Do You Have to Abstain for Seven Days?

The spacious bedroom was so quiet that even the drop of a needle might have been heard.

After a long pause, Jiang Jibai asked in a calm tone, “Wen Xi, can’t you fall asleep?”

“A little.”

Wen Xi blinked.

But the bigger reason was that she simply wanted to touch it again.

As for why she wanted to touch it again… it was pure curiosity.

A few hours earlier in the living room, Jiang Jibai had only allowed her to grab it once.

He had let her take advantage for a single moment, then immediately acted as if the transaction between money and goods had been settled, refusing to let her touch it again.

At the time she had only been nervous.

She hadn’t even had the chance to properly feel it.

All she remembered vaguely was that the texture had indeed been quite nice.

The light above suddenly switched on.

Jiang Jibai turned on the lamp and sat up.

He got out of bed.

“Don’t sleep yet. Get up. I need to ask you something.”

“…Oh.”

Seeing how serious he looked, Wen Xi followed and sat up as well.

She leaned the pillow behind her back and rested against it, raising her eyes toward the man who had already walked to the foot of the bed.

“I should have told you before,” Jiang Jibai said as he went to sit on the sofa. “I’m adopted.”

“Mm, I remember.”

Wen Xi said curiously, “It seems like a secret though. Jiang Jibai, no one around me knows about it.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Jibai said lightly, “Next Tuesday is my biological mother’s memorial day. According to my usual habit, I’ll go to her hometown and stay there for a week. Do you want to come with me?”

“A whole week? But I have classes.”

After saying that, Wen Xi suddenly realized something.

Jiang Jibai’s biological mother… had already passed away?

When she heard him mention being adopted before, she had assumed Zou Jiayun had simply adopted him from an orphanage.

She had thought he didn’t know who his real parents were.

“So it’s up to you,” Jiang Jibai said. “You can come, or you don’t have to.”

“I need to think about it.”

After all, skipping five days of classes wasn’t trivial.

It wasn’t that she was worried about failing. She could request leave.

What she worried about was her studies themselves.

Even though she was crazy about chasing celebrities, she had never neglected her academics.

“Wen Xi, if you go, your experience there won’t be very pleasant,” Jiang Jibai added.

“Huh?”

Wen Xi didn’t understand.

“Think it over and tell me,” Jiang Jibai said.

He didn’t elaborate further.

He stood up from the sofa and walked toward the door of the master bedroom.

“Oh.”

Wen Xi nodded.

Her eyes followed his direction unconsciously.

“What are you going to do?”

“Sleep in the guest room.”

Without giving the girl time to protest, Jiang Jibai said calmly, “I’ll sleep in the same room as the dog. Wen Xi, you don’t need to worry about it running over here.”

With that, Jiang Jibai had already reached the door.

He raised his hand and pressed the switch.

The overhead light went out.

Darkness returned to the room.

Wen Xi heard Jiang Jibai say, “Good night.”

“…”

Alright.

This was his way of answering the bold nonsense she had said earlier.

Since things had come to this point, she wasn’t going to drag him back either.

With some regret, Wen Xi slid into the blankets.

It didn’t matter.

If he didn’t agree this time, there would always be a next time!

**

The next day, Monday, Wen Xi rode in Jiang Jibai’s car back to school.

He had specifically driven her there.

But he didn’t drive into campus.

After Wen Xi got out of the car, she grabbed her bag and headed straight to her classroom.

The second class of the morning was an elective.

Cheng Cheng and Lin Shu were sitting in the last row.

Wen Xi entered from the back.

Thinking about what Jiang Jibai had said the night before, she turned toward Lin Shu before class began.

“Shu Shu, can I discuss something with you?”

Lin Shu set down her pen and pushed her glasses up.

“Go ahead.”

Cheng Cheng leaned closer curiously.

“What are you talking about? Why wasn’t I invited to join?”

Wen Xi didn’t stop her.

It was fine if Cheng Cheng heard.

She said, “After class this week, could you take photos of your notes and send them to me? I want to take a week off, but I don’t want to fall behind.”

“No problem.”

Lin Shu smiled.

“I thought it was something serious.”

“Thank you, Shu Shu! Luckily I have you!”

Wen Xi hugged Lin Shu and shook her.

At that moment Cheng Cheng slapped her shoulder and complained.

“Xi Xi, why don’t you want my notes? I pay attention in class too, okay!”

Wen Xi released Lin Shu and paused.

“Cheng Cheng… reading your notes is basically an impossible task.”

Cheng Cheng flipped open her notebook.

Lin Shu leaned over to look too.

On the white page was a long line of incomprehensible scribbles that looked like crawling worms.

Lin Shu couldn’t help laughing.

“Xi Xi is right. Cheng Cheng, I suspect even you can’t read your own notes.”

Cheng Cheng: “……”

The class bell rang.

Cheng Cheng lowered her voice.

“Xi Xi, you’re not taking leave to chase your idol overseas again, are you?”

She had done that before two years ago.

Once her idol Qiao Zhinian had gone abroad for a week-long filming schedule.

The schedule was public.

Wen Xi didn’t hesitate.

She asked Lin Shu for help and immediately requested leave from the counselor.

Of course, the excuse wasn’t chasing a celebrity.

Otherwise the counselor would never have approved it.

Now that Wen Xi was requesting a week off again, Cheng Cheng’s suspicion was reasonable.

“No.”

Wen Xi hadn’t told Cheng Cheng or Lin Shu about her relationship with Jiang Jibai yet.

After thinking about it, she decided she would tell them properly when she returned.

So she used an excuse.

“I want to visit my mom. I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

Cheng Cheng knew about her parents’ divorce.

“Oh, I see. Then take leave without worry. I’ll help you!”

Lin Shu looked over with a faint smile in her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Finally planning to study seriously instead of playing games during class?”

“Hey!” Cheng Cheng protested.

“If you miss even one line of notes, I’ll make sure you write it down later!”

Lin Shu: “……”

Wen Xi laughed softly.

Although she had said she needed to think about Jiang Jibai’s proposal last night, she had actually already made her decision.

Every day without news of her idol made her worry more.

So of course she wanted to stay close to Jiang Jibai.

She wanted to cling to him more.

She told Jiang Jibai on WeChat that she could go with him and asked when they would depart.

He only replied in the afternoon.

Jiang Jibai: [The day after tomorrow, 6 p.m.]

Wen Xi thought for a moment while holding her phone.

Then she messaged her father, Wen Junru.

Niangao Gao: [Dad, are you free this afternoon?]

Half a minute later Wen Junru replied.

[Dad has work this afternoon and will get off late. Why don’t you come home for dinner? I’ll have them prepare something nice.]

Thinking about Wen Leran and Wen Yiran—the two little devils—and remembering how they had pranked her the last time she visited their house, Wen Xi immediately replied.

[Forget it, Dad. I won’t come for dinner. I just wanted to tell you something.]

Niangao Gao: [I’m going out of town with Jiang Jibai this week. I won’t be at school. If you need anything, just call me.]

Wen Junru didn’t ask what it was about.

He assumed she was going out to have fun.

He only reminded her to stay safe.

A few minutes later another message arrived.

Wen Junru: [Dad just had my secretary transfer five hundred thousand into your account. Since you’re going out, have fun. If it’s not enough, tell me.]

Niangao Gao: [Okay, thank you Dad.]

Wen Xi stared at the bank notification for a while.

In some ways, Wen Junru was a qualified father.

He was generous with money.

Even after having two new children, he hadn’t ignored her completely.

At the very least, he always remembered to care about her financially.

**

That night Jiang Jibai stayed at the apartment again.

Wen Xi returned to the old residence by herself.

She didn’t insist he return.

After all, he was about to leave for a week and wouldn’t see his dog.

Spending one night bonding with the Samoyed was perfectly reasonable.

The next day at six in the evening, Wen Xi got into the car heading for Jiang Jibai’s mother’s hometown.

It was in Sicheng, a neighboring city.

The distance was a little over three hundred kilometers.

Since Zou Jiayun’s leg was still in a cast and she would be coming along, they chose to travel by nanny van.

Zou Jiayun had a separate van with a driver.

Wen Xi and Jiang Jibai were in another car.

Jiang Jibai was driving.

During the ride, Jiang Jibai briefly explained the details of his adoption that hadn’t been included in the documents he had given her before.

Only then did Wen Xi learn that Jiang Jibai’s biological mother was actually Zou Jiayun’s elder sister, Zou Jiaya.

Zou Jiaya died in an accident when Jiang Jibai was four years old.

Zou Jiayun then brought him home and raised him herself.

Jiang Jibai and his elder brother Jiang Bowu were only a year apart in age.

Coincidentally, Zou Jiayun had been overseas the year after giving birth to Jiang Bowu.

Jiang Jibai’s birthday matched that timeline.

Afraid other children might bully him for being fatherless and motherless, Zou Jiayun told outsiders that Jiang Jibai was her child born overseas.

Because of weak health, he had stayed abroad for four years before being brought back to the country.

Wen Xi finally understood why almost no one in Ning City knew Jiang Jibai was adopted.

Zou Jiayun had protected him carefully.

Jiang Jibai never mentioned his biological father.

Afraid she might say the wrong thing when they visited his grandmother’s home, Wen Xi asked cautiously.

“Jiang Jibai, is your father still alive?”

The car sped along the highway.

The soundproofing was excellent.

With the windows closed, the interior was extremely quiet.

Jiang Jibai didn’t answer for a long time.

Wen Xi didn’t repeat the question.

The silence in the car felt strange.

She picked up her phone, connected it to the car’s Bluetooth, and opened a music app.

Just as she was about to play a song, the man beside her finally spoke.

His voice was calm.

“Wen Xi, when we get there, don’t mention him.”

It took Wen Xi several seconds to realize that “him” referred to Jiang Jibai’s biological father.

All kinds of strange guesses appeared in her mind.

Either his father had betrayed his mother, causing her family to hate him.

Or…

His father had directly caused his mother’s death.

What Wen Xi didn’t know at that moment was that the truth was far uglier than anything she imagined.