"The union is having a dinner party this weekend."
"Okay, I've got it."
My phone rang, and the caller ID showed Zhang Qian's number.
This girl needs to be dealt with ruthlessly.
"I'll pick you up from get off work later. Okay, that's all for now, goodbye." After hanging up the phone, I noticed that Dr. Du was still following behind me.
"Is something the matter?" I asked.
"Can't you just stop and let me finish what I have to say?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." I stopped in my tracks.
"The union held a dinner party, and everyone agreed that no one was allowed to bring a companion."
"Okay, I've got it."
After making my rounds, I went to my office to retrieve another "red bomb" (a form of wedding invitation) and headed to the urology department on the fourth floor.
Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian
I picked up Dongdong early on Friday afternoon, before the other children went to sleep.
Get a membership card, take Dongdong, and stroll along Huaihai Road three times.
Who says only Victoria Beckham is a hot mom?
Dongdong and I were wearing matching mother-son outfits, one big and one small, and each of us had a pair of sunglasses on our noses.
"Mommy, I want an ice cream cone." This was the only request the little guy made after he came out. How could I possibly refuse such a simple request?
"Okay, if you want to eat a rocket, Mom will buy it for you."
We each held an ice cream cone, but the little guy ate slowly, and the ice cream started to melt. Before he could react, I snatched the cone from his hand and switched it with mine.
He chuckled to himself, thinking that if he didn't tease him now, he wouldn't have the chance when he grew up.
When I was pregnant with him, I always imagined that my son would grow up to be a great man like Einstein or a musician like Beethoven. But after he was born, for the first three years, whenever I took him out on the street, people would blurt out, "Your daughter is so beautiful!" "What a delicate child!"
My son isn't a sissy. For the next three years, I replaced all the children's movies in our house with war movies, hero movies, epics, spy movies, and action movies. For his sake, I watched far fewer romance movies.
Never forget that children have a very strong ability to imitate!
My son is definitely not effeminate, there's no doubt about that. Since he started kindergarten, there haven't been any major incidents, but there have been constant minor ones. He's either fighting, bullying girls, or disobeying the teachers.
His personality is extremely extroverted, to the point that it's unbearable.
Like now, he's feeding ice cream to a little girl he's only known for less than five minutes.
Drag this shameless little pervert away; he's embarrassed me more than once or twice.
I spent the afternoon browsing and bought some designer goods I'd always dreamed of owning. Then I found a bookstore to cleanse my soul.
The little guy tugged at my arm, refusing to go into the bookstore no matter what.
In that instant, I saw that he would definitely be a bad boy who didn't like studying in the future. I had a feeling that I wanted to kill him.
If I had nipped that tadpole back then, I wouldn't have so many troubles now.
"Mom, I'm hungry."
We found a Western restaurant nearby. I'd been wanting to eat Western food for a while, so today I brought my son here to try it out.
The waiter, wearing white gloves, handed me the menu. I flipped through it; more than half was in English. I read a few pages with apparent seriousness. I wondered how I could subtly ask the waiter which dishes were good without embarrassing myself.
"Mother!"
"Sit down, sit down."
"Mom, look, it's behind me." My son pointed behind me.
I turned around. Ah, it's my aunt.
She looked at her son, then at her aunt.
I apologized to the waiter with the only English phrase I knew, picked up my son, and walked towards the aunt's table.
The aunt was dressed like a wealthy lady, her hair was piled high, and she was chatting and laughing happily with her friends.
"Do you know what to say later?" I asked, pinching my son's bottom.
"Know!"
"Okay, go!" Three meters from the target, he dropped this little human "bomb".
As expected, the little human "bomb" lived up to expectations and completed its mission admirably.
"mom!"
I haven't called her "Mom" in years, but I can't believe I can still say it so naturally. Even an Oscar wouldn't be this good.
My aunt's expression was exactly what I expected, but experience counts, and she immediately grabbed my hand and called me "my dear daughter." Her friends even praised her for her excellent maintenance, saying that she looked so young even though her daughter was so grown up, and that she and I looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.
They weren't mother and daughter to begin with, and they weren't that much apart in age.
Finally, I left the little human "bomb" behind as a "hostage" and made my escape.
The son kept calling her "Grandma" and even threw himself on her and wouldn't let go.
I gave my son a thumbs up.
Next time, we should let another grandfather try this trick too; maybe the son's New Year's money will double.
Since there was no Western food available, I walked to the bookstore entrance.
Before going in, I sent a message to my father, telling him that Dongdong was with his aunt.
I think if my son loses even a single hair, I'll make your whole family pay. You'd better take good care of them.
I stuck out my tongue. Turns out I'm cut out to be a bad woman too.
In the bookstore, I picked out a few books on fashion design, as well as some fashion magazines and trend information.
Anqi
I drove to the bookstore to pick up Zhang Qian, and she finally agreed to come with me to a dinner party later.
Zhang Qian wasn't as fragile as I'd imagined; sometimes, she was quite strong. I actually wished she were more fragile, so it would be easier for me to penetrate her. Penetrate? I pondered that word carefully.
It's good, I quite like it.
I'm afraid I won't be able to hold onto her. Her strength makes her unnecessary to have a man, and her strength enables her to accomplish many things in life that require a man's cooperation.
I think there are some things she still needs me for. For example, sex. For example, being a driver. And for example, being a father.
Anqi
Anqi
Inside the car, I kept stealing glances at Zhang Qian beside me. She was beautiful, but for some reason, I felt a vague unease.
She was touching up her makeup with a powder compact in her hand. The back seat was full of things she had bought.
"Have you received your salary yet?"
"No."
She was wearing bright red lipstick.
CHANEL's double C logo is like a sword piercing my eyes.
"Does it look good?" she asked, turning her head and pouting her full lips.
"Um"
“You know what? My dad gave me a brown paper bag a few days ago,” she said.
How would I know when you told me about your affairs, or who I am to you?
"And then?" Although it was a boring topic, her voice was nice and pleasant to listen to.
“Inside is…” she stared, drawing out the last syllable, deliberately arousing my curiosity.
"What is it?" I asked, following her curiosity.
"money!"
"money?"
"Hmm," she picked up the mirror and looked at her lips again, tracing a line on her lower lip with her little finger. "They said it was my childhood child support money, a whole bag full. When we got home, we scattered the money on the bed, and Grandpa, me, and Dongdong counted it until midnight but still couldn't count it all."
How could she be that kind of person? It's funny to think about it. When did I start to overthink things so much?
"Have you counted them all?"
"No, I deposited it in the bank the next day. When they counted it, it was 200,000!"
This girl is such a spendthrift.
"Why didn't you tell me about something so important?" I felt a pang of jealousy. This woman is really something; she won't tell me unless I ask.
"Didn't we already say it? Besides, it's not something to be proud of. Do you expect me to keep talking about my parents' little problems all the time?"
"Um"
Thankfully, it was his father. I've actually been wanting to ask her about that man.
Where should we have dinner together?
"It was organized by the company's labor union; they said it was a barbecue."
After parking the car, he put his arm around Zhang Qian and walked into the barbecue restaurant.
Inside the private room, we were the last couple to arrive, and we were inevitably teased. Everyone egged me on, insisting that I reveal where I had picked up this "pretty girl."
I glanced at Zhang Qian's face; she seemed relatively normal.