Perhaps playing too hard, Jiangjiang immediately fell asleep on his way back home. It was not easy for Xia Yu to open the door while holding him. She tried several times without success and felt really anxious when suddenly, she heard a voice say,
"Let me help you with your bag!"
Xia Yu looked over her shoulder. A light-complected and handsome guy was looking at her.
"That"s very kind of you. Please help me open the door then," Xia Yu said to the guy.
The guy took Xia Yu"s bag in which he found the key and then opened the door for her.
Xia Yu put Jiangjiang in his small bed and then cleaned the room thoroughly. Hardly had she take a rest after the fatiguing cleanup when Jiangjiang started crying again in the room. Xia Yu rushed to the room right away, only to find that he was dreaming, perhaps about something horrible that scared him.
Xia Yu shook her head. Seeing that Jiangjiang went fast asleep, she gently closed the door and went out.
She opened the fridge and found nothing in it. Then she stood up and decided to go out and buy some noodles. Just as she walked out, the door of the opposite house was opened. There came out a beautiful young lady with light make-up on. She saw Xia Yu and said with a smile, "I haven"t seen you before. You just moved in, right?"
Xia Yu said, "I came here to take care of my friend"s kid. I"ll stay here for a few days temporarily." They walked to the lift while talking.
"Then we are neighbors. I"m Yang Ling," the girl said like they were friends already, without waiting for Xia Yu to respond. "The kid living in the opposite house is quite cute. I bet he"ll be very handsome in the future!"
Just as she finished, the lift opened and there came out a very handsome guy at his 20s. The girl"s eyes were lit up and her face reddened.
After coming out from the lift, the guy headed to the other way. Yang Ling, beside Xia Yu, still looked back every now and then. Everybody could tell from her expression and look that she liked that guy.
Realizing that Xia Yu was looking at her, she smiled embarra.s.sedly.
They parted after they went out of the neighborhood. Xia Yu went to the supermarket and came right back home as soon as she bought the noodles. Jiangjiang was left at home and he might cry if she wasn"t there with him when he woke up. Fortunately, he wasn"t awake when Xia Yu got back.
Xia Yu ate a bowl of noodles and then took a shower. Right after she finished bathing, Jiangjiang was crying loudly, perhaps because he couldn"t find Xia Yu when he woke up. Xia Yu scooted to the room and held him from the bed. No wonder he cried suddenly. On his delicate skin was a big red mosquito bite. Xia Yu rubbed the ointment to it. There was indeed a mosquito in the room. Xia Yu wondered how it could make it to such a high building.
The mosquito bites in autumn were extremely painful. Therefore the kid couldn"t stop crying. Xia Yu hugged and coaxed him for quite a while.
Suddenly, there were loud noises of doors banging. Xia Yu was startled, so was Jiangjiang in her arms. He put his arms around her, eyes filled with terror.
Xia Yu came to the doorstep with Jiangjiang in her arms. Hardly had she asked who was there, there came through a woman"s yelling: "Who can sleep well with the child crying so loudly in the middle of the night?"
Xia Yu opened the door while coaxing the child. There stood a man and a woman who seemed to be a couple. The woman was in pajamas and the man in a T-s.h.i.+rt. Both were black in the face.
"I"m very sorry. The child made a tearful scene today," Xia Yu said rather helplessly.
"Stop the child from crying! I"m having a headache now. If I"m late for work tomorrow and my incentive is cut down, you are to blame for this!" The woman said harshly, glancing at Jiangjiang in Xia Yu"s arms with disgust.
It seemed rather unreasonable to say so. Wasn"t it normal for a child like Jiangjiang to cry over mosquito bites? As neighbors, they should have understood it rather than came over and made a fuss about it. Xia Yu was pretty upset about it.
"Let"s go back to sleep! There should be more mutual understandings between neighbors. After all, n.o.body can stop children from crying," the man beside her suddenly persuaded her.
The woman gave the man a sharp look and glanced at Xia Yu"s face to and fro. Brows knitted, she shouted to the man, "Isn"t it because of her beautiful face that you speak so gently to her?"
"Nonsense! Go! Go back home! It"s ridiculous of you," the man blushed and yelled. While turning to leave, he was grabbed by the woman in the arm. "You"d better make things clear right now. Do you take a fancy to her or not?"
Xia Yu frowned and took a step back. What neighbors Jiang Yayan have! It caught her off guard that things would go off like this. Just as she wanted to talk them into returning and dealing with their business at home, the opposite door banged open. The young lady called Yang Ling said to the couple with a cold face, "Shut up! I"m having a headache because of you guys midnight quarreling. If I"m late for work tomorrow and my incentive is cut down, you guys are to blame for this!"
Yang Ling"s awesome words almost made Xia Yu burst into laughter. The couple looked pretty sullen. Finally, the man grabbed the woman"s arm and took her upstairs, with the woman"s nasty yelling echoing in the stairway.
"Thank you," Xia Yu thanked Yang Ling.
"No worries. I"ve long found the couple annoying. They were utterly creepy and unscrupulous. Jiangjiang"s mother was also bullied by them very often," Yang Ling spoke of the couple with sheer disgust in her eyes, and then added, "Don"t dread them giving you trouble. They are cowardly bullies."
Xia Yu acknowledged. Yet she didn"t go on talking with her since it was getting dark. So they both went back to their rooms.
When the next morning Xia Yu was taking a walk with the child, she ran into the guy seen last night. On his face was a trace of fingerprints, like scratches done by nails. He stared blankly at Xia Yu with his reversed triangle eyes, of which the look disgusted her.
"What a coincidence! Have you had your breakfast?" he asked, grinning at her.
Xia Yu acknowledged rather indifferently and dragged Jiangjiang to walk aside. To her surprise, the guy followed and even made an inquiry, "Your friend has been living here for a long time. I"ve never seen her husband. Is she a single mom?"
Xia Yu, with her lips closed, didn"t answer.
,He didn"t seem to be embarra.s.sed at all and kept talking. At last, Xia Yu couldn"t help but say coldly while taking a glance at him, "You are a stranger to me. Stop following me."
The guy started to look a bit embarra.s.sed. He touched his nose and then left.
Xia Yu took Jiangjiang to the mall they frequented, with which Jiangjiang was quite familiar. He also had friends here. Therefore he went to play with them, which gave Xia Yu the opportunity to take a rest.
Believe it or not, taking care of children was really fatiguing.
Xia Yu ordered milk tea and started browsing around the mall while drinking. She never thought she would b.u.mp into Shen Yan and the Second Madame. She took a look at Jiangjiang nervously and rested a.s.sured that he was playing so happily that didn"t notice them at all.
Hardly had she greeted them when Shen Yan looked away and just ignored her. The Second Madame pretended not seeing her; she immediately put on her sungla.s.ses and walked out.
Wasn"t it they who drove her away? Why did they act like she was the one who should be sorry? This was so called the rich people"s privilege. Xia Yu sneered to herself and took a seat nearby.
"Why? Are you upset about it? Zeng Mina walked over with a faint smile on her face, "Don"t be unhappy about it. This is what the world is like. When you are useful to them, they"ll be nice to you. Now they are done with you and this is exactly what you"ll get from them."
Xia Yu chuckled and said, "Should I be upset about it?"
"How can you be so light-hearted?" staring at her for quite a while, Zeng Mina said, "You"ve worked so hard, just for the purpose of being one of Shen"s family with dignity. Now the dream is in pieces. I don"t believe you can just let it go this easily."
"Whatever. After all, you won"t believe me." Xia Yu was tired of talking to her and looked away.
"Huh, play cool. You won"t stay cool for long." Zeng Mina ground her teeth and left.
Getting out of the mall, the Second Madame was still upset about it. She wondered how Xia Yu turned on a dime so suddenly when she hadn"t done anything wrong to her.
"In order to find out the problem, one should look at it from a different perspective."
"Really? Why do you suddenly come up with such a feeling?" Shen Yan asked.
"I"m talking about Xia Yu. What"s wrong with my fondness for Ke"er? I watched her grow up! You said you liked Xia Yu, but I never interfered with you two. Does she really have to hate me like this?"
"Hate you? Mom, stop indulging yourself with illusions. She"s more than grateful to you." Shen Yan let out a sigh. He, whose mind was in a turmoil, then took out a cigarette and held it between his lips.
Yesterday she turned away and left. Today she pretended not to see him. She must hate him three thousand times!
"What do you mean?"
"You still don"t get it? She never liked your son. Now you can well rest a.s.sured. Not everyone likes our money. There is always one or two exceptions in the world.
"My dear son, are you blaming me for it?" the Second Madame was a bit fretful about her son"s words. It seemed that her son truly was in love with Xia Yu. It was the first time in so many years that her son was so serious, yet with such an ending.
"No, I am not. It has nothing to do with you." Shen Yan no longer wanted to talk about Xia Yu. He turned around, "Let"s go, or I might be late."
They were invited to a Charity Event. Shen Yan didn"t want to go at first, but the Second Madame had her plan. Since Xia Yu was not here, it was a good chance for her son and Yang Ke"er to know each other more and resolve the previous misunderstanding. Then she could gradually persuade him to allow Yang Ke"er in Tengfei.
"OK!" The Second Madame got in her son"s car and the two soon showed up in the event.
Yang Ke"er, on seeing the Second Madame, greeted her as her Second Aunt, yet was very cold to Shen Yan.
How hateful she must be to him that he even asked the security guard to drive her away directly. As the Eldest Miss of Yang Family, Yang Ke"er couldn"t afford to lose her face.
The Second Madame was aware of all this but pretended to know nothing. She smiled and said, "Little Yan, Ke"er took a fancy of a pair of earrings. Remember to purchase it as a gift to her."
The antique jewelry auctioned in Charity Event was donated by the benevolent. The contributions of the event would all go to the needy.
Shen Family was long the active partic.i.p.ant of charity events, each time donating a big sum of money. This time was no exception. The most valuable item in the auction was that pair of earrings.
She didn"t believe her son would reject openly.
"How come the Yang Family cannot afford it? She can well purchase it if she likes it. What"s the point of purchasing it in my name?" Shen Yan rejected it without hesitation and turned away.
He already made everything clear. No more words were needed to embarra.s.s everyone.