My Wife Is So Needy

Xu Zhitong was sitting outside the movie theater, biting down on a paper straw that tasted terrible, looking over her chat history with Lin Yang for the nth time that day.

The phone screen was still paused on their chat.

Lin Yang had sent her a few messages.

She’d photographed the vase on the table and had fresh flowers delivered by courier.

Then she’d snapped a picture of her desk and told Xu Zhitong she was working.

Half an hour later, maybe because she was tired from work and had gone to make herself a drink, she sent a photo of a messy bar counter.

Y: Stirring matcha powder. It splashed everywhere..

A proper little status report, cold and cute all at once.

Xu Zhitong immediately fired back a flood of kiss-face emojis.

Y: ?

ZZZ: Wife, I miss you so much ˋ（ ′ ‘ ）ˊ!

No reply.

ZZZ: Is anyone thinking about me?

Y: I am thinking about you

Y: Coming home for dinner?

ZZZ: I’m coming back!

The conversation ended there.

Xu Zhitong tapped at the screen, a little hesitant, unsure whether she should tell Lin Yang she’d run into her younger sister.

Lin Zhao had also seen her gift bag.

Although she didn’t have much contact with Lin Zhao, she could tell Lin Zhao was the type who liked to watch drama unfold.

There was no telling whether she’d mention it to Lin Yang.

Xu Zhitong flattened the straw with her teeth, then used the tip of her tongue to round it back out.

She was definitely going to tell Lin Yang.

How was she supposed to explain this? Lin Yang couldn’t find out she’d bought a diamond ring.

Xu Zhitong thought it over. Since there was still some time before Mom and the others finished the movie, she turned around and took the elevator back downstairs.

She returned to the store counter.

It was still the same sales associate from before. When she saw Xu Zhitong come in, her expression turned a little panicked.

Xu Zhitong assumed she’d been slacking off and smiled at her kindly. “I want to look at one more necklace.”

There were very few necklace styles in this shop. Xu Zhitong picked a classic design that sparkled brightly, tried it on briefly, and decided to take it.

For some reason, after she signed the receipt, the sales associate specially packed up two huge bags of gifts for her.

Xu Zhitong left the store carrying a gift bag in each hand, both stuffed full. ?

Xu Zhitong was confused.

Was this place clearing out stock?

By the time she was waiting for Xu Ran and the others at the movie theater entrance, Xu Ran was also stunned.

Xu Ran: “How much stuff did you buy?”

Lu Zhiwei: “Sweetie, did you buy out the whole store?”

Xu Zhitong looked innocent. “I actually only bought a little box…”

Lu Zhiwei snorted with laughter.

“Well, the service here is pretty good. When your mom and I really buy new diamond rings later, we’ll come back here.”

Xu Zhitong handed one bag to her mom, then hooked her arms through both of theirs and walked with Mom and Mommy in the middle.

She muttered, “Why not just buy them today? It’s not like I don’t have money.”

Xu Ran said, “You’re dating Xiaoyang now; there are plenty of places to spend money. We don’t wear them much anyway, so why waste it? Besides, she’s never seen our rings. They’re brand-new; next time we meet for dinner, we can wear them then. Count it as you accompanying us to buy them this time.”

Xu Zhitong said, “Fine.”

There were too many complimentary gifts. On the way back in the car, Xu Zhitong split them up with Mom and Mommy.

Most of them were taken away by Xu Ran and the others, and she only kept a few things that she and Lin Yang might actually use.

After arranging the two bags, Xu Zhitong sat in the back seat and waited for her mom to drive her home.

Lu Zhiwei was in the passenger seat. She turned back and asked, “You two are eating at home tonight?”

Xu Zhitong: “Mm-hm.”

Lu Zhiwei was a little curious. “Xiaoyang’s cooking? How good is she?”

“Or maybe I’ll cook,” Xu Zhitong said naturally. “Of course her skills aren’t as good as mine.”

After all, she was a proper chef who’d fed Lin Yang a few pounds heavier.

Mommy’s question was really strange.

They’d been together for so long; how could Mommy not know what Lin Yang’s cooking was like?

Xu Zhitong found it a little odd, but didn’t think much of it.

When she looked back down at her phone, Lin Yang had already gone forty minutes without sending her a message.

Xu Zhitong typed out a text.

ZZZ: Getting ready to come back. Want me to pick up some groceries on the way?

ZZZ: What would you like for tonight’s Xu chef omakase?

ZZZ: [dog raising eyebrow.jpg]

On Lin Yang’s end, it showed that she was typing.

After a while, no message came through.

Instead, she called Xu Zhitong.

Xu Zhitong: “...Hello?”

Over the phone, Lin Yang’s voice was slightly distorted by the line, and she said guiltily, “Xiaotong, I need to go out tonight.”

Xu Zhitong: “Huh? Where are you going?”

Lin Yang paused. “Home.”

Xu Zhitong almost said, What other home do you have outside?

Her mind worked quickly, and she realized Lin Yang meant the home where Madam Lin was.

When she was in school, she had once taken a taxi there to pick Lin Yang up: the wealthy Jiangdong district, a manor-style villa.

The driver had said, Damn, your friend’s place must be the flagship mansion of the whole neighborhood, right? Why didn’t you call a private car to pick her up? You took my regular ride, and the gate guard almost didn’t let us in.

Xu Zhitong had nearly said that she’d even deliberately avoided a discounted ride.

But young people cared too much about face, so she’d just acted cool and not replied.

Now, after so many years, the memory and feeling of that manor-like villa, which seemed to belong to a different world altogether, had somehow remained very clear.

Xu Zhitong looked at the text on the screen and paused.

Why was Lin Yang suddenly going home for dinner?

She licked her lips and, after some hesitation, sent a message.

ZZZ: Did your mother tell you to go back?

ZZZ: Did something happen OAO

Y: It’s just dinner.

Y: Sorry I can’t keep you company [hug.jpg]

Her fingers hovered over the screen for a moment.

ZZZ: I ran into your sister while I was out shopping today. She was really mean, so I ignored her

ZZZ: Will she be eating with you tonight?

Y: I understand

Y: It’s fine; I’ll handle it

Y: Just wait for me at home

ZZZ: Okay TT

Xu Zhitong trusted Lin Yang very much.

If she said she could handle it, then it was fine.

That little Lin Zhao.

Xu Zhitong huffed softly.

Then she let out a long, heavy sigh.

Lu Zhiwei heard it and turned back. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Xu Zhitong said, “Lin Yang isn’t eating at home tonight. Mommy, will you take me in?”

Xu Ran said, “Nope. We’re kicking you out.”

Xu Zhitong: “Waaah..."

-

Meanwhile, Lin Yang lowered her eyes, wiped the nude-pink lip glaze from her lips, changed to a brighter lipstick shade, and slowly blurred the lip line in the mirror.

The room was spacious and quiet; this was how it usually felt without Xu Zhitong.

In the mirror, her long hair, cool black eyes, and simple trench coat and trousers made her look nothing like someone gentle, harmless, or suited for a home.

Madam Lin might not like that.

Because it was too unlike her mother, and yet also too much like her mother.

Her mother was a romantic silhouette of love.

And she happened to have a pair of black-and-white eyes, just like her mother’s personality: clear-cut, decisive, with likes and dislikes drawn sharply.

She had inherited those eyes from her mother.

Lin Yang looked at herself in the mirror, closed her eyes briefly, then turned and left.

The trip to the Lin residence was not short. Lin Yang reread her chat history with Xu Zhitong several times in the car before she finally arrived.

When she got out, the driver hesitated. “Miss, do you need me to pick you up tonight?”

Lin Yang said, “Yes. Thank you for your trouble.”

She got out of the car.

The Lin residence sat at the highest point of the villa district at the foot of the mountain. Surrounded by forest park and occupying the largest area, it had not only the main house in the center but also several auxiliary buildings.

Lin Yang entered the Lin residence and didn’t head toward the main house. Instead, she turned to the small building on the right.

It was the place she had always lived, and also where her mother had lived before leaving the Lin family.

When her mother was pregnant with her, Madam Lin was in the middle of leading Lin Corporation through an expansion period; she was so busy every day that she had no time to come home. Even when she did, it was often very late, and she would bring the smell of alcohol with her.

That was probably the main reason their relationship collapsed. During her pregnancy, her mother moved into the annex to rest. A ring of flowerbeds surrounded it, separated from the main house by a swimming pool, making it very secluded.

The annex still held all the traces of her mother’s life. Madam Lin never came near it, and she also never allowed Lin Zhao near it.

Aside from Lin Yang living there, only the servants came every day to clean.

So when she pushed open the solid wood door and the bell on it rang, the living room that came into view was still exactly as she remembered it: a little world her mother had carved out just for her.

Even if her mother was going to argue with Madam Lin, she wouldn’t do it in this annex.

Little Lin Yang used to crouch behind the window frame and secretly watch the flowerbeds below, listening as her mother either cried to or shouted at Madam Lin. Madam Lin always just stood there calmly, arms folded, speaking in low, clipped phrases.

Then her mother would get even angrier, come back to the annex, and cry into her arms all night long.

Her mother needed a romantic, complete love that filled every moment; not a marriage that was like waiting for widowhood every day in this gilded birdcage in a foreign Jiangshi, a marriage grave where Madam Lin came home at irregular hours.

After long years of crying and living apart, her mother finally gave up on Madam Lin. She wanted a divorce.

At the time, Lin Yang was just starting elementary school, carrying a small backpack, and still too fuzzy on what divorce meant.

Her mother asked her who she would go with after the divorce, and Lin Yang dazedly asked, What does divorce mean?

Holding her in her arms, her mother, with the sweet fragrance of jasmine lingering around her, coaxed her: If we get divorced, baby, you’ll come back to Gangcheng with Mommy. From then on, you’ll be happy with Mommy every day, okay?

Being with Mommy every day wouldn’t be much different from now.

Lin Yang said okay.

But Madam Lin did not agree to the divorce.

Memories from elementary school and before were always too blurry.

She only remembered her mother loudly cursing Madam Lin, saying that all she cared about were her trust funds and stock prices.

Madam Lin said flatly, No matter what you think, there will absolutely be no divorce.

Her mother returned to the small building and cried all night again.

Her mother, romantic and naïve, didn’t want the Lin family’s assets; she only wanted to escape and follow true love.

But Madam Lin, who understood her well, sent people to keep a strict watch on her.

Inside a golden birdcage, she quickly became a flower on the verge of withering.

Later, Lin Yang let her mother run.

When Lin Yang was in first grade, her methods were not sophisticated at all; she only managed it because the servants and security at home weren’t guarding against her.

It was discovered by Madam Lin very soon.

Madam Lin looked at her coldly, disappointed.

Madam Lin asked, Do you not acknowledge me as your mother?

Then Madam Lin smiled and said, She doesn’t want me, but she doesn’t want you either.

Lin Yang was ignored for a very long time, living alone in the small building like a transparent person. It wasn’t until the jasmine scent from her mother had completely faded from the small building that she slowly understood that what she had done seemed to have been wrong.

And now, twenty-five-year-old Lin Yang stood in the middle of the living room in the small building, looked around, and slowly sat down on the sofa.

The sofa was small too, just like the little sofa Xu Zhitong used to have at home.

A few odds and ends were placed on the table, including a cake box that had been repurposed as a storage container.

After her mother returned to Gangcheng, she sent things back every year during the New Year.

It was said that she had found true love again over there and was living very happily.

She wrote letters to Lin Yang, introducing the gifts she sent back, and they all seemed to carry lovely meanings.

Every year, there was one fixed box of Egg Roll cookies. She said, Baby, over here during the New Year we always buy Egg Rolls for the kids; you can’t buy ones this delicious in Jiangshi.

They really were delicious, but her mother never brought up letting Lin Yang go to Gangcheng again.