After a hectic journey, the two finally made it back to the apartment safely.
When they got off the car, both of them simultaneously felt relieved.
Xia Shiyu went to the door and took out her key, pretending to be calm, but before she could open the door, she dropped it on the ground.
“Why don’t I just go sleep outside?” With how nervous Xia Shiyu looked, Jiang Chen made this proposal in a quiet voice.
[I’m just crashing at your place; we’re not doing anything naughty. Why are you so nervous?! You’re making me nervous too.]
“No, no need. It’s too much trouble.”
[No, no, it’s probably more convenient…] Jiang Chen said in his mind.
As she finally lined the key up with the lock, Xia Shiyu seemed to be battling with something internally. She finally pushed the door open with one foot and stiffly stepped into the house.
[Everything was fine during the day…] Jiang Chen ridiculed her in his mind as he stared at Xia Shiyu’s back.
Jiang Chen followed her inside as he was dragged to the spare bedroom.
The layout of the bedroom was feminine. It looked like where Ayesha stayed when she was protecting Xia Shiyu before. The sheets had the smell of sunshine; they were clearly hung out to dry outside not long ago.
Xia Shiyu, with a rigid look, threw Jiang Chen a set of spare keys before she hastily left the bedroom. She didn’t have the fluidity she had when she first invited Jiang Chen to crash at her place.
Jiang Chen shook his head and sat on the bed. He took out his phone and called his parents and Ayesha separately.
His parents were enjoying their time on Coro Island. Not only did they live in a mansion, Jiang Chen also hired two caretakers to care of them.
Jiang Jianguo enjoyed fishing before, but since the river near their old place was too populated to fish and Fanyang Lake was too far away from home, he wasn’t able to engage in his hobby. Now that he lived near the sea, it was possible to fish only a couple steps away, so he picked his hobby back up. He spent all day fishing with Carter from morning to night.
In their conversation, Jiang Jianguo kept bragging to his son about how big the fish he caught were. Although they tasted salty, when they were mixed with ginger and garlic sauce, they tasted surprisingly good.
As to his mom, Li Xuemei, other than occasionally heading out to the sea with Jiang Jianguo, she spent the majority of time homemaking and gardening. Ayesha visited her sometimes to learn the secrets to Han cuisine.
Regarding the beautiful foreign daughter-in-law, Li Xuemei absolutely adored her. Not only was she courteous, but she was also virtuous; it was hard to find someone as good as she was. Especially with Ayesha’s earnestness when she asked what Jiang Chen liked to eat, Li Xuemei was even more delighted as she kept telling her husband how lucky Jiang Chen was.
Although they weren’t married yet, the two elders all treated her like she was part of the family.
The first phone call lasted for an entire hour before his dad hung up in fear an exorbitantly high phone bill.
The second phone call was rather short since Ayesha never spoke too much. But from her concise words, Jiang Chen still felt her deep affection as well as longing from hundreds of miles away.
“… Remember to take care of yourself, I’ll be back in a few days.”
“Mhmm,” Ayesha responded gently.
“That’s all, I’m going to hang up.”
“Wait,” Ayesha abruptly said.
“Mhmm? Is there something else?” Jiang Chen said in surprise.
“Did you figure out Xia Shiyu yet?”
Jiang Chen almost choked on his own spit when he heard these words from the other side of the phone.
“Ahem? What ‘figure her out’? Where did you learn this from?”
Ayesha tilted her head as she continued, “I didn’t use this phrase properly? I saw it in a drama.”
She previously enjoyed UA drama before, but to understand the mysterious “mother and daughter-in-law relationship,” she specifically watched a few Han shows. Although she didn’t quite understand, it dramatically helped with her vocabulary.
“Watch less of that drama…” Jiang Chen facepalmed.
“Okay, I’ll stop watching,” Ayesha responded mildly.
“Also, did you say something to Xia Shiyu? I think she has been acting a bit strange.” Jiang Chen recalled when he first saw Xia Shiyu off the plane; he could only come to one conclusion. It must be Ayesha who told Xia Shiyu something.
In the two months when Jiang Chen was overseas, Ayesha stayed with Xia Shiyu. Jiang Chen didn’t know what the two spoke about, but based on the fact that Ayesha saved Xia Shiyu’s life and even lost her own, there shouldn’t have been any conflicts between them. But because of Xia Shiyu’s affection to him, as well as the damage of that kiss….
“She said she won’t admit defeat.” It was a rare occasion when Ayesha didn’t answer Jiang Chen directly.
“She won’t admit defeat? Wait, what exactly did you say to her?” Jiang Chen said, sensing a slight headache coming on.
“Ummm,” Ayesha was hesitant, but she finally opened her mouth, “I admitted our relationship to her.”
[No wonder…] Jiang Chen facepalmed.
No wonder Xia Shiyu looked at him oddly when he first got off the plane and invited him to live at her place; that was unlike the Xia Shiyu who always put on a cold face in front of anyone.
“Sorry.” Like a kitty that accidentally broke a cup, Ayesha lowered her head as she said with a fast tone and small voice, “I only thought… since she really liked you, there’s no need to restrain herself. I don’t mind sharing with her and I don’t plan to oppose her…”
To be honest, that kiss in the car and admitting the truth to Xia Shiyu were all intended to “push her.” But things turned out opposite to her intentions – Xia Shiyu’s first and second reaction were both surprising to Ayesha. Xia Shiyu seemed to have interpreted her actions as acts of aggression.
Jiang Chen immediately interrupted her, “No, no, no, you don’t need to apologize; our relationship isn’t something that needs to be hidden.”
“But… She seemed to have misinterpreted something.” Ayesha’s voice still had a hint of guilt.
“It’s not that she misinterpreted something. How should I say this? The Han culture is a bit different from your own; she won’t agree to it.”
“Then do you like her?” Ayesha asked seriously.
When he heard her sudden question, Jiang Chen stopped.
After he thought seriously for half a minute, he slowly said, “I … don’t dislike her.”
Jiang Chen admited he was a greedy person, and also a selfish person.
But he didn’t plan to explain himself.
“I will help you,” Ayesha said earnestly.
“There’s no need to help me… Just go with the flow. To be honest, I don’t even know myself how I’ll treat her. Don’t sleep too late; good night.”
“Mhmm, good night.” When she sensed that Jiang Chen didn’t want to continue talking, Ayesha ended the topic.
Jiang Chen hung up the phone and lied on the bed.
“Woosh-”
He let out a long sigh. Jiang Chen turned and stared at himself in the mirror.
He grinned. When he looked at his smile in the mirror, Jiang Chen restrained the desire to smile bitterly.
[Whatever, I’ll just sleep early. There’s still a meeting with Dalmer Corporation tomorrow.]
While battling his thoughts, Jiang Chen didn’t even take off his clothes before he drifted to sleep.