Chapter 10 – Stomachache

The car got back on the highway.

Xu Shiqi immediately called home, first informing her mother, who answered, that she wouldn’t be coming home tonight, and then reassuring her to not worry because the store would be fine. Wang Yuan quickly asked why, and Xu Shiqi glanced at Wen Jialuo, who was focused on driving, and said she had someone help her.

Wang Yuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief on the other end. Although she didn’t have a son, this daughter was always steady and reliable. Her gentle voice on the phone carried a reassuring strength. Wang Yuan didn’t ask why she wasn’t coming home or where she would spend the night. She trusted her daughter completely and maintained a lenient policy.

After hanging up, Wen Jialuo curiously asked about Xu Shiqi’s family store. The highway was boring, and having someone to talk to lifted the mood, so Xu Shiqi shared everything that had happened.

After listening to the story, Wen Jialuo smiled: “You should ask your parents tomorrow if anyone has approached them about taking over your store.”

Xu Shiqi furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Just ask, and you’ll find out.” Wen Jialuo shrugged.

Xu Shiqi leaned her elbow on the car window, gazing at the rapidly retreating scenery, and something seemed to dawn on her. She turned to look at Wen Jialuo. The girl was probably too thin, making her appear somewhat severe from the side, not quite matching her age. Her expression was focused, and her eyes sparkled with intensity. Xu Shiqi felt as if the longer she looked, the less Wen Jialuo blinked. The girl’s lips were very thin; it was said that either it indicated a short life or a sharp character. Her chin was also small, as if it could break with a pinch. But none of that mattered; what caught Xu Shiqi’s attention was how upright Wen Jialuo sat while driving. It took Xu Shiqi a while to realize that she had only seen soldiers sit like that on TV.

“Have you come to a conclusion?” Wen Jialuo finally spoke, her lips slightly curled, carrying an icy, indifferent tone.

How could such a person be troubled by a crush to this day? Xu Shiqi shook her head and couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been in the military?”

Wen Jialuo shot her a sideways glance. “No, but I was sent to the army for a few months of training.”

Xu Shiqi had initially wanted to ask if it was military training in college but remembered that it was the source of her current pain, so she held back.

“Actually, all my siblings and I underwent some training because my grandpa sent us to his old subordinate.” Wen Jialuo asked, “Can you not imagine my sister crawling through the mud?”

“Ah?” Xu Shiqi was genuinely taken aback.

“Do you think that’s why she could overcome all obstacles to marry Xia Bang? Among the three of us, she’s actually the strongest.” Wen Jialuo laughed. “But that was a long time ago; it’s normal that you don’t know.”

Xu Shiqi nodded. “She does seem like a refined lady from a scholarly family.”

“Seems like? She is one,” Wen Jialuo shot her another glance. “Are you implying that I look like a wild one?”

“Haha,” Xu Shiqi chuckled awkwardly. “You guys don’t seem like children from the same family.”

“That’s because we’re not from the same mother,” Wen Jialuo muttered quietly.

As if speaking of the devil, Xu Shiqi then received a call from Wen Baohua.

It turned out that Wen Baohua had been worried ever since she saw Xu Shiqi get into Wen Jialuo’s car, and when she checked the time, she thought Xu Shiqi must have already arrived home, so she called to ask.

“Uh, I’m not at home. I’m in the car.”

…

Xu Shiqi handed the phone to the driver. Wen Jialuo glanced at her, then immediately understood.

“Sis?”

“Jialuo, where are you taking my classmate?”

“What? Are you afraid I’m going to sell her?” Wen Jialuo laughed, showing off her little tiger teeth.

“Stop joking and bring her back quickly.”

“I can’t turn around on the highway. She’ll be going back tomorrow. Let’s talk later,” Wen Jialuo said briskly, hanging up the phone. She tossed it back to Xu Shiqi. “Don’t let anything slip tomorrow.”

“Got it.” Xu Shiqi lowered her head to text Baohua to avoid making her worry.

After Xu Shiqi finished texting Baohua, she looked outside and asked Wen Jialuo where they were now, but there was no response. Curious, she turned her head to find Wen Jialuo still sitting upright, her expression serious and focused on driving.

Having such a competent driver felt relatively safe. Xu Shiqi decided not to disturb her anymore but thought that someone like her would surely have problems with her shoulders, neck, and back from driving so much. Judging by her skillful movements, she clearly had been driving for a while.

Not knowing how to drive was probably for the best. After all, she was someone without much sense of direction; she just needed to sit back and enjoy the ride. Xu Shiqi lazily leaned back in her seat, watching the changing scenery outside, as they seemed to have exited the highway. Once off the highway, the roadside was relatively dimmer. She thought about how ahead lay another city, with cities connected by chains of roads. From one place of splendor, one could venture toward countless forks in the road, either fast or slow, bright or dim, entering another realm of brilliance…

Thinking about it was like life; each phase experienced has an underlying process. And that continuous line represents the ups and downs of life. The only difference is that the lurking phase can sometimes be short and sometimes long.

She felt as if she was in a lurking state, unsure of where she was heading; meanwhile, the driving Wen Jialuo seemed to embody a life filled only with lurking, unable to ride the waves.

As she was lost in thought, the car had already entered the city. With Wen Jialuo turning at different intersections and changing directions, Xu Shiqi didn’t bother to remember the process since it was just for one night and didn’t have much relevance to her.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a residential complex. The surrounding environment seemed quiet, but it was clear that the location was somewhat remote. The dim lights by the roadside quietly conveyed that this was an older neighborhood.

There was a security post at the entrance of the complex. Xu Shiqi didn’t see it clearly but felt that the guard stood straight in his uniform.

The car smoothly backed into a parking space and stopped. Xu Shiqi reached for the car door, placing one foot outside when she suddenly sensed something was off. She quickly turned back to look at Wen Jialuo and was startled.

Because she had been looking outside the window, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Wen Jialuo. Now that the car lights were on, she realized Wen Jialuo’s forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and her face looked somewhat pale.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Shiqi asked hurriedly.

Wen Jialuo took a gentle breath and tried to calm herself. “I’m fine.”

After getting out of the car, Xu Shiqi quickly moved to her side. When Wen Jialuo stepped out, her movements could only be described as slow. Xu Shiqi reached out to support her: “What’s hurting?”

“My stomach hurts a bit.” Wen Jialuo frowned, closed the door, and brushed Xu Shiqi’s hand away as she walked toward a row of houses.

Xu Shiqi stood behind and watched. The girl walked particularly slowly, slightly hunched over, and even her shadow on the ground seemed frail. Xu Shiqi sighed and quickly stepped forward, gently wrapping her arm around the girl’s shoulders, sternly saying, “If it hurts this much, why pretend to be tough?”

Wen Jialuo stubbornly continued walking but eventually realized she couldn’t shake off the hand on her shoulder. Coupled with the fiery pain in her stomach, she stopped moving and turned her head to glare at Xu Shiqi.

Xu Shiqi responded without hesitation. By now, they had reached the bottom of the building. The lights there were brighter, so Xu Shiqi could see the sweat on the girl’s forehead glistening on her eyelashes, almost ready to drop. Now she not only looked frail but also extremely vulnerable. Seeing her in such pain, it was clear that this wasn’t a sudden occurrence; she must have been enduring this discomfort throughout the journey. Xu Shiqi couldn’t help but admire her and felt frustrated that she had been so oblivious during the trip, not noticing anything amiss with her companion.

The car was back on the highway.

Xu Shiqi called home right away, first informing her mother, who answered the phone, that she wouldn’t be returning home tonight, and then reassuring her to relax because the shop would be fine. Wang Yuan quickly asked why, and Xu Shiqi glanced at Wen Jialuo, who was focused on driving, and said she had found someone to help.

On the other end, Wang Yuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Although she didn’t have a son, this daughter was always calm and reliable. Her voice on the phone was gentle, yet it carried a reassuring strength. Wang Yuan didn’t ask why she wouldn’t be home or where she would be staying. She was very confident in her daughter, who had always enjoyed a relaxed upbringing.

After hanging up, Wen Jialuo curiously asked about Xu Shiqi’s family business. It was quite boring on the highway, and having someone to talk to was a nice distraction, so Xu Shiqi recounted everything that had happened.

After hearing the whole story, Wen Jialuo smiled and said, “Tomorrow, ask your parents if anyone has been asking about your family’s shop lately.”

Xu Shiqi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll find out by asking.” Wen Jialuo shrugged.

Xu Shiqi leaned against the car window, watching the scenery whiz by, and it seemed she understood something. She turned to look at Wen Jialuo. The girl seemed a bit too thin, which made her appear somewhat sharp for her age when viewed from the side. Her expression was focused, and her eyes were very bright. The longer Xu Shiqi looked at her, the more it seemed like Wen Jialuo didn’t blink at all. The girl’s lips were very thin; they say thin lips indicate either a fragile life or a harsh personality. Her chin was also quite delicate, as if it could break with a light pinch. But those details were secondary; this girl had an extremely upright posture while driving. Xu Shiqi thought for a while that such a sitting position was only seen in soldiers on TV.

“Have you figured anything out?” Wen Jialuo finally spoke, a slight smirk on her lips that hinted at a cold, detached demeanor.

How could someone like her be troubled by a crush? Xu Shiqi shook her head and couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been in the military?”

Wen Jialuo shot her a sideways glance. “No, but I was thrown into the army for a few months of training.”

Xu Shiqi had originally wanted to ask if it was military training from college, but then she remembered that was the source of her pain, so she held back.

“Actually, my siblings and I all received some training; we were sent to my grandfather’s old subordinate’s place.” Wen Jialuo asked, “Can’t you imagine my sister crawling through the mud?”

“Ah?” Xu Shiqi was genuinely surprised.

“Do you know why she could overcome all difficulties to marry Xia Bang? Among the three of us, she is actually the strongest,” Wen Jialuo smiled. “But that was a long time ago; it’s normal that you don’t know.”

Xu Shiqi nodded. “She does look like a refined young lady from a scholarly family.”

“Looks like? She is one.” Wen Jialuo glanced at her again. “Are you saying I look like a wild child?”

“Uh,” Xu Shiqi laughed awkwardly. “You don’t look like you’re from the same family.”

“That’s because we weren’t born of the same mother,” Wen Jialuo muttered softly.

As fate would have it, Xu Shiqi received a call from Wen Baohua at that moment.

Wen Baohua had been worried since she saw Xu Shiqi get into Wen Jialuo’s car. Seeing the time, she thought Xu Shiqi must have already arrived home, which prompted her to call and ask.

“Uh, I’m not home; I’m in the car.”

…

Xu Shiqi handed the phone to the driver. Wen Jialuo looked at her, then suddenly understood.

“Hey?”

“Jialuo, where did you take my classmate?”

“What? Are you afraid I’ll sell your classmate?” Wen Jialuo laughed. Her smile made Xu Shiqi notice her little canine teeth sparkling.

“Stop joking and hurry up and bring her back.”

“How can I turn around on the highway? She’ll be back tomorrow. Let’s talk later.” Wen Jialuo hung up decisively and tossed the phone back to Xu Shiqi. “Just don’t let anything slip when you get back.”

“Got it.” Xu Shiqi lowered her head to text Baohua to keep her from worrying.

Once Xu Shiqi finished texting Baohua, she glanced outside and asked Wen Jialuo where they were now, but there was no response. She turned back curiously and saw Wen Jialuo sitting upright, her expression serious and focused on driving.

Having such a competent driver felt safer. Xu Shiqi decided not to disturb her, but she thought that someone like her would definitely develop shoulder and neck problems from driving. And judging by her skilled movements, it was clear she had been driving for a long time.

It was probably better not to drive at all; after all, she didn’t have much sense of direction. She could just sit back and enjoy the ride. Xu Shiqi lazily nestled into her seat, watching the scenery change outside, and it seemed they had already exited the highway. The roads were relatively darker now that they had left the highway. She thought of the city ahead and how cities are connected by chains of roads. From one place of splendor, they lead to countless intersections, entering another place of glory—some fast, some slow, some bright, some dark…

Thinking about it felt much like life; every experience in between has a latent process. And the connecting lines make up the ups and downs of life. It’s just that the latency can sometimes be short, sometimes long.

She felt as if she were in a dormant state, not knowing where the days were leading; while Wen Jialuo, driving, seemed to be merely in a state of dormancy, unable to surf through life.

As she was lost in thought, the car entered the city. As Wen Jialuo turned at different intersections, Xu Shiqi didn’t bother to memorize the route since it was just one night, and it didn’t relate too much to her.

Eventually, the car stopped in front of a residential area. The surroundings looked very quiet, yet the location also appeared somewhat secluded. The dim streetlights silently conveyed that this was an old residential area.

At the entrance of the community, there was a security post. Xu Shiqi didn’t pay much attention, only noticing that the security guard in a uniform was standing very straight.

The car smoothly and accurately backed into a parking space and stopped. Xu Shiqi reached for the car door, placing one foot outside when she suddenly felt something was off. She quickly turned back to look at Wen Jialuo and was startled.

Because she had been looking out the window, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Wen Jialuo. Now that the car lights were on, she realized that Wen Jialuo’s forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and her face appeared somewhat pale.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Shiqi quickly asked.

Wen Jialuo took a gentle breath, trying to calm herself. “I’m fine.”

After getting out of the car, Xu Shiqi hurried to her side, seeing that Wen Jialuo was moving so slowly it could only be described as dragging herself, and she reached out to support her. “What’s wrong?”

“My stomach hurts a bit,” Wen Jialuo frowned, closing the door behind her and brushing Xu Shiqi’s hand away as she walked toward a row of houses.

Xu Shiqi watched from behind. The girl walked particularly slowly, slightly hunched over, and even her shadow on the ground seemed thin. She sighed and quickly stepped forward, gently wrapping an arm around the girl’s shoulder, scolding, “You’re in this much pain, and you’re still trying to act tough?”

As Wen Jialuo walked, she resisted, but ultimately realized she couldn’t shake off Xu Shiqi’s hand. Coupled with the burning pain in her stomach, she stopped moving and turned to glare at her.

Xu Shiqi didn’t hold back and glared back. By this time, they had reached the bottom of the building. The lights there were a bit brighter, allowing Xu Shiqi to see the sweat sliding down the girl’s forehead, almost dripping from her eyelashes. She didn’t just look thin; she now seemed extremely fragile. Seeing her in such pain, it was clear that this wasn’t a sudden occurrence; she must have been enduring this pain throughout the drive. It was unfortunate that Wen Jialuo had held back from mentioning it and still managed to drive them safely here. Xu Shiqi couldn’t help but admire her and felt annoyed with herself for being so oblivious on the road, missing any signs from the person beside her.

They climbed to the third floor without any curiosity about what kind of residential area this was or how the building looked. After reaching the third floor, Wen Jialuo finally fished out her keys to open the door.

The hallway lights turned on in response, revealing the worn walls, while the door Wen Jialuo was about to open looked very new.

Once the door was opened, it seemed Wen Jialuo had used up all her strength and almost collapsed to the ground. Xu Shiqi half-dragged, half-hugged her inside, closed the door with a quick motion, and then groped for the light switch on the wall.

She didn’t have the energy to observe what the layout of the room was like; all she could do was keep asking, “Wen Jialuo, do you have medicine? Where is it?”

Hearing Xu Shiqi’s voice revived Wen Jialuo a bit; she instinctively pushed away Xu Shiqi’s supporting hand, stumbling into a room, and immediately collapsed onto a bed.

By the time Xu Shiqi chased in, she saw Wen Jialuo curled up like a shrimp, weak enough to be easily picked up and placed on a plate. She didn’t have time to care about much else, rushing to rummage through the cabinet beside the bed. After finally finding two bottles of medicine, she was disappointed to discover that the bottles were empty.

As she rummaged, faint moans emerged from the bed. Xu Shiqi furrowed her brow and, after finding nothing, irritably slammed the drawer shut.

She didn’t have much experience in taking care of others, especially not someone who was suddenly sick, causing her to feel a bit flustered. However, she quickly reached out to help Wen Jialuo sit up from the bed. “Wen Jialuo, let’s go; I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No!” Wen Jialuo shook her head, nailing herself to the bed like a nail. No matter how hard Xu Shiqi tried, she couldn’t pry her free from those two hands. “I just need to sleep a little… I’ll be fine after a bit of rest…”

“Can you even sleep in this condition?” Xu Shiqi was helpless, so she crawled up to the head of the bed to push her up from behind. “Come on, let’s go to the hospital for a shot; you’ll feel better.” She couldn’t help but scold her. “Why didn’t you say anything while we were on the road? Wasn’t there a hospital we passed?”

“I’m not going to the hospital!” Wen Jialuo weakly shouted, curling herself into a tighter ball. “There’s medicine at home…”

“The medicine bottles are empty!” Xu Shiqi shouted in her ear.

“Then you go buy some…” Wen Jialuo pointed toward the front door. Unfortunately, since she had already collapsed on the bed, she pointed at a wall instead.

Right. Xu Shiqi froze for a moment, looking at this girl who seemed to be purposely frustrating her, and had no choice but to get off the bed.

Before leaving, she found two thermos bottles in the kitchen, fortunately discovering they still had boiling water inside. Without overthinking it, she found a bowl and poured some water to bring back to the bedroom.

“I’ve poured hot water; you can drink some later, and I’ll go buy medicine.”

There was no response from the person on the bed. Worried, Xu Shiqi leaned down to look at her and saw that she had already bitten the quilt, which made her heart soften a bit. She lowered her voice and said gently, “Be good; I’ll be back soon.”

Her voice seemed to have some effect; Wen Jialuo slowly opened her eyes to look at her, then weakly nodded.

After finding the key that had fallen on the ground in the entrance, Xu Shiqi rushed down the stairs without daring to pause for a moment.

Fortunately, the community wasn’t large, and when she ran out in her high heels, she remembered to ask the two young security guards at the entrance where the nearest pharmacy was. They gave her a curious glance but pointed her in the right direction.

However, once she reached the pharmacy, Xu Shiqi forgot the name of the medicine from Wen Jialuo’s bedside table and could only randomly buy some stomach medicine. By the time she returned to the community, she felt a bit dazed. The row of buildings before her was not tall, yet each hallway had a different appearance, all lit with the same lights—she turned back to look at the row of cars behind her, gauged the distance, and realized she had completely forgotten which hallway she came from.

Thinking of the girl upstairs still groaning in pain on the bed, Xu Shiqi had no choice but to harden her resolve and choose a seemingly random entrance to climb to the third floor in one breath, then gasped sharply.

She had taken the wrong turn; this door was old.

Holding the medicine, which was not heavy at all, Xu Shiqi felt a bit drained. She disliked running, and even more so running in high heels. However, cursing wouldn’t help, so she had to stagger back down the stairs and switch to another hallway.

Finally, she had gotten it right. After quickly opening the door, Xu Shiqi called out, “Wen Jialuo, Wen Jialuo…”

She hadn’t been gone long, so nothing should have happened, right?

Once she entered the room, she saw that the shrimp-like form was still curled up, and the bowl of water by the bedside was still untouched.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, panting heavily, Xu Shiqi poured all the medicine onto the bed, then pushed Wen Jialuo, who seemed to be in a semi-comatose state. “Open your eyes and see what medicine you need to take.”

Wen Jialuo’s eyes only opened a tiny slit, then she reached out to grope around and finally grabbed a medicine box that looked like it was randomly picked up.

There was no time to rest; the girl’s complexion had turned pale to the point of looking green. Xu Shiqi didn’t have time to rub her sore feet or tend to her raspy throat. She hurriedly checked the instructions, then took two pills and stuffed them into Wen Jialuo’s mouth, regardless of whether she frowned or not, pouring water for her to swallow.

The medicine was bitter, and the water was choking. Wen Jialuo’s curled body suddenly seemed to be stabbed, and she shot up from the bed. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Xu Shiqi held the water, staring blankly at her. “You’re not in pain anymore?”

Wen Jialuo coughed a few times, grabbed the water from her hand, took a few sips, and then calmly said, “I’ve already hurt too much.”

Xu Shiqi felt a sense of relief in her heart, tilted her head back, and collapsed onto the bed. “I’m exhausted… I’m totally worn out.”