Chapter 17 Rainy Night
When I got home, the rain was still drizzling, wetting the rose bushes in the courtyard, and the petals fell all over the ground.
Yu Bai was uneasy and secretly glanced at Jiang Jizhou's expression, which remained calm.
She wondered what his reaction would be when he saw Lin Yun. She had a feeling that Uncle Jiang would most likely side with Lin Yun and speak harshly to Jiang Jizhou. Would he cry from sadness? Yu Bai's mind was in a mess, but no matter what happened, she would stay by Jiang Jizhou's side.
Pushing open the door, Lin Yun leaned back on the sofa watching TV. When she saw Yu Bai and the others return, she greeted them with a smile.
"Jizhou is back! Your dad is cooking, dinner will be ready soon."
Yu Bai stole a glance at Jiang Jizhou's expression. His expression remained indifferent, revealing no emotion, but it was obvious that the sharp lines of his jawline had tightened slightly.
Yu Bai cautiously tugged at Jiang Jizhou's sleeve, her pleading eyes hoping he would calm down, but Jiang Jizhou only gave her a gloomy smile before walking straight to Lin Yun's side.
Lin Yun looked up at him with a smile, her hand still on her slightly protruding belly, "Ji Zhou, I'm pregnant, you're going to have a little brother."
His tone was gentle, but he inadvertently revealed a boastful and smug expression.
Jiang Jizhou put his hands in his pockets, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips, and said calmly, "Get out of my house."
Lin Yun froze for a second, then said with a hint of anger, "How dare you speak to your elders like that?"
“I said,” Jiang Jizhou paused, “get out of my house.”
Although Jiang Jizhou was not yet an adult, he was tall and slender. His cold and indifferent stare at her was very intimidating. Lin Yun forced a smile and prepared to go to Uncle Jiang for support.
Seeing this, Yu Bai walked over, trying to calm Lin Yun down. She smiled at Lin Yun and said, "Aunt Lin, my brother is just not used to having outsiders in the house right now. Please don't be angry."
Yu Bai wasn't Jiang Shu's daughter to begin with, and the child in her belly was given to Lin Yun as capital. She straightened her back, glared at Yu Bai, and scolded her, "No matter what, you can't be so rude to your elders."
Jiang Jizhou snorted and casually picked up the sky-blue porcelain bottle from the coffee table, smashing it at Lin Yun's feet.
With a loud "bang," shards flew everywhere, startling Lin Yun so much that she jumped up and ran to the kitchen screaming.
Yu Bai was also startled. After calming down, he looked at Jiang Jizhou, who was sitting lazily on the sofa with his thin lips pressed into a line and his eyes filled with barely suppressed ferocity.
A moment later, Uncle Jiang came out of the kitchen with Lin Yun in his arms.
"You bastard!"
Along with Uncle Jiang's roar came Lin Yun's sobs. Yu Bai noticed a bloody scratch on her forehead from a shard of metal.
Jiang Jizhou lazily raised his eyes. "This is my mother's house. Does she even deserve it?"
"You!" Uncle Jiang was furious. "Do you even know that Lin Yun is carrying your younger brother?"
Jiang Jizhou scoffed, "My mother only has one son, me."
"You unfilial son, you unfilial son, you've gone too far!" Uncle Jiang cursed Jiang Jizhou several times, but he was still not satisfied. He looked around, wanting to grab something to hit Jiang Jizhou.
Seeing that nothing was to his liking, he unbuckled his belt to whip Jiang Jizhou, but Jiang Jizhou sneered, grabbed the other end of the belt, and pulled it towards his chest, almost causing Uncle Jiang to fall.
"Jiang Feng, take your vixen and get out of my mother's house."
He smiled casually, but his eyes held an undeniable ruthlessness.
"Fine, fine, you think you're all grown up now, and you don't listen to me anymore." Uncle Jiang was so angry that his face turned pale.
He pulled Lin Yun away from the villa.
The living room returned to calm. The warm yellow light fell on Jiang Jizhou's face. His long eyelashes drooped slightly, casting a small shadow in his deep-set eyes, his expression inscrutable.
Yu Bai sat down next to him, her tone concerned, "Are you alright?"
Jiang Jizhou turned his head to look at her, reached out and rubbed her head, as if suddenly realizing something, "So that's why you came to see me."
"Also, the reason they asked me if I would cry was because of this."
"Fool."
He chuckled, but his tone unconsciously carried a hint of indulgence.
Yu Bai pouted, broke free, and got up to clean up the broken pieces. "This is so expensive, and you just broke it."
Jiang Jizhou thought of the way Lin Yun had glared at Yu Bai earlier, a smile playing on his lips, and he snorted coldly, "I don't like her."
Yu Bai pursed her lips, thinking of Lin Yun's unborn child, who was already receiving Jiang Shu's wholehearted care and love, while Jiang Jizhou showed no concern whatsoever. Yu Bai felt a pang of sadness and heartache.
After a long pause, Yu Bai said, "Don't be sad."
After saying that, she realized she really didn't know how to comfort people, even though she felt almost exactly the same way.
“My mom never cares about me either.” Yu Bai paused, her tone serious. “No matter what, I’m still here, brother.”
After saying that, her face flushed, and she didn't dare to look at Jiang Jizhou's reaction. She lowered her head to pick up the broken pieces.
Jiang Jizhou looked down at her fair and rosy face and her long, flowing hair, and was momentarily lost in thought.
"Ah!" Yu Bai covered his hand, and bright red blood seeped from between his fingers.
Jiang Jizhou snapped out of his daze and immediately squatted down to look at her hand, where he saw a cut from a shard of porcelain.
"I'll go get the first-aid kit." Jiang Jizhou got up somewhat flustered and went to get the first-aid kit.
Jiang Jizhou dipped a cotton swab in iodine and gently placed it on Yu Bai's wound to disinfect it; her fingertips curled up slightly.
"Does it hurt?" Jiang Jizhou frowned, and his pressure became even lighter, as if he were handling a rare treasure.
"It doesn't hurt." Yu Bai shook his head.
The wound wasn't deep, just a shallow cut. After disinfecting it and putting on a band-aid, the bleeding stopped.
"I'll clean it up." Jiang Jizhou told Yu Bai to sit on the sofa and went to tidy up the broken pieces himself.
He picked up a broom and swept the floor clean. He bent over slightly, his posture upright, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Yu Bai couldn't help but stare at him.
"I'm not sad." Jiang Jizhou suddenly looked up at Yu Bai and said. He caught Yu Bai's slightly infatuated look in his eyes. Jiang Jizhou raised an eyebrow and laughed. Yu Bai looked away shyly, her face burning.
"Why...why?" Yu Bai quickly tried to divert his attention.
Jiang Jizhou smiled slightly, not exposing her, "I don't care what he does, as long as he doesn't dirty my mother's house. My mother is the bottom line."
Yu Bai pursed her lips. Jiang Jizhou must love his mother very much. "Hmm, what kind of person is your mother?"
“He is…” Jiang Jizhou’s peach blossom eyes softened gently, then he laughed it off, “a fool just like you.”
Yu Bai's eyes widened. "What?!"
Jiang Jizhou also leaned back on the sofa and sat down lazily, his peach blossom eyes smiling as he watched Yu Bai pout and get angry, but deep sadness was hidden in his eyes.
Yu Bai could tell that Jiang Jizhou didn't want to talk about these things anymore, so he stopped asking.
Because Chen Ma wasn't home, the two of them ordered takeout for dinner. Although Jiang Jizhou pretended not to care, he wasn't in a good mood, and a dark cloud hung over his handsome face.
After finishing his meal, he went back to his room. Yu Bai watched TV absentmindedly in the living room for a while, then washed up and went back to his room to sleep.
As night fell, a gentle autumn rain began to fall.
When Jiang Jizhou awoke with a start from the darkness, it was pouring rain outside. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was a crimson red.
He got up, walked to the French windows, and the cold sweat on his body was dried by the wind.
It was pitch black outside, with white raindrops falling under the streetlights. Amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, Jiang Jizhou's pale face was reflected.
The image of the woman on the hospital bed flashed through Jiang Jizhou's mind.
At the last moment, he held her gradually cooling hand and refused to let go.
"A-Zhou, you must take good care of yourself."
She closed her eyes after she finished speaking, and no matter how much he cried and screamed, she never opened them again.
The man she loved deeply had been having affairs with different women throughout their ten-year marriage, and even the day before she died, he allowed his lover to humiliate her.
Several bolts of lightning flashed in succession, and the white light reflected on Jiang Jizhou's face, making him appear even paler.
In an instant, he was transported back to when he was eight years old. Outside, there was thunder and lightning, but he was all alone in the huge, empty villa. His mother was in the hospital, his father was having an affair, and no one cared about him.
The sound of thunder and lightning was like a harbinger of a monster's arrival, and he could only huddle alone in a dark corner, trembling.
Jiang Jizhou was trapped in that nightmare, his fingertips trembling slightly, his face growing paler and paler.
The knocking on the door brought Jiang Jizhou back to reality.
Jiang Jizhou frowned slightly, walked to the bedroom door, opened it, and Yu Bai's slender figure came into view.
She was wearing white cotton pajamas, long pants and a shirt, printed with a rabbit pattern; she looked cute and well-behaved.
Jiang Jizhou's brows relaxed immediately, but his expression remained calm. "Why aren't you sleeping at two in the morning?"
Yu Bai blinked. Jiang Jizhou was wearing loose silk pajamas, the buttons on the top were loosely fastened, revealing his fair and full chest muscles. Yu Bai blushed.
Because of what Chen Ma had mentioned about Jiang Jizhou's childhood, and what happened at the villa tonight, Yu Bai couldn't help but worry about Jiang Jizhou as the thunder and rain continued all night.
She whispered, "Why aren't you asleep either?"
Jiang Jizhou smiled, "I'm asking you."
Yu Bai made up an excuse, "I'm a little scared."
Jiang Jizhou clicked his tongue, a smile spreading across his eyes. "Alright, I guess I still need my brother's protection."
"You sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."
It was Jiang Jizhou's first time entering a girl's room. The old man was quite good at decorating; the room was decorated in pink and delicate colors, with a pink princess bed and a sheer curtain with subtle shimmer.
Yu Bai sat cross-legged on the bed, looking a little awkward, holding the rabbit doll he had given her in her arms. She looked at him with an innocent expression, looking incredibly cute, like a princess in a castle.
Jiang Jizhou swallowed hard, turned his face away, and smelled a sweet fragrance coming from Yu Bai's room, which slowly eroded his reason.
"Go to sleep quickly." He lay down, took a deep breath to calm himself, and urged Yu Bai to go to sleep. Yu Bai obediently lay down as well.
This was the first time in Yu Bai's life that he had slept in the same room with a member of the opposite sex. Jiang Jizhou was sleeping on the floor next to the right side of the bed.
Yu Bai buried her face in the blanket, only her almond-shaped eyes showing, staring at the ceiling, the sound of rain pattering outside the window, and Jiang Jizhou's steady breathing in her ears.
"Are you asleep?" Yu Bai asked softly.
"Guess," Jiang Jizhou said in a muffled voice, tinged with a laugh.
"Hmph." Yu Bai huffed angrily, her soft, sweet voice sounding like she was being coquettish. Jiang Jizhou took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
"I'm going to sleep," Jiang Jizhou replied softly, his voice gentle. "If I don't sleep now, I won't be able to get up tomorrow."
"Mmm-hmm," Yu Bai obediently agreed.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Jizhou looked up and saw her forearm, which looked like a pink lotus root, peeking out from under the covers. Her fair and soft hand hung down by the bedside.
A flash of white light streaked past the window, and a massive bolt of lightning nearly shattered the glass. Yu Bai, who was already feeling sleepy, was startled awake, and his cold hand outside the blanket trembled.
The next second, Jiang Jizhou's hand grasped that hand. His hand was very hot, and the contrast between hot and cold felt like an electric shock. In an instant, Yu Bai's whole body felt as hot as a boiled shrimp.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Jiang Jizhou's tired, cold voice was unusually gentle.
Yu Bai felt a tingling sensation in her heart, and she gripped his hand in return, her heart pounding like a drum.
"Sleep well, bye-bye." His voice was very soft.
He gently stroked the spot where Yu Bai had the bandage, his silent heartache conveyed through his fingertips.
Yu Bai closed his eyelids, slowly calming his heartbeat.
The rain continued to fall, but Yu Bai felt that the night was exceptionally gentle.
Before long, a strong sense of drowsiness swept over her again, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Listening to Yu Bai's breathing and holding her soft hand, Jiang Jizhou felt a sense of peace. Those unbearable old memories no longer tormented him by replaying in his mind again and again.
I had a good night's sleep.
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Author's Note: Hehe, Jinjiang is so thoughtful, even sending birthday wishes! Everyone who comments on this chapter will receive a red envelope!
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