ISWMQ – Chapter 113

The elevator had already arrived. Xie Xian held the door for a moment, but when she saw Rong Guang still hadn’t come, she nodded apologetically to the people inside waiting to go down, then let go of the door, watching the floor numbers on the display slowly descend.

Then she quietly glanced toward the end of the hallway.

The door to Rong Guang’s apartment was closed again, and nothing could be heard from the elevator landing.

She pressed her lips together. Her handbag hung from one wrist, and she clasped her hands in front of her stomach, slowly lowering her head, her face etched with worry.

Inside the apartment, Rong Guang looked at Xu Mingli and said softly, “I… I know. I’ll work hard.”

Xu Mingli grabbed her wrist and said, “Although Grandma also thinks it’s best to let things happen naturally, sometimes, when you have no other choice, using a little external help isn’t out of the question… Do you need any incense? Grandma has some. It won’t harm your body, and there are absolutely no side effects afterward. It just helps set the mood…”

Just what has her grandma been looking at in her spare time!

Rong Guang’s face was a complete blank; she was utterly shocked.

Why did it always feel like ever since she was reborn, everyone’s character settings had collapsed except for her own?

After a long moment, Rong Guang licked her dry lips and found her voice again.

Then, her eyes flickering, she said, “We’ll… we’ll see when the time comes?”

Xu Mingli nodded, her face full of gratification. Her eyes curved into a smile, looking very much like a Maitreya Buddha. “Seeing is good. See when the time comes, take a good look. You can also keep some on hand, you know.”

Rong Guang finally left the apartment, lost in thought.

With her years of experience accompanying Tang Shi to the hospital, she knew quite a bit and had a good understanding of depression.

The doctor said that people with depression need a great deal of care, understanding, and encouragement from their families.

The doctor said that what’s fragile about depression patients isn’t their bodies, but their minds and their vulnerability to external stimuli.

The doctor also said…

It seems that patients with depression experience a decrease in libido and find it difficult to get comfortable or pleasurable feedback from that act.

Rong Guang couldn’t help but fall into deep thought again.

Before she knew it, she had reached the elevators. The moment she looked up and saw Xie Xian standing there, she froze for a second before remembering why she had come out.

She composed her expression and silently glanced at the elevator indicator.

The elevator arrived just then.

It also saved the two of them from standing there awkwardly.

The building had over thirty floors in total, with two elevators serving six households per floor. Since it was a residential building, many families lived with the elderly and children. During peak hours, the elevators were very busy. The last one down had been packed, and this one was also quite full. After standing inside for just a short while, one would be covered in sweat.

Rong Guang and Xie Xian squeezed in, standing in mutual silence.

A small child held by an adult next to them was chewing on their fingers, their dark eyes staring intently at Xie Xian without blinking, filled with the unique innocence and clarity of a young child.

Xie Xian was in a daze, as if seeing a much younger Rong Guang through the child.

Rong Guang had been that small once, a soft little glutinous rice ball, unsteady on her feet, often tumbling onto the playmat with her limbs splayed out.

But little Rong Guang never cried back then. When she fell, she would just give a silly laugh, then stumble back to her feet and rush into her father’s arms.

Xie Xian took a few more glances at Rong Guang, who had wrapped herself up tightly in a mask and hat, her eyes even hidden behind glasses. She suddenly spoke, “Guangguang, why are you wearing glasses now? Are you nearsighted?”

As soon as Xie Xian spoke, everyone in the elevator involuntarily turned their gazes to Rong Guang.

Rong Guang could feel their stares and subconsciously frowned.

She was standing at the very front, and with her hat and bangs obscuring her face, her expression was hard to see. Catching a faint glimpse of her reflection in the elevator’s steel door, Rong Guang finally said, “I’m not nearsighted. They’re just protective goggles.”

In truth, it was also advance practice for her look in the next scene.

She would have to appear on camera almost completely without makeup, and Director Zhang had already told her there would be countless ‘death angle’ close-up shots, so he told Rong Guang to start taking care of her skin now—although Rong Guang’s skin was already as smooth as a peeled egg, so there wasn’t much to take care of. Still, she took his words to heart and planned to eat a lighter diet from now on.

Xie Xian had been rebuffed. The elevator was still slowly descending, and many people who couldn’t get in could only wait regretfully for the next one.

Trying to make conversation, she said, “What do you want to eat later? I… Mother will treat you to something nice?”

“No need, I already ate before coming back.” Rong Guang looked up and couldn’t resist closing her eyes for a moment under the pretext of adjusting her glasses.

Just then, someone in the elevator took the initiative to speak. “How old is your child? She’s so tall. I haven’t seen her before, did you just move in?”

Xie Xian immediately brightened up and turned to reply, “She should be seventeen this year, in high school…”

“I’m nineteen this year. I skipped a grade and went straight to my sophomore year of college.” Rong Guang heard the elevator finally ding. The moment the doors opened, she squeezed out and left without a backward glance.

The elevator was stuffy. In the heated building, the crowded environment made many people sweat.

Xie Xian’s hair was damp, and Rong Guang’s simple words had left her feeling utterly wretched and embarrassed. She stammered, “Well… I’m abroad most of the year, so my child is a bit shy with strangers…”

The people in the elevator let out a kind laugh, but Xie Xian could no longer bear to stay. Grabbing her bag, she scurried over to Rong Guang’s side.

“I remember that little girl moved in more than half a year ago. She’s always living with her sister and grandmother…” someone couldn’t help but start gossiping shortly after Xie Xian left the elevator. “Some mother she is…”

Some mother she is.

Rong Guang didn’t know what kind of mother Xie Xian was either.

She didn’t even have the slightest idea what kind of childhood a normal girl was supposed to have.

The wind outside was a bit cold, and after a short while, her fingertips began to ache from the chill.

Rong Guang let out a breath, pulled her mask up a little higher, and subconsciously reached for her gloves.

When she took them out, Rong Guang paused, then her eyes curved into a smile.

The gloves Chu Feiliang had given her were actually the children’s kind, the type with a string that hangs around your neck.

Chu Feiliang had put them directly into her bag earlier, and Rong Guang hadn’t paid attention until now.

There was a large wall mirror by the exit of the building. Rong Guang walked over to look at her outfit and only then realized… Chu Feiliang was truly dressing her to look younger.

Rong Guang couldn’t help but look a few more times.

The dominant colors of her outfit were white and a rather delicate pink, with accents of beige.

They were all colors that stained easily, yet Chu Feiliang had chosen fluffy styles that would get dirty the quickest. Seeing these fresh colors in winter would lift anyone’s spirits.

These were also colors she could never have in her childhood.

But everything she never had, Chu Feiliang was giving to her.

Rong Guang blinked. The air was freezing, yet she felt a hot current surge through her body, so warm it almost made her want to cry.

No one is born thinking they should be strong, and no one is born thinking they should be sensible.

Every child has fantasized about being a princess showered with endless love, and every adult has fantasized about returning to their childhood to be a carefree kid forever.

The two eventually decided to meet at a coffee shop near her home.

Rong Guang propped her chin on her hand and gazed at the scenery outside, waiting for Xie Xian’s coffee to be served. Cradling her own glass of plain water, she said, “Is there something you need this time?”

Xie Xian looked uncomfortable and said in a low voice, “Guangguang, Mother just wanted to come see you…”

Rong Guang glanced at her.

Xie Xian was someone who couldn’t hide her thoughts. Rong Guang didn’t even need to look closely to know that she must have a bellyful of worries right now. So much so that even when Xie Xian had no expression, her brows were always furrowed.

She always looked so sorrowful.

However, in Rong Guang’s childhood memories, Xie Xian was supposed to be a very happy woman.

She really didn’t understand why Xie Xian insisted on being with her stepfather.

Wouldn’t it be better to be happy on her own?

She took a sip of water. It had a light lemon flavor.

The refreshing scent dispelled some of her irritation. Rong Guang remained silent, but Xie Xian couldn’t hold it in any longer. After a moment, she thought for a bit and said in a low voice, “How have you been… recently? Mother heard you filmed a very good drama and got the second female lead role? And you’ve been on the hot search many times, you’re very famous now…?”

Hasn’t she always been famous?

Whether for good or bad reasons, whenever there was the slightest stir, she could still make it onto the hot search.

It was just that her level of recognition among the general public wasn’t very high.

Most of the people who knew her were young people, specifically young people who were active in fan circles.

Rong Guang’s face remained impassive. She gave a light, indifferent hum and said, “It was all just a series of fortunate coincidences.”

Xie Xian, however, seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

Then she looked around and pulled the bag from the table into her lap.

Rong Guang was taken aback.

Xie Xian glanced from side to side.

They were in a small private booth.

It was called a private booth, but it was really just a seating area separated by gauze curtains and beaded screens, which didn’t block any sound. If you looked closely, you could see the blurry figures of people.

She said in a small voice, “Mother doesn’t have much money on hand, so take this and use it for now… I had no idea you were already a sophomore in college. I thought…”

As she spoke, she looked at Rong Guang again.

Rong Guang wore no makeup. With her bare face, her milky-white skin and large, dark, round eyes made her look much younger.

In the elevator, many people had been asking if Rong Guang had even graduated from middle school.

That’s why Xie Xian, who thought she knew Rong Guang’s age, assumed she was still in high school. She had even smugly told those people that Rong Guang just looked young for her age.

Hearing her recount that part, Rong Guang’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

After a moment, she glanced at the small, brick-like bundle in Xie Xian’s hand, wrapped in kraft paper and about as thick as two knuckles. She estimated its value and said, “Twenty thousand yuan? For me? What exactly are you trying to do by coming here this time?”

For over a decade, she hadn’t sent any money to Grandma’s house, let alone given any to her.

Suddenly showing up, and suddenly dropping such a ‘huge sum’ of money.

Rong Guang’s gaze on Xie Xian was ambiguous, and she almost wanted to laugh.

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