Peerless Beauty – Chapter 117

Meeting the Parents

Meeting the parent

“My mom’s idol is Fei Xiang, the one who was the first to dance a hot dance on the Spring Festival Gala stage. My mom loves his song 《A Fire in Winter》 (the dude is Fei Xiang) the most. Back then, Fei Xiang’s fire ignited all the young girls in China.”

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Lu Yinxi and Jian Qing chat about Gu Mingyu’s interests and hobbies.

“My mom said that after the Spring Festival Gala, his songs were heard everywhere on the streets for the entire year. I watched the videos from that time, and his dance was quite “yaorao” (meaning seductive or graceful). However, dancing like that was considered indecent back then, so the director didn’t dare to film his lower body. After I debuted, I even tried to imitate his dance, wanting to perform it for my mom.”

Jian Qing asked, “Did you dance for her?”

Lu Yinxi wrinkled her nose: “No, she looked down on me.”

Jian Qing said seriously, “I won’t look down on you. You can dance for me.”

“No way.” Lu Yinxi laughed and refused, “It’s too weird.”

She feels embarrassed watching her own TV dramas and movies, and usually doesn’t show them to Jian Qing, let alone dance for her beloved.

Jian Qing lightly tapped her forehead, not forcing her, and continued to inquire about Gu Mingyu’s interests: “What else does she like?”

Lu Yinxi said, “She likes upright, kind, hardworking, and diligent people. When I gave up medicine to pursue arts, she looked down on me, thinking I wasn’t willing to work hard and was taking shortcuts by using my looks. She thought I had a good appearance but was empty inside. However, later she found out that her favorite Fei Xiang also gave up medicine for arts, so she stopped criticizing me. You’re more hardworking and diligent than me, she’ll definitely like you.”

Studying medicine requires diligence and hard work, it’s a profession of lifelong learning. Jian Qing meets this criterion, but as for being upright and kind…

Lu Yinxi glanced at Jian Qing.

The person before her had average personal morals, but her medical ethics were no worse than Gu Mingyu’s, barely qualifying.

“By the way, we should prepare our story in advance. If she asks how we met, just say we met online.”

“Met online?” Jian Qing was a bit stunned.

“What else? Should we say we met in a book or a dream?” Lu Yinxi laughed and rolled into Jian Qing’s arms, then lay down, finding a comfortable position to rest her head on Jian Qing’s leg. “Otherwise, she’ll send us both to the psychiatric department.”

She was still habitually affectionate, enjoying physical contact with Jian Qing.

Jian Qing looked at the person on her lap, gently stroking Lu Yinxi’s hair, her gaze somewhat bewildered: “So how did we actually meet?”

As the blank in her heart gradually filled, that sense of confusion wouldn’t go away.

She vaguely guessed that their meeting had something to do with the forgotten dream.

“How did we meet? Let me think.” Lu Yinxi, lying on Jian Qing’s lap, recalled their first encounter for a moment, then smiled and told a white lie, “In the dream, I was a beautiful 20-year-old college student, and you were probably 29. You, you bad person, were captivated by my beauty and took me to your home, not letting me leave—”

“Nonsense.” Jian Qing softly interrupted before Lu Yinxi could finish.

Lu Yinxi hooked her arms around Jian Qing’s neck, sat up, and kissed her cheek: “After a while, I’ll give you an album. If you can remember after looking at it, that would be great.” She paused, then added, “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I know you are you.”

Although this Jian Qing could accept her confession and agree to date, she wouldn’t initiate physical contact.

During this time, it had always been her initiating hugs and kisses with Jian Qing.

And she only kissed her cheeks, with no other intimacy at all.

Jian Qing had lost her former initiative, not remembering her past feelings, only loving and trusting her out of instinct and habit, feeling indebted to her, accepting her love.

Lu Yinxi sighed inwardly, crawled out of Jian Qing’s arms, and said softly, “It’s late, let’s go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll take you home for the New Year. Good night.”

Jian Qing nodded: “Good night.”

At night, they slept in separate rooms.

Without Jian Qing’s scent, without Jian Qing’s company, Lu Yinxi fell asleep slowly.

She would think about Jian Qing for a long time in her mind before she could fall asleep.

The Jian Qing she missed was the one from the virtual world, the one who remembered her, loved her, and didn’t want to let her go.

They say that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night. If she thought more about Jian Qing before sleep, maybe in her dreams, she could see the Jian Qing who remembered her.

Jian Qing lay in bed, trying hard to recall that forgotten dream, imagining Lu Yinxi’s face, imagining the feelings Lu Yinxi brought her.

She tried to dream that dream again, but every morning when she woke up, it was either other strange dreams or she couldn’t remember the content of the dream at all.

Near Lu Yinxi’s house, Jian Qing was carrying two big bags of vegetables and fruits, pacing at the doorstep.

Lu Yinxi said Gu Mingyu likes people who can cook because she herself is not good at cooking. If the two of them could prepare a New Year’s Eve dinner by themselves, they might win her over through her stomach and gain some favor.

“Come in, my mom’s not here. She’s probably gone to the ward again.” Lu Yinxi opened the door and found her own slippers on the shoe rack, intending to give them to Jian Qing to wear, but noticed a brand new pair of black cotton slippers on the rack.

She had told Gu Mingyu that Jian Qing likes dark colors.

Guessing that these new cotton slippers were prepared for Jian Qing, Lu Yinxi took them down and put them at Jian Qing’s feet, smiling, “Look, she’s already bought slippers for you. Don’t worry, she must like you.”

Jian Qing smiled faintly: “What good things did you say about me to her?”

“I didn’t say anything special. I just sent her your photo and told her about how you recommended imported medicine to patients and suspended your practice for a year. She thinks you look good, like a well-read scholar with an air of refinement, and that you’re a responsible colleague. She likes you already.”

“An air of refinement?” Jian Qing shook her head, her smile somewhat helpless, “After a few words, I’ll be exposed.”

“Don’t be afraid, just don’t talk to her about humanities topics. You two can talk about… medicine! Besides, her humanities knowledge isn’t that high either. Back then, my dad won her heart by writing a few love poems.”

Entering the house, Lu Yinxi found that Gu Mingyu had not only prepared cotton slippers for them but also many paired items – cups, towels, toothbrushes, bath towels…

She grabbed the two toothbrushes and muttered, “She really likes you…”

Last time she came home, Gu Mingyu didn’t even buy her a toothbrush herself, telling her to go to the small supermarket on the street to buy one.

Jian Qing’s ears twitched, and she carried the vegetables to the kitchen: “Let’s prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner first.”

“Mm.” Lu Yinxi helped carry the food into the kitchen and prepared the New Year’s Eve dinner with Jian Qing.

Steaming fish, boiling shrimp, making soup… With her fingers stained with spring water, Lu Yinxi smelled the scent of green onions, ginger, and garlic on her fingertips, feeling incredibly happy and at ease.

“We’re out of cooking wine,” Jian Qing shook the empty bottle.

Lu Yinxi said, “I’ll go buy some.”

“Is it convenient? Or should I go?”

“It’s fine, the grandma at the grocery store downstairs is an acquaintance. She watched me grow up and won’t treat me like a celebrity.” Lu Yinxi took off her apron and went out to buy cooking wine.

Ten minutes later, she opened the door and returned to see Jian Qing and Gu Mingyu sitting upright on the living room sofa.

Gu Mingyu stroked her knees, interrogating Jian Qing: “Who else is in your family? Have you told your family about your situation?”

Jian Qing sat straight, her hands on her knees, her tone as serious as a good student answering a teacher’s question: “Not many people. My parents divorced when I was young, and I lived with my mother. This year, my mother… passed away. On my father’s side, he has rebuilt a new family and has no contact with me.”

Gu Mingyu’s gaze towards Jian Qing became more sympathetic.

Lu Yinxi came over carrying the cooking wine and called out, “Mom, I’m back!”

She sat down next to Jian Qing, grabbing one of Jian Qing’s hands and holding it, afraid that Gu Mingyu might give Jian Qing a hard time.

Jian Qing looked at her and gave a faint smile.

Seeing their tightly clasped hands, Gu Mingyu coughed twice and said, “We’re out of soy sauce too. Go buy a bottle of light soy sauce and a bottle of dark soy sauce.”

“Nonsense, I just saw there’s more than half a bottle left!” Lu Yinxi could tell her mom was intentionally trying to send her away to question Jian Qing alone, and she wasn’t falling for it.

Gu Mingyu glared at her: “When I tell you to buy, just go buy it. Why so many words?”

Jian Qing squeezed Lu Yinxi’s palm: “We’re making Coca-Cola chicken wings later, can you also buy a bottle of Coke?”

This ice cube wanted to send her away too.

Lu Yinxi snorted heavily, shoved the cooking wine into the kitchen, and went out again wearing a mask.

When she returned, Gu Mingyu and Jian Qing were making dumplings at the dining table.

The two were chatting about tumor diseases, immunotherapy, and medical reform policies. Gu Mingyu was criticizing the hospital administration and the Health Commission for not doing their jobs properly, particularly indignant about the year-end bonuses: “I worked my butt off in the clinic for a year, and those who sit in offices doing administration get the same year-end bonus as me! It’s infuriating!”

Lu Yinxi had already heard Gu Mingyu rant about this topic last time.

This time she didn’t plan to interrupt, as it would only bring trouble to herself, leading to comments like “We do research and clinical work, working ourselves to death all year round, and our pay is still not as high as you small celebrities who barely do anything.”

Jian Qing didn’t like to express opinions, just listening to Gu Mingyu’s complaints and faintly agreeing: “Yes, distribution according to labor would be more reasonable.”

Lu Yinxi didn’t dare to interrupt, slipping into the kitchen to make chicken soup and prepare to cook the dumplings.

The sound of firecrackers echoed outside, and Gu Mingyu turned on the TV, playing songs like 《Love Each Other》, 《Wish You Prosperity》, 《Come Home Often》, and raising the volume to talk to Jian Qing.

Looking through the transparent glass of the kitchen, Lu Yinxi saw her mother’s half-white hair and suddenly felt that this mother, who had been strong for half her life, had become more humane.

She was starting to cherish family ties and long for her children’s company.

She was slowly aging…

“Mom, we’ll come back often in the future!” Lu Yinxi shouted from the kitchen where she was making soup.

Gu Mingyu shouted back: “You don’t need to come back often, we have nothing in common to talk about. Let Ah Qing come back and chat with me!”

Lu Yinxi immediately turned into a self-isolated mushroom, shrinking in the kitchen, not saying a word, puffing her cheeks and chopping on the wooden cutting board with a “bang bang bang” sound.

There were only three rooms in the house.

Gu Mingyu hadn’t prepared a new guest room, only cleaned Lu Yinxi’s room once.

At night, the two slept in the same room.

It had been a long time since they shared a bed. Lu Yinxi, pillowing her arm, looked at the ceiling and asked Jian Qing: “What did my mom say to you when she sent me away?”

“She told me that she hadn’t taken good care of you, that you had suffered a lot; she also said she wasn’t a qualified mother, and asked us to take good care of each other in the future, to not mind what others say or think, because life is lived for ourselves, not for others to see.”

Lu Yinxi’s nose stung, her eyes slightly reddening, but she said: “She never said such soft words to me, she’s really nice to you…”

Jian Qing lay on her side, looking at Lu Yinxi next to her, reaching out to trace her eyebrows: “She’s nice to me because she hopes that I’ll treat you well in the future.”

Lu Yinxi made an “oh” sound, raised her hand to rub her eyes, then lifted her own blanket and crawled into Jian Qing’s quilt.

Jian Qing looked at the warm bundle that popped up in her arms, her head tilting back slightly.

Lu Yinxi hooked her arms around her neck: “Can I sleep hugging you tonight?”

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LP: YT links for the songs~ My maternal grandma loves listening to Chinese songs, watching CDramas too, I miss her so much~

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