Chapter 2

Chapter 2: My Qiaoqiao Is Not Here After all, she was just there to pick up her daughter from school. Lin Meiyan held her umbrella, standing in the rain for quite a while. The teachers inside the kindergarten were organizing the students to line up and come out, and judging by the commotion, it wouldn't be done in less than ten minutes. Beside her, Xiao Min's Mother came over to strike up a conversation. "Qiaoqiao's mom, do you know whose car this is?" Lin Meiyan shook her head. Xiao Min's Mother looked around before lowering her voice. "This car belongs to the boss of Jianghai Dicai." Lin Meiyan frowned slightly. "The Jianghai Dicai boss's child also comes to our kindergarten now?" But that shouldn't be the case, right? Simenkou Youeryuan was good, but not good enough to make a wealthy family transfer their child here. Xiao Min's Mother gave her a look of exasperation. "Rich families send their kids to Jiangcheng First Kindergarten over at Jianghai Dicai. Why would they come here?" "Guess again?" Lin Meiyan tilted her head. Raindrops fell from the edge of her umbrella, clear and clean. Even clearer and cleaner than the rainwater were her eyes—bright and limpid. Just like her whole being—gentle as water. "I can't guess." Her tone was also soft, her words clear, unhurried. It made Xiao Min's Mother's heart skip a beat. She patted her chest in lingering fright. "Good thing I'm not a man, or I'd insist on marrying you." But with that little diversion, she forgot to keep up the suspense. "The boss of Jianghai Dicai is planning a phase two project in our Simenkou area. Apparently, our kindergarten is also within the scope of Jianghai Dicai's phase two plans." Reading between the lines, Lin Meiyan frowned slightly. "They want to tear down the kindergarten?" That was what everyone was worried about. Simenkou Youeryuan wasn't the best kindergarten in Jiangcheng, but it was definitely the closest one in Simenkou. All the children only had to walk ten minutes to get to school. If Simenkou Youeryuan were demolished, what would happen to these children? Xiao Min's Mother's face also carried a rare trace of worry. "I don't know if the director will agree." In the kindergarten director's office. Secretary Shen handed over a quotation sheet. "Director Chen, please take your time to consider." "As far as I know, Simenkou Youeryuan's annual income isn't exactly high. Relying on government subsidies to keep the kindergarten running doesn't seem realistic." Director Chen was over fifty. Having spent her whole life in the kindergarten, she carried a scholarly air. Her tone was calm. "Secretary Shen, please see yourself out." "Simenkou Youeryuan has been open for over thirty years. It's impossible for us to tear down our kindergarten just because your Jianghai Dicai phase two project is planned for this area." "That's not realistic." Director Chen used the same words to counter him. Secretary Shen adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, looking somewhat regretful, but he still made one more attempt. "My boss has offered three times the market price. Director Chen, please think it over." "We at Jianghai Dicai are in no hurry." "If Director Chen agrees, then my boss will personally meet with you to discuss the details of the demolition." This was the highest courtesy. His boss would come in person to negotiate. He was merely the advance scout. Director Chen's expression was complicated. This time, she neither refused nor answered. Because they both knew that once Secretary Shen's boss arrived, things wouldn't be so easy to negotiate. Secretary Shen seemed to know this as well. He stood up to take his leave. On a normal day, Director Chen would have seen him out, but at this moment she wasn't in the mood. She simply watched Secretary Shen leave. Secretary Shen was very young—only twenty-seven this year. Dressed in a suit with glasses, he looked very much like the elite professionals in Xiangjiang TV dramas who came and went from towering office buildings. But those who knew him well knew that this man, by the side of the Jianghai Dicai boss, had helped create the Jianghai Dicai legend in just a few short years. If the boss of Jianghai Dicai was a ruthless figure who devoured people without spitting out the bones, then Secretary Shen was the smiling tiger. Jianghai Dicai's current scale owed a great deal to his contribution. Before troops move, supplies go first—clearly, Secretary Shen was those supplies. Of course, calling him a smiling tiger would be more accurate. Jianghai Dicai had already set its sights on Simenkou Youeryuan. Secretary Shen's departure made her realize this. Director Chen rubbed her brow. At over fifty years of age, she felt troubled for the first time. Could she resist Secretary Shen, the smiling tiger? Could she resist the general manager of Jianghai Dicai? Director Chen didn't know. All she knew was that she was made entirely of vulnerabilities. Simenkou Youeryuan was one. And so were all the children inside it. Director Chen let out a soft sigh before getting up and leaving her office. It was exactly dismissal time for the kindergarten children. A bunch of little sprouts in raincoats stood in neat rows in the rain, chattering away. Director Chen's worried expression gradually eased a little at the sight of the children. However, the most eye-catching figure was Lin Meiyan. She stood beneath a black umbrella, her slender figure poised and gentle, like an orchid blooming in the rain—supple yet full of grace. It was as if the wind and rain outside had nothing to do with her. Director Chen paused for a moment, then took the initiative to call out, "Meiyan, wait a moment." She called her Meiyan, not Qiaoqiao's mother. Because Lin Meiyan was also a child Director Chen had raised. More than twenty years ago, Lin Meiyan had attended Simenkou Youeryuan herself. Now, her daughter was studying there too. If it hadn't been for Director Chen's help back then, her Qiaoqiao probably wouldn't have even gotten into Simenkou Youeryuan. Lin Meiyan hadn't picked up Qiaoqiao yet—everyone was queuing up in order, and Qiaoqiao was at the very back, still putting on her backpack. Thinking of this, she hesitated for a moment, then greeted Teacher Li and asked her to watch the child for a while, before making her way over to Director Chen. She held her umbrella and walked over with a leisurely step, her figure slender and her face soft and beautiful. "Teacher Chen." That's right—to Lin Meiyan, she wasn't Director Chen, but her Teacher Chen. Director Chen nodded. "Come with me for a moment." She led Lin Meiyan to the office, and once the door was closed, Director Chen got straight to the point. "You must have seen the cars outside." Lin Meiyan nodded, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Teacher Chen, is Simenkou Youeryuan really going to be demolished?" Director Chen nodded, then shook her head. "Secretary Shen from Jianghai Dicai has already made me an offer, but I haven't agreed." "As long as I hold this position, Simenkou Youeryuan will not be demolished." That was the only thing Director Chen could guarantee. —But what if Director Chen stepped down? After all, Director Chen was already fifty-four now, with only about a year left before her term ended. Seeing a flicker of worry cross Lin Meiyan's face, Director Chen let out a soft sigh. "I know what you're worried about, but Meiyan, I can't control what happens after." She pushed open the window and looked outside. Raindrops fell sparsely, and the children in the kindergarten were happily stomping through puddles, laughter and joy filling the air. A trace of reluctance flashed across Director Chen's face, but it quickly turned into determination. "I still have one year in this position. During this year, you need to find a way to get Qiaoqiao's household registration settled." "Otherwise, she won't be able to attend elementary school." Kindergarten was fine—she was the director, and Meiyan was a student she had raised herself. Pulling a few strings wasn't out of the question. But the hard part came later. Once she stepped down, Simenkou Youeryuan would be in jeopardy. Without her presence, Qiaoqiao, who had no household registration, would soon be rejected by Simenkou Elementary School. Elementary school was different from kindergarten. They checked student records, and their regulations were much stricter. Lin Meiyan thought for a moment, then said in a gentle voice, "Things will work out in the end." She gripped Director Chen's hand tightly, as if comforting her, and also comforting herself. "Teacher Chen, we'll both find a way." Simenkou Youeryuan would not be demolished. Likewise, her Qiaoqiao's household registration problem would be solved. She couldn't change the former, but as for the latter, she had been planning for many years. Back then, she had been sent to the countryside as a Zhiqing, and her household registration had been transferred away when she left. Although she had managed to return to Jiangcheng afterward, only unmarried or divorced people could have their registration restored to their original place. For Lin Meiyan, settling her own registration alone was easy—the hard part was Qiaoqiao. All these years, she had only managed to obtain a temporary residence permit, while the household registration had been put off and never processed. But owning a house would solve it. Whether it was reclaiming the confiscated Linji or finding a way to scrape together enough money to buy the smallest unit in Jianghai Dicai's development— Either would solve her problem. Her problem wasn't difficult. The difficult one was Director Chen's. Lin Meiyan didn't know how to comfort Director Chen. She simply stepped forward and gave her a gentle hug. "Teacher Chen." Director Chen smiled, and on her deeply wrinkled face appeared a touch more kindness and resilience. "Don't worry. I'm not so easily defeated." "And Simenkou Youeryuan isn't so easily demolished." Only with those words did Lin Meiyan feel at ease enough to leave. The rain outside was falling even harder now. Once June arrived, the weather in Jiangcheng was like a child's face—changing at the drop of a hat. Once it started raining, it rained all day. Seeing the unrelenting rain, Lin Meiyan knew that Linji probably wouldn't need to open for business today. She could devote all her attention to Qiaoqiao. She wondered how happy Qiaoqiao would be. At that thought, Lin Meiyan touched the White Rabbit creamy candy in her pocket—it was Qiaoqiao's favorite. Mom coming to pick her up from school in person, plus a White Rabbit candy—that was practically a guaranteed win. Her Qiaoqiao absolutely wouldn't be able to resist. Lin Meiyan had only been in Director Chen's office for a few minutes. By the time she came back, the crowd of parents picking up children still hadn't dispersed. All she could see was at the iron fence at the kindergarten entrance—some parents holding umbrellas, some wearing raincoats, and some holding their backpacks over their heads as makeshift umbrellas. The children were all wearing the same blue raincoats and little blue hats, waddling around like clumsy ducklings—there was no way to tell which child belonged to which family. Lin Meiyan observed from inside for a moment but didn't spot her Qiaoqiao. She had no choice but to make her way through the crowd to Teacher Li and asked softly, "Teacher Li, where's our Qiaoqiao?" Teacher Li was just handing off a child to a parent. Hearing this, she pointed behind herself. "Qiaoqiao's mother, your Qiaoqiao is right behind me." She had just told Qiaoqiao not to run off, to stand behind the teacher and wait for her mother to come pick her up. Lin Meiyan instinctively looked over—behind Teacher Li, there was no one there. By now, all the students had been picked up and were up front. How could there still be a student behind Teacher Li? Lin Meiyan's hands and feet went ice-cold in an instant. "Teacher Li, my Qiaoqiao isn't here."