Chapter 45: At Last, Her Blessing

Qinglang Hotel held a gala to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
I attended with Big Brother and my sister. Women in evening gowns drifted through the gathering like colourful butterflies.
The party took place in the hotel’s small garden, which opened onto the swimming pool. Round tables with revolving centres stretched from the garden to the poolside. Coloured lights glowed overhead, their reflections shimmering on the water.
Photographs of Ji Feiyang’s father stood throughout the venue.
He looked like Ji Feiyang—or rather, Ji Feiyang looked like him.
With kind eyes and a gentle smile, he seemed to be watching over everyone there.
A screen at the centre of the gathering showed a continuous sequence of happy family moments, from Ji Feiyang’s infancy to adulthood.
As a child, he’d had bright, dark eyes and a dusky complexion. He was adorable.
As he grew older, the handsome features I knew became increasingly recognisable.
When the evening formally began, Yan Rong walked gracefully into the centre with Ji Feiyang beside her, her gauzy dress floating around her.
Everyone applauded.
She delivered a lengthy speech full of the usual formalities.
I didn’t hear a word.
Instead, I gazed admiringly at his father’s photograph.
Thank goodness Ji Feiyang took after him. It would have been a disaster if he’d looked like Yan Rong.
If his father were still alive, surely he would have been as fond of me as Dad was.
He looked so kind.
At public occasions like this, running into Sun Wenyuan was unavoidable.
When Yan Rong came around to toast the guests, the two of them chatted happily. Glasses in hand, they laughed over something I couldn’t hear.
I detested Sun Wenyuan.
But I also admired and envied her ability to talk so easily with Yan Rong.
That was no small achievement.
I stopped watching them.
The toasts and socialising had nothing to do with me.
Ji Feiyang had given me clear instructions: eat quietly. Say nothing. Do nothing.
That would be my best possible performance.
After a mouthful of food, I smiled at his father’s photograph.
He smiled back.
So warm. So approachable.
If only Yan Rong were half as nice.
I was enjoying my own little world while laughter and conversation filled the garden.
Then a piercing scream rose above the noise.
A splash followed.
Someone had fallen into the pool.
Most of the guests froze.
“Help!”
Wasn’t that Yan Rong’s voice?
Curious, I pushed through the crowd.
There she was, crying out in the water.
Around the pool stood men and women in splendid clothes.
Nobody wanted to get wet.
Everyone was waiting for somebody else to jump in.
The pool wasn’t deep. She ought to have been safe.
But apparently, Yan Rong couldn’t swim.
The moment she fell in, she panicked and swallowed several mouthfuls of water.
At this rate, she might actually drown.
I wasn’t going to rescue her.
She disliked me so much.
Besides, I was wearing a beautiful evening gown. Getting into the water would be terribly inconvenient.
“Move towards the edge. Don’t panic. Come towards us.”
Someone in the crowd tried to guide her.
Since the water was shallow, she managed to reach the side.
Ji Feiyang, who had been somewhere else, hurried over.
Yan Rong clung to the edge but wouldn’t get out.
“Mum, I’ll help you.”
She clenched her teeth and shook her head furiously.
At a loss, he kept urging her.
“Come on, Mum. Get out of the water.”
Everyone watched.
“Chairwoman Yan, come up. Quickly.”
Several helpful young women crouched to assist her.
“Don’t pull me out!”
Her scream made it sound as though getting out would kill her.
The women recoiled.
Nobody understood.
I watched the spectacle coolly.
What on earth was wrong with her?
Then something caught my eye.
Was there something floating on the water?
The lights reflected off the surface, making it difficult to see.
I stood on tiptoe and looked harder.
Green gauze.
Who had dropped that into the pool?
Yan Rong was still struggling desperately.
“Mum, please come out.”
“Chairwoman Yan!”
I thought back.
Unless I was mistaken, her dress that evening had been green.
A thin, gauzy dress that ended above her knees.
I remembered privately wondering whom she was trying to impress, dressing so provocatively at her age.
If I remembered correctly, then…
No wonder she wouldn’t get out.
I hurried away from the crowd, found a tablecloth and told the electrician to switch off the lights.
In an instant, the venue went dark.
“The power’s gone.”
“Why have the lights gone out?”
Under cover of darkness, I wrapped the tablecloth around Yan Rong.
While everyone was still discussing the lights, we slipped away.
Once we reached a room, she snapped at me, mortified.
“Get out!”
Gladly.
I didn’t want to be alone with her either.
I opened the door.
“Wait… Thank you.”
Had I heard that correctly?
I looked back.
She gave me a sharp look.

The next day, Ji Feiyang happily told me his mother had invited me to dinner.
Judging by his expression, this was a very good sign.
I hadn’t set out to win her over.
But when luck came, there was no stopping it.
Somehow, I’d become the person who’d saved her from disaster.
If things had gone on a little longer, if someone had insisted on pulling her out of the pool, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
She probably wouldn’t have dared leave the house again.
“I’m not an unreasonable parent,” she told us. “Very well. If Feiyang is determined to be with you, I’ll leave you to it.”
I could have cried with gratitude.
My dear mother-in-law.
The End