Chi Yingyu gently embraced Shen Ruoxue, holding her younger sister tightly in her arms.
She tenderly stroked her head, unable to fathom how her sister had endured all these years completely alone—over a decade of solitude.
Chi Yingyu imagined herself in that position.
If she had to hide her true feelings for so many years without ever confiding in anyone, she believed she would have gone insane.
“It’s okay. Now that I’m here with you, and Leyi will recognize you soon, everything will slowly get better… after bitterness comes sweetness.”
“Yes, it’s already different from before!”
Xu Ruobing knew she absolutely could not continue to wallow in despair.
She had endured all these years; this was only a minor setback.
She must not give up.
The renewed spirit in Xu Ruobing’s eyes shone so brightly to Chi Yingyu that she didn’t dare meet her sister’s gaze.
She clenched her hands tightly, digging her nails into her palms until the joints turned white, refusing to let go.
Only through the sting of pain could she suppress her heartache.
Chi Yingyu knew at this moment she was nothing but a despicable little person—one face before her sister, another in her heart.
She didn’t want to let go, nor did she want to give up her current position to her sister.
If her sister ever found out her true thoughts, she would definitely hate her younger sister…
While Chi Yingyu was lost in guilt and deep thought, Shen Ruoxue’s hand gently touched her cheek.
“Xiaoyu, why do you look so pale? Are you really that tired today…”
Back in the Ambulance, Ruoxue had called her sister.
By the time the ambulance arrived, Chi Yingyu had almost immediately rushed to their side.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Shen Ruoxue held her daughter’s hand tightly, doing whatever she could to ease her pain.
Meanwhile, the one running around handling most of the other matters was her sister.
If anyone was the most exhausted today, it had to be Chi Yingyu.
Feeling her sister’s cold hand, Chi Yingyu gradually came back to herself and nodded in response to her sister’s words.
“I must have been tired today. I really need to rest…”
“All right!”
Shen Ruoxue nodded firmly, ready to take over the task of caring for her daughter.
But just as she thought that, she suddenly realized there wasn’t only her daughter in the room.
If the person in the room wasn’t her sister’s girlfriend, Shen Ruoxue’s jealousy and discomfort would have already spilled over the entire corridor.
But even though it was her own sister’s girlfriend, she still felt uneasy.
“Xiaoyu, if possible, could you take your girlfriend with you to rest?”
Chi Yingyu heard the slight hesitation in her sister’s voice and was momentarily stunned when she heard the word “girlfriend.”
But she quickly snapped out of it, understanding exactly what her sister meant.
If only Jiang Lai really were her partner…
Chi Yingyu had no control over Jiang Lai—not just her, but no one could stop Jiang Lai’s desire to stay by their daughter’s side.
During Jiang Leyi’s hospitalization, Jiang Lai hardly left her side.
She practically took over every responsibility for Jiang Leyi during this time, leaving Shen Ruoxue feeling helpless, unable to find anything she could do.
From Shen Ruoxue’s perspective, sometimes being in the hospital room felt like not only was her daughter being cared for exceptionally well, but she herself was being taken care of as well.
Although she felt a bit bitter that Jiang Lai took up so much of her daughter’s time and dependence, she couldn’t deny that her sister’s girlfriend was incredibly competent and worthy of learning from.
However, Shen Ruoxue had also noticed some strange things.
Despite Jiang Lai’s meticulous care—doing everything down to the smallest detail with her own hands—she always maintained a subtle distance.
For example, once when her daughter was having trouble changing clothes and asked Jiang Lai for help, Jiang Lai instead ran out of the room to find her and her sister to assist.
Even when helping her daughter to the bathroom, it was the same.
These odd behaviors made Shen Ruoxue feel something was off, as if something was being hidden…
This strangeness extended even to Jiang Lai’s name.
It was almost identical in pronunciation to her husband’s name—both pronounced “Jiang Lai”—but this woman’s surname was Jiang with the character for “ginger,” spelled “Jiang Lai.”
Her sister had told her this, and Shen Ruoxue couldn’t help but think it was a remarkable coincidence.
Sometimes when Shen Ruoxue looked into Jiang Lai’s eyes, she would unconsciously see her husband’s face.
It was an involuntary reaction; there was just too much similarity.
Not only in appearance but in name as well—sometimes Shen Ruoxue half believed her sister’s girlfriend was her husband’s substitute.
If it weren’t for the age difference, she might have even suspected Jiang Lai was her husband’s illegitimate daughter or a blood relative.
As the days went by, Shen Ruoxue’s initial resistance and sense of rivalry toward Jiang Lai subtly shifted into curiosity.
There were so many mysteries surrounding her sister’s girlfriend.
But she was, after all, her sister’s girlfriend.
For Shen Ruoxue, it would be too strange to be overly curious.
Although both were women, since Jiang Lai was the one her sister liked, she tried to maintain some distance.
Even a biological older sister’s closeness could make people uncomfortable.
So, even though they spent three whole days together in the hospital room caring for Jiang Leyi, Shen Ruoxue barely had any private moments alone with Jiang Lai.
And even when they were alone, they had nothing to say.
This situation persisted until Jiang Leyi was discharged.
Perhaps because Shen Ruoxue kept the distance so clear, Jiang Lai, unaware of it, even thought she was disliked by her daughter’s best friend.
Jiang Lai had asked Jiang Leyi more than once if she was disliked by her daughter’s classmates.
Jiang Lai barely knew anything about her daughter’s best friend, but how could Jiang Leyi not?
If her best friend truly hated someone, she wouldn’t say a word and would avoid that person altogether.
Most likely, she was just shy and unfamiliar.
This didn’t completely alleviate Jiang Lai’s doubts.
Since this was her daughter’s closest friend, she wanted to maintain a good relationship, so her daughter wouldn’t be embarrassed in the future.
She had sensed the faint distance her daughter’s best friend kept from her these days.
But what could Jiang Leyi say besides that her best friend was a bit shy?
Could she admit that her newly turned eighteen best friend was actually interested in her dad, and that the woman she regarded as her stepmother was her romantic rival?
Jiang Leyi still couldn’t forget her best friend’s behavior when she first came to her house—this college beauty holding her father’s shirt tightly to her face, acting like a lovesick woman.
The shock her best friend gave her at that moment far surpassed anything she had ever experienced before.
She couldn’t think of a single thing to compare it to.
As for whether Shen Ruoxue liked her father, Jiang Leyi didn’t know what to say.
She was afraid to ask, fearing that if she did, her friend might nod in agreement.
Jiang Leyi had always yearned for a loving mother and hoped her father wouldn’t be lonely anymore, that someone would accompany him through life.
She adored her best friend deeply—after her father and aunt, Shen Ruoxue was the most important person in her life, by far.
In their daily interactions, Jiang Leyi could sense a motherly presence in her best friend.
But that didn’t mean she truly wanted her best friend to be her mother.
After all, she couldn’t accept someone younger than herself becoming her mother, and it was impossible for her to accept her father marrying her friend.
Jiang Leyi never imagined things would develop like this.
In the end, it was partly her fault.
If she hadn’t constantly praised her father as the best and most handsome man in the world right in front of her friend, he wouldn’t have attracted such intense attention.
There had been subtle signs before.
Whenever Jiang Leyi talked about her father, Shen Ruoxue would listen with unprecedented seriousness, as if afraid to miss a single word.
Even attending advanced math classes wasn’t so serious for her.
Jiang Leyi should have noticed this abnormality long ago.
Several times, she had caught her best friend sneaking around her house looking for something.
If she hadn’t trusted her so deeply, her friend’s sneaky behavior would have seemed like that of a thief.
Because these incidents happened too often, a few days ago Jiang Leyi finally couldn’t take it anymore and confronted her friend.
She told her that if she kept snooping around the house, her little secrets would be found out.
Jiang Leyi vividly remembered how flustered her friend looked when caught.
Although she appeared to be sneaking around, she wasn’t after anything scandalous.
What Shen Ruoxue was secretly searching for was surprisingly innocent.
She wanted to see Jiang Leyi’s childhood photos—the family Photo Album.
When Jiang Leyi understood what her friend wanted to see, she took it out from her cabinet.
Since she could remember, Jiang Leyi had always been the keeper of the family Photo Album because the first few pages contained photos of her mother—the few precious mementos left of her biological mother.
Whenever she faced difficulties as a child, Jiang Leyi would pick up the album, look at her mother’s pictures, and wonder what life would have been like if her mother had grown up with her.
She had touched those few faded photos so often they had worn slightly white.
But ever since she truly overcame that emotional hurdle, Jiang Leyi rarely opened the album, so it had gathered some dust.
“My dad says that I look a lot like Mom did when she was young…”
Jiang Leyi opened the first page of the album.
The first photo was of her young father and mother together, with her mother smiling brightly, tightly holding her father’s arm.
Every time she looked at this photo, Jiang Leyi couldn’t imagine the serious, even slightly cold man her father was now was once the somewhat goofy young man smiling beside her mother.
There were few photos of her father or mother alone.
The album was filled with couples’ photos, likely all taken at her mother’s insistence, since her father disliked taking pictures.
Jiang Leyi knew her father was a stern man who rarely smiled before her, but in every photo with her mother, he wore a smile.
If one looked closely, every photo showed her mother looking straight at the camera, while her father’s gaze was always fixed on her mother.
Lost in these thoughts of her parents, Jiang Leyi didn’t notice the tears streaming down Shen Ruoxue’s face.
Shen Ruoxue’s eyes burned with sorrow as she stared at the photo of Jiang Lai.
The first few pages of the album were filled with her parents’ photos.
Later, after Jiang Leyi was born, the pictures showed a small baby.
But as the baby grew, the album’s tone completely changed.
After flipping through a few pages, everything was different.
Her mother, who had appeared in every photo, was now gone.
Her father became darker, and no one smiled anymore.
If it weren’t for the habit of taking an annual photo, her father probably wouldn’t have taken any more family pictures.
Jiang Leyi had few memories of that painful time.
All she remembered was crying—crying endlessly, accompanied by painful memories, the sadness bleeding even into the photos.
Then, a woman who resembled her mother appeared.
The photos finally showed a bit of light amid the gloom.
Though her father no longer smiled as brightly, there was at least some light in his eyes again.
If it weren’t for her aunt, she doubted her father’s love for her mother could have kept him going through those days.
Shen Ruoxue’s gaze never left the photos, afraid of missing a single detail.
The last photo in the album was from two years ago.
Jiang Leyi clearly remembered that it was because her aunt had moved out and things had been too busy, so they hadn’t taken a photo last year.
She didn’t know if they would have the chance this year.
Since her aunt moved out and Jiang Leyi had fewer visits home from University, seeing her aunt had become rare.
Jiang Leyi thought that after showing her best friend all the photos, her friend’s curiosity would be satisfied.
But when she looked up at Shen Ruoxue, tears traced down her cheeks, full of sorrow.
Yet Shen Ruoxue was completely unaware of it, her gaze still fixed on the Photo Album in her hands.
Seeing Shen Ruoxue’s sorrowful expression made Jiang Leyi’s heart ache strangely, but this wasn’t how she imagined things would be.
Jiang Leyi was certain her best friend harbored some special feelings for her father, but she had no idea what kind of feelings they were.