Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 16

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but Fu Linling was already awake.

She never slept in. Even in the dead of winter, she would get up instantly when the alarm rang, braving the dim light to attend morning self-study sessions.

But today, after opening her eyes, she didn’t get out of bed right away. Instead, she lay quietly, staring at the ceiling, trying to hear sounds from the other side of the wall.

Naturally, she heard nothing.

But just the thought that Lin Ran was sleeping next door gave her a strange sense of contentment.

When the alarm rang, she lazily got up, quietly got ready, and left. She usually rode her electric scooter to the hospital, but today, she drove.

Because in the passenger seat sat two large bags of wedding candy.

She brought the wedding candy with her when she went to the cafeteria for lunch.

“Fu Linling, what is this? Why are you giving out candy for no reason?” A colleague from another clinic took a piece of candy curiously. Seeing the red packaging, the answer was obvious, yet she couldn’t believe it.

Others had similar thoughts.

“Wedding candy,” Fu Linling pressed the frame of her glasses on her nose and smiled slightly. “I got married.”

The cafeteria erupted in noise, all expressions of disbelief.

The most shocked was her partner nurse, who knew Fu Linling was “single since birth,” felt she was emotionally clueless, and always gave the cold shoulder to anyone—male or female—who pursued her. How had she suddenly flash-married out of nowhere?

It was a revelation that would startle a patient in a coma awake to ask if it were true.

Everyone eagerly asked her when and whom she married.

“I got married during the May Day holiday, just two days ago. The person is my classmate,” Fu Linling said.

“Congratulations! Bring her out for dinner sometime!” a colleague said.

“We’ll see when she’s free.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, already treasuring her so much.”

The others burst into laughter, crowding her for details.

On the side, Wang Ke looked at the chocolate in the box glumly and gave the candy directly to his colleague.

“It’s truly unbelievable,” the colleague sighed, then comforted him, “Come on, I told you to confess earlier. You didn’t, and now someone else beat you to it.”

“No, that’s not it,” Wang Ke recalled the state of the two women, muttering unhappily. “It’s not about beating anyone to it.”

“Then what is it?”

“They must have been carrying on secretly for a long time,” Wang Ke said, glancing at Dr. Fu, who was smiling and unusually talkative today.

“No way? That block of wood, Dr. Fu?”

“Who knows,” Wang Ke shrugged.

During lunch, Fu Linling received a call from Lin Ran: “Are you up?”

“Mm. I had the sandwich and am about to go out to buy some things. Do you need anything?” When Lin Ran got up, she saw a sandwich and milk on the table, with a note stuck to the milk: Remember to eat breakfast when you get up.

Fu Linling thought for a moment: “The shampoo is almost finished. Get a bottle.”

After hanging up, the colleagues around her began teasing her.

“Dr. Fu’s new marriage life seems great; she calls after being apart for just a short while.”

Fu Linling smiled down at the table.

After work, Nurse Qin wanted to invite Fu Linling to dinner to gossip, but another person beat her to it.

“Dr. Fu, are you free tonight? My dad wants to invite you to dinner,” the intern Lin Song whispered to Fu Linling.

Fu Linling saw his expression was somewhat hesitant and guessed he was preparing to be rejected. However, she had learned from Lin Ran that Lin Song was her half-brother. After a moment’s thought, she accepted the invitation.

She was surprised to find Father Lin already waiting outside the main entrance. Seeing them emerge, he greeted them with a smile and proactively opened the car door for her.

After she sat down, she realized Lin Song’s mother was in the passenger seat.

It turned out this dinner was neither for her nor for Lin Ran, but for Lin Song.

Father Lin deliberately took her to a rather high-end restaurant and showered her with praise: “Dr. Fu, you are truly young and accomplished. Song Song tells me you are also a doctoral student; your future is limitless. It’s a blessing for Ran Ran to marry you. She can only make so much money from her painting. It’s much better to be a doctor like you—you never have to worry about money.”

“That’s a prejudice,” Fu Linling pointed out, realizing he was uninformed about the art profession and Lin Ran’s financial situation.

During the previous discussion about the mortgage and living expenses, they had briefly touched on their incomes. Lin Ran earned significantly more than she did.

Since Lin Ran had not told Father Lin, Fu Linling chose not to elaborate further to avoid unnecessary financial disputes and trouble.

“That’s enough. Why are you bringing that up?” Lin Song’s mother tugged at Father Lin’s sleeve, signaling him to get to the point.

So, Father Lin immediately switched to discussing how hardworking and ambitious Lin Song was.

The underlying message was that he wanted her to take care of Lin Song at the hospital, preferably to write glowing reviews on his internship evaluation, and ideally to recommend him for a permanent position after graduation.

“We are family, Dr. Fu. I really need to trouble you. Song Song, quickly give Dr. Fu a toast,” Father Lin said.

Lin Song nervously raised his glass. Fu Linling reached out to stop him: “I have to work tomorrow; no drinking.”

“Then let’s toast with tea,” Lin Song’s mother offered.

Lin Song went to pour tea.

“There’s no need for all this trouble. His performance has nothing to do with this dinner. Please don’t invite me to this kind of meal again. Someone at home is waiting for me, so I’ll be leaving now,” Fu Linling said, getting up.

Father Lin hurried after her, saying anxiously: “Dr. Fu, since you’ve married Ran Ran, technically I’m your father, and Lin Song is your brother. It’s only right for family members to help each other, isn’t it? If not for the monk’s sake, then for the Buddha’s sake.”

Fu Linling adjusted her glasses and said calmly: “I came to this dinner only for Lin Ran’s sake. She just got married. I thought you wanted to check on her current life, but it seems I was mistaken. Goodbye.”

“Of course I care about her! But she’s lived with her mother all this time, and I don’t have custody. There’s nothing I can do even if I want to care!”

Fu Linling frowned: “If you cared about her, why is this so-called brother only a few years younger than her? And why, during a crucial period like her final year of high school, did you make her transfer and go to school elsewhere by herself?”

Father Lin was left speechless, awkwardly scratching his head. In the blink of an eye, she had disappeared from sight.

She needed to hail a cab to get home. She called Lin Ran and asked if she had eaten.

“Not yet. Have you?”

“No, I’m coming right back.”

“Okay.”

She hurried back, knowing there were still some groceries at home. When she opened the door, a large portion of the boxes in the living room had disappeared. In their place, the living room was full of various items that were not hers.

“How was the packing today?” She changed into slippers and smiled, noticing the shoe cabinet was now crammed with shoes of various styles.

“It’s mostly done. Just a few odds and ends that need to be slowly organized.” Lin Ran stood in front of the sofa, raising her hand to ask, “Dr. Fu, may I apply to buy a rug?”

“Of course. Buy whatever you like; you don’t need to apply. You are the lady of the house now,” Fu Linling said, heading toward the kitchen to prepare dinner.

“Oh, if you put it that way, I’d like to buy a luxury car and a mansion. Can we buy those?” Lin Ran followed her leisurely to the door, her eyes twinkling with a smile.

Fu Linling stopped the knife in her hand and quietly looked away.

Lin Ran paused, walking over to her side curiously: “What are you thinking?”

“I was wondering… if I should find a lucrative side job? My current salary is still a bit far from a luxury car and a mansion,” Fu Linling said, somewhat frustrated.

Lin Ran was amused by her serious expression: “I was only joking! Besides, your profession gets better as you get older, right? We’ll buy them when we have the money later!”

Fu Linling suddenly looked at her, her eyes reflecting an emotion Lin Ran couldn’t quite decipher.

“What is it? Did I say something wrong?” Lin Ran asked.

Fu Linling shook her head, a smile spreading across her features, engraving that expectation in her heart: Later, we will indeed have a later.