STT – Chapter 51

I only say one thing and mean another to you.

In Ji’an Village, this spring rain fell continuously for two days before it slowly started to clear. Before sunset in the evening, Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng had already eaten dinner. Lu Zizheng tidied the dishes and went into the kitchen to clean, while Jiang Huaixi stood by her side, helping her tie the apron, roll up sleeves, and occasionally engage in idle chatter and jokes.

Just as Jiang Huaixi was preparing to help Lu Zizheng take over the washed bowls and put them into the cupboard, she faintly heard the sudden loud sound of the mobile phone’s vibrating ringtone in the living room. Jiang Huaixi put down the bowl in her hand, wiped her hands clean, and with a slight smile to Lu Zizheng, said, “I’ll go out and answer a phone call first. Once you’re done, come out. Haven’t you been at home for two days and want to go out for a walk?”

Lu Zizheng bent her eyebrows, while washing the dishes, smilingly responded, “En, okay.”

Jiang Huaixi exited the kitchen, entered the living room, picked up the mobile phone placed on the tea table, and while connecting the call, calmly sat down on the sofa.

The call was from Jiang Huaichuan, inquiring about Jiang Huaixi’s recent situation and reporting on the family’s and company’s affairs. Jiang Huaixi just lightly responded to him, reassuring him not to worry about her, as she felt very assured with him taking care of the family and company.

Upon hearing Jiang Huaixi’s praise, Jiang Huaichuan felt proud and delighted, as if he were a child praised by parents for scoring a hundred points, and couldn’t help but speak with less restraint, half-jokingly inquiring, “Sister, how are you and Sister Zizheng? Mom and grandma made a bet on whether you and Sister Zizheng have progressed further. Mom says you’re slow by nature and can’t be rushed, but grandma says you have the courage to accomplish big things. I’m a bit curious to know who won.”

Jiang Huaixi couldn’t help but press her lips into a slight smile and replied with a light voice, “Since the bet doesn’t include me, you all don’t need to know the answer.”

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Huaichuan couldn’t help but feel joyous upon hearing Jiang Huaixi’s slightly amused tone, saying, “Sister, hearing your joyful tone, I guess it should be grandma who won, right?”

Jiang Huaixi smiled without confirming or denying, and seeing Lu Zizheng walking out of the kitchen, she said lightly, “Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now and prepare to go out.”

Jiang Huaichuan hesitated for a moment, and just as Jiang Huaixi was about to hang up, he hurriedly called out, “Sister, wait!”

Jiang Huaixi, due to his sudden shock and surprise, slightly furrowed her brow and slowed down her motion to hang up, asking: “En, is there anything else?”

Jiang Huaichuan stammered a bit and then said: “Is Sister Zizheng’s mobile phone not in use now?”

Jiang Huaixi replied: “En, after the incident with aunt, Zizheng’s mobile had no balance. Later, everything was too busy and chaotic, and she never got around to recharging it. After arriving here, Zizheng said it wasn’t necessary, so she never paid for it, and it’s been off.”

Jiang Huaichuan lightly sighed and said: “No wonder. Sister, recently, Lian Xuan from Fengshang has been persistently asking me about your whereabouts and your private number. She seems to be looking for Sister Zizheng very anxiously. Should I tell her?”

Jiang Huaixi was slightly startled and furrowed her brow.

Lu Zizheng came out from the kitchen, walked to the living room, and stood not far away, smiling and waiting for Jiang Huaixi to go out together. Jiang Huaixi squinted her eyes, raised her left hand, crossed her index and middle fingers, making a gesture similar to walking, signaling Lu Zizheng to put on her shoes first and wait for her. Lu Zizheng understood and walked toward the entrance.

Jiang Huaixi asked Jiang Huaichuan: “Wasn’t there news before that she and Zhou Zhong’an were getting engaged after the New Year? How is it now?”

Jiang Huaichuan pondered for a moment and said: “I heard she called off the engagement and is still quarreling with her family…”

Jiang Huaixi’s heart slightly sank, and her brows furrowed more tightly. After a while, she told Jiang Huaichuan: “Don’t tell her for now. Let me ask Zizheng first.”

Jiang Huaichuan naturally complied and obediently said: “En, alright, I understand.”

Jiang Huaixi hung up the phone and bent down to put on her shoes at the entrance. Lu Zizheng had already put on her shoes, opened the door, and leaned against the doorframe, watching Jiang Huaixi gently and considerately saying, “It seems a bit windy this evening, do you want to change into a jacket?”

Jiang Huaixi straightened up after putting on her shoes, lightly smiled, and pulled Lu Zizheng’s hand to walk outside, teasing with a soft smile: “Zizheng, you seem to have quickly stepped into the role, Madam Jiang?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Zizheng’s cheeks turned slightly red, her fingers tightly interlocked with Jiang Huaixi’s, her gaze straight ahead. The term “Madam Jiang” made her heart feel both sweet and shy. She straightened her face, softly hummed in refutation: “Who is Madam Jiang?” Clearly, I am the dominant one!

The two of them, hand in hand, accompanied by the sunset glow and evening breeze, walked along the path toward the seaside.

Jiang Huaixi sighed leisurely and, feeling hurt by Lu Zizheng’s refutation, said: “Zizheng, I never expected you to be such a heartless person, putting on clothes and then not recognizing people? My deeply hidden sincere heart is now wasted…”

Hearing this, Lu Zizheng couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Huaixi, noticing her face, which should have been calm and serious, showing a somewhat lively and lamenting expression. She couldn’t help but laugh, raised their clasped hands, and with her other hand lightly patted Jiang Huaixi’s hand, earnestly lecturing: “Speak properly.”

Jiang Huaixi’s expression changed instantly, the smile retracted, eyebrows raised, and in a lowered cold voice, she said: “Are you lecturing me?” The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Lu Zizheng was startled, bit her lip, and looking at Jiang Huaixi’s displeased and cold expression, she softly admitted, “I was wrong…” Her voice sounded both aggrieved and adorably soft.

Jiang Huaixi lightly snorted from her nose, slightly squinting her eyes, coldly said: “Knowing your mistake and being able to correct it is the greatest good. Don’t let it happen again.”

Lu Zizheng hung her head, bit her lip, with an aggrieved look as if about to cry, pitifully looked at Jiang Huaixi.

Jiang Huaixi finally couldn’t hold back and laughed softly, touching Lu Zizheng’s face, saying: “Zizheng, I actually didn’t know before, that your acting skills are so good… but this pitiful and aggrieved look, I don’t like.”

Lu Zizheng lightly hummed, turned her head back, and walked shoulder to shoulder with Jiang Huaixi, silent for a moment, then turned her head and seriously said to Jiang Huaixi: “I don’t like it either. If possible, I hope that in the future, what I show you can always be my happy smiling face.”

A smile flashed in Jiang Huaixi’s eyes, and she gently and firmly said: “I will work hard together with you.”

On the beach, there was a group of children around ten years old gathered together playing, seemingly building a sandcastle, chirping and talking all at once, very lively. The afterglow of the setting sun shrouded them, and from afar, they looked hazy and somewhat dreamlike.

Jiang Huaixi held Lu Zizheng’s hand, leisurely stepping along the shore not far from them, enjoying the sea breeze.

Jiang Huaixi hesitated for a while, then suddenly spoke to Lu Zizheng: “Zizheng, Huaichuan told me that Lian Xuan is anxiously looking for you, do you need to give her your contact information?”

Lu Zizheng’s body slightly paused, she stopped her steps and looked at Jiang Huaixi with some surprise. Fortunately, in Jiang Huaixi’s eyes, she only saw gentleness and calm seriousness, without any hint of probing or displeasure.

She turned her head to gaze at the sunset already fallen to the sea horizon and the sparkling vast endless sea. After a while, she turned back to Jiang Huaixi and smiled brightly, saying: “No need. She’s already a person in the memories, why involve matters outside of those memories again.”

Jiang Huaixi looked at Lu Zizheng, her eyebrows and eyes curved, and returned her gentle faint smile, calmly saying: “Alright.”

Lu Zizheng suddenly tilted her head, lightly laughed, and counter-asked Jiang Huaixi: “You don’t ask what happened between me and Lian Xuan in the past? Not even a bit jealous?”

Jiang Huaixi let out an amused chuckle, raising the hand tightly clasped with Lu Zizheng’s, and said softly: “No matter what the past was like, now, isn’t the person holding your hand me? Why should I be jealous?”

After speaking, she raised an eyebrow with a hint of pride and said: “Besides, it seems like you are the one who likes me more, what do I have to worry about being jealous for? En?”

Lu Zizheng slightly widened her eyes, incredulously let out a soft sound, and said: “Among the people I know, if anyone has mastered the art of saying one thing and meaning another, it must be you.”

Jiang Huaixi, unfazed, self-assuredly said: “But, I only say one thing and mean another to you.”

As they spoke, a sudden sound of quarrel erupted on the beach. Lu Zizheng and Jiang Huaixi turned at the sound and saw the children who were happily building a sandcastle now quarreling. A boy kicked down a girl’s sandcastle and shouted: “What are you saying? So what if she’s better looking than me? Six fingers are certainly more useful than five, aren’t they? You six-finger freak!” After speaking, he turned and glared at the other kids: “Who thinks hers looks better, want to ask her how she grew six fingers? If you want to know, just stay here with her.” After saying that, he pushed the girl to the ground and left angrily, while the other bewildered children, seeing him leave and remembering his last words, gradually drifted away too. One girl, looking back every few steps at the crying girl on the ground, eventually left as well, leaving the crying girl alone on the beach.

Lu Zizheng looked at the girl, noticing the extra finger she was trying to hide with her hands. Seeing her crying in distress, an empathetic feeling washed over her, as if time had turned back.

She released Jiang Huaixi’s hand and quickly went forward to help the girl up, brushing the sand off her body and hair, softly comforting her: “Don’t cry, don’t cry…”

The girl, with tear-filled eyes, looked at Lu Zizheng, and her first reaction upon standing was to hide her hands behind her back, not wanting Lu Zizheng to see.

Lu Zizheng gently touched her head, wiped her tears, and softly pulled her hands to the front, tenderly touching the girl’s extra finger. She said softly: “It’s really cute. Sister thinks your sixth little finger is surely a gift bestowed by a fairy sister who thinks you are obedient and cute. Why hide it?”

The girl lowered her head and said, aggrieved: “But they all don’t like it, they bully me because of it, they say I’m a monster…”

Lu Zizheng looked at the girl, then turned to look at Jiang Huaixi standing beside her, gently watching her. She recalled the past years, lowered her eyes slightly, and suddenly felt somewhat relieved. She gently shook her head, touched the little girl’s face, and said: “They mock you because they are foolish and understand nothing. They mock you because they are jealous of you; only when you possess something they can’t match do they try to bully you elsewhere to feel better about themselves. Don’t feel wronged or angry; you’ve done nothing wrong. Know that they are actually more pitiful than you, as you have more than they do.”

The girl seemed to half-understand, blinked, and after a moment of silence, said: “Sister, your words are like what my teacher told me. The teacher also said this. The teacher said that all malice will eventually return to themselves, so when others bully me, I just need to remember to be brave.” After speaking, she paused, her face still tear-streaked but showing a child’s innocent smile, and said: “Sister, you are as pretty as Teacher Lin. I’m sure you and Teacher Lin can become good friends.” As she spoke, the girl who had left earlier, looking back every few steps, ran back, took the girl’s hand, and said apologetically: “Sorry Ayu, I just ran away.”

The girl smiled and said: “It’s okay, you came back.” With just a few words, the two girls seemed to forget all the previous unpleasantness and happily squatted down to build a sandcastle again.

Jiang Huaixi, with a smile on her lips, looked at Lu Zizheng and lightly praised: “Zizheng, I’ve suddenly realized you’re much braver than I imagined, more than I remember.”

Lu Zizheng stretched out her hand, hugged Jiang Huaixi’s waist from behind, and rested her chin on Jiang Huaixi’s slender shoulder, warmly smiling as she responded: “That’s because now I have you. Huaixi, with you here, I fear nothing, care about nothing, and can let go of everything.” She paused slightly, speaking seriously, word by word: “Huaixi, if spending all my courage from the first half of my life was to meet you, then now I’m willing to say, I relish it.”

Jiang Huaixi’s heart felt warm, she turned her head, gently rubbing Lu Zizheng’s nose with her face, and after a long time, she sighed softly, saying: “Zizheng, I’m afraid, I’m not good enough…”

This expression, “relish it,” carried too much weight, and she was so afraid, so afraid that Lu Zizheng would regret it, thinking it was said too soon…

Jiang Wang received a call from Xu Baihan’s younger brother, Xu Baitao, when she was sitting with her legs curled up in the cold studio, with no lights on, relying on the dim lights from the city, quietly staring at a portrait of sixteen-year-old Xu Baihan…

On the other end of the phone, Xu Baitao’s voice, with some hesitation, asked: “Fourth sister, is that you? I’m Baitao. Would you be free to meet for a meal tomorrow? I have something very, very important about my sister to discuss with you.”

Jiang Wang remained silent for a long time, so long that Xu Baitao thought she wouldn’t answer him, then he heard Jiang Wang softly and faintly say: “En.”

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Wang seemed somewhat tired. She closed her eyes, hugged the drawing board, rested her chin on top of it, as if leaning on the top of Xu Baihan’s thick black hair, and for a long time, she did not move.

Not knowing how much time passed, she finally opened her eyes, placed the drawing board face down on the ground, and did not look at it again. She supported her already numb legs, stood up, and walked step by step toward the bathroom.

Jiang Wang stood expressionlessly at the washstand, turned on the faucet, and watched as the water gushed, gradually filling the washbasin with icy water. She bent down, approached the washbasin, and little by little submerged her face into the cold water. She gradually felt the oxygen in her lungs being exhausted, felt the bitterness and soreness in her nasal cavity from being filled with water, felt the pain and distress of impending suffocation…

Yet, a smile slowly crept onto her face, distorted by the pain of suffocation in the water…

Very good… Jiang Wang said to herself:

“Yun Bo, you must firmly, always remember this near-death feeling, remember, this is the outcome of once loving Xu Baihan…”