Parents
She has to accompany her girlfriend.
After eating lunch, Jin Shuilan applied medicine for Lu Zhenqiu one more time. Lu Zhenqiu learned her finger technique, pressing on the area that had already swollen down, and as she pressed, she lowered her head and asked earnestly, “Like this?”
Jin Shuilan lowered her eyes. Lu Zhenqiu’s fingers were slender and long, and they had just been soft and warm against her hand. She nodded, “Mhm, like this. You also have to turn it inward in a circle.”
Lu Zhenqiu followed the meaning of her words and turned it inward. She accidentally used too much force, and she let out a hiss, frowning. Jin Shuilan said, “I should do it.”
She pulled Lu Zhenqiu’s hand away and said, “The concert is in two days. Don’t you go pressing yourself until it gets worse.”
This single sentence blocked the “I’ll do it myself” that Lu Zhenqiu wanted to say. She was silent for a moment, then lowered her head, “Thank you.”
For such a sentence to come out of nowhere, Jin Shuilan paused for two seconds. The movements of her hands became even more gentle. Her gaze calmly fell upon Lu Zhenqiu as she said, “It’s nothing.”
She pulled Lu Zhenqiu’s leg and placed it on her own leg, then spread the medicinal water and began to knead. Lu Zhenqiu was half-lying prone on the side, her wrist resting on a throw pillow. Seeing that she was bored, Jin Shuilan turned on the television. It was playing a comedy film that Lu Zhenqiu had seen a long time ago. In it, the two female leads ran a cake shop and did many comical things to attract customers. Lu Zhenqiu watched and laughed, then subconsciously glanced at Jin Shuilan. She saw her with her head down, earnestly massaging her ankle. Her eyes were slightly lowered, her eyelashes thick and slightly curled, the bridge of her nose deep, the tip of her nose elegant and straight, and her lips thin. That pair of eyes was fixed on her own foot. Lu Zhenqiu curled her toes, the roots of her ears turning red.
The only sound in the living room was the cheerful laughter coming from the television, with the unique comedic expression of an American drama. Although Jin Shuilan didn’t look up, she would occasionally let out a light laugh. Lu Zhenqiu asked curiously, “Teacher Jin, do you not need to read the subtitles?”
Jin Shuilan turned her head, “Mhm, more or less.”
Lu Zhenqiu sighed in admiration, “So amazing.”
Her own bit of English proficiency, she had long since returned to the teacher1. Without subtitles, she had to think for a long time to understand a single sentence, but Jin Shuilan didn’t have this problem.
Jin Shuilan glanced at her, smiled, and didn’t speak.
Lu Zhenqiu felt a little embarrassed by her gaze and turned her head to watch the television seriously. Maomao squeezed over and sat beside her. Lu Zhenqiu reached out and hugged it. Jin Shuilan saw her action and glanced at Maomao a few times. Lu Zhenqiu said, “Is it done, Teacher Jin?”
“Let’s massage it a while longer,” Jin Shuilan said. “It will heal faster.”
Lu Zhenqiu hummed in agreement, letting Jin Shuilan’s warm fingers rest on her ankle.
Jin Shuilan paid special attention to the amount of force she used, not too light and not too heavy, without any stinging pain at all. Lu Zhenqiu, hugging Maomao, was massaged until she became drowsy. The volume of the television had been turned down at some point, making it more like hypnotic background music. As Lu Zhenqiu watched, her eyelids drooped together, and she fell asleep lying on the throw pillow.
When Jin Shuilan looked up, Lu Zhenqiu’s breathing was steady and long. Maomao was nestled by Lu Zhenqiu’s head, purring. Seeing Jin Shuilan look over, it got up and walked to Jin Shuilan’s side. Jin Shuilan petted it, then applied a medicinal patch to Lu Zhenqiu’s ankle, laid her flat on the sofa, and took a thin blanket from the study to cover her.
Lu Zhenqiu had a dream. She dreamed of when she was very young, her father had come to the house to cause trouble again, arguing with her mother for money. She hid in her room, not daring to go out. The sound of her parents arguing was piercing and sharp. She desperately covered her ears. Suddenly, an embrace. Her mother walked in and hugged her, crying as she comforted her, “Don’t be scared anymore, Qiuqiu don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Mom won’t argue anymore. Mom will take Qiuqiu away, we’ll move.”
“Mom…” Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was thin and soft. Jin Shuilan, who was covering her with the blanket, paused. She lowered her eyes and saw Lu Zhenqiu’s eyes shut tight, her brow furrowed. Her finger touched Lu Zhenqiu’s forehead before slowly curling up and retracting.
Being held in her mother’s arms, Lu Zhenqiu suddenly felt at ease. She snuggled deeper into her mother’s embrace. Jin Shuilan watched her gather the blanket and hug it to her chest, and her heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, a sudden pang of pain.
When I first met her, I only felt she was a very beautiful person. The more I get to know her, the more my heart aches for her.
Jin Shuilan did nothing, only leaned against the side of Lu Zhenqiu’s throw pillow, lying on her side with her head pillowed on her arm. Her gaze swept over Lu Zhenqiu’s features: her fair forehead, her tightly closed eyes, her long, curled eyelashes, her porcelain-white skin. The person before her, even her breathing, exuded a warmth that put one’s heart at ease.
That heartache turned into heart palpitations. Every time she met Lu Zhenqiu’s gaze, it made her heart beat rapidly.
Even this sleeping Lu Zhenqiu was enough to make her heart pound.
Outside the window, the whistling wind rolled up snowflakes piece by piece, blowing them against the windowpane where they melted and flowed down. The heating in the house was ample. The television was on, its background sound very low, accompanied by occasional laughter. Maomao was asleep under Lu Zhenqiu’s sofa, occasionally looking up at Lu Zhenqiu, then at Jin Shuilan.
Lu Zhenqiu was woken up by the ringing of her phone. She was startled from her dream and sat up. She hadn’t dreamed of her mother in a long time, so she was still a bit dazed upon waking. Maomao considerately stood up and licked her hand that was hanging off the sofa. Lu Zhenqiu returned to her senses and finally felt a bit of reality. She patted Maomao’s head and picked up the phone from the coffee table. It was a call from Hua Luo, who wanted to ask her what would be a good gift to choose for Jin Shuilan. Lu Zhenqiu’s head was still foggy from just waking up. She thought for a few seconds, “Anything should be fine. I’ll go wash my face and then we can talk.”
As she spoke, she prepared to get up. With a turn of her head, she saw Jin Shuilan lying prone on the sofa.
Lu Zhenqiu’s movements paused. On the other end of the phone, Hua Luo said, “You were sleeping? Then I’ll call you back in a bit.”
After saying that, she hung up. Lu Zhenqiu put down her phone and looked at Jin Shuilan’s sleeping face. She was sleeping very soundly. There were faint dark circles under her eyelids; she probably hadn’t slept well these past two nights. Her hands still had the faint smell of medicinal ointment. A complex feeling lingered in Lu Zhenqiu’s heart. To be able to see someone as soon as you open your eyes like this… the last time seemed to be at home. She had decided to move out, cried herself to sleep alone in her room, and woke up to see her mother sitting by the bed. Her mother had asked, “Have you packed everything?”
She had said, “It’s all packed.”
But in the end, when she left, she didn’t take anything.
The feeling at that time and the feeling now were subtly different. Back then, the pain was suffocating. Now, her whole heart was filled with warmth. Lu Zhenqiu stood beside Jin Shuilan and called out, “Teacher Jin?”
Jin Shuilan did not react, her breathing steady.
Lu Zhenqiu was at a loss. She could only try to carry her to sleep on the sofa, but she overestimated her own strength. It was far from as effortless as when Jin Shuilan carried her. She tried to carry Jin Shuilan in her arms horizontally, but even getting up was a struggle. She herself almost threw out her back and fell directly, sitting beside Jin Shuilan. Jin Shuilan’s two hands were still hanging around her neck. The door opened without warning, and the sound of conversation came in. Lu Zhenqiu looked over in surprise and saw a man and a woman walking in.
Middle-aged. Judging by their age, they should be Jin Shuilan’s parents.
Jin Wei2 and He Jinmei3 didn’t expect that upon opening the door, they would see two people by the sofa, embracing each other. He Jinmei was stunned for a moment and was pushed outward by Jin Wei who was beside her. She came back to her senses, “Ah, um, we came to take a look, you two…”
Before Lu Zhenqiu could speak, a slightly hoarse voice came from beside her ear, “Why are you here?”
It was Jin Shuilan, who had woken up.
Lu Zhenqiu turned her head, saw Jin Shuilan’s dazed expression, and hurriedly moved her hands from her neck, then stood up straight and obediently greeted them, “Hello, Uncle and Auntie.”
“Hey, hello.” He Jinmei glanced at Jin Wei. The old couple was still standing at the doorway. Jin Shuilan said, “Why don’t you come in.”
He Jinmei was stunned silly. Only then did she react, walking in with Jin Wei and closing the door. She was still carrying a lot of groceries in her hands. She glanced at Lu Zhenqiu. She had previously only heard that Jin Shuilan had a partner, that they had just started dating not long ago. She trusted Jin Shuilan, because Jin Shuilan almost never lied. Back then, when she admitted to liking girls, she had told them directly, without hiding anything. So when she said she was in a relationship, they thought about it for two days and accepted it. They did indeed want to meet the partner, which was why they had rushed back.
Who knew they were living together?
This progress was much faster than they had imagined. Jin Shuilan was someone they had watched grow up, and she knew her personality better than anyone. She had always liked peace and quiet and didn’t easily open her heart. For so many years, the friends she mentioned could be counted on one hand. For a girlfriend to suddenly pop up was already incredible, and now they were cohabiting?
It seems it’s really as she said, she likes her an awful lot.
He Jinmei and Jin Wei exchanged a glance. The two of them walked over. Jin Wei put down the groceries in his hand and said, “Your mom was worried you weren’t eating well. We just bought these from the supermarket, thinking of making you a good meal tonight.”
As soon as Jin Shuilan started working, her schedule became irregular. Normally, she had only two meals a day, eating whenever she was hungry. Fortunately, she had a stomach of iron and her health had always been good, but her mom was always worried she wasn’t eating well and would come over to cook for her every time she came back.
Jin Shuilan nodded, looked at the groceries in her dad’s hand, and said, “It’s too much.”
“Not too much, not too much.” Her mom smiled, “It’s just right for the two of you. I’ll cook for you two in a bit. If you can’t finish it, you can put it in the fridge and heat it up to eat tomorrow.”
After speaking, she saw the golden retriever and asked, puzzled, “You got a dog?”
Jin Shuilan said, “It’s Qiuqiu’s.”
Lu Zhenqiu stood up straight, embarrassed. He Jinmei looked at her and called out, “Lu, Miss Lu?”
“You can just call me by my name,” Lu Zhenqiu said. He Jinmei nodded, “Then I’ll call you Qiuqiu? I see Lanlan calls you that.”
Lu Zhenqiu was choked by the air for a moment. She held back a cough, her face flushing red. Under the gazes of the three people, she nodded, “Okay.”
“Qiuqiu ah, Auntie didn’t know you were here, and I don’t know what you like to eat. Later, if there’s anything you want to eat, tell Auntie, and Auntie will go down to buy it.”
Lu Zhenqiu quickly waved her hands, “There’s no need, Auntie. I know how to cook. Let me cook tonight.”
“How can that be acceptable.” He Jinmei scolded Jin Shuilan, “You don’t even know how to learn a thing or two, staying at home all day, not knowing how to do anything.”
Jin Shuilan lowered her head, with nothing to say back.
It was the first time Lu Zhenqiu had seen Jin Shuilan being talked to until she became withdrawn. In her memory, it was always Jin Shuilan talking to others, so calm and composed, often speaking until Ji Zibo gritted her teeth, yet looking completely helpless.
The feng shui takes its turn to flow4, and it would also be her turn.
Perhaps Lu Zhenqiu’s gaze was too blatant. Jin Shuilan cleared her throat and said, “You didn’t even give me a call before coming.”
“Well, we didn’t know…” He Jinmei said, “It’s all your fault, not telling us anything.”
Her personality has been so stuffy since she was a child. It would have been much better if she had told us earlier to give us some mental preparation. Now, being so rash, I wonder if we scared Lu Zhenqiu.
Jin Wei nodded, “That’s right, why didn’t you tell us you were living together.”
Lu Zhenqiu looked at Jin Shuilan, asking her with her eyes what to do. It was true that she was renting the place, but she had previously promised Jin Shuilan to help out. To avoid saying too much and making a mistake, she had barely spoken up to this point.
Jin Shuilan sensed her gaze and called out, “Mom…”
He Jinmei’s phone rang. She said, “Wait a moment, let me answer this call first.”
Jin Wei said, “Then I’ll go put the groceries in the fridge.”
Jin Shuilan and Lu Zhenqiu stood awkwardly in the living room. He Jinmei answered the phone and said, “Hello, I’ve arrived at Lanlan’s place. Lanlan? She’s at home. Dinner together tonight? Probably not.”
She glanced at Lu Zhenqiu and said with a smile, “She has something on. She has to accompany her girlfriend.”
The author has something to say:
Thirty red envelopes, memeda.
Jin Shuilan: Mom, we’re not living together yet.
He Jinmei: Why aren’t you living together? Are you incapable? [LP: Incapable of sex, lol]
Jin Shuilan: …
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