0066 Night Rose Night.66 (3200+) "Then I'll send the perfume cream you want to you when it arrives."

Ruan Mei pushed open the shop door, and a wave of heat poured in from outside. The mid-July summer heat instantly covered her exposed skin with a layer of wetness and stickiness.

"It's okay. It's so hot out here, don't make a special trip. Just let me know when the goods arrive and I can come pick them up myself, or you can send them to me." The female customer walked outside, looked up at the blazing sun, took out a small parasol and opened it: "Come in, it's hot outside."

"Okay, walk under the shade of the trees. Be careful not to get heatstroke." Ruan Mei sent the guest to the iron gate. The hot summer wind blew the noisy sounds of cicadas on the tree trunks into her ears.

When closing the iron gate, she subconsciously looked at both sides of the road. The heat rising from the ground slightly distorted the distant scene. She squinted her eyes and put her hand on her forehead to block the glaring sunlight. The swaying and mottled shadows of the trees rustled and cast tiny golden spots on the back of her hand.

Not seeing the suspicious car around, she locked the iron door and returned to the air-conditioned shop.

The alternation of cold and heat made her sneeze, which seemed to disturb the cicadas in the tree from continuing to burn their lives. The chirping stopped for a few seconds, and then started again one after another.

He took out a glass lunch box from the refrigerator, which contained the watermelon that Chen Shanye had cut before going out in the morning. Each piece was bright red, and all the black seeds visible to the naked eye had been picked out.

Chen Shanye stays at her place almost every day. Does that count as semi-cohabitation?

I guess so.

There were more and more men's products in the narrow rental house: a razor on the washstand, slippers shaped like boats, dark grey underwear hanging on the clothesline outside the bedroom window, the washing machine rumbling with the T-shirts of the two men entangled together, and a pink sticky note with the words "Ice Watermelon Inside" written in rough handwriting on it stuck on the refrigerator door.

Chen Shanye started working in the fleet this month.

If he had a shift in the morning, he would prepare Ruan Mei's lunch before going out. When Ruan Mei got up, she would just put the lunch in the microwave and have a hot meal.

In the evening after get off work, Chen Shanye would go to the nearby vegetable market to buy vegetables before picking up Ruan Mei to close the shop.

The two of them walked on the hot shadows of the trees, and the sound of cicadas weaved long and short black shadows into the golden sunset that was sinking slowly in the summer.

But Chen Shanye was still renting a house in Tangxia Village, and his contract was due in two months. He thought it was inconvenient that Zhong Mang's single room did not have a washing machine, so he let him continue to use the washing machine for the next two months. When the contract expired, he would see whether Zhong Mang would renew the lease of his house.

If the rent exceeds Zhong Mang's budget, Chen Shanye can also help him pay some of the difference.

The toothpick easily pierces into the smoothie-like flesh of the watermelon. Before putting it in your mouth, spread your left palm at your chin, because when the sharp teeth bite into the chilled watermelon, light red sticky juice will burst into sweet droplets in your mouth.

While eating watermelon, she put the perfume samples that the customer had just tried back on the shelf.

I sent a message to Chen Shanye, asking him if he could make sauerkraut beef tonight. The weather is too hot, and I want to eat something sour and spicy, which will improve my appetite.

After a while, I received a reply: "Okay, I'm going to buy beef after get off work. Have you eaten the watermelon?"

She replied: "I ate it, it's so sweet!"

"Should we continue to buy watermelons or lychees?"

She had been craving for lychees for the past two days.

"I'll do whatever you say!"

"Okay, I'm going to get busy. See you later."

She threw another piece of watermelon into her mouth, and the coolness penetrated into her heart and lungs.

The next customer's appointment is in an hour, and Ruan Mei is preparing to pack the orders to be shipped today.

At this time, a call came in from WeChat.

*

Ruan Mei hadn't been to the hospital for a long time, and the strong smell of disinfectant in the air made her press the soft strip of the mask tighter on her nose.

Normally, she can just take some medicine for minor illnesses like fever and colds, but the last time she came to the hospital, it probably dates back to the time when she had the skin implant.

She asked the nurses' station about the floor of the obstetrics and gynecology inpatient department. It was on the second floor, so she went straight up the stairs.

As soon as I walked out of the stairwell, I saw Xu Ziling sitting on a bench in the corridor with her head down, looking at something.

The black platinum bag was casually thrown on the metal chair, her short and neat hair was neatly tied behind her ears, her long legs were elegantly crossed, and the soles of the high heels on her feet were dark red.

It felt like stepping on a pool of sticky blood.

Ruan Mei walked up to her, bent down, and frowned: "Why didn't you tell me such a big thing?"

Xu Ziling raised her head and pulled down her mask. The light makeup on her face remained intact. She curled her lips and said, "I just found out about this today too."

"I didn't feel anything before?" Ruan Mei knew that Xu Ziling had irregular menstruation for a long time, and it was common for her to not have her period for two or three months, but wasn't there some reaction in the early stages of pregnancy?

Xu Ziling patted the seat next to her to signal her to sit down, forcing a smile. "No, no, drowsiness, morning sickness, or a craving for acid? Damn, nothing. I came to see the doctor today to see why my aunt ran away from home again..."

"Be serious, don't joke." Ruan Mei sat down next to her and patted the back of her hand that was resting on her knees. It was a little cold.

"Oh, it was only after a urine test that I found out I was a mother."

Xu Ziling sat up straight. Her shirt was wrinkled after a whole morning of fiddling with it. She took Ruan Mei's arm and leaned her head on her shoulder. "Let me lean on it."

In the empty corridor, pregnant women or women who had just given birth were walking back and forth to relax, accompanied by their families. The smiles on everyone's face were about to melt in the warmth of the sun.

But the hands resting on his forearms were as cold as if they had been soaked in a lake for a long time in winter.

"Do you know who it belongs to?" Ruan Mei put her other hand on the back of her hand, wanting to give her some warmth.

Xu Ziling looked at the mother leaning against the window across from her, holding her baby, and after a moment's thought, she replied, "I think I have an idea. I dated him two or three times during that time."

"You don't plan to tell him?"

"No need." Xu Ziling smiled and added, "He has a family."

Ruan Mei fell silent.

Xu Ziling has many sexual partners. She doesn't care about their age, marital status, or financial situation. As long as she can be comfortable in bed, it's enough. For her, it's just a fun way to relieve stress. After making love, they walk out of the hotel room and go their separate ways without delaying each other.

The two sat in silence for a while. Xu Ziling stood up, her red-soled high heels clicking against the tiled floor. She straightened her black dress, which hugged her beautiful curves, and spoke in a relaxed voice through her mask, "Let's go check out my ward! My friend finally managed to find me a single room. The environment is pretty good."

Ruan Mei also stood up and followed, asking, "Have you decided to have the surgery tomorrow?"

——Xu Ziling could no longer have an abortion and could only undergo an induced labor.

"Well, I don't want to put it off any longer. I happen to be a little free these past two days, and I have to go on a business trip to Shanghai in a couple of days. If the doctor my friend recommended wasn't too busy, I would have asked her to do the surgery for me today."

The sound of high heels was quick and firm, colliding back and forth in the corridor, hitting Ruan Mei's ears like hammers.

"Wait, you just had surgery, you need to rest well, right? Some people who are more particular need to stay in confinement after childbirth..."

"Where do I have that kind of precious time? Just leaving the company for two or three days is already the limit."

The obstetrics and gynecology department of this maternal and child hospital is well-known, and the wards are always in short supply. For someone like Xu Ziling to get a single ward as soon as she arrived, Ruan Mei didn't know how many favors she had to play.

The single ward is not large, but the pink decoration is very pleasing. The scorching sun irons the pink striped hospital gown at the end of the bed neatly, and the harsh and noisy chirping of cicadas can still be heard outside the window.

Ruan Mei walked over and drew the curtains. She asked, "I'll go to your house and get you some clothes and daily necessities. If you need anything else, send it to me on WeChat and I'll go out and buy it for you later."

"Do you have any cigarettes with you? I've finished all my morning smoke." Xu Ziling asked.

Ruan Mei sighed: "...You are still pregnant, please stop smoking."

Turning around, she saw Xu Ziling holding the scorching hospital gown, rubbing the not-so-soft fabric with her fingers.

The woman who was always confident and decisive, now had a voice that trembled like a cicada's wings: "Please, give me one, the last one."

*

The curtains hid the two sneaky people, and the sun-scorched glass windows were pulled wide open. There was no wind at this time, and the dense leaves of the locust tree drooped lifelessly. The sunlight penetrated the gaps between the leaves, like many flickering fireflies.

Xu Ziling has never been used to Ruan Mei's popping beads cigarettes. She only smokes strong and direct men's cigarettes, and she also has cigars at home. The overly sweet smell of cigarettes makes her feel that cigarettes have lost their meaning.

But it doesn't matter today.

"Did you know? The previous resident of this ward was a woman who was trying to preserve her pregnancy. She started bleeding shortly after becoming pregnant, but she refused to give up and stayed in bed for over six months, eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating in this bed."

Xu Ziling smoked a cigarette, her mood seeming to recover a little. "But we still couldn't save the baby. After the operation, she was bedridden for the better part of a month. She was just discharged this morning. Everyone was vying for a private room, but I ended up grabbing it."

Ruan Mei only gave her a cigarette and didn't smoke it herself. She laughed and scolded her: "You've only been here for a short while, and you already know so much gossip?"

"I overheard a few of the caregivers talking while they were smoking. They described it in vivid detail. They also said that when the woman was discharged from the hospital, no family members came to accompany her. The nanny was always with her."

Xu Ziling took a puff of her cigarette, and when she saw she was almost done, she crushed the beads and continued, "Tell me, why does God like to play jokes on me? Others want children so badly, but he just won't let me have my way, and then he lets me have a child..."

"You really don't consider..."

Ruan Mei had just opened her mouth when Xu Ziling interrupted her: "Don't consider it. This workplace is too hostile to women. Like I said before, there are wolves and tigers under me, all waiting to bite my throat."

Ruan Mei knew how many years and how much blood and tears Xu Ziling had spent to climb to her current position.

She also knew that Xu Ziling was reluctant and couldn't let go.

It was like asking her to give up "Rose Slave" for something; she couldn't do it.

The noisy and sharp chirping of cicadas, the scorching hot sun, the smell of disinfectant and cigarettes in the air, the motionless locust tree leaves, the beads of sweat on her forehead, and the helplessness and sadness in Xu Ziling's words, all made Ruan Mei feel a surge of frustration and boredom in her heart.

The cigarette finally burned to the end. Xu Ziling extinguished the lingering spark in a paper cup and said to herself, "Ruan Mei, you say I've lived for over thirty years, and now I've ended up like this. Isn't that a coward?"