An Yin returned to the dormitory, took a shower, and went straight to sleep. Even though she hadn’t done much, she felt completely drained.
Shi Qing looked at the mound under the pink blanket, where An Yin had curled herself up, with an even breathing coming from inside.
Without any expression, Shi Qing withdrew her gaze and let her eyelids droop.
Just then, the phone on her desk started buzzing.
Slowly, she approached the desk. On it lay an old, battered phone, with two cracks on the screen. If it weren’t for the lit-up display, others would have thought it was broken.
The caller was persistent, dialing repeatedly.
A tinge of disgust flashed in Shi Qing’s eyes.
The same thing happened while she was working at the bar, with the phone constantly ringing, and after work, the harassment began again.
What’s more, even in the middle of the night, knowing full well she was at school, the caller didn’t care about disturbing her, showing that she was not a priority to them at all.
Shi Qing reached out, as if her soul was being drained, weakly gripping the phone and firmly pressing the power button, until the screen went black.
The next moment, she hugged her knees and crouched down, burying her head between her knees, and stayed still for a long time.
Aunt Chen paced back and forth in front of the master bedroom door, holding a bowl of cordyceps soup.
Seeing the bedroom door locked from the inside, Aunt Chen was very anxious. She came closer and coaxed, "Madam, please have a little something to eat."
A weak voice came from inside, "Aunt Chen, you’re wasting your effort, I can’t eat."
"Madam, but how can that be? You haven’t eaten all day." Aunt Chen looked worried, the wrinkles on her forehead deepening.
The room fell silent, as if the person inside didn’t want to talk anymore.
Seeing this, Aunt Chen took the soup downstairs and headed straight to the kitchen.
There was no other choice; she picked up her phone and skillfully dialed a number. Once connected, she said earnestly, "Jingrou, Madam has been feeling unwell these past few days and refuses to go to the hospital. Today, she won’t even eat and has locked herself in the bedroom, not even letting me in."
Aunt Chen spoke with urgency.
"What’s wrong with Mom?"
There was a tone of worry in Shen Jingrou’s voice on the other end of the line.
"Isn’t it because of the Second Young Master? He hasn’t come home for a long time." Aunt Chen sighed deeply.
Ever since the Eldest Young Master passed away, Shen Jingrou moved out of the Lin Family’s home, and eventually, even the Lin Family’s only son, Lin Yue, left the house.
What happened to such a good family? Sometimes Aunt Chen walked through the empty hall and couldn’t help but sigh: So lonely!
Hearing the silence on the other end of the line, Aunt Chen struggled to find the words and looked visibly troubled.
"Aunt Chen, just speak your mind." Shen Jingrou’s tone was calm.
"Then I’ll say it." Aunt Chen held the phone and glanced around, noticing she was alone in the kitchen, then softly said, "Jingrou, could you talk to Ayue?"
There was no response from the other end.
Aunt Chen continued, "You used to get along well with Ayue. Even after marrying into the Lin Family, though there were minor disagreements, Ayue never made things difficult for you, especially after the Eldest..." Realizing her misstep, Aunt Chen quickly corrected herself, "Sorry, I’ve spoken out of turn."
"It’s fine, Aunt Chen, I’ll talk to him."
Shen Jingrou’s voice was steady, betraying no hint of sadness, which made Aunt Chen feel even worse, as such topics always left everyone discomfited!
They both knew the words that Aunt Chen left unsaid.
Especially since the Eldest Young Master’s departure, Lin Yue had protected Shen Jingrou to an extreme degree! Otherwise, Shen Jingrou wouldn’t have been able to take her child and leave the Lin Family back then, considering Lin Tian’ai was Lin Fei’s only daughter.
A family like the Lin Family, mourning the loss of a beloved son, would never allow their granddaughter to leave, yet Lin Yue’s influence behind the scenes was evident, though Shen Jingrou was unaware.
But having stayed close to the Lin Mistress, Aunt Chen knew a little!
After hanging up, Aunt Chen stood in place, looking helpless.
Madam locked the door, she called Jingrou, Jingrou called Ayue...
This cycle had repeated many times over the years; Madam never tired of it, yet Aunt Chen feared that pressuring the Second Young Master into an early marriage might backfire because he valued his freedom. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel•fire.net
However, Aunt Chen never voiced these concerns, especially seeing Madam secretly crying over the Eldest Young Master’s photo, she began to sympathize with her actions.
Now, Madam only had Lin Yue as her son, so naturally, his marriage was of utmost importance.
On Sundays, An Yin habitually slept in.
When she finally awoke, she pulled off the covers, the bright light was uncomfortable for her eyes, and it took a while with her eyes closed to adjust.
Slowly sitting up, she stretched lazily.
At a glance, Shi Qing’s bed was already tidy; it seemed she had gone out.
In the dorm, she was the only one left behind, all alone.
An Yin decided to stay in bed longer, took out her phone, and sent a video to Ms. An.
In the video, Ms. An looked rosy-cheeked, making An Yin quite satisfied. After chatting for half an hour, An Yin reluctantly hung up.
She didn’t mention the part-time job, not a word.
Such matters were better kept from Ms. An!
It wasn’t until half-past eleven that An Yin went to the canteen to eat, unexpectedly running into Su Yifeng.
After greeting each other, they went to get their food, one after the other.
This time, An Yin took more food since she had skipped breakfast, and her stomach was starving.
Watching her focus intently on eating, Su Yifeng’s smile grew.
She was too thin and indeed needed to eat more!
Su Yifeng eyed the vegetables on her plate, slightly furrowing his brow: She should eat more meat!
Oblivious to his gaze, An Yin continued eating.
"Haha... your ’veggie meal’ looks so appetizing, just looking at it is filling, huh!"
At that moment, two boys walked up, shoulders draped around each other, and sat beside Su Yifeng, teasingly.
Upon hearing familiar voices, Su Yifeng quickly shifted his gaze from An Yin and saw that they were his classmates he usually hung out with.
Noticing his futile attempt to hide his feelings, the two classmates burst into laughter, with one of them teasing, "Aren’t you going to introduce your ’friend’?" The last word was deliberately emphasized.
The tips of Su Yifeng’s ears flushed red, betraying his thoughts.
The classmates noticed but said nothing.
Hearing the laughter, An Yin looked up and saw the unfamiliar boys nearby.
"An Yin, these are my classmates, Zhang Jun and Wu Kai," Su Yifeng introduced.