How many six years can she wait?
The teachers’ apartment was newly built in recent years, with good conditions, featuring three bedrooms and one living room. Almost all the single teachers in the school lived there. On her way upstairs, Jiang Huaixi didn’t take the elevator. She encountered many teachers coming and going up and down the stairs, and Jiang Huaixi politely nodded to greet them.
Lu Zizheng followed Jiang Huaixi unwillingly, too exhausted to delve into Jiang Huaixi’s intentions, only hoping to sever ties with Jiang Huaixi as soon as possible and never see her again.
Jiang Huaixi finally stopped at the door on the left side of the sixth floor, took out the key, opened the door, and stood sideways at the door, giving a cold command to Lu Zizheng, who was still standing on the last step of the stairs: “Come in.”
Lu Zizheng held the stair railing with one hand, lowered her head, and didn’t respond. Remembering Jiang Huaixi’s disdainful and frivolous tone when they first met, she couldn’t help but worry about Jiang Huaixi’s intentions in bringing her into the house.
Jiang Huaixi, however, seemed to understand, turned back, and walked into the house: “Even if you have paranoia, don’t take me for someone desperate. Remember to close the door when you come in.”
Lu Zizheng’s grip on the handrail was so tight that she almost left a dent in it. She gritted her teeth, lifted her foot, went upstairs, and entered the door. Ha, since it’s like this, she might as well see what Jiang Huaixi really wanted to do.
After Lu Zizheng closed the door and was about to step inside, she noticed that the apartment was exceptionally clean, with the floor spotless. She glanced at the shoe cabinet in the entrance, noticing that there were no spare slippers. For a moment, she hesitated, wondering whether she could step in with her shoes on.
Jiang Huaixi came out from the inner room carrying a tray. Seeing Lu Zizheng standing hesitantly at the entrance, she asked in confusion, “Come in, why are you standing there?”
Lu Zizheng lifted her foot but still asked, “Should I change my shoes?” Even if Jiang Huaixi was impolite, she couldn’t be as rude as her.
Jiang Huaixi, however, placed the tray on the coffee table, sat down gracefully on the sofa, leaned back, and smiled at Lu Zizheng, “Being polite now, huh? No need to change, there are no extra slippers.”
Lu Zizheng let out a light snort, lifted her foot, and walked to stand in front of Jiang Huaixi. It seemed that from the beginning, it was Jiang Huaixi who was rude to her. Now, Jiang Huaixi was turning the tables—what was going on?
Jiang Huaixi casually picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and while flipping through channels, she called out to Lu Zizheng, “Sit down, let’s eat.”
Only then did Lu Zizheng notice that the tray Jiang Huaixi had placed on the coffee table contained a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, and a few side dishes. She looked at Jiang Huaixi incredulously and couldn’t help but frown as she asked, “Did you call me here just to eat? If there’s anything you want to say, just say it all at once.”
Jiang Huaixi looked up at her, raised her eyebrows, and curled her lips into a half-smile, “What else? What were you expecting? Why don’t you tell me everything at once, so I can satisfy you?”
Lu Zizheng couldn’t stand her condescending and mocking tone. Clearly, Jiang Huaixi was in the wrong from the beginning, so what gave her the right to speak to her in such a manner? Was this unique manner of upbringing typical of the wealthy?
She turned her head and walked away, “Sorry, I’m not hungry. Besides, I prefer the cafeteria food. Miss Jiang, you can keep it for yourself.” Lu Zizheng knew she couldn’t afford to play the games of the rich, nor did she have any interest in playing along.
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Jiang Huaixi’s cold voice came from behind, “The cafeteria probably doesn’t have any food left by now. Didn’t your mother teach you how to take care of yourself when you’re sick? Can a sick person afford to skip meals every day?”
Lu Zizheng had already grabbed the doorknob. She turned slightly and retorted, “How my mother raised me is none of your concern, Miss Jiang. I’m curious, did your esteemed mother teach you to interact with others in such a manner?”
Jiang Huaixi furrowed her beautiful brows and coldly countered, “Is your good upbringing teaching you to treat those who have helped you in this way?”
Lu Zizheng couldn’t hold back any longer. She opened her backpack, took out her wallet, and shook out all the money inside. She quickly stepped forward and slapped the money onto the coffee table in front of Jiang Huaixi. If she could, she would have slapped it onto Jiang Huaixi’s face, “I don’t know how much you paid for my medical expenses. If this isn’t enough, just tell me. I only hope that from now on, we are even, and we never meet again.”
Jiang Huaixi looked at Lu Zizheng’s beautiful yet stern face. In her eyes, Jiang Huaixi could clearly see the light of anger and disgust. Her own gaze dimmed for a moment, but only briefly. Leaning back on the sofa with her arms crossed, Jiang Huaixi chuckled lightly and asked, “Do you think I lack money? After repaying the money, you want to be even with me without even saying thank you?”
Lu Zizheng took a deep breath, gritting her teeth, “Miss Jiang, thank you for what you did that day.”
Jiang Huaixi sat up straight, crossed her long legs, and said leisurely, “Saying thank you isn’t enough; sincerity must be shown through actions.” She gestured to the food on the coffee table and said, “Show me your sincerity.”
Lu Zizheng bit her lip, looked at Jiang Huaixi, and after a moment of stalemate, finally sighed deeply in resignation and picked up the chopsticks. She only hoped that Jiang Huaixi would keep her word and that she would never have to see her again.
Lu Zizheng merely shoveled a few bites of rice into her mouth, hoping to get it over with, but Jiang Huaixi kept staring at her, dissatisfied. She pushed the soup in front of Lu Zizheng, indicating that she should drink it. Helpless, Lu Zizheng picked it up and, like a warrior facing a critical moment, drank it all in one gulp. Then she stared directly at Jiang Huaixi, “Is my sincerity enough now?”
Jiang Huaixi, however, shifted her gaze to the television and asked, “Are you going home for New Year’s Day?”
Lu Zizheng felt that the topic was too abrupt and didn’t respond immediately.
Jiang Huaixi continued speaking on her own, “I happen to want to visit your place lately. If you take me home, provide food and lodging, and act as a tour guide, then we can consider ourselves even.”
Without thinking, Lu Zizheng flatly refused, “Impossible.”
Jiang Huaixi switched off the television with a snap and stared at her with a pair of deep, ancient well-like black eyes, half-smiling, “I think you’re not someone who likes to owe others favors, especially not to someone as unpleasant as me.”
Lu Zizheng laughed in anger, “So you do know that I dislike you.”
Jiang Huaixi acted as if she hadn’t heard Lu Zizheng’s sarcasm and concluded decisively, “It’s settled then. Arrange everything and inform me of the time to pick you up. I’ll drive us there.”
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Lu Zizheng stood up abruptly, unwilling to look at Jiang Huaixi any longer. She answered with silence, turned around, walked out, opened the door, and closed it. After closing the door, she looked back, wishing she could kick it a few times, but thinking of the other residents in the building, she restrained herself.
As she went downstairs, her mind was filled with anger and thoughts of how to get rid of Jiang Huaixi. Lu Zizheng didn’t pay attention to the steps and accidentally twisted her ankle, almost tumbling down.
Feeling utterly exhausted, Lu Zizheng leaned on the handrail to stand up and couldn’t help but slap it hard, only to hurt her own hand. How could someone with such a noble and classical cold beauty face behave so shamelessly and boringly like a rogue? That face, which had impressed her so much at first glance, now, in retrospect, only made Lu Zizheng feel an overwhelming urge to smack it!
Of course, in the end, Lu Zizheng still compromised and took Jiang Huaixi home, hoping that she could really settle things and send away this troublesome figure who had come to her. She knew there was no other way because she couldn’t outmatch Jiang Huaixi.
Looking back, Lu Zizheng found it both infuriating and amusing to recall Jiang Huaixi at that time, thinking she was simply a naive and overly dramatic girl.
Mother Lu didn’t know about the past between Lu Zizheng and Jiang Huaixi. She only knew that one year, Lu Zizheng suddenly brought home a ridiculously polite and pretty girl, whose eyes held an unmistakable concern and admiration for Lu Zizheng.
Feeling that the dumplings were almost ready, Mother Lu stopped her work, tidied up the remaining wrappers and filling, and said, “Zhengzheng, when you get a chance, ask Huaixi when she’s free in the next couple of days. I’ll make dumplings for her. I remember she used to love them. Later, it was unfortunate that I never got to make them for her again.”
Lu Zizheng teased her mother, “Mom, don’t bother. She can get dumplings anytime she wants. They’re everywhere on the street; she doesn’t need to come all the way here just to have a meal.”
Mother Lu gave Lu Zizheng a reproachful look and said, “How can that be the same?”
Lu Zizheng touched her nose and smiled without saying anything.
After having dinner with her mother, it was still early. Lu Zizheng sat on the sofa with her mother to watch the New Year’s Eve concert, but her thoughts gradually drifted to Jiang Huaixi.
Thinking carefully, it didn’t seem like Jiang Huaixi was pretending when she said she liked Mother Lu’s dumplings. Later, when they went out to eat together, Jiang Huaixi ordered dumplings a few times but always remarked that what she missed most were the dumplings from Lu Zizheng’s home. Each time, after eating a few half-heartedly, she would stop, and eventually, she stopped ordering dumplings outside altogether.
A thought stirred in Lu Zizheng’s mind. She glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of the TV screen; it was just eight o’clock, still early before the time Jiang Huaixi said she would come to pick her up. She stood up and said to her mother, “Mom, I suddenly want to learn how to make dumplings. Give me the remaining dumpling wrappers and filling in the kitchen.”
Mother Lu looked at her in surprise, “Did the sun rise in the west?”
Lu Zizheng smiled without saying anything and went into the kitchen.
Lu Zizheng imitated her mother’s earlier actions. At first, some dumplings had too much filling and the wrappers tore, while others had too little filling and were mostly wrapper. Later on, although the dumplings she made were a bit ugly, they began to take on a decent shape.
Lu Zizheng was making dumplings with great enthusiasm, her face full of smiles. Mother Lu stood at the kitchen door, watching for an unknown amount of time, also with a bit of a smile on her face. Seeing that Lu Zizheng had finished wrapping all the remaining dumpling filling, she finally spoke, “Are you going out later?”
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Startled by her mother’s voice, Lu Zizheng jumped, “Mom, how do you walk so quietly? Oh, I forgot to tell you, I am going out later.”
Mother Lu walked over to Lu Zizheng and helped her tidy up the table, “It’s just that you were too absorbed in your thoughts. You’re going out with Huaixi, right?”
Lu Zizheng glanced at her watch; it was already half-past nine. The time was about right. She looked at the stove and felt it was a bit challenging, so she sought her mother’s help, “Mom, these dumplings I made will not be eaten for a while, and they won’t taste good after sitting for too long. It would be a waste. Since I’m going out later, why not cook them so I can take some to Huaixi? That way, you won’t have to keep worrying about it.”
Mother Lu found it amusing to see Lu Zizheng putting on such a serious face and didn’t expose her, “Hmm, we shouldn’t waste them. You should cook them then.”
Lu Zizheng shook her head, “Mom, you know I can’t cook well. Besides, she’s very picky. If I cook them and they don’t taste good, she definitely won’t like them. It’s better if you do it. I’ll go find a thermal container.”
Mother Lu watched as Lu Zizheng squatted down and rummaged through the boxes for a thermal container, smiling helplessly: If you cooked them, Huaixi would probably be overjoyed. She poured water into the pot and sighed: Silly child, when will you be able to let your mother be at ease? When will you be able to let go of the past and bravely face your own heart? And Huaixi, how many six years can she wait for you?
LP: Re-translated on August 07, 2024
Sadly, Jiang Huaixi tongue is super unbearable
Sadly, Jiang Huaixi tongue is super unbearable