According to the typical TV drama progression, the next line would be a housewife screaming at the top of her lungs, “I want a divorce! Divorce!”
However, unexpectedly, Jiang Shiyan wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, he smiled so broadly that he could barely contain it: “Alright, alright, divorce it is. But before we divorce, shouldn’t we first get mar-“
Tang Yang blinked slowly and confusedly, waiting for her to realize what she had just said.
One second, two seconds, three seconds… Tang Yang dove back into bed, rolling twice with the blanket, swiftly cocooning herself like a silkworm.
Completely airtight.
Jiang Shiyan chuckled, “Yang Yang…”
“You didn’t hear the previous sentence!” The little girlfriend shouted, her voice muffled through the blanket.
Jiang Shiyan smiled, “But I did hear it.”
Tang Yang: “You didn’t hear it.”
Jiang Shiyan: “I heard it.”
Tang Yang: “You didn’t hear it!”
Jiang Shiyan: “Come out.”
Tang Yang screamed in a muffled voice: “I refuse!”
Jiang Shiyan pulled at the corner of her blanket, but Tang Yang held on tightly.
Jiang Shiyan had plenty of ways to deal with her. He let go of the blanket and simply sat down beside her: “If you don’t come out, I’ll have no choice but to stay. If Cheng Siran and the others ask, I’ll say Yang Yang is still young and can’t bear to see me leave. That she cries as soon as I go…”
Tang Yang had her ways to counter Jiang Shiyan. She played along, dragging out her voice in a sad, crying tone: “I can’t hear what you’re saying. Speak louder. It’s so uncomfortable wrapped in this blanket. I’m about to die from the heat. I, I…” Tang Yang pretended to breathe with difficulty, “I can barely breathe. My chest feels so tight, so tight…”
Jiang Shiyan knew she was pretending, but his heart softened anyway.
He patted the blanket: “Okay, okay, I didn’t hear anything,” Jiang Shiyan said helplessly. “Baby, come out quickly. Don’t suffocate yourself-“
Tang Yang suddenly threw off the blanket, her ears red, and kicked at him: “Get out, get out!”
She had a feeling that Big Dog Jiang was trying to trick her into marriage just now. He was up to no good!
Jiang Shiyan grabbed her hand and kissed it, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. After smoothing out his fussy little girlfriend’s ruffled feathers, he finally left.
“I’ll bring you some milk foam later,” Jiang Shiyan called out as he put on his shoes in the entryway.
Tang Yang, who had been facing the door playing with her phone, deliberately turned her back to him when she heard him speak.
Jiang Shiyan saw her reflection in the mirror and couldn’t help but smile.
This little temper of hers… tsk.
————
When Tang Yang went to work on Monday, despite her earlier boasting and happiness in front of Jiang Shiyan, she wore a navy blue pantsuit, looking capable and professional. Her skin was fair, her makeup exquisite, and her expression calm and reserved.
As she took the elevator up and down, many colleagues congratulated her. Tang Yang never said things like “Oh, it’s nothing” or “You’re too kind.” She simply nodded in thanks and walked with purpose.
Since Tang Yang had previously acted as the department head when Gan Yiming was absent, this personnel change didn’t cause much disruption in the Credit Review Department.
Just before eleven o’clock, Qin Yue snuck into Tang Yang’s office, skillfully snagged a pack of tissues from Tang Yang’s storage cabinet, walked to the desk, and raised an eyebrow: “Call me daddy.”
See? When Daddy Qin said Tang Yang would get the promotion, Tang Yang got the promotion.
Tang Yang leaned back in her swivel chair, smiling relaxedly: “Grandpa.”
Qin Yue, satisfied, straightened the hairpin on top of Tang Yang’s head.
After chatting for a bit, as Qin Yue was about to leave, she remembered something. “Oh, right,” she walked back to Tang Yang’s side and said in a low voice, “My sister said Wei Changqiu and Gan Yiming are in the process of divorcing. Not sure when the paperwork will be finalized.”
Tang Yang: “The divorce is certain, but it’s unclear what Gan Yiming will get.”
Will Wei Changqiu give him something, or…
Qin Yue looked at Tang Yang and mouthed four words.
Leave with nothing.
Tang Yang was slightly surprised. Was Wei Changqiu being so thorough?
Their eyes met, exchanging silent communication.
In the quiet moment, there were three knocks on the door.
Tang Yang: “Come in.”
Fan Linlang pushed open the slightly ajar door, carrying a stack of documents: “What are you two chatting about? Seems like you’ve been talking for quite a while.”
“Deputy Qin was talking about London’s ghostly weather,” Tang Yang joked, changing the subject as she took the documents. “What’s this?”
Fan Linlang explained: “There have been quite a few changes in the Credit Review Department this time. The person in charge has moved, several people have left the outer office, and several new ones have come in.” Fan Linlang said, “The secretary’s office upstairs has instructed us to organize some team-building activities to liven up the atmosphere. It’s scheduled for this Friday. I searched online and wrote up a few alternative proposals. You and Deputy Qin can take a look at how to arrange it.”
Having worked with Tang Yang for nearly half a year, Fan Linlang knew that Tang Yang reviewed proposals more meticulously than Gan Yiming, so the proposals she wrote were much more detailed than those she used to write for Gan Yiming.
Tang Yang and Qin Yue reviewed the budget, time, and specific content. Tang Yang also asked for opinions from other colleagues before finalizing one of the options with Qin Yue.
This time, along with Tang Yang’s promotion, there were other changes: Gan Yiming’s predetermined disciplinary action of a “lifetime ban from entering the banking industry,” Qin Yue joining the Jiujiang special case for supervisory work, and Fan Linlang filling Tang Yang’s vacancy by being promoted to deputy department head.
However, unlike Tang Yang’s previous role as a management trainee, which involved professional and technical responsibilities, Fan Linlang’s main responsibilities were in party affairs and office administration.
She had been on this floor for nearly five years, unmarried and childless, approaching thirty before getting her first promotion. Her expression could barely conceal her joy.
Fan Linlang usually wore understated white earrings, like pearls, but today she had changed to ruby earrings, brightening her entire appearance.
Tang Yang had noticed this.
After discussing business matters, Tang Yang naturally complimented her: “Looks nice.”
Fan Linlang tilted her head following Tang Yang’s gaze, hesitantly touching her earrings: “Really?”
Qin Yue agreed with Tang Yang: “Looks good.”
Since Qin Yue’s arrival at the Credit Review Department, she had always seemed out of place with everyone else. It wasn’t outright hostility or cold war, but rather a gap in their upbringing. For instance, when other colleagues discussed which car offered the best value for their savings, Qin Yue’s handbag alone cost as much as a car. When colleagues ordered takeout for lunch for twenty or thirty yuan, inviting Qin Yue to join, she would say she was picky and then order an afternoon tea from Youran Residence for one or two thousand yuan.
Fan Linlang had worked with Qin Yue for several years, but the words Qin Yue had spoken to her might not add up to as many as Qin Yue spoke to Tang Yang in a single day.
Hearing Qin Yue also compliment her, Fan Linlang lowered her head with a slightly awkward smile, a flicker of an unidentifiable emotion in her eyes.
The Credit Review Department had organized many team-building activities before, but usually on weekends. Having a team-building activity on a workday was almost like getting a day off, so everyone seemed to have something to look forward to this week.
————
On Friday morning, Tang Yang set an alarm and got up promptly at seven o’clock.
Outside, the sky hadn’t fully brightened yet, still a bit gloomy. She sat at her dressing table, putting on her necklace and touching up her face. Jiang Shiyan stood beside her, his bathrobe wide open, yawning while frantically stuffing things into her bag.
Wet wipes, snacks, cash, an umbrella… and candy.
Tang Yang caught a glimpse and couldn’t help but laugh: “I’m going for team building, to accompany kids at the welfare home and draw pictures. I’m not going on a spring outing…”
Seeing Jiang Shiyan’s “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you” rascal-like expression, Tang Yang gave up while patting her face: “Alright, alright, pack whatever you want. Just don’t make it too heavy, I can’t carry that much.”
Knowing she couldn’t carry too much, Jiang Shiyan only chose essential items.
But it’s the same all over the world. When a little daughter is about to go out, the old father picks this and that, wishing he could tie himself to the butterfly knot on top of his precious daughter’s head and go along with her.
The team-building activity at the welfare home, where they would accompany children in drawing pictures, was chosen partly due to budget considerations. Additionally, Linjiang City Welfare Home was located at the urban-rural boundary of the Second Ring Road, with fewer people, fewer cars, and better air quality, allowing for a nice outing.
Fan Linlang had already communicated with the welfare home a few days ago.
On Friday morning, when the colleagues arrived by bus, it was around nine o’clock.
Several three-story buildings stood on the hillside. The curtains inside were made of soft, colorful fabric, and the exterior was freshly painted. The surrounding walls showed some age, with the character for “city” in “Linjiang City Welfare Home” missing a stroke. The gate was covered with a layer of ivy, and the ground on both sides was covered with patchy white lime.
A dozen children were lined up at the entrance. When they saw people coming, they sweetly called out in unison: “Welcome, big brothers and big sisters.”
Many colleagues didn’t have children of their own and were instantly charmed.
The colleagues brought out gifts for the children. Some had forgotten to bring gifts, but Tang Yang had arranged for Fan Linlang to buy some in advance.
After the children finished their childish introductions, Tang Yang, Qin Yue, and a few others met with the deputy director of the welfare home and the aunties who cared for the children—the director was in the city buying supplies and wouldn’t return until the afternoon. These children ranged from three to thirteen years old, most with physical disabilities or cognitive impairments. While other children attended school, these learned to read and draw from the welfare home aunties, living simple and happy lives.
Tang Yang turned to look at the children and noticed a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy standing next to them. He hadn’t greeted everyone earlier and remained silent now.
The boy was nearly 180 cm tall, wearing a black T-shirt and tattered jeans that weren’t dirty. His exposed left arm bore a winding scar, while his right arm was tattooed with an exaggerated but unidentifiable plant.
As Tang Yang observed him, he had one hand in his pocket and was playing with a lighter in the other, wearing an expression of utter boredom that would have been called “non-mainstream” in Tang Yang’s middle school days. Perhaps because the boy’s appearance was truly handsome, the first word that popped into Tang Yang’s mind was “gloomy.”
A welfare home auntie noticed who Tang Yang was looking at and explained with a mix of disdain: “His name is Shi Jin, he’ll be sixteen at the end of the year. He has a bad temper, ranks at the bottom in school, often skips classes, fights, smokes, drinks, and breaks things.” She leaned close to Tang Yang’s ear and whispered, “I heard he often hangs out with those hooligans outside, getting into fights and stabbing people. So young and already going down the wrong path. Look at that scar on his hand, oh my.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” the deputy director of the welfare home silenced the auntie with a glance, then offered Tang Yang a gentler explanation, “Shi Jin was already fourteen when he came here. He indeed doesn’t fit in well.” There was a slight crack in his words too.
Most children like this have experienced upheavals and haven’t moved past them.
Tang Yang understood the reasoning, but she wasn’t a philanthropist, not responsible for saving troubled youth. She was here today just for team building.
Qin Yue, however, kept staring at the boy. Tang Yang chatted with the person in charge for a bit, then noticing Qin Yue’s loss of composure, she gently tugged at Qin Yue’s clothes.
Qin Yue cleared her throat and looked away. Tang Yang’s gaze fell on the scar on the boy’s arm, and she unconsciously felt a sense of distance.
Fortunately, the other children were well-behaved and sensible. Tang Yang spent some time drawing with the children, and her expression brightened amid their laughter.
As noon approached, the Credit Review Department staff set up a frame to roast two whole lambs. The children, accompanied by music, held hands and danced an awkward tap dance.
Perhaps because Tang Yang had given out many snacks earlier, they lingered around her a bit longer. Tang Yang smiled, her eyes curving, holding a freshly washed green onion in one hand and recording a video for Jiang Shiyan with the other.
[Baby: Aren’t they adorable!!]
Jiang Shiyan called Tang Yang back. She put down the green onion and went outside the wall to answer.
“Do you like children?” Jiang Shiyan asked gently over the phone.
Tang Yang thought for a moment: “I like children who are pretty and well-behaved. I don’t like naughty kids.”
Jiang Shiyan: “Me too. I prefer little girls over little boys. I feel like little boys are all very mischievous when they’re young.”
Tang Yang smiled: “Were you mischievous when you were little?”
“I should have been very sensible all along.”
As soon as Jiang Shiyan said this, Tang Yang knew it was a lie.
“Then I should have been more sensible than you.”
Tang Yang, who used to sneak out to internet cafes in her first year of high school, said this, and Jiang Shiyan also knew it was a lie.
But lies always make people feel happy, or maybe because it’s the other person saying them, even lies seem incredibly cute.
Jiang Shiyan asked her what she had done and what she planned to eat. Tang Yang answered each question.
After chatting for half a minute, Jiang Shiyan suddenly thought of something: “There was a pregnant woman who had an incident at the hospital before. The hospital came to buy marketing. Giving birth must be very painful, right?” Jiang Shiyan frowned.
Tang Yang said: “I’m afraid of pain.”
Jiang Shiyan said: “Actually, I don’t particularly like children either. Let nature take it… you’re afraid of pain, we don’t have to have children if you don’t want to.”
Tang Yang: “But I’m an only child, and you don’t have many family members either. It feels strange not to have children.”
Both sets of parents would have opinions about that.
Jiang Shiyan seemed to know what Tang Yang was thinking.
“It’s okay,” Jiang Shiyan comforted her, “I’ll make a fuss with my mom and it’ll be fine. My mom is unreasonable, but I’m even more unreasonable. She can’t do anything about me.”
Tang Yang pouted: “But I don’t dare to make a fuss with my mom.”
Jiang Shiyan took responsibility: “Then I’ll go make a fuss. If they want to hit or scold someone after that, let them come at me.”
Tang Yang plucked a leaf from the ivy and held back a laugh: “Why don’t you just say you’ll climb a mountain of knives and dive into a sea of fire?”
“Yang Yang would miss me, of course,” Jiang Shiyan continued with his playful words, “But if Yang Yang doesn’t mind, it’s not impossible.”
“…”
After chatting about this and that for quite a while, Tang Yang’s little face was flushed red from the sun.
After hanging up the phone, as she walked back, she suddenly realized—
She had just casually complimented the welfare home children for being cute, what was he thinking about? Who wants to have children with him, hey!!
But if they got married in the future and had a child.
Then Tang Yang would choose a boy, who looked like him, handsome, white, and chubby, like a rice dumpling from a New Year’s painting, smiling and throwing himself into her arms, calling “Mama” in a soft voice…
The breeze on the hillside caressed her face, making her feel warm and tingly.
Tang Yang’s throat unconsciously bobbed, and she raised her hand to scratch her flushed ear, but quickly withdrew her small hand from the heat.
Inside, a sunshade had been set up in the open space.
Qin Yue saw Tang Yang return with her apple-red face and glanced outside the canopy: “Is it that hot?”
The Head of Department Tang nodded, pursed her lips, and said with particular conviction: “You’ll know if you try it.”
————
During lunch, the deputy director sat with Tang Yang and a few others, sharing many stories.
The deputy director said he used to be a substitute teacher at a private elementary school and came to the welfare home because he felt sorry for these children. This welfare home was built with investment from Jiujiang (followed by a long string of names), but shortly after he arrived, there was a nationwide wave of layoffs. Jiujiang couldn’t manage their cash flow and couldn’t even pay salaries.
When Tang Yang heard about Jiujiang, she asked a couple more detailed questions.
But that was ten years ago, and the deputy director couldn’t remember clearly, so Tang Yang didn’t pursue it further.
The deputy director had a couple of drinks and talked about carrying a child with a fever ten miles in the middle of the night, treating a child’s burn with egg white, and how after Jiujiang stopped funding the welfare home, a kind-hearted person would send money every year at the beginning of the year, enough to cover the welfare home’s expenses for a year.
It used to be over a hundred thousand, later it became over a million. Occasionally, when a child had an emergency, he would also provide money for urgent needs.
In the early years, the government wouldn’t manage welfare homes built by enterprises. The deputy director, after a couple of drinks, became emotional towards the end: if it weren’t for that kind-hearted person, the welfare home would probably have collapsed long ago, and so many children would have been left homeless…
After several rounds of drinks, a welfare home auntie helped the drunk deputy director upstairs. Tang Yang stopped one of them to ask for details about the benefactor.
The auntie shook her head: “He never leaves his name,” she thought of something and whispered in Tang Yang’s ear, “But I once saw a deposit slip or something he sent, the kind you can use to withdraw money. His name seemed to have a ‘zi’ and a ‘xi’ in it.”
The auntie spelled it out in pinyin.
Tang Yang wrote “Z” and “X” on Qin Yue’s palm. Qin Yue pondered for a moment, then said with certainty: “That benefactor’s surname is Zhe, given name Xue, called Zhe Xue (Philosophy).”
She was talking nonsense with a straight face.
Tang Yang laughed and raised her hand to hit her.
The Linjiang City Welfare Home wasn’t very commercialized. The children rarely met so many big brothers and sisters, so they were too excited to nap. The aunties indulged them this once.
Qin Yue, uncharacteristically, organized interactions between colleagues and children, though she kept glancing at the boy who was fiddling with the lamb skin nearby.
Qin Yue always had a plan when she did things, so Tang Yang didn’t expose her.
Fan Linlang and a few others started playing jump rope, Ao Siqie was making clay figures with a child, and the “Eagle Catching Chicks” game was short an eagle.
Qin Yue officially recommended Tang Yang, who agreed. Seeing her colleagues laugh, she was puzzled.
Qin Yue said: “Everyone has to bend over to run as the eagle. Tang’s height is just right.”
Tang Yang suddenly froze, pointed a finger, and quickly found a scapegoat: “Get Ao Siqie! Ao Siqie is young, and she’s not even 160cm tall!”
Ao Siqie came over frankly and stood back-to-back with Tang Yang.
Although she wasn’t 160cm tall, she was taller than Tang Yang.
Tang Yang looked at Ao Siqie, then at the 13-year-old “mother hen” who was about the same height as her, let out an “Oh,” and accepted her fate with a dejected face.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Although it wasn’t yet summer in May, cicadas were already chirping in the afternoon. The warm sunlight gilded the wide grass outside the welfare home.
Away from performance evaluations and office buildings, everyone felt relaxed, and laughter kept echoing in the warm breeze.
Tang Yang let go of her inhibitions when playing. She occasionally went to the gym and had worn sneakers today as Jiang Shiyan suggested, but her combat power was still far behind the children’s. After running wildly for nearly half an hour, Eagle Tang hadn’t caught a single chick, her voice was almost hoarse, and her back was half-soaked with sweat.
Tang Yang called Ao Siqie over to watch the children, then gulped down half a bottle of water and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
The bathroom was behind the main building, quite a distance from the lawn where everyone was.
Tang Yang’s face was red and hot from running, and she was still panting as she walked. She had been laughing for so long earlier that even after walking nearly fifty meters, the corners of her mouth were still slightly upturned.
Tang Yang fanned herself with her hand, and the further she walked, the more distant the noise behind her became.
As she passed a corner, silence fell.
Tang Yang sensed something, and the expression on her face gradually froze. Her steps became slower and slower, and then, she stopped at the door of the women’s restroom.
Behind her, someone was following.
Seeing her stop, the person following closely behind also stopped.
The two people were about a meter apart, neither moving first, neither speaking.
In the tense silence, Tang Yang felt a bit scared but tried to stay calm. Her chest rose and fell, and the palm of her hand hanging at her side uncontrollably broke out in a thin sweat.