Contradicting Hearts - Chapter 4 - Are You Together with Her?

So, did she hire a part-time worker, or did she bring in a deity she had to appease?

Too bad she didn’t believe in deities, nor did she worship them.

Hao Sijia suddenly planted a playful kiss on Lin Jize’s chin, hooked the shopping cart with her foot, and tossed an entire row of potato chips into the cart, ending with a cheeky whistle at Lin Jize.

As they passed the cosmetics display, a saleswoman approached with a sample bottle of perfume, trying to make a sale. The cheap, gaudy packaging and the pungent scent were things Sijia would normally ignore.

“Which one smells the best?”

Seeing a potential customer, the saleswoman eagerly brought out her best perfumes, finally recommending a pink frosted bottle with a gold spray head. The scent was like soaking a box of low-quality scented powder in water and then forcing it into your airways.

“This is great!” Sijia held her breath and waved the perfume bottle at Jize. “Smells amazing.”

The perfume, which hadn’t sold in a year, sold three bottles that day. The saleswoman praised Sijia’s taste and generously gifted her a bright red cat hair clip.

Sijia secretly sprayed several puffs of the perfume behind Jize’s back, but the scent was so overwhelming that she ended up with a headache and had to retreat to the cleaning aisle to sniff some air freshener. After wandering around the supermarket a few more times, Sijia found Jize in the aisle with sanitary pads.

Sijia never kept track of her menstrual cycle, so whenever her period came in the middle of the night, Jize had to crawl out of bed and go to the convenience store downstairs to buy pads for her. Jize had suggested she stock up, but she always forgot. Eventually, Jize started keeping track of her cycle and bought them in advance.

Oddly enough, Jize, who didn’t have periods, always picked out pads that were exceptionally comfortable.

The saleswoman probably thought Jize was struggling to decide and enthusiastically introduced several options to him. Jize pointed at a few packs in her hand and said something that made the saleswoman look momentarily surprised before she smiled and patted Jize’s shoulder and walked away.

“What did you say to her?” Sijia sprayed a couple of puffs of air freshener at Jize’s back.

Jize grabbed Sijia’s arm. “Enough already?”

Apparently, Jize had noticed the perfume. It was hard not to with such a strong scent.

Seeing how seriously Jize was picking out pads for her, Sijia decided to stop teasing him.

“Alright, alright.” Sijia rubbed her head against Jize’s back like a loyal dog. “We’ll both stink, okay?”

At the checkout, Sijia casually tossed two boxes of condoms into the cart, but Jize quickly took them out.

Not only was he restricting her snacks, but now he was also interfering with their love life?

“You…”

Sijia watched as Jize picked out two different boxes from the shelf. She glanced at the “large” label in the bottom right corner and remembered how Jize had complained last time that the ones she bought were too tight. Sijia, never one to be shy, grabbed two more boxes of large strawberry-flavored ones, not caring about the elderly couple behind them in line.

“Here’s your receipt. Please scan the code here.”

Jize expertly took Sijia’s phone from her pocket, unlocked it, and brought up the payment code.

Sijia silently watched Jize’s blatant behavior, feeling speechless. She scoffed, “I’ll change the password next time.”

She had said this many times before, but just like she never replaced the faulty fingerprint lock on the door, she never changed the phone password that Jize knew by heart.

That night, they tried the strawberry-flavored ones. Sijia thoughtfully asked Jize how they felt. Jize frowned, complaining that the scent was too cloying, but by the end of the night, more than half the box was gone.

The next morning, Jize got up as usual, made breakfast for Sijia, and tried to wake her several times. When he realized she wouldn’t wake up, he covered the breakfast and left it in the pot.

The house gradually quieted down. Sijia thought Jize had gone to class. She turned over and groggily saw Jize squatting by the bed, picking up the tissues scattered from the night before. Too tired to speak, Sijia pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes again. Jize soon left with the trash, and as she heard the door close, Sijia finally succumbed to sleep.

It was a hot day. After the dissection class, Lin Jize felt the lingering scent of formaldehyde growing stronger in his nostrils, each breath irritating his respiratory tract. He planned to go home and take a shower to wash off the smell. Just as he was about to push the door open, someone called out to him from behind.

Lin Jize glanced at the reflection on the glass surface, his hand on the doorknob paused for a moment.

Qin Ya, his ex-girlfriend. A biology major and a top student, she came from a good family and was quite attractive. Back when they were at Z University, they were seen as the perfect couple.

But their relationship didn’t last long. Qin Ya got the opportunity to participate in an exchange program in Germany, but she had just managed to win Lin Jize over and naturally didn’t want to be separated during their honeymoon phase. So, like all the clichéd plots in TV dramas, Qin Ya’s mother approached Lin Jize, discussing the disparity in their family backgrounds.

Qin Ya later heard from her mother that Lin Jize showed no anger or resentment that day. He simply deleted her contact information, paid for his own coffee, and left without saying a word.

“What a coincidence!” Qin Ya also grabbed the doorknob, trying to help Lin Jize open the door. Lin Jize glanced at their hands almost touching, and the next second, he withdrew his hand into his pocket.

“Just finished class?”

“Yeah.”

Qin Ya looked at the book Lin Jize was holding, “Professor Shen’s class, huh? It’s lunchtime, want to grab lunch together?”

“No.”

Lin Jize’s indifference made Qin Ya a bit awkward, “Are you still mad at me, I…”

“You’re overthinking it,” Lin Jize interrupted.

“I know you’re still upset about what my mom said.” Qin Ya became agitated, Lin Jize avoided her reaching hand, his voice cold, “What she said is what you think too, isn’t it?”

Qin Ya wanted to explain, but her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the red hairpin clipped on Lin Jize’s bag.

“Are you with her now?”

“No,” Lin Jize replied honestly. He and Hao Sijia were never really together.

“No?” Qin Ya gave a bitter smile and took the hairpin off Lin Jize’s bag, “Do you think I believe that?”

Lin Jize looked at the hairpin, seemingly surprised it was on his bag, “Whether you believe it or not is none of my business.” He took the hairpin from Qin Ya’s hand and put it back in his bag, “Dating and breaking up are normal. Even without your mom, you and I wouldn’t have lasted.”

Maybe it was Lin Jize’s way of getting back at her for choosing strawberry-flavored condoms last night, his strength never let up, tormenting her thoroughly. Finally catching a break on a day off, Hao Sijia wanted to sleep in, but her phone kept ringing incessantly. She simply tossed the phone off the bed, and the ringtone finally stopped. But within seconds, a WeChat voice call started ringing again.

Persistent, relentless.

Hao Sijia gritted her teeth, struggling to get up, jumped off the bed, and glanced at the caller ID. The anger in her heart was replaced by a hint of sadness in her eyes.

She had just answered the call when Liu Xiafang started berating her from the other end. Liu Xiafang harshly scolded Hao Sijia for not answering the phone, asking where she had been, mixing curses in dialect that drilled into Hao Sijia’s ears. Most of the time, Liu Xiafang could pretend to be polite to Hao Sijia, but when anxious or angry, she would start speaking without restraint.

The only thing that could make Liu Xiafang this anxious was Hao Yu.

Liu Xiafang said Hao Yu had fallen during field practice and twisted her ankle, urging her to quickly take Hao Yu to the hospital.

Liu Xiafang’s call remained connected, continuously worrying about Hao Yu’s injury. This version of Liu Xiafang reminded Hao Sijia of the past. When she was six, she fell into a field ditch, her knee bleeding profusely. The town’s hospital was far from the village, so Liu Xiafang carried her, going door to door borrowing a tricycle.

That day, Liu Xiafang wore a new shirt made by Chen Mei, stained with Hao Sijia’s blood. Liu Xiafang didn’t care about the new clothes, patting Hao Sijia’s back, telling her not to be afraid.

Back then, Liu Xiafang was good to her.

“Are you there yet!” Liu Xiafang’s harsh tone yanked Hao Sijia out of her memories.

Hao Sijia had hurriedly left, bumping her elbow against a pillar in the parking garage, scraping off a layer of skin. The sun’s heat made it sting painfully, “Almost there, hanging up now.”

Hao Yu had one pant leg rolled up, and even from a distance, the swelling around her ankle was noticeable. A group of classmates surrounded her, chatting away, but Hao Yu didn’t seem bothered; in fact, she wore a smile.

As soon as Hao Sijia got out of the car, Hao Yu propped herself up on the edge of the flowerbed and waved eagerly.

“Sis!”

The classmates around Hao Yu recognized Sijia’s car, their eyes lighting up. Hao Yu caught their reactions out of the corner of her eye and subtly raised an eyebrow.

Sijia nodded at Hao Yu’s classmates and turned her attention to her sister. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, I can still hop.”

Sijia supported Hao Yu by the armpit. “Lean on my shoulder.”

After an X-ray, it turned out Hao Yu had a fractured shin and needed a cast. The doctor said she’d have to be on a drip for over a week, so Sijia arranged for her to stay in the hospital to avoid the daily commute. After listening to Hao Yu ramble on about school, Sijia used work as an excuse to leave. She had planned to go home and catch up on sleep after paying the fees, but she ran into Cheng Lu in the lobby.

There weren’t many people Sijia found difficult to deal with, but Cheng Lu was one of them. After all, it was Cheng Lu who had lured a seemingly innocent young man into her bed under the guise of hiring a part-time worker. Once, Cheng Lu overheard Sijia talking to Lin Jize and learned about their ambiguous relationship. Instead of confronting Sijia, Cheng Lu always greeted her with a smile whenever they met.

“Jiajia!”

Sijia wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard, but Cheng Lu was already running towards her.

“Auntie?” Sijia feigned surprise and forced a smile.

Cheng Lu linked her arm with Sijia’s, playfully flicking her newly curled hair. “Here to see Jize’s grandma?”

Sijia wanted to say no, but if she did, Cheng Lu would definitely ask what she was doing there, and she might end up visiting Hao Yu.

“Yes,” Sijia lied effortlessly. “What a coincidence running into you! Your new hairstyle really suits you!”

“Really?” Cheng Lu checked her reflection on her phone, clearly pleased with Sijia’s flattery. “How did you know?”

From a distance, Sijia could smell the pungent mix of hospital disinfectant and cheap salon shampoo.

“This style is quite popular lately, but it looks especially unique on you.”

“Unique?”

Sijia continued her sweet talk. “Uniquely beautiful!”

Cheng Lu’s smile almost reached her ears. To be fair, Cheng Lu was indeed beautiful. Even though she wasn’t as wealthy as before, she still carried herself with the grace and habits of a former wealthy lady.

At the supermarket, Sijia bought a large fruit basket and a bouquet of carnations for Zhong Haixin. The carnations were lovely, but the fruits at the bottom of the basket were all rotten.

Darn those deceitful vendors.

Lin Jize glanced at the slightly leaking black mangoes, then looked back at Sijia, who was sitting properly by the bed. He casually covered the rotten fruits with the good ones on top and handed a peeled banana to Zhong Haixin.

“Work not too busy lately?” Zhong Haixin gestured to the soup pot beside her, indicating for Jize to serve Sijia a bowl.

“Not too bad.” Sijia shot Jize a look, signaling she didn’t want any, but Jize ignored her and handed her a bowl of soup.

“Why just meat?” Cheng Lu glanced at Jize, believing the nutrition was in the soup. “Serve Jiajia some soup.”

“Just eat it like this.” Jize handed Sijia a pair of chopsticks.

Zhong Haixin lowered her head to read the newspaper, but her peripheral vision was on the two of them. Seeing Jize’s not-so-gentle attitude towards Sijia, a hint of satisfaction appeared in her eyes.