Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The voice was exactly the same as the one she heard in her dream...
Perhaps because of the lush vegetation in Xunning, the summers here are less intensely hot compared to those in Licheng.
This was Jiang Sui's most immediate impression of the town after getting off the bus.
The rusty fan creaked in the small security room, where the middle-aged gatekeeper dozed off in a swaying rocking chair.
Jiang Sui dragged her suitcase and entered the residential area without incident.
Although the neighborhood is a bit old, the environment is quite nice at first glance, especially the greenery, with dense trees and neat lawns that look like they've been carefully manicured.
In the corner, flowerpots held small, unnamed flowers that Jiang Sui didn't know, blooming vibrantly and energetically. On the stone table beneath the large tree, an unfinished chess game lay…
Compared to Licheng, Xunning is indeed backward and conservative, but Jiang Sui likes it here.
Perhaps this is the strange feeling brought about by blood ties; even though she had never been here before, she felt a strange sense of familiarity.
—
After glancing at the address Xu Ze left behind, Jiang Sui pulled her suitcase and hurried towards the apartment building where Su Yinian lived.
Each building in the residential complex has a large building number marked on its wall, so Su Yinian's residence is not hard to find.
However, the building does not have an elevator, and Su Yinian lives on the top floor.
The cement staircase, casting a dark shadow, spirals upwards, seemingly stretching as far as the eye can see.
The note Xu left for Jiang Sui only had an address and no contact information, which meant that Jiang Sui would have to solve everything on her own before she could meet him.
But why not give her her mother's contact information?
Has Xu forgotten?
As Jiang Sui dragged her suitcase up the stairs, she belatedly realized what was going on.
The empty stairwell was filled only with the sound of her footsteps and the occasional thud of her suitcase hitting the floor.
What if Mom didn't even know she was coming?
Xu Ze had never said anything like "Mom is waiting for you at home" to her. Moreover, if Su Yinian had known she was coming, he would have waited for her at the entrance of the community instead of letting her come to the door alone.
But on second thought, Jiang Sui realized it wasn't a big problem.
Consider it a surprise for Mom.
What will her mother's reaction be when she sees her?
Will she cry?
Jiang Sui couldn't help but imagine the scene of her reunion with her mother.
I don't seem tired anymore.
—
Jiang Sui rang the doorbell for a long time, but no one came to open the door for her, not even the family across the hall.
They don't seem to be home.
Only the sweet meows of a cat occasionally answered her.
It seems my neighbor has a kitten.
Jiang Sui didn't have Su Yinian's contact information, nor did she know anyone else here. She had no choice but to wait for him.
She placed her suitcase by the door, sat on the stairs, and waited for Su Yinian to come home while trying to calm her hot and rapid breathing.
Not long after I sat down, several claps of thunder suddenly rang out in the sky, shattering the tranquility of the neighborhood.
Summer rains always come quickly and are dry.
In a short while, large raindrops had already wet the glass windows of the stairwell, leaving the windows covered with winding streaks of water.
Dark and oppressive.
Jiang Sui was trapped in this tiny space and could not move an inch.
Whether it's because Xunning is usually rainy or because today was special, this rain not only came on strong but also lasted a long time without showing any signs of stopping.
The incessant sound of rain filled her ears, like white noise. Jiang Sui couldn't help but yawn, tears welling up in her eyes and forming small teardrops.
The noisy and violent summer rain, carrying a thick, misty vapor, enveloped the neighborhood.
Looking around, everything was veiled in a hazy filter.
Jiang Sui rested her face in her hands, quietly listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the window.
Ever since she learned she was coming to Xunning, she hadn't had a full night's sleep.
Coupled with the exhaustion from carrying her luggage upstairs, the pent-up fatigue surged up all at once, leaving Jiang Sui overwhelmed. Before long, she leaned against the wall and fell asleep.
—
Jiang Sui felt as if she were being haunted by a nightmare.
She was clearly asleep, but she could still sense her surroundings.
The once quiet stairwell was filled with the sound of unhurried footsteps.
Jiang Sui heard it clearly; the sound came from downstairs.
So, who came back?
Is it Mom?
Or are they other people living here?
The footsteps grew closer and closer. Jiang Sui tried to open her eyes to see clearly, but her eyelids felt as heavy as if they weighed a ton, and she couldn't open them no matter what she did.
Suddenly, the footsteps disappeared.
Why are you sleeping here?
At the same time, a low, magnetic voice reached Jiang Sui's ears, carrying a barely perceptible sense of helplessness.
Where else can she sleep if not here? She doesn't even have a key to the house.
Jiang Sui subconsciously pursed her lips, her eyelids still feeling incredibly heavy.
She didn't know who the other person was, but the unfamiliar yet familiar voice unexpectedly made her feel at ease.
Jiang Sui fell back into a dark dream, and when she finally woke up, the rain had stopped.
The sky returned to its azure blue, with layers of clouds and clearly visible traces of birds in flight.
Apart from puddles on the cement ground that were not completely dry, there was almost no trace of the rainstorm.
Jiang Sui turned her neck and waited for the soreness to subside before slowly standing up, leaning against the wall for support.
Why aren't they back yet?
Her gaze followed the spiral staircase downwards.
After the rain stopped, the empty stairwell remained quiet except for the chirping of cicadas. She attributed everything that had just happened to a vague dream.
My mother was probably also caught in the sudden downpour, but now the rain has stopped...
She'll see her soon.
As if fulfilling Jiang Sui's wish, a sound indeed came from downstairs not long after.
Jiang Sui took several deep breaths before she could barely control her increasingly rapid heartbeat, and then leaned down to look down again.
The commotion downstairs grew louder and louder.
The voices of a man and a woman.
They seemed to be arguing about something.
Jiang Sui wasn't interested in other people's affairs. When she realized that the person who had returned wasn't her mother, she sat up straight again, losing interest.
Now she just hopes that these two people aren't her neighbors across the street.
Before meeting her mother, Jiang Sui didn't want to introduce herself to anyone, nor did she want to explain why she couldn't enter her mother's house, and she didn't want to be looked at with strange and suspicious eyes.
—
Neither of the two people, caught up in the argument, noticed the presence of other people in the space.
"Yi Nian".
The man suddenly called out the woman's name.
The name instantly captured Jiang Sui's attention.
Su Yinian did not return alone.
Jiang Sui's pupils constricted slightly.
An extremely subtle thought swelled in her mind.
It made her wonder if she was not awake at all and was still trapped in an absurd dream.
She never imagined that anyone else would appear in her mother's life.
Especially since the other party is a man.
"Next time it rains, just call me and I'll come pick you up. Don't get stuck in the supermarket like today." The man continued talking to himself.
Jiang Sui couldn't help but frown.
His words of concern, delivered in such a commanding and arrogant tone, made one feel very uncomfortable, as if Su Yinian were his personal possession, obligated to obey his every command.
Even though she hadn't even seen the man's face, Jiang Sui's impression of this stranger had already plummeted.
A sudden burst of noisy cicada chirping echoed throughout the neighborhood, simultaneously masking Jiang Sui's quiet footsteps as she moved down the stairs.
Upon reaching the small platform on the second floor, Jiang Sui stopped and refused to descend any further.
She hasn't figured out the current situation yet, and no matter how unhappy she is, she can only choose to wait and see for now.
This corner is safe; not only will you not be discovered, but you can also hear the conversation between the two people downstairs.
Su Yinian's tone was distant and polite: "Teacher Luo, thank you for your kindness, but there's really no need to trouble yourself."
The refusal was obvious in his words.
But whether the other person was pretending to be stupid or genuinely didn't understand her implied meaning, their tone was ambiguous: "Don't be so polite with me, I don't find it troublesome at all."
Su Yinian's expression froze for a moment.
She and Luo Qi were both teachers at the same school. The senior grade director was so enthusiastic that he wanted to match them up, so he took it upon himself to become a blundering matchmaker.
Other teachers at the school probably also felt that this was a match made in heaven, and they always helped Luo Qi, which made Su Yinian's situation more and more awkward.
However, Su Yinian only had a purely professional relationship with Luo Qi. She knew that the longer this matter dragged on, the more troublesome it would become. So she specially asked Luo Qi to meet and make things clear. He said that since she was not interested, he would not force her and they could continue to be colleagues.
The two met even less during the summer vacation, and Su Yinian thought the matter was over.
Until today, she went shopping at the supermarket with some colleagues. A sudden downpour trapped them. Someone told Luo Qi about it, and Luo Qi rushed to the supermarket under the pretext of "helping his colleagues".
Su Yinian was pushed and shoved into the car by them. Amid her colleagues' teasing and Luo Qi's ambiguous attitude, she realized that things seemed to have taken a wrong turn.
"Teacher Luo, I thought we had already made things clear a long time ago."
Su Yinian waited patiently for the deafening cicada chirping to end before looking at Luo Qi seriously. "My attitude toward this matter has never changed. We are just colleagues."
Roach's expression changed slightly. "Are you bothered that I have a daughter? She usually lives with her mother and only comes to visit me during holidays. If that's the reason, I'll talk to her mother and try to reduce the time she spends visiting."
Su Yinian's marital and romantic life has always been a mystery, but she has never been seen to have any intimate contact with other men over the years. Luo Qi privately believes that she is either single or divorced and has no children.
Luo Qi was very satisfied with Su Yinian's terms.
Not only is she beautiful, but she also has a good job.
When he first heard that the head of the grade was going to help him get together with Su Yinian, he was overjoyed, but unfortunately Su Yinian was very indifferent to him.
Since everyone is an adult, and since Su Yinian has no feelings for him, Luo Qi didn't want to make himself look too humble, so he gave up on the idea.
During the summer vacation, Luo Qi went on several blind dates, but the more women he met, the more he missed Su Yinian. In his opinion, none of those women could compare to Su Yinian.
Perhaps Su Yinian rejected him initially out of modesty, or perhaps she wanted to put on airs and control him. If he were willing to lower his stance, Su Yinian might not reject him a second time.
The idea grew stronger and stronger in Roach's mind.
"Feelings can be cultivated. I think we are very compatible in every way. I will be good to you for the rest of my life."
Hearing Luo Qi's promise, Su Yinian's expression gradually turned ugly.
She always spoke softly, with the gentle tone characteristic of the Jiangnan water towns, but now even Jiang Sui upstairs could hear the sarcasm in her tone, "For someone who is not related to you, you would choose to distance yourself from your own daughter. Teacher Luo is truly a good father."
Hearing Su Yinian's merciless words, Luo Qi's dark face turned red and then pale, revealing an embarrassing embarrassment. However, he was reluctant to leave just like that. After all, he had already arrived at her building, and he wanted to do something more to salvage his image in Su Yinian's eyes.
His gaze fell on the shopping bags piled high at Su Yinian's feet, and an idea immediately came to him.
"You must be carrying a lot of heavy things. Let me help you carry them upstairs." The tone, though seemingly inquiring, still carried an air of arbitrariness.
He didn't even give Su Yinian a chance to refuse; as he spoke, his hand had already reached towards the shopping bag.
Luo Qi is a physical education teacher with a strong physique. Although Su Yinian felt that she didn't need to be afraid of him, the natural physical differences between men and women could not be eliminated. When he tried to take her shopping bag, Su Yinian refused repeatedly while consciously backing away.
What is this bastard trying to do?!
Jiang Sui didn't care about anything else and rushed down.
"Teacher Su, let me help you."
Jiang Sui paused, an expression of disbelief appearing on her face.
The voice was exactly the same as the one she heard in her dream.
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