Chapter 303: Huang Jiqin's Guilt

Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but laugh at Xie Huaizheng’s coaxing.

‘Right,’ she thought. ‘How could I not trust Xie Huaizheng?’

Right now, Xie Huaizheng was the only one she could trust.

And Xie Huaizheng had never once let her down.

When they departed, Su Zhaozhao brought plenty of tasty treats, including some snacks she took from her ‘space’. But she removed them from their original packaging and put them in plastic bags.

On the long train ride, she wanted to eat something to pass the time.

Otherwise, it would be utterly boring.

The journey from West State to Beijing was shorter than the trip to Jiang City, but it still took a full day and night.

Thankfully, Xie Huaizheng had bought tickets for a soft sleeper car. After boarding and stowing their luggage, Su Zhaozhao and Xie Huaizheng sat facing each other, able to eat, chat, and read for a while.

Su Zhaozhao turned her head, watching the scenery fly backward outside the window. The desolate fields and the distant loess plateaus were all receding into the distance.

Trains back then weren’t that fast. After eating, she felt sleepy and lay down on her bunk to sleep.

Seeing Su Zhaozhao lie down to sleep, Xie Huaizheng wanted to join her. Su Zhaozhao gave him a little push. “Stop fooling around. This bunk is too small for two people.”

“Zhaozhao…” Xie Huaizheng frowned, looking at Su Zhaozhao with a deeply wronged expression.

But Su Zhaozhao maintained her absolutely unyielding stance.

“Stop it. In any case, it’s not happening.”

Xie Huaizheng was so big. It would be one thing for two girls to squeeze onto a bunk, but a big man like him…

“Let’s talk about it when we get back.” Su Zhaozhao pulled the blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Seeing her like this, Xie Huaizheng was at a loss. He could only sit quietly across from her, gazing at Su Zhaozhao.

‘Well, we can’t sleep together, but just watching my wife sleep so peacefully is enough to make me feel content.’

「Meanwhile.」

「At the Xie Family residence.」

The moment Huang Jiqin learned that Xie Huaizheng was bringing Su Zhaozhao home, she immediately started tidying up the house.

Although the house was already kept very clean on a daily basis, with Su Zhaozhao coming, things had to be even more presentable.

First, Huang Jiqin gave Xie Huaizheng’s room a thorough cleaning.

She changed the bedding to a bright red four-piece set.

The windows were scrubbed until they were spotless, and she even pasted the ‘Double Happiness’ character on them.

Besides that, she took out the wedding photos Xie Huaizheng and Su Zhaozhao had taken last time, placed them in an exquisite frame, and set it on the desk.

She opened the closet and rearranged Xie Huaizheng’s clothes.

But upon inspection, his clothes didn’t seem to need much arranging. He was rarely home and always wore the same few outfits. For a boy, the styles were all simple, so there wasn’t much to do.

As for Su Zhaozhao, however…

This was her first time here, so she probably wouldn’t bring much luggage. With that in mind, after cleaning Xie Huaizheng’s room, Huang Jiqin immediately went to the state-run department store and bought several new outfits.

From a woolen overcoat and a cotton-padded jacket to the inner layers worn underneath.

She also bought plenty of pants and skirts.

Fortunately, she had met Su Zhaozhao before and knew her figure and size, which made shopping for clothes easier.

Thinking of how beautiful Su Zhaozhao was, Huang Jiqin went on a bit of a shopping spree, buying several nice pieces.

For one, she felt that someone as beautiful as Su Zhaozhao deserved these beautiful clothes.

For another, she felt a bit of guilt toward Su Zhaozhao.

Back when she found out that Su Zhaozhao and Xie Huaizheng had mistaken each other for someone else, she had harbored some resentment toward Su Zhaozhao, suspecting she had done it on purpose.

Although she never brought it up in front of Su Zhaozhao, there was a time when she called Xie Huaizheng and Su Zhaozhao answered. Her tone then hadn’t been very pleasant.

How could a clever girl like Su Zhaozhao, who was also well-versed in psychology, not notice the shift in her attitude?

They hadn’t interacted much during this period.

Thinking about it now, Huang Jiqin couldn’t help but sigh.

So, she had to take advantage of Su Zhaozhao’s visit to make up for her past mistakes.

She wanted to be a good mother-in-law, and she was incredibly fond of a wonderful girl like Su Zhaozhao.

Finally, after buying the clothes, Huang Jiqin passed by a jewelry counter and saw a glittering gold bracelet.

She said to the sales clerk, “Please wrap this gold bracelet up for me.”

This would count as her first-meeting gift for Su Zhaozhao.

Back home, Huang Jiqin continued to keep herself busy.

Meanwhile, back on the train, Su Zhaozhao had been asleep for a very long time.

She was a pretty heavy sleeper on a normal day. Now, on the train, there was nothing to do. Reading was boring, and there was no phone to scroll through.

So she might as well just sleep.

‘It’s a blessing she can sleep so well,’ Xie Huaizheng thought.

She slept through the afternoon, only waking up for dinner when he called her.

After dinner, she chatted with Xie Huaizheng for a bit and read for a while before she started yawning again. She went to the restroom in the corridor to wash up, then climbed back into her bunk and fell asleep once more.

“Su Zhaozhao, you really can sleep, can’t you?” Xie Huaizheng pinched her cheek.

Lying in her bunk, Su Zhaozhao opened her eyes wide and looked at Xie Huaizheng. “What can I do? It’s too boring. Sleeping is the only way to pass the time. You should get some sleep too. Good night.”

Su Zhaozhao yawned and closed her eyes.

‘The soft sleeper is quite comfortable,’ she mused. ‘It’s spacious, has few people, and a door that can be closed.’

‘You don’t have to worry about people walking back and forth.’

‘It really is true in any era—the rich always have it best.’

Xie Huaizheng was so exasperated by Su Zhaozhao’s heartless dedication to sleeping that he laughed.

‘Me, sleep? I really can’t fall asleep!’

‘My body clock is just wired this way. All those years of waking early and sleeping late have trained me to need less sleep.’

‘It was only after getting together with Su Zhaozhao that my sleep improved.’

But now, without the intense training, being told to get a full night’s sleep was something Xie Huaizheng just couldn’t do.

Watching Su Zhaozhao sleep so soundly across from him, Xie Huaizheng felt a little envious.

‘How can she sleep so well?’

‘She can even fall asleep instantly in this kind of environment.’

‘This girl… she’s really something else…’

Xie Huaizheng sat watching Su Zhaozhao. Even just looking at her like this, doing nothing at all, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of happiness.

‘I’ll just keep watching her, then.’

The next day at noon, they arrived in Beijing.

Just as they stepped out of the station, a car pulled up in front of them.

“Huai Zheng, I’m here to pick you up.”

The man waiting by the car saw Xie Huaizheng and immediately came forward to help them with their luggage.

His gaze fell on Su Zhaozhao, and he gave her a polite nod. “This must be my sister-in-law?”

“Yes.” Xie Huaizheng introduced him to Su Zhaozhao, “This is my older brother, Xie Duzhou.”