Liang Yahe came to her senses and smiled. She then responded, “You’re right. Look at me; it seems like all that I can think about is you, and I’ve completely forgotten about the wedding today.”
Jiang Xiaobai smiled, feeling embarrassed. Then, the door opened, and Xiao Su and Xiao Mingzhi came in. “Are you all ready?”
As he finished, Xiao Su looked over to Jiang Xiaobai, who was in a light green dress with a pearly white coat. Her legs looked fair and lean. On her feet were a pair of light-colored heels that were very high. Even though Xiao Su could not tell exactly how high they were, he subconsciously let out a frown as he saw them. “Are you able to walk in those heels?”
Jiang Xiaobai was surprised to hear that.
“You’ve always been wearing flats. Are you sure you’re able to walk today?”
Before Jiang Xiaobai could respond, Liang Yahe interrupted as she stood right next to her, “How could you say this? Isn’t it normal for girls to be in heels? And how does that make it harder for them to walk? If she’s having difficulty, you can very well offer to help her. Xiaobai is your girlfriend—are you even aware of that?”
Xiao Su did not expect his random question to have attracted a rebuttal. He touched his nose, looking embarrassed. Oh well. I shouldn’t have said anything. Mom’s really biased toward Xiaobai even though she’s just pretending to be my girlfriend. If we start seeing each other one day or even get married, I can’t imagine what she would do to me. The thought of this terrified him. So, Xiao Su decided to remain silent.
“Mrs. Xiao, I’m okay. Let’s go then.”
“Let’s go.”
As Xiao Su was the driver, Jiang Xiaobai initially considered taking the back seat so someone else could take the passenger seat. But before she could do that, Liang Yahe had already opened the passenger seat door for her. She had no choice but to get into the passenger seat and fasten her seatbelt.
When they were on the road, Liang Yahe began to nag, “Xiaobai, Xiao Su’s cousin is only twenty-five this year, and I heard that he started seeing his fiancée when they were still at school. After four to five years of dating, they seemed stable, so they decided to get engaged last year and have their wedding this year. Xiao Su is so much older than him; why can’t he learn from his cousin?”
Hearing this made Jiang Xiaobai feel awkward, since she was attending this wedding as Xiao Su’s girlfriend. She felt that those words were aimed at her. Before she figured out what to say, Xiao Su began to frown. “Mom, let’s not talk about this.”
Liang Yahe squinted and commented angrily, “What? As your mother, don’t I even have the right to bring that up?”
Xiao Mingzhi tapped Liang Yahe’s hand, reminding her that Jiang Xiaobai was also in the car. Liang Yahe came to her realization and remarked, “Xiaobai, please don’t worry. After you and Xiao Su get married, I’ll definitely be nice to you. If he treats you badly, I won’t go easy on him.”
This embarrassed Jiang Xiaobai, and she now understood what it meant when Xiao Su told her that they would have to explain this arrangement to his mother after the wedding—his mother was so anxious for him to get married. Hopefully, she had not already discussed this with Xiao Su. For Jiang Xiaobai, she felt that after they had made it clear with his mother, she would go back home and find a blind date. It’s just blind dates. Nothing too scary. Therefore, she let out a shy smile at Liang Yahe and kept quiet.
This did not cause Liang Yahe to be suspicious; she reckoned Jiang Xiaobai was just embarrassed at what she said, and that made her heart happy. Liang Yahe had been wanting Xiao Su to find a girlfriend, and now, he came home with a pretty lady. She thought this really made the Xiao family proud, as Jiang Xiaobai was not without substance—she was outstanding in many ways.
After almost two hours in the car, they stopped halfway for a quick bite. Right now, Jiang Xiaobai did not feel good, so she went to use the bathroom. In the bathroom, she was retching uncontrollably, but nothing came out. She was feeling carsick after the long ride, but she could not make herself vomit. If it was not because of Liang Yahe and Xiao Mingzhi, she would have asked Xiao Su to stop the car much earlier for her to take a break. But since they were both with them in the car, she did not feel good about bothering them. That was why she held it in.
After several failed attempts, Jiang Xiaobai decided to freshen up, but the moment she opened the faucet she instantly thought about the make-up that she put on today. She exhaled and touched up her make-up before leaving the bathroom. The moment she walked out of the bathroom, she saw a tall figure lean against the door. Xiao Su? What’s he doing here?
Just as Jiang Xiaobai was confused, Xiao Su looked up at her. “Are you feeling unwell?” Even though she had already touched up her make-up, the tiredness on her face was still apparent.
Jiang Xiaobai shook her head. “No.”
Xiao Su produced an agonized frown. “Why didn’t you tell me that you aren’t feeling well? I waited here for five minutes.”
Oh? Five minutes? He must have heard me retching in the bathroom. Since he already knew, she believed that there was nothing for her to hide. She commented with a smiley face, “Both of your parents are around. If I were to say it, it would’ve been troublesome.”
“Troublesome?” A frown creased his forehead. “They both like you a lot. I thought you knew.”
“Of course they like me. But you don’t—” The last part of the sentence was so soft that no one else apart from herself could hear it.
Wanting her to repeat it, Xiao Su squinted and asked, “What did you say?”
“Nothing.” Jiang Xiaobai puckered up her lips and commented dismissively, “What I said was that even though they like me, that doesn’t mean I need to be proud of it. Do you hear it now?”
Xiao Su’s eyebrows were still tangled as he thought about what Jiang Xiaobai had just said. He felt like she was saying that even though his parents liked her, he himself did not. Although he did not fully catch the last part of her sentence, it felt like this was what she was saying. If that was really the case, that did not sound like Jiang Xiaobai, who would never say such things. Perhaps I’m overthinking.
“Telling us that you’re not well doesn’t make you proud; making a fuss out of nothing does.”
“Fine. Whatever. You’re right. We’re done now so let’s head out.” As Jiang Xiaobai walked past him, he grabbed her by her hand. The moment the two hands touched felt like an electric shock to Jiang Xiaobai. She immediately widened her eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Xiao Su was only planning on stopping her from leaving and was not expecting to grab her hand. After seeing the look on her face, he quickly took his hand back. “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Xiaobai pursed her lips and stared at him while he took his hand back. She could still feel his touch on her hand. “That’s okay. Is there a problem?”
Xiao Su was supposed to ask what was going on with her for the past two days as she had been behaving strangely. But when the words got to his mouth, they turned into, “Nothing. Let’s go.” Then, he led the way.
