Chapter 89

Faced with Lin Qi, Lin Baixin could no longer bring herself to say things like she didn’t want Yu Min anymore. It wasn’t just that Yu Min thought so; in other people’s eyes, it looked the same too. She could deny it once, but she no longer had the confidence to deny it a second time.

Lin Qi went on, “You’re just refusing to admit it. You don’t want to face it.”

“...I just haven’t made up my mind yet,” Lin Baixin said.

“There aren’t that many things to think over and over. You’re just overthinking, always worrying about this and that, so you end up stuck between advancing and retreating. Back when I asked you to open the shop with me, that was the same thing; how simple was that? Do it or don’t do it. But what happened? You said yourself you didn’t want to stay in Siping, that it wasn’t right for you, and then you couldn’t bear to leave. I waited for you for more than half a year before you finally made up your mind, and by the time you dragged it out that far, I almost went back to Hai City. We’ve been friends for so many years; otherwise I would’ve walked away long ago. If it had been someone else, anyone would think you weren’t sincere. Who’d dare go into business with you?”

“Yeah, that part really is my problem.”

“I’m not blaming you.”

“I know.”

“You’re an extremely reliable partner; nobody can compare to you. If it had been anyone else, I’d never have agreed, not even if you killed me. I’d rather go back to Hai City and figure out a way to do it on my own.” Lin Qi spoke from the heart. “When we first started, things were so hard. From the outside it looked easy, but easy my ass; it was enough to drive people crazy. Just getting customers was so hard we nearly gave up several times. Without you, I absolutely couldn’t have pulled it off alone. You’re the backbone of the two of us.”

Lin Baixin let out a helpless laugh; that praise was far too much.

“Wasn’t it you who brought in the customers? I only put up a little money; you were the one running around doing all that.”

“Without money, the first step wouldn’t even have been possible, so you’re the biggest contributor without question,” Lin Qi said. “And besides, not all the customers were brought in by me. You brought in plenty too.”

The conversation had drifted a little far off course. After a moment, they pulled it back to the main point.

Lin Qi paused, then said honestly, “The reason I went to find her before was because I was afraid that one day you’d regret it.”

Lin Baixin lifted her head slightly and gave a small sound of acknowledgment.

She knew that too; she understood.

“Actually, I shouldn’t interfere in these things. It would just make things harder for you,” Lin Qi said, absently flipping through the magazine in front of her. “But compared with temporary difficulty, I’m more worried that... that wasn’t your real intention. Things aren’t always either this or that; it doesn’t have to be so extreme.”

“Mm.”

“You care about her a lot.”

“A little.”

“More than a little. Back then you hesitated over whether to come over because of her, didn’t you? You were pretty determined at first, then all of a sudden you changed. When I asked you why, you still wouldn’t tell me. Later, after she came looking for you, it took me a long time to figure it out. Out of so many people, you were just different with her. Aren’t you the one who hates trouble the most? What trouble could be bigger than this?”

Lin Baixin did not deny it this time.

“Sometimes, I think you two are really very similar; similar everywhere,” Lin Qi said. “You do good deeds without leaving your name, and so does she. Clearly she meant to come see you. If she really had been as ruthless as she said, you’d have cut ties long ago; why would she still do all those things? You two are basically the type who are dead ducks with hard mouths, saying one thing and meaning another until people’s hearts ache; you’re twisted to the point of being beyond saving.”

“Those were all my choices. They shouldn’t be laid on her head; it has nothing to do with her. That was my own business.”

“Then swear it. You weren’t doing it for her.”

“...”

“See? You still say you’re not being stubborn.”

“...”

“She was the same. She called me so many times before, sent things, did this and that, and still wouldn’t mention you even once.”

“When was that?”

“When do you think? Back when you two had just split up. She said she was gone and wouldn’t come back, but she still found her way to me; she still couldn’t let go.”

Lin Baixin knew. Lin Qi had never hidden anything; it was just that this was the first time she had said it so plainly. Having guesses finally confirmed after all this time, Lin Baixin unconsciously bit the soft inside of her lip; her feelings were a mess.

That was enough. Some things didn’t need to be said too much; the meaning was already there.

They turned to other topics. Lin Qi, clearly concerned about Lin Baixin, asked as if casually, “Have you still been having nightmares these past two years? Has it gotten better?”

Lin Baixin nodded. “More or less. It’s okay.”

“Don’t keep thinking so much. It’s not like the world is ending.”

.

Burns itched as new skin formed, but she couldn’t scratch them. Lin Baixin went to the hospital a few more times; the doctor said she didn’t need to keep coming and prescribed some ointment for her to apply herself. If there was any overgrowth or anything like that, she could come back then.

The new skin was quite a different color from the old one, and it would take a long time to return to normal, but not leaving a scar was already lucky. It counted as a pretty good recovery.

On the later trips to the hospital, Lin Baixin still didn’t go to dermatology. She knew Yu Min didn’t welcome her there, so she kept her distance on purpose.

Even so, there was one time she accidentally ran into Yu Min’s junior, who greeted her first. At first Lin Baixin didn’t notice her; only after being tapped on the shoulder and turning around did she see her.

The junior was carrying two cups of milk tea. After seeing Lin Baixin, she didn’t chat for long before hurriedly stuffing one cup into her hands.

“Before, you were always the one treating us to drinks. Since the timing worked out this time, it’s my turn to treat you, Boss Lin. Don’t be polite with me.”

Lin Baixin accepted the milk tea. In the end, the junior also recommended a kind of gel, saying it was good for preventing overgrowth and worked pretty well.

From start to finish, she never mentioned who the other cup of milk tea was for. Lin Baixin knew it should have been for Yu Min, but the junior didn’t bring Yu Min up at all. Only at the very end, when she was about to return to the department, did she say, “Then I’ll head back first. Bye, Boss Lin. I still have to take this milk tea to my senior, or I won’t make it in time.”

Yu Min had been on dermatology duty lately. The two departments weren’t in the same place; if Lin Baixin didn’t go over on purpose, it was almost impossible to run into her there.

On the final follow-up visit to the burn department, Lin Baixin still made a trip to dermatology, but not to look for someone.

Unluckily, Yu Min wasn’t in the department that day. The junior saw her first again and told her Yu Min had gone out; she probably wouldn’t be back for one or two hours, and the exact time wasn’t clear.

“Do you want to find somewhere to sit and wait?”

The other person was that busy, so Lin Baixin didn’t wait. She shook her head and left.

.

Lu Dagun needed to go get a bath. Every time, Lin Baixin took him to the same shop. With familiar people and a familiar place, the little one wouldn’t be so scared or nervous, though in truth he wasn’t afraid of baths at all and was extremely cooperative every time.

Bath time was the same as always: drop the cat off, then come back to pick him up when the time was up.

But today there was a small surprise. When she came to pick him up, the employee suddenly asked Lin Baixin if she wanted to adopt another cat.

Of course she had no such plan. Taking care of even one cat was hard enough; how could Lin Baixin handle two? She didn’t have that energy.

The employee sounded regretful and helpless, explaining that a cat that had been brought in for a bath had been abandoned. It was a fat white cat; its owner had taken such good care of it, but for some reason didn’t want it anymore. The shop had made dozens of calls before finally reaching the owner, and the owner was truly heartless, saying they weren’t coming to get it; if the shop didn’t want it, just throw it out.

“Throwing it out would be such a sin. A cat isn’t a person; if you dump it, aren’t you basically telling it to die?” The employee sighed. “Besides, if you throw it out, where’s it supposed to go? It doesn’t have a home. Where could you even dump it? You can’t just dump it on the street.”

Lin Baixin didn’t want another cat, so she hadn’t taken on that mess then. But that very night, only four hours later, she still couldn’t bear it in the end and looked up that shop online.

She was too late. The cat had already been adopted.

The kitten had good luck. Right after Lin Baixin left, another regular customer had been willing to take it in, and had carried away both the carrier and the cat.

That was a good thing; the kitten had a new home, somewhere to go.

Lin Baixin sat cross-legged on the carpet. The projector in the house was playing a documentary. Lately she had formed the habit of turning something on as soon as she got home; otherwise, with such a big house and only herself in it, it was too quiet and too empty. For no reason at all, she had started to feel uncomfortable with it. Somehow, as if the barrier that had once separated her from life had been broken, she had finally reconnected with the real world. She was still alone; little by little, she was no longer used to living like this.

Lu Dagun couldn’t quite accept the smell of shampoo on himself. Ever since he got back from the bath, he had been licking himself hard. Only after he was done did he hop onto Lin Baixin’s lap. She rubbed his head; he flopped over and stretched, and before long he was even helping lick her too.

Annoyed by him, Lin Baixin pushed him away with a finger. “Go away.”

The cat didn’t understand such hurtful “abuse”; he still kept crowding in, determined to give her a wash, making him impossible to refuse.

She posted more and more Moments about Lu Dagun. Lin Baixin didn’t like adding captions to these posts; almost every time, she only uploaded photos.

Lu Dagun was very likable. As long as she posted him, lots of people would like it, including Jiang Zhou, and including the junior.

With time, they ended up contacting each other more.

Lin Baixin separately sent the junior a photo of Lu Dagun biting his paw. The junior was a real cat lover, but unfortunately she was allergic to cat fur and had no cat-owning fate in this life. Now she could only admire cats from afar, and she excitedly typed a string of exclamation marks: Soooo well-behaved.

The junior had a strong urge to share things and even saved that photo to use as her phone wallpaper; once back in the department, she showed it off to the other colleagues from every angle.

But she deliberately avoided showing off in front of Yu Min. After all, the cat had to do with Lin Baixin, and the junior didn’t dare go too far; she only secretly flaunted it behind Yu Min’s back.

Still, it took only a couple of days for Yu Min to notice. The phone screen was so large; Yu Min wasn’t blind, and she could tell what cat it was.

Lu Dagun had a very distinctive look: a round, full face, thick fur, and a strikingly even facial pattern. Yu Min couldn’t possibly not recognize him.

“You took this?” Yu Min frowned and asked.

The junior went, “Ah,” then realized she had slipped and quickly corrected herself. “No, no, how could I have taken it? I stole the picture. I thought it looked good, so I used it.”

Yu Min had never seen that photo before.

“Where did you steal it from?”

The junior didn’t dare answer directly. She hemmed and hawed her way through it, refusing to explain clearly, and when Cui Zhen arrived, she hurriedly found an excuse to slip away.

“I still have something to ask Dr. Cui. She’s finally here, so I won’t keep talking to you, Senior. I’ve got to go right away. Bye-bye, talk later.”

Later, she did not talk later. The junior kept a tight mouth. Fortunately, Yu Min didn’t continue asking, and the matter was left there.

After that argument, the two sides had essentially cut off contact on the surface, as if that line had been severed once more and they were no longer disturbing each other.

Over the following two months, Yu Min returned to Siping County three times, and later went to Jincheng to handle some matters.

Her decision not to be a doctor was like a bombshell, shattering every bit of Zheng Qing’s pride and hope for her daughter. Zheng Qing couldn’t accept it. Right now, her only demand for Yu Min was that Yu Min follow a path she considered brilliantly bright and full of prospects. Now Yu Min had shattered her fantasy; it had been only one step away from becoming reality, or it could even be said it was about to become reality, yet Yu Min had personally smashed it all to pieces, as if retaliating against her.

In the elders’ eyes, this was simply late-blooming rebellion. It must have something to do with Zheng Qing and Yu Shengyu’s divorce back then; maybe Yu Min had been waiting for this day all along, using self-destruction to pay back every bit of hurt.

Yu Min didn’t want to argue with them. She was firm; no one could change or stop her. She had made up her mind, and no amount of persuasion would work.

This time, Aunt and the others actually learned to keep themselves out of it. No matter how Zheng Qing and Yu Shengyu tossed things around and hoped they could persuade Yu Min, they all treated it like the wind brushing past their ears. Yu Min was twenty-six this year; she was a rational adult, no longer the little girl who had once been afraid to speak loudly. Whoever went to persuade her would be walking straight into a gun barrel; if they wanted to persuade someone, Zheng Qing should go herself.

Zheng Qing still hadn’t been able to accept this reality, and before long, Yu Min dealt her another heavy blow, so angry that even Yu Shengyu, who had been holding on fairly well, nearly fainted. It was like a clear-sky thunderclap.

Yu Min came out.

There was no girlfriend and no warning at all. It was only at the birthday banquet arranged by Yu Shengyu, where Yu Shengyu smiled and chatted eloquently with relatives and friends, busily trying to arrange a match for her as if he were selling cabbages in a market, that Yu Min publicly humiliated Yu Shengyu in front of everyone and made him unable to lift his head.

She liked women; she was a complete and utter homosexual. Yu Min said she would not marry a man; she never would, for the rest of her life.

Yu Shengyu, unlike his usual open-minded self, went red-faced and neck-veined, practically jumping three feet high on the spot. He could accept anything, but not this. Unfortunately, his wishes were unimportant; he couldn’t control his daughter.

“Uncle said he was going to die. If Minmin-jie wouldn’t change, he’d die right in front of Minmin-jie,” Zhou Jin reported over the phone, quietly telling Lin Baixin about the whole chaotic farce. “But Minmin-jie ignored him and left that night. Uncle couldn’t find her. He still hasn’t gone to die yet; I don’t know what’ll happen if he finds her.”

Lin Baixin knew nothing about this. It simply didn’t seem like something Yu Min would do; it was hard to imagine.

Yu Min said she had gone back to school, but in Siping County they couldn’t get in touch with her. Yu Shengyu was too ashamed to go to the school to look for her. If this kind of thing blew up, he’d lose even more face; by then it would really be no different from being half dead.

Social attitudes were much more accepting than before, but this sort of situation was still fairly rare in Siping County. The elders couldn’t accept such a modern idea in the short term; most of them would need a very long adjustment period. They could only try to persuade themselves. Persuading Yu Min was useless; the only way was for them to slowly digest it themselves, until they became desensitized.

Zhou Jin could still reach Yu Min, but he wouldn’t side with the elders. What year was this already? You can like whatever kind of person you want; even liking a plastic bag is someone else’s freedom. It’s the older generation that can’t turn their brains around and keeps sticking their noses where they don’t belong.

But Yu Min’s public coming-out wasn’t without consequences. At the very least, the financial side was affected quite a lot.

Yu Min was very stubborn; she returned all the property and so on that Zheng Qing and the others had given her, to avoid any further entanglement with them. Otherwise, things would only become even harder to untangle in the future.

But even though she was willing to give it back, Zheng Qing and Yu Shengyu were unwilling to accept it. If they took it, then in the future they’d likely be completely severed from each other.

At this point, money was just external to all three members of the family; it wasn’t about the money.

Lin Baixin listened with tightly furrowed brows. Zhou Jin sighed over and over, then said, “Uncle still hasn’t given up. He still wants Minmin-jie to back down. I can’t persuade him. Their whole family is stubborn; even eight horses couldn’t drag them back.”

Over in Kyoto, things were calm and peaceful. The junior said Yu Min was still working normally, steady and stable, with nothing much different from before; everything was fine.

The two sides were like two different worlds, utterly separate.

Lin Baixin met Qiu Qiu a few more times. She was the one who went looking for Qiu Qiu each time, using two occasions to send Qiu Qiu’s daughter clothes and toys; once was for a small classmates’ get-together, and another was for Cui Zhen’s birthday. Qiu Qiu had posted about it two days early, and Lin Baixin took the chance to send another gift.

Qiu Qiu was quite sensible about it. On the day of Cui Zhen’s birthday, she organized a gathering and called everyone she could.

As a teacher’s birthday, the students were supposed to go if they could; the junior went, and Yu Min went too.

That night, Lin Baixin and the others were once again seated at the same table, but this time the junior sat in the middle, and they weren’t next to each other; they were separated.

The birthday banquet was lively. When it came time to cut the cake, Qiu Qiu pulled Lin Baixin over to help divide it. Lin Baixin first handed a piece to Yu Min, but Yu Min didn’t reach out to take it; the junior took it for her instead.

“Thank you, Boss Lin,” the junior said with a smile, adding quickly, “Senior likes strawberry flavor the most. We’ll definitely finish it all.”

The cake had actually been a gift from Lin Baixin too. She knew better than anyone what flavor Yu Min liked.

Yu Min ate that slice of cake. With so many people there, even if she didn’t give Lin Baixin face, she should still give Cui Zhen a little.

That night, Lin Baixin drove them back. The junior steeled herself and pulled Yu Min into her car, blatantly ignoring Yu Min’s wishes and insisting that Yu Min sit with her, saying it would be more relaxed with someone familiar.

Yu Min was dragged in; after that, the junior got home first and got out of the car, and Lin Baixin then drove Yu Min back.

Yu Min had changed residences; she no longer lived at the old place and had moved into a small one-bedroom apartment.

After parking, Lin Baixin didn’t leave right away. Instead, she got out after opening the car door and followed Yu Min to room 402, where Yu Min now lived.

From downstairs to upstairs, Yu Min seemed not to feel her presence at all, as if she didn’t notice she was being followed. She went up with an expressionless face. Only when they reached the door, and following any further would mean going in together, did Yu Min finally glance back. Her movements with the key were very slow; while unlocking the door, she said, “You should go back.”

Lin Baixin stood half a meter away from her, looking at her back. Only after the door opened did she speak. “My side... the lock code is still the same as before. I haven’t changed it.”

She was only telling her that; there was no other intention.

Yu Min didn’t forgive her; Lin Baixin remembered that. But whether she forgave her or not was another matter.

In truth, Yu Min hadn’t fallen to the point where she needed someone else’s support. She had been earning money these two years, making some through investments with Zhou Jin, but that apartment had been bought by Zheng Qing and the others, so she had moved out temporarily and was just staying here for the time being.

Lin Baixin didn’t know that. She had misunderstood.

When she went back, she waited stubbornly for two days. She didn’t hold out hope that the other person would come, but when the sound of the lock opening reached her and the door began to turn, her heart still jolted; she sprang to her feet at once.

Yet the one who came was not the other person. When she saw that it was Lin Qi, the hope that had just risen suddenly plunged into a freezing abyss.

However strong her reaction had just been, her disappointment was equally great.

It wasn’t Yu Min.

The one who wouldn’t come had gone. She wouldn’t be coming back here again.