Chapter 42: Three Beads
Translator: Tim Editor: Tehrn / Carolin
Before Su Jingwen could ask Li Mumei, another woman called her. This woman was none other than Ning Qingxue, who married Ye Mo. Of course, Su Jingwen knew why Ning Qingxue was married to Ye Mo; however, her woman’s intuition told her that Ning Qingxue didn’t feel that great toward her, so why would Ning Qingxue be the first to call her?
When Su Jingwen arrived at a cafeteria, Ning Qingxue was already there and had been for a long time. As she saw Su Jingwen coming in, Ning Qingxue hurriedly stood up. “Qingxue, you were looking for me?” Su Jingwen saw Ning Qingxue and asked.
“Yes, Jingwen, please sit, do you want to drink anything?” Ning Qingxue asked casually.
“I don’t like coffee, I’ll have some juice instead,” Just when Su Jingwen finished her sentence, she realized that there was also a cup of juice in front of Ning Qingxue. The two were drinking juice in a cafeteria, this really was quite ridiculous.
“Qingxue, um, are you guys living alright…?” Su Jingwen originally wanted to ask how Ye Mo was doing, but when the words got to her mouth, it became “you guys”.
“Oh, ah, good…” Ning Qingxue drank a sip of juice and didn’t know how to reply. After a while, she calmed down and said, “Jingwen, there’s actually something that I want you to help me with, it’s just that…”
After a long while, Ning Qingxue still hadn’t been able to articulate her intentions. It was as though it was embarrassing to say.
“Qingxue, if there’s something, just be straightforward. Mumei is my good friend, while she is your cousin and, although we weren’t familiar before, I think we’ll be familiar later on.” Su Jingwen’s meaning was clear. We aren’t strangers anymore, what can’t you say?
“Okay, I’ll be straightforward then. Could you tell me some things about Ye Mo? And…” Ning Qingxue said half her sentence but wasn’t able to say the other half.
Su Jingwen suddenly smiled sweetly and said, “Oh, so this was actually something like that. I got to know Ye Mo in a very accidental way. He was taken to the police station, and I went there to get him out. The reason I did it was because, from a distance, he looked like someone familiar. Yet, when I saw him in person, I realized that he wasn’t the one I was looking for. Afterward, we ate together and later, I invited him to my birthday dinner.”
Su Jingwen didn’t say that she had thought that Ye Mo was that master who sold her the charms; after all, Ning Qingxue and Li Mumei appeared not to be superstitious. Why would she bother saying that?
Ning Qingxue didn’t think that Ye Mo actually went to the police station, she didn’t know for what reason but she didn’t ask and continued: “Jingwen, um, last time when Ye Mo went to your birthday party, he gave you a bracelet. If you didn’t like it, I thought... I thought that maybe…”
Ning Qingxue was too embarrassed to say that she wanted Su Jingwen to give her the bracelet. After all, Ye Mo gave this to Su Jingwen, and if she hadn’t heard from Li Mumei that Ye Mo had only seen Su Jingwen a few times, she would ask Su Jingwen for it no matter how much she wanted it. And now, Su Jingwen also admitted that she and Ye Mo weren’t really close; thus, Ning Qingxue tried to ask, but when the words reached her mouth, she still couldn’t say it.
Although Ning Qingxue didn’t say it out loud, Su Jingwen understood what she meant: Ning Qingxue probably wanted her bracelet. Su Jingwen began to wonder, “Does she really have feelings for Ye Mo? No, even if there were feelings, if Ye Mo could give this to me, then, of course, he could make one for Ning Qingxue. So why does she still want this bracelet?”
She honestly thought that Ye Mo’s bracelet was really crude-looking, yet the reason she liked it was because she felt that the friendship she had with Ye Mo was pure. Ye Mo was a friend that made her feel very peaceful and, although they hadn’t seen each other much, it never had anything else involved.
However, earlier when she heard Su Mei and saw Yun Bing’s attitude towards Ye Mo, she started to feel confused. At this point, she wasn’t sure what sort of a person Ye Mo was. Although she believed in Ye Mo, there was still some doubt in the depth of her heart.
“Is Ye Mo okay?” Su Jingwen didn’t reply to Ning Qingxue and instead asked something completely irrelevant.
Ning Qingxue originally thought that Su Jingwen was going to say that she would go back and look for the bracelet, or say that she didn’t know where she put it since Ning Qingxue didn’t believe that Su Jingwen would wear the crude bracelet Ye Mo gave her. In her eyes, that bracelet shouldn’t mean much to Su Jingwen; therefore, she asked for it. However, she didn’t expect Su Jingwen to ask about Ye Mo which took her by surprise.
“Ye Mo left and probably even left Ning Hai by now. I don’t know where he went, and I haven’t seen him for a few days. Tonight, I will also leave Ning Hai for Yu state with Mumei,” Ning Qingxue still reacted quickly and told Su Jingwen that she was leaving Ning Hai soon.
“Ye Mo had already left? He still hasn’t graduated from Ning Hai University, though!” Su Jingwen said in surprise. But soon, she remembered what Su Mei told her about Ye Mo at Ning Hai University, that even if he finished all the course, he still probably couldn’t graduate.
Su Jingwen suddenly smiled and didn’t wait for Ning Qingxue’s reply. Instead, she just said, “That bracelet is actually not bad, I quite like it. Since you are already his wife, wouldn’t he agree to make you one if you ask him for it? Tell me why you want that bracelet, and perhaps I could give you half.”
Ning Qingxue immediately realized that Su Jingwen was intentionally doing this, but she still replied, “You know that I married Ye Mo as a cover up, it’s just that now, I don’t need it anymore. Ye Mo left and didn’t leave anything to me. And, I feel I owe him, so, so…”
One reason that Ning Qingxue wanted the bracelet was that she was suddenly envious of Su Jingwen’s bracelet that Ye Mo gave her. Since Su Jingwen was so rich, she probably wouldn’t like something so crude and probably even lost it somewhere. Since Su Jingwen didn’t like it, then it shouldn’t even matter if she took it back.
However, she hid a key thing: although Ye Mo didn’t leave anything to her, he was gone too quickly and even left behind his little medical case. However, she wasn’t going to say this as that medical case had already become something private to her.
“The bracelet is on my hands…” Su Jingwen took off the bracelet as she spoke. The reason she thought Ning Qingxue felt guilty towards Ye Mo was because she used him. In fact, Ning Qingxue was also pitiful, as it seemed that Ye Mo was infuriated with her since he left without even notifying her.
“Huh…” Ning Qingxue was shocked. She didn’t think that Su Jingwen would actually wear on her wrist the bracelet Ye Mo gave her. This took her by surprise. What did this mean? It implied that Su Jingwen really liked this bracelet and things weren’t as she thought they were. Suddenly, an unknown feeling gushed in Ning Qingxue’s heart. A feeling that she didn’t even understand.
“All right, I’ll give you three beads. These were all made by Ye Mo himself. You can link them with string yourself,” As Su Jingwen spoke, she opened the bracelet and took off three beads and gave them to Ning Qingxue.
If it would have happened in the morning before she had heard Yun Bing swearing at Ye Mo and Su Mei’s words to her, perhaps she wouldn’t be willing to give three beads to Ning Qingxue. But after these two events, she had a feeling that the beads in her hands didn’t seem as important as before.
Now that Ning Qingxue asked for it, she actually gave three to her. As for why keeping the other three, perhaps it was in memory of that pure friendship. After she got back, maybe she would store the three remaining beads away and not wear it on her hands anymore.