Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 45

In less than two days, the news that Lin Ran had paid cash in full for a house for the Fu family had spread among all their relatives and friends.

Xu Yanyan was an established old doctor in the city and knew quite a few people, so the news slowly spread throughout the town.

People who came to get medicine would have to ask, “I heard your daughter-in-law bought you a house, paid for in full?”

After asking, they would have to praise their family for being so blessed.

The previous negative comments about the Fu family’s daughter marrying a woman gradually shifted. Initially, people thought it violated human nature and prevented the continuation of the family line.

Now, many believed the government’s policy change also had some merit. As long as the person was capable and outstanding, it didn’t matter if they were a man or a woman; they could still make their lives prosperous. Look at how much the Fu family was enjoying life now, and how well-matched those two girls were.

“People are realistic,” Xu Yanyan said, serving soup to Lin Ran and Zhang Wu. The medicinal broth was specially prepared for them today.

Lin Ran had gotten used to the taste of the medicine from drinking it recently, and Xu Yanyan had added some other ingredients, so it tasted quite savory.

“It’s better to be realistic. Otherwise, these people wouldn’t necessarily approve of us. Anything that can be solved with money isn’t a problem.”

Lin Ran estimated that Xu Yanyan and Fu Shanqing had been mocked behind their backs a lot recently, so she wanted to buy a house for the elderly couple. It was both to provide them with a more convenient home for old age and to help them save face.

Zhang Wu and Xu Yanyan were discussing the new house affairs. Lin Ran was focused on her soup when she suddenly heard someone shouting downstairs: “Fu Linling, Fu Linling!”

“Who is that?” Lin Ran asked.

“I don’t know.” Fu Linling got up and walked to the window. She took a look; it was a former neighbor whom she rarely interacted with.

“I heard you’re back. Got time to eat together?” the neighbor said.

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. How about you? If you haven’t, let’s go out and eat. Bring your wife.”

“We’re eating right now.”

“Then tonight?”

“We’re going to her aunt’s house tonight.”

“Then maybe another day?”

“Mmm.”

Fu Linling sat back down. Xu Yanyan asked, “Are you really going to eat with her?”

Fu Linling shook her head. “Just going through the motions to deal with it.”

“There’s no need to go. You never interacted much since childhood. Every time she brought classmates home, she’d point at you on the way and call you a fatty,” Xu Yanyan said with displeasure.

“How could she do that?” Lin Ran was also displeased.

“Sigh, Yuan-Yuan was chubby as a child. It was all those people who made her feel inferior,” Xu Yanyan sighed with emotion.

“They’re all superficial and short-sighted people. Don’t pay them any mind,” Lin Ran said, turning to look at Fu Linling. Fu Linling smiled.

“If Yuan-Yuan’s former classmates and friends were all people like you, Ranran, that would be wonderful. It’s a pity you two didn’t become good friends back then,” Xu Yanyan said.

Lin Ran also felt a little regretful. Why hadn’t they become good friends back then?

…Wait? Would Fu Linling even tell Xu Yanyan about such minor things?

After eating, the two set off for the aunt’s house with Zhang Wu.

The aunt’s house wasn’t in the city, so it took a while to drive there.

Since the aunt passed away, Zhang Wu and Lin Ran hadn’t been back here, only calling the aunt’s husband on holidays.

The aunt’s husband had received the news early and prepared many fruits and snacks, waiting for their arrival.

“Brother-in-law, long time no see. You still look so young,” Zhang Wu said with a smile.

“Sigh, I can’t keep up anymore. I’m old, my bones aren’t what they used to be, and I can’t do a lot of the work I used to.”

“Your son is already married, so you should be enjoying your retirement.”

“Hardly. I’m not as blessed as you. Ranran is so capable and even found a doctor. That’s wonderful,” the aunt’s husband said, looking at Fu Linling. “Is this the wife Ranran married?”

Lin Ran smiled. “Yes, this is my wife. Her name is Fu Linling.”

“Hello, Uncle,” Fu Linling greeted him.

“Good, good, good. You are all good.”

“Oh dear, don’t just stand there chatting. Bring them in for a drink of water,” a middle-aged woman said, walking over.

This was the aunt’s husband’s new partner, whom he had married last year. She greeted them formally.

Inside the house, Zhang Wu and the aunt’s husband chatted. Lin Ran took Fu Linling upstairs, looking at the furnishings while reminiscing about her life there before. “My aunt was so good to me. Every time I went to school, she’d boil a whole bag of eggs for me. If I couldn’t finish them, she’d tell me to share them with my classmates. Her own son only got one egg a day.”

“I once received an egg from you,” Fu Linling said.

“Really?” Lin Ran was a little surprised. She gave her uneaten eggs to her friends every time and couldn’t remember who she had given them to.

“Yes, I was busy preparing for a competition that time and didn’t have time for breakfast, so you gave me your last egg.”

“Wow, was I starving then?”

“You secretly snuck out to buy a flatbread.”

Lin Ran burst into laughter. “Eating eggs every day can get boring!”

There were photos of the aunt when she was young in the room. Fu Linling looked at them a few times and said, “You two look a bit alike.”

“When I first moved in, the neighbors around thought I was the private daughter my aunt brought back,” Lin Ran laughed. “Once, it snowed, and she came to school to bring me a coat. She couldn’t find me, and the winter wind chapped her face.”

Fu Linling quietly listened to her recollection.

Lin Ran sighed, stroking the aunt’s photo. She said, “Later, I heard she had to ask for directions to find our class. The classmate who pointed the way even gave her a pair of gloves. She wore those gloves whenever she worked afterward. I don’t know who that kind person was.”

Fu Linling thought for a moment and asked, “Was it a pair of pink gloves?”

“How do you know?!” Lin Ran looked at her in disbelief. “Don’t tell me… the classmate who pointed the way was you?”

Fu Linling merely said, “My mom bought me pink, but I didn’t like it.”

Lin Ran rubbed her head in astonishment, then looked at Fu Linling’s head with curiosity. “Why is your memory so good?!”

Fu Linling smiled.

“I can’t remember a lot of things…” Lin Ran said, feeling a little dejected. She felt a sense of inequality in their memories, almost like she was letting Fu Linling down.

“Whether you remember or not isn’t important. Whether you did it or not is what matters,” Fu Linling said, smiling as she put her arm around Lin Ran’s waist, leaning down to touch her forehead. “It’s enough that I remember the kindness you unintentionally showed.”

“Do you remember all the good things people have done for you?” Lin Ran asked.

“Yes, but not many people were good to me.”

Lin Ran suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

Strictly speaking, she hadn’t been exceptionally kind to Fu Linling back then; it was just regular classmate goodwill. She only occasionally spoke up when she couldn’t stand the mockery of others. She hadn’t been as devoted as she was to her other friends.

Yet, Fu Linling remembered those few small gestures so clearly.

It was evident how lonely Fu Linling must have been before.

Lin Ran hugged Fu Linling tightly around the waist and kissed her fiercely, wanting to fill the emptiness of her past. Although it wouldn’t change anything, the urgency of that feeling was profound.

The sound of cracking melon seeds came from the doorway. Zhang Wu, munching on the seeds, was wandering around the room, and happened to stumble upon them making out.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to continue eating or not.

Fu Linling looked up at her in a fluster, and Lin Ran also looked over. Then, as if she hadn’t seen anything, Lin Ran stroked Fu Linling’s face and kissed her again.

Zhang Wu thought, True to my daughter, she has no shame.

Caring for her daughter with a mother’s heart, she closed the door for them, then leisurely went downstairs, pulling the other two into a chat, giving them no chance to go upstairs.

A cool breeze drifted in from the window.

Lin Ran’s legs were tired from standing on tiptoes. She clung to Fu Linling. Fu Linling lifted her and placed her on the desk by the window. Their eyes were level now, and they kissed long and softly.

Lin Ran’s hair blew onto Fu Linling’s face. Lin Ran smiled, gathering her hair to one side with her hand, as Fu Linling kissed her repeatedly: her lips, her neck, her collarbone, inching downward.

Lin Ran leaned her head against the window, her other hand rubbing the top of Fu Linling’s head. Her eyes were hazy. She vaguely watched the sunlight falling on the floor and murmured, “Doctor Fu…”

Doctor Fu looked up at her, then, as if captivated, continued to kiss her lips.

“I really love this autumn,” Lin Ran said.

Fu Linling glanced out the window at the autumn. The trees in the woods were yellow, and the autumn wind stirred the waves of wheat and lifted Lin Ran’s hair.

“Me too.”

“I love you too.”

“Me too,” Fu Linling said as she kissed her again, tenderly. “I really love you.”

Before going downstairs, Lin Ran straightened her messy top and tugged at the neckline to show her chest. “Doctor Fu, look at your courtroom evidence.”

Fu Linling couldn’t tear her gaze away. “If you keep looking, you won’t be able to go downstairs.”

Hearing this, Lin Ran crossed her legs, sat on the desk, and looked at her. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Unfortunately, Fu Linling didn’t get a chance to show what she’d got; the aunt’s husband called them downstairs for dinner.

After going downstairs, Zhang Wu glanced at them, then looked down at the time, wearing a look of admiration.

Fu Linling belatedly felt shy and quickly retreated to the kitchen to help.

Lin Ran, shameless, leaned over and asked how long they had been up there.

“Almost an hour,” Zhang Wu whispered.

“Tsk,” Lin Ran touched her lips. “No wonder my mouth feels swollen from kissing.”

“?” Zhang Wu looked at her in confusion. “An hour of just kissing?”

Lin Ran: “What else? Your mind is impure. You need to be re-educated and reformed.”

Zhang Wu: “……”

The three of them said goodbye to the aunt’s husband after dinner.

Back at home, Xu Yanyan had cooked red bean and Job’s tears soup. She placed the small pot on the table on the first floor. Everyone took a bowl, poured their serving, and sat outside the door, leisurely enjoying the moon while sipping the soup. It was a unique pleasure.

There was a big tree by the roadside where a few neighbors sat, fanning themselves with cattail fans, chatting idly with them.

Occasionally, a passerby would call out, “Yanzi, have you eaten?”

“Yes, are you going dancing?”

“Yep, want to join us?”

“I can’t dance. My limbs are uncoordinated.”

“Then why don’t you prescribe yourself some medicine to fix that.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Lin Ran really liked this atmosphere. It was hard to find such leisure time in Jincheng. At night, people were either tiredly huddled at home or frantically seeking excitement outside. No one had the time to sit down slowly and simply wait for time to pass.

Before long, an elderly grandmother came with a young girl around ten years old.

“Yanyan, the medicine from last time helped a little. Can you write another prescription for this child?” the grandmother asked.

“Of course,” Xu Yanyan went inside to get the medicine and called Fu Linling in to help.

Lin Ran watched the mother and daughter dispensing the medicine inside. They cooperated very well. Xu Yanyan would say the name and dosage of the herb, and Fu Linling would quickly pull open the various drawers, dispense the medicine, and only after Xu Yanyan confirmed it would they wrap it up.

The grandmother paid and was about to leave, but Xu Yanyan stopped her and scooped a bowl of sweet soup for the grandmother and granddaughter.

Lin Ran saw Fu Linling seemingly rummaging through the drawers and went in to ask, “All the medicine is dispensed. What are you looking for now?”

“Checking if any herbs are running low,” Fu Linling said.

Xu Yanyan stood at the doorway and smiled. “Once, we ran out of an herb, and I had to make her run all the way to buy it. Since then, she checks the medicine cabinet whenever she has a moment to ensure I stock up in advance, so she doesn’t have to run errands again.”

Lin Ran laughed. “Since she knows these herbs so well, why didn’t you have her follow in your footsteps?”

“I wanted her to! I had her learn to identify the herbs and their flavors, and she did it all. It made me think she was interested in the profession. Who knew that when it came time to fill out her university applications, she decided on Jinda’s Stomatology program all by herself,” Xu Yanyan said.

“Wow, she didn’t even tell you beforehand?” Lin Ran asked curiously.

“Although she doesn’t talk much, she’s very much her own person. No one in our family is in that field, so I don’t know where she heard about stomatology.”

Xu Yanyan thought for a moment and then smiled helplessly. “Actually, being a dentist is quite good. Things are different now. People prioritize their dental health more, especially in big cities like yours. In our city, it used to be just small clinics, and few people were willing to spend money on their teeth. Her grandmother, at first, heard she was going to be a dentist, looking in people’s mouths all day, and thought it was unhygienic. She kept urging her to study Chinese medicine with me to take over my shop.”

The grandmother, sitting at the doorway, smiled sheepishly, revealing a row of clean, neat dentures.

Lin Ran also smiled. “I heard from Liu Cen that the scores for stomatology are even higher than for clinical medicine now. It’s a popular major! Doctor Fu truly had foresight!”

Xu Yanyan nodded. “Working outside is good, too. If she had stayed in this place her whole life like me, it would have been quite dull, and she might not have married you.”

“Exactly, that was a close call!” Lin Ran looked at Fu Linling, still very curious. “In our class, when everyone talked about their dreams, no one mentioned being a dentist. Your parents definitely didn’t suggest it either. Doctor Fu, how did you suddenly decide to study stomatology?”

Fu Linling finished checking all the herbs and confirmed that no drawers were empty. She turned and looked at Lin Ran’s smile. Her teeth were white, her lips were red, and her front teeth were so beautiful they could be used in a commercial, making her smile even more vibrant.

“I heard someone once say that a dentist can also save a person’s life, and if she could meet a good dentist, she wouldn’t be afraid of toothaches anymore.”