When Bai Wenxi first stepped through the door, she was a bit excited.
After all, she had spent every middle - school holiday here.
Although her mother hadn't been very close to her, there were still many beautiful and fresh memories.
Overcome with timidity at the sight of familiar things, standing in her former bedroom, all she felt was a deep sense of sadness.
Everything in the villa remained untouched. Only the dust on the covers revealed the passage of time.
As the sky grew darker, Bai Wenxi had no intention of cooking.
She simply tore open a pack of instant noodles from her suitcase, planning to make do with them for dinner.
The kitchen was at the far - eastern end of the first floor. She had to walk through a long corridor to get there.
Since no one had lived there for a long time, there was a faint musty smell in the corridor.
Bai Wenxi covered her nose and rushed into the kitchen at a trot. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she took a few steps back.
From the floor - to - ceiling window in the corridor, she could see the iron gate of the yard.
Whether it was blown by the wind or rusted due to age, the iron gate that should have been firmly closed was slightly ajar.
Bai Wenxi rushed out to lock it and tapped her head in frustration.
Alas, she had been too tired recently and always forgot things.
She suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and walked back to the kitchen, looking back every few steps.
She turned on the old faucet and found that the tap water was too turbid to use.
Bai Wenxi was dispirited and had no appetite even for food. She simply dry - chewed some crackers.
The light bulbs on the first floor flickered. Bai Wenxi was really scared staying alone in this vast villa.
She double - checked that all the doors and windows were closed before scurrying up to the second floor in a hurry.
Her mother's study was the first room at the top of the stairs on the second floor. Bai Wenxi rushed in, locked the door, and then quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Although there were many patrolling security guards here and cameras everywhere, Bai Wenxi still couldn't help feeling nervous.
She gently bit her lower lip and secretly swore that next time she would come with a companion.
Staying alone in such a large empty house always made one feel scared.
Su Xingfei's bookshelves and desk remained as they were. The cleaning lady never messed with the things in the room when she cleaned.
So the calendar on the desk still showed the day the mistress passed away.
Bai Wenxi took out the key to the desk from the vase on the table and opened the drawers one by one, as if gradually unlocking the enshrouded memories.
They were filled with letters between her mother and others, as well as some of her mother's personal documents.
Bai Wenxi touched those yellowed papers with a complex mood. Her fingers trembled, and she even resisted opening the letters.
Her mother's death had been too sudden. At that time, Yao Chunmei had already accompanied her father to various occasions in the Bai family.
At a young age, before she could get out of the grief of losing her mother, she had to face the meanness and scheming of her step - mother alone.
She hadn't even properly sorted out her mother's relics. She had just stored them in this study and never had the courage to open them again.
"Thud."
A loud sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from outside the window.
Bai Wenxi was startled out of her memories and broke out in a cold sweat.
She immediately turned off the wall lamp in the study, and the room was plunged into pitch - black darkness.
Steadying her nerves, she gently felt for the coat - rack behind the door. Bai Wenxi bravely lifted a corner of the curtain.
"Wenxi! It's me."
Jiang Beihuai had fallen on the lawn. He was rubbing his buttocks and grimacing in pain.
"Ouch! Can you come and help me up? I feel like my coccyx is dislocated!"
Bai Wenxi was furious: "Are you crazy? Why did you climb in through the window instead of coming in through the door? This is the second floor, it's very high!"
Obviously, Jiang Beihuai had secretly followed her to Xuancheng.
But at this moment, Bai Wenxi was still very concerned about her husband's injury.
"You locked all the doors. I knocked for a long time but no one answered." Jiang Beihuai complained rather aggrievedly and muttered under his breath, raising his head slightly.
The moonlight fell on him like a soft veil, making his face look even paler, small, and helpless.
Bai Wenxi hurriedly pushed open the door and rushed to Jiang Beihuai's side.
"What's wrong with you? Can you still move? I'll call 120 and take you to the hospital now."
She was fumbling for her phone in a hurry when Jiang Beihuai grabbed her hand.
"Just help me up slowly. It's not that serious." He lowered his head guiltily, his eyes flickering.
Bai Wenxi slapped his furry head: "Stop pretending."
"You're always like this, deliberately lying to me. How can I believe your sincerity? Is this how you'll treat me well forever?"
Actually, Bai Wenxi didn't usually show her emotions so openly.
But somehow, in this house where her mother had passed away, she just wanted to act coquettishly and complain to Jiang Beihuai.
Knowing that he had gone too far this time and had scared his wife,
Jiang Beihuai silently got up and wrapped Wenxi in his windbreaker.
He gently pecked her lips to soothe her emotions.
"Just cry if you want to." He lovingly wiped the tears from his wife's face and stroked the small mole at the corner of her eye.
Bai Wenxi turned her head awkwardly and struggled out of his embrace: "What, doesn't your coccyx hurt anymore?"
Jiang Beihuai said self - deprecatingly in embarrassment: "Your sadness has scared away my pain."
Bai Wenxi burst out laughing through her tears and pinched his arm: "Smooth - talking!"
"Did you open the iron gate this afternoon?" Suddenly remembering the iron gate that had been open for no reason, Bai Wenxi frowned, "You opened it but didn't close it?"
Jiang Beihuai put his arm around her and walked into the house, as if it were the most natural thing: "Yeah. The gate wasn't locked tightly anyway. I just pushed it and came in."
"I originally wanted to show myself right away, but I was afraid you'd be angry with me, so I went out for a stroll."
He didn't notice his wife's face getting darker and darker. "There's a private - dining restaurant nearby. They make really delicious steaks. I could smell them from afar."
Bai Wenxi sneered coolly: "So you stuffed yourself full before thinking of coming home."
"Of course not. I just wanted to see the place where you lived as a teenager." He rubbed his head against Bai Wenxi's shoulder. "The living standard here was much better than mine back then."
Jiang Beihuai followed her all the way to the study and openly exclaimed in admiration: "Wow, are these all your father's paintings?"
"I think they're much better than the ones on your family's official website."
Hearing his praise for her father, Bai Wenxi hid her joy deep in her heart.
Trying to maintain her reserve, she said: "You've got some taste. These are all the oil paintings he created at the peak of his career."
Thinking of the works that Yao Chunmei had taken away, she let out a long sigh. "Alas, these are the only few landscape paintings he has left."
Bai Wenxi regretfully covered the oil paintings with a cloth again and took out a stack of letters to read carefully.
Jiang Beihuai leaned over and looked at the beautiful calligraphy, puzzled: "Why didn't your mother use the phone to communicate?"
This was also a pain in Bai Wenxi's heart. She rubbed her eyes and tried hard to control her emotions.
"My mother was very ill later. Her hearing completely declined, and her vision gradually blurred."
She waved the paper. "These are the letters my father wrote to her. See, the words are written very big on purpose."
Bai Wenxi's sharp eyes caught a name: Yao Chunmei.
She quickly scanned the whole content in surprise.
It was a letter of thanks from her mother to her father, thanking Yao Chunmei for taking good care of her during this period.
Bai Wenxi was utterly stunned. Had Yao Chunmei really served her sick mother?