Chapter 23 Worries
After the accident was handled, the insurance company will handle the damage assessment and repairs. Jiang Yunyan saw An Kexia and her car off before turning around to look at Jiang Yining, who looked guilty and hung her head after causing the trouble.
He had intended to scold her sternly, but seeing her pitiful state and thinking about everything she had been through, his heart softened completely.
He sighed, ruffled her hair with his large hand, and said in a tone that was both helpless and indulgent, "Alright, it's okay now, it's resolved. From now on, your driving skills..."
He paused, recalling the overwhelming, almost suffocating fear that had washed over him when he received the call, and his voice lowered, "Don't touch the steering wheel. If you want to go anywhere, call a ride-hailing service, or call me and I'll pick you up. If anything else happens to you... your mother might just kill me."
His exaggerated tone revealed undisguised worry and the preciousness of something lost and then regained. Jiang Yining looked up and saw the lingering fear in her cousin's eyes. A warm feeling welled up in her heart, mixed with guilt.
She nodded vigorously and whispered her assurance: "Yes, brother, I'll remember."
His gaze, however, involuntarily drifted back to the direction where the black Porsche had disappeared, and the image of that capable-looking woman with complex eyes flashed through his mind. That fleeting encounter, the undisguised shock in her eyes—it couldn't just be because of the car accident; did she recognize him?
In the hotel room late at night, a faint lemon scent lingered. Jiang Yining sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers unconsciously smoothing the hem of her bright yellow dress, the silk feeling cool to the touch.
The phone suddenly vibrated, and the word "Mom" appeared on the screen. Jiang Yining's heart skipped a beat, and she took a deep breath before answering.
"Ningning," came Jiang's mother's voice from the other end of the phone, sharp and broken with unprecedented sobs, completely devoid of her usual composure, "Where are you? How are you? Are you hurt anywhere? Huh? Talk to me!" In the background, her aunt's anxious, reassuring voice could be faintly heard: "Huifang, don't worry, don't worry, Yunyan said she's alright, just in a car accident..."
Jiang Yining's nose tingled, and she quickly said, "Mom, Mom, I'm fine, really, I'm not hurt at all. I'm in my hotel room now, don't scare yourself." She tried her best to make her voice sound steady and clear.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, followed only by Jiang's mother's suppressed, rapid breathing. After a long while, her voice, thick with nasal congestion and still trembling, finally came through: "It's good that everyone's alright, it's good that everyone's alright, you brat. What kind of driver are you? Huh? Are you... are you trying to scare your mother to death? Do you know how much I felt when I heard the word 'car accident'..." Her words were choked back by sobs, and she couldn't say anything more. The heart-wrenching pain of eight years ago seemed to be brutally reopened by those two words.
Jiang Yining held her phone, her fingertips icy cold. She could imagine her mother's face turning deathly pale and her body swaying precariously when she received the call. Guilt and heartache overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.
She gently pushed open her bedroom door and walked to the door of her parents' room next door. The door was ajar, but she pushed it open and went in. Only a dim bedside lamp was on in the room. Her mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face still wet with tears, her hair slightly disheveled, and she was still clutching her phone tightly in her hand, as if grasping at a lifeline.
Mr. Jiang stood to one side, his brow furrowed, looking at his wife with a face full of worry. His aunt sat on the other side, gently patting Mrs. Jiang's back.
Seeing her daughter walk in unharmed, Jiang's mother's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but her face was still unpleasant, and her dark eyes stared straight at her.
Jiang Yining forced a reassuring smile, trying to ease the tension: "Mom, why aren't you asleep so late? My second cousin's wedding is in a few days. It would look terrible for you to attend the wedding with those big dark circles under your eyes."
"Stop grinning at me!" Jiang's mother suddenly stood up, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger and lingering fear. "Look at the mess you've made! You're such a bad driver, yet you dare to drive on the road? Do you think your mother has too long a life? Do you want to..." The word "again" stuck in her throat, burning her throat, and she couldn't finish her sentence. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"Mom!" Jiang Yining could no longer hold back. She rushed over and hugged her mother's trembling body tightly, disregarding everything else. She hugged her tightly, trying to transfer her strength to her mother, her voice heavy with sobs and more solemn than ever before: "Mom, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I've made you worry. I promise, I will never do it again. Absolutely not. You believe me, you believe me this time."
Feeling her daughter's warm body and trembling promise, Jiang's tense body finally softened little by little. She hugged her daughter tightly back, with such force that it felt like she wanted to meld her into her bones, and a suppressed, broken sob escaped her throat.
Watching the mother and daughter embracing tightly, Mr. Jiang's eyes reddened slightly. He walked over, gently patted his wife's shoulder, and said in a steady, reassuring voice, "Alright, Huifang, it's a relief the child is alright. You must have been terrified. Should we take Ningning to the hospital for another checkup? It's better to be thorough."
Only then did Jiang's mother lift her head from her daughter's arms, her eyes filled with tears as she carefully examined Jiang Yining. She gently touched and checked her arms, shoulders, and face to make sure there was no injury at all, and only then did her heart, which had been hanging in her throat, finally settle down.
She let out a long, trembling breath, and a wave of exhaustion washed over her instantly.
"It's alright, it's alright," she murmured, as if she had used up all her strength, letting her father help her sit back on the edge of the bed. "It's getting late, go to sleep, Ningning, you should go back and rest too."
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