There's Something Wrong With My Little White Flower - Chapter 37:

Chapter 37: Elder Sister of a Brother-Obsessed Family X University Professor

Early September arrived. The autumn chill had not yet set in, and the last remnants of summer heat lingered fiercely.

A white SUV bypassed a narrow lane and finally found a spot among the congested vehicles. Once the car stopped, a young man in a suit and leather shoes stepped out from the driver’s seat. He first took a wheelchair out of the trunk, then went around to the back door to open it.

“The environment here is too mediocre. I’m actually a bit worried about you living here,” Jiang Zhiyu helped his sister onto the wheelchair, looking at the semi-old apartment building with some concern. “Mom and Dad told you to go home to recuperate, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

Jiang Peifeng sat in the wheelchair, the plaster cast on her right leg strikingly obvious. She wheeled herself forward, saying with a smile: “I’m not completely bedridden. I don’t need Mom and Dad to look after me. Besides, it’s quiet here, just right for revising my thesis.”

She had been independent since childhood, and it was difficult to change her mind once she decided on something. Jiang Zhiyu knew his sister’s personality. He took out the suitcase and quickened his pace to catch up: “Hey—slow down.”

It was getting dark. Lights started flickering on in the windows one after another. From the poorly soundproofed floors of the old community, the “sizzle” of stir-frying, the crying of children, and the impatient complaints of men blended into a lively symphony.

Jiang Zhiyu pressed the number “7” button in the elevator. This apartment building was bought by their parents when they first got married. The neighbors were mostly teachers and staff from the nearby middle school. Later, when their father became successful, they moved away. Perhaps out of nostalgia, the apartment had remained vacant and unsold, and now it was just right for Jiang Peifeng to live in.

It was an old apartment with three bedrooms and one living room, with dark wood floors. Jiang Zhiyu pushed open the window to let the night breeze circulate the air in the room: “I hired an auntie to clean it yesterday. Take a look and see if anything is missing. I’ll bring it over on the weekend.”

While he was busy, Jiang Peifeng had already circled the room. Hearing him, she said: “I’ll buy whatever is missing. I’ve only broken a leg; I can still take care of myself.”

“I know you’re independent, Your Highness,” Jiang Zhiyu replied. “But I’m still a bit surprised. You’re someone with such developed athletic abilities; how did you manage to break your leg just by walking?”

It was to find a reason to return to Z City, wasn’t it? Jiang Peifeng thought to herself. The little white flower’s fate was about to begin changing in this world. She really didn’t want to wait a year for their meeting, so she simply moved the process forward.

The only problem was that she didn’t manage the scale of the pre-planned injury well. She originally only intended a minor injury to get time off, but it… turned into a fracture.

She casually put her brother off: “It was an accident… Right, help me get the prepared gifts. Let’s go visit the neighbors now.”

“Mmm, I almost forgot,” Jiang Zhiyu realized. “It’s after work hours now. They should all be home.”

Before leaving, they specifically bought gift boxes of tea and pastries from A City, planning to use them to build a rapport with the old neighbors, hoping they would look after the mobility-impaired Jiang Peifeng.

The siblings visited the neighbors on the same floor one by one. The old apartments had close-knit relationships. The neighbors had barely changed; they were still the old folk from before. The warm-hearted uncles and aunties smiled broadly, curiously asking the siblings about their current situation.

“Xiao Feng wasn’t teaching at a university in A City? Ah, how did she break her leg? Girls must take good care, don’t let it leave any lasting effects… Don’t worry, just come to Auntie if you need anything!”

“Is it convenient for you to eat and everything? If not, come eat at our place!”

“Are your mom and dad well? Xiao Yu has become much handsomer—do you have a girlfriend yet?”

After a round of greetings, even Jiang Zhiyu was sweating on his forehead. He looked at his sister, whose expression was normal, and quietly sighed: “I remember you hated this kind of fuss the most.”

“I’m a disabled person now, aren’t I…” Jiang Peifeng smiled, pushing her wheelchair. “It’s good to be on good terms with the neighbors. If I have any inconvenience later, someone can look after me.”

Jiang Zhiyu wanted to say, Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just live at home, with Mom, Dad, and the nanny taking care of you? But Jiang Peifeng had already rolled toward the last apartment and reached up to ring the doorbell.

The neighbor auntie who saw them off was startled by Jiang Peifeng’s action, then looked at them somewhat hesitantly, but ended up saying nothing.

Jiang Peifeng quietly stared at the door in front of her. A moment later, footsteps approached from a distance. A thin middle-aged woman appeared before them.

The woman had an extremely shrewd and formidable face. Her eyes scanned the siblings, then fell on the gift bag in Jiang Zhiyu’s hand: “Who are you looking for?”

Jiang Zhiyu was taken aback by her blunt tone but still insisted on smiling: “You must be… Auntie Cheng? We are the son and daughter of Teacher Jiang next door. My sister is back to stay for a few days, and we wanted to greet the old neighbors…”

His tone was gentle. The woman looked at them suspiciously several times before opening the door a little wider: “Oh, it’s you.”

“Auntie Cheng, you haven’t changed at all,” Jiang Zhiyu continued to praise enthusiastically, handing over the gift with both hands. “This is a small token of our appreciation. Please look after Peifeng while she stays here…”

The heavy gift bag finally brought a smile to the woman’s face: “We’re all neighbors. No need to be so polite… Your Uncle Ruan is out, and the house is a mess, so I can’t invite you in…”

As she spoke, she asked seemingly unintentionally: “Is Xiao Feng married? Why did you decide to come back to this old house?”

“I am currently a teacher at Chengjing University,” Jiang Peifeng said calmly. “The old apartment is quieter here, just right for writing my thesis and visiting my old teachers here in my hometown.”

She seemed to deliberately emphasize the words “University” and “teacher.” Sure enough, the woman’s eyes instantly lit up: “A university teacher, ah. Then your education must be excellent… My family’s Xiao Bao is about to take the high school entrance exam. Well, I won’t be shy then. If he has any homework he doesn’t understand, he’ll come and ask you!”

Jiang Zhiyu slightly frowned, somewhat displeased with this blatant attempt to take advantage, but Jiang Peifeng didn’t seem to mind. She still said gently: “Of course. I remember Auntie has a daughter, too? What grade is she in now?”

“Girls… studying is just a waste,” the woman instinctively curled her lip, then suddenly realized the person asking was also a girl, and immediately put on a smiling face. “Xiao Feng, your family is wealthy. You can afford to waste money even studying for a Ph.D… For humble families like ours, I don’t see what good comes from her burying her head in books all day.”

The person she spoke of did not sound like her own daughter, but rather an enemy. Jiang Peifeng secretly sighed inwardly. Through the crack in the door, she had already seen that the living room was empty, save for clothes and slippers scattered on the floor. That person must not be home.

Seeing that the necessary conversation was finished, she gently moved the wheelchair backward, signaling her brother that they could leave.

The woman smiled as she saw them off. Just then, the elevator chimed “ding” again, and footsteps slowly approached. Before Jiang Peifeng could turn around, she saw the woman in front of them involuntarily frown, as if seeing something she deeply disliked.

The person Jiang Peifeng had thought she wouldn’t see today appeared right before her eyes.

Ruan Jiyun stood quietly at the end of the corridor, wearing a semi-old school uniform shirt and a blue skirt. The light shone from behind her, making her figure appear even more slender. Her bangs were a bit long, with choppy strands falling over her eyes, obscuring half of her beautiful eyelashes.

“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and help wash the vegetables and cook!” Auntie Cheng raised her voice. “The clothes haven’t been washed, the floor hasn’t been mopped. Are the ten thousand things in this house all waiting for me to do?”

Hearing her mother’s scolding, Ruan Jiyun visibly shrank her neck, quickening her steps without a word. As she passed the Jiang siblings, she subtly glanced at them from the corner of her eye with curiosity.

Jiang Peifeng gave her a gentle smile.

The door closed behind her. Through the poorly soundproofed door, faint sounds of cursing could still be heard.

“Auntie Cheng still doesn’t like her eldest daughter much,” Jiang Zhiyu shook his head and sighed, unable to resist complaining quietly.

This Auntie Cheng was, by extension, an old neighbor of their parents. She and her husband were originally teachers at Chunfeng Middle School. Not long after marriage, she became pregnant. The couple desperately wanted a son, but unexpectedly had a daughter.

Ruan Jiyun had been disliked by her parents since birth, but the heavy “One-Child Policy” loomed over them. The couple had to accept reality, but they were very careless with Xiao Jiyun’s upbringing. When she was three, her confused father almost left his daughter on a public bus. Thanks to a kind person who reported it to the police, she was safely returned.

Then, the following year, Ruan’s mother mysteriously disappeared for several months. When she returned, she looked much more radiant. Gossips secretly spread that she had quietly given birth to a second child in the countryside, who was being raised at the maternal grandmother’s house.

This was a major event at the time. Shortly after, Ruan’s mother was reported by someone with ill intentions to the Education Bureau. The chubby little son was brought home, and the secure teaching job was lost with it.

When Jiang Zhiyu was young, he often heard Auntie Cheng scolding and beating little Ruan Jiyun. Even though he was usually tolerant of women, he couldn’t help but feel some contempt for her behavior.

Jiang Peifeng listened quietly to the curses. After a long while, she said: “More than dislike, it’s like she treats her as an enemy.”

They returned to their home. Jiang Zhiyu carefully checked the gas and electricity. After confirming Jiang Peifeng would be fine alone, he said: “I’ll come to see you on the weekend. Call me anytime if you need anything.”

“I know. Be careful driving,” Jiang Peifeng saw him off. Seeing the elevator doors slowly close, she sighed with relief and wheeled herself back into the apartment.

The summer heat in the room was mostly gone. She wheeled herself to close the windows, pausing when she reached the outermost room.

The room she was in was at the end of the corridor, perpendicular to the kitchen of the neighbors diagonally opposite. Through the window, she saw a familiar figure busy in the kitchen.

Under the faint yellow light, the girl’s delicate face was like a moist flower. With practiced movements, she took the bowls out of the sink and carefully wiped away the water spots one by one with a dry cloth. The light fell on her eyelashes, framing gentle light and shadow.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked up. Jiang Peifeng did not have time to avoid her gaze, and their eyes met.

Ruan Jiyun seemed startled for a moment. Jiang Peifeng looked into her eyes and gave her a friendly smile.

The evening breeze carried the fragrance of gardenias from the windowsill. Her little white flower seemed a bit hesitant, and then she finally curved her lips, cautiously smiling back at her.

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