs.” After saying this, she stepped into the elevator.
Lu Zizheng softly said, “I didn’t plan to go downstairs.” She turned around and walked back.
She heard the elevator door reminding that it was closing, lowered her head, and walked back step by step… Suddenly, she heard a “ding-dong” sound, “the door is open”…
Lu Zizheng stopped her steps and stood still…
From behind, Jiang Huaixi’s familiar, cool voice came: “Don’t worry, sometimes life isn’t as malicious as it seems.”
Lu Zizheng turned her head to look at Jiang Huaixi, seeing her long right index finger pressing the elevator’s open button, her gaze deep and with a rare gentle expression in her eyes.
“Don’t overthink, go back and sleep well. Tomorrow, everything will be fine.” She heard Jiang Huaixi say this. The usually cold voice now carried a hint of gentleness.
Lu Zizheng gently pressed her lips into a smile and nodded.
So, she saw Jiang Huaixi release her hand from the button and seemed to smile, but it was only for a moment before her smile disappeared behind the gradually closing elevator doors.
Back at home, Mother Lu asked her with some surprise, “Back so soon? Didn’t you see Huaixi off downstairs?”
Lu Zizheng walked quickly to the balcony, responding as she walked, “Hmm…”
Soon, Lu Zizheng saw a red car driving out of the garage downstairs, heading into the distance, out of the community, and finally disappearing bit by bit from her sight.
Why had she never noticed before that Jiang Huaixi actually had many of her own things to do and that her time wasn’t so free? Was it that she hadn’t paid attention before, or is it that now she cares too much?
Lu Zizheng lightly drew an X on the balcony railing with one hand and gently exhaled a breath, which condensed into a thin white mist rising in the cold air.
Let it be, this is quite good.
“What are you standing outside foolishly for? It’s cold outside, come in quickly,” Mother Lu suddenly spoke from behind.
Startled, Lu Zizheng shivered all over and nearly cried out in surprise.
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Seeing Lu Zizheng’s overreaction, Mother Lu couldn’t help but laugh and teased her, “Why are you so timid…?”
Lu Zizheng, in an instant, felt something in her heart, became sad, and reached out to hug Mother Lu, speaking softly and coquettishly: “I am just this timid, a coward… so, Mom, please don’t scare me…”
Mother Lu hugged her back with one hand, gently patting her back, soothing her in a warm voice: “Alright, alright, Mom won’t scare you anymore…”
At night, Lu Zizheng lay in bed, closed her eyes, tossed and turned, but couldn’t fall asleep.
She knew she had insomnia again and felt extremely irritable for a moment.
For many years, she had rarely had a peaceful and natural good sleep. In the early years, she relied on sleeping pills to sleep. Later, she consciously controlled it, but since then, she began her long-term sleep-deprived life.
She opened her eyes, looking at the chaotic night outside the window, listening to the north wind hitting the window and the glass, trembling in the gusts and making a thumping sound.
She turned her body, lay on her stomach, reached out, and opened the drawer of the bedside table, feeling around to take out a lock of soft black hair. Though it was just a few strands, it was carefully and tightly tied with a red string.
In the darkness, Lu Zizheng stared at the fine strands for a long time, then placed them under her pillow, closed her eyes, and counted the sounds of the north wind hitting the window, one, two, three, four, five…
Her consciousness gradually blurred, and in her daze, someone whispered softly in her ear: “Sleep, don’t be afraid, it will be better tomorrow…”
In the first semester of her freshman year, at the end of the term, Lu Zizheng unfortunately caught a cold, but she didn’t take it seriously. In her subconscious, Lu Zizheng feared hospitals; she could never forget the heart-wrenching pain she felt when her father passed away in the hospital. There, everyone had a sorrowful look, and the surroundings were so pale that it was suffocating.
However, the cold did not leave her as she had anticipated, obediently departing after a few days of indulgence. Instead, it became increasingly aggressive. Before her physical education class, Lu Zizheng felt feverish all over, but she didn’t have a thermometer and was unwilling to ask her unfamiliar roommates to borrow one, so she attended the class pretending to be fine despite the discomfort.
As there was a 2000-meter test at the end of the semester, every physical education class in the past few weeks started with running as an adaptation exercise.
As usual, Lu Zizheng ran at the front by herself. When she passed the stands, she saw Jiang Huaixi, as usual, wearing earphones, holding a book, leisurely sitting and resting, looking content.
While running, Lu Zizheng couldn’t help but ponder, was it really normal thinking to come out in such cold weather just to feel the wind without attending the physical education class? But before she could think further, her thoughts were overwhelmed by the escalating heat. She felt her body getting hotter and her steps heavier, as if she could barely run…
And then, she really didn’t run anymore…
She fainted.
When she woke up, the first thing she saw was the hospital’s eternally unchanged, terrifyingly white ceiling, glaring and oppressive. Turning her head heavily, she was surprised to see that the person beside her was Jiang Huaixi.
Jiang Huaixi was sitting on the chair next to her bed, quietly and calmly reading a book. Her slender, fair fingers gently pinched the pages, making a soft rustling sound as she turned them. When she wasn’t speaking or causing trouble, she truly exuded the elegance of a lady from a distinguished family.
Noticing that Lu Zizheng had woken up, Jiang Huaixi put down her book, frowned at her, and lightly scolded with a hint of thin anger, “You really know how to put on a brave face, don’t you know you had a fever?”
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Lu Zizheng found it strange that she seemed to hear a trace of concern in that tone, but she just assumed her fever had muddled her mind. So she merely asked, “You brought me here?”
Jiang Huaixi lowered her head again and casually flipped through her book, “No need to be too grateful; it just happened that I was the only one free.”
Lu Zizheng was momentarily choked, the “thank you” stuck in her throat. She scrutinized Jiang Huaixi and suddenly noticed a fine layer of sweat on her elegant nose and her lips were a faint purple. Slightly startled, could it be that she got cold while bringing her here? Out of her usual conscience, she asked a bit uneasily, “Why are your lips purple?”
Jiang Huaixi paused her page-turning, looked up steadily at her, smiled faintly, and asked, “Haven’t you ever tried purple lipstick? I think the color is quite nice. If you like it, I’ll give you some.” The tone was clearly mocking, as if saying, “You really are ignorant.”
Lu Zizheng took a deep breath, indeed she had overthought it. She turned over, not bothering to argue with Jiang Huaixi. Just as she turned, she heard Jiang Huaixi standing up, “I have taken a leave of absence for you from school. The hospital won’t let you leave without my permission, so just stay here peacefully. I’m leaving now.”
Lu Zizheng turned back, just about to ask, “What do you mean the hospital won’t let me leave without your permission?!” However, she saw that Jiang Huaixi had already closed the door and left.
In her sleep, Lu Zizheng slept somewhat restlessly, her brows unconsciously furrowed. In a hazy state, she thought, the initial Jiang Huaixi couldn’t have been more annoying, who allowed her to play the part of an overbearing CEO every minute in front of her!
LP: Re-translated on July 11, 2024