Chapter 387: Chapter 386 Accusation
Ji Xue sobbed for a while but refused to say anything. Wu Minqi and Jiang Feng stood helplessly in place, awkward in the unique way that only-children can be, exchanging glances, not daring to speak.
While Ji Yue tried to comfort Ji Xue by patting her on the shoulder, she turned and desperately tried to communicate with Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi through eye signals and lip movements, but they were too absorbed in their own awkwardness to notice the rich expressions on Ji Yue’s face.
Seeing no response from them, Ji Yue had no choice but to fish her phone out of her pocket in a bizarre contortion. Using the skill she had developed in high school of playing with her phone during class, she kept her face still and her eyes moving, unlocked her phone’s screen, and swiftly typed a message one-handed in WeChat.
Beauty Ji: @Jiang Feng @ Wu Minqi, go check if Ji Xia is in the bathroom.
Beauty Ji: She’s been gone a long time without a sign.
Beauty Ji: Hope she hasn’t climbed out the window and escaped.
Because Ji Qiran had set a precedent, Ji Yue always felt that her younger siblings were a species prone to escaping out of windows.
Jiang Feng & Wu Minqi: !!!
Like awakening from a dream, the two finally found something they could do and ran inside. The layout and pattern of Ji Yue’s apartment was exactly the same as Jiang Feng’s, even the decorating style was remarkably similar. The bathroom was a sliding door, and the wash basin was not separated from the living room by any door, but due to the layout, one couldn’t see the bathroom from the sofa. The sliding door was made of a material that allowed one to make out if there was anyone inside, making it clear at a glance whether Ji Xia was in the washroom.
Jiang Feng walked up to the bathroom entrance, poked half his body inside, glanced in, and found no one; Ji Xia wasn’t there.
Wu Minqi quietly pointed to a partially ajar door nearby, from which there was some noise.
Although Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi often visited Ji Yue’s home, they generally only hung around the living room and kitchen and had never entered the bedrooms. They didn’t know which room was Ji Yue’s and which was Ji Xue’s, but since the door was ajar, one could still sneak a peek inside to see what was happening.
Jiang Feng tiptoed closer, stuck his head in, and tried to see if Ji Xia was by the window, intending to climb out.
Then he saw Ji Xia packing her luggage.
Packing luggage was much more serious than just slipping out a window, the latter being sneaky while the former was openly planning to leave.
In a surge of panic, Jiang Feng, not paying attention, bumped into the door, swinging it fully open.
Ji Xia looked up, saw Jiang Feng, and maintained her expressionless demeanor, while Jiang Feng could only offer an awkward smile.
“Uh…packing your luggage, huh?” Jiang Feng started awkwardly.
“Yeah.” Ji Xia nodded, continuing her packing.
Jiang Feng felt he had to say something, or else, in a few minutes when Ji Xia finished packing and carried her suitcase out, if Ji Xue saw her like that, given her current state of mind, the two sisters would definitely start fighting. Maybe they would even come to blows, and then what were the three of them to do? Should they try to break up the fight, pull them apart, side with Ji Xue against Ji Xia or with Ji Xia against Ji Xue, or simply stand aside and watch the sisters fight until one emerged victorious?
Jiang Feng thought the best course of action was to nip this looming battle in the bud.
“Uh…I…I’m Jiang Feng, we met this afternoon,” Jiang Feng introduced himself first.
Ji Xia looked up at Jiang Feng again, a bit surprised, wondering why he suddenly felt the need to mention this. She was someone who was not skilled at socializing, and ever since she realized that with her face, which seemed naturally cold and even intimidating to her peers, she could discourage conversation by keeping a blank expression and speaking little.
“Mmhmm.” Ji Xia nodded again.
“I heard from Qiqi, I mean, my girlfriend, that you seemed to really like the Eight-Treasure Porridge I made tonight.” Jiang Feng felt the pressure mounting, and Wu Minqi naturally stepped out from behind, waiting for Jiang Feng to continue.
“So…so…I just wanted to ask if you really thought the porridge was good tonight?” Jiang Feng finished and immediately wished he could bury himself.
What on earth had he just said!
Ji Xia & Wu Minqi: ???
The two exchanged confused looks at Jiang Feng, momentarily at a loss for words.
Ji Xia opened her mouth, stunned and standing still, completely clueless about what she should say.
“Right, I just wanted to ask, what do you think of the porridge I made?” Jiang Feng gritted his teeth and decided to go all in.
Ji Xia: …
“It’s delicious,” Ji Xia said. “Very delicious.”
“As long as it’s delicious.” Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief, feeling he could move on and ask the next question. “Why are you packing your bags so late at night?”
Ji Xia fell silent.
She knew she had to go, that she should leave. Just now, she had blurted out all those words she had kept hidden in her heart for so many years. She felt she had neither the face nor the confidence to confront Ji Xue, to continue living with Ji Xue, sponging off her and depending on her for support.
Actually, Ji Xia was very clear in her heart that those words, whether they were sincere or blurted out in a moment of anger, were never meant for Ji Xue, but for her parents.
In their nearly twisted family, the one who had sacrificed the most, paid the highest price, was always Ji Xue. Ji Xia could direct her complaints and criticisms at many people—her father, her mother, fate, life, even herself—but the one person she could not blame was Ji Xue.
But she could only blame Ji Xue.
If she had said those words to her mother at home, all she would have received in return would have been more intense complaints, accusations, grievances, and tears. Her mother would definitely cry and complain to anyone who would listen about how her younger daughter was so thoughtless, inconsiderate, uncomprehending, and willful. Her mother would only dare to complain and blame her younger daughter to others.
When Ji Xia was in elementary school, there was one thing she never understood: why her mother could tolerate her grandmother’s unreasonableness, nitpicking, criticism, and even verbal abuse, only daring to badmouth her behind her back. She appeared so weak and vulnerable in front of her aunt and little aunty whom she rarely saw. Yet in front of her, her mother could vent all her negative emotions, rightfully bossing her around, doing various tasks while picking out her faults and problems. When needed, she let herself be her mother’s trash bin and wish confessor, but when not needed, she could just be ignored and left to fend for herself.
Later on, Ji Xia realized that people tend to bully the weak and fear the strong.
Perhaps her mother had not always been like this; maybe she was indeed the radiant, assertive, brave, intelligent, beautiful girl her father described. But life had long since turned her mother into a twisted person.
Her mother did not dare to resist anyone stronger than herself; she did not dare to defy her grandmother, life itself, and could not bear to oppose her own interests, so she projected all her misfortune and moroseness onto such a weaker daughter.
She was the same. She knew that speaking those words to anyone was useless, because no one would care about her. In this family, the only ones who cared about her were Ji Xue and her grandmother. Not wanting to upset her grandmother, she, like her mother, vented her own negative emotions onto the equally innocent Ji Xue.
Ji Xia felt that sometimes she was so repugnant that even she detested herself.
She didn’t know where to go.
She only knew she no longer had the face to confront Ji Xue.
She had money on her. The few thousand yuan she earned from working over the past two months without spending a cent of it was all hidden on her person, sewn into the lining of her trousers. After she was found and brought back home, nobody asked or cared about where the money she earned from working went. Perhaps they never realized Ji Xia could live independently enough to earn her own living, nor did they realize she had indeed made money.
In everyone’s minds, even subconsciously in Ji Xue’s mind, the family pillar was always Ji Xue; only Ji Xue.
While packing her bags, Ji Xia even felt the situation wasn’t so bad.
She hurt her sister’s heart. If her sister was disappointed in her, she wouldn’t bother with her anymore.
“Leaving,” Ji Xia said.
“Where are you planning to go so late at night?” Jiang Feng pressed.
“I don’t know.”
Wu Minqi walked up to Ji Xia, crouched down in front of her, and looked her in the eyes with a smile. “Xiaxia, can I call you that? We won’t meddle in your affairs with your sister, but it’s really late now. As a girl walking alone outside without knowing where to go, dragging a suitcase on the street is indeed very dangerous.”
“As for me, I’ve just come of age, not much older than you. Can you tell me what you plan to do in the future?” Wu Minqi asked.