Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 30

“Wow, Cousin, you actually cleaned up the room for me already!” Zhang Lehuan walked into Lin Ran’s room with a surprised expression.

Lin Ran was too embarrassed to tell her that this was actually the room she had been sleeping in.

“Why do you keep all these things here? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to put them in the bedroom?” Zhang Lehuan asked, pointing to the skincare and makeup products on the desk.

Lin Ran gave an awkward smile: “I have too much stuff. It wouldn’t fit in the other room, so I had to put it here.”

Zhang Lehuan walked curiously to the adjacent master bedroom, looked inside, and was puzzled: “The master bedroom is clearly so spacious!”

“…Fu Linling and I have different schedules. I usually finish wiping my face in here before going back to sleep,” Lin Ran told a small lie, subconsciously looking at Fu Linling.

Fu Linling nodded, then took Zhang Lehuan to the washroom.

Lin Ran breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled a clean set of pajamas for Zhang Lehuan from the closet and, while the cousin was in the shower, pulled Fu Linling over for an emergency meeting: “Tonight… should I sleep in your room?”

“It seems we have no choice,” Fu Linling said with a serious expression.

Lin Ran pursed her lips, looked up, and asked: “Then I’ll bring a few dolls over. You don’t mind, do you?”

“I don’t mind.”

Lin Ran casually grabbed a few dolls and placed them on Fu Linling’s bed, taking a moment to carefully examine her room.

She rarely lingered in here. She looked at the large bed, adjusted the position of the dolls, and was satisfied only after several attempts.

“You can shower in the room too,” Fu Linling suddenly said from behind her.

“Oh, right.” Lin Ran turned around, feeling self-conscious. “You go first. Don’t you need to sleep early?”

“It’s fine. It’s still early,” Fu Linling said.

“Okay then.” Lin Ran returned to her room to get her own pajamas and went to the master bedroom’s bathroom.

There were even fewer items on the vanity—just a few simple cleansing products and an unopened box of face masks. Lin Ran checked the expiration date; they were about to expire.

She finished showering and went out with wet hair, but Zhang Lehuan wasn’t finished yet, and the hairdryer was in the other bathroom.

She had one too, but it was in the utility box and she hadn’t taken it out. Now, she was too lazy to look for it, so she walked to the living room to sit and wait for Zhang Lehuan to come out.

Fu Linling looked at her, put down her laptop, and went back to her room to grab a dry towel: “Wipe your hair.”

Lin Ran placed the towel on her head and rubbed it twice. Her phone buzzed. She picked it up and replied to a message.

A moment later, she realized Fu Linling had taken the towel and was now drying her hair for her. She instinctively slid down onto the carpet, sitting cross-legged in front of Fu Linling.

Fu Linling thought the carpet had been an excellent purchase.

She dried the hair gently and meticulously. Her gaze inadvertently lifted, and she saw the messages on Lin Ran’s screen, which seemed to be discussing the skiing trip.

She glanced at the contact name—Liang Qingbo.

This must be that old friend.

“Have you booked the flights?” Fu Linling asked.

“Not yet. Qingzi said she’d book them. She’s still traveling abroad, so I have to wait for her message,” Lin Ran said.

“Do you go to New Zealand every summer?”

“Mhm. For skiing, New Zealand is great in the summer. In the winter, I’ve been to Hokkaido, Switzerland, and Canada.” Lin Ran said.

“When did you learn to ski?”

“In college. Qingzi learned first, and she got me hooked,” Lin Ran said.

It was a shame Fu Linling had to work, otherwise, she could take her along.

“Be careful. The orthopedics department at the hospital is always busy in the winter. The end of skiing is orthopedics,” Fu Linling warned.

Lin Ran laughed: “Qingzi has been to orthopedics a few times before. She’s more daring than I am, always trying to cut through the small woods, do jumps, and challenge all sorts of high-difficulty moves.”

As they spoke, Zhang Lehuan finished her shower and came out. Seeing the two of them in the living room drying hair, she exclaimed: “Agh, my eyes are blinded!”

“Stop exaggerating,” Lin Ran laughed.

“I’m not exaggerating. Just look at how mushy you two are.”

“Mushy? She’s just helping me dry my hair.”

“I’ve never seen my dad dry my mom’s hair,” Zhang Lehuan countered.

“Those old fogeys of theirs don’t know how to be considerate.”

“Ha! So you admit your sister-in-law is being considerate of you!”

Lin Ran choked, looked back at Fu Linling, her face slightly flushed. She got up and walked toward the bathroom: “Go, go, go. Why did you take so long? I couldn’t even get the hairdryer.”

A moment later, the sound of the hairdryer came from inside.

Zhang Lehuan walked over and sat on the sofa, smiling at Fu Linling.

The two exchanged helpless looks.

Without Lin Ran there, both felt a bit awkward, unsure what to talk about.

Fortunately, Lin Ran finished drying her hair quickly. She ran back to her room, grabbed the box of almost-expired face masks, and handed one to each of them: “We have to use these before they go to waste.”

The three of them sat on the sofa with their masks on. Zhang Lehuan and Lin Ran quietly discussed where they would go for the next few days.

Fu Linling focused on writing her paper. When it was nearly eleven, she closed her laptop: “I’m going to bed first. You two should get some rest soon too.”

“Okay, Sister-in-law, goodnight,” Zhang Lehuan said.

Lin Ran watched her go into her room. After the light went out, she urged Zhang Lehuan to go to sleep quickly, then drew for a bit before tiptoeing into the master bedroom.

Guided by the faint light from her phone screen, she carefully lay down on the bed.

The air conditioning was running. She pulled open a corner of the blanket and quietly slipped under it. Her hand searched the bed for a moment, found a doll, hugged it close, and closed her eyes.

The person next to her suddenly moved.

“…Ran Ran?”

Lin Ran heard Fu Linling’s soft, groggy voice and answered: “Mhm. Did I wake you up?”

“No.” Fu Linling pulled the blanket up a bit and patted her, saying sleepily: “Sleep. Goodnight.”

In the darkness, Lin Ran blinked at the ceiling and whispered: “Goodnight.”

The next day, the alarm went off.

Fu Linling reached out and turned it off. She was about to pull open the curtains but, for some reason, looked back. Lin Ran was lying on the other side, sleeping soundly.

The sound of the alarm hadn’t bothered her at all.

She was sleeping on her side, hugging a doll, but her legs were outside the blanket. She was wearing a sleep dress, and the hem had ridden up to her upper thighs, leaving both legs clearly exposed.

Fu Linling carefully lifted a corner of the blanket and covered her legs.

Next door, Zhang Lehuan was also still asleep.

Fu Linling made two extra sandwiches for them to eat when they woke up.

In the morning, the Department Chief brought the new colleague into the clinic room and introduced her to everyone.

Fu Linling extended her hand to the new colleague in a friendly gesture: “Welcome.”

Feng Ming smiled: “Senior, please guide me.”

Feng Ming’s clinic room was next door. She specialized in restorative and cosmetic dentistry. With the increasing domestic demand for this area in recent years, the hospital had decided to expand its staff.

At lunchtime, Fu Linling finished her shift and waited in the clinic next door for a while before Feng Ming hurriedly took off her lab coat: “I’m sorry for the delay.”

“It’s normal for the first day. There are many trivial things. You’ll get used to it.”

The two went to the cafeteria, where their colleagues, not seeing Lin Ran, inquired about her whereabouts.

“She took her cousin out to play,” Fu Linling explained.

Qin Shanshan saw her entering and exiting with Feng Ming and chuckled: “Dr. Fu’s social skills have greatly improved lately! You’ve made friends with the new colleague so quickly.”

Feng Ming glanced at Fu Linling and smiled sweetly: “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

“Really?” Qin Shanshan was surprised.

“She’s my Senior Sister.”

“Oh, well, that explains it!”

When their shift ended in the evening, Fu Linling invited Feng Ming to their place for dinner to celebrate her first day of work.

Feng Ming politely declined: “Thank you for the thought. I won’t intrude on your alone time, and my mother came to visit today.”

Fu Linling returned home and prepared the ingredients. After receiving a message from Lin Ran, she started cooking. The food was nearly ready when the two cousins returned.

“Oh, my god, I’m exhausted! Zhang Lehuan, don’t ever ask me to do something like this again.” Lin Ran dragged her tired body and flopped onto the sofa, complaining weakly.

“It was mainly just too hot today. I didn’t realize it would be this hot,” Zhang Lehuan said, also quite tired.

The two had gone hiking that afternoon. Under the scorching sun, they nearly suffered from heatstroke.

“Rest for ten more minutes, then you can wash up and get ready to eat,” Fu Linling called from the kitchen.

Lin Ran signaled “OK” and lay on the sofa like a dead pig, completely motionless.

Zhang Lehuan rested for a few minutes, then went to wash her hands. She went into the kitchen to help carry the dishes, showing great awareness.

“Cousin, your stamina is so average. I actually thought that as a skier, a small hill like that would be nothing to you,” Zhang Lehuan couldn’t help but tease at the dinner table.

“I have flat feet!” Lin Ran found a perfect excuse for herself. “Besides, are skiing and hiking the same? One is rushing down, the other is climbing up. One is in freezing weather, the other is in scorching heat. I felt like I was melting just standing in the sun.”

She really was exhausted today. Lin Ran felt sleepy by just past ten o’clock. She showered and went straight to bed.

Fu Linling finished cleaning up and showered in the outer bathroom. When she returned to the room, she saw Lin Ran on her phone.

“Didn’t you say you were going to sleep?”

“Mmm, just checking messages. I’m about to sleep,” Lin Ran said.

Fu Linling adjusted the air conditioning temperature, lay in bed for a few minutes, then turned her head: “Stop watching short videos. Go to sleep early.”

Caught in the act, Lin Ran awkwardly put down her phone, hugged a doll, and closed her eyes: “Okay. You can turn off the light now.”

In the darkness, Lin Ran couldn’t fall asleep again.

Night owls were most awake in the dark. She didn’t dare toss and turn for fear of disturbing Fu Linling’s sleep. After an internal struggle, she decided to get up and go to the living room to pass the time.

She slowly turned over and accidentally knocked the doll off the bed, making a slight sound.

“Ran Ran, did you fall off?” Fu Linling woke up, startled.

“Not me, the doll,” Lin Ran reached out a hand over the edge of the bed to fish for it, but couldn’t reach it.

“Let’s pick it up tomorrow,” Fu Linling said.

“Okay.” Lin Ran retracted her hand and began feeling around for the other dolls on the bed.

“Do you always have to hug a doll to sleep?” Fu Linling asked curiously.

“Not necessarily always, but I’m used to holding something in my hand,” Lin Ran said.

In her search, a hand suddenly took hers.

“Does holding this work?” Fu Linling whispered softly in her ear, as if sharing a secret.

Lin Ran’s breathing paused for a few seconds before she obediently settled down, no longer searching for the dolls.

The darkness concealed her flushed face, but it couldn’t hide the sound of her rapid heartbeat.

“It works,” she said.