Who serves whom
Jiang Yilin gave her a cryptic look, then stopped and unexpectedly bent down, hooking his long arm around her waist and using his body to block her view.
He wanted her to be able to see only him wholeheartedly.
Just as Jin Xilu subconsciously thought he was about to reach out and touch her head again, the hand that was around her waist left her. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then he grabbed her wrist forcefully. She cried out in pain, but there was no tenderness or concern in his eyes. He used a lot of force, and she felt like he was about to crush her bones.
Jiang Yilin grabbed her wrist and dragged her away, pressing her against a nearby tree trunk. That chilling, bone-piercing feeling on his back returned. He blinked, and just then, a leaf fell from the tree and landed on her eye, which he saw.
He leaned down, his hand still gripping her wrist tightly. The distance between them gradually closed, and Jin Xilu could feel her face burning up. Only her wrist, which he was holding, was cold, so cold that it made her wonder if Jiang Yilin was a normal person.
The contrast between hot and cold was relentless, assaulting all her senses and causing her skin to react in waves. She felt a breath of cold air blow across her eyes, and the next second a leaf fell and landed on her lips. The pores on the back of her hand contracted, sending a chill down her spine.
The air conditioning shifted its position, moving to the side. His lips brushed against her earlobe and then pressed close to her earlobe. She heard his voice become even hoarser and deeper.
"Jin Xilu, didn't you want to repay a debt of gratitude?"
Jin Xilu couldn't answer and stared at him blankly.
"Then come to my side and wait to be tortured by me."
He lifted her chin, his tenderness lasting only three seconds before he released her face, his breath coming in short gasps. Standing three steps away, he looked at the stunned Jin Xilu, his cold smile turning his pale face a rosy hue.
The thought that he was mocking her made Kim Hee-ro feel a pang of jealousy, but she couldn't help but think back to the past, when she was the one who had been mocking her.
Now the roles have been reversed.
Jin Xilu hadn't really felt it when Song Yanan said that Jiang Yilin had changed, because based on the few minutes she met yesterday, she felt that Jiang Yilin was still Jiang Yilin, he was just a little colder than before.
But just now, Jin Xilu was certain that Jiang Yilin had changed; he had become even more sinister.
Having done all this, Jiang Yilin was certain that Jin Xilu wouldn't dare follow him any further, and finally felt at ease enough to walk down the mountain.
The two descended the mountain one after the other, avoiding the dense windows along the street, and scattered at the intersection.
Jin Xilu dragged her heavy and tired body home and was pleasantly surprised to find that the filling of her quilt had been changed to soft new cotton. She took off her coat, lay down on the quilt, buried her face in it, and smelled the faint scent of soap.
She had smelled this scent on Xin Xuan before. Was it her?
What a coincidence! After I was injured during the day, it was she who came to deliver the medicine.
Jin Xilu rolled over, staring at the paper-covered ceiling of the old house, trying hard to recall if she had ever interacted with Xin Xuan when she was a child, especially with her grandmother...
As she pondered, sleepiness overwhelmed Kim Hee-ro's consciousness. The yellow oil lamp flickered, and she drifted off to sleep.
Kim Hee-ro woke up in the middle of the night because she wasn't covered by a blanket and was cold. She shrank her neck and couldn't even open her eyes. She moved her body to try to get under the covers when suddenly her left shoulder bumped into something.
Something rolled under the bed; judging from the sound, it was quite a large thing.
Before falling asleep again, Kim Hee-ro thought, "Is it rats again? Looks like I'll have to go to the street and buy some rat poison tomorrow."
Sanhua was lying under the bed with its tongue sticking out. Today it was its turn to guard the girl who was supposed to be the god. It was sleeping soundly when it was kicked off the bed.
"A cat fallen into the plains is bullied."
Sanhua jumped onto the bed, changed its position, turned its butt towards the girl's feet, rubbed its chubby face, and fell soundly asleep, completely forgetting what the gods had instructed it before they came.
So much so that even when the sun was high in the sky the next day, it only lazily rolled over, exposing its belly, drool around its mouth, until it felt its whiskers itch a little. When it opened its eyes, a girl's bare face appeared in front of it.
"Oh my god, how am I still sleeping here!" The calico cat meowed and rolled over, its fur standing on end, almost falling off the bed.
Thankfully, the human girl couldn't hear its thoughts. Thinking of this, the calico cat listlessly lay back down on the blanket. Oh well, it couldn't have done anything wrong. It would wait for the orange cat to come back and clean up the mess.
After hearing the cat meow, Jin Xilu looked at the cat in front of her, or rather, the cat in the car. The cat was very well cared for, with glossy fur and clean black and white fur. Its paws were pink like early spring peach blossoms.
She felt the cat looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, and it didn't seem like a stray cat that no one wanted in the neighborhood, so she started teasing the cat: "How did you end up on my bed?"
The calico cat was pretending to be asleep and ignoring her, but suddenly it heard the orange cat's footsteps and immediately opened its eyes and stood on the bed, its cat eyes shining like stars.
"Huh? What's wrong with you?" Kim Hee-ro asked, puzzled, and looked back in the direction the cat was looking.
Another cat has arrived, this time it's an orange cat of a different color.
As she looked at the two cats, Kim Hee-ro remembered where she had seen them before.
Oh my god! Why didn't Jiang Yilin keep a close eye on her cat? It ran into her house.
Not to mention him as a person, she can't afford to offend even his pampered cat.
From Jin Xilu's perspective, it was clear that the orange cat had come looking for its companion. It angrily meowed at the calico cat on the bed a few times, and when it saw that the calico cat was unwilling to leave, the orange cat raised its chin, stuck out its rear end, and gracefully took small steps away.
Looking at the orange cat and then at the calico cat on her own bed, Kim Hee-ro sighed and decided to send the cat back as soon as possible. If it got hurt or injured at her house later, she really wouldn't be able to explain herself.
Although she said that, she wasn't entirely honest with herself; she just wanted to find an excuse to see Jiang Yilin again.
"Sweetie, I'll take you home gently, don't scratch me, okay?" Jin Xilu stretched and tied up her blue hair. When she talked to the little animal, her voice unconsciously became high-pitched.
Jin Xilu originally thought that the calico cat would resist and avoid her, but in reality, the calico cat was lazy and very cooperative.
Finally holding the calico cat, Kim Hee-ro's smile never stopped. She could now understand how Jiang Yi-lin felt about raising a cat.
This feels so good! It's so soft and fluffy, like a warm, fluffy ball. It's so nice to pet.
Holding the cat, Jin Xilu walked to the Jiang family's door and glanced at the empty courtyard. The roses in the flower bed looked withered and didn't seem to have many flowers at first glance, but they were very fragrant.
Seeing that there was no one in the yard, she breathed a sigh of relief. In broad daylight, the cat had clearly run into her house on its own, but for some reason, she felt very guilty whenever it got close to Jiang Yilin.
The conflicting feelings of wanting to see him, yet not wanting him to see her, were laid bare at this moment.
As Jin Xilu entered the courtyard, she rubbed the cat's head and was about to squat down to put the cat down when she heard someone jump down from the fence behind her.
"Tsk, what? Didn't you walk into this courtyard by yourself? Did someone kick you out?" The man's calm tone seemed to carry a hint of dissatisfaction.
The calico cat reacted even faster than her, jumping up in surprise as soon as it landed and running towards the person behind it.
Jin Xilu doubted her eyes. Where did Jiang Yilin come from? She had just checked that there was no one in the yard. Why did they have to come out at this particular time, just when she was about to leave?
“No, your cat.” Kim Hee-ro stood there, watching him kneel on one knee and peel the rose petals off his hair. He didn’t seem surprised to see her, and continued to idly pat the cat’s head with his slender fingers.
The calico cat was so coaxed into a limp state that it leaned against the sleeve of his other arm, completely forgetting who had brought it back.
She wasn't sure if Jiang Yilin was even listening to her, so she repeated herself, "Okay, I've brought your cat back. I'm leaving now."
Without waiting for Jiang Yilin's reply, he stood up and prepared to run away first, not wanting to get in their way.
Unexpectedly, when she stood up, Jiang Yilin also stood up while holding the cat. She took a step forward, and he followed her forward two steps. Then she saw his body, which was two heads taller than her, blocking the door and standing in front of her.
"Didn't you say no one was chasing you? Why are you leaving?" Before he could finish speaking, the cat in his arms opened its eyes, its two round little bean eyes staring at him. Then, as if someone had pressed a button, it reluctantly followed Jiang Yilin's words and let out a long meow.
"Meow-"
Perhaps because she had been swallowed by Jiang Yilin too many times in the past two days since she returned, Jin Xilu couldn't hold back any longer. She turned back after walking to the door and retorted, "Can't you leave?"
She accidentally blurted out what was on her mind; she was inherently unwilling to admit defeat, and she wasn't one to be someone else's parrot.
Jiang Yilin paused for a moment, as if she hadn't expected her to be sarcastic, but her face remained as cold as ice, and her tone was equally icy, "Come in first. Didn't you say you were going to pay back that 100,000 yuan?"
Damn it, I was half asleep and forgot I owed someone 100,000 yuan when I woke up. I had promised to work for him for three months.
Jin Xilu bit her tongue awkwardly and followed him into the house. She was immediately drawn to the breakfast spread out on the large round mahogany table. Her grandmother was putting freshly squeezed soy milk on the table. Her grandmother looked indifferent and seemed to have nothing in mind about the breakfast on the table. She was not surprised at all by the arrival of Jin Xilu, a stranger.
The lantern-shaped rice cake, sprinkled with chili powder, was crystal clear. The fragrant lard brushed on the skin was irresistible. In front of her was a bowl of pork liver and shredded pork rice noodles. The tender pork liver and shredded pork were soaked in the soup, with rings of oil floating on the surface. Bright red, diced, fresh and sweet millet peppers were sprinkled on most of the bowl, making it mouthwatering. Looking at this bowl of rice noodles that she had been longing for, Jin Xilu's stomach rumbled loudly.
Grandma, who was wrapping mochi with fried dough sticks, heard this, glanced at Jin Xilu, and then quickened her pace. Her wrinkled fingers deftly used chopsticks to pick up the mochi made from local glutinous rice. The smooth, chewy, translucent, and plump mochi was rolled twice in black sesame crumbs before being pinched up at both ends and coated with fresh white sugar. Her other hand was already prepared, with the crispy fried dough sticks folded in half, ready to be stuffed into the mochi.
Just as Jin Xilu thought the standing grandmother was going to give the fried dough stick and glutinous rice cake to Jiang Yilin, the warm dough stick touched the back of her hand.
Grandma's eyes remained fixed on the table, and when she handed it over, her tone was flat: "You eat."
Jin Xilu was a little surprised and said thank you. She took the fried dough stick wrapped in mochi and started eating it. It was delicious. The crispy fried dough stick was wrapped in mochi with a strong sesame and rice aroma.
The familiar fried dough sticks wrapped around mochi was her favorite and most convenient breakfast when she was in school.
Just as she was still confused about Jiang Yilin's purpose in calling her over, and was still wondering if Jiang Yilin was just going to make her stand at the door and watch him slowly eat breakfast, she noticed that Jiang Yilin, who was sitting at the head of the round table, glanced at her and said impatiently in a drawn-out tone.
"You're blocking the light, sit down right now."
"oh."
Jin Xilu, with a chewy fresh mochi still in her mouth, puffed out her cheeks, pushed back her stool and sat down with a thud. While eating, she stared at Jiang Yilin with wide eyes, trying to get him to speak quickly and not leak out bits of information like he was constipated.
As soon as she sat down, the grandmother next to her moved the pork liver and lean meat rice noodles in front of her over, gesturing for her to eat. Jin Xilu picked up her chopsticks but hesitated for a moment, and then she heard Jiang Yilin across from her say something.
"Eat breakfast first, and I'll tell you about your tasks for today after you've finished."
Hearing these words, Jin Xilu felt relieved. No longer caring about Jiang Yilin swallowing the last bite of sweet and fragrant mochi, she soaked the remaining half of the fried dough stick in the rice noodle soup, picked up the smooth rice noodles with chopsticks, and slid them down into her stomach along with a few small chili peppers. The fresh and spicy soup scraped her tongue, and the pork liver stir-fried with red chili peppers and ginger danced wildly on her tongue. Every bite was a great satisfaction.
The last time I sat at the same table with Jiang Yilin for breakfast was when they were in their third year of junior high school. Jiang Yilin didn't have much of an appetite in the morning; a little dumpling or rice cake would fill her up. So usually, Jin Xilu would sit at the table and happily slurp up her noodles, while Jiang Yilin would sit near the door, watching his watch and telling her the time.
Thinking of this, Jin Xilu continued to pick up the mugwort cake with her chopsticks, stood up and glanced at Jiang Yilin's bowl of bitter greens without making a sound. There was so much bitter greens in the bowl before she sat down, and after she sat down and ate more than half a bowl of rice noodles, there was still so much porridge in the bowl. You could vaguely see that only the few thin pieces of bitter greens floating on the surface of the porridge had moved.
This person is as picky and difficult to please as ever.
While thinking about it, Jiang Yilin accidentally dropped a radish-filled mugwort cake into her porridge bowl. The cake landed squarely, creating a dent in the porridge and splashing rice water. Two pieces of bitter greens even clung comically to the corners of Jiang Yilin's mouth.
"Jin Xilu!"
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