Dinner

“Okay.” Wei Yin patted Hua Yu’s waist, meaning to comfort her, but once her palm landed there, she couldn’t bring herself to let go. “Did Dr. Hua hear something from Pedro?”

Hua Yu stroked her hair and said quietly, “She told me a lot of things.”

Wei Yin said softly, “Can you tell me about them?”

Hua Yu paused for a moment, then held her by the shoulders and gently pushed her away. “You want to hear?”

“Now that I’ve calmed down and thought about it,” Wei Yin said, “I was young. I don’t know what happened in the older generation. I only remember that Aunt Bai had a hard life, but... maybe other people weren’t as glorious as they seemed, either.”

Wei Yin thought of many details. Pedro had so much money and so many resources, yet she looked older than many wealthy people. And there was a scar on the back of her neck, a long one that was hard to hide completely. If Wei Yin had guessed right, she must have had her glands removed.

That was one of the most dangerous surgeries in modern medicine. She had clearly gone through life and death to get there; nothing had come easily.

“Xiao Yin is very sensible,” Hua Yu said, lifting a hand to hook a finger lightly over her cheek. Her gaze warmed. “But you don’t have to be sensible all the time. If you’re unhappy or upset about something, you can tell me.”

Wei Yin caught Hua Yu’s hand and kneaded it in her palm, then lowered her head. “Okay. If I’m unhappy, I’ll tell Dr. Hua.”

Hua Yu smiled. “Mm. Dr. Hua cures all illnesses; she can also cure all kinds of unhappiness.”

Then Hua Yu told Wei Yin the old story between Pedro and Sun Bai.

When Wei Yin heard that Pedro had worked desperately to make money, even to the point of selling blood, her eyes trembled.

“She went to many countries. In M Country, donating blood came with a subsidy; to put it plainly, it was basically selling blood. Calling it that isn’t much of an exaggeration,” Hua Yu said slowly, her voice as gentle as water as she recounted a bloodstained past. “Later, the orphaned-girl protection organization she founded touched the interests of a human-trafficking ring, and people started hunting her. Her contact information and addresses kept changing, and Sun Bai couldn’t reach her for a long time. Pedro herself was in danger, so she was even less likely to contact Sun Bai.”

Wei Yin listened quietly as Hua Yu finished the whole story. They did not live in an era of law and peace; they merely lived in a peaceful country. Pedro had been adopted by a foreign couple and suffered a fate no less bitter than Sun Bai’s. The two of them supported one another and watched over each other across the ocean. Even though the ending was not what anyone wanted, each of them had pushed the value of her own life to the limit.

Life was bitter, but they had both tried.

After listening, Wei Yin was silent for a long time. “She’s someone worthy of respect.”

“Still angry?” Hua Yu asked.

Wei Yin shook her head. “It’s all in the past. If Aunt Bai were here, she definitely wouldn’t blame her. Even though Aunt Bai never mentioned her, I know Aunt Bai had someone she liked. She always made a little girl with a flower wreath hat, one after another. The clothes were different, but it was always the same person.”

After hearing that, Hua Yu confirmed that Wei Yin truly no longer cared. She took out the business card. “Pedro asked me to pass this to you. She values talent, and since you’re technically Sun Bai’s student, she wants to support you a little more.”

Wei Yin stared at the card for two seconds, then reached out and took it. “Okay. I’ll look into it first.”

Hua Yu smiled faintly. “You can tell Ya Qing. She’s asked me about it a few times in a roundabout way. You don’t care about Pedro, but she’s practically drooling over it.”

“Okay,” Wei Yin agreed readily. After a pause, she said, “There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

Hua Yu’s tone softened. “What is it?”

“I might start working in the future. Not really working, exactly; I’ll be going to the studio every day. Most of my daytime hours will probably be spent there.”

Wei Yin finished, then watched Hua Yu’s expression carefully.

Actually, not that carefully. She was wearing a sweet smile; it was obvious she was being coquettish.

Hua Yu laughed. “Okay.”

“Dr. Hua doesn’t mind?” Wei Yin pressed, emphasizing, “I’ll be gone in the morning and not back until evening; I might even have overtime. The housework will definitely be delayed.”

Hua Yu spread her hands and looked around. “What housework could there possibly be?”

Wei Yin frowned, serious. “There’s still a lot.”

“For example, putting away anything you’ve left out, three meals a day, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash..."

Hua Yu ticked them off one by one. “Put things back where they belong after using them; all three meals can be eaten in the cafeteria; there’s an automatic floor sweeper; just toss the trash bag out on your way out in the morning..."

The more Wei Yin listened, the wider her eyes grew. First admiration and then sudden understanding appeared on her face. “Oh, right. That can be solved like that too.”

Then she looked a little deflated. “Actually, Dr. Hua doesn’t need a live-in nanny at all, does she?”

Looking back now, the way she had shamelessly followed Hua Yu home back then could only be explained as stubborn freeloading; there was no other explanation.

When she worked in a boss’s house before, she would be busy from five or six in the morning until everyone had gone to sleep at night before she could finally rest.

Now, if she got up early or stayed up late, Hua Yu would criticize her.

As for food, Hua Yu either cooked herself or took her out to eat; even the dishwashing was handled by the dishwasher.

After much thought, Wei Yin still couldn’t figure out where her “irreplaceability” was.

Hua Yu said with utter seriousness, “Other people don’t need you. As for you..."

Wei Yin looked up at her, eyes shining.

Hua Yu deliberately continued, “Even if I didn’t want you, you wouldn’t agree.”

Wei Yin’s face went stern. Her cheeks puffed up, and she glared at Hua Yu with wide eyes. “I’m going to get mad.”

“Go ahead, then. What, are you going to turn the world upside down?” Hua Yu’s mouth was practically twitching. “Anyway, I like you, so I’ll indulge you no matter what.”

Hua Yu really was good at saying sweet things.

The instant she said that, Wei Yin wasn’t angry anymore. She even felt a little flustered.

Hua Yu stopped teasing her and said earnestly, “You’re important; it’s not about how much housework you can do. If you’re happy going to work and doing what you like, then I’ll be happy.”

Wei Yin still wasn’t reassured, and she was a little reluctant.

“We hardly get much time together to begin with,” Wei Yin complained softly. “If I do this, we’ll have even less.”

Hua Yu raised an eyebrow. “That’s not quite right.”

“Mm?”

Hua Yu said, “I’ll be even busier over the next few months. The clinical trial is getting on track, and summer is hot, so gland disorders flare up more often. I’ll only get off work later than you, so if we spend less time together, it’s not because of you.”

That kind of “I’ll be working overtime even more” was not very comforting. Wei Yin lifted an arm and shoved Hua Yu away with her elbow, sulking. “Then go work overtime. I’m going to make fish ball noodles.”

Hua Yu curled her lips and really did turn around to go back to working overtime.

Wei Yin perked up her ears to listen to her footsteps. Once she was sure Hua Yu had shut the door and started working, she got so annoyed that the fish balls were kneaded into strange shapes. In the end, when she divided them up, she gave Hua Yu six and kept seven for herself.

-

Days passed unhurriedly.

Wei Yin finished a huge bag of Chinese medicine. Hua Mu took her pulse and examined her, confirmed that her body had improved, and changed her prescription to a new formula.

The new medicine wasn’t as bitter as before. Wei Yin could now knead clay while holding a bag of medicine in her mouth, drinking the liquid like it was a beverage.

On the livestream, Xu Ya Qing showed off her newly bought brushes. The “Ya Yu” studio now had more than 800,000 followers. Every day, she watched the follower count climb and felt full of energy, wishing she could livestream ten hours a day.

Most of the time, though, Xu Ya Qing was immersed in painting by herself; there wasn’t much interaction, and the view count wasn’t high. But every time she finished a painting, a wave of people would rush in.

Human nature worshiped strength. As long as there was real ability, there would always be people who recognized it.

Whenever Wei Yin appeared on camera, the viewers became more active.

In Xu Ya Qing’s words, omegas really did attract the favor of such a vulgar species as humanity.

Though now and then a few haters would pop up, questioning whether Wei Yin lacked proper skill or had lousy craftsmanship, they were quickly drowned out by the lively barrage of comments.

“Second boss? She’s kneading clay,” Xu Ya Qing said, turning to look at Wei Yin and smiling at the comments. “She’s been fighting with famille rose-style painting all week, using the porcelain surface as a canvas. The outlines she paints are either too heavy or too light; it’s driving her crazy.”

Wei Yin didn’t even look up. With the medicine still in her mouth, she mumbled, “I’m definitely going to fire it successfully today.”

Xu Ya Qing snorted. “Sure. I’m not taking orders for you anyway; you can fire whatever you want... What’s that? Someone in the comments wants to buy it? She hasn’t even fired it yet, buy what?”

“No, seriously, can you stop blindly trusting things? Famille rose painting has already declined. It’s beautiful, yes, and elegant too, but it flakes easily and can’t be preserved long-term...”

Wei Yin smiled and didn’t stop her. Famille rose style was, in fact, an obsolete technique, long since replaced by pastel decoration. But she found it fascinating. Such a technique that had flashed briefly through history and produced exquisite works, even if it had not been passed down because of certain flaws in the process, still gave her immense satisfaction if she could recreate it.

Yes, she no longer needed to make pottery to earn money.

Thanks to Pedro’s intentional or unintentional promotion, Wei Yin had sold a few high-priced pieces. Not only had she paid back the money she had used back then to buy the grave plot, she even had extra savings. Now she could travel all over the country, learn whatever she liked, and no longer had to think about whether something would make money; she only had to care whether she liked it.

Sometimes Xu Ya Qing envied her current state.

“Auntie asked me to come for lunch at noon,” Xu Ya Qing said after ending the stream and walking up behind Wei Yin. “She said to bring you along.”

Wei Yin set down her hook brush, pleasantly surprised. “Auntie’s back in the country?”

“She said Fiji wasn’t fun, so she came back early,” Xu Ya Qing replied, and then she got a little itchy herself. “I want to go hiking in the mountains in Northern Europe, and also to Qinghai Lake. I went there once as a kid. Let’s go together next time.”

Wei Yin flipped open the calendar and looked for a rotating day off in Hua Yu’s densely packed schedule. “Going abroad would take at least a week, and Northern Europe is even tighter. Dr. Hua doesn’t have that much leave.”

“Then let’s go together, just the two of us,” Xu Ya Qing said, not the least bit concerned about Hua Yu. “She’s already decided to devote her life to the great cause of medicine.”

Wei Yin didn’t even look up, full of O-grade propriety. “No. I don’t go out with alphas.”

Xu Ya Qing: ...

After searching around for a long time, Wei Yin finally found a gap in the schedule.

“Around Mid-Autumn Festival, Dr. Hua’s first-phase clinical trial will be over, and she can spare two days. Add in the Mid-Autumn holiday, and we can make a trip to Qinghai.”

Xu Ya Qing had never traveled this tightly scheduled before and sighed. “Fine. I can understand a couple in the honeymoon phase not wanting to be apart. Otherwise I won’t go; I’ll leave you two some alone time.”

Wei Yin’s face turned red. “We’re not dating yet.”

She and Hua Yu had tacitly started from holding hands and hugging. These past few months Hua Yu had been too busy; on the rare weekends, Wei Yin might also be traveling all over the country. When they could squeeze together and curl up at home to rest, that already felt very comfortable. Their relationship was developing as slowly as water, but neither of them was in a hurry, and both enjoyed this time tremendously.

“Ah, right. Skipped dating and went straight to living together,” Xu Ya Qing said. As a physically and mentally healthy, perfectly normal alpha, she had changed three girlfriends in the months since Hua Yu and Wei Yin reunited, so she looked down on the way the two of them clearly lived together yet remained as innocent as a girl touching her left hand with her right. In short, she thought it was a pointless show of purity. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Wei Yin went back to her room to change out of her work clothes. After thinking for a moment, she ran to the storeroom and took out a set of bowls and plates.

“No need to bring a gift,” Xu Ya Qing was always one to arrive at a meal with nothing but her mouth. “You made this set in a week, didn’t you?”

“The tea set I gave Auntie last time, they really liked it,” Wei Yin said, checking the blue-and-white pattern on the bowls and plates again to make sure there weren’t any defects. “I’m bringing this one this time.”

Xu Ya Qing clicked her tongue. “You’re making me look really rude by doing this.”

Wei Yin showed no embarrassment at all. She said calmly, “Oh? So you’ll change?”

Xu Ya Qing blurted out, “That won’t be necessary.”

After they arrived at Hua Mu’s house, Wei Yin unexpectedly learned that Hua Yu would be coming too. She put down the bowls and plates and ran to the door, under the noble pretext of helping Uncle wash the car, though in truth she was craning her neck, waiting for Hua Yu to come back.

Xu Ya Qing lay half-reclined on the sofa eating grapes while Hua Mu asked after them with concern. “I see you livestream every day. Is your studio too busy? Xiao Yin hasn’t gained much weight these past few months either. I looked at her today, and she even has calluses on her hands.”

Xu Ya Qing held up her own ten callused fingers. “Auntie, these are our medals.”

Hua Mu burst out laughing. “Medals, huh? I think you two are the type who never stop causing trouble.”

While Hua Fu did stretches at home, he listened to the conversation between mother and daughter and occasionally drifted over to make his presence known. “Young people these days all like to build careers. Even if you tell them to rest, they can’t sit still.”

For Hua Fu and Hua Mu, of course they would not stop the children from pursuing success in their careers. But they also had another identity: traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. They valued health and disliked people working themselves to death, so they had long been dissatisfied with Xu Ya Qing’s habit of livestreaming until after midnight and dragging Wei Yin along with her. And since Hua Yu had been busy throughout university, overtime and late nights were already routine. Well then, now they could team up and scold them together.

Xu Ya Qing nodded along furiously, glancing toward the door every so often.

Wei Yin, who had slipped out under the pretext of washing the car, really was a clever little thing.

That clever little thing called Hua Yu and found out she was still stuck on the elevated road of the Fourth Ring. The hand holding the water gun lost all its energy, and she kept spraying at the bumper.

She had so many things she wanted to show Hua Yu, like how her personal account had already reached 300,000 followers, and how she had fired a beautiful cup yesterday.

But Hua Yu still hadn’t arrived; instead, an uninvited guest had.

“The bumper can already reflect light,” Yu Tiantian’s voice suddenly came from behind her. “Why not wash somewhere else?”

Wei Yin’s entire body stiffened.

For some reason, these past few days she would occasionally recall bits and pieces of the past. Though they didn’t form a complete sequence, and she didn’t know whether they had really happened or whether she had imagined them from Hua Yu’s retelling, the moment this voice reached her ears, she automatically and swiftly identified Yu Tiantian.

Wei Yin kept her forearm still, held up the water gun, and turned sideways, expressionless. “Who are you?”

Yu Tiantian dodged in a panic. Even so, she still got splashed a little, but the one who looked more miserable was Li Leran behind her.

Li Leran was probably too affected by all those diet pills; her coordination was off. When she saw Wei Yin spraying toward her, she twisted her limbs into an extremely bizarre shape trying to dodge to the side, but she picked the wrong direction and accidentally rushed straight toward the water gun.

Wei Yin watched them thrash about with a blank face. The instant Li Leran charged over, she lowered the water gun, sparing her from a luxurious soaking.

The noise outside drew the attention of those inside. Hua Mu came out and said in surprise, “Leran, Tiantian, why are you here?”

Yu Tiantian handed the gift box she was carrying to Aunt Sun and smiled. “Leran’s mother just came back from traveling too. She heard Aunt Hua had returned, so she brought some local specialties for us to deliver.”

Li Leran followed behind and nodded. “Mm, Aunt Hua, this is from my mom.”

Hua Mu and Li Mu had been on good terms for years. Li Mu was an honest, straightforward person. When the two families lived next door in the past, she had eagerly helped with anything that happened in the Hua family. Later, when everyone moved, their relationship had not broken off.

As for Yu Tiantian’s parents, the relationship was somewhat more distant. But after all, that was only between the elders and had nothing to do with a child like Yu Tiantian, so Hua Mu wouldn’t argue with her over it.

Smiling, Hua Mu accepted the gift and said, “Since you two are here, I made a lot of good food today. Stay and eat with us.”

Wei Yin and Xu Ya Qing exchanged a glance and understood each other instantly: this person is here to stir things up again.