Jiang Lai felt a warmth in her heart. This person had fainted from exhaustion, and the first thing she did upon waking up was to ask why she was in the hospital. In all her life, only her parents and aunt had ever cared for her like this. But those were family, and family would love you unconditionally. However, Lin Zhi was not related to her at all, so this concern meant more than just a simple sentence to Jiang Lai.
"Sister, I'm fine. I came to find you."
"What do you want with me?"
"Of course I'm here to question you."
Lin Zhi thought she was here because she couldn't pick her up at the airport today. Just as she was about to explain, the person suddenly leaned closer. She was wearing a mask so she couldn't see her face clearly, but her eyes were very bright.
"I've only been gone a few months, and you've already taken care of my sister and got her to the hospital?"
This sounds strange, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the child is complaining about why she doesn't take better care of herself.
What a strange person, always saying such strange things. Are all young people like this nowadays? Lin Zhi felt that she was falling behind the times.
Lin Zhi gently pushed her shoulder and said, "You're too close."
Jiang Lai feigned innocence, pointing to the noisy man behind her: "I can't help it, he's too noisy, I'm afraid you won't be able to hear me if I don't get closer."
The man was quite noisy, swearing constantly and showing no manners. The nurse could only apologize repeatedly after being scolded. The head nurse heard the noise and came to separate the two.
Lin Zhi was woken up by that man, so she didn't sleep well and had a headache.
"Let's go, it's too noisy."
"Okay." Jiang Lai helped her up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll take you home."
It's only a short walk from the first floor to the parking lot, and Lin Zhi could easily walk by herself, but Jiang Lai was worried about her and insisted on supporting her, making her look like she had broken a bone.
Lin Zhi was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Her car was still parked in the hotel parking lot. She asked her assistant to drive the car to the company. The gift she was going to give to Jiang Lai was also brought to the company. She probably couldn't give it to her today.
Jiang Lai had already memorized the address on the paper. As soon as she got in the car, she set the navigation to her location. Lin Zhi glanced at it and asked, "To my house?"
Jiang Lai nodded: "You've moved to a new house, aren't you going to invite me in for a bit?"
Once they sit down, they don't move.
Lin Zhi: "There's no food at home, let's grab something to eat outside."
Jiang Lai didn't believe it: "No vegetables? How is that possible?"
Lin Zhi was embarrassed to admit that she couldn't cook. After all, she was almost thirty and it would be a laughing stock if she couldn't cook. So she made up a lie: "I've been busy these past few days and haven't been eating at home."
"Oh..." Jiang Lai turned off the navigation and said, "Let's go to the supermarket first, you promised to cook for me."
"But..."
Jiang Lai clasped her hands together and looked pitifully at Lin Zhi: "Please, I haven't eaten all day, I'm starving."
I ate some, but my stomach was full of potato chips and yogurt.
Lin Zhi didn't mean she didn't want to cook for her, but she had fallen hard today and forgotten all the cooking tutorials she had watched. She could only vaguely remember a few things, but she didn't want to disappoint Jiang Lai, so she reluctantly agreed.
"Hehe! Thank you, sister!"
Lin Zhi rolled her eyes at her, but couldn't suppress a smile: "You're such a child."
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Author's Note:
Please add this to your favorites!!! (Groundhog screams)
Chapter 32
Jiang Lai pushed her shopping cart next to Lin Zhi, throwing every snack she saw into the cart. Half of the cart was filled with her snacks, and she hadn't bought many groceries yet.
Lin Zhi stopped her hand as she was about to throw away the snacks, and took the cookies from her and put them back on the shelf: "You bought too many."
Jiang Lai took the cookies back: "There aren't any more! I'll finish them in a few days."
Lin Zhi sighed helplessly. The other party threw the snacks in and ran away without giving her a chance to take them out: "We should have a serious talk about the body management clause in the contract."
Jiang Lai stopped, turned around, took Lin Zhi's hand and placed it on her lower abdomen, proudly asking, "Can you feel your abs now?"
Lin Zhi withdrew her hand, looked around, and only said after making sure no one was paying attention to them, "I felt it. Next time, just say so. There's no need to do this."
"That won't do. You have to feel it for yourself firsthand. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll accuse me of breaching the contract and deduct my wages."
Lin Zhi glanced at her and said reproachfully, "This doesn't count; the company won't deduct your wages."
"I know it doesn't count, and I can't gain weight no matter how much I eat."
Lin Zhi was stunned, then turned her head and asked her, "You're likely to get beaten up for saying that."
Jiang Lai pretended not to understand: "Really? It's alright, no one has ever hit me. Would my sister hit me?"
"I..."
Lin Zhi felt a little awkward. This person kept calling her "sister," which made her feel inexplicably itchy. Lin Zhi just wanted to buy groceries and go home as soon as possible.
Would you like some spare ribs?
"How do we do it?"
"Would it be okay to braise it?"
"good."
Jiang Lai picked out a nice box of clean vegetables and put it in her shopping cart. Then she bought some bok choy and mushrooms. Just as she was about to go to the checkout, Lin Zhi called her back.
"Jiang Lai, we don't have any seasonings at home."
Jiang Lai thought they had run out of seasonings, so she took her to the seasoning section to choose some, but the person there knew nothing about it.
Jiang Lai squatted down to select items, then looked up and asked Lin Zhi, "What do you need? Salt? MSG? Light soy sauce? Dark soy sauce?"
Lin Zhi was completely overwhelmed. She had heard all of these before, so she decided to buy them all.
"They are all lacking."
"Huh? You usually like to cook, huh?" Jiang Lai said, putting the seasonings into the shopping cart.
Lin Zhi pointed to the seasonings on the shelf next to her: "Those don't seem to be available either."
Although Jiang Lai found it strange, she still took them all and put them in her shopping cart. This time, she didn't rush to pay. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Don't you have any oil either?"
From Lin Zhi's expression, it was clear that the man had suddenly realized something: "Right, there's no oil."
At that moment, Jiang Lai probably guessed that Lin Zhi couldn't cook and was afraid of being looked down upon, so she braced herself and said she could. The more she looked at Lin Zhi, the cuter she became, and she couldn't help but reach out and rub her head.
Lin Zhi's hair was ruffled, and she raised her chin slightly, looking at the culprit with displeasure: "What are you doing?"
"It's okay, your hair is just a little messy."
"real?"
Jiang Lai turned her face away and pushed the shopping cart toward the checkout counter: "Yes, really."
Lin Zhi ignored her, smoothing her hair as she took out the items and placed them on the cashier's counter. When it was time to pay, Jiang Lai didn't grab them, and Lin Zhi naturally took out her wallet as well. Jiang Lai took the items without letting Lin Zhi take them; one paid and the other carried the bag, which was fair.
Lin Zhixin's new home is on the fifth floor, which is not high. She heard that the power outages in this community are frequent. Lin Zhixin was worried that the elevator would not work and that climbing the stairs would be too tiring, so she chose the fifth floor, which is a relatively low floor and is not tiring to climb.
After entering the password to enter the room, Lin Zhi took out slippers from the shoe cabinet and gave them to Jiang Lai, who then changed into them and wandered around the room.
The room was a one-bedroom apartment, similar to Jiang Lai's apartment, but much smaller. The bathroom was too small to fit a bathtub, and there was no balcony.
Jiang Lai put the things in the kitchen. It was so clean that it didn't look like anyone had used it. There was only instant coffee in the cabinet and most of the food in the refrigerator. It could be heated in the microwave and eaten immediately. Jiang Lai felt a pang of sadness. No wonder this person was so thin. He had become thin from hunger and exhaustion!
Lin Zhi washed her hands and hid in the bathroom to look at her iPad. She reviewed the recipe for braised pork ribs again, taking screenshots of how much seasoning to add at each step.
I remember leaving the bathroom when it was almost time. Jiang Lai had already tidied up the kitchen, and she had put the snacks she had chosen into the kitchen cabinets.
Lin Zhi leaned closer and asked, "Why are they all here with me?"
Jiang Lai hummed in agreement and put the groceries she had bought into the sink to wash: "Are we going to take them back? They're too heavy."
Why didn't you say it was heavy when you bought it?
"Would you believe me if I said I bought it for you?"
Lin Zhi shook her head: "I don't eat these."
"That's impossible. How could anyone not like snacks?"
As Jiang Lai spoke, she opened a drawer, grabbed a box of cookies, unwrapped it, picked up a piece, and put it to Lin Zhi's lips: "Try it, it's chocolate."
Lin Zhi wanted to refuse, but before she could even open her mouth, the cookie was stuffed into her mouth. The faint chocolate flavor melted in her mouth; it was a little sweet but not cloying.
"Is it delicious?" Jiang Lai asked her with a smile.
"Mmm, it's delicious. You can go out now, I need to cook."
Since the person offered to cook, Jiang Lai let her, feeling a strange sense of mischief in her heart. She wanted to see what Lin Zhi would make.
She didn't go far, but stood at the kitchen doorway with her arms crossed, watching as Lin Zhi struggled with the pot, looking at it from left to right several times, but no matter how she twisted it, she couldn't get the fire going.
"elder sister."
"ah?"
Lin Zhi shuddered, never expecting that Jiang Lai hadn't left yet, and that this person hadn't made a sound.
Jiang Lai pointed to the pot, a smile playing on her lips: "Is the valve not turned on?"
Lin Zhi said "oh" and looked around for the valve. Jiang Lai had no choice but to walk over, squat down, open the cabinet, and turn on the valve.
Lin Zhi was slightly surprised: "How did you know you were here?"
"I saw it when I was tidying up just now."
Lin Zhi said "oh" and didn't say anything more, perhaps feeling a little embarrassed and ashamed in front of the children.
Jiang Lai was worried about Lin Zhi using a knife, so she chopped the vegetables and put them on a plate. Lin Zhi only needed to put them in the pot. Jiang Lai was confident that nothing would go wrong, so she turned around and left the kitchen, intending to give Lin Zhi some room to do her own thing. But she regretted it a few minutes later. Before she could even sit on the sofa, the kitchen was suddenly engulfed in flames.
Jiang Lai put down her phone and rushed into the kitchen, not even bothering to put on her slippers. When she entered the kitchen, she saw flames shooting into the sky and Lin Zhi lying motionless. Worried about Lin Zhi, she instinctively grabbed her and stepped in front of her, shielding her face with one hand and grabbing the pot lid with the other. After a few seconds, the fire in the pot was extinguished.
She coughed twice, turned around to look at Lin Zhi, who was standing there blankly with lifeless eyes.
Jiang Lai hugged her, gently patted her back, and comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. It's all my fault. I knew you wouldn't be able to do it, but I still made you do it. It's all my fault. Don't be afraid, I'm here for you."
Lin Zhi came to her senses, and her eyes instantly reddened. Perhaps it was because Jiang Lai's embrace was too warm, she huddled in Jiang Lai's arms and sobbed softly.
That's how people are. When they're alone, they can grit their teeth and get through even the biggest things. But if they have someone by their side to comfort them, they'll cry out in grievance.