Chapter 129

Suddenly, the ringtone sounded. It was a call from Zhong Ning.

Xie Shiqing sat up with a start, yanked off the eye patches from her face, and used a towel to rub her face hard from top to bottom, wiping away all the serum from the mask, even rubbing her skin red.

Then she closed and opened her eyelids once, blinked, and a few tears rolled down, dampening her eyelashes.

The whole process took no more than three seconds. When the call connected, she spoke with a heavy nasal tone, “Ning Ning… sob, did I disturb you again?”

Zhong Ning’s slightly distorted voice came through the speaker. “I was just reading in the library and didn’t see your messages. Shiqing, don’t cry. It’s my fault for being careless. Tomorrow I’ll wear my earphones so I won’t miss your messages.”

Xie Shiqing sniffled, her voice full of uncertainty. “Really? You just didn’t see them?”

Carrying her book downstairs, Zhong Ning said softly, “Really. I wouldn’t lie to you. When have I ever lied to you?”

“I thought you would never talk to me again…”

She sobbed, the sound mixed with pure joy that came after her panic faded. “I was so scared, Ning Ning, I thought I was going to die from fright. I really thought I would.”

“It’s my fault, it’s me who’s wrong.” Zhong Ning had just heard from Qi Wan about all the miserable things that had happened to Xie Shiqing, and she was feeling an overwhelming surge of pity for her. Those two previous moments of sadness quickly faded from her mind. “I still have a short class this afternoon. How about I take leave and go back to keep you company?”

“It’s okay. Ning Ning, focus on your studies. School is important. Now that I know you haven’t abandoned me, I feel much better. It’s fine, I can stay at home by myself.”

Xie Shiqing broke into a smile through her tears but did not take the opportunity to accept the offer. Instead, she considerately declined.

“I’ve used a tranquilizer, and I feel sleepy. I might nap for a while. Ning Ning, after your afternoon class, are you still going to the company?”

“No, it takes quite a bit of time to get there, and it’d be almost time to leave once I arrived,” Zhong Ning said warmly. “After class, I’ll head home. I’ll be back by three.”

“Then when I wake up, I’ll get to see you, right?” Xie Shiqing asked with delighted anticipation, biting her lip but unable to suppress the curve of her lips.

“Yes, you’ll see me when you wake up.”

Seeing Xie Shiqing like this, Zhong Ning lost all her temper and even began to reflect on herself, wondering if she had been too harsh.

In truth, Xie Shiqing hadn’t done anything especially excessive, and considering her tragic past, this kind of insecurity and rejection of kindness was entirely understandable.

She was also a pitiful person, a victim.

After hanging up, Zhong Ning sighed and decided to let go of what had happened before.

The saying “those who are hateful must have something pitiful about them” might usually be used to whitewash someone, but the truth was, Xie Shiqing really was too pitiful… In any case, she was the one who had suffered, so if she wanted to forgive, she could—no one else’s approval was needed.

Xie Shiqing truly had it rough.

She really couldn’t bring herself to be cold-hearted.

After her afternoon class ended, she went straight home, stopping by the supermarket outside the residential complex to buy a lot of fruit to carry back.

She had long possessed the keys to Xie Shiqing’s home. When Xie Shiqing had moved in, she had given them to her, saying it was so she could come by anytime to play with Pine Mushroom.

But every time she had come before, Xie Shiqing had been waiting for her in advance. She had never actually gone upstairs before and didn’t know what it looked like.

Using the key to open the door, Zhong Ning first set the fruit on the cabinet by the entrance, then closed the door behind her and bent down to take out a new pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet to put on.

Once she had her slippers on, she looked up with a glance.

Empty.

The place was far too empty. If not for the few pieces of furniture and the tiled and wallpapered walls, Zhong Ning would have thought it was an unfinished apartment.

There wasn’t even a sofa in the living room—only a few dog toys in the corner.

Pine Mushroom hadn’t come back yet, but the bodyguard stationed outside saw her and gave a polite nod. “Miss Zhong, President Xie is in a meeting.”

Zhong Ning paused. “Didn’t she say she was going to sleep? How long has she been busy?”

The bodyguard replied steadily, “Around one o’clock. Would Miss Zhong like to go find President Xie? She’s in the second room on the left.”

“No need, I’ll wait for her to finish,” Zhong Ning said, putting all the fruit into the refrigerator and taking out a box of lychees and blueberries to wash.

One o’clock was during her class time. When they’d spoken at noon, it had been nearly twelve. So she hadn’t slept long at all.

She was clearly in her heat period, yet still working so hard.

But the Xie family business was Xie Shiqing’s life’s work, so Zhong Ning could completely understand her actions—she just couldn’t help feeling a pang of distress.

The washed fruit still glistened with water droplets. Zhong Ning peeled a lychee and ate it herself, letting out another sigh.

Damn it, whenever she dealt with Xie Shiqing, she was always filled with so many complicated emotions.

She still hadn’t finished reading the psychology book. Figuring out how to help Xie Shiqing build a healthy sense of trust—one that didn’t depend solely on her—was still a major challenge.

She was a complete amateur with only a few hours of study. How could she possibly grasp the right balance? And her own upbringing could only serve as a partial reference. A child, born and growing up, had a blank mind in which understanding had to be built from nothing.

But Xie Shiqing was an adult, her heart already tainted.

It was like painting—working on the former was like applying oils to a blank canvas, while the latter was like painting on a ruined old one: you had to repair the frame and carefully cover the original colors while making no mistakes, before you could apply the new colors.

And she was someone who had only self-studied for two days, couldn’t even draw a straight line, yet was expected to paint something as intricate as the Along the River During the Qingming Festival.

Feeling frustrated, Zhong Ning peeled another lychee and popped it into her mouth, crunching it between her teeth.

After sitting for a while longer, the butler came out of a room, heading to the kitchen to pour some water. Seeing this, Zhong Ning took the cup from her, carrying it together with the fruit into the room.

Xie Shiqing was leaning against the headboard, a soft pillow behind her back. Her face was slightly pale, her cheeks tinted with a faint sickly flush, the corners of her eyes still hazy with color. She sat listlessly, holding a tablet in her arms.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, she tilted her head. “Ning Ning? Is that you?”

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