Going Home

Zhu Qing followed the direction of the crowd’s gaze and looked over.

Well, there was no need to look closely at all.

Li Lan’s tall, striking figure stood out above everyone else; she was impossible to miss in a crowd.

That fresh, radiant Teacher Li Lan.

Even with a coat on, a hat and a mask, not even her neck exposed, she was still unmistakable.

“Run, now.” Qian Cancan grabbed Zhu Qing’s hand. “I do not want to be photographed by this many people.”

“Where am I supposed to run to?” Zhu Qing let herself be dragged along as shrieks rose behind them again.

“Take the elevator down to the parking lot; we’ll go home,” Qian Cancan said.

Zhu Qing glanced back. Li Lan seemed to be looking her way.

At a time like this, Li Lan coming to the hospital was probably to find her.

If she saw her and ran off like this, wouldn’t that be a little bad?

It felt almost like she was avoiding a plague god.

“What are you looking at?” Qian Cancan noticed Zhu Qing’s odd expression. “Do you want to go see her?”

Zhu Qing immediately shook her head. “I feel like she and I need a little distance to create some beauty.”

“Beauty isn’t made by kissing, hugging, and touching?” Qian Cancan said. “I really don’t get you young couples. But I think she’s heading toward the inpatient building in back; she probably isn’t here to find you.”

Zhu Qing: “Oh.”

Qian Cancan said, “Why are you like a balloon? One minute all puffed up, the next you’re deflated.”

Zhu Qing: …

The two of them waited in the parking lot for half an hour before finally leaving. Just as they could see the hospital entrance, Zhu Qing’s phone rang.

Li Lan’s call.

Zhu Qing answered awkwardly. “Why did you go to the hospital?”

Li Lan said, “I wasn’t feeling well.”

Zhu Qing: “!”

“But it’s fine now,” Li Lan coughed once. “Where are you going? Want to eat together?”

Zhu Qing was just about to agree when Qian Cancan immediately said, “You’ve got a cold and you still want to eat with us?”

There was a two-second silence on Li Lan’s end. “It’s not a cold.”

Qian Cancan said bluntly, “Then why are you coughing?”

Li Lan: “…I choked on something.”

Qian Cancan snatched the phone away. “Nope, nope, nope. Zhu Qing is treating me to dinner.”

Zhu Qing watched helplessly as Qian Cancan took her phone and hung up.

“Such petty tricks; I see right through them,” Qian Cancan said grandly, waving a hand. “She still wants to invite you to dinner? No way. We don’t need her meal.”

Zhu Qing glanced at her balance and said weakly, “I’m treating you to dinner with her money too, though.”

Using Li Lan’s money, while Li Lan had come to the hospital to see a doctor, and she had clearly seen her but run off instead. The more Zhu Qing thought about it, the guiltier she felt…

“That’s called marital joint property,” Qian Cancan said. “Why do you care about her? I want food! And alcohol!”

Zhu Qing said, “Her money and my money are still different, especially since I’ve run away from home.”

Qian Cancan’s scattered nerves suddenly snapped to attention. “Oh right, she has to come coax you, huh? She has to follow the steps and come down off the stage. Li Lan isn’t Qian Chu; she can’t be treated like that.”

Zhu Qing found that a little odd. “How can Li Lan and Qian Chu even be compared? They’re completely different.”

Qian Cancan suddenly turned her head. “How are they different?”

Zhu Qing thought about it and honestly said, “Li Lan can talk; she never scolds me.”

“From the first time we met, she treated me very well.”

“If we divorce, she’ll leave with nothing; if we don’t, she gives me a lot of money. Whatever I want to do, she goes along with me… oh, right, except she doesn’t let me drink, she doesn’t really make any demands of me.”

Qian Cancan listened in outrage and let out a cold snort.

Qian Cancan’s phone rang; this time it was Li Lan again. She didn’t even bother with preamble and said directly, “Where are you eating? My treat.”

Qian Cancan handed the phone to Zhu Qing. “She wants to treat both of us. Are you going? It’ll save you money.”

Zhu Qing restrained herself and gave a small “mm.”

The place Li Lan chose was a small, tucked-away restaurant. The decor was elegant and the environment quiet; inside were private rooms one after another.

After hearing the room number Zhu Qing reported, the server led them to the designated room and began serving dishes.

“Wait, someone else hasn’t arrived yet,” Zhu Qing stopped him.

The server explained with a smile, “The guest who made the reservation said she isn’t coming. These dishes are all specialties of our restaurant; she said if you want anything else, feel free to order.”

Qian Cancan was already starving, so she hurriedly said, “If she’s not coming, then she’s not coming. Good, no need to wait. These are enough.”

Zhu Qing looked toward the door, her delicate brows knitting slightly, but she said nothing.

The dishes were beautifully plated, and the taste was even better. Zhu Qing, who had long been craving Chinese food after going abroad, smiled with delight the moment she took her first bite.

Every dish was exactly to her taste.

Halfway through the meal, the server came again with more food.

“This was delivered from outside,” the server said with a smile. “We plated it for you.”

It was mung bean cakes and thousand-layer rolls, both of which Zhu Qing liked.

Zhu Qing froze for two seconds. “Oh, thank you.”

Not long after, two drinks were delivered as well. On top was a note that read, It’s not easy to drink when you’re out and about; rose juice tastes better. The card was tacky and tasteless, and Zhu Qing’s cheeks puffed up at the sight; she pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and felt a little unhappy.

“Even when she’s not here, she’s still managing you,” Qian Cancan pursed her lips. “You two might as well make up.”

Zhu Qing said nothing. Qian Cancan pressed, “What exactly did she do that makes you insist on keeping your distance?”

Zhu Qing gave two dry laughs. Li Lan hadn’t really done anything else; she’d just used all her strength on her.

“Cancan, are you a total top?” Zhu Qing asked suddenly.

Qian Cancan was eating crab and mumbled, “No, I just prefer being the top.”

Zhu Qing said, “Then what if your partner only wants to be the top and won’t let you touch her?”

Qian Cancan considered it for two seconds. “Then she’s bi.”

Zhu Qing: “…Absolutely impossible.”

“Then she likes the other person too much and wants to get more out of it,” Qian Cancan thought it over. “This kind of thing can be negotiated, can’t it? They’re both women; there’s no real difference.”

She kept eating crab for a bit, then suddenly said in shock, “Wait. Could it be Li Lan won’t let you touch her, but wants to touch you, and you won’t let her?”

Zhu Qing wore a blank expression.

The more Qian Cancan thought about it, the more convinced she became. “I was wondering why you were so determined to run away!”

Zhu Qing asked humbly, “But I just want to touch her.”

“Then talk it through properly. Are you angry that she wants to touch you, or angry that she won’t let you touch her?”

Zhu Qing automatically translated Qian Cancan’s words in her head and thought about it carefully. “The latter.”

“Then your technique is just too bad,” Qian Cancan said decisively. “You two can work on it more. I thought it was something serious. This kind of thing is easy.”

Zhu Qing said with difficulty, “I’ve brought it up many times before, and she never tells me what she thinks. She only says something at the very last moment… how are we supposed to discuss that?”

Just thinking about how Zhu Qing had once “courted” Li Lan made her want to die of embarrassment.

And there was a kind of desperate awkwardness on top of it.

Zhu Qing used a crab claw to push the meat out of the crab leg, silently making a little pile, and after a long while said, “Then I’ll think about it carefully.” She might as well take another look at their relationship.

At that moment, Xiao Bao’s avatar popped up on the screen.

“Zhu Zhu, I’m home! Where are you!”

Zhu Qing said in surprise, “Weren’t you on that study trip?”

“It ended early! I’m coming back to see Zhu Zhu,” Xiao Bao said. “Teacher Zhao said I don’t have to go to the activities afterward either!”

Zhu Qing’s voice softened without her realizing it as she coaxed her. “Did Xiao Bao have fun?”

“Yes,” Xiao Bao said obediently. “Zhu Zhu, where are you? I brought you a present.”

Zhu Qing looked at Qian Cancan, who immediately leaned over. “Xiao Bao, she’s with me. Do you want to come eat?”

Xiao Bao shook her head sensibly. “Mom is sick. I have to stay home and take care of her.”

Qian Cancan frowned. “She really is sick? What kind of sickness?”

“Low blood sugar,” Xiao Bao said, counting on her fingers. “She just had a bottle of glucose, and there’s a small one tomorrow too.”

The crab leg in Zhu Qing’s hand slipped and fell with a plop.

“Then does your mom have someone taking care of her?” Zhu Qing asked immediately. After asking, she stood up worriedly and looked outside at the sky. “Xiao Bao, what are you having for dinner tonight?”

Xiao Bao seemed to be walking around with the phone and answered in a muffled voice, “I’m eating takeout Teacher Zhao ordered for me. Mom is sleeping alone in the room.”

After hearing that, Zhu Qing felt terrible.

“Is Zhu Zhu coming home after dinner?” Xiao Bao kept saying she wanted Zhu Qing to come home. “Xiao Bao wants to go find you, but Mommy won’t let me.”

Zhu Qing’s heart softened. “Don’t listen to your mom. You can come find me whenever you want.”

Whenever Zhu Qing saw Xiao Bao now, she thought of the things Li Lan had told her before.

A child who had lost her mother not long after birth—however Zhu Qing looked at her, she felt sorry for her.

And Xiao Bao was different from other children too; she was more obedient, more sensible, and smarter.

Her calling Zhu Qing Mommy at first was probably because she could sense that Li Lan wasn’t very close to her.

Li Lan was really something else. It was one thing to have a misunderstanding with Xiao Bao’s mother, but couldn’t she be a little kinder and more affectionate to Xiao Bao?

Xiao Bao pouted. “Mommy will scold me.”

“With me here, she won’t be allowed to scold you. Don’t worry,” Zhu Qing coaxed her softly. “Stay home for a while first. I’ll be back soon.”

After ending the video call, Qian Cancan said, “Go back then; I’ll drive you.”

Zhu Qing said directly, “Come back with me.”

“What am I going to do at your place?” Qian Cancan looked baffled. “Li Lan isn’t on a business trip.”

“Anyway, come back with me.” Zhu Qing remembered how Qian Cancan had been living alone when she first arrived at her place, and then thought of how Qian Chu had just hurt Qian Cancan’s feelings. She didn’t want Qian Cancan to go back to that messy house alone, so she simply said, “Sleep with Xiao Bao tonight.”

Qian Cancan had a big heart. Thinking of Xiao Bao’s adorable face, she nodded. “Fine. Xiao Bao probably misses me too.”

Qian Cancan drove Zhu Qing’s sports car to send her home. The moment Zhu Qing stepped inside, Xiao Bao wrapped herself around her leg.

“Zhu Zhu!” Xiao Bao spread her arms wide and flung herself into Zhu Qing’s arms like a chick looking for its mother. She looked excited at first, but the moment she was held, she got upset. Her little mouth drooped, and she looked ready to cry.

Qian Cancan held up a lollipop bigger than Xiao Bao’s face and interrupted before the tears could start. “Ta-da! Xiao Bao, look, snacks I brought you!”

Xiao Bao opened her mouth wide. “Wow.”

Qian Cancan hooked both hands under Xiao Bao’s armpits and lifted her up, spinning her in a circle. “Let Auntie Cancan take a look. Hmm, you’ve grown taller again, and you’ve gotten a lot heavier too.”

Xiao Bao giggled; her whole body was ticklish, and in an instant the house was lively and noisy.

Zhu Qing glanced toward Li Lan’s bedroom. She was still sleeping separately from her, in the guest room.

She should have finished her IV and be resting now.

Qian Cancan and Xiao Bao were chasing and playing around. Zhu Qing thought for a moment, changed into slippers, and quietly pushed open Li Lan’s bedroom door.

The curtains inside were tightly closed, and only a small lamp on the bedside table was lit.

Li Lan was lying flat on the bed, her hands neatly placed at her sides. The line of her profile was beautiful beyond compare; quiet and lovely, like a princess waiting for a kiss to wake her.

Zhu Qing’s heart pounded. She was afraid Li Lan would suddenly open her eyes and shatter this stolen peace.

But Li Lan had taken her medicine and was sleeping deeply. Zhu Qing lifted the blanket and lay down beside her without waking her.

Zhu Qing wrapped her arms around Li Lan’s waist. The touch of skin against bone was thin and heartbreaking; only her little belly was soft.

She rested her head near Li Lan’s shoulder and reached out a finger, tracing Li Lan’s features through the air.

At that moment, she and Li Lan were unbearably close.

Zhu Qing suddenly felt a secret happiness bloom without warning.

————————

Zhu Qing: sneaks home of her own accord.

Li Lan: mm-hmm. (A hidden merit so deep it doesn’t need naming.)

Airhead versus high-level operator; she sweetly lures her wife back home, yay.