Dating Myself - Chapter 37

Adoptive Parents were infertile. An Mu wasn’t sure whose issue it was; she only knew their relationship was very good. They never fought over it, or perhaps they had before she was adopted.

When Adoptive Parents found her at the age of three, they were already in their early forties. Compared to those who had children in their teens, twenties, or thirties, they knew how to cherish a child more deeply.

They loved her dearly from a young age, and she never felt a trace of son preference.

While it might not be obvious in big cities, in small counties, especially in rural areas, it was extremely rare for a girl to be an only child, and even rarer for a girl not to know how to cook.

Jian Yixi happened to be one of those rarities.

Jian Yixi couldn’t cook, and since the stove fire was out and they’d have to borrow fire from a neighbor, she didn’t even consider making breakfast. They got up at seven, following the alarm clock.

After washing up, they ate a quick breakfast before heading to the hospital.

Adoptive Mother had already served Adoptive Father his meal. After the nurse had started his IV drip, Adoptive Mother gave a few final instructions and headed home to pack, preparing to go with the girls to Weicheng for the transfer of the house deed.

No sooner had Adoptive Mother left than a call came in from Jian Yixi’s Maternal Uncle. He said he wouldn’t arrive until around ten o’clock and told her father not to worry.

Only after Adoptive Father hung up did Jian Yixi ask, “Did Mom call my youngest uncle to help out?”

Adoptive Father nodded. “There’s no work in the fields right now. It’s no trouble.”

Adoptive Mother’s hometown was in a nearby village, not too far.

Adoptive Parents were people who hated troubling others, even their own brother. To ask him to come over and stay with the patient meant they had truly swallowed their pride.

Ultimately, they were still worried about Jian Yixi.

An Mu sat quietly on the high stool, watching Jian Yixi massage her father’s constantly suspended left leg right through his long johns.

The calf in the cast naturally couldn’t be touched, but the parts outside the cast felt strained and uncomfortable. A massage could provide some relief.

Adoptive Father called out for her to stop and sit down to rest, but Jian Yixi ignored him. Her eyes were bright and black, and she diligently rolled up her sleeves to massage him.

An Mu pursed her lips, just about to pick up the thread from yesterday’s conversation to ease her Adoptive Father’s mind, but Jian Yixi spoke first.

“Dad, do you know why I’m afraid to watch horror movies?”

“Because you’re timid, of course.”

“Exactly. I’m timid, but it’s not genetic. Which Jian family member is timid? Look at the things they’ve done—they’re not afraid of going to jail. If it were our family, we’d probably keep ourselves awake all night with worry.”

“If it’s not genetic, then why am I so timid? While innate factors are important in a person’s personality development, acquired influences are also crucial. I wasn’t born timid; it was influenced later on.”

“I used to wonder who influenced me, but now I’ve solved the mystery: it was you, my Dad.”

Adoptive Father was amused by her analysis.

“Me? I’m the bravest person in our family. You should be talking about your mom.”

Jian Yixi glanced at her father. “You’re brave? Then tell me what happened to this leg of yours? Jian Yihu’s few words scared you so much that you fell from the second-floor landing? You’re lucky there was an awning below to break your fall. Did you consider the consequences if there wasn’t?”

Struck at the core of the issue, Adoptive Father opened his mouth and only managed to squeeze out a reply after a long silence.

“You brat, how dare you mock your old man!”

“How would I dare?”

Jian Yixi continued to massage as she spoke. “I’m just analyzing this with you, Dad. Jian Yihu harmed me like that; she definitely wants me to be miserable. How could she possibly be so kind as to inform you? She’s hoping our family will turn against An Mu. That way, I’ll lose my backing, and it will be easy for her to deal with me.”

Adoptive Father had actually considered this, but he was still uneasy. After all, it concerned his precious daughter, and they trusted no one but themselves.

Jian Yixi added, “Let’s take a step back, Dad. What benefit does An Mu get from harming me? The company has nothing to do with me. The only inheritance right I have is conditional on the company still belonging to the Jian family. Whether I go to jail or not won’t affect the company transaction. It’s impossible for my situation to prevent her from acquiring the company.”

Adoptive Father looked down and remained silent, his slack eyelids concealing all emotion.

Jian Yixi stopped the massage and sat beside the bed, looking at her father. Her voice was calm and steady, yet possessed a rare penetrative power.

“Dad, what I told you about An Mu helping me was just the surface. You have no idea how terrible my situation was back then. If An Mu truly wanted to eliminate me, she wouldn’t have needed to help me. She could have stayed behind the scenes and wiped out our whole family.”

“How does that old saying go…”

“Dog-eat-dog?”

“If An Mu really viewed me the same way she views the Jian family, then I’d be a dog too. Wouldn’t it be great for her to watch us Jian family members fight like dogs? She wouldn’t have needed to intervene at all.”

“The messier the Jian family gets, the less resistance she would face in acquiring the company.”

“Of course, all of this is based on the premise that she truly has her eye on the Jian family’s small, broken company.”

“I actually did some research. Companies like the Jian family’s business service firm are countless. The reason it has a place in Weicheng is mainly because it secured the Weicheng Industrial Park project. Excluding the Industrial Park, it only takes small projects.”

“In other words, outside of Weicheng, it’s nothing.”

“A company without substance or innovation, if it also lacks sufficient funds, will find it very difficult to achieve major development.”

“Dad, think about it. What use is such a highly regional company to An Mu? Does she really plan to stick around in Weicheng? If she wants major development, she needs to go to Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. Even if it’s less established than the Jian family’s company now, it has a future.”

These were all things An Mu had intentionally or unintentionally taught Jian Yixi over the past few days. She hadn’t only remembered them; she had adapted them, presenting them as her own findings to increase credibility.

Jian Yixi’s speech saved An Mu the trouble. Adoptive Father was silent.

“Dad, your main worry is just the house. I also agree we should transfer the deed back to An Mu immediately. After all, it’s not mine, and it feels like a hot potato.”

“But this doesn’t mean I suspect An Mu. An Mu trusts me, which is why she added my name. How could I possibly suspect An Mu?”

“I understand why you don’t trust An Mu, and An Mu understands, too. After all, I’m the one spending time with An Mu; you don’t know her. Actually, An Mu…”

An Mu interjected, “Actually, I helped Jian Yixi out of guilt, and with a little selfishness.”

Jian Yixi turned back to look at her in surprise.

An Mu took out her phone and displayed her text message history. The message box she had once shown Wen Qiaoyun was now filled with many more messages. The balance, instead of decreasing, had increased. A short-term stock investment An Mu had made based on memory had just been sold, yielding a substantial profit.

If the amount could shock Wen Qiaoyun, Adoptive Father was even more astonished. He truly hadn’t seen such a long string of numbers in his entire life.

“I’m not showing you this for any other reason, Uncle, just to say that the house is merely a drop in the bucket for me. It’s like one hundred yuan to you.”

“I exchanged one hundred yuan for such a good friend in Jian Yixi, who keeps me company and helps me with my studies. No matter how you look at it, I’m the one who profited.”

“Besides, I don’t even have to spend this hundred yuan. Jian Yixi doesn’t want the house at all. I only have to pay ten yuan for the transfer fee.”

Jian Yixi understood her biological father, and An Mu understood him, too. With the two who knew him well adding their points, Adoptive Father quickly conceded. He felt even more guilty and trusting towards An Mu, insisting that he pay the transfer fee himself no matter what.

An Mu didn’t insist otherwise. Instead of persuading Adoptive Father not to pay the transfer fee, she knew she should approach the matter from Jian Yixi’s side, as it was nearly time to pay tuition, and it wasn’t cheap.

The group waited for the Maternal Uncle to arrive, then left with Adoptive Mother for Weicheng. They stayed one night at An Mu’s new house and went to the real estate office early the next morning, completing the transfer procedures by noon.

Adoptive Parents were truly relieved. Seeing An Mu’s honesty, and realizing they had truly misunderstood her, they insisted on giving her two thousand yuan as rent for the past few months.

An Mu didn’t comment on the amount. She accepted it because they offered it, not for the money, but to alleviate their guilt.

She understood her adoptive parents’ nature; they couldn’t be indebted to others, or they wouldn’t be able to sleep well.

After lunch, Adoptive Mother couldn’t sit still and left, rushing home to take care of Adoptive Father. She wouldn’t even let the girls see her off, urging them to hurry back to school.

Jian Yixi kept her father on the phone the whole way, nagging the usual reminders: they should never answer any Weicheng number except for theirs. If they accidentally answered, they shouldn’t believe any earth-shattering news. They should ask her first. She wasn’t a child anymore. Could they please trust her a little?

After she hung up, it was An Mu’s turn to nag Jian Yixi with the usual warnings: never go anywhere alone, especially at night, even just to take out the trash behind the building.

Jian Yixi pursed her lips and smiled, the single little dimple on the corner of her mouth seeming to mock An Mu’s excessive caution.

An Mu poked her head lightly.

“I’m serious. You be serious, too.”

Jian Yixi rubbed her forehead where An Mu had poked her, nodding repeatedly.

“I know! I know! Forewarned is forearmed, right? Besides, Jian Yihu isn’t settling down. Who knows what else she’ll do? I’ll definitely be careful. And…”

Jian Yixi paused, the smile on her face slowly fading.

“And she hurt my dad like that. I haven’t settled the score with her yet.”

This caught An Mu by surprise.

“Oh? How do you plan to settle the score?”

“If she thinks house arrest isn’t exciting enough, I don’t mind lending her a hand and getting her detained.”

Jian Yixi turned to smile faintly at her. The afternoon sun fell on her fair small face. Her curled long lashes were softened with light, and her gentle, bright eyes were like a clear morning spring, transparent and deep.

A face so pure and beautiful could say something terrible, and it would only sound like a joke.

But An Mu knew she was serious.

All of An Mu’s plans had been carried out under Jian Yixi’s nose these past few days. This was no longer unintentional influence; it was deliberate instruction. Had the instruction finally reached the point of assessment?

“Do you need my help?”

“No need. Don’t get involved in this. Especially, especially remember, don’t use violence to solve problems.”

“Violence?”

Jian Yixi pointed to her own face, her little dimple catching the sunlight, making even her smile feel warm.

“Punching a face hurts your hand, remember? We definitely don’t want to do something that hurts the enemy a thousand but damages ourselves eight hundred.”

Only then did An Mu remember Jian Yixi’s playful complaint about her hand hurting in the stairwell that day.

In a rare good mood, An Mu deliberately teased her. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll bring a stick this time.”

Jian Yixi instantly stopped smiling.

“No!”

“Violence can’t solve problems!”

“But it’ll make me feel good.”

“That won’t work either!”

“It’s easy to bring trouble on yourself. What if you go to jail?”

“But sometimes, if you don’t hurt them, they simply won’t learn.”

Jian Yixi was genuinely anxious. She grabbed An Mu’s uniform sleeve, her eyes red, as if An Mu had just bullied her, about to be driven to tears.

“Alright, I’m just kidding. I won’t get involved in this. Hurry up and get back to class.”

Only then did Jian Yixi snort, quickly wipe her eyes, and walk away stiffly without looking back.

An Mu shook her head helplessly.

—Just a kid. She gets angry over a little joke.

Jian Yixi was indeed angry. She stormed back to class, deeply convinced that An Mu had just been fooling her.

Saying she was ‘just kidding’? That line itself was a joke!

She knew An Mu was just placating her. An Mu still wanted to fight.

Hitting someone you can’t stand is satisfying, but it’s only temporary. If a real problem arises and she ends up in jail, who will she cry to? Why couldn’t An Mu understand that?

Jian Yixi was in a bad mood when Xie Mao Mao sidled over.

“Hehe~”

The provoking, Crayon Shin-chan grin wasn’t the problem; the key was that her next words were a direct hit to the target.

“I knew An Mu had a crush on you, right?~ How about that?~ You left, and she immediately skipped the exam to chase after you. Aren’t you touched? Hurry up and lie down and let her have her way~”

Jian Yixi slowly turned her eyes toward Mao Mao. Her soft, dark eyes were still clear and beautiful, but the look in them was utterly… utterly…

Xie Mao Mao instinctively swallowed.

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

Jian Yixi smiled, a particularly beautiful smile.

“Mao Mao, can we switch seats?”

Though she felt a sudden chill, Mao Mao hesitated before standing up.

“What’s wrong? Why the sudden urge to switch seats?”

“Just for a little while.”

As they spoke, they had already swapped places. Jian Yixi sat on the outer side, and Mao Mao switched to the inner side, by the wall.

Jian Yixi smiled as she turned to Mao Mao.

“What did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Mao Mao comfortably twisted her little waist against the wall.

“What did you say about An Mu?”

“Oh~” Mao Mao’s light, delicate eyebrows shrugged, and her smile immediately turned lewd. “Now do you believe me? If An Mu’s behavior isn’t a secret crush, I’ll write my name backward!”

“It still spells Mao Mao backward.”

“Aiya~ Don’t worry about the details. Let me tell you, An Mu she… Pfft ha ha ha ha! You! Ha ha!! What are you doing?! Ha! Pfft! Stop it! Jian Yixi! Ha ha ha ha! Stop! Enough!”

Jian Yixi suddenly turned and pounced on Mao Mao, tickling her fiercely!

Mao Mao was squeezed between the front and back desks and the wall. She had nowhere to run or hide. To make matters worse, she was a small champion in the slightly plump category, and her entire body was a field of sensitive spots. With Jian Yixi’s attack, she almost fell onto the floor, but the stool got caught, so she couldn’t even topple over.

“Mercy~!! I was wrong! Ha ha ha ha! I was wrong… Sister! I’ll call you sister, okay?! I was wrong! Forgive me!”

In reality, Jian Yixi wasn’t tickling her that exaggeratedly, but Mao Mao couldn’t stop laughing. Even when Jian Yixi stopped, she kept giggling uncontrollably.

“What were you wrong about?”

“I was wrong about everything.”

“Be specific.”

“I was wrong about that specific thing.”

“It seems you haven’t had enough fun yet~”

Jian Yixi smiled a chilling smile, her hands hovering in the air, ready to strike again.

Even foolish Mao Mao knew what Jian Yixi was getting at. She quickly pleaded through her laughing tears, “I was wrong! I’ll never joke about you and An Mu again!”

—That’s more like it.

After the commotion, Jian Yixi’s bad mood had mostly dispersed. The two returned to their seats, picked up the books and pencil cases that had fallen to the floor, and endured a couple of teasing remarks from the students in front and behind before finally settling down.

The calm lasted less than five seconds.

Xie Mao Mao leaned close to her ear and spoke with a rare sincerity.

“Although I yielded to your tyranny and said something against my heart, An Mu is truly exceptionally good to you. You really should think carefully. This kind of thing can’t be solved by running away. If you like her, too, then great. If you don’t, you need to take action as soon as possible. Don’t wait until later when you can’t even be friends anymore; that’ll be too late.”

Jian Yixi gently bumped Mao Mao’s head with her own, not looking at her, but using an eraser to clean a tiny smudge on the corner of her book.

“You have the nerve to say that. I made a complete fool of myself because of you.”

Jian Yixi recounted the story of her jumping to conclusions to Mao Mao. Even though two days had passed, bringing it up still made her ear tips flush red with embarrassment.

Mao Mao listened, rubbing her chin. Just as she was about to say something, the class bell rang.

Mao Mao was someone who couldn’t keep things bottled up. While the teacher lectured at the front, she opened her practice book and wrote a note at the back. She then quietly slipped it onto Jian Yixi’s desk.

【You’re an idiot, Jian Yixi! How could you be so direct?

What if the person you have a crush on suddenly came out and said: ‘Don’t like me, it’s impossible for us. Let’s just be friends!’

What would you do?

Feel your conscience and think seriously: would you admit you had a crush on her? How awkward would future meetings be? Any normal person would deny it, okay?

Unless she really doesn’t want to be friends anymore, or she wants a full-on coercive play.】

Jian Yixi read the note and quickly scrawled a few words in response, her face expressionless.

【An Mu has someone she likes.】

【Who?】

Before Jian Yixi could reply, Mao Mao snatched the notebook back.

【Let me guess.

I bet this person is definitely not in China, and An Mu hasn’t told you who it is, and if you ask too many questions, she’ll just dismiss you with ‘Don’t ask.’

An Mu might even say that this person is married, or some other type of person she can’t be with, otherwise, she can’t explain why she left them to return to China.

In short, this person is an unsolved mystery. No matter how much you ask, you won’t get a straight answer.

As for why…

Hehe.

Of course, it’s because he’s just a shield, a completely nonexistent person!

To add: If you press her too hard, An Mu might randomly find a photo to show you and say, ‘This is him, blah blah blah.’ Since he’d be a temporary fake, there would definitely be holes in the story. Pay close attention to the clues, and you’ll definitely figure it out.

So, take this seriously. If An Mu really likes you, making her give up as soon as possible is the only guarantee of eternal friendship.】

Mao Mao was satisfied, having said what she wanted. She focused on the lecture, but Jian Yixi was in turmoil.

If Mao Mao hadn’t analyzed it, she wouldn’t have thought too much about it. She trusted An Mu wholeheartedly. If An Mu said she liked someone and it wasn’t her, she believed it.

The exam was approaching, and time flew by. In the blink of an eye, a few classes passed. An Mu packed the books she needed for the evening, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked out of the classroom. An Mu was already waiting at the staircase.

Mao Mao was going to the bicycle shed to fetch her bike and left ahead of them.

Jian Yixi walked with her arm linked in An Mu’s, her head bowed, looking preoccupied.

An Mu tilted her head to glance at her.

“What’s wrong? Why are you so dejected?”

Jian Yixi looked up at her with a complicated expression, then quickly looked down again.

“I… I feel a little self-loathing.”

“Why the sudden self-loathing?”

Jian Yixi looked up at her again, hesitating to speak.

“I don’t dare to say.”

An Mu suddenly had the odd feeling… that Jian Yixi was deliberately luring her to speak first.

No, maybe it wasn’t a feeling.

If it wasn’t a feeling, then her instruction was showing its initial effectiveness. The girl was getting smarter and knew how to be subtle in conversation.

An Mu pretended not to notice, playing along. “What is there you can’t tell me?”

“Then, please don’t get angry if I say it.”

“Okay, I won’t get angry.”

“I… I know you’re very good to me, and I shouldn’t be overthinking. But you have someone you like and you don’t tell me, it always gives me the feeling that… you don’t actually see me as a close friend. Look, I tell you everything, even the part where I jumped to conclusions. But you keep things from me…”

—So she was still suspicious.

An Mu smiled slightly. “I’m not keeping anything from you. I just don’t see the need to deliberately bring it up.”

“I know, but… I just feel uneasy. I want us to be friends who can talk about anything. You can treat me like a trash can. You can vent any negative emotions you can’t release to others directly to me.”

“But I genuinely don’t have any negative emotions right now.”

“Then… then why… why…”

Jian Yixi struggled with “why” for a long time, unable to finish the second half of her sentence: “why can’t you tell me about the person you like?”

—Although she really wanted to confirm whether An Mu was lying or not, what if… what if that person really did exist? An Mu was already not sad, but if she brought him up again and made An Mu open old wounds, how awful would that be?

Just as she was agonizing, the sound of a bicycle bell rang out. Mao Mao was riding over.

“You two walk so slowly. I rode my bike over here. Hey? Jian Yixi, what’s wrong with you? Why the long face?”

“What nonsense are you talking?”

Mao Mao pedaled lazily, following the two of them. She glanced at Jian Yixi, then at An Mu, and suddenly asked in a low voice, “An Mu, do you have a crush on Jian Yixi?”

Jian Yixi nearly spat a mouthful of old blood onto Mao Mao’s face.