After finishing their business in Jing City, they didn’t linger for long and immediately set off for Haishan. They needed to return before Little Tong’s kindergarten started, and Zhong Jin had only taken three days off from work.
Back in Haishan, life quickly became busy again.
As soon as they stepped out of the airport, Zhong Jin received a call from the renovation company, informing him that the cleaning of the house had been completed that morning and asking him to come over for the final inspection.
Without even having the chance to drop off their luggage, the family headed straight to the new house for the inspection.
Zhong Jin gave the place a quick look and found nothing majorly wrong. The on-site manager from the renovation company handed him a pen, asking him to sign the inspection confirmation form.
“Wait a moment,” Qiu Sheng, who had been standing quietly by the side, suddenly spoke up.
“Could you provide me with the material certification documents? Also, I noticed a few wooden floorboards that sound hollow when stepped on—they need to be fixed. Additionally, the colors in the children’s room are a bit too vibrant, which might be visually uncomfortable to live with. This isn’t your fault, but we’re willing to pay extra to have the colors changed. I’ll discuss the new color scheme with the designer later.”
Previously, Zhong Jin had been the one dealing with the renovation company, and they found him easy to talk to and somewhat inexperienced in renovation matters, so they had cut a few corners here and there.
The on-site manager glanced at Zhong Jin, trying to persuade him to accept the current state of the house. Renovation companies dread making changes, as it often eats into their profits.
“You can discuss this with her,” Zhong Jin said, holding Little Tong, who was asleep on his shoulder, and pointing at Qiu Sheng. “She’s the mother of my child.”
Hearing that she was the lady of the house, the manager didn’t argue further and quickly added Qiu Sheng on WeChat. “I’ll follow up with you later, then.”
Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng used to own two properties together. One was a wedding gift from Zhong Jin’s family, and the other was a duplex townhouse, a dowry from Qiu Sheng’s family.
Back then, Zhong Jin was swamped with work at the criminal investigation unit, so Qiu Sheng had handled everything from the design and renovation to the interior decoration of both houses.
And she was indeed skilled in design-related work. The French-style duplex townhouse she had designed was even rented out to a film crew for shooting a drama.
Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng had secretly started dating at the age of 18.
They had grown up together, leaving deep imprints on each other’s lives.
In some ways, they were incredibly in sync. They could subtly throw sarcastic remarks at each other, and the other would always catch them. They also shared dislikes for certain people and would gossip about them under the covers at night. They even had similar small habits, like both refusing to eat garlic.
In other ways, they complemented each other perfectly. Zhong Jin had a very straightforward, “guy-like” sense of aesthetics, while Qiu Sheng, who had studied design in college, had an excellent eye for beauty. So, anything related to aesthetics in the house was always left to Qiu Sheng.
Zhong Jin enjoyed doing housework, finding comfort in keeping the house spotless and cooking meals for the family. Qiu Sheng, who never stepped into the kitchen, found this utterly baffling.
When they were together, their friends often said they were a match made in heaven.
Later, when Zhong Jin’s family faced a crisis, he was in a terrible state and didn’t want to drag Qiu Sheng down. He proposed a divorce.
And Qiu Sheng, surprisingly, agreed without a word.
The divorce shocked their entire social circle. Just like today, when they suddenly showed up with Little Tong in front of their friends, everyone was stunned.
After the initial shock, some speculated that Qiu Sheng had divorced Zhong Jin because his family’s business had collapsed.
But their closest friends firmly believed that Qiu Sheng wasn’t that kind of person and that there must have been some hidden reason.
However, as time passed, no explanation ever surfaced. With new dramas unfolding every day, people gradually forgot about it.
Now, when Zhong Jin thought about how Qiu Sheng used to get furious with the renovation company during their previous house renovations, it felt like a distant memory, as if it were seen through a foggy pane of glass.
As they stepped into the apartment elevator, Zhong Jin suddenly said politely, “Thanks for taking care of the renovation.”
Qiu Sheng, pushing two suitcases with both hands, replied, “No problem. After all, I’ll be living there for a year too. By the way, I don’t have to pay rent, do I?”
“Maybe you should pay a little. Raising a child is expensive,” Zhong Jin joked, unable to resist teasing her.
The little troublemaker in his arms, who had somehow woken up, pinched her tiny hand and asked with wide, sparkling eyes, “Am I expensive to raise?”
“Don’t you already know the answer?” Zhong Jin pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the drool from the little money-guzzler’s mouth.
The child raised a finger and declared seriously, “I’m a free baby.”
Zhong Jin retorted, “Free things are always the most expensive.”
The chubby little one grabbed Zhong Jin’s head and shook it back and forth. “Don’t say that. I’m hungry. Buy me fried chicken.”
“No fried chicken. You’ve been eating too much junk food these past few days. I’ll cook for you,” Zhong Jin said, holding Little Tong outside the apartment door, waiting for Qiu Sheng to enter the passcode before they all stepped inside.
Both Qiu Sheng and Little Tong protested, “Don’t cook! We’re hungry now!”
Unable to resist the demands of the mother-daughter duo, Zhong Jin ordered takeout.
When the food arrived, he still insisted on adding some fish oil and algae oil to Little Tong’s seafood porridge, manually boosting its nutritional value.
Qiu Sheng kept glancing over, and Zhong Jin, holding a brown dropper bottle, asked her, “Want some?”
“No, thanks,” Qiu Sheng immediately moved her bowl away. The stuff looked like it would taste weird.
In the afternoon, the teacher sent a message in the parents’ group about the preparations needed for the next day’s school start: wearing the uniform, bringing a backpack, a water bottle, three name tags, and two handkerchiefs.
Qiu Sheng took out the tote bag the school had given out during enrollment. So far, they had only received the spring and summer uniforms. The girls’ uniform consisted of a light blue blouse and a dark blue pleated skirt, with a simple black bow at the collar.
The name tags were made of canvas, and names and class numbers could be written on them with a pen.
Zhong Jin found a ballpoint pen at home and was about to write on the tags when Qiu Sheng suggested, “Let’s embroider them instead. Ink washes off easily. You have nice handwriting—you can sketch the lines, and I’ll embroider over them.”
Qiu Sheng had studied jewelry design in college. Although she hadn’t pursued a career in the field, she enjoyed crafting small items. Back in Jing City, she had a cabinet full of Barbie dolls, all dressed in clothes and accessories she had made herself.
So embroidering names was no challenge for her.
She was also showing off a bit on purpose. She pulled out a small sewing kit she always carried and used three shades of blue to embroider “Ginkgo Class, Zhong Yuntong” with a gradient effect. Though it was just a small name tag, it looked intricate and elegant.
While Qiu Sheng was embroidering, Zhong Jin asked her to add him to the class group chat.
Holding the needle and thread, Qiu Sheng gestured toward her phone on the coffee table with her chin. “Add yourself. You know the password.”
They both knew each other’s phone passwords. Zhong Jin’s was Qiu Sheng’s birthday, and Qiu Sheng’s was Zhong Jin’s birthday.
Perhaps out of laziness, neither had changed their passwords even after the divorce.
Zhong Jin added himself to the Ginkgo Class parents’ group.
Qiu Sheng reminded him, “You need to change your group nickname according to the format.”
After checking how other parents had formatted their names, Zhong Jin changed his to “Zhong Yuntong’s Dad.” Once done, he scrolled through the member list and noticed that his name appeared right below Qiu Sheng’s, whose nickname was “Zhong Yuntong’s Mom (Divorced).”
“Is it really necessary to add ‘Divorced’?” Zhong Jin couldn’t help but question.
Qiu Sheng kept her head down, embroidering a name tag, not even looking up. "Of course, it's necessary. It avoids parents who aren't in the know from making jokes about married couples. Since we're already divorced, we should be mindful of boundaries."
Zhong Jin felt this kind of clarification was unnecessary, but he insisted on keeping the format consistent with the other parents.
Just then, Teacher Luo sent another message in the group chat:
【@everyone Tomorrow, there will be a self-introduction session for the children. Please help your kids rehearse in advance.】
A row of parents replied, 【Received.】
Zhong Jin also followed with a reply, 【Received.】
Little Tong was currently napping on the couch, covered with a small blanket. Her tiny hands were spread out beside her head, and her soft, rosy cheeks made her look utterly peaceful.
After she woke up and drank a bottle of yogurt to freshen up, Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng began helping her rehearse her self-introduction.
Little Tong leaned lazily against the couch, her little legs crossed, and asked in a drowsy voice, "What's a self-introduction?"
Qiu Sheng patiently explained, "A self-introduction is when you meet new classmates tomorrow, and you introduce yourself to them. You can say, 'Hello, my name is Zhong Yuntong. I hope we can be good friends.' Can you try saying it now?"
The little troublemaker leaned back on the couch and repeated lazily, "Hello, my name is one Zhong Yuntong. Wanna play?"
Then, after a moment of thought, she added on her own, "I have a rainbow candy. Want some?"
After saying this, she giggled to herself, covering her mouth, as if she had thought of something amusing.
Qiu Sheng glanced at Zhong Jin, her expression clearly hinting, "She needs a scolding."
Zhong Jin cleared his throat, his voice turning stern. "What kind of attitude is that? Come over here and stand properly."
Little Tong, being a clever child who knew how to read the room, immediately sensed Zhong Jin's anger and straightened up. She obediently walked to the front of the couch, her little belly sticking out as she stood at attention.
Zhong Jin said, "That 'one' you added is wrong. You can't say it like that in the future. Say this instead: 'My name is Zhong Yuntong. I'm three years and two months old. I like eating the meals my dad cooks, and I love playing with my scooter. I'm happy to be friends with everyone.' Repeat it."
Qiu Sheng looked at Zhong Jin, speechless. "Is it really necessary to say she likes eating the meals you cook?"
"Of course it is. It's not like you know how to cook."
Qiu Sheng, "..."
The poor child was forced to recite the introduction over and over, repeating it more than a dozen times before she finally memorized it.
Zhong Jin patted her shoulder. "It's just a little self-introduction. Be confident tomorrow."
"Exactly, be confident. There's nothing hard about a self-introduction. You did great," Qiu Sheng comforted the child, who still looked a bit uneasy.
Just then, another message popped up in the group chat.
Teacher Luo: 【The school just held a meeting and has added a parent self-introduction session. Please prepare your introductions in advance.】
Parents have to introduce themselves too?
The thought alone was cringe-worthy.
Zhong Jin immediately said, "I have work tomorrow."
Qiu Sheng jumped up. "I can't do it either. I can't just wear sunglasses and a mask for my introduction, right? That would just make it obvious I'm Qiu Danhua. It would be so embarrassing, I'd want to dig a hole and hide."
Zhong Jin, "I'm not doing it. It's too silly."
Qiu Sheng, "I can't either. I blush easily when speaking in public. It would be a total social disaster."
"Should we play rock-paper-scissors to decide? Whoever loses has to go."
"No way. I always lose."
