Unaware. Jiang Cheng had no idea she was about to become Aidelisha’s first matchmaker.
At this moment, she had just finished her work for the day and was packing up to head home.
It wouldn’t have mattered if she didn’t tidy up—a cleaning auntie would come by soon enough to help out. The girl just did it out of habit. When she said tidying up, she really just meant folding the rumpled blankets. After finishing, she made her way to the lounge.
Ling Xiao sat at the piano, her little brows furrowed, carefully studying the handwritten sheet music for that Jiang Cheng had written out.
Jiang Cheng felt a bit embarrassed. Sorry my handwriting is so ugly.
“How’s it going, Little Ling Xiao? Can you play the first section all the way through yet?”
She naturally walked up behind the girl and smoothed down her slightly frazzled long hair.
Ling Xiao had great hair quality, but she didn’t seem to care much about her appearance. After waking up from her nap earlier, she hadn’t bothered to fix her hair at all.
After all, she had face blindness—she probably couldn’t even remember what she looked like. How could she possibly care about her image?
Still, she looked pretty clean, so someone must have been taking care of her. Was it her mother, perhaps?
I wonder if her mom has red hair too…
“Little Orange Sister.” Ling Xiao turned around with a smile. “I can already play the first half!”
If not for the psychological treatment Jiang Cheng had just given her, looking at Ling Xiao’s current state, she would have thought this girl was some well-behaved girl next door.
Then she realized something was off about what the girl had said.
“You already know half the piece?”
Jiang Cheng was a bit surprised. “I just gave you the sheet music—there’s no way you secretly practiced it. Could it be… you memorized the score after hearing it once yesterday? And in just one afternoon, you practiced it at home?”
“How could it be that absurd? Have you been watching too many brainless dramas, sister? No one can memorize something just by hearing it once.” Ling Xiao pouted, then denied that explanation. “I was just in a good mood this afternoon. A really, really good mood.”
With that, she broke into a happy smile again.
“It was like a light bulb suddenly went off in my head. Learning new pieces feels so easy. Piano? A piece of cake!” Ling Xiao raised both hands high in a cheering gesture.
“That’s called having a breakthrough, you know.”
While teasing her, Jiang Cheng felt curious.
Little Ling Xiao said she was in a great mood today—could it be related to this afternoon’s psychological treatment?
After all, even people in modern society who seem bright and cheerful on the surface must have a lot of pent-up stress inside.
These pressures go unnoticed in daily life, but they quietly drain your energy in your subconscious, making you more and more exhausted.
Our psychological treatment, to put it simply, uses “soothing” to help release that pressure and clear out all those irrelevant things lurking in the subconscious, leaving you feeling energized.
From that perspective, “soothing” is an amazing skill too. Too bad you can’t “soothe” yourself…
Tap—tap—
Just as Jiang Cheng was still delighted by her unexpected discovery, crisp footsteps sounded from the doorway.
The girl didn’t pay them any mind, but she noticed Ling Xiao’s expression instantly take on a hint of fear, as if someone formidable—or someone she was afraid of—had just arrived.
Wait, doesn’t Ling Xiao have face blindness? How can she recognize someone she knows?
“See you tomorrow—”
With that thought, Jiang Cheng turned around. Halfway through her words, she suddenly froze.
“Sorry, miss, but the psychological counseling room is closed for the day—”
Because standing at the door was none other than—
“Lin Shuangxue?”
Noticing Lin Shuangxue’s slightly furrowed brow, Jiang Cheng quickly corrected herself, saying with a smile,
“No, no, no. Little Shuangxue. Little Shuangxue, what are you doing here?”
Seeing Lin Shuangxue’s expression gradually relax, Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but complain inwardly.
This one sure is easy to placate!
“I heard your psychological counseling room moved.”
She said calmly. “Would it be convenient for me to take a look around?”
“I don’t think it’s very convenient…”
Lin Shuangxue seemed not to have heard Jiang Cheng’s words at all. She turned around on her own and pushed open the small door to the treatment room, stepping inside.
Then why did you even ask me!
Jiang Cheng let out a sigh and thought to herself, just as I expected.
Then she started worrying again.
How am I supposed to explain this to Lin Shuangxue later…
Got it!
Her eyes lit up.
Lin Shuangxue is someone who yields to kindness but not to force. Going head-to-head with her definitely won’t work.
Why not try a different approach…
Heh heh—
Jiang Cheng wore a confident smile.
“If you won’t take the toast, then you’ll have to drink the penalty. Lin Shuangxue, oh Lin Shuangxue, don’t blame me for—”
“Jiang Cheng!”
A voice barely suppressing its fury came from inside the treatment room. Lin Shuangxue strode out, walked right up to Jiang Cheng, and abruptly grabbed the girl’s hand. Jiang Cheng let out a small cry of pain, then bowed her head and followed behind Lin Shuangxue, looking completely docile.
“Hey! What are you doing! Didn’t you hear Little Orange Sister saying you’re hurting her?!”
Ling Xiao, standing off to the side, wasn’t having it. She forced down her fear of Lin Shuangxue and shouted loudly.
“And who are you?”
Lin Shuangxue turned around, staring at her coldly.
“I… Little Orange Sister is my piano teacher!”
Ling Xiao instinctively shrank her neck, but finally pushed past her fear and said it loudly.
Lin Shuangxue gave her a look, then glanced at the piano behind her. Without a word, she pulled Jiang Cheng toward the treatment room.
But her movements seemed a bit gentler now. Though she still gripped the girl’s hand tightly, there was finally less of that sense of venting frustration.
Once inside, Lin Shuangxue took a deep breath. She turned to stare at Jiang Cheng, pointing at the nearest bed, and spoke as if barely containing her anger:
“You explain to me right now. What are these beds for.”
Hearing Lin Shuangxue’s voice, the girl’s body seemed to tremble instinctively. She quickly glanced up, then quickly lowered her head again, as if frightened by Lin Shuangxue’s expression.
“I… I’ll tell you… But please don’t take it out on Little Ling Xiao, okay? She doesn’t know anything…”
The girl’s reaction only made Lin Shuangxue angrier.
Do you really think I’m that unreasonable a person in your eyes?
Even so, she suppressed the rage burning in her chest and said in an icy tone,
“Fine. I promise you.”
“Then explain to me. What. Exactly. Are. These. Beds. For!”
She spoke each word deliberately.
“Treatment requires beds?!”
“They’re… they’re only for treatment.”
“Hey! Treatment requires beds?! What are you yelling about?!”
Ling Xiao, who had followed them in, shouted loudly: “Little Orange Sister can treat however she wants! Who do you think you are? What business is it of yours?!”
“No, Ling Xiao, don’t say that… Little Shuangxue is my good friend, my very, very best friend. She doesn’t mean any harm. She’s just worried about me.”
Jiang Cheng seemed to hastily stop the girl, but in reality, she was overjoyed inside.
Didn’t expect Little Ling Xiao to be this supportive. I’ll soothe you every day from now on, and I’ll write you as many pieces of sheet music as you want.
“Best friend, huh? Is a best friend someone who hurts you without apologizing? Or is a best friend someone who bosses you around?”
Ling Xiao pursed her lips. “If you ask me, that’s no best friend. That’s clearly an enemy.”
Lin Shuangxue didn’t respond. She yanked Jiang Cheng’s hand, and the girl was pulled uncontrollably onto the bed.
She turned around and walked step by step toward Ling Xiao.
“W-what… what are you doing!”
The girl was scared to death, but she still stuck her neck out and refused to back down.
Jiang Cheng scrambled to her feet, stepping in front of Lin Shuangxue and shielding Ling Xiao behind her.
“Little Shuangxue, please don’t mind her! Ling Xiao just has a sharp tongue—she doesn’t mean any harm!”
“Ling Xiao, stop talking. Go outside, be good, I’ll be out in a bit.”
The girl frantically pushed Ling Xiao out the door and locked it behind her.
Then she turned to look at the woman.
Lin Shuangxue stood there quietly, watching her, as if observing Jiang Cheng’s little performance.
Her eyes were dark as ink, as if hiding a beast that could swallow anyone in its path.
“Jiang Cheng,” she spoke slowly, “you said these beds are for treatment.”
“Gulp—gulp—”
“Y… yes.”
Swallowing hard, Jiang Cheng forced out an ugly smile.
That smile only made Lin Shuangxue angrier.
But she didn’t lash out. Instead, she took a deep breath.
“In that case, let me see for myself what this so-called ‘treatment’ really is.”