Chapter 14: The Passenger Seat

The dreams were absurd; Yun Zhixue had dreamed for two days in a row.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter.

Yun Zhixue wasn’t as anxious as before, and sometimes when Lu Ruishu chatted with her, she would reply with a few words.

On Friday, Yun Zhixue was tidying up her desk.

The drawer that used to be maliciously stuffed with garbage was now neatly stacked, as if every book had been measured with a caliper.

She sat up straight listening to the class, and even the way she turned pages was as precise as a precision instrument.

Her phone in the drawer vibrated slightly, and her heart began to pound wildly, just like the cicadas that were loud all day.

Meng Zhenyue – Downstairs.

Yun Zhixue ran downstairs and caught sight of that familiar figure at a glance.

Meng Zhenyue was wearing a black suit, the belt outlining a slender waist, and a fluffy cotton candy rabbit in her long fingers.

She smiled and held it up.

That pink-cheeked, long-eared rabbit looked clumsy and shy, lowering its head.

Yun Zhixue stopped in front of Meng Zhenyue, panting, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

“Did you miss me?” A smile curled at the corners of Meng Zhenyue’s lips as she held the cotton candy up to her.

Yun Zhixue blushed and nodded vigorously.

Meng Zhenyue took the schoolbag from her hand, and the two of them walked along the corridor towards the school gate.

Yun Zhixue couldn’t bear to eat the cotton candy but couldn’t resist the temptation, so she took a bite of the rabbit’s ear.

The cotton melted gently; it was so sweet.

Meng Zhenyue opened the car door for her.

Yun Zhixue bent to get in, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the person sitting in the passenger seat.

Yun Jing looked at her coldly from the rearview mirror.

Yun Zhixue had always sat in the back seat and had never thought about the passenger seat.

But looking at the position now occupied, a strange sourness welled up in her chest, making her feel uncomfortable no matter how she looked at it.

The car started, and Yun Jing’s voice came from the front, cool and indifferent.

“How is your grade situation?”

Yun Zhixue hadn’t heard clearly.

Her mind went blank for a moment, and a desire she had never felt before was screaming: I want that seat, I want it now!

“You left two major questions unanswered.” Yun Jing’s voice was impatient and oppressive as she stared at Yun Zhixue through the rearview mirror. “Look at me!”

Yun Zhixue finally came back to her senses and met her gaze.

Yun Jing had always lived in a high position; she sensed the hostility in her daughter.

Her voice grew colder. “How do you plan to sprint from now on? Mock exam scores also count as evaluation scores. Is it that you don’t know how to write, or that you don’t have time?”

“I don’t have time.” Yun Zhixue answered dryly.

“Why don’t you have time?” Yun Jing pressed relentlessly. “What are you thinking about?”

What was she thinking?

Yun Zhixue looked up and met Meng Zhenyue’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

She was thinking about the temperature of the fingertips, wondering if Meng Zhenyue would be this strict with her too.

“I was just… distracted.” Tears fell without warning. Yun Zhixue felt humiliated. “I can write it. I’ve punished myself and written it many times…”

“Enough.”

Meng Zhenyue looked at Yun Jing, frowning. “One exam, just make it up later; she’s not someone who can’t take the test.”

Yun Jing’s expression darkened. “I am disciplining her.”

“She lacks concern right now. Haven’t you noticed her psychological state is bad?” Meng Zhenyue said. “You are a bit negligent.”

“Negligent?” Yun Jing sneered. “If I were negligent, would I have rushed back immediately?”

“What would you have done if you had received the call then?”

Yun Jing didn’t speak, her face stiff with suppressed anger.

Yun Zhixue’s tears were still hanging on her face, but a twisted sense of satisfaction surged in her heart.

So, tears work.

This indescribable emotion made Yun Zhixue’s body heat up, and she glanced at the passenger seat in front.

Although Yun Jing was sitting in her seat, she would sit there soon, definitely…

When the two finished arguing and returned, Yun Jing pulled open the passenger door.

Yun Zhixue sat in, and Meng Zhenyue paused for a second.

Yun Zhixue’s eyes were red. “…Stop arguing, I’ll sit here.”

Yun Jing moved to the back seat, and Meng Zhenyue got into the driver’s seat sideways.

At the red light, Yun Zhixue quickly tore off a piece of cotton candy and held it up to Meng Zhenyue’s lips.

Meng Zhenyue lowered her head to eat it, and the cotton candy melted, sticking to her fingertips.

Yun Zhixue glanced at the back seat.

Yun Jing’s face looked terrible.

Yun Zhixue quickly tore off another piece and stuffed it into her mouth, secretly licking her fingers in her mouth.

This one was the sweetest.

The car stopped at the hospital entrance.

Du Mingshao’s father had business dealings with Yun Jing, so out of respect for this relationship, the two families needed to meet.

Before getting out of the car, Meng Zhenyue changed into a pair of high heels, looking even taller than Yun Jing.

Yun Zhixue stared at their shadows on the ground, fuming with indignation, thinking that when she grew up, she would find a way to kill Du Mingshao.

Meng Zhenyue didn’t come out on the first floor but pressed for the fifth floor.

Just then, she heard the announcement: “Please report to the XX consultation room.”

She froze.

Meng Zhenyue held her wrist and led her into the consultation room.

Meng Zhenyue took out the medical record from her handbag. “Follow-up visit, appendectomy surgery from the 8th.”

The doctor examined her wound and said the recovery was good.

He asked how the medicine was going, and Meng Zhenyue answered one by one.

Then she said, “The wound always itches, can it be relieved?”

“It’s normal. It’s actually not recommended for children to use too much medicine, as it affects physical development.”

Yun Zhixue glanced at the doctor’s nameplate: Pediatrics.

Pediatrics?

Pediatrics!!!!!

Yun Zhixue said softly, “I’m an adult.”

The doctor and Meng Zhenyue acted as if they hadn’t heard her, continuing to discuss the condition.

When Meng Zhenyue led her out, she reiterated it again, “That was the pediatric department.”

Meng Zhenyue said, “A pediatric doctor is more suitable for you, gentle and attentive. The last one just cut the stitches directly.”

She was still resentful, her tone heavy. “Irresponsible.”

Yun Zhixue “Oh”ed.

“What’s wrong with Pediatrics? Baby despises Pediatrics?” Meng Zhenyue stared at her.

The last sentence, Baby, was intentional on her part. She knew Yun Zhixue was embarrassed, so she wanted to make her even more embarrassed.

“Why are you so concerned about Pediatrics?”

Yun Zhixue’s face burned with shame, her voice squeezed out. “Eighteen is already an adult. Eighteen means you don’t need to see the pediatrician.”

Meng Zhenyue couldn’t help pinching her cheek. “How are you so cute?”

Yun Zhixue was even more ashamed. She wanted to lower her head, but afraid Meng Zhenyue would pinch her, she stiffened her neck for her to play with.

Meng Zhenyue’s fingers were burned by her face.

Meng Zhenyue took her to another consultation room, Psychiatric Department.

Meng Zhenyue took her in and pulled out a video of Yun Zhixue gnawing her fingers.

Yun Zhixue’s heart panicked instantly.

She stared at the video with terrified eyes. Why was it recorded? Did she discover she was a pervert?

After asking basic information, the doctor asked Meng Zhenyue to wait outside.

The doctor spoke softly, guiding Yun Zhixue to ask where she felt uncomfortable.

There was only the doctor and her assistant in the consultation room.

Yun Zhixue’s eyes kept drifting out, her fingers pinched red.

The doctor wanted to help her stretch her fingers, but she shrank back.

Seeing Meng Zhenyue answer a call, afraid she had left, she finally spoke. “I keep thinking of her, want to hug her, want her to hug me, just bite my finger…”

“I don’t want to do anything to her. I know I can’t.”

“Who is she?”

“My mommy.”

“That’s very normal. You are a child. It’s normal to want intimate contact with your mother.”

Yun Zhixue was shocked. “Really?”

“Of course it’s normal. She’s your mommy. What’s not normal?”

The doctor told her very gently that it was normal for a daughter to want to establish an intimate relationship with her mother and not to have pressure.

After coming out of the consultation room, Meng Zhenyue was called in.

The doctor’s expression was serious. “Is her relationship with her mother that abnormal? Does she feel intense moral shame from contact with her mother? The lack of security leads to obvious fixation at the oral stage, even craving breastfeeding for comfort.

“After I repeatedly emphasized this was a normal need, she dared to admit her emotions.”

The doctor’s tone was accusatory. “How did a mother-daughter relationship deteriorate to this extent? She even corrected me saying this was wrong, talking about values education.”

Meng Zhenyue was scolded for a while.

When she came out to face Yun Zhixue, who was clutching the hem of her clothes, she took a deep breath, hooked the corner of her lips, and tried to force a smile.

She rubbed Yun Zhixue’s hair. “Nothing major, just listen to the doctor.”

The doctor suggested checking trace elements, and the lab results would take a while to come out.

Yun Zhixue sat quietly, and Meng Zhenyue left holding the form.

****

They entered the ward.

Meng Zhenyue had a smile on her face and said politely, “I’m really sorry for being late. I took the child for a checkup; the situation is a bit serious. I don’t know how Mr. Du plans to compensate?”

Mr. Du’s face looked like it was going to crack. They got beaten, and now they have to pay?

Mr. Du looked at Yun Jing, who had arrived early: “Where is your daughter? This issue needs to be clarified face to face. The police have been investigating recently. To be honest, I think there is a misunderstanding.

“After all, how could we not find the video of my son being beaten?”

Yun Jing sat quietly, letting them talk.

“We found lawyers these past few days too. Your child is an adult now. If there is bullying or sexual harassment, send him to state education earlier. If it drags on until he’s older and ruins his future, it’s not good.”

Mr. Du’s face turned purple.

No way, Meng Zhenyue was using Yun Jing’s power to bully others, domineering and aggressive.

Yun Jing indulged her a lot.

Looking at Du Mingshao pretending to sleep on the bed, she said faintly, “As long as no one died, I think that’s fine. What do you think, Mr. Du?”

Mr. Du gritted his teeth, cursing in his heart.

Wait for that b*tch Meng Zhenyue to break up with Yun Jing. When that happens, I won’t let her live.

Meng Zhenyue said calmly, “Only by making amends well will the child have confidence in the future.”

She raised an eyebrow slightly at Yun Jing. “Child’s mother, you handle the rest. I’m just an outsider; I’ll wait for you outside.”

Yun Jing’s heart itched.

She was teased by just one sentence. Meng Zhenyue was very suitable to be a wife.

She had a certain quality that was gentle, making people think of marriage.

Even if she didn’t love her own child that much, she liked this quality in Meng Zhenyue.

Mr. Du cursed wildly in his heart, “Dead b*tch, just you wait. As long as you break up with Yun Jing, in three months, I won’t let you die.”

Yun Jing said, “Mr. Du, hold your gaze. What if she is my future wife? Do you think I would treat her badly if she helps my daughter?”

Mr. Du was shocked after hearing this.

Yun Jing getting married?

“Killing you in three months might be a bit hard, but making sure your son doesn’t get better is very easy.”

Yun Jing said,

“Did you forget to tell your son one thing while educating him? Don’t provoke Yun Zhixue. She only has me as a daughter.”

Mr. Du realized that Meng Zhenyue dared to make a move because Yun Jing was a lunatic.

She didn’t love her daughter, which meant no one else could touch her daughter.

Du Cheng’s face was purple from holding it in.

“Ms. Yun, I will definitely educate my son well. He will change, can we…”

“No.”

Yun Jing picked up the bouquet of flowers she brought and pressed it hard against Du Mingshao’s face.

Du Mingshao’s nose was filled with the scent of pollen, almost suffocated, lying on the bed screaming.

“Yun Zhixue is my daughter, my only daughter, do you understand?”

“Ms. Yun, I understand, I understand.”

Mr. Du was about to kneel for her.

Yun Jing took out a tissue to wipe the pollen off her fingers.

“This is a bouquet of flowers a daughter brings to visit a patient. I helped her deliver it.

“Next time, I will go to the cemetery to deliver it.”

Meng Zhenyue hadn’t left yet.

When she came out, she handed a stack of reports to Yun Jing.

There was no seductive charm in her hand, only scolding.

“Do you know that your daughter lacks maternal love? The doctor said she is in a state of stress and needs her mother’s company very much.

“You were fierce with her today? How can you be a mother?”

“Stressed to the point of fixation at the oral stage, liking to bite fingers, because she lacks security from her mother, she is anxious every day, dazed.”

Thinking of the culprit for all this, Meng Zhenyue said coldly. “Ms. Yun, break his legs for me.”

Yun Jing had just finished her business and hadn’t received a smile yet, but she was scolded to her face.

Her head was buzzing, and she couldn’t speak for a moment.

Looking at the checkup form, she was diagnosed at 37, suffering from a “weird love relationship” with her 18-year-old daughter.

“Should I start breastfeeding her at this point? Sleep with her to cultivate feelings? The doctor must be joking.”

Meng Zhenyue pulled out the registration form she had helped hang up.

“Ms. Yun, take a look. You are sick too.”