In the spacious living room, Tang Feiwan tucked herself into the corner of the sofa. Her gaze followed Tang Anhua as he went to the water dispenser to make tea. Her heart was uneasy. Had she already been betrayed? She wasn’t ready to confess to him…
But Director Jiang had never, without telling her first, exposed her secret life to Teacher Tang.
So this time, Tang Feiwan chose to trust Director Jiang.
Tang Anhua brewed a pot of light tea, picked up the teapot, brought over two jade-green teacups, and sat down beside Tang Feiwan.
“A cup of tea in summer will cool you down.” He poured a full cup and handed it to her.
Tang Feiwan accepted the cup. “Oh, okay.”
“Your mother talked for an hour and got nowhere. I don’t know if you’ll even listen to me.” Tang Anhua cut straight to the point. “Tangtang, you’ll be thirty-one in less than half a year.”
“Yes.” It seemed Teacher Tang knew nothing after all. Tang Feiwan decided to endure the next dozen or so minutes of conversation, try not to get angry, and try not to argue.
“When your mother and I got together, I was twenty-four and she was twenty-two. The next year, we had you.” Tang Anhua was using age to make his point. Tang Feiwan had heard it so many times her ears could grow calluses, so she only murmured in response and said nothing.
Tang Anhua opened the floodgates. “You’re not young anymore. If you don’t start dating soon, no one will want you later. At your age, childbirth is dangerous too.”
“Yes.”
Tang Anhua noticed her perfunctory answers and switched to questioning. “Then why are you so against blind dates?”
“Teacher Tang, who actually likes blind dates?” Tang Feiwan answered with a question.
“I know young people don’t like them, but you don’t have time to socialize.”
Tang Feiwan followed his lead. “Exactly, so I’ll just stay single.”
In the room, Tang Anhua had promised Jiang Junli he would reason with her calmly. But his temper was not something he could control on demand. He fumed. “Stay single your whole life, and when we’re gone, you won’t even have anyone to talk to.”
“Mm.” As long as it wasn’t a question, Tang Feiwan gave the same flat response. In the end, Tang Anhua found it pointless and circled back to matchmaking. He told her to contact Zhang Bo more, praised Zhang Bo as a good man, praised Zhang Bo’s family, and repeatedly emphasized how well-matched their backgrounds were. He didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with inviting someone to the house for a blind date on his birthday without telling her first. Tang Feiwan could barely suppress her irritation. Finally she blurted out, “Is Zhang Bo’s family better off than ours?”
“What?”
Tang Feiwan listed impossible conditions. “I have high standards. The person’s education has to be higher than mine, age under thirty-five, height at least one eighty-five, decent-looking, pleasant to the eye, ideally no parents, because I don’t want to care for them. Annual salary at least three hundred thousand yuan. Able to afford a housekeeper to cook, because I can’t cook.”
Tang Anhua completely lost patience. “Look at these conditions you’re listing. How many people could possibly meet them?”
“I don’t like settling, so I’ll just stay single.” Tang Feiwan ended the topic. “Teacher Tang, it’s four thirty. I need to go.”
“Don’t come back if there’s nothing important. Out of sight, out of mind.” Tang Anhua, ashamed and angry, snapped at her.
Tang Feiwan’s raised foot paused. Her back to him, her body trembled faintly. She fought hard to hold back the tears about to spill and said in a hoarse voice, “Teacher Tang, I’m taking Tomato with me. I won’t trouble you to walk the dog anymore.”
Both sides needed a complete cooling-off period. That would be good for everyone. She wasn’t being rebellious, and she wasn’t unfilial. She simply knew what the consequences of compromise were, and they were not the happy ending everyone claimed. So she had to fight for herself. Whether the road ahead led through mountains of knives or seas of fire, she was ready to try.
The night before, Lin Ye had driven her home, so now she could only take Tomato by taxi. After getting out and paying via WeChat, Tang Feiwan suddenly glimpsed Zhang Bo’s profile picture. People she no longer needed to contact didn’t need to stay in her contacts. Holding the leash in her left hand and the phone in her right, she opened the chat and typed: “Hello, Zhang Bo. I don’t like blind dates, so I’m sorry, but I’m deleting this contact.”
The other party replied quickly: “Can’t we just be ordinary friends?”
“Sorry.”
“Okay.”
Tang Feiwan put away her phone and looked up at the building where she had been living for over ten days. A sense of home suddenly filled her heart. She found the white locksmith advertisement pasted downstairs and called the number. Because she didn’t know whether Teacher Tang might occasionally drop by on a whim, she needed to change the lock.
Some of her things as a woman were no longer appropriate for him to see.
She stayed busy until nearly five thirty. Dusk was approaching when Tang Feiwan finally remembered she should go to work. But her current mood and energy could hardly support the high-intensity work that required full concentration. After thinking for a long while, she decided to contact Director Gao.
“Hello, Xiao Tang.”
Tang Feiwan bit her lip. It was her first time asking for leave, and she hesitated.
“What’s wrong? Do you want to ask for time off?”
“Yes, Director Gao. I’m not feeling well today. I might not be fit for work.”
Director Gao smiled. “Director Lin arranged this morning for another colleague to cover your shift. She said if you do come in on your own, try to do simple tasks. After all, you were hurt pretty badly.”
“Oh, oh, thank you. Thank you, Director Gao.” It was as if fresh water had begun flowing into Tang Feiwan’s nearly dried-up heart.
“Why thank me? Thank your Junior Director Lin. This morning she and the department colleagues won first prize for our emergency department.”
Tang Feiwan nodded. “Yes, I’ll learn from Director Lin.”
After a couple more sentences, Director Gao hung up. Tang Feiwan sent Lin Ye a message: “Director Lin, I’m resting at home tonight.”
No reply came for a long time. Half an hour later, Tang Feiwan finally received a new message alert and immediately opened it.
“Do you have wound care supplies at home?”
“No, but I can just buy some on a delivery app.” Tang Feiwan typed. “Thank you for asking Director Gao for leave on my behalf.”
Lin Ye’s next message came, ignoring the thanks. “Are you in Nanping or across the street?”
“Across the street.” Tang Feiwan didn’t understand why she asked.
“A little later, I’ll bring you some medicine.”
Tang Feiwan hastily typed, “Ah, no need, really. You’re at the hospital. A round trip would take half an hour.” Though because of Lin Ye’s gesture, she felt as if she were dreaming.
“I’m next door. I’m not going to the hospital tonight either.”
Across the street, next door. Tang Feiwan instantly understood she had been flattering herself. Lin Ye probably just happened to be close by and was bringing medicine to a colleague. She noticed the second half of the sentence. Since Lin Ye rarely took time off, she asked with concern, “Did something happen at home?”
“Yangyang has a fever.”
A child’s fever should be taken seriously. Tang Feiwan anxiously typed, “How high? Has it come down? If it’s bad, go to the hospital.”
“38.4°C. It’s okay, already down. But I’m worried it might spike again late at night, so I switched shifts with Old Liu.”
“Mm, switching shifts was right. You should have.”
There was no further topic. The “typing” indicator on Lin Ye’s side disappeared and never reappeared. Tang Feiwan tossed her phone aside and sat in silence. Today’s conversation with her parents echoed in her mind again. She didn’t know when she fell asleep. Even her dreams were battles with her family. Fortunately, a phone ring pulled her out of the nightmare.
Lin Ye.
Tang Feiwan’s contacts saved full names. She sat up straight and pressed answer.
“Director Lin.” Unless there were special circumstances, she now addressed the other with a colleague’s tone.
Lin Ye’s usual cool voice said, “Dr. Tang, I’m outside the door.”
“Okay, wait a moment.” Tang Feiwan smoothed her slightly messy hair, tugged at her wrinkled clothes, put on the glasses from the coffee table, and made sure she looked neat before shuffling to the door in her slippers.
When the door opened, Lin Ye stood there in loungewear, graceful and poised outside the door, lips pressed together, eyes slightly cold. She looked less like someone bringing help in a snowstorm and more like Tang Feiwan owed her money, and after failing to collect the debt, was about to leave.
“Thank you.” Tang Feiwan took the bag containing medicine and sterile gauze. Chilled by Lin Ye’s coldness, she felt she shouldn’t close the door, but she also didn’t dare invite her in. Lin Ye made no move. Tang Feiwan said nothing. The second hand ticked forward. Then the security door behind Lin Ye suddenly pushed open, and Lin Wenhui came out, breaking the silence with a warm greeting. “Hello, Dr. Tang.”
“Hello, Auntie.” Tang Feiwan greeted her politely.
“Hey, Xiao Ye, weren’t you going to Dr. Tang’s place to help her with the dressing? Why are you both just standing in the doorway?” Lin Wenhui stuffed a bottle of clear liquid into Lin Ye’s hands and added, “The saline. You left it on the table.”
“Mm, okay.” Lin Ye lowered her eyes slightly. Tang Feiwan clearly caught a light blush instantly staining her fair cheeks. So had Lin Ye deliberately been acting cold earlier? Tang Feiwan wasn’t afraid of Lin Ye resenting her, nor of Lin Ye deliberately avoiding her. What she feared was what Lin Ye had described: slowly cutting off the past and completely letting go. But now, Tang Feiwan knew that Lin Ye had come to her home to help with her wound and was actually not calm inside. Lin Ye hadn’t treated her as just an ordinary colleague. Otherwise why pretend to be so aloof?
Lin Wenhui closed the door. Tang Feiwan clenched the hand hanging behind her back into a fist, suppressing the involuntary trembling of her fingertips caused by her surging emotions. She swallowed and bravely invited, “Director Lin, luckily I cleaned the house the night before last. If you don’t mind, would you like to come in and sit?”
The woman beside her nodded without speaking and followed her inside. Tang Feiwan closed the door, bent down, and took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet. The front bore a cartoon cat pattern, Lin Ye’s favorite animal. Lin Ye looked down and caught the dog pattern on Tang Feiwan’s slippers. She also knew that Tang Feiwan loved dogs most. After a brief hesitation, she finally slid her feet into the slippers.
Her little secret had been discovered, yet still indulged. Only Tang Feiwan herself knew how unusually her heart was beating in her chest at this moment. She suppressed her feelings and led Lin Ye toward the living room, explaining as she walked, “Before Professor Zheng went abroad, we signed a contract. Her daughter said that as long as I don’t touch the structure, I can change the style however I like. But I like Chinese-style decor, so I haven’t changed anything.”
Lin Ye listened carefully, occasionally murmuring assent.
“What would you like to drink? Milk, sparkling water, soda?” Tang Feiwan asked as Lin Ye sat on the sofa and she walked to the fridge.
“Sparkling water, thanks.”
Tang Feiwan brought two bottles of sparkling water, handed one to Lin Ye, then sat beside her.
Lin Ye accepted the sparkling water, politely twisted off the cap, took a small sip, then set it aside. She began rummaging through the bag in front of her, taking out povidone-iodine, sterile cotton swabs, sterile gauze, and medical tape.
“I’ll rinse the gauze on your knee with saline first.” Lin Ye turned her head, only to find Tang Feiwan staring at her blankly, her expression full of unconcealed longing. Lin Ye frowned almost imperceptibly, looked away, and the faint ripple in her eyes quickly disappeared without a trace. Her gaze heavy, she said, “Dr. Tang.”
