I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 104
Jiang Lingyan returned to her family home to grab something, but as soon as she walked in she saw her little sister sitting dejectedly at the dining table. With a large bowl of vanilla ice cream in one hand, she lifted a spoonful, ate it, and then sighed. Took another spoonful and then let out another sigh.
Jiang Lingyan: “….”
After struggling for a long time between pretending to see this or not, Jiang Lingyuan finally walked over. The staircase was next to the dining area anyway, so if she wanted to go up she would have to pass Jiang LingYuan. It would be impossible to pretend not to see her then.
She sat opposite her little sister, and looked at her calmly, “What’s wrong? Who annoyed you now?”
Jiang LingYuan slowly shook her head, “No one annoyed me.”
“Then what’s wrong with you?”
Hearing this question, Jiang LingYuan stopped scooping up ice cream and then started prodding numerous dents on the smooth surface of the ice cream with her spoon.
“I went out to watch a play with Lin Yi today.”
Jiang Lingyan had almost forgotten about Lin Yi and was surprised that Jiang LingYuan was still in touch with her. Does this mean there was something between them? Her eyes lit up, “Are you two together?”
Jiang LingYuan glanced at her sadly, “No.”
Seeing this, Jiang Lingyan paused, “She doesn’t like you?”
Jiang LingYuan sighed, “I don’t know.”
“Then, do you like her?”
Jiang LingYuan sighed again, “I don’t know.”
“…What do you know?”
Jiang LingYuan let out a long sigh, “I don’t know anything.”
It was this uncertainty that made her feel so melancholic. When they were first introduced by Ye Mingxin, both were on the same page, that this was matchmaking done by Ye Mingxin. They had been in touch via WeChat for a few months, and gone out a dozen times, but neither broached the subject of taking things further. Stuck in such a limbo, Jiang LingYuan felt like a bucket stuck in a well.
Jiang Lingyan looked at her silently for a while, “You’re not still into Han Feixu, are you?”
This time, Jiang LingYuan gave a definite answer, shaking her head, “Not anymore. Seeing her still excites me, but she no longer makes my heart throb. So, it means that I don’t like her anymore.”
That’s good.
Jiang Lingyan grew interested, as long as her sister was no longer into Han Feixu, she was happy with whoever Jiang LingYuan ended up with. She placed her hands on the dining table and asked curiously, “How far have you two gotten?”
Jiang LingYuan honestly admitted they were just at the stage of ordinary friends. So far, they haven’t done anything. They haven’t even held hands yet.
Hearing this, Jiang Lingyan frowned. Tapping her fingers on the table, she looked at her sister solemnly, “Give me a straight answer, do you want to take it further with her or not?”
Jiang LingYuan was silent for a while, biting her lip in thought before hesitantly nodding. Jiang LingYuan is an extremely picky person. In this life, she’s only felt something for three women: the first was a photo of someone long dead, the second was Han Feixu, who’s already married to someone else, and the third was Lin Yi. Although it hasn’t developed into love just yet, given some time, it probably will.
Jiang Lingyan chuckled, “That’s easy enough, let me teach you a trick. Do you know how you should deal with someone like Lin Yi?”
Jiang LingYuan widened her eyes, shaking her head honestly, “I don’t know, how do you deal with her?”
Jiang Lingyan smiled slightly, making a “V” sign with both hands, and then bumped her hands together.
Jiang LingYuan looked at her in confusion. After waiting for a long time, Jiang Lingyan realized her sister didn’t understand and clicked her tongue, before shaking her hands slightly. Jiang LingYuan froze and then suddenly her face flushed red.
“Stop joking! We… we haven’t even held hands, we can’t do that, nope, nope, no way…”
Jiang LingYuan shook her head like a rattle drum, while Jiang Lingyan looked at her in frustration and disappointment, “Can’t you stop thinking like a little girl all the time? Lin Yi is different from you. She’s so much older and also divorced. Trust me, this trick will definitely work on her.”
Jiang LingYuan looked at her skeptically, “Why should I believe you? You’ve only had one girlfriend, and even then, didn’t it take you a lot of effort to win her over? Isn’t the reason you couldn’t win her over because you tried this trick on Section Chief Shen?”
“…I made a mistake on my part. I didn’t want to use this trick at the beginning.”
“Anyhow, this won’t work,” Jiang LingYuan was very determined, “I’m not you. If I’m going to be in a relationship, it has to be done right, step by step. Messing up the order will lead to me ending up like you, which I definitely don’t want.”
Jiang Lingyan: “…” What’s wrong with her? Isn’t she doing quite well right now?
After rejecting her sister’s idea, Jiang LingYuan went upstairs with her big bowl of ice cream, and at the same time, her phone vibrated. It was a message from Lin Yi, inviting her to an art exhibition.
In the past few months, they had explored everything related to art – concerts, plays, flower exchanges, art exhibitions – all that was left was to check out a comic dialog act.* Jiang LingYuan thought if she really wanted to be with Lin Yi, she should probably learn more about the arts in the future. (T/N: Read more HERE)
Lin Yi really liked art.
Standing in the spacious, quiet exhibition hall, Jiang LingYuan nearly fell asleep as the artist explained his work. He said something about life, the universe, and human existence. She made an effort to stay awake, nodding her head in agreement from time to time.
The only exercise involved in art exhibitions was standing around and looking at stuff, but after a morning of that, Jiang LingYuan felt more exhausted than if she had worked three days straight at her company. Arriving at the restaurant Lin Yi had booked, Lin Yi asked her, “What do you think of this exhibition?”
Jiang LingYuan immediately smiled, “It’s great, I really liked it.”
Hearing this, Lin Yi’s smile deepened, “This artist often holds exhibitions here. I’ve spoken to him, and he’ll notify me about future exhibitions so I can bring you along again in the future.”
Jiang LingYuan’s smile froze.
Again…
Art exhibitions are so painful…
Not wanting to talk more about the exhibition, Jiang LingYuan pondered for a while and then thought of what Lin Yi had just said.
“In the future,” and “I’ll bring you along again.”
The future was uncertain, again may mean next month or it may mean half a year later. If Lin Yi was making plans about an unknown date at the present, does that mean she also has intentions of taking this relationship further?
Jiang LingYuan put the spoon in her mouth, chewing her food while sneakily observing Lin Yi. Lin Yi, noticing her gaze, didn’t say anything. She poured her a glass of wine and then suggested, “If you don’t have anywhere you want to go this afternoon, we can go back. I think there are two halls we haven’t seen yet.”
Jiang LingYuan: “…”
“I have a place I want to go!” Jiang LingYuan almost shouted and hurriedly continued despite Lin Yi’s surprised expression, “Let’s go to my pub. There’s an Australian wandering musician performing today, who’s very good. And since there aren’t many people there, it’s quiet enough that we can talk.”
Let’s just chat, please, I’m begging you, no more looking at nonsense art things….
Lin Yi paused, then smiled and nodded, “Okay.”
Having successfully lured Lin Yi into her territory, they had a pleasant time listening to the artist sing in a husky female voice as they chatted and drank. The bartender, knowing the owner was present, served them the best drinks, which, of course, were quite strong.
Not many drinks in, Jiang LingYuan started getting more chatty as the alcohol started to hit her. She pointed at the musician, “Look, that musician over there, I paid a lot of money to hire her over. She sings so beautifully, and I just lose listening to her songs, so it doesn’t matter how much it costs~”
After pointing at the musician, she pointed at the chandelier overhead, “Look at that, it’s custom-made! My design! Pretty, isn’t it? Got the inspiration from a fashion show, where a 2D embroidery can be transformed into a 3D effect. If you stretch it out really long…”
She spread her arms wide as if she really was stretching something. They were sitting at the bar, and Jiang LingYuan was about to fall off her stool, but Lin Yi quickly steadied her. Jiang LingYuan laughed shyly and then righted herself as she said proudly, “My secretary said this could be entered into a competition, but I don’t want to!”
Lin Yi laughed, leaning on her chin, asking, “Why aren’t you interested in competing?”
Jiang LingYuan haughtily lifted her chin, “Because I won’t win!”
Bartender: “….” Boss, you shouldn’t say these things so straightforwardly.
Lin Yi only found her more adorable after this statement. Jiang LingYuan continued, “I won’t win, not because I lack the skill, but because their vision is poor. I dare not say anything else, but I will say that I, Jiang LingYuan, Second Jiang, am quite proud of this pair of discerning eyes of mine!”
She was clearly tipsy if she was even mentioning the nickname Ye Mingxin had given her.
Jiang LingYuan pointed domineeringly at the bartender cleaning glasses, “That guy over there, I found him at a gay bar and even had to drag him out of there. Back then, he was half-dead from fighting with his cheating ex-boyfriend. I pulled him out, trained him for a few days, and now look at him, you can’t even tell he used to be a wimp afraid of beating up even scumbags!”
Lin Yi: “…”
Bartender: “…”
The bartender silently put down his glass and retreated to the workroom. He probably won’t come out again for the next few days.
Lin Yi quickly pulled back Jiang LingYuan’s hand, fearing she might point at someone else. Forced to turn around, Jiang LingYuan faced Lin Yi and stared at her for a while before suddenly slapping Lin Yi’s face.
The sound was loud, but the force was light. Lin Yi didn’t feel any pain, but Jiang LingYuan was shocked. She quickly rubbed Lin Yi’s face, then looked in confusion at the white powder on her hand.
…Even the foundation was rubbed off.
Lin Yi was at her wit’s end. This time, she grabbed both of Jiang LingYuan’s hands, hoping she wouldn’t cause more trouble.
Joking aside, if Second Jiang wasn’t doing stupid stuff would she still be Second Jiang?*
(*T/N: Play on words here, there’s a slang in China called “er bai wu” which translates to the number 250. It means someone who is stupid/idiot and when someone is doing something stupid you say they are “??” = “committing a two” or “doing something stupid”. Here the author is referencing the “Second” or “two” part of Second Jiang to say she’s being an idiot.)
Author’s notes:
I’m busy tomorrow, so I’ll be taking a break for a day. The story will continue the day after~
Also, my new story has started, updating daily. If interested, feel free to bookmark it.
“Becoming the Runaway Bride of a Tycoon” Link: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3887502
Don’t be fooled by the crude title; it’s a very delicate story, a trope I’ve always loved~ And the plot will definitely surprise you, hehehe
T/N:
Despite the cheesy title, the author’s other novel actually has a bit of a twist to it. The MC is a sword spirit who lost her body (aka her sword) and found that it ended up in the FL’s house (the FL is a CEO). So she did a lot of stuff to get her sword (body) back, up to and including sleeping with said CEO. Then she runs away. Three years later, she discovered that the cultivation/qi energy in her body has been transferred to someone else (can you guess who?) and if she doesn’t get that qi back she won’t be able to access all her powers. Now she has to return to the FL, but FL is now a yandere, and this time she is determined to keep the MC from running away at all costs…
Give it a read if you can understand Chinese. It’s about 1/3 the length of this novel so it’s a short one. Also, the first chapter got taken down due to censorship issues (ugh, China), so I recommend you read it on one of the many other third-party websites. I will have to warn any potential reader that this novel isn’t as fluffy and is actually kinda angsty. So read at your own risk!