Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 1

“Dr. Fu, did you turn down Miss Zhao?” Nurse Qin handed the surgical stapler to Fu Linling.

“Mm,” Fu Linling hummed in response, looking down to stitch the patient’s wound.

“What a shame. Miss Zhao is quite pretty, and a teacher—she seemed like a good match for you.”

Nurse Qin was chatty and loved making small talk with her every day, but her work was never neglected, so Fu Linling never said anything about it.

“All done,” Fu Linling gently patted the patient’s shoulder. “Don’t brush your teeth for 24 hours. Stick to soft foods for the next couple of days, and don’t bite anything hard.”

“Alright, alright.” The patient sat up, gritted her teeth, and tested the feeling of the newly implanted teeth.

“These are the aftercare instructions. Take them home and read them slowly,” Nurse Qin handed her a printed sheet with very detailed information.

“Okay, thank you.” The patient walked toward the doctor, looked at the doctor who was writing the medical record, and suddenly asked, “Dr. Fu, do you like women?”

Fu Linling paused.

The patient must have overheard the conversation between Nurse Qin and her. Nurse Qin was stunned: “Auntie Wang, why are you asking that?”

Auntie Wang had come in for several treatments before. She was also a talkative person who would chat with the nurses and doctors whenever she had a moment, and after her treatment, she would always praise Dr. Fu to the sky. Because of this, they all had some impression of Auntie Wang.

“I don’t mean any harm. I just wanted to ask, do you have a girlfriend, Dr. Fu?” Auntie Wang asked with a smile.

“No,” Fu Linling replied.

“Do you have an ideal type, then?” Auntie Wang pressed.

“No.”

“How about I introduce you to a girlfriend?” Auntie Wang said excitedly. “This girl, I watched her grow up. She’s especially beautiful and filial, and she’s a famous painter now!”

Nurse Qin jumped into the conversation: “If she’s as good as you say, how is she still single?”

Auntie Wang: “Dr. Fu is wonderful too, and isn’t she single as well?”

Nurse Qin was unable to argue.

“That girl has also been single for years, and her mother is getting anxious, so she asked a few of us old sisters to help her look around for someone suitable. When I heard that Dr. Fu was also… Isn’t that a coincidence!” Auntie Wang happily clapped her hands.

Fu Linling printed the medical record, clipped it into the patient’s file, and handed both back to her: “Come back next week for suture removal. Call the clinic if you have any issues in the meantime.”

Seeing that Dr. Fu hadn’t responded to the previous conversation, Auntie Wang tried again: “Dr. Fu, are you really not interested in meeting her? A great beauty!”

Nurse Qin was amused by her tone and urged: “Yes, Dr. Fu, she’s a great beauty, and it wouldn’t hurt to meet her.”

“Exactly. Meeting her for a meal wouldn’t hurt; just think of it as making a new friend,” Auntie Wang said. “She’s a local. Her name is Lin Ran.”

Lin Ran slept until noon, ate takeout while watching variety shows, wasting some time, and only started working closer to evening.

She’d been busy painting for a game studio recently, which had completely messed up her schedule.

Night fell, and she was still immersed in her work, not even hearing the knock on the door.

“Ranran.” Zhang Wu opened the door with her key and walked into the study, seeing, as expected, that she was still painting.

“Have you eaten?” Zhang Wu asked.

“Not yet.”

“I knew it.” Zhang Wu placed a thermal container on the table. “Come eat first.”

“In a minute.” Lin Ran finished layering the color. She was genuinely hungry, so she hurried out to eat.

“Why don’t you just come live with us? You spend all day here, and I don’t even know if you eat your three meals,” Zhang Wu said worriedly.

“No need. I just have a different time zone than you,” Lin Ran laughed. “Besides, you and Uncle Liu are getting married. It would be inconvenient for me to move in.”

Zhang Wu pursed her lips, her voice faint: “Ranran, are you angry with me?”

“Why would I be angry with you?” Lin Ran put down her chopsticks and stroked her mother’s head. “No one hopes you can find happiness again more than I do, Mom.”

Zhang Wu smiled contentedly and then said: “I hope you can find happiness too. Look at you living alone; it’s no way to live…”

Lin Ran sighed deeply and continued eating, automatically ignoring the familiar refrain.

Just then, someone knocked on the door again.

“I’ll get it.” Zhang Wu opened the door and was overjoyed to see her old friend. “Come in quickly! Why did you come all the way here?”

“Oh, you’re here too? That’s great; it saves me an extra trip.” Auntie Wang smiled, winking at her. “I have good news about Ranran.”

“Really?!” Zhang Wu was delighted, pulling her to the table. “Tell me quickly!”

“She’s a dentist. She’s the one who implanted my tooth. Remember that careful and professional female doctor I told you about?” Auntie Wang asked.

“I remember. Is it her?”

“Yes! I just found out today that she also likes women—what a coincidence!”

“What’s her personality like?” Zhang Wu asked.

“Steady! Dependable! Careful and gentle!” Auntie Wang added. “And she’s bought her house and car, has a stable job, and works at a top-tier hospital!”

Zhang Wu nodded in satisfaction, then turned to her stubborn daughter: “Ranran, don’t pretend you can’t hear this.”

Lin Ran: “…”

“Ranran, your mother is really worried about you,” Auntie Wang persuaded. “Just go have dinner with her. Whether it works out is another matter; just treat it as making a new friend. You stay at home all day; you barely have any friends left.”

“Exactly!” Zhang Wu agreed. “I’m truly worried you’ll spend all your time on this work and end up abandoning your health and your friends.”

Lin Ran was no match for these two persuasive mouths using moral pressure.

“Fine, I’ll go. I’ll go, okay?”

On Saturday noon, Fu Linling arrived at the restaurant early.

Auntie Wang had chosen the restaurant. After asking Fu Linling about her tastes and combining them with the other party’s preferences, they realized there weren’t many common points, so they chose this Western restaurant—if the taste wasn’t great, at least the atmosphere was nice.

Fu Linling watched her wristwatch. As time slowly passed, she got up and went to the restroom again. While washing her hands, she stared at the person in the mirror for a long time.

A moment later, her phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

“Hello, is this Dr. Fu?”

Fu Linling froze for a second: “It is.”

“I’m Lin Ran. I just arrived at the restaurant. Have you arrived?” Lin Ran asked on the other end of the line.

“I’m in the restroom. I’ll be right there.”

Fu Linling walked out of the restroom and saw Lin Ran pacing the aisle, constantly looking around.

Fu Linling recognized her at a glance.

She was wearing a brown strapless mini-dress and long boots, her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her eyes were lively, transporting Fu Linling back to her high school days.

“Lin Ran, let’s go eat together.”

“Lin Ran, I want ice cream too.”

“Lin Ran, let’s go shopping this weekend.”

…Certain voices from her classmates inexplicably surfaced in her mind.

“Lin Ran.” This was Fu Linling’s voice.

Lin Ran turned around, looked at her intently for a few seconds, and, after confirming the sound came from her, smiled and walked forward: “You are Dr. Fu?”

“Mm.” Fu Linling looked at her bewildered yet sincere eyes, nodded in acknowledgment, but felt a subtle sense of disappointment inside.

“I’m sorry I’m late. There was a bit of traffic on the way,” Lin Ran said, taking a seat after her.

“It’s alright. It was only a few minutes,” Fu Linling handed her the menu.

After ordering, Lin Ran finally had time to properly observe the other person.

She was quite tall, standing half a head taller than Lin Ran. Her eyes were neisui (hidden double eyelid), but the shape was beautiful. She wore thin-rimmed glasses that softened her facial contours and highlighted her high nose bridge.

Her jawline was Lin Ran’s favorite feature. She unconsciously unfurled a canvas in her mind, drawing a single stroke—it was the easiest jawline to draw, clear, sharp, and aesthetically pleasing.

She originally came just to fulfill an obligation, but she didn’t expect such a pleasant surprise.

“How old are you?” Lin Ran asked.

“Thirty.”

“What a coincidence, me too. Have you never been in a relationship?” After asking, Lin Ran mentally called herself an idiot. If Fu Linling had been in a relationship, why would she be sitting here eating with her? Was this a last supper?

“Mm… You too?” Fu Linling raised her eyes to look at her.

“Been single for a long time,” Lin Ran smiled.

This could be interpreted as having been in a relationship before but now being single, or it could be interpreted as never having been in one.

By giving a vague answer, Lin Ran left it to Fu Linling to choose which assumption to make.

Regardless of the choice, it showed that Lin Ran didn’t really care much about the question.

The waiter served the steak. The two used the opportunity of cutting the steak to adjust their state, occasionally glancing at each other in secret. Blind dates were all about this kind of give-and-take, with both parties secretly running calculations in their minds.

“What is Auntie Wang to you?” Fu Linling initiated a topic.

“She’s my upstairs neighbor. I’ve known her for many years,” Lin Ran followed up, talking about the person they both knew. “She always praises your medical skills. She even specifically came to find me today and told me not to stand you up.”

Fu Linling’s lips curved slightly: “You wouldn’t.”

“How did you know I wouldn’t?”

“Didn’t you arrive on time?”

“I was still a few minutes late, though,” Lin Ran smiled, biting the steak from her fork.

Fu Linling stared at the way she ate, lingering for a moment. Finally, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity and slowly asked, “When… did you realize you liked women?”

“Hmm… College, maybe. What about you?”

Fu Linling thought for a moment and admitted: “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Mm. To be precise, there was no clear catalyst.”

Lin Ran nodded, half-understanding, and quickly said: “It doesn’t matter! As long as you know now… Wait, you do like women now, right?”

“Mm. I suppose I do.”

“Suppose?” Lin Ran’s eyes widened, and she was already preparing to bolt.

Fu Linling thought for a moment: “I most likely like women.”

Lin Ran finally understood. This was someone who had never been in a relationship and probably only recently figured things out.

Soon, Fu Linling thought of something else: “How did you get my number? Did Auntie Wang give it to you?”

“She gave me this.”

Lin Ran put down her knife and fork, took a business card from her bag, and slowly read the name, word for word: “Fu. Lin. Ling.”

The voice was clear, yet it made Fu Linling feel as though she had fallen into a pile of cotton—every slight movement was a tumble, making it impossible to climb out.

Lin Ran held the card between two fingers, resting the back of her hand on her chin, and looked at her with a beaming smile: “Fu Linling, haven’t we met somewhere before?”

Fu Linling was startled.

“Yu Bei High School, Class 6, Grade 12. Right?”