SWG Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The promised warm embrace didn’t materialize. Instead, the other person retreated slightly, letting cold air seep in, chilling Ruan Shengyi awake.

She blinked, sniffled, and whispered weakly, “Wha… what’s wrong?”

Shouldn’t she be hugged, told she was a poor, pitiful thing, then have her head and shoulders patted to reassure her that everything was alright, that it was all in the past?

Why the sudden release from the embrace? Did it feel… like she needed to calm down on her own?

She fumbled for her phone, but before she could light up the screen, her hand was pressed back down. The woman’s voice was slightly cold, as she said in a low voice, “No light.”

“You…”

“Are you calm now? Still going to talk nonsense?”

“… ” So that’s it…

Ruan Shengyi immediately softened, gently clutching her sleeve, whispering, “I won’t say it anymore, okay?”

Her cheek was gently cupped by soft fingers, then slowly massaged, as a warm voice said, “And you’re not allowed to think about it either.”

“Okay.”

Ruan Shengyi, filled with wishful thinking, burrowed deeper into the embrace, gently resting her head on the other woman’s shoulder, slowing her breathing.

Despite her words, the self-reproach in her heart couldn’t be so easily dispelled. The accumulated, yet powerless anger caused her physical pain, making her head ache intensely every time she thought about it.

Fortunately, this time someone was there to hug her, gently embracing her, stroking the back of her head, and saying softly, “You are the one who gave her strength, not the one who caused her pain.”

“Think about it, if it weren’t for you, she might not have been willing to support herself and walk step by step, right?”

“She was an adult then, and she understood the consequences she would bear when she made her decision. How could she want you to bear this pain?”

“Besides, if I hadn’t met you, I would still have given birth to Anqi. Maybe she would have had a less happy childhood, but she would have a mother who loves her very, very much. But that doesn’t mean Anqi decided my life; it means I decided her life.”

“Right?”

Ruan Shengyi was silent.

She didn’t know how to answer, tears streaming silently down her face, her throat feeling blocked, urging her to hug the person in front of her tightly.

But Xiao Wenyu didn’t push her, just smoothed the slightly ruffled long hair, and after a long while, said with a hint of a smile, “No wonder the Ruan boss was so angry back then, or rather, so scared?”

Some hidden thoughts were vaguely exposed, and Ruan Shengyi, besides feeling sad, also felt a little embarrassed, and could only hum softly, saying, “So, don’t scare me anymore, I’m really scared.”

Yes, the overflowing care and mixed worries, just a little bit of it showing could move a person to tears, and break their heart.

Xiao Wenyu looked down at her in the dim light, her eyes flickered, and she hummed softly, “I promise you.”

I will do my best, and try not to make you sad.

She wiped away Ruan Shengyi’s tears and asked gently, “And then? Later…”

“Later…”

Later, whether Song Xiuyi finally had his fill of fun or found someone new outside, one day, he finally agreed to a divorce.

But heaven had eyes. The day after she agreed to the divorce, a car accident took her life. She was crushed to death by two large trucks and torn to pieces. Ruan Shengyi hid it from Ruan Qing and went to claim the body.

She secretly brought a small knife, intending to see if that person was really dead, and if not, give her two more stabs. But when she saw the indescribable pile of things, she laughed and vomited, and ran all the way home with the death certificate and the knife.

This was the consequence she deserved. She was finally dead.

Ruan Shengyi only had this one thought in her mind.

She ran all the way home, and because she had just vomited, stars were still flashing before her eyes as she entered the house, and she almost fell to the ground. But she still supported herself with her legs and moved step by step into the bedroom. Looking at Ruan Qing, who was rarely quietly closing her eyes to rest, she told her the good news.

That was 2011, and she was fourteen years old.

Song Xiuyi had no parents, and Ruan Shengyi was quick-witted. She brought Ruan Qing, who was quite lucid for those two days, and handled all the funeral arrangements before any of the relatives could react. Thus, all the property naturally belonged to the two of them, along with the income Ruan Qing had earned over the years, which was a considerable sum.

Ruan Shengyi cried for a long time in Ruan Qing’s arms, her voice hoarse as she said they had finally made it through.

At that time, Ruan Qing just caressed her head with a loving expression, without saying a word.

“…Many years later, when Ruan Qing finally couldn’t bear the pain anymore, I understood the meaning of that loving smile.”

“Because only I had made it through. The accident took that person away, and the illness took my mother away.”

Ruan Shengyi’s tears had already dried at this point. She was tired of crying. Nearly ten years had taken away almost all of her tears, so that when she cried now, she would always run dry after a while.

There would never be a more difficult time than that period.

She selectively told the story of the past. As for some things that were too disgusting, too painful, and some long-lasting regrets, there was no need to tell them, right?

For example, there was no need to tell Xiao Wenyu that she had also been admitted to Yecheng Normal University, only three years younger than her.

She sniffled and said, “I used to have another name, Ruan An, An for peace of mind, An for tranquility. Later, before Ruan Qing left, she took me, already an adult, to change my name to Ruan Shengyi.”

A long silence filled the tent, so long that Ruan Shengyi began to wonder if she had said too much, when a warm yellow voice from across the dust of time gently rang in her ears—

“An’an, you’ve really grown into a very excellent adult.”

It wasn’t a hallucination, but the woman used her naturally gentle voice to create a dream for Ruan Shengyi.

The calendar in the dust turned page after page, finally reaching a day in late 2024 when dreams could come true.

Ruan Shengyi hugged her dream tightly, her voice hoarse from crying, trembling with longing, “Xiao Wenyu, I really like you so much…”

“I really like you so much.”

She seemed to have become a repeating machine, only able to say this one sentence while leaning on the person’s shoulder, repeating this sentence over and over, even if her voice became even hoarser, it didn’t matter.

Xiao Wenyu gently patted her shoulder, one after another, for a long time, and then sighed softly, chanting, “Me too.”

*

When did she start liking her?

Xiao Wenyu poured water and couldn’t help but ask herself.

It wasn’t that she was narcissistic, but someone was acting too much like a child after crying today, humming and whining that she wanted to drink water, as if she would hum and whine and ask her when she started liking her in the next second.

It seemed to be when that guy took back the wine glass that had already been pushed over, that this clumsy and cowardly little boss had already attracted her attention, right?

The subsequent tests were too clumsy, so clumsy that she didn’t seem like a twenty-seven-year-old at all, but when she thought of the first love she heard that night, it seemed that all the subsequent clumsiness had a reason to be understood.

But those eyes were really bright, making people want to fall into them and get closer to her.

Xiao Wenyu turned around, leaned against the car door, stroked the back of her neck with one hand, and sighed softly.

The last time she dragged on with that person for several months and was still considered fast by the Great Cat Lady, this time… it was faster, and with such a little one. She wondered how the Great Cat Lady would scold her.

She was inexplicably a little scared.

“You, what are you sighing about?”

The person who had just cried simply packed up the tent and walked out from behind the car, supporting her neck, pursing her lips, “That…was I crying and bothering you?”

She seemed to have cried for too long, so long that her eyes were still swollen, and her voice was hoarse and low, sounding a little… fragile and annoying.

Xiao Wenyu smiled helplessly and raised her hand, “Come over and drink water.”

“It’s a good thing I brought a super large thermos, come and see if it’s still hot.”

The slightly timid and cowardly person walked over, took the water, and also leaned against the car door, her eyes slightly lowered, looking at the still steaming cup in her hand, slightly dodging the misty clouds.

She should have taken the right step, right?

“Scared?” Xiao Wenyu gently touched her forehead, “Why aren’t you talking?”

“…You just now.”

Xiao Wenyu twitched the corners of her mouth, “I was thinking about how to bring you home to introduce you to my mom.”

She couldn’t help but hold her forehead, “The one you met was my Ama, my mother she… is a completely different personality, um.”

She couldn’t even think of how to describe the Great Cat Lady at home, ordinary words might not be able to describe her.

She didn’t notice that the cautious person beside her suddenly stiffened and asked softly, “Does Auntie hate people like me?”

“It’s not… never mind.” Xiao Wenyu hugged the cup in her hand, pressed it to her chest, and looked up slightly at the starry night sky, “There will always be a way, let’s talk about it when the time comes.”

She had plenty of experience in fighting the Great Cat Lady.

Um!

She exhaled another breath of mist, “It’s cold, but I don’t want to go back.”

“Then lie in the trunk first, it’s a little warmer.”

The back seats were folded down, instantly creating a wide trunk space, enough for two people to lie down safely, and just enough to see a small piece of the night sky through the sunroof.

The night was darker, and the stars shone even brighter.

Ruan Shengyi’s heart was pounding, and she secretly stretched out her hand, about to touch it but wanting to take it back, but the other person quickly grabbed it, and then gently shook it.

Silly.

She turned her head to look, and the corners of Xiao Wenyu’s mouth were carrying a faint smile, vaguely, not very clear.

So beautiful.

Ruan Shengyi looked greedily, thinking, and then pulled herself out again, looking at the night sky.

She couldn’t be too greedy, it would scare her.

Suddenly, the person beside her asked softly, “What kind of person is Auntie Ruan? If I want to see her, what should I prepare?”

Ruan Shengyi’s breathing stagnated, she chuckled softly, and said, “She loved beauty, was very good at crafts, and had a very good aesthetic sense. At that time, the family’s income was actually from a small tailor shop she ran. When she was lucid, her embroidery skills were very high. Although my clothes at that time were all washed and faded, I liked them very much, because there were patches she embroidered on them, little rabbits, little foxes, all so beautiful.”

Embroidery is to some extent interconnected with photography. A good tailor will leave memories of the past on clothes, and a good photographer will shape the moments that need to be commemorated into photos. Whether it is a small patch or this photo, they are all gifts left by time.

“After she wasn’t lucid, she couldn’t pick up the needle anymore. During that time, she relied on washing clothes for others. It was already many years after the millennium, and washing machines had long been popularized, but there were still people who would send clothes over. People’s hearts are neither cold nor warm, just the right temperature.”

While Ruan Shengyi was talking about these things, Xiao Wenyu turned her head to look at her.

Ruan Shengyi had a talent for telling stories. When she was immersed in the past, a pair of eyes twinkled with starlight, breathing with the world outside the sunroof.

“Later, that dog died. It died so wonderfully, so we also earned a lot of compensation. Saving a little would be enough to spend for many years, and our life was a little more comfortable.”

Ruan Shengyi breathed a sigh of relief, turned her head, and met a pair of warm eyes.

Thump thump thump.

The sound of her heartbeat echoed like thunder in the small car.

Xiao Wenyu bent her eyebrows, “Do you want to go back and see her?”