Chapter 57: So, Wanting to Reconcile Was Just an Act of Compassion?

Lu Yixue fled back to the bedroom like she was escaping and lay on the bed, pretending to be asleep.

Soon after, Gao Ye’an tiptoed in and stood at the foot of the bed, watching for a moment.

Lu Yixue only heard her sigh before the sound of the door closing.

Earlier, upon hearing that Gao Ye’an was coming to see her, Lu Yixue had hurriedly run back. Instinctively, she didn’t want Pei Shijin or Gao Ye’an to discover that she had been eavesdropping.

Her mind was too foggy, and Lu Yixue couldn’t engage in rational thinking right now, but she also couldn’t control her wandering thoughts.

She could only let Pei Shijin occupy her mind.

Meanwhile, Pei Shijin took the freshly baked lotus flower crisps out of the oven and called Little Mingzhu’s phone watch, asking if they wanted Grandma to bring them down or if they should come up to eat.

“Home, home! We’re going home!” Little Mingzhu cheered.

“Okay, run slower, don’t fall,” Pei Shijin instructed.

Little Mingzhu: “Got it, Mommy~”

“Would you like to try some?” Pei Shijin asked Gao Ye’an, though she had already gotten out the takeout box and packed two for her.

Gao Ye’an accepted them without a word. Lu Lingjiang quite liked sweets; all the Lu family members enjoyed sweet foods.

“I’ll have Xiao Gao come take care of A-Xue later. You play with Mingzhu, and in the evening, you can send her to my place or have her stay at yours,” she said. She had no intention of staying here any longer.

“Alright,” Pei Shijin nodded, lowering her gaze to avoid eye contact with Gao Ye’an.

The two taciturn people really had nothing to say to each other.

Their relationship had always been distant. Apart from Lu Yixue and Lu Mingzhu, they barely exchanged any words.

After seeing Gao Ye’an off, Pei Shijin breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though Gao Ye’an had never raised her voice or been harsh, and her demeanor wasn’t as cold and aggressive as Lu Lingjiang’s, Pei Shijin always felt tense around her—especially now, when she felt so guilty.

She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, but life wasn’t just about right and wrong.

What on earth should she do about Lu Yixue?

The cheerful voice of the little one chased away Pei Shijin’s worries. She curved her lips upward, and two little mud monkeys burst into her view.

“Pfft,” Pei Shijin laughed out loud. “How did you two get like this? Are you uncomfortable?”

“Heehee, we did it all to protect our castle,” Little Mingzhu said, hanging her head and fidgeting shyly, occasionally lifting her big eyes to observe Pei Shijin.

She was already scheming in her mind: if Mommy got angry, how should she cry to make Mommy calm down?

“Auntie, some bad kids in the neighborhood came and tried to steal the castle we worked so hard to build. Mingzhu and I barely managed to defend it!” Chen Jiayao emphasized their efforts, figuring the adults wouldn’t have the heart to scold them then.

Pei Shijin clapped. “You’re amazing! So young and already so capable, defending your castle. You must eat extra later to replenish your energy, but first, follow Mommy to wash up and get clean, okay?”

“Okay~” Little Mingzhu restrained herself from pouncing on Pei Shijin. Heehee, Mommy was so nice; she knew Mommy wouldn’t be mad!

Pei Shijin helped them wash their hair clean. For the rest, the kids insisted on doing it themselves, so she handed the battlefield over to them.

She went to the kitchen, plated the lotus flower crisps, and brought them to the living room table for the girls. Then she put the jujube paste crisps into the oven.

The black transparent glass reflected Pei Shijin’s expression. Watching the pastries slowly expand in the oven was a form of relaxation.

Once the kids finished washing up and changed clothes, they sat obediently in the living room, munching on lotus flower crisps while watching cartoons.

Pei Shijin watched with them for a bit before she couldn’t resist going to check on Lu Yixue in the bedroom.

As soon as she opened the door, the seated Lu Yixue looked up at the sound, and their eyes met again.

“How are you feeling now?” Pei Shijin stood in the doorway, not stepping further inside.

“The fever should be gone.” As Lu Yixue spoke, she touched her forehead, though her head still ached.

She couldn’t sleep, so she kept mulling over the words she had overheard.

The more she couldn’t sort them out, the more she forced herself to think, and the more her head hurt.

“Want some water?” Pei Shijin asked.

“I want sea salt lemon water.” Lu Yixue stared unblinkingly at Pei Shijin.

Pei Shijin felt uneasy under her gaze and hurriedly said “Okay” before stepping back and closing the door.

Lu Yixue watched her somewhat panicked footsteps, as if tasting a trace of concern and tension that dared not be revealed.

She knocked on her throbbing head. Suppose, hypothetically, that Pei Shijin had always liked her. Then the divorce, that letter, and refusing remarriage were all because of her psychological trauma and her susceptible period?

But hadn’t they already gone through one susceptible period together? As long as they both worked at it, these weren’t issues at all.

She had indeed been hurt during Pei Shijin’s susceptible period, but with proper control, that could be avoided.

Aside from the gland that had been marked—there was no way around that—but an Omega’s physiology meant it could recover quickly.

Lu Yixue knocked her head again. Regardless of what Pei Shijin was thinking, she should solve her own problems first, then slowly probe Pei Shijin’s thoughts.

Their personalities differed. Lu Yixue only wanted to face difficulties head-on and overcome the obstacles; she had the confidence to face any failure.

But Pei Shijin lacked that confidence. Her instinct was always to avoid risks beforehand; she couldn’t bear even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of tragedy.

Sipping the sea salt lemon water Pei Shijin brought, the faint salty taste and fresh lemon scent cleared her mind by a third, making Lu Yixue even more resolute in her ideas.

To forge iron, one must be strong. Pursuing Pei Shijin without resolving her own issues would only bring her more trouble.

As for whether she liked her… Lu Yixue believed there were definitely still feelings. If she didn’t nurture them, they might wear away completely.

“Thanks, it’s delicious.” Lu Yixue licked her lips, staring at Pei Shijin’s mouth. “Did you drink any? Your lips look a bit dry.”

“No, don’t worry about me.” Pei Shijin tried to establish distance between them. “Auntie said Xiao Gao will come take care of you soon. I’ll take Mingzhu to my place for the night. She’s not at tutoring class today, right?”

Lu Yixue hummed in affirmation. “No classes today; it’s Sunday.”

Ever since she hadn’t been by Little Mingzhu’s side, Pei Shijin’s sensitivity to dates had plummeted; she hadn’t even noticed it was Sunday.

With nothing else to say, they waited for the thermometer result. Seeing it had dropped to 37 degrees, Pei Shijin took her pulse again, then carried out the empty cup Lu Yixue had finished.

When Gao Yi arrived, Pei Shijin handed over Lu Yixue’s medications with instructions, then led the two little ones downstairs.

Once playtime ended, Pei Shijin took her back to her dorm.

“Mommy, we’re sleeping together tonight, right?” On the way, Lu Mingzhu asked the same question for the fifth time, each in different words.

“Mm-hmm.” Pei Shijin and the child sat in the back of the taxi. Her legs crossed, elbow propped on her thigh, hand supporting her chin, she quietly tilted her head with a smile, watching Little Mingzhu to see how long the little one could hold out.

“But Mom’s sick; leaving her alone at home is so pitiful,” Little Mingzhu said, her chubby hands propping up her cheeks, her worried expression utterly adorable.

“Gao Yi is taking care of her,” Pei Shijin replied.

Little Mingzhu swung her little legs. “But Mom will still feel lonely. When Mingzhu was sick, Mommy, Mom, and Grandma all stayed with me~”

“Mom is a grown-up; she needs quiet rest,” Pei Shijin countered.

Unable to find more reasons, the child pouted and let it drop for now.

She’d persuade Mommy after eating her fill!

But once she was full, the sleepies came too. Pei Shijin carried the dozing child to bed, hummed a lullaby, and soon Little Mingzhu entered dreamland.

Pei Shijin lay quietly beside her, gazing at the light sneaking through the curtain gap, her mind a jumble.

Her phone by the pillow vibrated. Pei Shijin picked it up and saw a message from Lin Shu.

Though Lin Shu had gone back to being the ship king’s daughter, her skills and connections remained. That afternoon, Pei Shijin had asked her to investigate Fei Weiyin, and by evening, results arrived.

A folder and Lin Shu’s summary: [This woman likes risky approaches. Don’t let her polished facade fool you—there were two failure cases. One patient suicided, the other is now deranged, lucid only occasionally.]

Pei Shijin opened the document, squinting to find the failure cases Lin Shu mentioned. The first patient had depression and sought Fei Weiyin’s treatment via hypnosis to forget her painful past. The hypnosis backfired, intensifying the pain, and she chose suicide.

The second patient had a mental illness but functioned normally without triggers like sharp noises. After Fei Weiyin’s hypnosis, she went fully insane.

Even the risk of failure made Pei Shijin back off, let alone actual cases.

She couldn’t let Lu Yixue undergo the treatment anymore—that was her only thought after reading.

She got out of bed, screenshotted the two cases, sent them to Guan Yueying, then went outside the bedroom to call her.

Guan Yueying probably couldn’t persuade the stubborn Lu Yixue, but she could sabotage things.

“Hello.” Guan Yueying was drinking at a bar. Upon Pei Shijin’s call, she plugged her other ear and headed outside for quiet.

Her tone was unfriendly. “What do you want?”

She still remembered Pei Shijin calling her meddlesome that morning and hanging up.

Holding a grudge.jpg

“Look at the screenshots I sent.” Pei Shijin’s tone was urgent.

“What’s this, all mysterious?” Guan Yueying grumbled as she switched to the chat app, zoomed in on the screenshots, and read carefully. Her slight buzz vanished instantly.

“The psychologist A-Xue went to?” Guan Yueying rubbed her eyes, wondering if she’d misread every word.

“Yes,” Pei Shijin said. “So she can’t take the risk.”

“Then my words won’t work either. Only Lingjiang Auntie can keep her in check, right?” Thinking of Lu Lingjiang eased Guan Yueying’s worry. With them around, A-Xue wouldn’t come to harm. She even felt like teasing Pei Shijin. “Didn’t you say you’d talk it out with A-Xue?”

“How’d that go? Didn’t convince her?”

“Haven’t talked to her yet.” Pei Shijin’s fingers gripping the phone turned white, and she deformed the phone case.

“Tsk tsk, you’re scared to talk, aren’t you? I really don’t get you. A-Xue wants to be with you, but you’re running away. So many people want to marry our A-Xue and can’t. By the way, is it true about you secretly crushing on her in high school?”

Pei Shijin’s mind exploded with a buzz, ears ringing. “What did you say?”

“What? Bad signal? I said, is it true you had a crush on A-Xue in high school? A high school classmate mentioned it; I even suspect she got the wrong person.” After repeating, Guan Yueying nagged on. “Otherwise, I can’t understand why you’d push A-Xue away. She didn’t know about romance back then—no one taught her—but now she’s learning.”

Now she was Chief Disciple under Coach Guan Yueying in Love!

Pei Shijin felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her well-hidden high school crush had long been seen through and even spilled to Lu Yixue.

She didn’t even want to admit she was Zheng Xiaoshi, let alone that crush that should have ended long ago.

Her sudden interest in reconciling—was it because she learned of the crush, triggering a compassionate urge to grant her a relationship out of pity?

Those cold, harsh words she’d said to Lu Yixue lately—did they seem laughable and pathetic in Lu Yixue’s eyes?