Push Me Away When I Come, Don't Hold Me Back When I Leave - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: A Memory That’s Not Hers?

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“Then shall I cook some black-bone chicken porridge with motherwort? It would be good for Xiao Hua’s health. Or does Ruoming want to eat something else?” After stifling her laughter, Xiao Qinghan was about to go to the kitchen to cook something for the two, but she worried that since Xia Ruoming just came from Chengdu, she might not be used to light foods, so she asked again.

“It’s fine, Sister Qinghan, I’ll just eat whatever,” Xia Ruoming said.

“Alright, then I’ll go cook now, you two can chat for a while.”

“Wait, Sister Qinghan.” Xia Ruoming called out to Xiao Qinghan, then took out a pack of ginger brown sugar tea she bought during the day from her shoulder bag, “Let’s make another cup of ginger brown sugar tea for the little princess, it seemed quite effective when she drank it earlier today.”

“Hey, don’t call me little princess! Xia Ruoming!” Jiang Ruhua’s shout came from the sofa area again, but it carried no intimidation at all, instead making the two of them struggle to hold back their laughter until their faces turned slightly red.

“Sister Qinghan, why don’t I help you in the kitchen?” Xia Ruoming said, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

Xiao Qinghan was hesitant at first, but after seeing how Xia Ruoming seemed eager to avoid Jiang Ruhua, she nodded in agreement.

Feeling bored alone in the room, Jiang Ruhua picked up the notebook that Xiao Qinghan had left on the sofa backrest and started reading the handwritten novel inside.

Being a fan of detective novels, she was quite engrossed in it at first, but suddenly something felt off as she read further.

Why was the female detective named Xia Ruoming, and the detective’s beautiful assistant named Xiao Qinghan? Do novels these days include so many personal references? Isn’t the author going too far with these personal touches!

Isn’t this trying to steal what’s hers?

“Xiao Hua, come eat!” Soon after, Xiao Qinghan came out carrying a small bowl of motherwort black-bone chicken porridge and placed it on the table.

“What kind of nickname is Xiao Hua! Can’t you just call me by my proper name?” Every time she heard these childish nicknames, Jiang Ruhua felt like her fur was standing on end. She was supposed to be a mature, steady noble young lady!

“Then, should I call you little princess like Ruoming does?” Xiao Qinghan asked with a gentle smile.

“…” After a long silence, Jiang Ruhua drooped her face like a little cat looking at the ceiling, wearing an expression of complete despair. Indeed, she was still too young to compete with an older woman like Xiao Qinghan.

Getting anxious, her temperature rose.

“Come on, little princess, come eat. Sister Qinghan made it specially for you,” Xia Ruoming called out to Jiang Ruhua, “If you don’t come over, I’m going to carry you here!”

After shooting a fierce glare at Xia Ruoming, Jiang Ruhua still crawled up from the sofa herself. She didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Xiao Qinghan, who might be her future love rival.

Although her legs were still weak, with Xiao Qinghan watching nearby, she could manage to walk.

Taking a small sip of the cooled porridge that Xiao Qinghan had blown on, Jiang Ruhua showed a particularly surprised expression. The porridge was really delicious, even though it was made with common ingredients, it was better than what the chefs hired by the Jiang family made.

“How is it? Sister Qinghan’s cooking is quite good, right?” Xia Ruoming asked when she saw Jiang Ruhua’s expression.

Xiao Qinghan’s cooking skills were indeed excellent, far superior to Xia Ruoming’s amateur cooking. In certain special cuisines, even the chefs at Jinxuan would bow to her expertise.

“…It’s just okay.”

Jiang Ruhua suddenly felt somewhat dejected. With Xiao Qinghan’s feminine qualities being so high, how could she compete? Her own cooking skills were limited to frying eggs or boiling fresh soy milk, anything more difficult was beyond her.

However, Xiao Qinghan didn’t notice the change in Jiang Ruhua’s tone. She just thought this tsundere young lady was too cute, her contrary nature particularly reminded her of a manga she had read before, like that female supporting character who would only answer “it’s just okay” whenever her female friend asked “do you like me?” This kind of young lady who inexplicably hit her moe points really brought out her maternal instincts, along with an urge to hug and squeeze her.

After dinner, Xia Ruoming felt exhausted from the busy day and decided to take a quick shower before going straight to bed.

However, Jiang Ruhua, who had originally been arranged to stay in the third-floor guest room, insisted on sleeping together with Xia Ruoming, saying things like “I’m not well right now, Ruoming, you wouldn’t abandon a sick person, would you?”

“Then why don’t you go sleep with Sister Qinghan, why must you sleep with me?” Xia Ruoming seemed to hesitate for a moment before asking.

“Hey! Xia Ruoming! I’m still a girl, you know, and I’m not familiar with Xiao Qinghan, of course I’d be embarrassed to sleep together!” Jiang Ruhua shouted again when she saw Xia Ruoming being so inconsiderate, though her voice was very weak and didn’t create any sense of threat to Xia Ruoming.

“Fine… alright, but I warn you, little princess, behave yourself in my bed, or don’t blame me for throwing you out.” Looking at Jiang Ruhua who was somewhat unreasonable, Xia Ruoming gave up struggling. After all, she didn’t want to let Jiang Ruhua sleep alone either, given her physical condition she could have an accident at any time, if she got up at night and fell and fainted, it would be hard to explain to Jiang Huaiyun.

“Xia Ruoming, why did you choose to start your own business?” When it was just the two of them, Jiang Ruhua asked what was really on her mind, “I could give you everything you want, why choose to take the long way around?”

“Little princess, let’s not even discuss whether you can give me what I want, what I want isn’t important. What’s important is how I get what I want. This time, I want to control my own life.” Although Xia Ruoming’s face still wore a smile, Jiang Ruhua clearly heard the bitterness in her words, the kind of bitterness that couldn’t come from someone without experience, “So, little princess, you should give up. Maybe in the next life, or the life after that, I might accept your deal.”

“No way, Xia Ruoming, in this world, there’s nothing I want that I can’t get! Even you are no exception, you’ll agree someday!”

For some reason, when Jiang Ruhua finished saying these words, she felt like some memories flashed before her eyes, memories that didn’t belong to her.

Those scenes flashed past her eyes, she only vaguely felt that the person in the scenes seemed to be Xia Ruoming, just completely different from now.

She didn’t know why, she had never had any interaction with Xia Ruoming in the past, why would she have memories that she thought were “related to Xia Ruoming.”

After hearing Jiang Ruhua’s words, Xia Ruoming also froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered the scene at the fortune-telling shop that day, that 【The Moon】 card shrouded in rising mist.

She suddenly understood something.

The true meaning of that moon card, what exactly was the thing she could pick up that she hadn’t obtained, originally she thought it might be a relationship, but now it seemed not entirely.

At least, the thing not obtained should not be love.

Because she was fortune-telling about love, so all along, she had been caught in a misconception.

That should be something that had ceased to exist even before she signed the contract with Jiang Ruhua.

Dignity.