291. The Night Before School Starts
==============================
That night, Lin Nan returned to her rental apartment, looking a bit weary.
After months of not living there, the place should have been dust city; however, when she opened the door, she was greeted with a sparkling clean home! Her mother had gone all-out with a deep clean, organizing everything like a pro, and the floors and surfaces shone like they were bragging about their cleanliness.
Lin Nan was shocked—who knew her mom could actually clean?
At least back in the day, she rarely caught her mom lifting a finger for chores.
In the living room, two cats were cozily snoozing on the tiny sofa while Lin Nan pushed her bedroom door open. There lay her mother, all cozy in her pajamas, sprawled on the bed, glued to her phone and blasting some drama.
“Back already?” her mother turned to grin at her as if she were the one who missed Lin Nan. “Did you have fun?”
“Spent over five hundred on hot pot…”
The joy of eating was overshadowed by the pain of the price tag—thanks to Chen Yao, at least that burden wasn’t on her.
“Five hundred!? For hot pot?”
“That’s about what it costs in our little county, right?!” She rubbed her stomach, lamenting, “The real kicker? I’m still hungry! I had to stuff my face with fried noodles after!”
Her mother glanced at the clock, noticing it was past ten at night.
“Go wash up and get to bed. It’s late,” she nudged.
“Okay…”
But Lin Nan just eyed the bathroom awkwardly, then shot her mother a sheepish glance.
This rental’s bathroom was smack-dab in the bedroom, and it was separated only by a glass partition—a major privacy fail! Even though it was a one-bedroom place, it was more suited for solo living than a mother-daughter duo.
Her mother seemed to take a moment to process this, then got up from the bed and left the room.
It was April, and the temperatures were rising, but Lin Nan hadn’t worked up any sweat outside. With her mom waiting for her, she rushed through her shower.
In just about ten minutes, she emerged with her hair wrapped in a towel and snugged into a fluffy pajama getup.
“Mom, where’d you put the hair dryer?” she called.
“It’s under the TV stand! Oh, and why isn’t there a remote for the TV?”
“That’s a computer monitor…”
Before heading off to school last semester, Lin Nan had left the monitor right on the TV stand. It did kind of look like a TV—if you squinted and believed in magic.
Lin Nan located the hair dryer, but as soon as she plugged it in, her mom swooped in, snatched the dryer, and shoved her onto the sofa.
“I’ll dry it for you.”
“Huh?”
“Your hair always ends up a mess when you do it. You’ve gotta dry it from the roots; otherwise, you’ll end up with split ends.” Her mom grabbed a comb from the coffee table, turned on the dryer, and started styling away while lecturing her.
“As a lady, you can’t be haphazard! You need to get some skincare and sunscreen. Otherwise, you’ll end up like me with spots all over your face when you get older. I’m only forty, but I look fifty!”
“Whoa, sunscreen…” Lin Nan thought it sounded like a chore; she could hardly manage to use face wash daily.
“I didn’t pay attention to these things back in the day either, and look where I am!” Her mother sighed melodramatically, “You have such nice hair though, soft and smooth—all better than most girls!”
“Heading off tomorrow? Aren’t you staying a few days to play?”
“The factory is back up and running. I’ve already taken a couple of days off; I can’t go overboard.” Her mother sighed again, “Chen Yao’s family laid down a hefty ten grand for the bride price! I need to save up a little for your dowry; otherwise, people will say I’m selling my daughter!”
Lin Nan’s face darkened. How did her mother still remember that conversation?
If she hadn’t been backed into a corner with no way out, Lin Nan wouldn’t have painted such a flimsy lie.
“I’ve seen Chen Yao showing up to hang out with you more often lately. You two seem to get along well, huh?” her mother kept chattering, “If you’re fighting, that’s one thing, but if it’s about cheating or major values, you need to spill the beans, okay?”
Her tone shifted to serious: “If it’s not working out, then let it go. Don’t get too attached—wedding bells haven’t rung yet! You don’t want to end up like me, foolishly sinking half your life into something that isn’t right for you—a bride price refund isn’t too hard to come by.”
“I know…” Lin Nan mumbled, gaze dropping. In reality, she wasn’t even sure how she felt about Chen Yao.
She did like him, but it felt more like a dependency, a sense of security—just being around him made her feel at ease and giddy. Sometimes, her heart raced.
Who knows if that could be called love?
Lin Nan was only eighteen and had never been in a relationship; the whole concept still felt blurry.
Her hair was finally dried, and her mother finished styling it. A short-haired beauty stared back at her from the mirror.
Tilting her head, she gazed at her reflection, pouted playfully, and flashed a dimpled smile—was sweet the word she could use to describe herself?
“Time for bed, no more preening. You’re beautiful,” her mother said affectionately while patting her head and putting away the hairdryer. “If you’re running low on money, just call me. I make five to six thousand a month at the factory, and they cover my meals—besides sending you money, I’ve got no other expenses.”
“If you need clothes or makeup, just tell me. Dress beautifully, wear some skirts—don’t wander around looking like a tomboy all the time!”
Lin Nan felt a bit overwhelmed by her mother’s barrage of advice and kept nodding obediently.
She was still getting used to her mother’s lecturing, and after admiring herself a bit longer in the mirror, she followed her mom into the bedroom.
Perhaps it was her shifting mindset towards femininity, or maybe the bed was spacious; sleeping next to her mother didn’t feel uncomfortable this time.
Lying on the innermost side, they turned off the lights, and Lin Nan wasn’t really tired yet. She snuggled up, preparing to catch up on some novels on her phone.
During the pandemic, her biological clock had gone haywire, but the late nights hadn’t made her skin worse or given her any spots.
“Stop playing with your phone and sleep already! You have class in the morning!”
“…”
That reminder snatched her attention to the 8 AM class looming over her. With a jolt, she tossed her phone aside, squeezed her eyes shut, and eagerly tried to tumble into dreamland.
However, after flipping around in bed for two hours, she finally conceded—might as well read until she felt sleepy.
