Chapter 3

The knock on her head didn’t hurt, but Si Nanyu behaved herself anyway.

She lowered her head and took a mouthful of congee. It was still scalding, but she didn’t dare complain, because Qin Hua really might hit her again.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of Qin Hua. Qin Hua was good to her. It was just that her mother’s fiery temper meant she never dared push too far, only ever skirting the edge of Qin Hua’s patience.

And apparently, she had just crossed the line.

“This year marks the third year since you and Little Wen got married.”

“At first I was against you two being together. You were rash and impulsive, and Little Wen was too quiet. I was afraid that after a while, you’d end up bullying her.”

“I’m your mom. Do you think I don’t know you? You never stick with anything. Take the Gaokao, for example.”

“Before the exam, we agreed you’d apply to the Southwest Conservatory of Music. Then the scores came out and you changed your mind, saying you wanted to go to the Xijing Conservatory of Music instead.”

“There wasn’t much difference between the two schools, but you just couldn’t settle down. When I asked you why, you wouldn’t say a word.”

“And you’d better keep your mouth shut forever, huh?! That year in your third year of college, when you got sick, I rushed all the way back from Yunzhou in a panic, and it just so happened I saw Little Wen taking care of you. That’s the only reason you finally told me about changing your application, and about how you two had been secretly dating!”

“How dare you, huh? How full of ideas you are?” The more Qin Hua said, the angrier she got. She rose from her stool, paced a circle around the room, then pointed at Si Nanyu again, accusing, “And dating young! You weren’t even out of your teens when you fell for her. Thank goodness Little Wen is a good person. If you’d been that foolish at that age and given your heart to the wrong one, where would I even go to cry?”

“No peace, no peace at all. Married, and still no peace!” Qin Hua’s voice grew softer and softer, until finally she turned her back.

Si Nanyu had taken it all in. She had long since set down the pumpkin congee, listening on the verge of tears as her mom swallowed back her own.

The voice was faint, but she heard it clearly.

“We finally had a few stable years, and then she had to stir up trouble again. Now she’s worked herself into forgetting everything. What a sin!”

Qin Hua wasn’t afraid of being overheard. If Si Nanyu heard, so be it. She just needed to vent.

But the more she fumed, the angrier she got, so she turned back around and kept scolding. “Once you’re out of the hospital, you move all your things back home. And stop running over here when there’s nothing wrong.”

“A married daughter is spilled water. From now on, the only way you come back is with Little Wen. Not alone.”

She didn’t care one bit what the doctors said about letting the patient rest and avoiding stress.

If stress could actually fix things, great. Stress her back to her senses!

Anything but standing there looking dopey, holding up a bowl, with congee residue still around her mouth.

Qin Hua pulled out a tissue, came over, and wiped Si Nanyu’s mouth several times, her tone still tinged with disgust. “You’re twenty-eight this year. Stop eating like you’re eight.”

“I’m your mother, so it doesn’t matter to me. But isn’t Little Wen going to get tired of you?”

Wen Qingyan was Si Nanyu’s lifeline. Though Qin Hua couldn’t figure out why the past few years’ Si Nanyu had been so troublesome, bringing up Wen Qingyan always worked.

Even on the current version of her.

Before she could snap out of it, Si Nanyu took the tissue from her hand and carefully wiped the corner of her mouth, quietly sipping her congee.

Only when the bowl was nearly empty did she remember to say something. “Mom, I won’t make you worry anymore.”

Qin Hua had already gone to sit on the sofa, playing on her phone. At those words, she twisted around and glared sideways at her. “See that you don’t!”

Then she added, “And don’t make Little Wen worry either!”

“I know, Teacher Wen, she…”

Qin Hua knew nothing about bedroom flirtation, so naturally the remark didn’t spark the same reaction it had in Wen Qingyan. Still, hearing that form of address made her deeply uncomfortable. It just made Si Nanyu seem ridiculously pretentious.

Besides, after all these years together, she had a feeling Wen Qingyan wouldn’t be pleased to hear it either.

So she offered some ‘well-meaning’ advice. “Change the way you address her. Your wife won’t like it.”

Boom.

At the word “wife,” Si Nanyu’s face went completely red.

Qin Hua had spoken fast earlier, saying so much that this line had slipped past her. Now it was laid out so plainly, and the eighteen-year-old Si Nanyu simply couldn’t bear it.

She had just confessed!

How was she supposed to jump straight to being in that kind of relationship with Wen Qingyan?

Wen Qingyan had been called to school over the weekend because of the school Sports Meet. She was teaching Senior Year this year, and with half a month gone since the term started, the autumn Sports Meet and the National Day Holiday were approaching, requiring her to coordinate the class schedule ahead of time.

Zhennan High School was a private school, founded over two decades ago. In its early days it was much like any other top-tier high school, until a reform more than ten years back shifted its focus toward developing students holistically, in virtue, intellect, physical fitness, and aesthetics, championing the idea of joyful learning.

In the years since, its ranks of Specialty Students had swelled. Its admission rate was never in question; it was the Teaching and Research Group, tasked with academics specifically, that had a constant headache.

The effective route to joyful learning was reducing pressure. The result was that students were growing increasingly jaded with traditional classes, and organizing a single Sports Meet drained enormous energy.

By the time she left the school, it was already six thirty in the evening.

Wen Qingyan dragged her exhausted body to the parking lot. Before she could open her car door, a woman in athletic wear blocked her path.

The newcomer was the PE teacher the school had hired just this year. Wen Qingyan didn’t know her well; their only encounters had been a handful of teaching and research meetings.

Teacher… Qu?

She frowned slightly, trying to recall the woman’s name, when the woman beamed and introduced herself. “Hello, Teacher Wen. I’m Qu Yixuan.”

As the saying goes, you don’t hit someone who greets you smiling. Qu Yixuan had a pair of smiling eyes that narrowed into slits when she grinned, and she waved her hand enthusiastically, all warmth.

Wen Qingyan could only give a faint smile. Withdrawing the hand that had been reaching for the car door, she asked politely, “Teacher Qu, is something the matter?”

“Well… it’s the weekend, and it’s just about dinnertime. A few of us were hoping to invite you out for a meal…” Qu Yixuan said generously, though she scratched her head a little awkwardly, gesturing with her other hand toward a spot behind her.

At the corner of the parking lot stood several teachers in their early twenties, men and women alike, much like Qu Yixuan.

They were from last year’s hiring cohort, the same people who’d just been in the meeting upstairs.

The school organized team-building dinners for the teachers, monthly except during special periods like Gaokao prep season.

Wen Qingyan knew she wasn’t the sociable type, but she didn’t refuse occasions like this.

Beyond that, however, she never agreed to anything more.

This time was no exception.

She waved a hand and explained, “Someone at home is sick. I need to get to the hospital.”

“My apologies.”

“Please, let me through.”

The reason was solid, and her manner polite.

A trace of defeat flickered across Qu Yixuan’s face, but it lasted only an instant before she was smiling again. “Busy first, then, Teacher Wen. Some other day… um… whenever you’re free.”

“Enjoy yourselves.” Wen Qingyan opened the car door and offered the parting words with a light smile.

As she pulled out of the lot, she glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Qu Yixuan still standing in place. She couldn’t help but frown.

An inexplicable sense of foreboding.

She didn’t have much time to dwell on it, though. She pulled up her navigation and headed for the shop they used to frequent.

She bought a portion of ham and beef congee, Si Nanyu’s favorite.

Si Nanyu craved sweet, salty, and spicy food alike. There was nothing she didn’t love.

For the sake of her appetite, she would willingly trek miles and miles, ten-plus li of hassle. Wen Qingyan never quite understood it. But whenever she watched her eat something she loved, so satisfied, eyebrows dancing, she felt she understood a little.

Understood Si Nanyu’s happiness, that was.

She still couldn’t comprehend traveling that far just for food.

But when Si Nanyu was sick, or throwing a tantrum at her, Wen Qingyan would indulge her as much as she could.

Take this bowl of ham and beef congee.

During her illness, it was probably the most delicious thing she’d get to eat.

By the time she reached the hospital, it was seven in the evening. Si Nanyu was carrying a takeout box toward the door, and before Wen Qingyan even stepped inside, she heard Qin Hua’s voice. “Hungry, hungry, hungry. All you do is eat. Didn’t I already give you that half a Jianbing Guozi Little Wen confiscated, this afternoon?”

“And you’re still hungry…”

“What a little troublemaker. Fine, I’ll go buy you some!”

Qin Hua’s voice came closer and closer at a startling speed. Wen Qingyan had no time to dodge and ran straight into her.

Seeing Wen Qingyan standing in the doorway, Qin Hua realized how loud her voice had been, that she’d been heard word for word. Her expression turned a touch awkward.

She looked exactly like an indulgent parent caught red-handed.

“Little, Little Wen… you’re back?” She smiled, taking the takeout box in passing and ushering Wen Qingyan inside. Then she turned and said to Si Nanyu crossly, “Look how good your wife is to you. She didn’t even forget to buy your favorite.”

After a whole afternoon to recover her composure, Si Nanyu could look at Wen Qingyan now. But only for… a glance.

Then her eyes darted to Qin Hua, and she deflected like tossing away a hot potato. “I was hungry this afternoon. My mom wanted to save herself the trouble, so she just gave me the Jianbing Guozi.”

“Huh? You wretched child! You, you, you…” Qin Hua didn’t spoil her. The moment she heard that, her face soured. She pinched Si Nanyu’s cheek crossly, then turned back to Wen Qingyan with an appeasing smile. “The doctor came by this afternoon. I asked, and she said a little food wouldn’t hurt…”

“Mm.” Wen Qingyan answered, then added, flat as ever, “Have the congee.”

She turned, set her bag aside, and walked over to the sofa to look at her phone.

There were a few messages in the group chat. She skimmed them, sent a couple of brief replies, then looked back up at Si Nanyu and Qin Hua.

Qin Hua had always been fierce with Si Nanyu, yet unfailingly gentle with her.

So now and then, she still had to mediate between them.

But things were different now. Ever since Si Nanyu woke up, everything was different.

She felt, somehow, like she no longer belonged.

Qin Hua still had work to do, so once Si Nanyu finished her congee, she left.

Only the two of them remained in the hospital room.

It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

The first to break the silence was Wen Qingyan. She rose from her seat and, rolling back her shirt cuffs, looked down at Si Nanyu. “I’ll help you wash up.”

“No, no need. My mom… she already cleaned me up a bit.”

Si Nanyu stammered it out, her cheeks flushed.

But the more Wen Qingyan looked at her, the less she liked what she saw. Her hands stilled. Without a word, she rummaged through her bag, gathered her toiletries, and headed for the bathroom.

The sound of running water, the clinking of bottles and jars, made Si Nanyu’s cheeks burn even redder outside, scalding almost past bearing.

At the thought of sharing a room with Wen Qingyan, Si Nanyu felt like she might spontaneously combust.

She covered her face, shaking her head back and forth.

That was the sight that greeted Wen Qingyan when she came out: utter bewilderment, and no small helplessness.

Acting as if nothing were amiss, she unfolded the companion cot and took off her jacket…

And at that moment, Si Nanyu’s movements turned suddenly frantic.

They were on two separate beds, one up, one down, and all Wen Qingyan had done was remove a jacket. Yet Si Nanyu slapped her hands over her eyes at once.

She didn’t even cover them fully. Through the gaps between her fingers, Wen Qingyan could see her eyes darting around wildly, then squeezing shut the moment they landed on her, before she scooted backward.

Fine, have it your way, Wen Qingyan thought. She reached behind her back and unclasped her bra.

Even in a hospital, the thing was uncomfortable to wear.

The motion tugged her collar wider, and the evidence of Si Nanyu’s mischief from days past came into view.

She might have been better off not seeing it. The moment she did, an inexplicable fire rose in Wen Qingyan’s chest.

She stepped over the companion cot, went straight to Si Nanyu’s bedside, sat down, and stared at her.

Si Nanyu widened the gaps between her fingers, peeked at Wen Qingyan mere inches away, and shivered uncontrollably. Then she heard her say, “The cot is uncomfortable. We’re both thin. Your hospital bed should fit two.”

It was a statement, not a question. Paying no mind to her reaction, Wen Qingyan simply lay down.

Seeing that she didn’t understand, Wen Qingyan took her arm and pulled, asking with a look she couldn’t decipher, “Do you hate me that much?”

Si Nanyu dropped her hands and shook her head frantically.

How could she?

She just didn’t know how to be around… Wen Qingyan, who was now her wife.

“I, I, I… of course not… mmph!”

Wen Qingyan’s collar, loosened by all the wriggling, had slipped another button open. Leaning against Si Nanyu’s bent knee, she covered her mouth with one hand. “Then let’s sleep.”

Si Nanyu didn’t know how to navigate any of this, but she was obedient.

She rolled over, tucked her blanket in neatly, and blinked up at Wen Qingyan.

Like a child waiting for praise.

But Wen Qingyan wasn’t in the mood for praise. She was exhausted.

She turned onto her side and lay down beside her, at a distance neither close nor far, a faint fragrance drifting through the air.

Si Nanyu was tired too. A silent yawn escaped her as she drifted toward sleep…

And then, faintly, she heard Wen Qingyan’s voice, slurred and indistinct. “Then… I suppose you don’t like me anymore either.”