Chapter 71: Back to the Clinic
At the end of the Hour of the Monkey(3 PM to 5 PM), Lin Shuang came to find Jiang Huaizhen.
When she pushed open the door, she saw her leaning against the straw bed, her eyes fixed on the window, motionless.
Lin Shuang stood there, her heart a little sour.
When she had first met Jiang Huaizhen, she had been standing outside the window, drenched in the rain, with the same cold indifference. At that time, in that cold indifference, there was still a hint of the subtle fear left over from her first execution during the day.
Fortunately, in the nearly a year that they had been together, she had begun to emerge from that cold indifference. After she had shed that hard surface, she would smile, and she would be considerate and caring.
But now, she had such a dazed and lost expression.
Lin Shuang didn’t know why she had such an expression. In the few things that had happened recently, she seemed to have been fine when the flood had passed. It seemed… it was only after she had confessed to her that she had started to become so abnormal.
Thinking that it was because of her that Jiang Huaizhen had become like this, Lin Shuang’s heart was instantly filled with a sour taste.
She let out a soft sigh, knocked on the door, forced a smile, and called out, “Sister Jiang.”
Hearing the words “Sister Jiang,” Jiang Huaizhen, who was sitting by the window, frowned almost imperceptibly. She stood up and asked, “Are you done?”
“I’m done. Let’s go home.”
Jiang Huaizhen hummed in agreement and walked out of the room.
Lin Shuang stepped aside and did not link her arm as she usually did.
Jiang Huaizhen lowered her head, her gaze falling on her empty wrist, and finally on the fallen leaves on the ground.
The two of them walked side by side toward the back door of the clinic.
Lin Shuang had come out alone in the morning, so she hadn’t hitched the carriage. After she had led the horse out, she said to Jiang Huaizhen, “Your leg is injured. I’ll sit in front, so I don’t touch your wound.”
With that, she took her cane, and was the first to get on the horse.
Jiang Huaizhen’s right leg was injured, and it was not easy for her to exert force. She took the hand she had extended and got on the horse from the left, sitting behind her.
“Is your leg alright?”
“It’s alright. It’s already scabbed over. It’s not that delicate.”
Lin Shuang said no more. After bidding farewell to the young apprentice on the side, she pulled on the reins and, with a slight shake, and a “giddy-up,” Jing Lei galloped off.
In the past, when Jiang Huaizhen was not injured and was sitting in front, driving the horse, Lin Shuang would always hug her waist and press tightly against her back, enjoying the secret intimacy.
Now that their positions were reversed, and with what had happened between them before, the atmosphere was a little awkward.
She had thought that since Jiang Huaizhen didn’t like women, according to her personality, she would try to avoid contact with her as much as possible, at most just grabbing her clothes.
But she didn’t expect that as soon as the horse’s four hooves started to run, the other’s two hands would wrap around her and grab her slender waist.
Lin Shuang’s body instantly tensed up.
Not only had this person grabbed her waist, but her body was also pressed against her. The soft and springy touch was imprinted on her back, and with the horse’s galloping, they trembled and collided.
Lin Shuang felt that her entire back was almost burned by the scorching heat. She didn’t know if Jiang Huaizhen had felt the same when she had sat behind her before.
But she felt that it was probably not the case, because Jiang Huaizhen didn’t like her. No matter how close they were, it was just two lumps of flesh, no different from the touch of hands, feet, and shoulders.
She relaxed her body with a hint of disappointment and let the two of them ride all the way home.
When she got off the horse and was about to turn to help Jiang Huaizhen, she found that the other had already gotten off nimbly.
Ping’er, who was at the door, saw them return and ran up excitedly, hugging Lin Shuang’s thigh and looking up at her coquettishly. “Aunt Shuang…”
Lin Shuang hadn’t seen her for a few days. She reached out and patted her head. “Did you miss Auntie?”
“I did. I missed you so much every day. But Auntie is so busy.”
Lin Shuang led the horse to the stable, and the little one followed like a shadow, chattering about her longing for the past few days.
Old Madam Jiang was leaning against the door, watching the two of them get off the horse one after the other. She pursed her lips at Jiang Huaizhen, who was walking toward her. “I don’t know why, but it doesn’t feel right. You went to the clinic to find her, but it’s like you went to your in-laws’ house to coax your wife back.”
Jiang Huaizhen’s expression froze. She didn’t say anything and went straight into the house.
Old Madam Jiang cursed, “You’re looking for a beating again. I think you’re really looking for a beating.”
Lin Shuang went back to the kitchen to cook. Ping’er was circling around her, and Jiang Huaizhen was also helping to wash the rice.
“Your hand can’t get wet yet. Don’t touch the water.”
“It’s just my right hand, and it’s almost healed,” Jiang Huaizhen said, skillfully washing the rice with her left hand, then pouring out the water with one hand, adding water, covering it, and putting it on the stove.
Only then did Lin Shuang remember that she hadn’t been back for three days, but she hadn’t seen a single piece of dirty clothes. So she asked, “You haven’t changed your clothes these few days?”
Jiang Huaizhen glanced at her. “Do I smell bad?”
“Not at all. You smell good… It’s just that your hand is injured. Did Grandma wash them?” Lin Shuang said, looking at Ping’er by her leg with some hesitation.
Jiang Huaizhen said unhappily, “Am I the kind of person who would let a seventy-year-old woman and a four-year-old child wash the family’s clothes?”
Hearing her say this, Lin Shuang said guiltily, “It’s my fault for not coming back. I’ve made you work so hard. You even have to wash clothes with one hand.”
Jiang Huaizhen said nonchalantly, “Not everyone in this world has two good hands. No matter how dirty the clothes are, if you soak them in soapberry for a long time and beat them a little, they’ll be clean.”
With that, she bent down to get some firewood and helped to light a fire.
Lin Shuang said, “Your wound hasn’t healed. You should rest for a while. I’ll do these things.”
Jiang Huaizhen said, “You’ve been tired all day. I let you come home, not to have you come back and serve us… If I were a good cook, I wouldn’t have made you work so hard to cook.”
“I like to cook for you. I don’t feel tired at all,” Lin Shuang said.
Jiang Huaizhen’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she quickly glanced at Lin Shuang. “When my hand is better, I’ll learn to cook. Just like when I was making the sauce flatbreads. If you watch it enough and practice enough, you’ll learn.”
Hearing her say this, Lin Shuang’s heart felt a little sour and astringent. She didn’t know if the other wanted to learn to cook to keep her distance and not trouble her, or if it was really out of consideration.
“I’m just helping out for this period of time. It’s not like I’m not at home. Why should I let someone who’s not good at cooking learn to cook?”
“I can’t let you be the only one who’s always working so hard,” Jiang Huaizhen said.
Lin Shuang fell silent.
But putting these aside, Jiang Huaizhen was indeed overly considerate and obedient today. She had gone to the city before dawn and had only come back at this time.
She was afraid that she would be abandoned again, just like her relatives in her childhood, so she had taken this roundabout strategy.
Lin Shuang sighed softly in her heart. She wanted to say, you don’t have to. As long as you are Jiang Huaizhen, even if you don’t love me, I will never leave you in this life.
But if she said such a thing, Jiang Huaizhen might not believe it. After all, for a person with extreme insecurity, only by confirming it herself could she overcome the feeling of losing at any time. No matter how others said it, or how the person involved explained and promised, it could not offset that feeling.
And for such an attachment, Lin Shuang didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.
She hadn’t bought any meat today. She had simply stir-fried some chives and eggs and a soup to go with the porridge.
They were not short on money now, but neither Lin Shuang nor Jiang Huaizhen were materialistic. They were used to a hard life, and they still lived the same way.
Ping’er, while stuffing eggs into her mouth, asked, “Aunt Shuang, can I sleep with you tonight? I haven’t seen you in so many days. I miss you so much.”
Lin Shuang thought for a moment and felt that it was not impossible. She had gotten used to sleeping alone at the clinic these few days. Now that she was back, if she still slept in the same bed with Jiang Huaizhen, it would inevitably bring back sad memories and make her restless. Sleeping with the little one on the old woman’s side would be peaceful and quite good.
Just as she was about to speak, Jiang Huaizhen, who was next to her, had already spoken. “No.”
Ping’er said with dissatisfaction, “Why not?”
Jiang Huaizhen didn’t answer and lowered her head to eat.
Lin Shuang thought that this was probably Jiang Huaizhen’s suspicion acting up again, so she said to Ping’er, “Auntie is very tired today, so I won’t sleep with Ping’er. Another day, okay?”
Hearing that she was tired, Ping’er quickly said, “Then Auntie should rest well.”
Old Madam Jiang’s two eyes rolled back and forth, and it was very hard for her to hold back her words.
Wasn’t sleeping with Ping’er a rest?
She felt that something was strange, but she couldn’t say what it was.
It wasn’t until they went to bed at night.
After Lin Shuang got into bed, she lay there quietly.
In the past, she had had selfish intentions and would inevitably cling to Jiang Huaizhen, acting coquettishly and talking. Now that the matter between them was out in the open, and she knew that it was impossible, she gave up her foolish and despicable way of seducing her and just lay there quietly, not saying a word, slowly brewing her sleepiness.
But with such a desirable person lying right beside her, it was still a little tempting.
She tossed and turned for a while, feeling that her back was a little itchy, so she reached out to scratch it.
But the itchy spot was on her back, above her shoulder blades, and she couldn’t reach it.
Just as she was about to give up, a hand lifted her clothes from behind and reached in. The short, flat nails and rough fingertips brushed over her, and she scratched her comfortably a few times.
Lin Shuang was instantly comfortable.
But a low voice came from her ear, “Why didn’t you call me if it’s itchy?”
Lin Shuang hadn’t expected this person to take the initiative to help her and even ask such a question. She laughed dryly and said, “I thought you were asleep.”
“I’m not…” her voice was a little stiff, and seemed to have a hint of grievance.
Lin Shuang felt that there must be something wrong with her ears. Otherwise, how could she have detected a hint of grievance in this person? She should be eager to not have any physical contact with her, right?
Who would be willing to have someone they didn’t like cling to them all day, touching this and that?
“It’s not itchy anymore. I’m going to sleep,” she said.
Jiang Huaizhen didn’t speak and withdrew her hand.
Lin Shuang had been busy at the pharmacy all day. After the comfortable scratching, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Jiang Huaizhen, who was next to her, heard that there was no movement beside her. She glanced at her closed eyelids and continued to fan her for a while.
After about a quarter of an hour, she felt that the breathing beside her was becoming more and more even and long. She was sure that Lin Shuang was really asleep. Only then did she carefully move inward, lying down against the slender and delicate body. Then she carefully moved her head to her shoulder and hugged her.
Feeling the fine breathing on her neck, and smelling the faint fragrance from the other’s collar, she gently closed her eyes.
