Chapter 9: Get Some Rest

Liang Zhirou, fresh out of the shower, looked like a water lily, her hair tied up, wearing a loose white T-shirt and home shorts. Her cheeks were beautiful to the point of being unfair, her wide neckline revealing a snowy swan neck, her pair of tight, white and tender legs were incredibly eye-catching, and the curves of her chest made it impossible to look away.

Only, her arm was strangely wrapped with several layers of cling film.

Her clear and watery eyes looked somewhat dull at the blank chat page between them, repeatedly agonizing over her wording, not even figuring out how to say hello.

As time passed, the girl’s unconsciously raised corner of her mouth fell back down, and her breathing became more rapid.

Finally, she looked up at the time, ten minutes had already passed!

Ten minutes and she hadn’t even figured out what to say…

What am I doing…

She didn’t have many friends, and she hadn’t spoken to anyone proactively. Even a simple greeting was an extremely difficult task for her.

After a while, she finally mustered up the courage to send a “Good evening”.

Three simple words, like a lone boat, lying on the pure white chat background.

Looking at the message she had sent proactively, it seemed so out of place in the blank chat page between them. She suddenly felt her heart beating faster, as if it was about to jump out of her chest. She quickly and nervously retracted the message.

Liang Zhirou, both embarrassed and annoyed, rubbed her face, put her phone aside, rolled around on the bed speechless for a while, and finally lay down, burying her face in the blanket, her two delicate legs kicking a few times.

He can’t see it, right?

He shouldn’t be able to see it, right?

Don’t reply to me, please don’t reply to me! I beg you…

Liang Zhirou both hoped that Chen Lu would ignore it, not send her a message, and was also sad because of the blank chat page between them.

But he’s so good-looking, and his personality is so good, he shouldn’t be short of people to chat with, right?

After all, Chen Lu’s gentleness was like the spring rain, nourishing others.

He didn’t make a fuss, he didn’t cross the line, he just silently gave.

Most importantly, he didn’t put any pressure on her. When he pulled her sleeve in the crowd, it really made her feel safe, as if she just had to follow him, and she didn’t have to worry about anything else.

Thinking about this, she remembered the princess-like girl she saw in the cafeteria that day. She was really beautiful, and the clothes she wore looked very expensive, but they fit her so well, so beautifully.

So beautiful that she didn’t dare to look up and take a second look.

The girl’s eyes were full of pride. She must have come from a very good family, she was raised in a honey pot.

She’s not in the same world as me at all, no wonder Chen Lu likes her…

Liang Zhirou sniffed, quickly calmed down, charged her phone, and started preparing footbath water for her mother.

Since her father’s illness and death, she had early on learned to bury all her worries.

After repeatedly confirming in front of the bathroom mirror that she didn’t look abnormal, she quickly carried the footbath water to her mother, Xiao Xunfang.

Xiao Xunfang had developed a neurological disease a few years ago, and her legs had almost lost their feeling.

The doctor said that surgery could only improve the situation, and the best case scenario was that her legs would regain feeling and she could barely walk with crutches.

That wasn’t the problem.

The biggest problem was that there wasn’t enough money…

Poor people don’t deserve relatives. No one was willing to lend them the money for the surgery.

So she could only work hard to maintain the family’s livelihood, while soaking and massaging her mother’s legs every day, begging for a little more time to work and earn money.

Wait until she can prove that she has the ability to repay, then try to get a loan.

After burying all her thoughts, Liang Zhirou squeezed out a smile at her mother, whose face was full of wrinkles.

Then she lowered her head and started washing her mother’s feet.

Xiao Xunfang looked at her daughter who was working so earnestly, her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and her heart ached.

This silly girl, who had just started university, should have been enjoying her youth, but she had been forced to shoulder all the pressure of the family since she was young.

The more mature and sensible her daughter was, the more heartache and self-blame she felt.

Liang Zhirou was really very cheerful and lively when she was young, just like other children, she liked to dress up, she liked pretty little dresses.

She would also laughingly ask her some very childish and strange questions.

But after her father’s death, Liang Zhirou seemed to have become a different person.

As if overnight, her daughter had grown up.

She was no longer as cheerful as before, but she also rarely cried in front of her.

She had seen little Liang Zhirou leaning against the wall watching her peers playing and having fun, and then going back to the kitchen to start cooking. Her heart really felt like it was being stabbed by a knife, it hurt so much that she couldn’t breathe.

She had thought about ending it all more than once, so that her daughter wouldn’t have to worry about her, this burden. But she didn’t dare to imagine what Liang Zhirou would be like alone.

Can Zhirou handle it on her own?

Xiao Xunfang could only make up her mind every day, then hesitate, and then give up the idea, over and over again.

After regaining her composure, Xiao Xunfang brought up the topic she had mentioned many times.

“Xiao Rou, why don’t you think about treating Mom’s illness? Mom’s used to being paralyzed.”

“No.”

Liang Zhirou rarely and firmly refuted, her hands didn’t stop at all.

“Then why don’t you send Mom back to our hometown? It’s too expensive here, my check-ups are also expensive, and you’ll have less pressure if you’re alone here.”

“No.”

“I can really take care of myself, you’re grown up now, you should have your own life. Mom staying here will affect your marriage…”

Xiao Xunfang insisted, her eyes unconsciously reddened.

“…No.”

The girl’s voice began to tremble, and her hands stopped.

Plop.

Tears fell drop by drop into the basin, chilling Xiao Xunfang’s heart.

She quickly touched her daughter’s head, “Mom won’t say anything anymore, Mom won’t say anything anymore, we’ll live a good life, you and me.”

Liang Zhirou wiped her tears with the back of her hand, then continued to massage.

Xiao Xunfang noticed the small patch of red on her daughter’s arm again.

She also remembered the ointment and gauze that her daughter brought back that night, and she had a few guesses and some expectations.

After all, her daughter had been reluctant to see a doctor and buy medicine even when she had a high fever…

“Ni’er, did you really burn yourself accidentally? No one bullied you, did they?”

She knew that although Liang Zhirou was a little silly, she had been working for ten years, and she never did anything clumsily.

“No.”

Liang Zhirou lowered her head even further, whispering, almost never lying, she didn’t dare to look at her mother.

“Did you buy those medicines?” Xiao Xunfang asked curiously.

The girl shook her head, “Friend, friend bought them.”

Xiao Xunfang understood a little, remembering the lively and cute girl with tiger teeth who had come to her house.

Her daughter seemed to have only mentioned this one friend to her over the years, maybe she only had this one friend…

“Is it Miaomiao? She’s such a good kid.”

“No, it’s Chen Lu.”

Chen Lu?

It sounds like a boy’s name?

Xiao Xunfang was stunned, then cautiously asked, “It’s a boy, right? Are you close to him?”

She so hoped that her daughter could have her own feelings, her own life.

“It’s a boy, he’s as good as Miaomiao.” Liang Zhirou’s voice was very soft.

After a while, she added, “Just a new friend…”

Although Liang Zhirou didn’t say anything, Xiao Xunfang could roughly guess from her sudden pause.

She didn’t say anything more, she just reached out apologetically and gently tucked her daughter’s drooping hair behind her ear.

……

Late at night.

Liang Zhirou, whose eyes were still a little red, finally tidied up everything and lay down on the bed with a tired feeling.

She curiously clicked on the phone’s message notification, and instantly her lips curled into a smile.

Smiling sweetly, charming and lovely.

In the dark room, the girl’s eyes were reflected by the faint light of the mobile phone screen.

She took a screenshot and stared at the message for a long, long time.

Chen Lu: “Get some rest, remember to apply ointment to the burn.”