After Getting Married to My Obsessive Older Sister - Chapter 75.2

Chapter 75.2

The heaviest task was taking the packed takeout containers out of the insulated bag, and they were using solid wooden chopsticks, so there was no need to split them apart.

Chu Yiqiao would help set the plates, and that was it.

It looked dangerous. Chu Yiqiao wisely decided not to cause trouble and sat quietly at the dining table. Fang Yihe noticed her awkwardness and timely requested: “Qiao, can you help grab the chopsticks? They’re by the door. Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Having something to do, Chu Yiqiao breathed a sigh of relief and happily brought over three pairs of chopsticks.

Fang Yizhen glanced over and lowered her head to continue carrying the dishes.

The table was set. There weren’t many dishes, cooked according to the normal appetite of three people, but because the dining table was small, it was still half-full.

It had been years since Chu Yiqiao had eaten off a plate at home. She took out her phone and secretly snapped many photos.

Fang Yihe saw her and thoughtfully rotated the plates a few times to help Chu Yiqiao get better angles. Chu Yiqiao, caught in the act, shyly put away her phone, feeling a wave of guilt for betraying Tan Ze.

What to do?

It looks so delicious.

With only three people, there weren’t many rules. Once everyone was seated, Fang Yizhen immediately took the first bite. Chu Yiqiao glanced at Fang Yihe and also picked up a piece of tomato brisket to put in her mouth.

“It’s so good!” It was on par with their private chef’s cooking. Chu Yiqiao’s chopsticks were just about to touch the second piece when she suddenly remembered something. She quickly changed her tune, stating with reserve: “It’s as delicious as my sister’s cooking.”

Fang Yizhen shot her a look of confusion. She knew Tan Ze; there was no way that woman could cook.

Chu Yiqiao felt guilty, mentally adding: …if Tan Ze could cook, it would definitely be just as delicious.

Fang Yihe didn’t seem suspicious, saying: “That’s good. It suits your taste. Yizhen made this.”

Yizhen?

Chu Yiqiao’s gaze was inevitably tinged with admiration.

Fang Yizhen just lowered her head and shoveled rice.

After this small moment, the atmosphere at the table became much livelier.

Mostly, Fang Yihe tossed out topics, and Chu Yiqiao chatted while eating. Her mouth was busy talking, eating, and also spreading rumors that Tan Ze cooked just as well, so she was completely overwhelmed.

By the end of the meal, the atmosphere had improved. Chu Yiqiao and Fang Yihe knew more about each other, and Tan Ze had been promoted to a five-star chef.

Chu Yiqiao felt half-full and put down her chopsticks.

Fang Yihe asked: “Qiao, aren’t you going to have some zongzi (rice dumplings)? We wrapped them this morning.”

Chu Yiqiao shook her head: “Thank you, Sister Yihe, but I can’t eat anymore.”

“Alright,” Fang Yihe took a bowl and served Chu Yiqiao some soup.

This time, Chu Yiqiao accepted it.

Fang Yihe sensed the moment was right and prompted Fang Yizhen, who had barely spoken since Chu Yiqiao arrived: “Yizhen, is there something you wanted to say to Qiao?”

Fang Yizhen had eaten bowl after bowl of rice to avoid talking, but she couldn’t escape it.

At the mention, Chu Yiqiao put down her soup bowl and looked at Fang Yizhen with a gaze that was both innocent and hurt. Fang Yizhen paused, then shifted her eyes, meeting Fang Yihe’s similarly almond-shaped eyes.

“Chu Yiqiao, I’m sorry,” Fang Yizhen said: “I shouldn’t have helped Chu Lingtong deceive you.”

Going through this again, Chu Yiqiao was still bad at handling such scenes. She suddenly wished Tan Ze was next to her right now.

But remembering all the times she had just said “my sister can cook too,” Chu Yiqiao dismissed the thought and replied seriously: “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

Fang Yihe looked at the two of them like a big sister and said: “That’s great. How about a handshake?”

Oh my god, Sister Yihe is really so different from Tan Ze.

Chu Yiqiao internally supplied what Tan Ze would have said if she were present: “That’s good to know. Better not have a next time. Now, Chu Yiqiao, let’s go home with me.”

Chu Yiqiao and Fang Yizhen shook hands. Fang Yizhen was sweating a lot, and her palm felt slippery.

After dinner, Fang Yihe and Fang Yizhen cleared the table. Chu Yiqiao stood nearby, wanting to help.

“No need. You’re a guest,” Fang Yihe saw that Chu Yiqiao had clearly never done housework. She naturally stopped her, led Chu Yiqiao to the sofa, and placed the remote control in her hand: “Just rest.”

Chu Yiqiao gave a bewildered “Mhm.”

She sat alone on the sofa, not turning on the TV, curiously observing her surroundings.

She had been eating right after coming in, and now she finally had the chance to properly look at the decor. Chu Yiqiao didn’t know much about houses, so she used her own home as a standard for comparison.

The living room was about half the size, and the space was compact. The bedrooms were out of sight. The ceiling seemed a bit lower. The exterior corridor was old and dim, but the inside of the house had been renovated. The furniture and decorations were all new, full of items, and very packed.

Chu Yiqiao’s eyes darted around, comparing every spot. Just as she got to the coffee table, Fang Yihe’s voice came from above her: “The house is a little small. Don’t mind it.”

“No, no!” Chu Yiqiao’s face instantly flushed as if she’d been caught doing something wrong. She defended herself: “I’m just curious. I rarely visit other people’s houses…”

Fang Yihe sat down next to Chu Yiqiao, observing the girl who was linked to her by blood.

On Chu Yiqiao’s face, Fang Yihe could see many points of resemblance to herself. The power of genetics was strong. Their facial features were similar, but that was where the similarity ended.

Chu Yiqiao exuded an expensive innocence, as if the world treated her with special kindness and she had few worries.

Later, Fang Yihe also learned from Fang Yizhen about what Chu Yiqiao had gone through: losing her mother young, an orphan guarding a huge fortune, surrounded by covetous relatives, and taking a leave of absence from school due to health issues… The more she knew, the more Fang Yihe couldn’t stop thinking about Tan Ze.

From Chu Yiqiao’s every action, Fang Yihe could tell that she was being cared for very attentively. Tan Ze deeply cared for and cherished the person in front of her.

Otherwise, why would she drive her all the way to the doorstep? And why would she send a 20-page PDF?

Fang Yihe then noticed the ring on Chu Yiqiao’s ring finger. This was something Fang Yizhen hadn’t told her.

“Qiao, your…” Fang Yihe pointed to her own bare ring finger.

“Oh, this,” Chu Yiqiao raised her hand to show off her beloved plain ring: “My sister and I got married. It happened at the end of April.”

“Congratulations,” Fang Yihe said dryly. She lowered her head and noticed Chu Yiqiao was looking at an app interface, which looked like a navigation app.

Fang Yizhen finished washing the dishes and took off her plastic gloves. Fang Yihe didn’t know what the app was, but Fang Yizhen did.

Don’t let Chu Yiqiao’s presence on the sofa fool you; her heart had likely flown away already.

“I’ll take you to see the photo album,” Fang Yizhen walked over and said.

“Okay.”

Chu Yiqiao stood up, her expression finally becoming excited. She looked very eager.

In reality, she didn’t care about the photo album. Chu Yiqiao was focused on one thought: after looking at the album, she could go home.

The second Chu Yiqiao turned off her phone, the little yellow dot on the screen representing Tan Ze started moving toward Fang Yihe’s house.

Chu Yiqiao walked into the study. This study was also very different from the one at home. It was a bit smaller than Chu Yiqiao’s own room, with two finished bookshelves against the wall, filled with various textbooks and books in foreign languages. Outside, there was a row of cute little decorations.

Fang Yihe introduced: “This is Yizhen’s bookshelf. The things outside are also…”

“Sister!” Fang Yizhen interrupted Fang Yihe loudly.

“Alright, alright, I won’t say anything,” Fang Yihe smiled gently.

Fang Yizhen turned her head and pulled out a worn family photo album from amidst a row of programming books, placing it in front of Chu Yiqiao.

“This is the photo album.”

Chu Yiqiao didn’t dare to touch it. Fang Yihe walked up beside her and opened the first page.

The first photo showed Fang Yihe smiling brightly at the camera while holding Fang Yizhen. A frail woman lay in the hospital bed in the background.

The woman was also smiling, but she wasn’t looking at the camera. She was looking at the backs of her two daughters.

Chu Yiqiao looked at the completely unfamiliar woman in the photo, feeling only the melancholy of seeing another unfortunate soul.

She had never been a part of this woman’s life and knew nothing of her past, her personality, or her aspirations.

Fang Yihe, however, sighed, as if the old photo had instantly transported her back to the distant past.

“It was snowing heavily that day. I had class the next day, but I took leave to stay with Mom at the hospital. I stayed up until 3 AM and couldn’t hold on anymore, falling asleep. When I woke up, you were born. I held you. You were so soft. I was afraid I would melt you.”

Chu Yiqiao noticed that when she said this, Fang Yihe instinctively glanced at Fang Yizhen.

Fang Yihe quickly realized her mistake, corrected it, and continued flipping through, talking about their birth mother’s earlier stories.

Chu Yiqiao listened quietly, her gaze jumping between the different group photos in the album. She saw Fang Yihe’s childhood and Fang Yizhen’s childhood.

She listened to Fang Yihe recount her “Mom’s” story, feeling like she was listening to a narrative that had little emotional connection to herself.

A daughter recounting her mother’s life is inevitably told from the daughter’s perspective. Chu Yiqiao knew this and understood.

If Fang Yizhen went to her house to look at the photo album, facing a wall of photos of Chu Lingfeng holding her, Chu Yiqiao would only be able to talk about how much Chu Lingfeng spoiled her.

She’d tell how Chu Lingfeng actually cried on Chu Yiqiao’s first day of kindergarten, a moment Little Chu Yiqiao secretly saw from the window.

The thick album, once they started flipping, didn’t take much time, as half of it consisted of photos of Fang Yihe and Fang Yizhen. From childhood to youth, Fang Yizhen grew up, but the time intervals recorded on the bottom left corner of the photos grew longer and longer.

Chu Yiqiao guessed it was because Fang Yihe’s mother had been diagnosed with cancer.

The story continued, and Fang Yizhen’s tone became heavy. She omitted many details.

Finally, the album stopped at a group photo in the hospital.

The woman was still frail in the hospital bed. Young Fang Yizhen and young adult Fang Yihe guarded her side. The mother was smiling, and the two daughters were crying.

Death always reminds people to cherish the living more. Looking at the last photo, Chu Yiqiao suddenly missed Tan Ze. What was Sister doing right now?

“That’s all of it,” Fang Yihe let out a long breath, placing the album back on the bookshelf.

Chu Yiqiao felt she should say something. After much thought, she could only muster: “Don’t be sad.”

A few seconds later, she added another phrase: “Thank you. Dinner was very delicious today.”

Fang Yihe looked at Chu Yiqiao with motherly affection and took the cue: “Are you leaving now? I’ll walk you downstairs.”

“Mhm, sure…” Chu Yiqiao pulled out her phone: “I’ll call Sister first.”

Chu Yiqiao unlocked her screen. The phone was still on the app interface she had been looking at earlier.

On the screen, the little yellow dot representing Tan Ze was unmistakably right next to Chu Yiqiao. Because the app couldn’t show the difference in elevation, on the flat map, Tan Ze looked like she was standing right next to Chu Yiqiao.

Mood: Calm, 90 points.

“No need! Thank you, Sister Yihe!”

Chu Yiqiao rushed to the living room to grab her bag. She hadn’t brought much this time. After a quick check of her belongings, Chu Yiqiao anxiously hurried to the entrance to change her shoes.

She was so rushed that she even put her shoes on the wrong feet at first. Fortunately, they were small leather shoes, and she put them on quickly.

Fang Yihe only just caught up, standing next to Chu Yiqiao, asking confusedly: “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”

Chu Yiqiao had already put on her shoes and run out. Ignoring the fact that Fang Yihe probably couldn’t hear her, she turned and yelled: “No time! My sister is here to pick me up! I’m going home first!”

She went in at 4:30 PM, and it was two hours later when she came out. It was half an hour before sunset, the golden hour. The sunlight slanted, dyeing the entire sky a soft golden hue.

Tan Ze sat alone on a long bench below the apartment building, gazing at the distant gradient of blue and orange sky.

In the evening, a light breeze picked up outside. Tan Ze raised her hand to smooth down her stray hair, allowing herself to gradually sink into the gathering darkness.

She didn’t know what she was thinking. After arriving home, she took out the ingredients she had bought in advance and wrapped the world’s ugliest zongzi. She was afraid the savory ones would cause problems, so she only made sweet ones. Then, she was afraid Chu Yiqiao wouldn’t like the sweet ones, so she made dumplings as compensation.

As a result, the zongzi leaked rice, and the dumplings leaked filling. On the way to the apartment, Tan Ze bought a box of store-bought dumplings and quietly mixed her own in.

With that, Tan Ze rushed to the complex again with an insulated box. She didn’t want to go upstairs and planned to wait below until Chu Yiqiao called.

The insulated box emitted a warmth in her hand. Tan Ze opened it and checked the contents.

She didn’t think her dumplings were any different from the ones bought at the store.

The appearance might be slightly worse, but Tan Ze thought Chu Yiqiao was so oblivious that she wouldn’t notice.

A rush of footsteps sounded in her ear. Tan Ze initially thought she was imagining things.

“Sister, did you make these?”

Slowly lifting her head, Chu Yiqiao stood with her hands behind her back, looking down at Tan Ze.

“Sister?”

Tan Ze put the food box away: “Why did you come down?”

Chu Yiqiao triumphantly waved her bracelet: “I saw you.”

“Also,” Chu Yiqiao opened the lid of the food box again, pointed at the dumplings that were ugly and out of place, and asked again: “Sister, did you make these?”

Tan Ze admitted it freely.

Chu Yiqiao sat down next to Tan Ze. She reached out her hand. Tan Ze obediently handed her the wooden chopsticks. Chu Yiqiao carefully picked up the broken dumpling, not daring to lift it high, and took a bite near the edge of the insulated box.

Tan Ze gazed silently at Chu Yiqiao’s face.

“It’s so good!” Chu Yiqiao was very complimentary.

“There are also sweet zongzi,” Tan Ze added, then pulled out a small, rice-leaking zongzi.

Chu Yiqiao had deliberately left half her stomach empty, originally intending to go out to eat with Tan Ze, but…

Forget it! Forget it!

Chu Yiqiao lowered her head and took a big bite. It was fully cooked, sweetly delicious. Her heart also felt sweet.

Chu Yiqiao smiled, looking at Tan Ze with a pair of clear eyes, and said again: “Sister, it’s so delicious.”

Tan Ze couldn’t resist. She put down the insulated box, lowered her head, and kissed Chu Yiqiao’s lips.

The short kiss ended. Both of their breaths were ragged. Chu Yiqiao and Tan Ze looked at each other. Both saw a deeper longing in the other’s eyes.

Tan Ze stood up, reached out her hand, and pulled Chu Yiqiao up from the long bench.

“Let’s go. We’re going home.”

“Mhm.”

As they walked, Chu Yiqiao leaned against Tan Ze dependently and asked: “Sister, do we have any dumpling wrappers at home? I want to try making them too.”

Tan Ze kindly reminded her: “It’s much harder than watching a video. You need to be mentally prepared.”

She said this, of course, because the first batch she made turned into meat soup when boiled.

“I took an elective in ceramics. My teacher said I have great hands-on ability,” Chu Yiqiao replied.

“Then good luck,” Tan Ze had a hint of wanting to comfort Chu Yiqiao.

Getting into the car, Chu Yiqiao buckled her seatbelt. The golden light in the distance had expanded its reach. She looked at the yellow glow, suddenly took out her phone, and opened the app.

After seeing Chu Yiqiao, Tan Ze’s mood was: Happy, Content, 99 points.

“Sister, I want to look at your phone.”

Tan Ze promptly took it out and placed it in Chu Yiqiao’s hand, unable to hide her excitement. Was she finally catching on? Was she finally going to check up on her?

Tan Ze even reminded Chu Yiqiao: “You can look at my WeChat and other social media.”

However, Chu Yiqiao only opened that APP.

Chu Yiqiao saw her own mood.

Happy.

100 points.

[The main story concludes]

Support