“Ah.” Peng Xiangzhi sighed, a girl won’t be kept at home once she’s grown. She’s already turning away so quickly.
“I mean, you could stay at my home too, as long as you don’t mind living with my mom,” Peng Xiangzhi grumbled.
“Hm? The dishes are here already?” Yu Zhou, who had been watching their conversation with her face in her hands, suddenly looked up with widened eyes at the sight of the small dish cart being pushed in.
“So, you ordered without us?” She turned her head to question Su Chang.
Su Chang looked innocent as she softly replied, “You were discussing the house.”
“And you were simply enjoying the gossip,” she added.
The implication was clear: no one had time for this.
“Well, you should have…” Yu Zhou’s words trailed off, “Out of respect, right?”
“Nevermind,” why fuss over these details. She stood up and signaled Peng Xiangzhi to hand her the dishes, “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Chao Xin glanced at Su Chang, who always seemed perfectly composed, always wearing a smile that exuded tranquility and shrewdness. It was as if she was born without the need to consider propriety, as if whatever she did, everyone would forgive her.
Appearance, family background, career, love, everything was perfect.
God loves all, but He favors Su Chang.
Even the person Xiang Wan has affection for is wholeheartedly pursuing her.
Chao Xin never really considered Xiang Wan being lesbian or whom she liked, to be particularly important. This is because she herself has never been interested in such matters, let alone those of someone else’s.
However, when Xiang Wan’s affection is specifically and vividly presented to her, embodied by the girl leaning next to Su Chang, she found it quite magical.
Magical because she sometimes subtly felt that she and Xiang Wan shared certain similarities.
In contrast, Su Chang was the opposite of their kind.
The person Xiang Wan has affection for is right next to Su Chang.
She struggled to describe this feeling.
Perhaps, a bit of empathy? For instance, while she was still working hard for the studio, other people’s VA radishes were growing nicely. Just like Xiang Wan’s restless pursuit of Yu Zhou, some people had made the concept of “unfulfilled desires” tangible.
So naturally, she wondered how Xiang Wan faced Su Chang.
But this thought was fleeting and Chao Xin wasn’t one to dwell on emotions.
She picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and then placed it in Xiang Wan’s bowl as a gesture of apology for the pitiful image she had formed of Xiang Wan.
When eating meals at Chao Xin’s home, it was often a common gesture for Chao Xin to serve dishes to Xiang Wan. In this current instance, Xiang Wan didn’t decline the gesture and proceeded to eat it as normally.
Peng Xiangzhi shook her head as she subtly rolled her eyes, turning to Yu Zhou with a look of despair.
Yu Zhou found it amusing, her eyebrows subtly furrowing in a silent response of ‘be patient, don’t worry’.
Even if they have that intention, what’s the big deal? The only thing that mattered was that Xiang Wan liked her. Xiang Wan was smarter than all of them; she wouldn’t walk into a tiger’s den. She was a little wolf, after all.
“Su Chang!” Seeing that her words had no effect on Yu Zhou, Peng Xiangzhi suddenly shouted, “What’s wrong with you?”
“?”
“You organize a dinner party, and you don’t say a word?”
“Did I… organize it?” Su Chang retracted her chopsticks, resting her wrist on the edge of the table; she asked in a soft voice for confirmation.
“It’s your audio drama team’s dinner! ‘Pat Me Please’! It’s about to launch, have you forgotten? Here, your lead actress, here, your another lead actress, you, the assistant director, and your wife, the scriptwriter.”
Peng Xiangzhi counted them off on her fingers like counting radishes.
“Is that so?” Su Chang furrowed her brows.
Wasn’t it Peng Xiangzhi who said Xiang Wan was moving out and that they should all get together?
“I don’t care, say something! If you’re not organizing, what are you ordering?”
“Well…” Su Chang tilted her head, “When is the move?”
“You go back and coordinate with Yaoyao, find a time when we’re all free, and we’ll help you pack.”
Just like last time.
Just as Peng Xiangzhi was about to think it’s outrageous , she heard Su Chang, with a soft smile, address Chao Xin, “Ms. Chao, will it be convenient?”
The question was a subtle one, testing Chao Xin’s attitude. If Chao Xin didn’t allow Xiang Wan’s friends to visit, it wouldn’t be a normal shared living arrangement.
Peng Xiangzhi applauded Su Chang in her mind.
Even Yu Zhou paused, wiping the corner of her mouth while waiting for an answer.
“Of course.” Chao Xin nodded, “Since it’s a shared flat, it’s also Wanwan’s home. Her friends are always welcome to visit, no need to ask me.”
She knew what Su Chang was asking, so her answer was complete. She was ready to cede half of the use of the house, not just adopting a young friend.
Xiang Wan pondered, “I’ll try to find a weekday to finish the move while Paipai is at school, so that we won’t disturb her.”
Chao Xin glanced at her before lowering her eyelashes.
After dinner, Xiang Wan wanted to return home with Su Chang and the others, as the place she currently lived was on the way to Su Chang’s house.
So, they said their goodbyes at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant, agreed to meet again when it was time for the move. Chao Xin got into her car with the smell of hotpot. She didn’t rush to start the engine, instead, she turned on the air conditioning first.
Then she turned on the car radio and listened to a couple of songs.
She felt the urge to smoke again, but realized there were no cigarettes in the car. Composing herself, she prepared to drive home, but suddenly her eyes caught the sight of Xiang Wan’s backpack on the back seat.
While sitting in the passenger seat earlier, Xiang Wan had casually tossed her bag onto the back seat, finding it inconvenient while having breakfast.
Later, she had forgotten about it.
Chao Xin thought for a moment. She had just listened to three songs after Su Chang and the others had left. It was less than fifteen minutes – she could call Xiang Wan and ask them to wait by the roadside, or agree on a place to drop it off.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she pulled up Xiang Wan’s home address in the navigation system.
At nine past nine in the evening, Xiang Wan came out of the small supermarket. She had purchased milk and bread for tomorrow morning’s breakfast, and during checkout, she inquired with the shopkeeper if she was still stocking the cat food she used to purchase.
The shopkeeper replied, “You’re the only one buying it. Why should I stock it? You might as well buy it online, they’ll even deliver it to your house.”
“Well, I’m moving anyway,” Xiang Wan said.
“You’re moving?” The shopkeeper packed her things into a bag.
“Yep, I’m going to study.”
“My, you have a bright future ahead,” the shopkeeper complimented, disinterestedly.
But Xiang Wan responded genuinely grateful,”Thank you,”
Stepping out with her shopping bag, she was about to check if there were any vegetable stalls at the entrance of the residential area. However, her attention was drawn to Chao Xin’s car.
There was no mistaking it, because Chao Xin’s silver car was too conspicuous.
Surprised, Xiang Wan walked over and knocked on the car window.
Chao Xin lowered the passenger window and inquired, “What are you doing outside?” She followed up with a quick remark, “You forgot your bag.”
Through the car window, Chao Xin gazed at Xiang Wan who was slightly bent over, as if she was being viewed through a picture frame.
The car radio was playing an English song called “more & more”.
Xiang Wan, with her hand resting on the car door, tilted her head to look at Chao Xin. “Why did you come here? You could have called me when you found out,” she said.
Chao Xin shook her head, “I don’t like to tell people to wait for me over the phone.”
She preferred to prepare everything herself and then wait for others while listening to music.
Just like earlier in the morning.
Xiang Wan chuckled, unable to understand this peculiar habit.
However, this was not a quirk. It might be a shadow, a fear of letting people down while they were waiting with hope. Without elaborating, Chao Xin got out of the car, retrieved the bag and handed it to Xiang Wan, “Go up, sleep early.”
“Thanks, Ms. Chao. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Chao Xin withdrew her hand before getting back into the car, she turned on the indicator light to pull out, and then disappeared into the traffic.
She drove very quickly and arrived home before ten.
Paipai was still awake, wrapped in a sleep robe, her knees curled up as she enjoyed pickled pepper chicken claws while watching a Japanese drama.
“Oh, back from your date?” Paipai crossed her arms, mockingly mature demeanor.
Chao Xin chuckled, ignoring her, feeling quite exhausted.
“Don’t you feel any shame at all? Chao Xinxin, you left a growing girl alone at home, having to eat takeaway twice.”
“Do you know?” Paipai propped her forehead, gazing at her sadly in the colorful glow of the television, “The damage gutter oil can do to one’s intelligence is irreversible. If I only score 81.6 in my next Chinese exam, it will be your fault.”
“So, you already have a paper with 81.6, don’t you?”
Chao Xin threw her bag onto the couch.
“How did you know?”
“You have it down to the decimal.” Chao Xin was weary, “Quick, bring it here, I’ll sign it.”
“I dare not.” Paipai hugged her pillow, quite scared.
“Hmm?”
“Things that go against the norm are usually ominous; it scares me when you’re so agreeable.” Her small, husky voice sounded aggrieved again.
Chao Xin chuckled, sitting next to her, “There is a little matter, I wanted to inform you.”
“Can you not inform me?” Paipai covered her ears.
Chao Xin stretched out her hand, taking Paipai’s right hand down. The small, soft hand was already quite thin, but there were still a few dimples on the back.
She said, “Miss Xiang is going to live with us, as a roommate.”
Paipai’s features scattered in disbelief. “Is that the result of your negotiation with her?”
Her mouth pouted, ready to cry again.
What happened to canceling the guqin class? Not only was it not canceled, they would have to live together?
“Stop.” Chao Xin frowned, scaring her tears back in, “I’ve spoken to her. She won’t be so strict in the future.”
“But my world is collapsing.” Paipai murmured.
“Why? What’s the reason?” She asked Chao Xin, clinging onto the last shred of hope.
Chao Xin sighed heavily, “There are some things I don’t want to hide from you. You’re grown up now.”
“Huh?” Her baby voice twisted again, unable to contain her fear.
“You might have had a hunch. Why would I have my colleague teach you, in exchange for English lessons, and even cook for her every week?”
“Because our family,” Chao Xin looked at her, “is very poor.”
“Re-Really?” Paipai clamped her mouth shut.
“Mhm.”
“So, Miss Xiang, she’s very rich, right?” She could aid their penniless mother and daughter, right?
“Yes.”
Paipai’s head unconsciously quivered. She took nearly a minute to sort her thoughts before she concluded from her TV dramas, whispering in a voice filled with fear, “You found a sugar mama?”
Chao Xin’s eyes flickered, almost giving up.
“Well, not exactly.”
Paipai thought carefully. Her aunt was so beautiful, it seemed plausible that Miss Xiang might covet her. But… they weren’t so desperate as to need a sugar mama, right? Moreover, she couldn’t see Miss Xiang being that kind of person.
“Auntie,” she tugged at Chao Xin’s clothes, her voice timid, “We might be poor, but my teacher said, we should be poor with dignity, and not sell our pride. What if we moved to a smaller house, or maybe you could cancel all my extracurricular classes? I don’t want to do the guqin performance anymore.”
The play had gone too far, truly scaring the little girl. Chao Xin could only smile helplessly, pulling her into an embrace, “What are you thinking about? She’s just paying me rent. Our bedroom would be empty anyway, right?”
“Really?”
“Mhm, as long as you behave, you can live with someone you’re not very familiar with.”
“I’m very well-behaved.” Paipai looked at her, her eyes sparkling.
“Good kids get a piece of candy, so, good Paipai can go to summer camp.” Chao Xin said.
“Summer camp?” Her eyes became even brighter.
“Haven’t you been looking at that poster for the American summer camp? Your teacher also told me about it. After the exams are over in two weeks, you’ll set off for summer vacation. The deadline is approaching, so I enrolled you.”
“But that’s very expensive.” Paipai spoke softly.
Chao Xin tapped her nose, “So you like it, but you won’t tell me, huh?”
“I don’t really like it that much.” Paipai lowered her head, playing with the flowers on her nightgown.
“Oh, but when you mentioned summer camp just now, your voice literally floated.” Chao Xin teased her.
“Go to sleep. Sleep early, look good, and when you go out to play, take some nice photos for me, okay?”
“Mhm.” Paipai obediently nodded.
This would work out perfectly, thought Chao Xin. After Xiang Wan moves in, she could get used to it gradually, since she might not be accustomed to living with others, especially a child.
Rubbing her shoulders, Chao Xin got up to take a bath.
CNYuriTranslation 