Lydia's Path Through Qingyan's Mystery Chapter 5

Lydia Shu thought that it would be hard to kill a day with nothing to do, but she read a book for a while, basked in the sun on the balcony, and took a deep sleep in the afternoon. In a blink of an eye, the day was over.

The orange-red sunset gradually fell and approached the horizon, and the azure blue sky seemed to become dim in an instant.

There was the sound of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. Lydia Shu walked out of the bedroom and saw Ethan Jiang standing in the kitchen cooking dinner.

He is always busy, like a hardworking bee.

Lydia Shu didn't know what Ethan Jiang was doing during the few hours she was asleep, probably still cleaning up.

In fact, Lydia Shu didn't think that the house that had been empty for half a month would be so dirty that it could not be lived in, but the house now looked clean and tidy, the windows were bright, the glass was shiny, the light was transparent, all the items were where they should be, and there was a faint lemon scent floating in the air, which was the smell of residual cleaning fluid.

Ethan Jiang noticed Lydia Shu's figure, looked up and asked, "Let's have porridge tonight. I cooked some pumpkin porridge and fried a plate of lettuce. Is that enough? What else do you want to eat?"

His tone was so familiar that he seemed to have completely forgotten that Lydia Shu was in a state of amnesia. Lydia Shu had no focus and was unable to shake off his temper for a moment. He just said in a muffled voice: "I don't want to."

Ethan Jiang said: "How about I fry another zucchini pancake? You---"

He suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech.

Lydia Shu was puzzled, "Me what?"

Ethan Jiang's panic was so vague that it was difficult to tell with the naked eye. Before Lydia Shu noticed, he regained his composure.

He turned around and looked in the refrigerator, then said, "I'm not thinking of anything. I just wanted you to get me some eggs."

Lydia Shu grumbled, "I won't help you."

She sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Although the variety show made a loud noise that covered all other sounds and echoed in the living room, Lydia Shu's attention involuntarily drifted to the kitchen.

Ethan Jiang was frying zucchini omelette.

It seems to be quite fragrant.

Lydia Shu couldn't help but smell it, and remembered Clara Ye's instructions. Clara Ye said: Ethan Jiang is the best at acting. He always pretends to love you very much. Don't be fooled by him!

Lydia Shu then looked away and continued watching TV.

A few minutes later, the range hood stopped working, and Ethan Jiang walked out of the kitchen and said, "Dinner is ready."

Lydia Shu turned off the TV, stood up slowly, and walked to the dining table. The fragrant smell made her swallow uncontrollably, but she still pretended not to care and said, "Pumpkin, lettuce, and zucchini, the total cost is less than 20 yuan."

Ethan Jiang helped her serve porridge, "Eat something light tonight."

"Do I eat these every night?"

"Um."

Lydia Shu snorted coldly, thinking, is this also loving me? It's basically abusing me!

That's what he thought in his mind, but when the sweet and soft pumpkin porridge entered his mouth, Lydia Shu changed his mind. It was... quite delicious.

The porridge is sweet and refreshing, and the lettuce is salty and refreshing.

As for the zucchini pancake that Lydia Shu had been looking forward to for a long time, it was a palm-sized small pancake that looked good, round in shape, and had the edges fried to a crispy finish. It also tasted better than Lydia Shu had imagined.

Lydia Shu was speechless.

She couldn't ridicule Ethan Jiang while enjoying her meal, as that would seem like she was deliberately picking on Ethan Jiang.

Ethan Jiang didn't eat much vegetables and just drank porridge.

He seemed inexplicably impatient.

Lydia Shu was just about to eat the second piece of cake when Ethan Jiang had already finished two bowls of porridge. He said, "I'm done."
 
Lydia Shu didn't know what to answer, so she took a bite of the pancake. Ethan Jiang had already stood up and went to the balcony to tidy up the clothes that had been dried in the sun.

...

Lydia Shu thought for the umpteenth time: Ethan Jiang is really inexplicable.

She finished her dinner alone in silence, feeling full and comfortable. Ethan Jiang's cooking was a hundred times better than the hospital's nutritional meals, and more to her taste than the meals her parents sent her.

It’s just that Ethan Jiang is a bit annoying.

He was folding clothes in the room.

Lydia Shu looked at the empty plates on the table and was about to put them in the sink. Just as she touched the edge of the dishes, she heard Ethan Jiang say, "Don't move. I'll clean them up."

Lydia Shu immediately withdrew his hand.

Ethan Jiang took care of her meticulously, but other than that, they had no communication.

Ethan Jiang never asked her if she had a headache? What did she remember?

Lydia Shu felt even more resentful about this.

Ethan Jiang came over, piled up the plates on the table and carried them into the kitchen. Lydia Shu stood by the table, scratching the back of the chair with his fingertips.

She said, "I'm going to sleep alone tonight."

Ethan Jiang paused slightly while washing the dishes.

Lydia Shu observed Ethan Jiang's expression and said tentatively: "Don't come to the master bedroom, you... go and clean up the other bedroom yourself, I want to sleep alone anyway."

Ethan Jiang was silent for a long time, then said: "Okay."

Lydia Shu breathed a sigh of relief, turned his back to Ethan Jiang, and rushed into the room without looking back.

The clothes that Ethan Jiang had just folded had been neatly placed in the closet. Most of them were Lydia Shu's clothes. Clothes made of different materials had different ways of hanging. Lydia Shu touched them and felt extremely lost.

The phone is charging on the bedside table.

But she didn't want to see it.

It was a new phone and there was nothing in it.

Her original cell phone was unfortunately lost in a car accident. It was smashed beyond repair and almost twisted. It could not be fixed even after being sent to a repair shop.

Her phone, like her, had its memory cleared.

It would be great if the original data could be saved, so that she could judge what kind of person Ethan Jiang was by looking at the photo album and WeChat chat history. However, the opposite happened. She was shocked to find that she had not backed up any data. Both the photo album and the chat history were now gone without a trace.

She seriously suspected that Ethan Jiang was behind this.

She leaned against the closet and looked around the bedroom blankly.

Before I knew it, it was time to go to bed again.

Because they had agreed to sleep in separate rooms, Lydia Shu did not lock the door. Ethan Jiang brought her pills and water on time. After Lydia Shu finished taking them, she got into bed. Ethan Jiang helped her turn the light to a dim yellow.

When he leaned over to take away her pajamas, Lydia Shu shrank back, muffled under the quilt and said, "Help me close the door."

Ethan Jiang said, "I understand."

He turned and left, closing the door softly.

Not long after, the lights in the living room went out.

This was the second night after Lydia Shu was discharged from the hospital. She still couldn't adapt and her mind was in a mess. She wanted to stay still for a while and listen to Ethan Jiang's movements next door, but the drowsiness side effect brought by the psychiatric drugs made her fall asleep quickly.

This time it was a nightmare.

The scene of the car accident became a shot from a Hollywood blockbuster, bizarre and dangerous. The accident happened on a rainy day, with the winter rain falling coldly. She was driving on the way to the airport, the sky was overcast, time was tight, and messages from the client kept popping up, making her feel a little anxious. The car in front of her slowed down suddenly, and she hurriedly turned the steering wheel, but didn't pay attention to the car speeding behind her. Bang, the violent collision made her ears ring instantly, followed by a surging pain.

The pain was so severe that my eyes first turned dark and then white.

The world stopped turning.

It hurts.

"Ayu, Ayu..."

"Ayu, Ayu..."

"Ayu..."

When she was most helpless, someone hugged her.

She heard a familiar, anxious, yet gentle and worried voice in her ear.

"Don't be afraid, baby. I'm here."

Someone picked her up from the cold ground mixed with rain and mud, and held her in his arms. She was wrapped in warmth, and her cold fingertips were also held by someone, and her whole body gradually warmed up. All the sounds around her, the honking of horns, screams, the harsh sound of rubber tires rubbing against the ground... all disappeared.

The man whispered in her ear: "Don't be afraid, dear, we are home safely and we won't get hurt again."

She should have been comforted, but her headache started again, and all the unscabbed wounds on her body hurt. The top of her head felt like it was split by a sharp blade. She was in so much pain that she could only bite the man's arm hard, channeling all the pain in her body into her teeth.

The man said nothing.

Lydia Shu's tears fell on the man's arm, but he still held her and said, "Dear, it's okay. It will be fine."

Lydia Shu suddenly relaxed.

The pain washed away like a tide.

The man coaxed her with soft words, and with some kind of silent power, it penetrated into Lydia Shu's heart. The nightmare gradually faded in the man's gentle voice, and the barriers around her became thinner and disappeared, and everything in front of her gradually became clear.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a navy blue cartoon bear. It looked familiar. She seemed to have seen it somewhere. She stared at it for a long time before she remembered that it was Ethan Jiang's pajamas.

She raised her head and saw Ethan Jiang sitting beside the bed.

He still maintained a slightly leaning posture, with his left arm hanging by the side of her face, and only suddenly withdrew it when he saw her wake up.

Ethan Jiang's pajamas were wet in several places, probably due to Lydia Shu's tears. His collar, hem and the hair on his forehead were all messy. If nothing unexpected happened, it should also be caused by Lydia Shu.

Lydia Shu didn't know how long she had been dreaming, nor was she sure whether Ethan Jiang was there all the time.

The two of them fell silent at the same time.

Lydia Shu wanted to hear Ethan Jiang explain why he rushed over from next door, hugged her and coaxed her in such a gentle tone.

But she didn't want to ask.

Proving her love to Ethan Jiang always made her feel at a disadvantage.

She looked at Ethan Jiang's arm. There was a clear tooth mark on his left arm. The mark was very deep and must have been painful.

"I---"

Ethan Jiang interrupted for the first time: "Since you have nothing to do, I will go back to the next door."

"Ethan Jiang!"

Lydia Shu hurriedly called out to him, and when Ethan Jiang turned around, their eyes suddenly met.

The dim yellow light reflected in her eyes, like a small flickering candlelight, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. She stared at Ethan Jiang steadily, and only when Ethan Jiang looked away did she ask: "What are you thinking?"

"What's the meaning?"

"Don't you think you're weird?"

Ethan Jiang's expression froze slightly.

"I can't explain why it's strange, but it's just strange," Lydia Shu pulled the quilt and said in a buzzing voice: "If you always treat me like this, then I really can't understand why I want to marry you. Wouldn't it be better to find a nanny?"

Lydia Shu couldn't find any reason to love Ethan Jiang. If it came to taking care of her, cooking, washing clothes, and giving her medicine, she could find a better nanny, who might be able to do better than Ethan Jiang.

"You probably just think of me as a babysitter."

Lydia Shu was stunned.

"What else can you get from marrying me, besides having me as your nanny and enjoying my meticulous care?"

Lydia Shu frowned, "You mean, I married you just for this?"

"No, you married me because you were angry with your parents," Ethan Jiang reached out to tuck in the corner of Lydia Shu's quilt, and said calmly: "At that time, you learned that your father had cheated on you, and you were very depressed. In order to avenge your father, you chose to marry me."

He spoke lightly and without blaming anyone, but in just a few words he put all the blame on Lydia Shu.

What he meant was that he was not a liar, nor did he want her money, and certainly did not want to marry her. It was Lydia Shu who took the initiative.

Lydia Shu's face suddenly darkened. She waved Ethan Jiang's hand away. "Even if I took the initiative, you wouldn't refuse, right? Was it me who knocked you out and dragged you to the Civil Affairs Bureau when we got the marriage certificate? We are all adults, can you please stop saying such ridiculous things?"

"You just want my family's money, why are you pretending?"

Ethan Jiang did not refute, as if Lydia Shu had hit upon his true feelings.

He looked at Lydia Shu, and the next second, he actually held Lydia Shu's hand, his broad palm tightly holding Lydia Shu's hand. Lydia Shu was so scared that he immediately broke free and said in disgust: "Get out, get out!"

Ethan Jiang hesitated for a moment, then got up and left.

Lydia Shu stared at the bedroom door, unable to calm down for a long time.

The Ethan Jiang in the dream and the Ethan Jiang in reality seem to be two different people. If she didn’t love Ethan Jiang at all, why did she subconsciously call his name when she was most scared?

Ayu.

Good girl, he called her like this in his dream.