Natalia was, in fact, a nice person. It was just that she had a sharp tongue.
She sounded harsh over the phone, but she was only calling Blair to tell her that she was going to wire her some money.
After Natalia had scolded Blair for five minutes, her throat dried up. She drank some water and continued, "I'm too tired to say anything more. Just hang up. You didn't even spend the night here on your cousin's birthday. Do you ever think about me? What will your grandpa think of me? He might think that I mistreat you or something."
Even though she had asked Blair to hang up, she didn't stop talking. Blair didn't dare hang up while she was still scolding her. "Aunt, Grandpa knows how nice you are to me. He will only think that I am the luckiest girl in the world to have an amazing, caring aunt like you."
Natalia's gloomy face broke into a smile. To conceal her happiness, she feigned an annoyed tone and said, "Whatever. Bye."
After ending the phone call, Natalia saw her younger son, Wacian Ji, come down the stairs in a neat suit. "Now I know why your father likes Blair so much. Girls are indeed more lovable. Neither you nor your brother brings me any form of comfort. You both worry me all the time. Hartwell is in his thirties, unmarried, and you are 29 years old, without even a girlfriend. When am I going to have a grandchild? In my nineties? Maybe it's my fault. I should have given birth to two girls."
Wacian Ji felt wronged. He hadn't even said a word since that morning. He wondered how he had gotten on his mother's nerves.
Natalia walked past him and urged, "Don't spend all your time and energy on work. Go on a blind date or something. I will go with you and select my daughter-in-law."
Wacian Ji tucked his hands into his pockets, looking at his mom, stone-faced. "Hartwell brought his girlfriend home last time. Since you are so anxious to see him get married, why haven't you paid her family a visit yet?"
"I don't need you to remind me of that. I'll visit Joslyn's parents as soon as she graduates."
To get his mom off his back, Wacian Ji brought up Blair's secret. "I heard that Blair has a crush on someone. Don't you want to know who it is?" His mom was always so strange. Usually, people showed their concern face to face to let the other person know that they cared about them. His mom, however, did the exact opposite. She had never expressed her care for Blair in person.
"What? " Natalia looked at her son in surprise. "Blair likes someone? What's he like? Why hasn't anybody said anything to me about this? What does he do? Does he really care about her?"
Wacian Ji felt his head throb as his mom bombarded him with so many questions at once. Sometimes, he felt that it was a shame that his mom wasn't an official matchmaker. "I only know that she has a crush on someone. You can ask Dad if you want to know more."
That was a successful distraction. Soon, Adalson got a call from Natalia.
Less than an hour after her phone call with Natalia, Blair received a notification from the bank informing her that a sum of money had been credited to her account. Natalia had wired $100, 000 to her. Now, Blair had $101, 502 in her bank account.
After that, her grandpa, Hartwell and Wacian Ji called her one after the other, offering to transfer money to her. Blair thanked them all and told them that she was good because Natalia had already wired some to her.
Some boys left gallant comments on her WeChat Moments, asking if she was hard up. Some of her former classmates sent her private messages and told her that if she needed anything, they were only a phone call away.
The comments and messages made Blair very happy. She wasn't in need of money. She had only made that post to mock herself. It surprised her that so many people were concerned about her. It was touching.
Three days later, Talbot made a comment on the post. "Blair, I don't spend much in the army. I can lend you some money."
Blair smiled and replied, "Thank you. My aunt has already helped me out."
Talbot didn't respond until the next day. "That was very sweet of your aunt."
Knowing that they were all very busy, Blair didn't say anything else. After reading his reply, she put her phone aside.
Just as she had anticipated, it was very hard to meet Wesley after he had returned back to his normal duties, now that the military training in the university was over.
It had been three months since she had last seen him.
Three more days later, she saw Wesley walking out of his apartment as she stepped out of the elevator.
Blair was surprised when their eyes met. Wesley nodded to her and strode towards the elevator.
"Wesley," she called in a hurry.
He turned to her without speaking.
"Are you leaving?" she asked hastily.
"Hmm," he responded. He had only come home to get something.
Blair took a deep breath, her heart aching. "Will you have a few days off anytime soon?" She barely saw him anymore.
"I'm not sure." He was too busy. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a break.
However, Blair thought that he didn't want her to know. Her eyes reddened. 'Maybe he really doesn't want to see me.'
She waved goodbye to him absent-mindedly. The second the doors of the elevator closed, she forced a smile.
'Goodbye, Wesley." She didn't go back to her apartment until the elevator started descending.
She had thought that she would have more chances to win his heart if she moved into his building and became his neighbor. But reality was so disappointing. Home was like a hotel room to him, and he seldome came back. He spent most of his time working.
After leaving his apartment building, Wesley went back to his office. He sat in his chair with his eyes closed and sank into a deep thoughts. After a while, he walked into his superior's office.
"I need a few days off," he said.
His superior agreed without lifting his head. "Granted. You have been working for three months in a row. You do need to get some rest. Just remember to submit the note for leave."
"Yes, sir."
Blair counted the days as they passed by without seeing Wesley's presence. Five days after their brief meeting in the hallway, she once again saw him. When she was waiting for the elevator to go to her apartment, Wesley walked over with a few bags of food in his hands.
The elevator arrived and he went straight in. Looking at his figure, Blair lost her nerve to walk into the elevator. For some reason, she was afraid to be near him.
Wesley turned around in the elevator and pressed the button. The doors closed.
But soon after, the doors opened again. He looked at her.
She blinked in bewilderment.
Seeing that she wasn't moving, he asked with a frown, "Are you coming?"
'He is talking to me.' It was a ray of hope. Blair was happy. She scampered into the elevator.
The doors closed again. Confined in the little space, neither of them made an attempt to start a conversation.
It was normal for Wesley to remain quiet, but Blair had to tell herself to shut up.
She was afraid that he didn't want to hear her speak. If that was the case, she would only push him away by talking too much.
The elevator arrived at the sixteen floor, and Blair walked out first. She was about to say goodbye to him when a girl in a blazer standing in front of the door to his apartment caught her eyes.