No One Loves Me (GL) - Chapter 2

Hearing a cough from the kitchen, Xin Geling immediately put down the box and walked over.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Lin Huilan looked pale, but she was still stirring the noodles in the boiling water with her chopsticks. “It’s nothing, just an old problem,” she said.

Xin Geling asked, “What old problem?”

“Bronchitis. I’m always coughing.”

Lin Huilan didn’t hide it from her. She took a bowl from the old plastic cupboard, saw a layer of dust on the shelves, and suddenly realized her daughter shouldn’t see this. She turned around and frantically pushed her daughter out.

“You wait outside. Mom will have the noodles ready soon.”

Xin Geling grabbed her hand. “Mom, I’ll clean up after we eat.”

Lin Huilan’s lips trembled, and she was speechless for a long time. Xin Geling reminded her that the noodles were still cooking, and Lin Huilan finally composed herself and went to scoop them out.

At the dinner table, Xin Geling ate her noodles and asked, “What happened with the bronchitis? You didn’t have it before.”

Lin Huilan said carelessly, “I just had a few colds that didn’t get better and it turned into bronchitis. It’s not a big deal.”

Xin Geling asked, “Are you still teaching?”

Lin Huilan’s gaze flickered. “No, I’m tired.”

Xin Geling took in her reaction and didn’t say anything more. But as she ate her noodles, she found they tasted a little “bitter.”

She remembered her mother as an excellent and tidy middle school teacher. No matter how small their home was, she always kept it spotless. She loved teaching and had won several “Outstanding Teacher” awards.

After the divorce, her mother seemed even stronger, often taking her to the park on weekends and making sure she never lacked food or clothes.

But now, the house was dusty, as if no one had lived there for years. Her mom had stopped teaching. How had she endured these past seven years?

Xin Geling didn’t dare to imagine.

After finishing the noodles, Xin Geling rolled up her sleeves and began to clean the house.

Lin Huilan followed her every step. As Xin Geling wiped the countertops, her mom stood by and watched. When Xin Geling stepped on a stool to clean the clutter from the top of the cabinet, Lin Huilan watched her nervously.

Xin Geling smiled, letting her follow. By six in the evening, she had finished cleaning the entire house. She hung the lace cover for the refrigerator, the faded tablecloth, and some old curtains on the balcony to dry.

In a short while, the balcony was full of different fabric covers.

The scene, bathed in the setting sun, felt just like yesterday.

“Is the air conditioner broken?” Xin Geling tried to turn it on but got no response. She saw a yellowed fan beside it, its blades covered in cobwebs and black stains.

“It’s been broken for a few years. I don’t know how to fix it, so I just got a fan,” Lin Huilan said. Thinking about her daughter being back and the hot weather, she added, “I’ll call someone to fix it now. We’ll have AC soon.”

Lin Huilan started to leave, but Xin Geling stopped her. “Mom, who do you need to call? I always used to fix it.”

Lin Huilan was stunned. She watched as her daughter got two screwdrivers, climbed onto a stool, and began to work on the air conditioner. Her eyes reddened uncontrollably. She had almost forgotten that her daughter could also repair air conditioners.

After fixing the air conditioner, Xin Geling dismantled the fan, washed away the stains and cobwebs, and put it back together. It was now much cleaner.

That evening, after showering, Xin Geling put on the black tank top and pants her mom had found for her from seven years ago. She came out, towel-drying her wet hair, and saw Lin Huilan putting away Xie Zhitang’s box.

“Mom, what are you doing?”

Lin Huilan was about to open the door. “I’m going to throw it away. We don’t want her stuff.”

Xin Geling thought about how her mom no longer taught and how the air conditioner had been broken for years without being repaired. She guessed that her mother’s life must have been a struggle without an income.

Seven years ago, she might have listened to her and refused the things. But now, she needed them, especially the electronics.

She needed to reconnect with society as soon as possible.

Xin Geling calmly stopped her and closed the door. “Mom, it’s her kind gesture.”

Lin Huilan was indignant. “Kind gesture my foot! Do you think these worthless things can make up for the seven years you spent in prison?!”

“You have no idea how awful their family was! After you were taken away, they moved right away, afraid of being associated with us!”

Xin Geling knew about this; Xie Zhitang had told her during her first visit that her family had moved.

“Mom, what the Xie family did has nothing to do with Xie Zhitang. She had just finished her college entrance exams at the time. The decision to move was her parents’ idea, wasn’t it?”

Lin Huilan wasn’t listening. “They all have the surname Xie; how can any of them be good people? Hurry up and throw these things away! Throw them away! Who cares about her useless junk!”

“Mom, I need these things,” Xin Geling said, being direct. “I’ve been disconnected from society for seven years, and I need to catch up on a lot of new things.”

Lin Huilan finally calmed down a little but still hesitated. “Can’t I just buy them for you?”

Xin Geling replied, “That would be a lot of money. I’ll pay her back when I’m able to. How does that sound?”

Seeing Lin Huilan soften, Xin Geling took the box and led her to her room to sleep. “Okay, go get some rest now.”

Lin Huilan realized she was being pushed into her own room. “I’m not sleeping in your room.”

Xin Geling knew her mom was worried about her. There was only one air-conditioned room. Although they used to sleep together when she was little, as she grew up, her mom had moved to the other room and let her have the cool one.

“Don’t be difficult, Mom. I’ll sleep in your room.” Xin Geling picked up the box fan and turned to go to the other room, closing the door behind her. Her mom couldn’t argue, so she had to go back to her daughter’s original room to sleep.

The air conditioner quietly blew cool air, and the summer heat naturally dissipated.

Lin Huilan lay in her daughter’s bed, crying and laughing, and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

In the room right next to hers, the fan blew a breeze across the single bed.

Xin Geling sat on the edge of the bed, letting the fan dry her hair. Her elbows rested on her knees as she opened the phone Xie Zhitang had bought her.

She explored it carefully.

Before she was imprisoned, she had never used a touchscreen phone. Although she had heard that they existed, her mother’s salary couldn’t support such a modern device.

She didn’t expect the phone to feel even better than she had imagined.

Xie Zhitang had installed many apps for her. The old buttons had been replaced by a touchscreen. Xin Geling remembered a fellow inmate saying that WeChat was a new chat app, rivaling QQ, and even more people used it.

Xin Geling tapped on it and found that someone had already registered an account for her. There was a contact named “Tangtang.”

And an unread message.

Xin Geling tapped to read it.

Tangtang: Sister, it’s Xie Zhitang.

A concise introduction. Xin Geling knew who it was. She fumbled with the keyboard for a bit and quickly figured out how to type a reply, sending an “Ok.”

It was just like QQ.

She hadn’t expected a reply to come back so quickly.

Tangtang: Is there anything you don’t understand?

Xin Geling: I’m still figuring it out.

Tangtang: My number is saved in your contacts. Call me directly if you need anything.

Xin Geling: Ok.

Xin Geling: You can take the bank card back. I don’t need it.

Xin Geling: The things you bought are very practical. I’ll borrow them for a while.

As soon as she sent the message, a voice call request popped up.

Xin Geling was surprised but answered it anyway.

Xie Zhitang’s voice came through. “Sister, are you trying to cut ties with me?”

“No,” Xin Geling said.

“Then why are you refusing my gesture?” Xie Zhitang asked.

“I’m not refusing. I’m borrowing them,” Xin Geling replied.

Xie Zhitang was suddenly speechless. The cup she had been about to fill with water stopped mid-air. Her slender, pale fingers gripped the handle, seemingly in a moment of hesitation. Finally, she placed the cup under the built-in water dispenser and set the temperature to 40 degrees Celsius.

As the water flowed, Xie Zhitang asked, “If you’re borrowing the items, why can’t you borrow the bank card?”

This time, it was Xin Geling who was at a loss for words.

Xie Zhitang continued, “You and Auntie probably have a lot of expenses. Please just think of it as my way of making amends. When my parents moved away, they left Auntie to face everything alone, and I feel very bad about it.”

Hearing this, Xin Geling’s focus shifted. “Then thank you. I’ll pay you back later.”

Xie Zhitang paused the water flow, took a sip from her cup, and said, “Sister, get some rest now.”

“You, too,” Xin Geling replied.

After hanging up, Xie Zhitang walked to the sofa, placed the cup on the coffee table, and held her phone. A moment later, she lay back on the soft cushions.

Her silk pajamas hugged her slender figure. Xie Zhitang stared at the empty living room, lost in the memory of that day.

She couldn’t forget the fear and panic she felt when her underwear was torn off. The man was so strong, and the power difference was so great that when she saw him unbuttoning his pants, all she felt was despair.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared, pulling the man off her. She watched them fight, still in shock.

The sound of a rock cracking a skull was clear and distant, forever branded in her mind.

The drunken man died at Xin Geling’s hands.

Her hands were covered in blood. After confirming the man was dead, she just stared for a moment. No one knew what she was thinking. Her face showed no regret, no fear from having killed someone.

She simply walked over to Xie Zhitang, knelt down, and picked up her underwear, putting it back on for her.

Afterward, Xin Geling seemed to realize that she had gotten her own hands dirty, stained with blood.

Xie Zhitang still remembers her saying, “Sorry, I got your underwear dirty.”

After that, Xin Geling picked up the corner of her own shirt to wipe the blood from her hands. She wiped for over a minute, and as she did, her emotions visibly grew heavier and more somber. She then pulled out a phone.

Xie Zhitang thought she was going to turn herself in. But when she heard a soft “Mom” from her, she realized who she was calling.

In the dim bushes, faint patches of light fell on her. She knelt in the grass beside Xie Zhitang and calmly spoke to her mother, apologizing:

“Mom… I’m sorry, I accidentally killed someone.”

After that, Xin Geling turned herself in, pleaded guilty at the trial, went to prison, and never said another word to Xie Zhitang.

It was as if she had removed Xie Zhitang from her life.

As the memories returned, Xie Zhitang stared at the bright ceiling light. Even today, her heart still trembled at the memory of the tenderness with which Xin Geling had put her underwear back on for her.