Getting Along

Li Lan finished an entire bowl of rice.

It was only when Zhu Qing was clearing the dishes that she remembered Li Lan was a model and probably had overfed her.

Looking at the bowl in front of Li Lan, not a grain of rice left, Zhu Qing worried she might have eaten too much so late at night.

After all, all three dishes had been cleaned out, especially the pineapple sweet-and-sour pork placed before Li Lan.

Zhu Qing now fully believed what Qian Cancan had said: Li Lan wasn’t picky. She’d eat whatever was put in front of her, very easy to please, not difficult to get along with at all.

Actually, there was no need to clean up the dishes; an auntie would come by tomorrow. But Zhu Qing still wasn’t used to it, so she dutifully cleaned the dining room and kitchen.

After washing everything, she went to check the fridge, took out the hawthorn she’d just bought, and simmered a pot of hawthorn and chrysanthemum tea. She chilled it and put it away so that if either of them had trouble digesting their food, they could just take it out and drink it.

After doing all that, Zhu Qing returned to her room.

When she had “snatched” the divorce agreement from Li Lan earlier, she’d noticed that Li Lan was staying in the second bedroom, which only had a single bed.

Zhu Qing pushed open the master bedroom door and saw the two of them in the wedding photo on the table. She sighed, confirming that this was the room they shared.

The room was arranged exactly as she remembered; there was the oval bed she liked, and a very large lift desk.

The full-height wardrobe was painted with lovely graffiti, and her favorite book was still on the desk.

Zhu Qing opened the hidden drawer by the bed and found all the important documents neatly sorted inside, including her diploma and marriage certificate.

On the marriage certificate, she and Li Lan wore matching long Chinese-style dresses, smiling gently and warmly at the camera like a pair of deeply in love lovers.

Zhu Qing gently traced the words on it, and something in her softened. An unaccountable thought surfaced: she supposed she must really like Li Lan.

If she didn’t, then why would someone who loved freedom and instant gratification like her get married so quickly?

If she didn’t like her, how could she be smiling so happily?

Thinking of that, Zhu Qing glanced at the divorce agreement she’d casually thrown aside and, as if possessed, picked it up and flipped through it again.

Two days ago, in the law firm, she’d been nervous and hadn’t looked closely at the contents, only caught sight of the property division section.

Now she turned to that page again. Property: one apartment building on Xiyuan Road purchased during the marriage, registered under Zhu Qing’s name, to belong to Zhu Qing after the divorce. Three motor vehicles, to belong to Zhu Qing after the divorce. Equity, stocks, bonds, to belong to Zhu Qing after the divorce…

Every line was “to belong to Zhu Qing after the divorce.”

Zhu Qing stared blankly and closed the agreement.

This was practically saying Li Lan was walking away with nothing.

All the property acquired after marriage; Li Lan didn’t want any of it and was even footing the bill for Zhu Qing in plenty of other ways.

Zhu Qing thought it was fortunate she hadn’t signed. If they were going to part on good terms, how could she possibly take so much money from Li Lan?

But then another sour ache rose in her heart.

It was obvious Li Lan didn’t care about any of this; she’d rather give everything to her than stay married.

Zhu Qing remembered Li Lan’s expression the day she refused to sign the agreement; it had been a mix of scrutiny and surprise, a kind of confusion. Zhu Qing hadn’t known what that meant before, but now, with this agreement in hand, everything made sense.

That expression had clearly been saying: how much more do you want to divide the assets? I’ve already given you everything, and it still isn’t enough?

Zhu Qing covered her face and collapsed onto the bed, her feelings tangled and impossible to describe.

Zhu Qing, ah Zhu Qing; what exactly did you do this past year…

—

The next day, Zhu Qing got up early to make breakfast. After she finished, she went to knock on Li Lan’s door.

“Good morning. I made breakfast; do you want some?”

There was no response from inside.

Zhu Qing waited a while, then asked again softly, but there was still no answer.

Just as Zhu Qing thought Li Lan might still be asleep, her phone suddenly rang.

Li Lan had sent her a WeChat message.

[Her]: I’m showering. I’ll be out in a bit.

Zhu Qing breathed out in relief and put her phone away.

Not long after, the second bedroom door opened.

Li Lan was still wearing yesterday’s loungewear: a soft, close-fitting long-sleeved cotton top on top, and a pair of wide-leg pants with a strong drape on the bottom. Clothes like that were easy to make someone look shorter, but on Li Lan they were completely different; she could wear them straight out onto a runway.

She had just finished washing up, her hair still damp as she walked toward Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing was stirring a vegetable salad. When she saw Li Lan’s face, her breath caught.

The skin washed clean by water looked even clearer and more luminous, making Li Lan’s features stand out sharply, like an exquisitely brushed ink painting; restrained, beautiful, with a staggering kind of beauty.

“I only drink coffee in the morning.”

Li Lan’s voice was light.

Zhu Qing blinked, then immediately said, “Then I’ll make you a cup.”

“No need. I’ll do it myself.”

Zhu Qing watched her. Li Lan walked to the cabinets, took out a moka pot, ground coffee beans into powder and put them in, then brewed two servings of coffee and brought one over to Zhu Qing.

As she made the coffee, the curve of Li Lan’s body shifted gracefully; Zhu Qing’s gaze unconsciously dropped to her waist.

“Thanks.” Zhu Qing took the coffee and sniffed it; the rich aroma of oil and coffee was strong. “You don’t eat anything else?”

Li Lan shook her head, concise as ever. “I keep in shape.”

Then she paused, seeming a little irritated. “I ate a bit too much yesterday.”

Thinking of the bowl of rice she’d polished off, Zhu Qing said awkwardly, “I’ll remember next time.”

Li Lan was quiet for a moment. “Actually, dinner last night was very good.”

Praised like this, Zhu Qing was flattered. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Li Lan lowered her lashes and thought that she had always liked it; it was just that Zhu Qing rarely cooked for her.

When she did, once in a while, Li Lan could remember the taste for a very long time.

It wasn’t even eight yet, so Zhu Qing made small talk. “Do you have any plans today?”

Li Lan took a sip of coffee and thought for a moment with her eyes lowered. “I need to reply to fans’ comments on social media, then post a few photos from daily life.”

Photos from daily life?

Zhu Qing perked up and volunteered eagerly, “I can help.”

Her photography skills were decent; good enough to make a living from, basically.

“You know how to take photos?” Li Lan sounded a little surprised.

Zhu Qing nodded. “In college, I joined the photography club. I took pictures for people every day; I covered a lot of the big events at school.”

Li Lan tried to imagine what Zhu Qing had been like in college.

Zhu Qing’s looks were the sweet, delicate type; her face was youthful, very much the kind of first-love, campus-drama beauty. She usually wore her hair in a high ponytail, the sort of school belle you’d see in the most common youth romance dramas.

Back in college, she must have been even brighter and more spirited than she was now.

Li Lan’s gaze returned to Zhu Qing’s face.

Over these days in the hospital, Zhu Qing had lost a lot of weight; her hair was no longer as lustrous as before, but her mood was so much better than it had been before the memory loss.

Li Lan hadn’t seen Zhu Qing lively and cheerful like this in a long time, so much so that she really couldn’t look away.

…And it was really hard not to want to get closer to her.

A voice in her heart was warning her; warning her not to get too close to Zhu Qing, warning her to stay where she was, not to repeat the same mistakes.

Li Lan closed her eyes, then said calmly, “All right. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Just as Zhu Qing was about to show off her photography skills with great enthusiasm, Li Lan suddenly said softly, “But don’t you need to go to kindergarten today?”

Zhu Qing froze, her face blank with confusion.

Li Lan set down her coffee, also a little puzzled. “Your job; you’re a preschool teacher, don’t you remember?”

Zhu Qing frowned and shook her head. She had no impression of that at all.

After a moment, Li Lan realized Zhu Qing had probably even forgotten that she worked as a preschool teacher.

“Then do you know how you hit your head?” Li Lan asked.

Zhu Qing repeated what Qian Cancan had said, then concluded, “To save the flowers of our motherland… oh my god, protecting children is literally a preschool teacher’s job!?”

Li Lan had a headache; she hadn’t expected Zhu Qing to be so carefree that she didn’t even care where or how she’d been injured.

The memory-lost Zhu Qing really was just as heartless as when they first met.

“You’re a preschool teacher at Xiyuan Kindergarten; your specific job is foreign-language teaching assistant, and you sometimes take part in teaching activities.”

“The day you fell, a teacher had taken sudden leave and asked you to lead the children in aerobics. On the way back to the office, you ran into a child climbing the handrail; you lost your balance while trying to save them and fell down the stairs.”

Zhu Qing opened her mouth. Confusion, shock, and blankness exploded through her all at once.

The feeling was much the same as when she’d woken up and heard that she was already married.

Preschool teacher?

What did that have to do with her?

She’d studied foreign trade. Her skills were English and Japanese, and she’d also double-majored in finance; no matter how you looked at it, she was clearly headed for a foreign company.

Even if she were going to work for state-owned enterprises, it shouldn’t be in a kindergarten teacher position that sounded so obviously like a civil-service job.

She was born to love having fun. If she liked photography, she’d join a club and learn the craft; she saved up to buy a camera and turned herself into a not-too-big, not-too-small photography blogger. If she liked handicrafts, she’d go apprentice with a village carpenter and make tables, chairs, benches, bowls, chopsticks, and spoons herself. If she liked skiing, hiking, or skating, she’d spend money on equipment and find companions for wild outings. If she liked temples, she’d travel for inspiration in Thailand, Egypt, and Southeast Asia and almost tan herself coffee-colored.

She loved lively, warm-blooded days; singing, dancing, parties, games, travel, always chasing whatever was new.

How could she have abandoned that free and easy life and chosen to become a preschool teacher?

Zhu Qing said she couldn’t understand it. In her imagination, she should be wearing a crisp, polished suit, chatting fluently with a group of foreigners, landing big deals for the company, and racking up achievements.

…Not wearing athletic clothes and leading a group of children in a childish, cheerful aerobics routine.

Seeing her incredulous expression, Li Lan couldn’t help reminding her, “I remember there are a lot of preschool bilingual songs saved in your WeChat favorites.”

Zhu Qing pulled out her phone and opened her favorites.

A bright child’s voice rang out: “Little pig, little pig, pig, pig, pig; little bee, little bee, bee…”

Zhu Qing: …………

“Why would I go be a preschool teacher?” Zhu Qing asked.

Li Lan took a sip of coffee, slowly wiping away the milk at the corner of her lips, and frowned slightly. “Actually, I’m not sure either.”

She had a vague answer in her heart; she had sought confirmation from many sources before, but she still wasn’t one hundred percent certain.

“Maybe because you just liked it.” In the end, Li Lan gave no definite answer.

Zhu Qing sighed. She was certain that she absolutely did not like children. “Fine. Then how much would I make a month?”

When she was a senior in college, doing part-time translation work on the side, she could make several hundred in a day; if she worked hard each month, she could almost always earn over ten thousand.

Could it be that a preschool teacher’s salary was really that high?

Zhu Qing looked at Li Lan expectantly.

Li Lan seemed a little unwilling to crush her hopes; her lips parted, and in the end she squeezed out two words.

“Three thousand.”

Zhu Qing looked as if she’d been struck by lightning: …

————————!!————————

Zhu Qing: Three thousand and I’m not even officially staffed!?