“Okay.”
Lin Zhilan washed her face under the faucet in the yard, changed her shoes, and went into the living room.
Power strips with multiple outlets hadn’t been invented yet, so there was only a simple single-outlet strip in the living room. The only fan that could be used in the living room had been pointed at Linlin, as the two boys silently agreed.
Linlin seemed stumped by a problem, racking her brains, her draft paper already covered in calculations.
Lin Zhilan whispered, “It’s too hot this summer. You two wash your faces and go back to the room to cool off with the fan. Don’t get heatstroke.”
Jiang Chengzhou nodded and took Su Li to shower.
Lin Zhilan didn’t disturb Linlin and went straight to the kitchen.
The snails in the bucket must have just been delivered, still alive.
Lin Zhilan added ginger slices and salt to cold water, dropped the snails in, boiled them until the water just started bubbling, then immediately scooped them out.
The snail meat was tricky to extract.
Lin Zhilan tried using chopsticks but ended up switching to a knife.
Her mind was still on Linlin’s matter, and she wasn’t paying attention—the blade slipped, heading toward her finger.
A hand reached from behind and steadied the knife handle.
“Daydreaming while holding a knife.”
Lin Zhilan turned around. Su Lang had come back at some point.
He must have just washed his face; there were still drops of water on his hair and face, trickling down the ends of his hair, landing coolly on her shoulder.
In a few years, he’d be turning forty. Probably due to Lin Zhilan’s beauty cream that he often borrowed, Su Lang’s features still looked as sharp and relaxed as they did when he was younger.
Maybe it was also because of his profession—the term ‘middle-aged spread’ was far from Su Lang. He was tall and composed, with well-proportioned muscles. At most, he had gained a bit more maturity and steadiness, but otherwise, his appearance had barely changed.
“When did you get back?” Lin Zhilan asked.
“Just now,” Su Lang said, taking the knife. He nudged her slightly aside and started cutting the snail meat. “What were you thinking about just now?”
Lin Zhilan glanced toward the kitchen entrance. “Linlin will start middle school this winter. I’m trying to figure out how to tell her about Zhou Chen.”
Su Lang didn’t look up, continuing to slice the snail meat. “Just tell her directly. I think Linlin is much tougher than we give her credit for.”
Linlin had almost been raised by Su Lang. The little girl had grown from a spoiled baby into the bright and clever girl she was now. Su Lang, like Lin Zhilan, was incredibly proud of their daughter.
He wasn’t like most traditional fathers nowadays, who kept a stern face at home and maintained a distance from their children.
Su Lang learned from his wife to openly show his affection for their child and often accompanied her in games and crafts.
Linlin grew up in love, trusting her parents completely. Su Lang felt that as parents, they should trust her too.
Lin Zhilan told him to slice the snail meat thinner and tilted her head, watching him. “Do you want to join me?”
Su Lang paused, knife in hand, and turned. “Sure. If you two start fighting, I can break it up.”
Lin Zhilan snorted. “Baby and I would never fight.”
On the island, summer nights came late.
Lin Zhilan sent the two boys to buy ice cream and pulled Linlin to sit in the yard to cool off.
Su Lang fanned them from the side.
Linlin noticed Lin Zhilan’s hesitation and spoke up. “Mom, what do you want to tell me?”
“Um... ”
Linlin slumped her shoulders. “Are you going on another business trip? Can you take me this time?”
With the island’s pharmaceutical factory gaining fame, Cheng Qingshan had kept dangling promises. Lin Zhilan had indeed been traveling a bit more in recent years.
When Lin Zhilan wasn’t home, Su Lang and the kids became a left-behind husband and left-behind kids.
The atmosphere at home was completely different when she was there versus when she wasn’t.
Linlin knew she couldn’t hold her mother back from work, but she wished she could go on business trips with her.
Lin Zhilan smoothed Linlin’s freshly washed hair. “It’s not about a business trip this time. There’s something really important I need to tell you.”
“Go ahead,” Linlin said, resting her head on Lin Zhilan’s leg.
Lin Zhilan spoke with a bit of nervousness. “Mom was married before.”
“Mm,” Linlin replied, playing with Lin Zhilan’s fingers.
“You’re not surprised?” Lin Zhilan asked, a little shocked.
“I knew ages ago. I also know Dad isn’t my biological father.”
Su Lang frowned. “Who told you?”
Linlin sat up. “Everyone knows. Even my classmates know.”
Su Lang leaned in, serious. “Has anyone bullied you at school? Said anything mean?”
Linlin thought carefully. “There was one time. He came up to me on purpose and said Captain Su is my stepfather. I said my stepfather is a hundred times better than his real dad, and his dad should be ashamed. Then he shut up.”
Su Lang laughed. “Well done, Baby!”
Lin Zhilan rubbed her daughter’s head. “Why didn’t you tell Mom and Dad before?”
Linlin lifted her chin proudly. “I could handle it myself. Besides, I go to school to study. Their opinions don’t matter to me at all.”
“Sister Shen Man and Sister Nannan are my friends. My brother, my little brother, and my friends—Yan Yuan, Li Xuan—they’re all my friends. Mom and Dad are my friends too. I don’t lack friends. So if they want to be friends with me, they should behave well in front of me.”
Linlin had her younger brother, Su Li, as an obvious show-off.
Whenever Su Li wanted to get under his sister’s skin, he’d purposely act out.
Linlin knew her parents loved her deeply, so the malice in others’ words didn’t affect her at all. She just figured they were trying too hard to get her attention, wanting to play with her.
But Linlin wasn’t interested in playing with them.
How childish!
How boring!
Lin Zhilan thought her daughter was amazing and couldn’t help kissing her on the cheek.
Linlin got a little embarrassed, trying hard to keep a straight face barely suppressing her smile from curling up her lips.
Even though she was so old now, her parents still called her Baby.
Back in third grade, since the other kids no longer considered themselves babies, they found it cringey that Linlin’s parents called her that and made fun of her for being childish.
Children’s instinctive herd mentality made Linlin resistant to the nickname.
She had seriously told her parents to stop calling her Baby, and use her real name instead.
Later, at the end-of-semester awards ceremony, many parents showed up.
Linlin then realized that the other kids’ parents didn’t call them by their names either—they used pet names.
Some of the pet names were pretty funny. Her class even had a full set of “Iron Egg,” “Dog Egg,” and “Second Egg.”
The other kids made fun of the “eggs” in the class, but Linlin was the only one secretly mocking herself.
Changing herself for others’ opinions was just silly.
That very day, she told her parents to call her Baby again.
“Mom, I know you and Dad love me so much,” Linlin said, nuzzling against Lin Zhilan’s hand.
