All attention was on this phone call, the surrounding sounds completely faded away, as if Jiang Lai had deliberately stopped the work in her hands, and the breathing on the other end of the line suddenly became clear, the lingering echo of keyboard taps fading along with it.
“But on this matter, Jiang Jiang, there’s no need for you to ask me either.”
Jiang Lai’s knuckles tightened around the phone, the receiver pressed to her ear, her cheek slightly warm, even her heartbeat quickening by half a beat.
She paused, and from the background came the soft sound of a chair being pulled out, as if Shen Ruxue had risen and walked to the window. The sound of wind slipping through the gap drifted in faintly, and Shen Ruxue’s voice landed gently, carrying a softness caught between laughter and tears.
“It won’t happen… the me now isn’t that petty.”
“The matter between you and Younger Sister, the two of you can decide for yourselves. As for the wedding and such, just let me attend when the time comes, and that will be enough. Everything else doesn’t matter anymore.”
“When I was little, Younger Sister attended my wedding. Now I get to attend Younger Sister’s wedding. That makes it even, more or less. I just don’t know if Younger Sister still remembers what it was like when I got married back then, but I remember it crystal clear. What about you, Jiang Jiang? Do you still remember our wedding, still remember what I said back then?”
As Jiang Lai listened to Shen Ruxue’s words, the image of that wedding in her memory suddenly became vivid.
The red carpet, the pristine white wedding dress, the applause of the guests, Shen Ruxue holding her hand, her fingertips carrying the chill of the wedding ring, her eyes bright as if filled with starlight.
The words she had said back then, though their outline had blurred with time, now suddenly emerged through the receiver, falling word by word onto her heart.
“I hope that Jiang Lai and I can be happy forever, together forever.”
On the other end of the phone, Shen Ruxue did not know whether Jiang Lai had recalled everything about her, but she believed Jiang Lai would definitely remember. She just hadn’t expected that this sentence would actually come true in this way.
This was her confidence.
Shen Ruxue’s voice carried a hint of laughter, gently brushing against Jiang Lai’s taut nerves.
“Back when I was on the hospital bed, I thought I would break my word, but I didn’t expect…”
“Back then, what I worried about most was whether you would be trapped in the past. Now that you can get to this point with Ying Yu, that you can think of giving her a wedding, I’m too happy for words. How could I feel uncomfortable?”
Jiang Lai’s nose suddenly stung a little, the whiteness at her fingertips slowly fading, her grip on the phone loosening somewhat.
“But… I still can’t help feeling like I’ve wronged you a bit, after all, we once…”
“There’s no wronging anyone.”
Shen Ruxue interrupted her, her tone gentle yet firm.
“In matters of the heart, how can there be any debt or no debt? You waited for me for so long, and I didn’t come back early, didn’t come back late, but came back right when things were progressing between you and Younger Sister. Looking at it that way, I’m the one who wronged the two of you.”
“I’m already so happy that I can return to this home again. Jiang Jiang, the one who should say sorry is me.”
She paused, her voice carrying a bit more relief.
“Now seeing you and Ying Yu doing well, seeing Le Yi accept me too, I already feel complete. It’s just a wedding. As long as you’re happy, as long as Ying Yu is happy, I support it with both hands.”
Jiang Lai’s eyes slowly grew warm. She sniffled, trying hard to make her voice sound less choked.
“Xiaoxue, thank you. Actually, I was quite nervous at first, afraid you might overthink things…”
“Don’t be silly.”
Shen Ruxue’s laughter came through the receiver, carrying a trace of warmth.
“By the way, what is our relationship now?”
“Family…”
Jiang Lai answered almost without thinking, but this answer clearly did not satisfy Shen Ruxue, because what she wanted was not just the status of family.
“Not just family, but your wife. After all, we haven’t divorced, and I won’t choose to divorce you. Not even death can separate us.”
When the word “wife” crashed into her ear through the receiver, Jiang Lai’s hand holding the phone abruptly froze, even her breath skipping half a beat.
On the other end, Shen Ruxue said nothing more, as if waiting for her to digest the weight of those words.
Jiang Lai opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found her throat tight, all the words she had prepared lodged in her chest, unable to form even a complete response.
It wasn’t that she had forgotten they weren’t divorced. It was just that during these days, watching Shen Ruxue learn to be family, accompanying Le Yi as she grew up, she had almost grown used to this gentle way of being together, forgetting that between them there had once been such an unforgettable vow.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
Shen Ruxue’s voice came again, softer than before, yet carrying undeniable seriousness.
“I’m not trying to make things hard for you, nor am I trying to disrupt your plans. I’m only saying this to clarify my position to you, okay? I’m not some ex-wife, you know. I’m your wife. In the past, and in the future too…”
“I know. This won’t change.”
Jiang Lai solemnly promised all of this.
Shen Ruxue had always been a very important presence in her life. This would not change in the past, would not change now, and would certainly not change in the future.
“Then what is there to worry about? It’s just a wedding. If you need a reference when the time comes, I can help too.”
On this point, Shen Ruxue seemed quite magnanimous, except that holding a wedding was an extremely complicated affair. Shen Ruxue’s work was so busy, and just calling her during the day already felt like wasting her time. If she also made Xiaoxue busy with the matters of her and Ying Yu’s wedding, Jiang Lai couldn’t bear to do that.
As for who to discuss the wedding with, Jiang Lai had a perfect candidate in mind: Xu Ruobing. It was just that Xu Ruobing didn’t seem to have come to work today.
After hanging up on Shen Ruxue, Jiang Lai made a special trip to look at Xu Ruobing’s office and found it still empty. She couldn’t help but feel curious. Was there some arrangement today she didn’t know about?
What Jiang Lai didn’t know at all was that Xu Ruobing had already been invited out by Chi Yingyu, because Chi Yingyu also wanted to discuss a very important matter with Xu Ruobing.
In the office of Chi Yingyu’s law firm, Xu Ruobing had been watching Chi Yingyu fiddle with the ring in her hand for nearly ten minutes. Wasn’t it just because she wanted to be praised? After all, this was a gift from Jiang Lai.
But she refused. The more the other hinted at her, the less she wanted to do it. Yet she was also nearing the end of her patience with Chi Yingyu’s show-off demeanor.
At this point, Xu Ruobing finally couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Miss Chi, if you called me here just to look at the ring in your hand, then I’ve seen it now. It’s truly very beautiful. When you’re alone, you can continue admiring it just like this. But if you keep putting on this act in front of me, I really will leave!”