Ever since driving An Yin back home, despite An Yin repeatedly insisting that she wanted to take the bus herself, the man completely ignored her.
Upon arriving in the neighborhood, An Yin found a less crowded area for the man to stop the car.
Bao Shaojin didn’t speak a word the entire time, his proud face brooding. An Yin sat in the passenger seat, heart pounding with fear, relieved that, at last, she was home.
"Bao Shaojin, goodbye." She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached out to open the car door.
"Take the stuff in the trunk back with you." The man’s clear voice rang out.
"Wha-what?" An Yin suddenly looked up, dazedly watching him.
"It’s almost New Year’s, I prepared some things." Bao Shaojin sat upright, and because of An Yin’s petite stature, he had to look down to see her from his angle.
In truth, he mostly could only see the top of her head since she always liked to hang her head low.
"No need, no need." An Yin looked at the man, waving her hands repeatedly.
"These are for Aunt Zhang, please help take them up." Bao Shaojin quietly looked at her, speaking clearly.
An Yin’s smile stiffened, "Okay."
An Yin obediently got out of the car, went to the back, and saw the trunk already open. Curious about the delicate-looking bags, she wondered what was inside.
After picking them up, the trunk closed automatically.
She walked with small steps to the passenger’s window, and in the next second, as the window rolled down, she saw the man’s firm profile.
"I-I’m leaving now." An Yin’s pale face, only staying out for a bit, had her cheeks frozen red.
Bao Shaojin looked at her shivering figure, his expression cold, "Mm."
Seeing a few people approaching from afar, An Yin, carrying the bags, quickly moved to the other side, and by the time she looked back at the man’s expression, she found that he had already rolled up the window.
With the car’s concealed nature, she couldn’t see the man’s reaction.
After hesitating for a while, she walked slowly towards home.
Through the left side mirror, Bao Shaojin watched the girl’s silhouette. Her earlier action made him feel uncomfortable, as if he was someone not to be seen.
His indifferent eyes took one last look at the girl, her slender waist overlapping with the image of her in the bathroom that night. Bao Shaojin couldn’t help but draw a rough breath, licking his molars, feeling a dry throat.
The urge to drink flared up again.
The man’s cold eyes narrowed, he started the car, and plunged into the traffic.
When An Yin came in with bags of sealed shopping bags, Aunt Zhang couldn’t help but glance behind her.
An Ying was sitting on the sofa, noticing Aunt Zhang’s action, she quietly withdrew her gaze, pretending not to see.
"Why are you carrying so much?" Aunt Zhang took the things from her hands, seeing the girl’s forehead beaded with sweat, "Climbing the stairs with these must be tiring, go quickly wash up, don’t catch a cold."
"Okay, Aunt Zhang." An Yin sat on the sofa, gasping for air, noticing Madam An lying on the sofa, and called out, "Mom."
Aunt Zhang saw her and didn’t urge her.
An Ying’s clear beautiful eyes fell on her daughter, seeming to casually ask, "Did you take the bus back?"
An Yin’s eyes spun a little, clutching the pillow tightly in her arms, "Bao Shaojin brought me back, those things earlier were for Aunt Zhang from him."
An Ying’s gaze fell unobtrusively on the dining table not far away, "Mm."
Seeing that Madam An didn’t interrogate her further, An Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Aunt Zhang, looking at the bags of stuff, smiled faintly, "He’s very polite." Yet, in front of the mother and daughter, Aunt Zhang didn’t open the bags to reveal the contents.
After dinner, Aunt Zhang went downstairs to the senior activity center to join everyone in dancing the square dance.
The reason Aunt Zhang had this interest was that An Ying found her being home every day truly dull, and since Aunt Zhang would occasionally hum little tunes, upon inquiring, she learned that Aunt Zhang had a habit of dancing. So An Ying encouraged her to go out and dance after dinner, not to be confined indoors every day.
When the house was left with only the mother and daughter,An Ying sat upright and called out toward the hall, "Yinyin, come over for a bit."
An Yin was playing on her phone in the hall, she was composing a message on WeChat.
[An Yin: Bao Shaojin, remember to tell me when you get home safe, I]
She stared at the message blankly, realizing the content was inappropriate, she was about to delete some words when Madam An’s voice rang in her ears, her hand shook, and the message was sent out.
"Mom, I’m coming." An Yin hurried to stand up, put on her slippers, and in a flustered manner, managed to withdraw the message.
She let out a long breath.
Fortunately, the man surely hadn’t seen it yet, maybe he was still on his way home? How would he have time to check his phone while driving? An Yin kept comforting herself in her heart.
She thought she was seeing things when she saw ’is typing...’ Her heart raced, and then the man’s message came through.
An Yin was so shocked she tossed the phone on the sofa, nervously heading towards Madam An’s bedroom. Once inside, she sat by the bed, patting her chest repeatedly, looking frightened.
Seeing this, An Ying worriedly asked, "What’s wrong? Not feeling well?" During dinner earlier, An Yin had a stuffy nose and kept wiping it with tissues. Upon inquiry, An Ying found out that her daughter had caught a cold, so seeing her patting her chest lightly, she assumed An Yin was feeling unwell somewhere else. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽
In taking care of her daughter, An Ying was very attentive.
"No-no problem." An Yin denied it outright.
An Ying noticed her daughter’s guilty look, her thoughts stirred, and she had already guessed most of it.
"Yinyin, didn’t you go out with friends this time? Why did you come back after just one day?" An Ying leaned against the headboard, her words soft and gentle, like a lady’s subtle probing.
"Keke had an issue with her boyfriend, I went to comfort her, and later, they made up." An Yin turned her head, looking at the wall, trying to ignore the interactions with Bao Shaojin.
How could An Ying not see her daughter’s thoughts, "Then how did you meet Bao Shaojin?"
"Th-this was an accident." An Yin got nervous, her words stuttered, and her innocent face flushed with a blush, very conspicuous.
An Ying quietly watched her daughter, a touch of worry emerging in her eyes, her lips parted slightly, suddenly asking, "Did you spend the night together?"
Her question made An Yin’s body stiffen, and to reassure Madam An, she tried to force out a smile, speaking with a slight tremor, "Mom-mama, what are you sa-saying? How could we possibly spend the night together?"