50. Because I’m Easy to Coax

When Lin Xingzi and Jiang Yan returned from the hospital, Lin Ke and Lin Sang’s family had all arrived. The usually quiet house was exceptionally lively today. The youngest child couldn’t walk yet, and Lin Ke was playing with her, coaxing her to crawl on the sofa.

“How come you went out and changed your clothes?” Li Qing remembered they weren’t wearing these clothes when they left, and Lin Xingzi’s complexion wasn’t very good either. “What happened?”

Lin Xingzi certainly didn’t want her parents to know about encountering her ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend at the mall and getting into a physical conflict, especially with so many people at home today.

Lin Xingzi didn’t say anything, secretly pinching Jiang Yan’s hand behind her back. Jiang Yan understood, turning his palm to grasp hers.

“It’s cold outside. Jiang Jiang has a bit of a fever. Let her sleep for a while first.”

“Oh my,” Li Qing immediately worriedly touched her forehead, unable to stop nagging. “I told you not to run around today, but you wouldn’t listen. You just have to defy your mom. Are you tormenting yourself or tormenting Jiang Yan? This morning your dad scared me, and tonight you have a fever. This New Year...”

Lin Xingzi greeted them and then went back to her room. She could endure the physical discomfort, but she felt irritable. Zhan Yan and Fang Ling, those awful people, were truly persistent ghosts, showing up to disgust her even on New Year’s.

So annoying, crashing twice in one day.

It was one thing for her secondary WeChat account to be exposed, but for Jiang Yan to know about her past relationship with Zhan Yan was terrible.

Jiang Yan poured a glass of water and brought the medicine into the room. “Can’t sleep?”

Lin Xingzi huddled under the covers like a quail.

“Let’s take your temperature again. The house only has this mercury thermometer,” Jiang Yan sat on the edge of the bed. After warming his hand, he reached under the covers and placed the thermometer under her armpit. “Does your knee still hurt?”

She fell hard that time. Luckily, there was water in the pool, which lessened the impact; otherwise, Lin Xingzi might have been permanently injured there today.

After Lin Xingzi got in the car, she had asked her assistant to get the surveillance video from Shuiyou City. She wasn’t blind. How could she have fallen on such a wide path by herself? Fang Ling tripped her. A slap and an ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t going to cut it; she had to ask if she agreed first. Moreover, if Fang Ling hadn’t been unable to control her mouth, Jiang Yan wouldn’t have known she had dated Zhan Yan.

“It hurts, but...” Lin Xingzi couldn’t hold back. “Aren’t you angry?”

She had a fever and had been cooped up under the covers for a while, her cheeks flushed. She wasn’t fierce at all.

After a long moment of eye contact, Jiang Yan lowered his head and slowly smiled. “Yes, I am angry. How could I not be?”

“But you don’t look angry at all,” Lin Xingzi grumbled. “I’ve never seen you angry. I don’t know what you’re like when you’re angry. Do you throw things? Swear? Get physical? Or give the silent treatment?”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “It depends on the person and the situation. For criminals who knowingly break the law and harm countless people, I would...”

Before he could finish, Lin Xingzi impatiently interrupted, “What about with me?”

“I thought you understood very well.”

What did that mean? “Have you ever been angry with me?”

“Many times.”

“...How come I didn’t know...”

Eight years ago, his young, meager heart was turned upside down, yet the one who caused the chaos severed all contact and left. Jiang Yan knew she was on the other side of the world but didn’t know when she would return.

Waiting for an uncertain person through long years, often he couldn’t tell whether he was angry at himself or at her.

If it weren’t for her, he might have remained mediocre, but his heart wouldn’t be so small that it couldn’t accommodate another person.

“Because I’m easy to coax,” Jiang Yan gave her the answer. She didn’t even have to do anything, and he would forgive her.