Chapter 27: Lin Jing’s Emotional Knot

When Tang Xiaohe went upstairs, Nini was already asleep.

Only Lin Jing was sitting alone on the living room floor, scrolling through short videos. Seeing Tang Xiaohe return, Lin Jing got up and went to the fridge to get some fruit.

“I just ordered takeout. The cherries are really sweet!”

Tang Xiaohe took one, the plump red fruit still covered with droplets of water. She bit into it, and the rich, sweet juice flooded her mouth.

Tang Xiaohe nodded, “Really sweet!”

She couldn’t help but take another one. The fruit was crisp and sweet, and each bite was super satisfying.

Seeing Tang Xiaohe enjoy the fruit, Lin Jing took one too.

Suddenly, Lin Jing’s eyes flickered, noticing Tang Xiaohe chewing the fruit with her mouth open, and gave a teasing smile: “So, tell me, what were you up to just now?”

Tang Xiaohe’s eyes flickered, pretending not to understand: “What do you mean ‘up to’? Didn’t you ask me to help him?”

Lin Jing sighed softly, “Girls shouldn’t be kept too long.”
Tang Xiaohe grabbed a cherry and stuffed it into Lin Jing’s mouth, “Eat, such sweet fruit still can’t shut your mouth.”

Lin Jing ate while mumbling through her mouthful, “It’s different. Sometimes you should eat, sometimes you should ask.”

“Nope, nothing much, just chatting,” Tang Xiaohe decided to play dumb.

Lin Jing gave her a suspicious look, “Chatting? Can chatting make your mouth swell like that?”

“Cough cough cough—” Tang Xiaohe hadn’t checked in the mirror yet, so she didn’t realize. But now that Lin Jing had called her out, she choked and started coughing.

Lin Jing patted her back to help her breathe, “Don’t get so worked up. It’s no big deal. I just think, Officer Ji looks calm and reserved but turns out he’s quite fierce!”

Tang Xiaohe coughed and waved her hand helplessly, “Oh gosh, please stop!”

After a hard time catching her breath, Tang Xiaohe decided to fight back: “What about you? Why are you sitting here scrolling through videos of building wooden cabins in the wilderness late at night instead of chatting with your boyfriend?”

“He said he was going to shower,” Lin Jing answered frankly.

Tang Xiaohe was speechless from the answer.

“Honestly, Nini is really pitiful,” Lin Jing lowered her voice. “When the little girl fell asleep, there were still tear marks on her face.”

Tang Xiaohe couldn’t help but feel sympathy, “Having unqualified parents is the greatest misfortune for a child.”

Lin Jing sneered, “The funniest thing is they will never admit that.”

Tang Xiaohe knew this touched Lin Jing’s own experience, so she said nothing and just patted her shoulder.

“Do you know? Not long ago, it was my mom’s birthday. I bought her an 18k gold necklace from Chow Tai Fook,” Lin Jing said coldly. “She glanced at it and said she didn’t like it. Said old people’s tastes are different from young people, and she didn’t like flashy things.”

Tang Xiaohe didn’t respond. Lin Jing continued, “She said something like it’s not pure gold, and then I added some money to buy her a pure gold one. Guess what?”

“Maybe your aunt didn’t say it, but she actually liked it,” Tang Xiaohe guessed carefully about Lin Jing’s mother’s reaction.

Lin Jing gave a cold smile, shaking her head sadly: “She still said she didn’t like it. Said when I wear it out, she doesn’t know when it might break—no face at all.”

“Heh, probably she just didn’t like the weight. But do you know what’s the funniest?”

Tang Xiaohe didn’t know what to say.

Lin Jing went on: “The funniest thing is Lin Xiang forgot my mom’s birthday. My mom called him to remind him, then he sent flowers via a delivery service. My mom put the flowers in the most conspicuous spot at home, took photos and posted on social media, thanking ‘my dear son’ for the flowers.”

Tang Xiaohe hugged Lin Jing and gently patted her back to comfort her.

Given Lin Xiang’s attentiveness, would he really forget his mom’s birthday? Tang Xiaohe didn’t say this out loud.

Lin Jing wiped her face and self-deprecatingly said, “I guess I just don’t have good mother-daughter luck. I admit it. I know Lin Xiang didn’t really forget my mom’s birthday. Most likely, it’s to make my filial piety stand out, to make Mom like me more. He did it on purpose.”

Lin Jing took a deep breath, as if a heavy burden weighed on her shoulders, “Lin Xiang is a good kid, but I really don’t want to face him all the time.”

“You still have me. I will always love you,” Tang Xiaohe said firmly.

Family can sometimes be strangers connected by blood, but friends are the family you choose!

Lin Jing chuckled and pinched Tang Xiaohe’s nose: “You! You already have Officer Ji, and yet you say girls shouldn’t be kept too long!”

Tang Xiaohe tickled Lin Jing’s ribs, “You say that to me? You said you were going to give me up for Qin An and move to Beicheng! You’re the one who shouldn’t be kept too long!”

The two of them laughed and played together until they accidentally knocked a tissue box off the table with a muffled thud. Tang Xiaohe quickly gestured shh, pointing toward the bedroom — meaning Nini was still sound asleep. Lin Jing couldn’t help but laugh in a low voice.

“Honestly, Xiaohe, thank you,” Lin Jing held Tang Xiaohe’s hand seriously.

“What’s there to thank for? I told you; I’m your family!”

“There’s so much to thank you for. When I bought this house, the property prices in Nancheng were still low. After I qualified to buy, I wanted my mom to help with the down payment, but she refused, didn’t even want to lend the money. If you hadn’t asked uncle for help, I wouldn’t have been able to buy it. With today’s prices, I’d never have a place to settle.”

“Well, I’m not really helping you. I just foresaw that you’d meet Officer Ji here, so I helped myself,” Tang Xiaohe said jokingly.

Lin Jing knew she didn’t want her to have a psychological burden and smiled softly without contradicting her: “You’re such a tease.”

After seeing Tang Xiaohe off, Ji Yanli hummed some tune, finished washing clothes and mopped the floor, as if he had endless energy.

With nothing left to do, Ji Yanli opened his phone to study recipes.

His long fingers swiped across the screen, typing “how to cook shrimp deliciously” into the search box. Instantly, a bunch of shrimp recipes popped up: spicy shrimp, garlic shrimp, boiled shrimp…

Ji Yanli clicked through each recipe carefully. He already noticed that the girl loved shrimp the most — last time at dinner, the “Yuanbao shrimp,” and this time, his scrambled eggs with shrimp — Tang Xiaohe’s chopsticks always hovered over the shrimp dishes.

Ji Yanli smiled softly, his expression tender. She was such a little shrimp-loving foodie!

Garlic shrimp was ruled out first — she probably wouldn’t want to eat garlic in front of him. That girl was shy, especially afraid of embarrassing herself in front of him. She even though iodine’s color was ugly; how could she willingly eat garlic in front of him?

He wanted Tang Xiaohe to be more relaxed and natural around him but wasn’t in a hurry — he’d let her adapt slowly.

Spicy shrimp? He’d wait until her wound healed; it was too spicy and would slow recovery.

Boiled shrimp — after some thought, that’s it. He’d make boiled shrimp tomorrow!