Chapter 3 No casually. Were you just proposing to me?

When I came out of the office building, it was already dark, and the rain was getting heavier. The hostel owner told me that the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal area from Zhuhai to Zhanjiang that night.

The wind was already strong, and the clouds, which had been loaded with water beforehand, were still being churned and rolled around, losing their shape. The sky looked like a turbulent ink painting being drawn by a grumpy artist.

Zhou Jinqin didn't stop; she opened her umbrella and resolutely stepped into the magnificent rain.

The heavy black umbrella in her hand acted like a stabilizing force in the raging wind, keeping her perfectly still.

Among first-tier cities, Shenzhen is a rising star. Its development from a small fishing village to a megacity has been relatively short, so many of its infrastructure facilities are not yet fully developed. This city is always on the path of actively adjusting and gradually improving.

There are roads that can never be repaired; this is Zhou Jinqin's deepest impression after visiting for the past few days.

For example, the road she's on to the subway station is under construction for several hundred meters, and the uneven surface is severely flooded, inevitably splashing water when electric bikes pass by.

Zhou Jinqin had tried her best to be careful, but she still couldn't resist the wickedness of people. Some people would deliberately speed up when passing by pedestrians on their bicycles and maliciously splash dirty water on them in order to release the pressure they had accumulated in society.

The woman walking in front of her was an old woman who looked to be around seventy years old. Seeing that there was no way to avoid her, and thinking that she could help as much as she could, Zhou Jinqin simply ran forward and blocked most of the way for her.

The old woman, looking at her mostly soaked pants, yelled at the man who hadn't gone far: "Idiot! Didn't you see anyone? Riding an electric scooter and not slowing down, you're going to get yourself killed!"

The old woman kept cursing, and the electric chicken vendors behind her dared not cause any more trouble. Those who had originally intended to imitate her all became obedient. The old woman took the opportunity to quickly pull Zhou Jinqin away from this section of the road.

Stepping into an open space, the old woman pulled out tissues from her bag and began wiping the stains off Zhou Jinqin's clothes. She muttered, "Thank you so much, pretty lady! If it weren't for your help, I would have drowned before the typhoon even arrived."

The old woman spoke very quickly, and since Zhou Jinqin didn't understand Cantonese at all, she could only bite the bullet and guess: "It's okay, Grandma. The umbrella has already covered most of the area, so I'm fine."

Seeing that she wasn't a local, the old woman had to switch to Mandarin: "Well, anyway, thank you so much. I'll definitely buy you a new dress no matter what."

The old lady's Mandarin was very poor, and she spoke haltingly and with great difficulty.

Zhou Jinqin politely declined, saying, "Really, it's not necessary. I can just wash the clothes when I get home. It won't cost much."

“No, that won’t do. Even if I want it washed, I’ll still have to pay for dry cleaning,” the old woman said in a strong voice. “Don’t be shy. I have two buildings that I’m renting out, so I’m not short of money.”

Indeed, one should not underestimate any "simple and honest" local. Zhou Jinqin was speechless.

The old woman wouldn't let her refuse again. She said, "I forgot to bring my phone. Leave me your number, and I'll have my grandson add you later. Tell him how much you spent on laundry, and he'll transfer the money to you."

Unable to resist the other party's enthusiasm, Zhou Jinqin eventually left her phone number with them.

Before the two parted, the old woman repeatedly told her not to refuse: "My grandson's picture is of something that looks like neither a cat nor a dog. Remember that, so don't refuse him by mistake."

Zhou Jinqin was both amused and exasperated: "Okay, don't worry."

After saying goodbye, Zhou Jinqin turned and continued walking towards the subway station.

Just as she reached the entrance to the station, her phone rang; it was her mother calling.

"Hey, you failed the interview, didn't you?" Lü Jianying asked, as if she had expected it.

Zhou Jinqin asked, "How did you know?"

“I called and asked, and they said they don’t want you.” Lü Jianying snorted coldly.

Zhou Jinqin was not surprised at all. She did not hide her itinerary when she came. She told Lü Jianying clearly where she was going, what companies she was interviewing for, and what positions she was applying for. Otherwise, she would not have been able to leave Shanghai so smoothly.

The only unexpected thing was that her mother would rather find the company's phone number on the official website to ask the HR about the interview result than get the answer directly from her.

However, upon closer examination, it becomes quite clear that if a phone call is made under the guise of a parent, even if she performs perfectly in the interview, she will ultimately fail, which is exactly what Lü Jianying wanted.

Fortunately, the interview failure was entirely within Zhou Jinqin's expectations. Her research direction was completely mismatched with the company's, and she had only agreed to the interview to have a reasonable excuse to leave home.

Lu Jianying continued nagging on the other end of the phone: "It's good that I let you go out for a while. Now you know how good it is to be a doctor, right? You had such a good job, why did you have to pursue this so-called freedom? Aren't you stupid? It's only because I love you so much that I let you quit your job and end up like this. Do you regret it?"

Zhou Jinqin remained silent, but Lü Jianying didn't care about her answer. She continued talking to herself, "Let me tell you, everyone's patience has its limits. I'm almost at my breaking point with you. I advise you to come back while I'm still in a good mood and continue being a doctor. That way, we'll both be happy."

Zhou Jinqin opened her mouth with difficulty: "I've already resigned."

"I've already asked your dean, and he said you're welcome to come back anytime you want," Lü Jianying said dismissively.

"I think you should know very well that those were just polite words." Zhou Jinqin walked out of the crowd, the wind whistling in her ears growing louder.

No one in this world is indispensable; the earth won't stop turning just because someone is missing.

Having navigated the complexities of society for so many years, how could Lü Jianying not understand that her self-created dream had been shattered? She lost her mind and became like a raging zombie.

"Then go beg them! Go! Tell them you can't bear to give up these eleven years you've dedicated! Tell them you're willing to be their slave! Tell them you made a rash decision without thinking! Tell them you regret it! Tell them you were wrong!" The voice on the other end was practically shouting at the top of its lungs, "Go!"

"Mom, I don't regret it. I just really can't continue being a doctor anymore," Zhou Jinqin said calmly.

The sky fell silent for a moment, then a violent thunderclap shook the ground.

"You're just running away! I've seen your medical report; it's just some minor issues, not enough to prevent you from becoming an excellent doctor. You're just making excuses!"

Why did you do this? Are you trying to get revenge on me?

"I know my demands on you are a bit too high, but ask yourself honestly, which of my demands wasn't for your own good?"

"I've given you my heart and soul for nearly thirty years. Everyone outside praises and compliments me, so how come you're complaining about me? I've truly raised a heartless wretch!"

Looking at the faint light of the streetlamp, Zhou Jinqin asked earnestly, word by word, "Mom, isn't mental illness considered an illness?"

Suddenly, the thunder fell silent. After a long silence, Lü Jianying, having readjusted her emotions, spoke again: "Fine, even if you're sick and can't continue working, what about marriage? That's something you promised, isn't it? Are you planning to go back on your word?"

"Look at you, all alone, now you've lost your job, how can you manage without someone to take care of you? How can I possibly worry about you?"

“Women will eventually get married when they reach a certain age. Those without a family and children will be despised. Your father is already spineless. If you don’t want him to lose face in front of relatives again and again, you should listen to me and hurry up and find a good man to marry. That way, it will be a relief for both your father and me.”

"Many of the blind dates you went on before were quite eligible. Yesterday, a guy even contacted me, saying he was really impressed with you. You should talk to him more and see if things can develop. If all goes well, it'll be before the new year..."

Zhou Jinqin interrupted her: "I will keep my promise, so don't worry."

Lu Jianying breathed a sigh of relief: "When are you coming back? I'll arrange for you two to meet again then."

Zhou Jinqin made up an excuse: "There's been a typhoon recently, and many flights have been canceled. Let's talk about it later."

"Then I'll have him contact you via WeChat first..."

The other end was still chattering away, but Zhou Jinqin couldn't listen anymore. She heard a faint meow in the wind and followed the sound to find a chubby stray cat behind the standing sign of a dessert shop.

It was a tabby cat, missing its left ear, and all dirty.

Zhou Jinqin simply waved to it, and the kitten came running out, rubbing against her legs.

Due to the typhoon, the surrounding shops closed early, and only a few streetlights were on.

Zhou Jinqin closed her umbrella and sat down on the dry steps. The kitten took the opportunity to climb onto her lap, its round head pressing against her belly as it kept acting cute and affectionate.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the kitten's ears were not congenitally defective. It was unclear whether the defect was caused by human intervention or injuries sustained during fights with other animals while it was a stray. In any case, such affection was not a good thing.

Zhou Jinqin stroked its wet fur and laughed, "We're both so dirty, but neither of us can complain about the other."

She always carries small packages of cat food in her bag. She took out an unused resume, folded it into a cardboard box, and then tore open a bag of cat food and poured it inside.

She patted the cat's bottom, signaling the kitten, whose eyes had already lit up, to go eat. The kitten, however, faced a dilemma: it wanted to eat but was also reluctant to leave its owner. As a result, it ran back and forth frantically, which exhausted it.

With these methods, it's no wonder he's chubby even when he's homeless. Zhou Jinqin was both amused and exasperated.

Seeing that the kitten was too busy to do anything else, Zhou Jinqin simply placed the cat food box on her lap, allowing the kitten to eat while snuggling against her.

The phone buzzed briefly. Zhou Jinqin took her hand off the cat's back to unlock it. It turned out that her mother had already hung up the phone, and the person she had sent was the perfect blind date she had mentioned.

Ms. Zhou, do you remember me? We met on the 3rd of last month.

I think his surname was either Wang or Huang. I vaguely remember him as a university teacher, rather quiet, a very conventional man.

Actually, I had a pretty good impression of you last time, and your mom told me that you also had a good impression of me, which is why I mustered up the courage to contact you again.

Zhou Jinqin scrolled up the chat history and found the polite greetings when they first added each other as friends. It turned out that the other person's name was Zhang Jinsheng, and she couldn't remember what he looked like at all.

I don't mind that you're temporarily unemployed. I've heard you were very capable in your studies and work, so I believe finding another job won't be difficult for you.

I heard that he was also in charge of the career guidance course at the school, and it is said that the school's employment rate was as high as 99% during the years he taught there.

Since you've temporarily put work aside, I assume you're currently focused on marriage. Your family is pressuring you, and frankly, I'm quite anxious too. So, it's highly unlikely we'll have much time for dating. But marriage, in the end, is just about the daily grind; talking about romance at our age isn't realistic. So, I don't think we need that much time to slowly adjust to each other…

The chat window kept showing "typing" and messages kept coming in one after another. Zhou Jinqin got tired of it and turned on "Do Not Disturb" to ignore it.

Marriage is a task she's eager to complete, and she'd like to just find someone to marry, but when the time comes, she can't convince herself to compromise.

She sighed and buried her face in the furry cat's back.

The rain pattered against the eaves, and amidst the rhythm, a sudden, clear male voice broke the silence.

"Grandma, even if we're really going to get married, we need at least one person, right?"

Zhou Jinqin really said goodbye to that man. He strode through the rain wearing jeans with large holes, not feeling embarrassed at all. Instead, he looked like a top model in a high-end outdoor fashion show.

When the man walked up to her, Zhou Jinqin must have been overcome by some kind of impulsive emotion, and she called out to him as if possessed.

"If we're going to get married, could you consider me?"

Her voice trembled, sounding weak and uncertain, like a little girl who thought the sky was falling after making a small mistake.

My grandmother was still rambling on on the phone.

"I met a really nice girl today. I'll give you her WeChat later. When you're thanking her for me, you should also show off a bit. Otherwise, how will you ever get a wife with your skills?"

Liang Minghe had stopped listening long ago. He stopped and turned around to carefully examine the woman sitting on the steps, remaining silent for a long time.

Zhou Jinqin felt uncomfortable under that gaze. She suddenly realized how overstepping and rude her words had been, and she awkwardly tried to apologize: "I'm sorry, please pretend I didn't..."

"Were you just proposing to me?" the man suddenly interrupted her, his beautiful peach blossom eyes filled with a smile.

The words she was about to say caught in her throat. Zhou Jinqin blinked blankly, her voice as light as the wind: "Mmm..."

“I have no objection, but to avoid you regretting it later, I think we need to get to know each other better,” Liang Minghe said. “Shall we go to my house?”

The voice on the other end of the phone seemed to have switched to speakerphone, its intensity penetrating: "Xiaoming, don't mess around! I'm urging you to get married, but that doesn't mean you should just pick anyone and marry them!"

“Nothing casually.” Liang Minghe bowed slightly, his eyes fixed on the woman sitting on the steps. He didn’t reply in Cantonese, as if he were actually speaking to Zhou Jinqin.

The wind picked up, whipping his hair across his forehead, but the figure reflected in his pupils remained motionless. Liang Minghe hung up the phone and moved closer to her, repeating clearly, word by word, "I didn't do it casually."

A note from the author:

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Please do not imitate this in real life; be cautious when getting married. [heart emoji]