Chapter 15: MAMA-15

MAMA-15: You’re a gerontophile.

There were too many people coming and going here, and Jian Wanji’s Company was also nearby. It wasn’t good to be hugging Mi Shanxin so openly. She quickly pulled the girl out of her embrace. “Let’s go, I’ll take you to your class.”

Mi Shanxin: “Are you really not going to work?”

Jian Wanji: “I am.”

Mi Shanxin recalled her Business Card. She wasn’t entirely sure if “General Manager” meant Boss. She asked, “Then why do you still need to take this class with me? Are you afraid I’ll run away?”

Jian Wanji started walking forward. “That’s not it.”

Just then, Jian Wanji’s phone rang. Her Secretary was looking for her. “Where are you? You need to Clock In for the meeting.”

Jian Wanji glanced at the girl waiting for her a short distance away. The girl was carrying her Backpack, standing in the wind, neck tucked in, slightly hunched.

“Can’t someone go in my place?”

“Director Sui said she has a sudden matter to attend to.” The Secretary sounded helpless. “Where are you?”

“I also have something going on.” Jian Wanji wasn’t flustered, hands tucked in her coat pockets. She smiled and asked, “Where did Sui Yuqian go?”

Mi Shanxin listened to her phone call and deduced she had work. She tugged at the hem of Jian Wanji’s coat. Jian Wanji looked down. “What is it?”

Her voice softened considerably. The Secretary thought to herself how rare this was—the boss’s voice lacked its usual nauseating, sing-song cadence.

“I’m going to class now. You should go to work. I won’t run away.” Mi Shanxin checked the time. Jian Wanji reached out and lifted the Backpack slung over her shoulder. “So heavy. Is there only a Computer inside?”

She was being overly dramatic. Mi Shanxin gave her a look. “Didn’t you carry it for me yesterday?”

Jian Wanji just laughed loudly, not the least bit embarrassed.

Mi Shanxin stared at her. In her ear, the Secretary was urging, saying Sui Yuqian had also left suddenly, probably due to a family matter.

Compared to Jian Wanji, who only had her Grandmother to care for, Sui Yuqian’s family had gone from chaotic turmoil to a temporary ceasefire. Even after coming out for years, her parents still demanded she go on blind dates. Jian Wanji hadn’t known matchmaking agencies now had same-sex versions, precise down to the district, practically looking for show-quality daughters.

“Alright, I’ll come over,” Jian Wanji told the Secretary. “Wait for me…”

It was only a ten-minute walk to the Company from here, but Jian Wanji padded the time. “Half an hour.”

She hung up the phone, lifted the Backpack Mi Shanxin was wearing, and said, “Come on, I’ll walk you there.”

Mi Shanxin: “Am I not the mother?”

Jian Wanji effortlessly took her Backpack, not forgetting to grumble that it was like a bomb disposal suit. “Student Shanxin, our contract hasn’t taken effect yet. You don’t need to start acting now.”

“Besides, I didn’t ask you to act out a mother-daughter relationship with me in front of outsiders,” Jian Wanji found her seriousness cute. “You only need to act in front of my Grandmother.”

“She can’t even tell the year or month anymore. A me this age and a mother you that young existing at the same time won’t seem strange to her.”

Mi Shanxin said, “Oh.” Then added, “But you don’t need to escort me. I can walk there quickly too.”

“It’s no trouble for this short distance. Your shoulders are almost crushed by this Backpack,” Jian Wanji said. “Change your Computer. Your Computer charger is as big as an e-bike charger.”

Mi Shanxin: “Second-hand. Three hundred yuan.”

Jian Wanji stuffed her into the car and asked, “What about your Mobile Phone? Also second-hand?”

Mi Shanxin murmured an “Mm.”

“What are your Parents even good for?” Jian Wanji was speechless. “Even if the family isn’t well-off, shouldn’t they at least buy new ones when you start university?”

“And you’re attending Peaceful University, a good school too.”

Mi Shanxin had nothing to be proud of. “I almost didn’t get in. And there’s no scholarship.”

Given her family’s situation, poverty assistance was even less applicable. Her poverty was a conscious choice made by her parents, different from classmates who were genuinely from impoverished mountain villages. Mi Shanxin had her pride and hadn’t applied.

“It’s fine, I’ll buy them for you.” Jian Wanji’s phone was flooded with messages. Even without intentionally looking, Mi Shanxin could see work group chats popping up, just like her dizzying Moments feed. Her yearly schedule was probably rainbow-colored, full of to-dos.

“Shouldn’t you be buying them out of the payment you’re giving me?” Mi Shanxin seized on the loophole in her words. “Are you buying them for me separately?”

For a few moments, Jian Wanji thought Mi Shanxin was deliberately picking a fight.

But meeting that pair of simply innocent eyes, she dared not think that anymore.

It was very offensive, and combined with the fact that she was the one asking for the favor, she had to agree. “Of course.”

She echoed the sentence Mi Shanxin had used when hugging her. “A daughter buying her mother a new phone is only right and proper.”

Jian Wanji rarely had opportunities to show filial piety to elders. Her Grandmother had a high pension, which fully covered her personal expenses. From the time Jian Wanji became financially independent to now, every time she wanted to give her Grandmother something, the old woman refused.

The debt of raising her was the condition the Grandmother used to unilaterally judge Jian Wanji. Even living in the Hospice Ward, the Grandmother had her own savings.

The most terrifying part was, even after death, her Grandmother would still be the largest beneficiary of her estate. She could still stand on a moral high ground, judging this child raised by her, a child she considered a scourge for a daughter.

For Jian Wanji, there were few things that were simply “right and proper.” Even as she earned more and more money, even though she had personally sponsored a child, that child still had their own parents. After starting university, they rarely contacted each other. Just knowing they were doing well was enough.

Mi Shanxin was different. She was a chance encounter, a temperament strikingly similar to Jian Wanji’s deceased mother. It was a likeness extracted from the wreckage of memory and those yellowing photographs, perhaps with some embellishment.

But all her uncertainties vanished the moment her Grandmother confirmed the resemblance. Mi Shanxin was her most correct and faultless choice. Jian Wanji deeply believed this.

She never imagined giving someone money would be this fraught with obstacles. This kid was so poor her Backpack was peeling, yet she was still so proud. “I don’t want it now.”

Jian Wanji laughed, “Alright, alright, let me know when you change your mind.”

She dropped Mi Shanxin off at the institution’s entrance, just like sending a child to school. She said goodbye to her, “I’m off. Don’t rush to leave after class. Wait for my message.”

Mi Shanxin hummed.

Today’s class was nothing special. After finishing the lesson, Mi Shanxin saved the materials she had recorded and was about to leave when someone knocked on the door.

Mi Shanxin recognized her. Jian Wanji’s friend, surnamed Zeng.

Zeng Baian had come to pick up her child today. The Little Child had told her which classroom Mi Shanxin was in, then gone to the restroom with a friend.

“Can we talk?” The floor had the teachers’ photos posted. Zeng Baian had looked at them for a while earlier. Mi Shanxin’s name and face were both very unique. Among a row of half-length, Photoshopped portraits, she alone looked listless, lacking any teacher-like presence.

Yet her features were very beautiful, giving a feeling of a pearl gathering dust. It seemed as if someone could treat her well, wipe away the grime, meticulously care for her, and she would inevitably shine brilliantly.

“Will it take long?” Mi Shanxin asked while packing up her Computer. Zeng Baian entered the room. “Not long.”

“Oh, then feel free to sit anywhere.” Mi Shanxin still needed to transfer the recordings she’d made onto her Computer. Her phone’s memory was too small, forcing her to use the desktop version for video editing, which was very cumbersome.

“Little… Teacher Mi… my friend… Jian Wanji, she came here, right?” Zeng Baian hadn’t gotten a clear answer from Jian Wanji, worried her friend might do something inappropriate to the university student. She had specifically come to pick up her child today. When she hadn’t seen Jian Wanji, she was initially relieved.

But the moment she remembered Jian Wanji saying on the phone that the student had agreed, she worried something messy might happen. However, the notion Sui Yuqian had mentioned, she hadn’t even considered.

Twenty and thirty-nine. No chance at all. Even if young girls nowadays liked the same sex, they wouldn’t go for such a large age gap.

She was more worried Jian Wanji had threatened her.

“She came by. She asked me to be her mother, and I agreed.” Mi Shanxin’s eyes were distinctly black and white. Like the stack of children’s drafts beside her, ink seeping into white paper, the contrast was stark. She also called the client by her full name, without the common social suffix “sister.”

“Did Jian Wanji change her mind?”

Work was over. Jian Wanji hadn’t sent her any messages. Mi Shanxin was uncertain if she should still wait for her. Her daily schedule was quite fixed; she didn’t like making unscheduled adjustments for anyone.

“I don’t know about that. I have something I wanted to ask you.”

Zeng Baian had never met Jian Wanji’s mother. After knowing her for years, she’d only been to the old house where her friend’s Grandmother lived once.

Later, the old house was sold. The old lady went to live in a nursing home by herself, and later moved to the Hospice Ward. Everything was arranged clearly and decisively.

Regarding Jian Wanji’s family matters, she wouldn’t pry deeply. She only knew her friend’s parents were a local legend, a love-suicide story from thirty years ago that was whispered among classmates.

Zeng Baian had both parents alive and a happy family. Sometimes she couldn’t understand Jian Wanji’s way of thinking. For example, why she pushed away countless suitors even when she seemingly had everything. They had discussed it, argued about it—topics like “you think I’m lonely but I don’t.”

The one who mediated was Sui Yuqian, whose own love life wasn’t smooth sailing either. She told them not to argue, not to interfere, to let things be, or they might end up not even being friends.

But sometimes friends had to overstep. Because in Jian Wanji’s life ecosystem, there were no family members. She was practically an orphan in the world.

Mi Shanxin nodded. “Just ask.”

Zeng Baian didn’t have an untrustworthy face like Jian Wanji’s. Judging by age and the size of her child, she was more the type Mi Shanxin would normally be drawn to.

But Mi Shanxin’s nose was still full of Jian Wanji’s lingering scent. Her preference seemed to have been locked in. That wasn’t good.

“Did she threaten you?” Zeng Baian asked cautiously.

Before coming, she had also inquired about this Teacher Mi in the Calligraphy Class from her daughter’s teacher. Peaceful University was a top-tier school, and its Calligraphy Department was among the best in the country. But everyone knew graduates in this field didn’t know what to do; most relied on family backing for employment.

But that was the general scope. There were also golden phoenixes rising from thatched huts. Mi Shanxin’s equipment made it obvious she was somewhat strapped for cash, her family background not great.

That gave Jian Wanji even more leverage. Zeng Baian feared she might resort to the vicious tactics she once used to poach clients. In her eyes, for the Jian Wanji of this age, manipulating a young girl was far too easy. She had even learned from the course teacher that Jian Wanji had inquired about one-on-one services. It seemed her daughter seeing Jian Wanji yesterday was also part of the plan.

In Zeng Baian’s view, Jian Wanji was considered well-off in Ning City. Good looks, great figure. A woman couldn’t succeed without ruthlessness. Jian Wanji hadn’t been a docile rabbit since childhood; she had always been a wolf.

Even back in their school days, she’d driven everyone around her to tears with her intense competitiveness. If not for Jian Wanji burning the midnight oil, Zeng Baian wouldn’t have followed suit and also wouldn’t have gotten into a good university. For that, she was grateful to her.

“Yes,” Mi Shanxin answered calmly. Zeng Baian’s heart sank halfway. She asked hesitantly, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t agree to her being lecherous?”

Mi Shanxin thought for a moment. “She paid too much.”

Zeng Baian: “How much?”

Mi Shanxin: “A hundred thousand deposit. Eight hundred per hour.”

Zeng Baian asked again: “And do you know when this job will end?”

Mi Shanxin: “She said it’s only for this period of time.”

Zeng Baian: “She’s not King Yan. How can she be so certain? Once school starts again, can you still keep up the act?”

Mi Shanxin hesitated slightly. Just then, Jian Wanji called. She answered right in front of Zeng Baian. “Are you King Yan?”

Jian Wanji’s meeting hadn’t ended. Judging by the atmosphere inside, it wouldn’t wrap up soon. She wanted to tell Mi Shanxin not to wait, but the moment the call connected, she was hit with that line. She paused, laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mi Shanxin glanced at Zeng Baian. Just then, the child she’d met yesterday also appeared, calling out “Mama.” Jian Wanji heard it. “Is Yueyue there too?”

Mi Shanxin: “Her mother is also here.”

Jian Wanji seemed to have mind-reading abilities: “She’s talking bad about me to you, isn’t she? Asking what I did to you, why you agreed to my request?”

Mi Shanxin: “I said you paid a lot.”

Zeng Baian, standing nearby, couldn’t help but interject: “You call that a lot? I pay more for Yueyue’s classes than that.”

Jian Wanji: “Put it on speaker. Let me argue with her.”

Mi Shanxin complied. Jian Wanji’s voice on speakerphone was slightly raspy, possibly because Mi Shanxin’s phone was too terrible. “Zeng Baian, when I was looking for an actor before, I offered less than this and you said I was being stingy. What do you mean now? Are you trying to say I didn’t do your friend Little Zheng a favor?”

Zeng Baian: “I did not!”

Mi Shanxin hadn’t expected this to be said so directly. She could tell the two had a good relationship. Unlike her and the neighbor auntie, who’d must politely yield the last discounted broccoli at the supermarket to each other.

With a close enough bond, it seemed not giving way was natural. Mi Shanxin wanted such unbridled frankness too, but even Li Yin still had reservations.

“I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t interfere.”

“You can rest assured, I won’t do anything illegal.”

“Then I’ll be waiting with bated breath.”

“Stop being so sarcastic.”

Zeng Baian was dragged away by her child. Before leaving, she told Mi Shanxin to add her on WeChat.

Jian Wanji, on the phone, said, “Don’t add her. She’ll monitor our movements.”

Mi Shanxin didn’t quite understand this motive, asking, “Why? Is your relationship a normal friendship, or did you fall for a straight woman and become the godmother to her child?”

A few seconds later, Jian Wanji realized she had been roasted. She was speechless for a long moment. “I’m not sick.”

But the girl on the other end sighed, sounding very troubled. “I’m sorry. I think I might be.”

Jian Wanji started. “What for? You’re a gerontophile? Don’t even think about liking her; do you even know how old my friend is? You’re not allowed to like her. Her child is young and she has a family to care for. She’s not worth it.”