At seven in the evening, on his way ho from work, Gao Chuan was caught in a raging storm.
Driving, he remained stuck on the overpass, rain pounding against the windows while the wipers swung back and forth, blurring the already dim view. The man sat silently gripping the steering wheel, the ring on his left ring finger shining brightly, and the neon lights overlapping in his dark, profound eyes.
In less than half a minute, the red light turned green, and a line of cars finally began to move, quickly swallowed up by the traffic.
What was usually a half-hour drive took an hour before he arrived at the complex. After stepping out of the car, Gao Chuan spotted a familiar white Audi parked next to his spot, the familiar license plate catching his eye, and his heart montarily sank.
As expected, once he had gone upstairs and entered the apartnt, he heard familiar voices emanating from the kitchen. Taking steps forward, Shen i in the kitchen turned to Jiang An beside her and asked, "Is that Gao Chuan coming back?"
Jiang An, who was tasting the soup with her back to Shen i, suddenly froze, a sense of inexplicable panic welling up. She stood immobilized as Shen i, apron-clad, walked out from the kitchen to see the man taking off his coat, and said with a smile, "Hurry and wash your hands for dinner."
Gao Chuan wasn’t surprised by Shen i’s presence and rely acknowledged her before entering the bathroom. He rolled up his sleeves quietly, letting the cool water flow over his fingertips.
Although the weather in Jing City had ward up slightly in recent days, winter was inevitably on its approach.
When Gao Chuan ca out of the bathroom, he saw Jiang An carrying dishes into the living room. They exchanged brief glances — no words spoken — and Shen i brought out the tableware, inviting the two to sit down and eat.
"Co on, try the fish I made!" Shen i urged them to start eating as she ladled soup for both.
Shen i had arrived in the evening, bringing a variety of items, claiming she had brought so fruits freshly picked from the eco-park and, seeing Jiang An preparing to cook, naturally couldn’t help but assist, which carried on until now.
After the previous incident at Grandma Gao’s house, Shen i had reflected quite a bit, admitting to herself that she had been too hasty and perhaps too harsh with her words that day. But how could she, as the mother-in-law, lower her face to apologize? She could only take a roundabout approach to apologize to Jiang An.
Fortunately, the young girl didn’t hold a grudge, and by mutual silent agreent, they never ntioned that day’s events.
By the ti they finished eating, it was already half-past eight; the night was dark, and the rain showed no signs of stopping. Shen i added another piece of fish to Jiang An’s bowl, "I won’t leave tonight; there’s a guest room here, isn’t there?"
Truth be told, she rarely visited and only had a vague mory of her son buying a two-bedroom apartnt.
Hearing Shen i say this, Jiang An stopped chewing and involuntarily turned her gaze towards Gao Chuan seated across from her, a look of surprise and uncertainty.
Seeing the two of them particularly quiet today, Shen i showed her dissatisfaction, "Well, answer , will you? What, you don’t want your mother staying here?"
Gao Chuan remained silent with a calm face, and finally it was Jiang An who stepped forward to continue the conversation: "Yes, yes, mom, I’ll help you tidy up after dinner."
Gao Chuan listened to the girl’s words and kept silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Only Jiang An’s face turned as red as a blazing cloud, and she began to calculate in her heart that if Shen i was to stay in the guest room, she would inevitably have to move into Gao Chuan’s room.
Moreover, her belongings were still all in the guest room, so taking advantage of the ti just after dinner, the girl imdiately rushed in and hastily packed up all her belongings, hurrying into Gao Chuan’s room with pillows and a quilt. She didn’t expect to find Gao Chuan standing by the bed, changing clothes; the sight that greeted her as she entered was the man’s tight abs, a physique that could rival a model on a magazine, and the man’s surprised gaze settled on the door where a flustered young girl stood, his lips forming a faint smile.
Jiang An stood there in panic, her face flushed and her eyes quickly darted to the side, "Ah, Dr. Gao, I didn’t see anything."
As soon as her words fell, it made it sound all the more like there was an implicit admission of guilt.
Gao Chuan stared at the girl’s blushing cheeks, noticed the beddings in Jiang An’s arms, and seed to understand sothing. He slowly put on his pajamas, the loose robe with white patterns draped casually over his body, truly embodying the saying of "clothes make the man."
"Alright, open your eyes," ca the man’s cool voice, and Jiang An finally opened her eyes, relieved to see that Gao Chuan had finished dressing, and awkwardly spoke up to explain, "Um, my mother will be staying in my room today, so I’m moving my things over here..."
She stopped halfway through her sentence, feeling too embarrassed to continue, wondering if she was being too forward. However, if Shen i were to find out today that the two of them had always been sleeping in separate rooms, their relationship would be exposed.
Gao Chuan nodded in silent consent, stepping aside to allow Jiang An to place the bedding and pillows on the bed. In fact, he had already understood the purpose of Shen i’s sudden visit—it could be that the gossipy younger relatives had let sothing slip, and Shen i had co to "investigate."
Thinking this, Gao Chuan reached out and gently massaged his temples, then looked back at Jiang An, who was still busy making the bed, before he quietly entered the bathroom.
While Ms. Shen was still busy in the kitchen, Jiang An hurriedly tidied up the guest room, daring not to show the slightest hint of what was transpiring. After everything was done, and seeing that Shen i was already sitting in the living room watching TV, the girl breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously sat down to chat with Shen i.
The TV screen flashed with an advertisent featuring Ji Wanwan, causing Shen i’s brows to furrow and an expression of dissatisfaction to erge. The Gao Family was considered quite traditional, always keeping a distance from the entertainnt industry. As for Shen i, she had always felt helpless toward her troubleso daughter-in-law. Shen i sighed slightly, "Look at her, always showing off in public, it’s so improper."
Listening to Shen i’s complaints, Jiang An quickly shook her head and patiently defended Ji Wanwan, "No, mom, look, sister-in-law has a drama that’s very popular right now! Sister-in-law is really amazing, everyone says she’s the National Goddess."
As she spoke, Jiang An picked up the remote control and switched to another channel, where Ji Wanwan’s newly popular urban drama was being broadcast. In it, Ji Wanwan played the role of an upright female war reporter, and her superb acting skills had even received widespread recognition in the industry. Shen i listened as Jiang An began to introduce the plot, watching the screen with a mix of skepticism and interest.
"Mom, everyone has a profession they love. I heard from the family that when you were young, you were a nurse at the City Third Hospital, and you worked until the day before you gave birth. Just like grandma, she spent half her life in the operating room. Isn’t sister-in-law the sa? She loves acting and is passionate about her profession," Jiang An spoke gently and persuasively, thinking that she might be able to soften Shen i’s prejudice by appealing to her emotions and reasoning.
"Every profession is equal, and as an artist, sister-in-law naturally needs to do interviews and film advertisents to promote herself," Jiang An said softly, guessing that Shen i’s dislike for Ji Wanwan’s career was partly due to the murky reputation of the entertainnt industry. However, Ji Wanwan was known for her integrity; in her six years in the industry, she had nearly no scandals, and any negative press was just dia sensationalism.
"So, mom, sister-in-law has had a tough journey to get to where she is now. I believe she also wants to balance her family life, it’s just that maybe now is not the ti she planned for."
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