Ch 10: You Can’t Tell What Someone Is Really Thinking

Under Zhuang Lingyun’s forceful insistence, Xiao Yao was finally sent back to the hospital by him personally.

When getting out of the car, Zhuang Lingyun suddenly stopped her.

He took two insulated food containers from the trunk and handed them to Xiao Yao, “This one contains some nourishing soup I had the kitchen prepare, for your uncle and aunt. This one is for you.”

Xiao Yao looked at the light blue, unpatterned container for her parents, then at the cartoon container with a Mickey Mouse design specifically for herself, her lips curving upward, “What’s different about this one?”

“I made it myself.”

Xiao Yao raised an eyebrow, smiling as she took both containers, “Then, thank you.”

“Go quickly, it’s cold, the soup will get cold and not taste as good.”

Xiao Yao hummed in response, turned and walked a few steps, then couldn’t help but look back at him. Under the dim streetlights, he stood tall and straight in front of the black car, handsome and elegant, his light smile heartwarming.

Xiao Yao’s heart suddenly felt a little flustered, her breathing irregular. A blush crept from her neck to her cheeks, finally spreading to her ears. She hastily waved to him and jogged into the hospital building.

Zhuang Lingyun put his hands in his pockets, leaning against the car, watching Xiao Yao’s back disappear inside the door, for a long time without leaving. The gentle smile at the corner of his eyes lingered.

He tilted his head, looking at the floor where she was approximately located, at the window with the light on, the corner of his lips slightly raised, muttering to himself a few words.

Zhuang Lingyun stood downstairs for over half an hour, smoked three cigarettes, and finally got in the car and left.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yao was being questioned by her mother about the soup’s origin. Xiao Yao’s Mother knew Xiao Yao’s cooking skills well; this soup, whether in color or taste, was top-notch, something Xiao Yao certainly couldn’t make.

Xiao Yao didn’t want her mother to continue questioning her relationship with Zhuang Lingyun. She knew her mother’s ability to get to the bottom of things was terrifying; one false step and the story of that night couldn’t be hidden. Then Father and Mother would definitely use the opportunity to ‘correct family conduct’ and punish her on the spot, wouldn’t they?

Xiao Yao didn’t dare say, so she casually claimed it was bought from a restaurant.

Xiao Yao’s Mother looked at her nervous expression, still unconvinced and pressed on, “You bought it from a restaurant, yet you used your own container? And I see this container is quite new, newly bought, right? Look, there’s still a label on it, how much? Five hundred?” The last word’s intonation almost reached the ceiling, showing her shock, “They’re robbing people! This broken lunch box costs five hundred?”

“Hey, why are you shouting, my ears…” Xiao Yao’s Father helplessly glared at Xiao Yao’s Mother, “That label is just randomly stuck on, supermarkets often do this, have a big promotion, a 90% discount, it’s only fifty-something yuan.”

“Oh.” Xiao Yao’s Mother thought that made sense.

Xiao Yao subconsciously glanced at the bottom of her Mickey Mouse lunch box, and sure enough, there was a label, the price on it even more outrageous, over two thousand…

Xiao Yao’s Mother quickly snatched the Mickey Mouse lunch box. Upon closer inspection, her expression calmed, she opened the lid and sniffed, her smile deepening, “My Yaoyao is so good at taking care of herself, remembering her parents while ordering herself a Sweet Rice Wine Egg Yuanzi Soup, but haven’t you not eaten this for a long time? Before you wanted to supplement your lack of chest development, but now, with your current chest…still not satisfied?”

Xiao Yao looked down at her full bust, her face turning red, “Mom, can you not mention this?”

Xiao Yao’s Father snorted, glaring at Xiao Yao’s Mother again, “The child is so grown up, yet you’re so careless with your words!”

“It’s just a joke…”

Xiao Yao ended up carrying the Sweet Rice Wine Egg Yuanzi Soup to the windowsill to eat, leaving her father to scold her mother without intervention.

From the windowsill, Xiao Yao could see the night view downstairs and, coincidentally, Zhuang Lingyun still there, leaning against his car, looking up at her floor.

The snow covered the ground, making the night sky seem brighter.

Her gaze, through the void and sparse, fleeting snowflakes, was on him. She knew he couldn’t see her, but still couldn’t help blushing.

She glanced at her wristwatch; she’d been up here for over ten minutes, and he still hadn’t left?

With a temperature of below minus twenty degrees Celsius, if he didn’t leave soon, he’d catch a cold.

She subconsciously reached for her mobile phone to call him, but suddenly realized she didn’t have his number, so she could only give up. She watched him for a while longer before he put out his cigarette and got into his car to leave.

For the first time, Xiao Yao felt a soft, gentle feeling in her heart, as if filled to the brim. It was a little sweetness and anticipation that she had never experienced with Shen Mingzhe.

After his car disappeared from sight, Xiao Yao came to her senses, suddenly feeling somewhat frivolous about her sudden emotional reaction. It had only been a short time since they met; hadn’t she learned her lesson from Shen Mingzhe?

Hearts are unpredictable; there’s no such thing as a free lunch, no pie in the sky, and no one will fall head over heels for you without reason.

There must be some reason, she just hasn’t seen through it yet.

As soon as this thought arose, the small flame that had just been ignited was instantly doused by a bucket of cold snow, extinguished, leaving only wisps of smoke.

For the next two days, Zhuang Lingyun would appear punctually at the hospital entrance to pick up and drop off Xiao Yao. Even if she repeatedly refused, he remained unmoved.

Even if she deliberately avoided him, leaving through the hospital’s back yard, he still wouldn’t leave empty-handed. If he couldn’t find her, he’d bring gifts upstairs and chat with her parents before leaving.

Xiao Yao’s Mother couldn’t praise Zhuang Lingyun enough. After days of her whispering in Xiao Yao’s Father’s ear, he also changed his opinion slightly and occasionally said things like this in front of Xiao Yao:

“That boy, Zhuang, is quite good-looking, and his height is fine too.”

“This Zhuang Lingyun is quite polite, a hundred times better than that Shen Mingzhe kid, no, they’re not even comparable.”

“Hmm…Little Zhuang is very friendly, knowledgeable, and his business acumen is also good, he’s a capable young man.”

Listen to the change in address, from ‘that boy Zhuang’, to using his full name, and finally to the intimate ‘Little Zhuang’, all within just two days.

It’s hard to say whether Zhuang Lingyun is amazing, or if her father is too weak-willed, or if her mother’s whispering is too effective?

However, compared to her father’s opinion, the guilt she felt for her brief moment of infatuation eased considerably.

It couldn’t be called frivolous on her part. After all, even her father, a man who had seen much of the world and had stubborn ideas, was won over by Zhuang Lingyun, so it wasn’t strange that she would be swayed. After all, she’s still young, inexperienced in the world, and easily tempted by the flashy world; it’s understandable.

The day Xiao Yao’s father was discharged from the hospital was the end of Xiao Yao’s holiday, and she had to return to work.

Xiao Yao originally wanted to take another day off to send her father home and settle him in before going to work.

But she couldn’t resist her parents’ urging; they kept saying it was fine, there wasn’t anything to carry, they could just take a taxi home. They firmly refused to let her take another day off, so Xiao Yao could only obediently obey and go to work.

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