Chapter 119: All Three Are Thinking of Suli

Chi Qingya’s voice trembled, even breaking into sobs.

She clearly didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help it—she just couldn’t hold back the tears.

Even though she knew that the messages she sent wouldn’t reach Su Li, a sliver of hope still lingered in her heart, hoping Su Li could somehow feel her sincerity.

She really couldn’t bear it anymore…

She was so afraid of this loneliness, as if even if she died alone at home, no one else would ever know.

She continued to cry while searching through the Medicine Box.

Perhaps moved by Chi Qingya’s sincerity, or maybe just by chance, she truly found the Medicine Box after rummaging through drawers.

Each medicine bottle even had thoughtful labels attached.

They clearly stated the expiration dates, what illness they treated, and how to take them.

Only some medicines were nearly finished, with no new supplies coming in.

Chi Qingya knew there wouldn’t be any more medicines.

She held the Antipyretic Medicine tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Scenes of Su Li carefully labeling the medicines seemed to flash through her mind.

Had Su Li’s heart already turned cold long ago?

Chi Qingya didn’t know, but holding the bottle brought her an unexpected sense of peace.

Clutching the medicine, it was as if Su Li was right there beside her, taking care of her, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.

……

Jin Ke’er returned to the family but felt marginalized, with nothing to do every day besides treatments.

Whenever she tried to do something, the others would use her recent Domestic Return as an excuse, telling her that her body still needed rest and to take it easy.

Even when she insisted there was nothing wrong, they would look at her with worried expressions, forcing her to swallow back whatever she wanted to say.

Perhaps this was what family was like.

However, since Jin Ke’er was eager to find something to do, the family arranged for her to discuss a collaboration with the Director of the Art Museum.

Compared to the tasks she handled before, this assignment was far too simple—almost insignificant.

It was no different from lying around at home all day and resting properly.

It was a waste of talent, like ordering a general to do manual labor at a construction site.

Although Jin Ke’er felt this was a huge underuse of her abilities, she reminded herself that since she had just returned to the Domestic Market, she needed to prove her worth.

So she decided to complete the task flawlessly, leaving no room for criticism, so everyone would know that Jin Ke’er was no useless flower vase who only knew how to lounge around at home.

Jin Ke’er knew very well.

Only by regaining her status within the family could she truly control Su Li.

Even if others resented her, they wouldn’t dare gossip in her ear.

Until she regained power, she wouldn’t let anyone catch any flaws in her.

Besides, now that she had returned to the Domestic Market and Su Li was here too, finding Su Li wouldn’t be difficult.

She wasn’t in a hurry.

She would wait for the right moment to capture Su Li, holding her tightly in her grasp.

Lock her away somewhere only she knew, and punish Su Li properly.

To teach her a lesson for her recent disobedience.

No one but Jin Ke’er dared to delete Su Li’s contact directly.

It was always Jin Ke’er who deleted others, never the other way around.

Su Li was always a loner and never spoke about family or friends to her.

Even if Su Li disappeared from this world for some time, perhaps no one would notice.

When Su Li realized she could no longer escape Jin Ke’er’s control, would she still keep that calm, indifferent expression on her face?

Jin Ke’er thought so, her breath growing rapid.

She gasped for air, struggling to suppress the fierce emotions surging within her.

She couldn’t wait to tear Su Li apart right before her eyes.

During this time at home, she had to pretend to be normal, but it was suffocating and unbearable.

“Su Li, do you know how much I want to see you right now~”

Jin Ke’er licked the corner of her mouth, already eager to meet Su Li and transmit her feelings to her.

She thought Su Li would surely understand her emotions.

If anyone in this world knew her best, it had to be Su Li!

……

Elsewhere, Shen Cishu stared at the chat list on her phone screen.

Her finger lightly traced the edge of the phone.

She deliberately controlled herself from contacting Su Li for a long time.

Because she felt it was strange to have a girl much younger than herself act as her mother.

Especially since this girl was about the same age as her student.

Facing Su Li, she felt a mix of guilt for the “mother” role and a sense of impropriety as if the other was her student.

These emotions filled her with resistance but also overwhelming anticipation.

Recently, she often recalled what happened that night.

Torn between attachment and rejection, after some calm reflection, Shen Cishu felt she had been tricked.

In just one night, she spent nearly a year’s worth of someone else’s earnings, almost several months’ income from her actual job.

Every time she thought about it, she felt like she had gone mad.

She feared she had fallen into a scam but was too ashamed to tell anyone.

If others found out, they’d probably say she’d been conned.

Yet, Su Li hadn’t contacted her recently.

More than once, she opened Su Li’s Circle of Friends, only to find it empty, as if Su Li had left no trace in this world.

Her heart even entertained the idea of investigating Su Li, but she quickly suppressed the thought.

She felt that absurd, dreamlike night was something she needed to let go of.

She was afraid of growing curious about Su Li and gradually falling deeper.

Shen Cishu scrolled through short videos, trying to distract herself.

But most recommended videos were about parent-child life—all about mothers.

Mothers cooking for children, mothers educating children, mothers helping kids with homework, mothers playing with kids.

She knew she didn’t want to become a mother.

She herself wasn’t grown-up yet; how could she want to be a mother?

Instead, she put herself in the child’s perspective in the videos, as if she were an eternal child.

She knew she had grown up long ago, but when she empathized with the videos, she felt like a child again, able to depend on her mother’s side.

Though the mother in the videos wasn’t like her own.

In the years without her mother, she had learned many things.

How to cook alone, clean alone, replace a toilet seat alone, and quietly grow up alone.

But she still couldn’t accept the fact that her mother was gone.