Chapter 23 – Breaking the Siege

At three-thirty in the afternoon, Xu Shiqi was startled awake by the ringing of her phone. For a moment after waking, she couldn’t quite figure out where she was—an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, yet it felt unusually warm.

Her phone displayed the name Wen Jialuo, and she abruptly struggled to sit up just as there was a knock at the door. Throwing on a coat, Xu Shiqi hurried to open the door and then darted back to bed, shouting at the girl who entered, “Close the door!”

Wen Jialuo entered carrying a tray with only a cup of water on it. “Grandma is awake and wants to see you,” she said.

Xu Shiqi exclaimed “Ah!” and quickly began getting dressed, jumping out of bed to fix her hair. When she turned around, she found Wen Jialuo staring blankly at the messy bed. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Xu Shiqi hurried to shake out the blankets and smoothed them down, saying, “I’m sorry for sleeping in your bed without asking.”

The girl looked at her with a somewhat strange expression. “Where else would you sleep if not in a bed? On the floor?”

Xu Shiqi was momentarily at a loss for words, realizing that her impression from being kidnapped and sleeping on a couch was too deep-rooted. Wasn’t it more about this girl being overly defensive? But she dared not say it aloud, so she just smiled it off.

After drinking the water, she headed out and saw Wen Baohua just arriving at the old lady’s door. Xu Shiqi waved at her and went to the washroom at the end of the hallway to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she returned, the two sisters had already gone in.

The large curtains in the old lady’s room had been drawn open. With shorter winter days, the light outside was dimming, and the big chandelier inside lit up the entire room.

Xu Shiqi saw the old lady sitting on the sofa by the bed. Earlier, when she was lying down, the old lady had seemed tired and weak. But now, after a good rest, she looked much better, her wrinkles seeming somewhat diminished. She sat there in a thick cotton jacket with elaborate traditional buttons, a heavy blanket draped over her lap, exuding an air of dignity and elegance.

The two Wen sisters were leaning against the old lady’s side. When Xu Shiqi entered, Wen Jialuo whispered something in the old lady’s ear. The old lady looked at her through her glasses and nodded. “Girl, come over here.”

Being called “girl” for the first time intrigued Xu Shiqi. She walked over and sat in the spot Wen Jialuo had made for her. Only at such a close distance did she notice that the old lady’s jacket had intricate trimmings, and her ear-length hair was neatly arranged, held back with a dark-colored hairpin. She imagined that someone like this would match well with writing “Dream of the Red Chamber” with a fine brush.

Unsure of how to address the old lady, Xu Shiqi hesitated, but the old lady spoke first. “Since you are friends with my two granddaughters, just call me as they do.”

“Hello, Grandma.” Xu Shiqi finally said, “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting while I slept.”

“It was you who gave me a good sleep,” the old lady replied, taking her hand. “I shouldn’t have let Jialuo disturb your rest.”

“Not at all,” Xu Shiqi hurriedly responded. “I just woke up too.”

The old lady smiled slightly, not pushing the matter further, and said cheerfully, “They told me you would be staying here. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Xu Shiqi nodded. “The environment here is nice, and Baohua invited me to come play a long time ago.”

“That’s great to hear,” the old lady said after a pause, “If you have time, would you be willing to keep me company and chat?”

Xu Shiqi quickly replied, “It’s what the younger generation should do.”

The old lady felt reassured by her response. She liked this girl; she wasn’t like most young people today, who seemed so restless. Her voice was perfect, and someone with such a tone must have a perfect character, able to maintain their self and be tolerant of others.

After they finished this topic, Wen Baohua chimed in, “Grandma, I’ll stay here with Shiqi.”

“You?” The old lady looked at her over the rim of her glasses. “You should either bring Xia Bang to stay or just go back home. A newlywed couple who are expecting shouldn’t be apart.”

“Ah?” Wen Baohua was momentarily stunned. Xia Bang’s company was quite far away; it would take too long to commute.

Fortunately, Wen Jialuo interrupted her thoughts. “Sister, just go back. With me and Shiqi here, Grandma can sleep soundly every night.”

“It’s fine, Xia Bang is my son-in-law; he should fulfill his filial duty,” Wen Baohua said with a smile.

“Just don’t cause any more trouble,” the old lady firmly decided, “Having Jialuo here is enough. I just have trouble sleeping. By the way, I’ll send someone to prepare nutritious meals for you. It’s best not to move around too much in the first three months; just focus on nurturing the baby.”

Wen Baohua had no choice but to agree. In truth, the old lady had a strong personality. Even though her grandchildren had grown up under her watch, she would never spoil or pamper them. When they grew up, she sent them away, only asking for them to return for family gatherings every weekend. Even her husband was encouraged to spend more time with his old comrades because of the limited time they had left to see each other.

Understanding that the elderly woman was worried about her, Wen Baohua had to go along with her wishes. Now, she was eager to safely give birth to her baby, after which Grandma could take the great-grandchild out to play.

Since Xu Shiqi still needed to return home to get some personal items, Wen Jialuo offered to take her back. In the car, Xu Shiqi finally remembered a serious issue that seemed to have slipped her mind but was now stuck in her throat.

What had she just said? Grandma could guarantee a good night’s sleep every night? Every night?

Xu Shiqi suddenly turned in the passenger seat, staring at the girl driving.

Fortunately, Wen Jialuo remained calm, unaffected by her alarm, and didn’t even look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“When do you plan to go back to work?”

Wen Jialuo pursed her lips, appearing somewhat helpless. “Not for a while.”

Xu Shiqi leaned closer, pressing for more information. “What do you mean, not for a while?”

“Sit tight.” Wen Jialuo firmly pushed her back, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

Xu Shiqi plopped back into her seat, still trying to wrap her head around it. Fortunately, the girl saw that she was troubled by the issue of whether or not to return to work and kindly provided an answer.

“My mom asked for a long leave for me, so I won’t have to work until after the New Year.”

“Why?” Xu Shiqi blurted out.

Wen Jialuo shrugged, pulling the car over to explain the situation.

During Xu Shiqi’s lunch break, Luo Linyi had returned home. She found her daughter online in the study and immediately grilled her about her sudden vomiting after eating. Wen Jialuo explained that it was nothing, just a small protest from her stomach due to the adjustments it was going through. But Luo Linyi didn’t see it that way. The daughter had suddenly lost so much weight while she wasn’t looking, and she couldn’t forgive herself for neglecting it. Now, her daughter was displaying alarming signs again, shifting from anorexia to possibly binge eating. She was desperate to understand what was going on with her daughter’s stomach and what she meant by suddenly feeling hungry.

Worried that her daughter might have problems under her very nose, Luo Linyi couldn’t relax. She immediately called her daughter’s workplace, where the director had once worked for her husband and maintained close ties.

After receiving the call, the director readily granted Wen Jialuo her long leave, extending it until after the New Year

Wen Jialuo said that since she had taken leave, she would naturally stay at the old residence. Starting today, the daily task of picking you up and dropping you off falls on me. From now on, we will be living under the same roof, so we need to get along well.

Xu Shiqi listened, dumbfounded, her mind swirling with a wavering thought—should she refuse to move into her family’s old house?

Of course, this thought was merely a fleeting notion that ran through her mind; she would never bring it up. From any angle, she had no reason to say such a thing at this moment, as it might invite all sorts of doubts and judgments from the girl.

Thus, Xu Shiqi didn’t ask anything further. Perhaps she wanted to know if she could successfully navigate this hurdle.

When they returned to the shop, it was nearly five o’clock. The traffic had been stalled for quite some time due to an accident. Xu Shiqi couldn’t drive, and her sense of direction was extremely poor. She had no courage to control such a large vehicle, but sitting in Wen Jialuo’s car felt reassuring. She had already become familiar enough to know where to find the music to play.

Seeing her daughter bring back the girl who had helped last time, Wang Yuan was very pleased and immediately took Wen Jialuo’s hand to invite her to stay for dinner.

At that time, the sky was already dark. Wen Jialuo reluctantly agreed to stay.

Today there were no other people around, just Wang Yuan keeping her company during dinner. Wen Jialuo didn’t hold back and ordered several dishes that looked good. She still felt the hollow sensation in her stomach; perhaps eating in a different place with different food would be better.

During the meal, Xu Shiqi mentioned to Wang Yuan that she would be temporarily moving into the Wen family’s old house. Wang Yuan nodded repeatedly, asking with concern if Wen Jialuo’s grandmother had high blood pressure, and she understood that chronic insomnia could lead to elevated blood pressure, which in turn could cause headaches, difficulty sleeping, and easy waking—a vicious cycle. Wen Jialuo listened seriously and gradually began discussing it with Wang Yuan.

When the dishes arrived, Wang Yuan served them while smiling, “You’re such a considerate girl. Nowadays, there aren’t many children who think about the elderly like this.”

Xu Shiqi heard this and interjected discontentedly, “Mom, are you jealous? Your daughter isn’t bad either.”

Wang Yuan laughed and casually said, “It would be even better if you could get married and have a child for me to play with.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Yuan suddenly felt a bit annoyed, abruptly stopping her words and looking anxiously at her daughter. Xu Shiqi had previously scolded her for bringing up this topic, clearly harboring some unpleasant memories, and had even fallen ill because of it. She had initially planned to avoid mentioning this for a while, but perhaps it was always the most important thing on her mind, and she had spoken without her brain’s consent.

“Mom, you’re just too anxious,” Xu Shiqi smiled faintly. It was obvious she could see her mother’s thoughts, but she couldn’t shout at her like last time. All mothers in the world are like this; she wasn’t wrong. To ease this tension between mother and daughter and avoid hurting her feelings, Xu Shiqi could only try to respond in a lighthearted tone, “If you rush me so much, what if I accidentally find you an unsuitable son-in-law? Where would I find the medicine to cure your regrets?”

Wang Yuan had initially worried that her daughter would change her expression but didn’t expect her attitude to seem a bit more open. Realizing this, she eagerly took the opportunity to say, “Well, whether you regret or not, you have to date first to know. A good man won’t just drop from the sky if you sit at home.”

Xu Shiqi felt somewhat helpless. She knew her mom wouldn’t let go of this topic. Now that she couldn’t change the subject suddenly, she could only respond ambiguously, “Let’s see… I understand…”

Wang Yuan increasingly felt there was hope. Perhaps her daughter suddenly felt embarrassed to speak up, but she still had some decent blind dates lined up for her. As she set down her chopsticks and leaned closer to her daughter to say something, she suddenly heard the person sitting across from them interject, “Auntie, you just mentioned that if you have sleep disturbances, aside from seeing a cardiologist and a sleep medicine specialist, what other departments should one see?”

Wen Jialuo was using her phone to ask questions, her fingers pressing the keys as if she was noting something down. Wang Yuan had to lean back to respond to her: “If you snore, you might need to see a respiratory specialist or an ENT; if you have other symptoms, you might even need to see a neurologist—this is all from what I read in the newspaper, so just take it as a reference.”

“Thank you, Auntie.” Wen Jialuo nodded, her fingers flying across the keys again. Then she looked up and said, “Auntie knows so much.”

“Not at all,” Wang Yuan beamed. “In life, there’s nothing more important than being healthy, so I pay more attention to this.”

“Do you also have trouble sleeping?” Wen Jialuo asked with concern.

“Not yet, but as one gets older, various ailments will naturally appear.” Wang Yuan looked at her daughter, a bit pleasantly surprised. “But Shiqi’s voice seems to work better than sleeping pills. If I ever have that problem, it would be nice to have my daughter read to me at bedtime to help me sleep.”

Struggling to become an invisible person, Xu Shiqi felt a bit teary: “Mom, how can you say that about yourself?” She then turned to Wen Jialuo, “Did you eat well? I still have to go back and pack my things.”

Wen Jialuo nodded, putting away her phone. “Yes, I need to get back early; Grandma usually sleeps early.”

Wang Yuan hurriedly urged them to eat a little more before sending them out the door.

Once they sat in the car, Xu Shiqi sighed in relief, rubbing her forehead as she looked out the window and suddenly said, “Thank you.”

Wen Jialuo replied lazily, “What are you thanking me for? Sounds insincere.”

Xu Shiqi turned to face her and said formally, “Thank you for helping me out just now.”

“You’re going to suffocate yourself like this,” Wen Jialuo said lightly, not looking at her. “Are you tired?”

Perhaps it was the light tone that felt like a gentle and sympathetic touch. Xu Shiqi’s eyes stung.

“I’m tired, but what can I do? Should I tell her that her daughter doesn’t like men and can’t get married? Or should I follow her wishes and marry someone, then live a life of misery?”

This should be considered the honest truth she held deep inside. It was like this or that; or maybe not this, but that. Actually, just like the girl said, there wasn’t a single path that could make everyone happy.

When she couldn’t let her family face the pale answer directly and also couldn’t abandon her own life, Xu Shiqi didn’t know what her repeated joking would bring back. And what could she do in the five years for herself and her family to decide their fate five years later?

Facing Xu Shiqi’s deep despair and helpless questioning, Wen Jialuo remained silent for a long time before slowly opening her mouth: “Can you lie?”