After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: There Would Always Be Someone With Her.

The late-night wind always chilled the heart.

Song Yuli stopped, pulled at the corners of her mouth, turned around, and said with a smile, “Zhou Nianzhi, I didn’t say I wanted to get back together with you, either.”

Zhou Nianzhi also smiled and said calmly, “That’s good.”

It’s a good thing Song Yuli has also returned to her senses.

Then, forget everything that was just said. Forget the sympathy and concern, and forget the time she spent carrying her. It was all just a bug in the game, a small mistake that shouldn’t affect the future.

Song Yuli didn’t continue walking forward. Instead, she said, “Why don’t you walk in front?”

Zhou Nianzhi was confused. “Huh? Why?”

“I want to see if you still remember the way home. You haven’t been back in so many years, you’ve probably forgotten most of it,” Song Yuli said, still standing there, just looking at Zhou Nianzhi as if waiting for her to step forward.

“What are you talking about?” The more Zhou Nianzhi thought about it, the funnier it seemed, but she didn’t refuse. She walked forward and said, “I have a good memory. I’m sure I remember.”

Although it was a little strange, why did she have to know everything? It was fine to just go with the flow.

Besides, Zhou Nianzhi was going to stay at Song Yuli’s house for the night, so she should probably humor her.

Zhou Nianzhi walked in front, and Song Yuli followed behind.

Just like before.

Actually, Zhou Nianzhi had felt very safe when Song Yuli was in front of her. But now that she was walking in front, a different feeling quietly arose in her heart—

She could face her fears and walk out of the darkness.

She would also be bolder, and her steps would be firmer.

Because she would always feel that there was someone with her.

Someone who could reach out and protect her when she was helpless.

Zhou Nianzhi walked into the apartment building that had no elevator. The sound-activated lights flickered on and off. They walked up the stairs, one after the other, in the flickering light.

“We’re here.”

Zhou Nianzhi stopped in front of a door, turned around, and said to Song Yuli with a smile, “See? My memory is still pretty good.”

Song Yuli nodded, took out the key, and said, “Not bad. You must have been very good at liberal arts.”

“No, no, no. My friends in the liberal arts class told me that a good memory isn’t enough to do well in liberal arts,” Zhou Nianzhi said, waving her hand. Then, she thought for a moment and added, “Besides, my science grades weren’t bad either.”

After saying that, Zhou Nianzhi suddenly felt strange.

Wasn’t she so insecure just a few days ago?

Why did she feel so confident in front of Song Yuli, like she was about to wag her tail?

“Okay, you’re very good,” Song Yuli said with a smile, twisting the key and opening the door.

Whoosh—

The door opened.

The light stung Zhou Nianzhi’s eyes, which had been crying all day. She couldn’t help but rub them, sighing to herself, well, now my eyes are going to hurt again when I wake up tomorrow.

“Yuli?” Grandma’s voice drifted over from the distance. “Did you find Zhi Zhi?”

Ah.

Why did she feel like crying again just from hearing Grandma’s voice?

When she saw her grandma, wrapped in a blanket, slowly walking toward them from the sofa, Zhou Nianzhi’s nose stung, and tears almost welled up.

“Grandma…” Zhou Nianzhi’s eyes were fixed on her grandma. She quietly called out several times, wanting to make up for all the years she hadn’t been able to see her.

Grandma smiled and responded to every single call.

Suddenly, Grandma stopped in her tracks, her whole body shaking. “Oh, I almost forgot to warm up some buns for you two! Wait a minute, I’ll go heat them up.”

Song Yuli closed the door, put the key back in her pocket, and quickly walked forward. “Grandma, I’ll do it.”

“Your leg is hurt, so you should go rest… Oh my, what happened? Why are you so wet?” Grandma looked at Song Yuli and was startled, not expecting her granddaughter to come home soaked. She quickly said, “Go take a hot shower. I’ll make you a bowl of ginger soup.”

Song Yuli couldn’t argue with her grandma, so she agreed. She then turned to look at Zhou Nianzhi and said, “I’m going to take a shower and change.”

Zhou Nianzhi let out a stunned “okay.” At this moment, all she could think about was her grandma’s words, “Your leg is hurt.”

So, a Song Yuli with a hurt leg,

Carried her for a long distance,

But never once mentioned that she was in any discomfort.

When she came back to her senses, Song Yuli had already gone into the bathroom. Zhou Nianzhi was at a loss for a moment, but thankfully, Grandma called her.

“Zhi Zhi, can you help Grandma peel some ginger?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Nianzhi quickly put her bag on a stool and rushed into the kitchen.

Grandma turned on the gas stove, took the buns out of the fridge, and poured some water into the steamer. She used chopsticks to place the buns on the steamer basket, then put the pot on the stove and turned on the gas.

By the time she was done, Zhou Nianzhi had already peeled two pieces of ginger, washed them, and placed them on the cutting board.

“Okay, you’re pretty fast,” Grandma said with an approving nod, then walked over. “You should go rest for a bit. I can do it myself.”

Zhou Nianzhi quickly said, “No, no, I’ll do it.”

Grandma laughed twice but still picked up the ginger and said, “Let me do it. You work hard at your job outside.”

Zhou Nianzhi felt bad hearing that. Although she put down what was in her hands, she still stood next to Grandma and didn’t leave the kitchen.

“Zhi Zhi, it’s a good thing you came back these past few days,” Grandma said, skillfully slicing the ginger. “Grandma wasn’t doing very well two years ago. Yuli stayed with me to take care of me. She only went out to work once I started feeling better.”

“Grandma, were you sick two years ago?” Zhou Nianzhi asked with concern.

“I was quite sick two years ago. I was a little worried… Oh, never mind that. How have you been lately?” Grandma poured water into a pot and added the sliced ginger.

“I’ve been well… no, very well. My mom and I made a lot of money and bought a house over there.” Zhou Nianzhi started making things up again. She couldn’t possibly say that her mom was seriously ill, that she often couldn’t even afford to eat, or that she couldn’t sleep all night because she was terrified of the shared apartment she used to rent, and had to rent a place in a safer neighborhood. There was no need to tell her the truth.

“That’s good, that’s good,” Grandma said, turning on the gas stove and putting the lid on the pot, waiting for the ginger soup to cook.

Zhou Nianzhi stayed by her side. Suddenly, she felt Grandma’s gaze on her arm. She immediately understood and explained, “Grandma, I put the bracelet you gave me in my bag.”

Grandma smiled and said, “That’s good. I was worried you hated it.”

Zhou Nianzhi quickly waved her hands. “How could I hate it? I just put it in my bag because I was afraid of accidentally bumping or scratching it.”

Grandma nodded, then looked toward the pot. A plume of steam rose, swirled around the top of the pot, and then disappeared.

“Zhi Zhi, I really don’t know how to thank you,” Grandma sighed and said slowly.

Zhou Nianzhi let out a confused “huh.”

“You’re the one who changed Yuli,” Grandma’s old voice was full of memories. “It’s a good thing Yuli met such a good girl like you.”

As the steam rose, the pot lid occasionally jumped up and down with a pitter-patter, mixing with the sound of Song Yuli showering in the bathroom.

Zhou Nianzhi clearly understood what her grandma meant.

This wasn’t the first time her grandma had said “it’s a good thing you met.” Before, when Grandma had quietly shown Zhou Nianzhi pictures of Song Yuli as a child, she not only talked about how cute little Song Yuli was, but she also shared the story of her childhood.

Song Yuli’s father had indeed seemed like a decent person before they got married, constantly promising to love Song Yuli’s mother for a lifetime.

But after they got married, her father became extremely possessive of her mother, almost to a pathological degree, simply because she was so beautiful that his insecurity overshadowed his rationality.

Once, her mother had only put on some makeup, but her father smashed all the cosmetics, yelling disgusting things like “slut” and “seducing other men.”

Her mother had a mental breakdown and wanted to get a divorce, but the wicked father knelt down, sobbing, and said, “Don’t leave…”

Her mother was kind-hearted by nature and softened after seeing the man’s tears.

And then she fell back into hell.

So, Song Yuli was born on a dark, rainy night.

She was conceived in despair and hardship.

Seeing a face that was almost identical to her own, Song Yuli’s mother had a complete breakdown. She took out all her anger on the child, yelling, “Why do you have to look so much like me!”

Every time they went out, when someone complimented Song Yuli on her looks, her mother’s expression would become very stiff. As soon as they got home, Song Yuli would be scolded again. “Why do you have to be so pretty! You shouldn’t be pretty… you can’t be…”

As the years went by, Song Yuli’s mother slowly aged. Meanwhile, her father, who had promised to love her mother forever, and who had described his pathological control as “love,” cheated on her.

That’s right.

“Forever” is so short.

After her mother saw him cheating with her own eyes, her father didn’t even bother to pretend anymore. The divorce papers were the best ending to the marriage.

But Song Yuli’s mother wasn’t free.

After getting custody of Song Yuli, she had a complete mental breakdown.

The last time Grandma talked about this, she was crying so hard that her tears streamed down her face. Her white-haired body was trembling with sadness. “My daughter, Qingqing, would lose control every time she saw Yuli. She would scream and tremble. The most terrifying thing was that she would even cut herself with a knife… I felt so heartbroken…”

“I didn’t know what to do… I had no choice but to send her for treatment…” Grandma wiped away her tears with her hand, then put it back on a photo that had been there for many years, her wrinkled, old hand gently touching the smiling face of her daughter, Qingqing, in the picture. “But even after she was almost recovered, she still couldn’t see Yuli… They’re mother and daughter, but they can’t even see each other often…”

“My heart aches for my daughter, and it also aches for my daughter’s daughter. Yuli is also a poor child.” Grandma took out a picture of Song Yuli as a child. She was so cute and adorable, but neither of her parents cared for her. “Both mother and daughter are so pitiful. Yuli had to live with me, this old woman. That day, it was raining heavily, and she didn’t have an umbrella. She didn’t even call me to pick her up. She just ran home in the pouring rain.”

That day, Song Yuli got drenched to avoid bothering her grandma and Zhou Nianzhi.

Today, to find Zhou Nianzhi, she also got caught in the rain.

“The buns are ready—”

The delicious aroma filled the air, interrupting Zhou Nianzhi’s thoughts. She put her memories aside for the moment and helped Grandma get the buns.

What a full two plates of buns.

Zhou Nianzhi held one of the plates. The edge was a little hot, and she winced, muttering under her breath, “It’s so hot…”

Suddenly, a scent of shower gel or shampoo mixed with the aroma of the buns.

Song Yuli had come to her side at some point and very naturally took the plate. “I’ll do it.”