Ginger Tea1
She had a period of time when she wanted to learn how to cook ginger tea.
Lu Zhenqiu kept holding her bag on the car ride back, turning her head to look out the car window. The driver couldn’t help but ask, “Little girl, were you wronged in some way at work?”
Even a stranger would ask a warm question.
But Tang Yingxia, with whom she had been in a relationship for two years, would say, “Without me, wouldn’t you still be kept by a boss? Wouldn’t you still be selling your body? I’m so glad now that I never had a relationship with you…”
Everything from the past was like a big palm slap2, fiercely fanning her across the face.
She had never thought that Tang Yingxia saw her that way. Although she had long been aware of it to some extent, when it was truly said from her mouth, her heart still turned completely cold.
Her voice acting, her live streaming, in the bottom of Tang Yingxia’s eyes3, was it not entering the stream4? Is that why she would say such things? All the past instances, her disdain when she mentioned voice acting and live streaming… recalling it now, it seems she really was eye-blind5 the whole time and didn’t see it.
Then what about having a relationship?
Lu Zhenqiu bit her nails, a heart-drilling pain6. Being with Tang Yingxia, it wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about having a relationship with her. Sometimes the atmosphere arrived, and where water flows, a channel is formed7; sometimes she just wanted to give her everything. Except for the very beginning when Tang Yingxia wanted to live together, which she felt was too fast and politely refused, she had also given obvious hints several times after that, but Tang Yingxia never reacted.
Before moving to this city, she had talked about living together with Tang Yingxia, and they even started choosing curtain colors they liked and buying decorations they liked, but Tang Yingxia said to wait a bit longer.
She started to doubt herself, doubting herself more than once, a doubt from the bottom of her heart, thinking whether there was somewhere she hadn’t done well, or some part of her that Tang Yingxia didn’t like.
She had never thought that Tang Yingxia, from the very beginning, had not put them in the same position. She was always high up above, and even her affection carried a sense of giving alms8. But she had been blind. That one cup of ginger tea back then, the all-night heart-to-heart talks later on, the little bit of warmth Tang Yingxia gave—she thought she possessed everything, possessed love.
Does she regret it?
Lu Zhenqiu had never regretted being in a relationship, but she regretted knowing Tang Yingxia. At this moment, she was incomparably regretful. She sat in the car, the brilliant lights flashing past her eyes. Her head spun for a few seconds, a cough rolled out from her throat, and the itchy numbness crawling in her throat worsened, until cough after cough burst out, coughing until eye-water9 burst from her eyes, coughing until her whole body convulsed. She fell onto the back seat. Seeing this, the driver was surprised, “Little girl, are you alright?”
“Little girl, you’re coughing quite severely. Do you have a cold?” the driver asked with concern. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
Lu Zhenqiu suppressed the urge to cough, her voice coarse and hoarse, “I’m fine, no need.”
The driver looked at her several times before dropping her off at the residential complex.
When she got downstairs, Lu Zhenqiu carried her bag. Her eyes were swollen, and her lip was bitten open; her teeth had just hit that piece of skin while coughing, and it stung with pain. Lu Zhenqiu gave two muffled coughs, entered the elevator, and just as she was going up, she received a call from He Jinmei.
“Qiuqiu, are you home? Auntie bought some extra pork ribs, should I bring some over for you?”
Lu Zhenqiu stood at the doorway, busy for a few seconds with flustered hands and feet before saying, “I am, at home.”
He Jinmei said, “Ai, then I’m coming.”
Lu Zhenqiu hurriedly went to her room to put on makeup. Her face was as pale as paper, the corners of her eyes were scarlet, her eyes were red and swollen, and water droplets still hung from her eyelashes. Her entire person could only be described with two words—wretched10.
She didn’t want He Jinmei to see her looking so wretched, so she used cosmetics to cover it up. Before she could finish tidying up, she heard the doorbell ring. Maomao had already run to the door one step ahead. It wagged its tail, looking towards the door, not knowing if it thought Jin Shuilan was outside.
Thinking of Jin Shuilan, Lu Zhenqiu’s eye rims reddened again. She suppressed her emotions, walked to the door with a calm expression, and opened it. He Jinmei stood outside, covered in a layer of cold frost, and her opening words were the same as always, “Aiya, it’s cold to death, Qiuqiu, you need to wear more clothes.”
Lu Zhenqiu lowered her head. She had just taken off her coat after coming in, and with the heating on, it wasn’t cold.
She lightly made an “en” sound and took the bag from He Jinmei’s hands. He Jinmei said, “While Lanlan isn’t home, have you been taking good care of yourself all alone? Why do I feel like you’ve gotten thinner? Have you not been eating properly? I hear you young girls are busy losing weight all day. You absolutely can’t lose any more; if you get any thinner, you’ll shed your bones.”
Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t heard such homely talk in a long time, and it was very heartwarming. She said, “Auntie, I haven’t been losing weight.”
“As long as you haven’t, that’s good.” He Jinmei turned her head, “What’s wrong with your voice? Have a cold?”
Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was both hoarse and dry, and she wanted to cough as soon as she spoke, but she didn’t want He Jinmei to worry, so she tried hard to suppress it. Hearing He Jinmei’s words, she shook her head, “I’m not… cough…” In the end, she couldn’t hold it back, and a burst of rapid coughing escaped. Even breathing was difficult. He Jinmei hurriedly walked to her side, patting her on the back several times, “Quick, sit down.”
Lu Zhenqiu sat on the sofa, and Maomao circled her worriedly. He Jinmei went to the kitchen to pour her some water and handed it to Lu Zhenqiu. As Lu Zhenqiu took it, He Jinmei grabbed her hand, “Why is it so cold.”
She herself hadn’t felt it.
He Jinmei saw that she didn’t know how to take care of herself and smiled. She went back to the kitchen and got a beverage bottle, the 300ML kind. The bottle wasn’t big and was soft. Jin Shuilan loved to drink this kind of beverage; there used to be many in the refrigerator before. After Jin Shuilan left, she had drunk a few bottles. Now, He Jinmei poured out one bottle of the beverage, washed the bottle clean, and finally filled it with hot water for her, to be used as a hand warmer11.
It was just right for one hand to hold, both convenient and small. Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t expected this bottle to have such a use. She lowered her head and heard He Jinmei ask, “Is it warmer?”
Lu Zhenqiu made an “en” sound, “It’s warm now.”
“Keep warm more. This weather isn’t normal; it started snowing again just as I was coming over.” He Jinmei said, “Lanlan used to like warming her hands like this. If you feel the water has gotten cold, just go and change it.”
Lu Zhenqiu felt a warmth spread from her palm to the bottom of her heart12. She nodded, “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Have you eaten dinner?” He Jinmei stood by the kitchen counter and started to sort out the pork ribs she had brought, along with some vegetables. Lu Zhenqiu said, “I’ve eaten, it was a crew dinner.”
“Oh.” He Jinmei said, “And here I was, saying I’d come and simmer some soup13 for you.”
As she spoke, she was about to put the pork ribs in the refrigerator. Lu Zhenqiu called out, “Auntie.”
He Jinmei turned her head, “Hm?”
Lu Zhenqiu said, “I want to drink soup.”
This seemed to be the first time Lu Zhenqiu had said she wanted something in front of her. He Jinmei smiled, her face lighting up14, “Alright, Auntie will make it for you right now.”
She said, “My soup-simmering skills are very good.”
Lu Zhenqiu had drunk her soup before; the flavor was very xian15.
She smiled. Her phone made two beep beep sounds from the coffee table. Lu Zhenqiu turned her head. He Jinmei said, “Is the phone ringing? Is it Lanlan?”
Just hearing this name made Lu Zhenqiu’s heart feel warm. She said, “Let me see.”
It wasn’t Jin Shuilan, it was Hua Luo.
Lu Zhenqiu said a word to He Jinmei and walked to the living room to answer the phone.
“Hey, Qiuqiu, what are you doing.” Hua Luo said, “Why didn’t you reply to the messages I sent you?”
Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t looked at her phone just now. Now she saw a row of messages, not just from Hua Luo, but also from Xiao Yu. She said, “It’s nothing, I was just in the kitchen.”
“Oh.” Hua Luo said, “I was afraid you were hiding somewhere crying by yourself. I’m calling to tell you, that side account online has apologized.”
Lu Zhenqiu’s thoughts were sluggish for two seconds, “Apologized?”
“Yeah, I don’t know which dumbass16 it was, thinking they could mislead people just by releasing a small clip. I just cursed her out, and she apologized, deleted her account, and ran.”
Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t yet concerned herself with the matter online, and just made an “en” sound. Hua Luo said, “If you’re unhappy, do you want me to come and keep you company?”
“No need.” Lu Zhenqiu said, “I’m quite alright.”
After she finished speaking, she gave two muffled coughs. Hua Luo didn’t insist either, “Call me if you need anything.”
Lu Zhenqiu agreed.
He Jinmei came out of the kitchen and asked, “Was that Lanlan?”
“No.” Lu Zhenqiu explained, “It was my friend.”
He Jinmei said, “Oh, she’s been busy recently too, doesn’t even make one phone call home.”
After speaking, she muttered to herself, “I don’t know if she can come back for the New Year.”
Lu Zhenqiu had never asked about the matter of Jin Shuilan coming back, but she knew she was very busy. The last time they spoke on the phone, she heard someone call “Teacher Jin” after just a few sentences. But even though she was so busy, she still, at the first possible moment, sent her a message: 【Qiuqiu, it’s alright.】
It’s alright.
Lu Zhenqiu blinked and said to He Jinmei, “She should be able to, right?”
“It’s almost the New Year. Being outside all by herself, it’s rather worrying.” He Jinmei said, “And she won’t let me go over to see her.”
Lu Zhenqiu turned her head, “She won’t let you?”
“She said she’s afraid it would affect her work.” He Jinmei said, “Never mind that, I’ll go check on the soup.”
Lu Zhenqiu followed He Jinmei into the kitchen. The side ingredients were all ready. He Jinmei put the blanched17 pork ribs into the pressure cooker, added the seasonings and set the time. As she worked, He Jinmei turned her head, “Qiuqiu, if she doesn’t come back for the New Year, you come and spend the New Year with Auntie, okay?”
He Jinmei had asked her about her New Year plans before, and Lu Zhenqiu had also said she would go over if she had time. The platform gave them a week-long holiday for the New Year, but there was also the option to work. Lu Zhenqiu had originally planned to continue working, but now, hearing this, she looked at He Jinmei and agreed, “Okay.”
Seeing her agree, He Jinmei broke into a smile. She set the timer on the pressure cooker, then started another pot, saying to Lu Zhenqiu, “I just bought a pear. I’ll stew some rock sugar pear18 for you. After you drink it, you won’t cough anymore.”
Lu Zhenqiu watched her walk over to the coffee table and pick up a pear. It was yellowish-white and quite large. He Jinmei hollowed out the center of the pear, then found the ingredient, rock sugar, from a cabinet above, placed it in the center of the pear, then turned on the fire to stew it.
The stewing time was a bit long, and the pork rib soup wasn’t ready either. The two of them sat on the sofa, watching TV and chatting idly. A New Year’s preview program was playing on the TV, full of joy and celebration. He Jinmei said, “The pork rib soup is almost ready, I’ll go take a look.”
Lu Zhenqiu watched her enter the kitchen, and after a short while, she came out carrying two bowls. She hurriedly took them; one was the pork rib soup, and the other was the rock sugar pear. He Jinmei said, “Drink the pear water first, it’s for the cough.”
The rock sugar pear water had a cloyingly sweet taste that you could smell as soon as the plastic wrap was lifted. Lu Zhenqiu picked up a little bit; it was so sweet it was choking19. She coughed a few times and heard He Jinmei say, “Is it too sweet?”
Lu Zhenqiu smiled, “A little sweet.”
“I might have added too much. When Lanlan has a cold, I’ll stew rock sugar pear for her. She just likes it sweet.”
Lu Zhenqiu thought of Jin Shuilan, fell silent for two seconds, and said, “She likes to drink sweet things?”
“She loves it.” He Jinmei said, “But she doesn’t know how to make anything, and she still picks three and selects four20. You know, people who don’t go into the kitchen, they really don’t know the hardship of those who cook. In the future, you can’t spoil her; you have to teach her how to do it.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhenqiu was curious, “She’s never cooked before?”
“Never.” He Jinmei said, “It was when she was in junior high, I think. She was home alone and didn’t know what to cook, and she almost burned down the kitchen. After that, she never went into the kitchen again.”
Speaking of this, she said, “But there was a period of time when she especially liked to cook ginger tea. You know ginger tea, right? If you don’t add red sugar21, it’s choking enough to kill a person. The first time, she didn’t add brown sugar and was choking so much in the kitchen she was about to cry.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhenqiu also smiled. As she was smiling, she turned her head, “Ginger tea?”
He Jinmei nodded. Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was taut as she asked with great difficulty, “When did she learn?”
“A long time ago.” He Jinmei said, “Two or three years ago, I think.”
She thought carefully, “Oh, two years ago, when it was about to be autumn.”
Lu Zhenqiu sat frozen on the sofa, her hand gripping the spoon tightly. The metal edge dug painfully into the pad of her finger, but she didn’t feel it at all. Her expression was wooden, but an inexplicable emotion began to stir in the bottom of her heart, gradually surging!
The author has something to say:
Thirty red envelopes, memeda.
Mom is forever walking on the front lines of providing assists22.
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