Lady's Home

Chapter 22

"Fang Xiaoxi brought it up during dinner. We had soybean and bone broth today, and Fang Xiaoxi said that Grandma should eat more bone broth so that her bones would grow better. The little girl is quite the flatterer; she made Grandma Shen very happy. Then Fang Xiaoxi brought up the time she fell down. I felt like she was targeting someone; she seemed to mean that someone in the family pushed Grandma Shen down. Of course, Grandma Shen stopped her later."

Who's at the dinner table?

"It was just those few people: Yushan, Fang Qi, Old Madam Shen, Fang Rouzhi, and Fang Xiaoxi. Xiang Bing wasn't there. Since he wasn't there, Old Madam Shen seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation with Yushan."

Is there anything else?

"Fang Qi asked about you. She seems to be..." Ling Ge paused for a moment.

"How is she?" Jian Dongping's mind flashed with Fang Qi's beautiful yet slightly sad face.

"I feel like she cares about you a lot. She keeps asking me about you, and she even said she saw you from afar when we were little, which you probably forgot. She also asked me how we met. I said someone introduced us, and then she asked me what I thought of her?"

"What did you say?" Jian Dongping asked with great interest.

“I told him he wasn’t good at all. He wasn’t handsome, nor tall, and he was particularly mean. He loved to make sarcastic remarks and give people nicknames. The first time she saw a picture of my dad, she showed no respect at all, saying his face looked like a coffin lid,” Ling Ge said innocently. “Do you know how she responded?”

"How should I answer?" Jian Dongping asked, somewhat displeased. He thought to himself that the little girl was quite vengeful. How was I supposed to know that was her father? If I knew I was going to be on the police station's hero's board, I should at least have found a decent photo.

"She said that although you're not handsome, you're very pleasing to the eye, the kind of person you want to look at a second time after the first glance, and that talking to you is very comfortable. She said she especially likes people who can write well, thinking they are all very intelligent and sensitive. I don't think you're that sensitive at all."

"It seems Fang Qi is still the best to me. I'll have to ask her out for tea when I get back," Jian Dongping laughed. "Anything else?"

Ling Ge gave a soft "humph" on the other end of the phone.

"She only said a few words to me, and then Fang Xiaoxi came and showed me a lot of photos."

Whose photo is this?

"These are all Yu Shan's artistic photos. Yu Shan looks so beautiful in Korean clothing. I want to take a set like that too, but I don't know how much it costs." Ling Ge's voice sounded full of longing.

"It's not expensive. I have a friend who owns a photo studio. I'll go with you to take the photos, and the price will definitely be cheaper." Jian Dongping wondered what Xiao Rouyuan would look like in a Korean dress.

"Really?!" Her voice was filled with excitement.

“When have I ever broken a promise to you?” Jian Dongping paused and said, “Ling Ge, it seems that everyone in this family is testing you. Fang Xiaoxi will definitely find an opportunity to talk to you in the future. She must know a lot. You can mention Su Zhiwen to her then. She might be waiting for you to ask her about it.”

"OK."

Is there anything else?

"No, I've only been here for a day, how could I know so much?" Ling Ge muttered to himself. "I haven't found out about the temporary nanny yet, and I haven't had a chance to be alone with Zhang Yufen. I'll ask her about it when I help her cook sometime."

"Haha, the Shen family is in trouble. Try to throw as many potato peels and shrimp shells as possible into the soup, and they'll be even less wary of you," Jian Dongping said gloatingly.

"Hey, I just did it accidentally once, you don't have to keep bringing it up." Ling Ge was a little annoyed.

"Because it's a memorable experience. Did you gain anything else today?"

"I ate shark fin soup today!" Ling Ge immediately cheered up again.

"Is it delicious?" Jian Dongping wondered. What's so delicious about shark fin? But her voice sounded so sweet.

"It was quite delicious, but not as delicious as I imagined. It was a soup made with ham, very flavorful. Grandma Shen even said I was a true lady. By the way, they kept asking me to talk about my case-solving experiences, but I haven't really solved any cases, and I feel like my experience isn't anything special. I don't even know what to say," Ling Ge said.

"The worse your experience, the better," Jian Dongping thought to himself.

"Anything else? Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

After a two-second silence, Ling Ge said:

"Come back quickly after you're done. Don't eat raw food, drive carefully... Okay, that's all I have to say. You probably think I'm being long-winded... Get some rest. I'll go try out that door later."

Jian Dongping felt a warm current flow through his body. Holding the phone, he imagined his hand gently caressing her face, feeling the elasticity of her skin and her body temperature. He didn't know whether he should respond to her. He envied those who could speak their minds freely; he couldn't do that. He knew the best way to avoid breaking promises was not to make any. He was afraid that every word he said would be entangled with feelings. Ling Ge was a serious person, and he absolutely couldn't say anything to her. He was always most afraid of women clinging to him. Thinking back to his entanglements with his two ex-girlfriends three years ago, he still felt lingering fear. So, after thinking for a long time, he finally didn't say the words that were already on the tip of his tongue. He decided to change the atmosphere of the conversation.

“Ling Ge, call me James,” he pleaded sincerely. “Just call me that.”

"You're so annoying." Ling Ge was silent for a while, then finally called him James softly.

Jian Dongping laughed loudly.

"What are you laughing at? Why do you always make me call you by your English name?"

"Because I want to hear how bad your English pronunciation is. Ling Ge, when I die in the future, please say a few words of English to me, and maybe I will come back to life."

After saying those harsh words, he thought Ling Ge would curse him out, but to his surprise, she fell silent, which made him very uneasy.

"Ling Ge, what's wrong?" He broke the silence a few seconds later.

“I know your English is better than mine, but that doesn’t mean you’re anything special. You’ve read more books than me, so you’re naturally better than me. My dad said that comparing your strengths to other people’s weaknesses is the worst thing you can do. If you look down on me, why should you be my friend?”

She was angry, and her pride was clearly hurt, which was something he didn't want to see.

Unfortunately, I can only speak the truth to make up for my mistake.

“Ling Ge, do you think someone like me would spend two years being friends with someone I look down on? Of course not. I don’t look down on you, Ling Ge,” he took a deep breath and said, “I’m only joking with you because I like you. I’ve never looked down on you.”

She didn't speak.

"Okay, it's getting late, I'll hang up now," he said. "You can call me anytime, my phone is on 24/7."

"Bye-bye," she said softly.

Jian Dongping felt that her farewell voice sounded a lot like Xu Ruyun's cloud-like singing style, so he took out his MP4 and tuned the song to "If Clouds Knew." He loved this song; every time he listened to it, it was as if someone was telling him that even the deepest feelings would dissipate like clouds in the wind. It was a comforting feeling after sadness, a truly comforting feeling.

After hanging up the phone, Jian Dongping couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Ling Ge's soft farewell seemed to cause his cells to malfunction instantly, like a laser beam. He didn't know where these dangerous factors were hiding in his body; he just felt uncomfortable and something was wrong. He knew that continuing to dwell on the cause would only make him sicker, so he decided to shift his attention and continue reading the online novel he had half-finished at noon.

Zhou Jin's "My Absurd Journey" is approximately 160,000 words long, with more than half of the text overlapping with her column "My Small Inn Journey" for the weekly magazine *Letter*. As usual, she describes the living conditions of girls in small inns, their hardships and joys of making a living in impoverished streets and alleys, how she helped them escape their predicaments with her meager resources, and her own feelings about being among them. The difference is that this article also includes the life story of a girl named Zhou Lili. Several paragraphs read as follows:

After graduating from junior high school, I continued my studies at the same high school. I knew myself well; I wasn't cut out for studying, but I still wanted to go to university, to stroll through a flower-filled campus with books in my hands, to sit in the holly bushes memorizing English words, and to sing in university. I loved to sing, and I imagined many students wearing glasses listening intently, clapping, and me bowing.

For a time, I thought that kind of life was very close to reality. So close that I could hear the wind blowing through the campus.

I really wanted to go to university, so I studied very hard throughout high school. In the end, I got into a second-rate university. In my dad's words, a third-rate person getting into a second-rate university is a good deal.

When I was in my second year of high school, my parents remarried.

They divorced four years ago. My sister and I were both happy when they got divorced; the long-running battle was finally over. We don't know if things will get worse in the future, but we are still relieved.

After they finished the formalities that day, our family went to a small restaurant for a decent meal. After eating, my sister went with my mother, and I went with my father, and we each went our separate ways. My sister and I waved goodbye at the crossroads, as if we would never see each other again in this life.

If I had known they would remarry, there would have been no need for that meal.

After the divorce, several people introduced my dad to potential partners, but none of them worked out. My dad is an honest man, but he's too rude. He treats me, my mom, and my sister the same way, slapping me at the drop of a hat and never saying a single pleasant thing to anyone. That's why my mom got together with someone else. But as soon as my mom got divorced, her ex-husband left her. She was heartbroken and started hitting my sister. My sister would often run home, and we'd hide in my room chatting, eating sunflower seeds, and applying antiseptic—it was a way of finding some joy in our suffering.

Years later, neither of them had found a suitable partner, so someone acted as a matchmaker. My dad promised not to hit anyone, and my mom didn't put on airs, so they remarried. They stopped fighting afterward, and we became their punching bags. My dad often talked about the book "How the Steel Was Tempered," believing that steelmaking required constant fighting.

I met him that autumn. That night, the autumn sky was high and the air was crisp, and I was in a good mood. I wore my prettiest floral dress to school to participate in the "Golden Autumn Arts and Culture Evening".

He looked to be around thirty years old, very mature and handsome. Standing next to my friend, he immediately outshone everyone else. He was talking to his friend at the school gate when I happened to walk towards him. He looked at me, I looked at him, and then we passed each other.

The glint in his eye was like a dart flying unnoticed; its angle and force were perfectly calculated, just enough to graz my skin. From that moment on, I began to think about him.

I once dreamt of him; we still met on the street corner, but the genders had switched. He became me, all radiant and beautiful, while I became him, gentle and mature. I walked up to him and said, "Hey, let's go dancing?" He nodded. Then I woke up, completely satisfied.

I'm sure he noticed me too, otherwise none of what happened later would have occurred. I saw him again one afternoon after school. As soon as I stepped out of the school gate, I saw him standing on the other side of the road, looking lost and bewildered. He was wearing a brand-new blue shirt, clean and crisp, as pure as the blue sky. I crossed the road and deliberately walked towards him. He saw me too and smiled gently. He asked me how to get to Tongqing Road. I playfully replied, "Turn left three, turn right four, a bottle of 7UP plus two packs of Double Happiness!"

This is a riddle that belongs only to me. It has always been my quirk to create all sorts of riddles using numbers.

My answer confused him, and I didn't bother explaining. I just said, "I'll lead the way; it's not far." He smiled and said, "Let's go then." We walked along Xueqian Street in silence. This was the first time I had ever walked side-by-side with a man on the street, and he looked so refined, handsome, and gentle.

No man had ever spoken to me so gently. Having grown up surrounded by shouting and yelling, I was instantly captivated by his voice. I was so nervous that I dared not laugh or speak, afraid that I would leave a bad impression on him if I opened my mouth. I was dressed terribly that day, like Cinderella.

We walked for a while, and suddenly he grabbed my hand and shoved it into his pocket. The action was so sudden that I was startled, and it took me a moment to realize what he had done. He was holding my hand as we walked forward.

I could feel his body—the vibrant, alluring body of a mature man. The heat emanating from his legs as he walked briskly traveled to my palms and then to my entire body. The cool evening breeze whistled past my ears, and the streets and crowds on either side blurred. I suddenly felt dizzy and followed him involuntarily, thinking, "Take me wherever you want."

That day, when I took him to the intersection of Tongqing Road, he kissed me.

But I walked home alone, feeling a loneliness I'd never felt before. I thought about how guilty he seemed when he let me go, while I seemed so indifferent. I felt like I'd become pathetic from that moment on. So, he had his reasons for not caring about me.

I miss that feeling of skin-to-skin contact; the piercing pain actually stemmed from that first kiss—who would have thought? I regret not becoming a woman because of him, regret not having a reason to pursue him, regret that we were essentially unrelated. I think I'll definitely never see him again. He said he'd take me home, and I nodded. We walked along Xueqian Street again; it was still quite bright. We went our separate ways, and he suddenly asked if I could treat him to a meal. He said he'd forgotten his money, had been wandering around all day on an empty stomach, and was almost starving. I found his honesty endearing. I thought if he wanted to eat human flesh, I'd immediately cut off a piece of flesh from my arm and feed it to him.

But I didn't have any money either, so we stood by the roadside waiting to see if any classmates would pass by so we could borrow money from them. He stood far away, pretending not to know me, so I could lie.

After borrowing the money, we ate at a small restaurant on a side street. The chef's cooking was terrible, but we still enjoyed the meal. He patted my head and sighed that I was too young, otherwise he would have taken me back to Shanghai. I said I was almost 18, and I could go anywhere. He said okay, but don't cry then. In the end, he didn't take me back to Shanghai; instead, he took me to a hotel. I didn't cry; I didn't think there was anything to cry about. He and his friend stayed at a three-star hotel. I hesitated a bit when I followed him into the lobby, but once I entered the room, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore.

When we got into the elevator, he didn't pull me in; he went in first. He remained silent inside, his eyes lowered as he looked at me outside. He wasn't inviting me; he was waiting for me.

As soon as I stepped into the elevator, he put his arm around my arm and laughed triumphantly.

Zhou Jin's experience made Jian Dongping sigh with regret, but what pleased him was that he had finally found the full text of the riddle that had puzzled Su Zhiwen twice: "Turn left three times, turn right four times, a bottle of 7UP plus two packs of Double Happiness cigarettes." What did this mean? Jian Dongping wanted to fly back to Xincheng Road immediately to find out for himself, but unfortunately he was thousands of miles away. He decided to go to Zhou Jin's hometown. In fact, finding the answer to the riddle wasn't difficult; he just needed to find the middle school Zhou Jin attended and then find Tongqing Road.

He decided to continue watching "My Absurd Journey" the next day to see how Su Zhiwen deceived Zhou Jin.

I wonder if Ling Ge has tried that door.

As he was thinking, the phone rang; it was Ling Ge.

"The door is locked," she said briefly after the call connected, her voice muffled, clearly still angry with him.

"Have you tried it?"

"Yes, just now, the door was locked," she said coldly.

A moment of silence.

"Goodbye," she said after a while.

Jian Dongping knew that if he didn't apologize today, she would be unhappy all night. Just as she was about to hang up, he called out to her, "Xiao Ge."

What?

"I'm sorry," he said.

“You look down on me, just like my dad, thinking I can’t do anything right.” She choked up as she said, “Actually, before I met you, I was living my life just the same. I was doing just fine. I didn’t starve to death, and I didn’t cause any major trouble.”

Her words made him feel sad.

“Ling Ge,” he imagined himself holding her wrist, trying to calm her down, “I’m different from your dad. Your dad said you were disappointing because he was frustrated with you, but I say it because I’m close to you. If you were really that bad, would I go around telling everyone you’re my girlfriend? I’m a person who cares about my image too. What do you think?”

She didn't say anything, as if she had been persuaded.

“Ling Ge, in my eyes, you are a beautiful, lovely, and attractive young woman, it’s just that your English is a bit lacking…” He laughed as he finished speaking, “Call me James again.”

"Hmph! Call me 'sister' first." She hung up the phone angrily.

But Jian Dongping knew that her anger had subsided by half.

11. I'm not a thief

Lin Zhongjie met Zeng Yushan three times, and each time she left a different impression on him. The first time he questioned her, she seemed indifferent to Su Zhiwen's death, occasionally sneering, and making sarcastic remarks about her mother Shen Biyun's marriage. The second time, she became the understanding third daughter of the Shen family, humble and polite, often smiling, and worried about her mother's health. The third time, she was like a fighter, not an ordinary office clerk. Every word she spoke was full of ideals and dedication, as if she was willing to give up all her savings, organs, or even her life if needed.

What about this time? Lin Zhongjie glanced at her casually and immediately caught a sense of unease emanating from her. Her expression was uncertain; perhaps she hadn't yet decided what role she would play today.

"Ms. Zeng, you work as an office clerk at Lihong Headhunting Company, right?" Lin Zhongjie asked.

"Yes," she answered quickly.