That evening, Lin Nan returned to her rental apartnt sowhat exhausted.
The rental unit, unoccupied for several months, should have been covered in dust, but when she pushed open the door, everything inside was sparkling clean. Her mother had already given the entire place a thorough cleaning, putting everything away neatly, with the floors and surfaces wiped spotless.
Lin Nan was quite surprised that her mother actually knew how to clean.
At least in the past, she had rarely seen her mother do housework.
In the living room were only two cats nestled together sleeping on the small sofa. Lin Nan pushed open the bedroom door to find her mother already changed into pajamas, lying in bed watching TV shows on her phone.
"You're back?"
Hearing the door open, she turned to look at Lin Nan and smiled. "Did you have fun?"
"The hot pot cost over five hundred..."
Although she had enjoyed the al, and Chen Yao had paid, Lin Nan still felt so distressed she could barely breathe.
"That expensive?"
"In our little county town, eating hot pot out also costs about that much?" She rubbed her belly, looking like life had no aning. "The problem is I still wasn't full. I just ate a serving of stir-fried noodles after."
Her mother glanced at the ti and realized it was already past ten at night.
She urged Lin Nan, "Go take a bath and sleep. It's late already."
"Mm."
Although that's what she said, Lin Nan just looked at the bathroom, then glanced at her mother sowhat awkwardly.
The bathroom in this rental was inside the bedroom, separated only by glass with almost no privacy at all. Though it was a one-bedroom apartnt, it was really only suitable for single occupancy.
Her mother froze for a mont, then after a beat, realized what was wrong and got up from the bed to leave the room.
Though it was already April and the temperature had risen, Lin Nan hadn't sweated much outside, and with her mother waiting outside, she tried to speed up her bathing process as much as possible.
In just over ten minutes, she was toweling her hair dry, wearing her fuzzy pajamas as she opened the door.
"Mom, where did you put my hairdryer?"
"Under the TV cabinet. Why doesn't this TV have a remote?"
"That's a computer monitor."
Last sester before leaving, Lin Nan hadn't taken the monitor with her, instead leaving it on the TV cabinet. At first glance, it was indeed easy to mistake for a television. Lin Nan found the hairdryer, but just as she plugged it in, her mother ca over, took the hairdryer from her, and pressed her down onto the sofa.
"Let dry it for you."
"Huh?"
"When you dry your hair yourself it's always ssy. When drying, it's best to dry the roots, otherwise the hair splits easily." Her mother casually grabbed a comb from the table, turned on the hairdryer, and while drying Lin Nan's hair, continued to instruct her.
"From now on you're a girl, don't do things carelessly, and buy so skincare products, sunscreen, otherwise when you get older, you'll end up like with age spots on your face, looking old."
"Sunscreen..." Lin Nan found it too much trouble. She was usually too lazy to even use facial cleanser.
"When I was young I didn't pay attention to these things either. Look at now, I’m only forty, but looking like I'm in my fifties."
"You should also moisturize regularly, otherwise your face gets dry and flaky, which also makes you look old."
Lin Nan made sounds of acknowledgnt, not really taking her mother's words to heart.
"But your skin is so good now, you must have so secret, right?" Her mother gently pinched Lin Nan's cheek, saying with a smile, "Like tender tofu."
"That hurts." Lin Nan rubbed her cheek dissatisfied, but didn't dare say much, obediently letting her mother dry her hair.
"Tomorrow I'm leaving. I've already given your materials to your school, they said it'll be done by next Thursday." Her mother helped Lin Nan dry her hair while sighing. "Your hair is really good, soft and smooth, better than most girls'."
"You're leaving tomorrow? Won't you stay and have fun for a few days?"
"The factory has resud work, I've already taken these two days off, taking more wouldn't be good." Her mother sighed lightly. "Chen Yao's family gave a bride price of 100,000, I need to save up so dowry for you too, right? Otherwise people will point fingers at my back, saying I'm selling my daughter."
Lin Nan's face darkened. Why did her mother still rember this?
If she hadn't been desperate and had no other way to explain things back then, Lin Nan wouldn't have told such a lie.
"I see Chen Yao keeps coming to find you these days, your relationship should be pretty good, right?" Her mother continued nagging. "It's fine if you fight occasionally, but things like cheating, incompatible values, these kind of fundantal issues, you must tell , understand?"
She continued, her tone dropping lower: "If you need to break up, then break up. Don't overthink it. You're not even married yet. Don't end up like , foolishly throwing away half your life. Anyway, just return the bride price when the ti cos."
"I know." Lin Nan lowered her head. Actually, when it ca down to it, she wasn't really clear about her feelings for Chen Yao.
Although she liked Chen Yao, it was obviously more of that sense of dependence, that feeling of security. As long as Chen Yao was by her side, she felt extraordinarily at ease and happy, and occasionally her heart would race.
Who knew if this feeling could be called love.
Lin Nan was only eighteen years old, had never been in a relationship, and was still very confused about this concept.
After her hair was dried, her mother helped comb it for a bit, and a short-haired little beauty appeared in the mirror. Lin Nan tilted her head slightly, looking at herself in the mirror, then deliberately pursed her lips to act cute, then lifted the corners of her mouth, looking at the small dimples that appeared on her cheeks.
Could she probably describe herself as sweet?
"Ti for bed. Stop admiring yourself, you're very pretty." Her mother patted her head, put away the hairdryer, and continued nagging. "If you don't have enough money, call . I can make five or six thousand a month at the factory, and the factory provides room and board. Besides giving to you, there's nowhere else to spend money."
"If you want to buy clothes or costics, tell . Dress up prettier, wear so skirts, don't be like a tomboy all the ti."
Lin Nan was getting a bit of a headache from the nagging, constantly nodding in agreent.
She still couldn't quite adapt to her mother's nagging. After happily admiring herself in the mirror for a mont, she finally got up and followed her mother into the bedroom.
Perhaps because her mindset was becoming increasingly feminine, or perhaps because the bed was big enough, this ti Lin Nan didn't feel any rejection sleeping with her mother.
Lying on the innermost side, with the lights off, Lin Nan wasn't sleepy yet. She lay on her side, holding her phone, planning to read so novels.
During the epidemic period, her biological clock had beco increasingly unhealthy, but fortunately staying up late hadn't made her skin worse or given her pimples.
"Stop playing on your phone, hurry up and sleep. You have class tomorrow."
"..."
Only then did Lin Nan rember she had an 8 AM class tomorrow. Frightened, she quickly put her phone aside, closed her eyes, and tried hard to make herself fall asleep.
However, after tossing and turning in bed for two hours, she finally decided to read novels until she got sleepy.
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