Chapter 43: Black Motorcycle

Zhu Jia, with a bandage on her forehead, sat back in the car. The bandage still showed some swelling and traces of iodine disinfectant. She looked dejected, giving off a “don’t approach” vibe.

Old Xu gave her a strange look. “Madam, you got into a fight on your first day of school?”

It was hard to believe that the usually gentle Madam could be so fierce! Although Old Xu wasn’t sure if she won or lost, she certainly looked like she had lost.

The young master had instructed that Old Xu must report on Madam’s situation during his business trip, so he had to make a call soon.

Zhu Jia, feeling frustrated, returned home. Aunt Liu had already fed Xiao Wen and was playing with him on the sofa.

“I’ll heat up your dinner,” Aunt Liu said as she looked up and saw Zhu Jia’s bandaged forehead. “Madam, what happened?”

“Nothing, just a small incident.” Zhu Jia picked up Xiao Wen from the sofa. “Did you behave well this afternoon, baby?”

“Very well. After waking up from his nap, he played in the yard. For dinner, he had steamed pumpkin meat patties, scrambled eggs, baby cabbage, and shrimp seaweed soup.”

“Ma…ma.” Xiao Wen wrapped his small arms around Zhu Jia’s neck, missing his mom after being apart all afternoon.

He looked curiously at the bandage on her forehead, then suddenly slapped the injury with his little hand…

Zhu Jia, who had already felt less pain, almost fainted from the force of the slap.

She hoarsely pointed at the wound. “Xiao Wen, that’s wrong. You shouldn’t hit people. It hurts a lot, understand?”

Xiao Wen realized he made a mistake and stayed obediently in her arms, his innocent eyes wide, not daring to speak.

Zhu Jia helplessly patted his head. “I’ll let you off this time, but don’t do it again.”

After dinner and a bath, Zhu Jia fed Xiao Wen some milk, and he fell into a deep sleep in his crib.

She took out her notes from class that day, planning to review the lecture content and buy the recommended books.

Just then, a WeChat video call rang. It was from Mo Yichen. Zhu Jia propped her broken phone on the desk, lowered the volume, and answered the call.

Mo Yichen had just finished his shower, wearing a white bathrobe, with slightly damp hair. The background was a cool-toned hotel suite.

“I heard you got into a fight today?” Mo Yichen frowned as he looked at Zhu Jia on his phone. Under the dim light of the desk lamp, there was a bandage on her forehead.

Zhu Jia was caught between laughter and tears. “What fight? I just had bad luck and got hit by a basketball.”

“What happened? Who hit you?” Mo Yichen asked, looking dissatisfied.

“It’s no big deal, it’s fine. A few students were playing basketball, and one of them accidentally hit me.”

“I’ll have Dr. Xie come and check on you tomorrow.” Dr. Xie was the family doctor Zhu Jia had met before at the old mansion.

Zhu Jia just wanted to start reviewing her books, so she responded with a simple, “Okay.”

Looking at Zhu Jia’s fair collarbone, Mo Yichen took a sip of ice water. “I still have ten days before I can come back.”

“Mm, then you should rest early,” Zhu Jia said absentmindedly, staring at the cracked screen. She really wanted to hang up the call, as she had a heavy review workload tonight.

“You too.” Mo Yichen smiled gently.

After hanging up, the warmth in Mo Yichen’s eyes disappeared completely. Sitting on the gray sofa, he lit a cigarette and coldly stared at the now black-screened phone.

Two days apart, she was becoming more and more indifferent to him, not even willing to say an extra word.

Looks like he needed to return sooner.

Zhu Jia had just started reviewing a couple of paragraphs when her WeChat notification went off again. She opened WeChat, and a new message popped up at the top. The profile picture was of a plush cat, and the conversation was with Y.

Y: “I’m really sorry about today. Are you feeling better?”

Zhu Jia: “I’m much better now.”

Y: “Are you free tomorrow? I’ve already bought a new phone for you.”

Zhu Jia raised an eyebrow. He really went ahead and bought her a new phone. After adding him on WeChat, she had planned to tell him she didn’t need compensation.

There were unopened phones in Mo Yichen’s study, so she could easily switch to a new one. She had only agreed because she was really upset at the time, but now that her anger had subsided, she didn’t need a new phone.

Zhu Jia: “Actually, you don’t need to compensate me with a phone. I have a new one at home (laughing and crying emoji).”

Y: “Don’t say that. We haven’t compensated you for the medical fees or the mental distress. We’re already making a profit here.”

Zhu Jia: “…”

Y: “How about dinner tomorrow? Or when are you free?”

Zhu Jia: “How about Wednesday noon?”

Y: “Okay.”

On Wednesday, Zhu Jia had class in the morning. After breakfast, she hurried out.

Today’s class was a course called “Montessori Education and Practice,” a widely praised educational model in early childhood education. The class would cover Montessori’s educational theory and offer many hands-on training opportunities.

Since Zhu Jia was relatively new to this field, she found today’s class challenging. She planned to go to the library in the afternoon to borrow some books and review the basics of Montessori education.

After class at noon, Zhu Jia headed toward the school entrance. She had arranged to meet Y at a nearby Hangzhou-style restaurant.

The restaurant had a unique style, with muted, elegant colors like gray and chestnut. The walls were decorated with floral patterns, and there were individual dining areas separated by screens.

After showing the waiter her table number, Zhu Jia was led to a window-side seat. The view outside was a pleasant garden, and through a screen, she saw Y and the chubby boy from last time, playing a game at the table.

Zhu Jia approached, adjusting the straps of her canvas bag. “Hello.”

The two boys looked up at the same time and saw a girl dressed in a gray-pink knitted jacket.

She carried a white canvas bag and wore her hair in a high ponytail, with a few stray strands of hair framing her cheeks. Despite the white bandage on her forehead, she still had rosy lips, white teeth, and delicate features.

The boys’ eyes flashed with surprise. After all, during the incident at the basketball court, they hadn’t had time to properly see her face.

“You’re Jia Jia?”

“Call me Zhu Jia,” she said as she sat down opposite them, placing her canvas bag down.

Y put down his phone and pushed the menu toward Zhu Jia. “Take a look at what you’d like to eat. You order.”

Zhu Jia nodded, briefly scanning the menu. It was filled with classic Hangzhou dishes: wine-soaked shrimp, glutinous rice lotus root, pine nut fish, soup dumplings, lion’s head meatballs, cold chicken noodles… She selected two dishes and then pushed the menu back toward the boys.

“Wang Zheng, take a look,” Y said to the chubby boy beside him, whose name was Wang Zheng.

“Brother Yan, you order. I’m fine with anything.”

Wang Zheng still felt guilty, looking at Zhu Jia. “Zhu Jia, does your head still hurt? Last time… I didn’t mean to. I’m really sorry.”

His basketball skills weren’t great, and he had insisted on having Yan teach him, which led to the accidental hit. Wang Zheng felt a pang of fear, relieved that nothing serious happened.

Zhu Jia smiled gently. “It’s fine. You don’t need to keep apologizing. My wound’s almost healed.”

“Pine nut fish or sweet and sour ribs?” Yan, sitting beside them, raised his eyes to look at Zhu Jia.

“Pine nut fish,” Zhu Jia smiled. “So, you’re called Yan Ge?”

“Chen Tingyan, second-year law student.”

Zhu Jia nodded, sipping her warm tea. She looked at Chen Tingyan. Today, he was wearing a very trendy black hoodie, which didn’t seem like something a law student would wear.

Chen Tingyan quickly ordered the dishes and had the waiter take the menu away.

He then took out a white Apple phone box and handed it to Zhu Jia. “Last time your phone got broken, take this one.”

“Really don’t need it,” Zhu Jia rejected it, pushing it away.

“Take it. Otherwise, we’ll feel guilty,” Chen Tingyan said, pushing the phone toward her.

Zhu Jia frowned helplessly and placed the phone into her canvas bag. “Okay, thanks.”

As they ate, Zhu Jia realized that Chen Tingyan didn’t talk much, but whenever he did, he brought up new topics to keep the conversation flowing smoothly.