SYLFS 43

Chapter – 43 

 A Jade Token? I Have One Too

Jiang Huai and Jiang Yucheng weren’t home today, and when they returned at night and heard from the butler that Guan Qishen from the Guan family had come to “bother” Xuxu, they immediately gave an order:

“From now on, if anyone from the Guan family comes, not a single one is allowed inside.”

With that, they headed off to check on Xuxu.
They were worried that someone from the Guan family might have upset their daughter (sister) again.

Just as they were about to go upstairs, Xuxu came down holding a little fox in her arms. And unusually, there was a “tail” following behind her.

Jiang Su was fuming as he chased after her, scolding loudly.

“What was that thing you did to my arm just now? You definitely did something to me! Jiang Xuxu, confess!”

“If I hadn’t shown up today, you’d have been done in by that brat from the Guan family! You always act all fierce when you’re dealing with us, but the moment it’s someone from the Guan family, suddenly you can’t say a word? And you think that doesn’t embarrass the Jiang family!?”

Jiang Yucheng frowned, ready to step in to stop him from picking on Xuxu again, but Jiang Huai raised a hand, signaling him to wait.
Though puzzled, Yucheng held back, while Huai continued watching with amusement.

Jiang Su hadn’t noticed the two men downstairs. When Xuxu finally stopped walking and turned back, he spotted them and froze for a moment—his expression wavered with unease—but he quickly put on a calm façade and greeted them politely.

“Uncle, Huai-ge, you’re back?”

“Hm. And what were you two talking about?” Yucheng asked in a low voice.

Xuxu opened her mouth to answer, but Su, afraid she would tattle on him, hurried forward.

“Uncle, that adopted kid from the Guan family came earlier. The guy wouldn’t shut up about being her ‘brother’ and owing him ‘gratitude,’ so I yelled at him and kicked him out!”

Jiang Huai raised an eyebrow, smiling.
“Oh? Well done.”

Being praised, Su puffed out his chest proudly.

“Of course. What does he think this place is? Acting all high and mighty on our Jiang family turf—he’s really asking for it!”

He glanced sideways at Xuxu, expecting a grateful reaction, but she simply listened calmly without any hint of thanks.
This made Su even more annoyed.

“I help you and you can’t even say thank you!? Snow Creek-jie was right—I shouldn’t have bothered. Totally not worth helping!”

Frustrated, he dragged up another topic.

“Uncle, Huai-ge, did you know? Jiang Xuxu and that adopted brother from the Guan family are actually pretty close. She even gave him a hand-carved jade token!”

“Close?” Yucheng looked at Xuxu involuntarily.

“We’re not,” Xuxu replied firmly.

Huai chuckled.
“A jade token? Like a protective charm? I have one too.”

He casually yet somewhat proudly pulled a red cord from inside his collar. A jade token engraved with talismanic symbols hung from it.

Xuxu’s eyelashes trembled slightly, a spark of light flickering in her eyes, though her expression did not change.

Su, utterly displeased, stared resentfully at Huai’s jade token. Then he turned to cling to his uncle again.

“Uncle, do you have one too?”

“…No, I don’t,” Yucheng said, lips pressed tight.

“You have one. Because I gave you one,” Xuxu said, sounding genuinely surprised.

“…I never received it,” Yucheng muttered. For a brief moment he looked delighted, but his brows quickly furrowed.

Huai stepped between them.

“It’s there. Xuxu gave it to me to pass on to him. But I didn’t.”

“What?” Yucheng’s expression instantly darkened. Just as he was about to scold him, Huai continued calmly:

“At the time, Father had… made a certain ‘mistake.’ So I held onto it temporarily.”

He said little, but it was enough for Yucheng to understand. His face stiffened with embarrassment for an instant, but he quickly regained his authority.

“If Xuxu said to give it to me, then regardless of your opinion, you aren’t allowed to hide it. Get it. Now.”

Huai shrugged.
“It’s in my room. I’ll bring it later.”

“No. Bring it now.”

Under his father’s commanding presence, Huai didn’t argue. He obediently went to retrieve the item and returned shortly afterward.

Yucheng opened the lucky pouch right in front of Xuxu. Inside was indeed a jade token identical to Huai’s protective charm.

“You carved this? Remarkable workmanship… I didn’t know you had such skill. Father accepts it.”

Since there was no cord attached, he placed it back into the pouch and carefully tucked it into his coat pocket.

Watching from the side, Su’s eyes turned red with envy.
Was he jealous because his uncle cherished something Xuxu gave him?
Or because he himself had received nothing from her at all?

—Meanwhile.

After losing face at the Jiang residence, Guan Qishen returned to the hospital room, where his parents and Guan Ruirui were still waiting.

“Well? Did she agree?” his father asked.

Qishen shook his head.
“Xuxu has really changed.”

His mother, Bai Shuqin, immediately burst into angry insults.

“That girl is an ungrateful wolf! I always knew it! Instead of begging someone like her, we should go find that master who once divined Ruirui’s fate!”

“If he could be found, I’d already be looking,” Guan Baocheng replied irritably. Ever since Xuxu’s accident, that master had vanished without a trace.

Bai Shuqin fell silent, then abruptly changed the topic.

“Hmph. If that brat refuses to help, then we don’t need to give her that old woman’s bracelet! So? Where’s the bracelet?”

Qishen hesitated a moment, embarrassed.
“…She took it.”

“What!?” Bai Shuqin slammed the table.
“She refuses to help and still took the bracelet? That shameless little wretch!”

On the bed, Ruirui was furious as well.
“Useless!” she cursed silently at her brother.
Giving the bracelet to that girl was the last thing she wanted!

As she angrily threw her fist down, the IV needle dug deeper into her skin, blood backflowing as she cried out.

“Ow!!”

The entire family panicked and scrambled toward the bed. In their commotion, someone pressed the hospital bed’s control, causing the half-raised backrest to suddenly drop flat. Ruirui’s waist hit the bed hard.

What should have been a mild concussion ended with the examination showing she had strained her lower back as well.

Bai Shuqin erupted, screaming that it was the hospital’s faulty equipment, plunging the entire Guan family into chaos.

Ruirui, overstimulated, was struck by worsening headaches and nausea, and her condition deteriorated further.

Guan Baocheng, watching everything with a dark expression, finally made up his mind.

—Tomorrow, he would have to bring Ruirui to see Xuxu in person.