A Promise in a Thought 105

Chapter 105

As the Spring Festival approached, Jiang Chenyin suddenly caught a severe cold. On the night she was delirious, all she could see was the person who had rushed into her arms that night, the person who had held back her tears and told her that she would be far, far away from her in the future.

She thought of herself that day, the hand that was about to hold Bo Muyu already raised in mid-air. She also thought of how after Bo Muyu had said those words, both crying and laughing, and had run out, she had squeezed the keys that Bo Muyu had stuffed into her hand and had stumbled out after her.

It had been raining heavily that day. She couldn’t see anything clearly. Bo Muyu had not parked her car in the garage. She couldn’t find her.

Jiang Chenyin had been drenched, and she had returned home in a mess. She had wanted to call Bo Muyu, but at the last moment, she had pulled her hand back.

Those obstacles reappeared in her heart, the relationship between the two families, the age gap between them, and also the beautiful future that Bo Muyu had yet to have.

The next day at work, she had started to cough. For those few days at work, she had not left the office even after work hours, just sitting there for a long, long time, until the moonlight had spilled all over the floor.

She was afraid to go back to that house, that lonely place.

Every time she entered, she would think of the many times she had bought desserts and come home, looking forward to the person at home happily unwrapping the package. Every time she walked to the kitchen, she would also think of the day she had gone to Duan Zhiheng’s birthday banquet, when she had left Bo Muyu at home, letting that child suffer in waiting.

When she returned to her room, she would also think of their intimate past, and also of that day when she had wanted to hold Bo Muyu but had stopped halfway.

One night, a few days before New Year’s Eve, she had called Lan Yuxin. Lan Yuxin had rushed over from her house in the middle of the night to see her. When she had come to open the door, the lights had not been on, and her whole person was in a daze.

Lan Yuxin had been startled and had quickly helped her back to bed, and then had fed her some medicine.

The cold moonlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling window. Jiang Chenyin leaned against the headboard without a word. Lan Yuxin covered her with a blanket up to her stomach, and then draped a thick coat over her. Even so, she still looked very thin, like she could be blown away by the wind.

She had never shown such a weak state before. After Lan Yuxin had finished her work, she finally couldn’t help but ask her what was wrong. Her body was in good condition, and she would certainly not catch a cold and get sick so easily.

Jiang Chenyin had just shaken her head, said softly that she was fine, and then had continued to lean against the headboard in a daze.

Lan Yuxin couldn’t get an answer out of her, and was also worried that something was wrong with her, so she had no choice but to stay the night. She had rested vaguely on the sofa with a pillow in her arms, her head drooping, and finally, she had woken up with a start.

She had rubbed her eyes and looked in Jiang Chenyin’s direction. In the moonlight, her pale face was streaked with glistening teardrops.

Lan Yuxin had immediately understood a little, and had not dared to ask any more.

After Jiang Chenyin had gotten sick, she had stayed at home and had not gone out. Lan Yuxin had simply stayed to talk to her, only going out to buy some ingredients to cook when it was time to eat.

Jiang Chenyin had been silent or in a daze for a long time, in the kitchen, in the study, and also in her room. When Lan Yuxin had chatted with her about current affairs, and had told her where she was planning to go for the Spring Festival, not a single ripple had appeared in her eyes, and she had only replied with a placid “mmm.”

It wasn’t until the night of the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month, when Lan Yuxin had told her, “She’s fine,” that a ripple had finally appeared in her eyes, and she had turned her head to meet her gaze. After a long while, Lan Yuxin had seen her lips curve up slightly, and her expression had been a gentleness that had not been seen in many days.

The sixth day of the new year was the last day of the Spring Festival holiday. The old and young of the Jiang family were all gathered, sighing about the short holiday that was about to pass.

The old residence had a regular diet, and Auntie Wang took care of all three meals. Jiang Chenyin, who had gone back on New Year’s Eve, had finally gotten a little better on the fourth and fifth days, and was able to sit in the first-floor hall and chat leisurely with her parents and brothers and sisters-in-law.

Not long after everyone had sat down, they were all concerned about Jiang Chenyin’s health. Seeing that her spirits were much better, they were all relieved.

Old Madam Jiang returned to her seat of honor and patted Old Master Jiang’s hand. “That child, Xiaoyu, hasn’t come to see us again. How many months has it been since she’s been here?”

Jiang Chenyin’s hands were clasped together, her eyes lowered, and her eyelashes trembled slightly after hearing Bo Muyu’s name.

Sun Ruowei was cracking peanuts and melon seeds and chimed in, “Xialan said she went on a long trip today, to relax. Maybe the work pressure is too great.”

Xu Zijun said with worry, “It’s hard on her. To be a supervisor at such a young age, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Old Madam Jiang said, “That’s right. Last time you said she went to another city with the film crew, and I haven’t seen her come over since she came back. Liu’er, has she looked for you?”

Jiang Chenyin raised her eyes slightly, a hint of sadness in them, and shook her head gently. “She’s very busy.”

Sun Ruowei blinked and suggested, “If it’s really too tiring, why don’t you bring her to Jiayi? Under the eyes of you and big brother, it would be a little easier.”

Jiang Gaojun added with a grin, “And when she’s free, she can come to my restaurant and taste-test for me.”

“Nonsense!” Old Master Jiang said, tapping the floor with his cane in thought, and then looked up. “It’s good for young people to be a little busy. To be active. What’s the point of staying at home like us old people?”

Sun Ruowei continued to express her opinion, “But she’s also too active. She hasn’t been home for several months. She’s almost like a celebrity. No wonder she has to go out and relax. If I were that busy, I’d also have to take some time to have some fun.”

Xu Zijun covered her mouth and smiled. “Xiaoyu is not like you. When she goes out to relax, she’s not going out to have fun.”

Sun Ruowei cleared her throat and explained righteously, “What I mean by having fun is to relax.”

The whole family was chatting in the living room. Auntie Wang even added some snacks, and everyone was chatting even more happily.

Only Jiang Chenyin was not in the mood. She did not participate, her attention all on everyone’s words, on the content with Bo Muyu’s name in it. Because she was not feeling well, no one noticed her abnormality.

After lunch, Jiang Chenyin went up to the gym. During this time, she had been exercising sporadically, and this illness had made her feel a serious sense of powerlessness.

She stood in front of the treadmill for a long time, thinking of the topic from downstairs just now. Bo Muyu had gone out to relax. Was the reason for her depression related to her? Were they really going to be far apart, and could never get close again?

She couldn’t answer these questions herself. She suddenly realized that they had actually come to this point.

Just then, Auntie Wang knocked on the door and asked her, “Liu’er, I’m going to tidy up your rooms. Is there anything special you need me to do?”

Jiang Chenyin had been about to shake her head, but the next second, she pressed her lips together and said, “Tidy up Muyu’s things in my room. The extracurricular books and homework she left here before… see what else there is, and tidy it all up.”

Auntie Wang let out a “hmm.” “I remember she did bring some. I’ll just put these things in the storage room. Yixuan and Yisheng are all grown up and won’t need them.”

Jiang Chenyin nodded and watched as Auntie Wang left.

After it was all tidied up, there would be no more trace of Bo Muyu in her life. If they were tacit enough, they could still avoid many opportunities to meet. They would soon become strangers, so strange that even the pain of today would fade.

Jiang Chenyin suddenly covered her mouth and nose and coughed, her eyes red, a glint of tears at the corners.

Was she really going to let it fade? To not look, not think in the future, to be tacit with each other, to be strangers, to be like strangers on the road.

Her coughing subsided, but tears welled up in her eyes.

Jiang Gaojun, who had just entered, saw this and hurried over to pat her back, saying with concern, “Liu’er, have you taken your medicine? Your body has just gotten a little better. Don’t exercise for now. We’ll talk about it in a while.”

“I’m fine…” Jiang Chenyin shook her head and let go of the hand covering her mouth and nose. “Brother, are you looking for me?”

Jiang Gaojun was still gently patting her back to calm her down. Hearing her question, he quickly smiled and replied, “I forgot to tell you something just now. It’s about when Xiaoyu went to my restaurant for dinner before. She chatted with me for a while. She said that she had run into Xiao Lan when she was eating out once and had heard that her contract with our family was about to expire. She asked me if I knew the inside story. I felt that something was not right, and you’re the closest to Xiao Lan, so I thought I’d tell you.”

Jiang Chenyin stared at Jiang Gaojun in a daze. He did not notice her expression and shrugged. “This child even asked me for the inside story. It would be better to ask you or big brother than me.”

Jiang Chenyin’s heart trembled, and she couldn’t help but bite her lip, sniffle, and force a smile at Jiang Gaojun. “Brother, I know. Thank you.”

She adjusted the long coat draped over her and was about to quickly go back to her room. What had she just done? She had asked Auntie Wang to tidy up all of Bo Muyu’s things in her room. In other words, she didn’t need those things anymore.

But Bo Muyu was still thinking for her. Even though they were like this, Bo Muyu was still thinking of her, trying to let her not notice the concern in it.

If it weren’t for her following behind that day, how would she have known that even making a phone call was so difficult and cautious for Bo Muyu, and in the end, she still didn’t dare to let the call go through.

Jiang Chenyin’s quickened steps gradually turned into a run. Just as Auntie Wang was coming out of her room with a cardboard box, she ran into her.

“Liu’er, why are you…”

“Auntie Wang! Don’t take these away…” Jiang Chenyin interrupted her and went straight up to take the cardboard box from her. “I don’t want to tidy them up. Leave them all.”

Inside were all student-used things, a stack of what were either textbooks or extracurricular books, some comic books, and also novels and two pencil cases.

She looked down at them, a joy of having regained what was lost welling up in her heart, and she couldn’t help but hug the cardboard box tightly.

“What’s wrong? Are you afraid Auntie Wang has tidied them up wrong?” Auntie Wang asked with an amused laugh, feeling that Jiang Chenyin was suddenly very nervous.

“No, that’s not it,” Jiang Chenyin quickly explained. “I wanted to tidy them up myself. I’ll do it. She has some things that only I know where to put.”

Auntie Wang thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright then. If you need my help, just call me.”

After sending Auntie Wang away, Jiang Chenyin took the cardboard box back to her room.

She organized the things that Bo Muyu had casually left here before, putting the books back on the desk, as well as the draft notebooks and pencil cases. The neat desk suddenly had an indescribable feeling, as if a girl were sitting here quietly doing her homework, and would occasionally turn back to sneak a peek at her.

And then, the girl grew up to have a distant and placid face, and when she looked at her, her eyes were like starlight.

Jiang Chenyin’s eyes curved up, and she neatly placed the draft notebook from Ye Xialan’s house, which was filled with her name, together.

She sat in the chair with a smile, and as she smiled, tears flowed from her eyes. She had been avoiding it for so long, but in the end, she still had to face her own heart.

Her heart was full. It was the person who was dependent on her yet wanted to protect her.