Deceased Mother's Inheritance - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: If You Violate the Rules, Do You Also Have to Accept a Severe Punishment?

Meng Zhengyue walked over and sat down beside her. “Tell me, why don’t you want me here?”

The girl’s ears were so red they could have bled. Her fingers were tightly clutching the edge of the phone. She just hung her head and didn’t speak.

Meng Zhengyue waited quietly. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she looked away and instructed the caregiver, “Help her wash her hair. Be careful of her incision.”

After Yun Zhixue’s braid was unraveled, her long hair fell to the floor, already tangled. The moment the caregiver’s comb touched the ends, she winced in pain.

“Be gentle,” Meng Zhengyue reminded.

Half an hour later, her hair was washed, and the tutor arrived right on time. He held a book and started teaching physics. Meng Zhengyue listened for a moment before getting up and standing by the window. Her long silhouette was reflected in the glass. Her fingers felt empty, as if they were missing a cigarette. When that beautiful face wasn’t smiling, it held a hint of melancholy.

“You can all go,” she suddenly interrupted the tutor. “I’m tired. I’ll listen to your lullaby another day.”

The tutor hesitated, but Meng Zhengyue shook her phone. “I’ll call your boss. Just send a bowl of congee tonight.”

After everyone had left, Meng Zhengyue didn’t call Yun Jing. She lay directly on the nursing bed, her stomach covered by Yun Zhixue’s blue school uniform jacket. In less than two minutes, her breathing became deep and steady, as if she hadn’t slept in days.

Yun Zhixue stared at her rising and falling shoulders, secretly relieved. She didn’t have to strain her brain for a reason to keep watching Meng Zhengyue. She had to figure out why her philandering mother would like her. But then she thought again—her mother just had fun with everyone, didn’t she? It would last a week at most.

At exactly six o’clock, the caregiver came in with a thermos. Meng Zhengyue slowly woke up, took a wet wipe to clean her fingers, and went over to get a bowl. She handed a half-full bowl to Yun Zhixue. “You can eat now.”

In the steam rising from the white congee, Yun Zhixue tasted the long-lost aroma of rice. As she swallowed the last spoonful, a variety of colorful candies suddenly appeared before her.

“Choose one.” Meng Zhengyue held out her palm. There were several lollipops lined up: lychee, grape, apple, orange, strawberry. She had gone to buy her candy that morning.

Yun Zhixue’s finger hovered over the apple flavor. Her bl00d sugar was probably fine after eating the congee, so she wasn’t really craving sweets. Meng Zhengyue unwrapped a grape-flavored lollipop and put it in her mouth. As the sweet and sour scent wafted over, she said, “I love apple flavor, too.”

Yun Zhixue quietly hid the lollipop under her pillow.

That night, the caregiver stayed with her, and Meng Zhengyue never appeared again. Yun Zhixue occasionally wondered if she had been upset by that phone call.

On the fourth morning, Yun Zhixue had a slight fever, and her head started to hurt again. The nurse came to give her an IV and said, “It’s better with your sister here, isn’t it?”

The hospital staff didn’t know about their complicated relationship and thought they were sisters. The nurse was young and chatted with her. “Your sister stayed by your side all night, especially the first night. She would wipe your neck and check your IV bag every half hour. Why hasn’t your sister been coming recently?”

Meng Zhengyue was pretty and had a nice voice. Everyone liked her.

Yun Zhixue stayed in the hospital for a week. During the day, she took classes, and at night, she was forced to go to bed early. It felt like being in a sick prison. At night, she unwrapped the lollipop and secretly licked it a few times. It was apple-flavored, sweet and sour, and truly delicious.

On the day she was discharged, the caregiver packed her belongings and left. Yun Jing was still careless. She only remembered the date of her discharge but forgot to arrange a ride for her. Yun Zhixue was standing alone with her luggage bag at the entrance of the hospital’s inpatient department. Just as she was about to go down the steps, she saw a car parked at the bottom of the ramp. Meng Zhengyue was sitting in the driver’s seat.

Their gazes met across the distance.

Meng Zhengyue’s long, slightly wavy hair fell past her shoulders. One arm rested casually on the car window. Yun Zhixue quickly looked away and sped up her pace, almost getting hit by a running child. She hurriedly dodged, but it still tugged at her incision.

Meng Zhengyue hissed and took off the hair tie on her wrist, quickly tying her hair up. She strode up the ramp to take the bag from Yun Zhixue’s hand.

“Someone is coming to pick me up,” Yun Zhixue said stubbornly, stepping back when Meng Zhengyue reached out.

“Let me see,” Meng Zhengyue’s hand hung in the air. “I’m worried about you.”

After a few seconds of a standoff, Yun Zhixue’s fingers gripping the luggage bag loosened slightly.

“Let’s go,” Meng Zhengyue took the bag from her hand and slowed her pace to look back. “Does your incision still hurt?”

Yun Zhixue walked slowly, hunched over. Compared to a few days ago, the incision had healed a lot, but any careless movement still caused a sharp pain. Today, Meng Zhengyue was wearing a black V-neck bodycon dress, still very alluring. As she was looking, Meng Zhengyue suddenly came closer, her hand protecting her lower back. “Slow down.”

A group of children ran past again. Yun Zhixue’s heart thumped. She wasn’t sure if it was because Meng Zhengyue had startled her or… because she had hugged her. That familiar floral scent wrapped around her again. It was faint, as if it were seeping out of Meng Zhengyue’s skin. Yun Zhixue’s back went straight.

The short walk took five minutes. When they reached the car, Meng Zhengyue opened the back door, threw the bag into the passenger seat, and glanced at her loose white T-shirt. She had seemed to be wearing the same shirt last time, but it looked looser now. She wanted to check her incision but just said, “You’re so skinny.”

Yun Zhixue pursed her lips and didn’t say anything.

Meng Zhengyue got into the driver’s seat. She put on a song, an instrumental piece. Meng Zhengyue would occasionally hum a tune. She would glance back at Yun Zhixue when they stopped at a red light. Yun Zhixue never asked: Did you come all this way just for me?

As they entered the door, Meng Zhengyue suddenly said, “Considering your mother’s parenting skills, it’s a miracle you’ve survived this long on your own.”

It sounded like a compliment, but Yun Zhixue heard the underlying meaning: Your mother raised you poorly; your mother doesn’t love you.

The midday heat was suffocating. The cicadas were chirping noisily, and even the sparrows on the branches were exceptionally restless.

Yun Zhixue carried her luggage bag into the entryway. Meng Zhengyue asked her, “Can you cook?”

Meng Zhengyue pointed to the kitchen with her chin. Yun Zhixue gripped the luggage bag tightly. Her incision was still throbbing. Was this person seriously asking a patient to cook? She bit her lower lip. “I’ll do it later.”

But then Meng Zhengyue showed a kind of half-smile, the corners of her eyes curving up. Yun Zhixue said, “Just ten minutes later!”

“What I meant was,” Meng Zhengyue twirled the car keys in her hand. “Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll make it.”

“…”

“Are simple home-cooked meals okay?”

The hand that usually held a cigarette skillfully held a spatula. Yun Zhixue sat in the living room and heard the sizzling of the pan. Meng Zhengyue’s silhouette, wearing a black apron, was reflected in the glass kitchen door. She held the spatula with the same practiced ease as a cigarette. When she tossed in the spices, the aroma filled the air.

The scent inexplicably brought a word to mind… maternal? This absurd association made Yun Zhixue immediately shake her head. She would never think of Meng Zhengyue as her mother, nor would she ever say that word.

“Dinner’s ready.”

The clinking of a ceramic plate on the dining table brought her back to reality. The yam and pork rib soup had its oil skimmed off, and there were mashed potatoes and a fluffy, golden omelet. Yun Zhixue silently washed her hands and sat down, no longer indulging in that ridiculous thought.

Meng Zhengyue’s cooking was much better than the nutritionist’s. Yun Zhixue said, “I’ll call her and ask her to arrange a babysitter for me.”

Meng Zhengyue: “Can’t we just be a family of two?”

Yun Zhixue’s hand froze. Meng Zhengyue said, “I don’t like living with a lot of people, either.”

Yun Jing lived in another, much bigger mansion. Yun Zhixue would only be brought back to stay with her for a couple of days on holidays and for events. Normally, Yun Zhixue lived in the dorms and came home once a week. Someone would come in advance to clean the house and cook for her.

Before she came, Meng Zhengyue had told Yun Jing that she didn’t want to live in a house full of servants and strict hierarchies. She hated living like it was a feudal dynasty. Her suggestion was exactly what Yun Jing had wanted to hear, and she had arranged for the two of them to meet.

Yun Zhixue wasn’t sure if she was chewing or trying to think of something to say. Her lips trembled for a moment. “You smoke.”

“I won’t smoke when I’m with you.”

Knowing that Yun Zhixue was a student, Meng Zhengyue put out her cigarette and hadn’t smoked in front of her since. Yun Zhixue lowered her head and continued eating.

Meng Zhengyue waited for a bit and asked, “Are you done picking at me?”

“I need to think about it some more.”

“Fine. The caregiver can’t come tonight. What are you going to do about your shower?”

Yun Zhixue said, “I can do it myself.”

Meng Zhengyue smiled.

“You have so many incisions. What can you do?”

Meng Zhengyue said, “I’m already looking for someone to take care of you. Your mother is unreliable, but speaking of your mother, you should think of me as your mother.”

Yun Zhixue was always so easily angered by her, and when she got mad, a faint blush would spread across her face. Meng Zhengyue crossed her long legs. Her dress was very short, subtly revealing the black lace wrapping her fair skin. “Say ‘Mommy.’ Mommy will help you shower,” Meng Zhengyue said, her eyes curving up at the corners as she teased her.

“I don’t need to,” Yun Zhixue said, biting her lip. “I can do it myself.”

“What if you fall?”

“I’ll get back up.”

Meng Zhengyue let out a short laugh. “My dear, you should have said that you won’t fall.”

She hated Meng Zhengyue so much. Meng Zhengyue always humiliated her like this.

Wait. What did Meng Zhengyue call her? Dear?

Yun Zhixue’s clasped hands rubbed against each other again. Her ears turned red, and the blush spread to her entire face.

Meng Zhengyue noticed, lowered the corners of her lips, and turned to take out a few sterile waterproof dressings from her bag. “Use these for your shower. Read the instructions yourself.”

Yun Zhixue looked at her with suspicion. “Then what about you?”

“The internet says a mommy should respect her daughter’s wishes. If a dear says no, then it’s really no…”

Yun Zhixue stopped listening to her. She cleared the dishes from the table and put them in the dishwasher, then grabbed her bag from the sofa and went upstairs.

“So fierce,” Meng Zhengyue said lazily.

Yun Zhixue returned to her room, found her backpack, and sat at her desk to write. When Meng Zhengyue woke up from her nap with a face mask on, she saw a piece of paper taped to the door.

The villa wasn’t big, just under 300 square meters. There was a large living room and dining room in the middle, and the bedrooms were on the second floor. At first, Meng Zhengyue could only open Yun Zhixue’s room. She had thought it was one of Yun Jing’s former lovers’ rooms, so she had gone in and used the bathroom.

Now, with a bit of distance between them, she lived across from Yun Zhixue, with a large movie theater and a gym in between. She took the paper down and looked at it carefully. The handwriting was elegant and beautiful.

1: No smoking.

2: No physical contact. Do not touch any part of my body without my permission.

3: Except for meals, we are not to meet. Do not appear in my space.

4: I will never like you. Do not try to win me over!

5: I will not call you Mommy. Do not provoke me with words!

6: Do not do unnecessary things. I do not need you to like me!

7: Do not spy on me. Do not wear my clothes. If I find you do, I will throw your things out. If I find you do it again, you will get out on your own! (To be supplemented)]

Meng Zhengyue laughed.

Much later, there were two knocks on the door. Yun Zhixue came out, and no one was there. A pack of blue sterile waterproof dressings was on the floor, and a piece of paper was on the door. This one was pink, like the writing paper from an ancient book.

She had written a short sentence.

“And if you violate the rules, do you also have to accept a very severe punishment?”