Pipi had a single dormitory in a compound not far from the newspaper office. It was very small - there was only a kitchen and a bedroom while the bathroom was shared. She usually went home on weekends and thus, when she didn't return overnight, no one raised any questions.
She changed her clothes and was making her way to work when the phone rang.
"Pipi, let me buy you a gift to give my mother for her birthday. I'll get a birdhouse. The market price is over a thousand, but I'll get it from Xu Ayi for only around eight hundred. No need to worry."
Eight hundred! So expensive?
Pipi breathed a sigh of relief.
The present for his mother's birthday would cost a fortnight's wages for Pipi's family. Jia Lin had casually said that he would have a meal with Pipi, and her family was worrying about it. After some deliberation, everyone agreed that it was a sign that Jia Lin was about to announce the relationship between him and Pipi to his family. Thus, the stakes of Pipi going to visit changed - she couldn't be too casual and she had to take something expensive. Besides, the family liked Jia Lin, and when the festival was over and the gifts had been given, something simple would just be tossed away. It wasn't scornful, it was natural.
There were several ideas for suitable gifts: famous teas, famous wines, ginseng, cosmetics, bracelets, leather bags, silk fabrics... and then a few bottles of the Pipi family hand-made soy milk. The soybean paste was made right away, and Grandma Pipi went specially to market to buy imported glass bottles for the final product to go in. The rest was quite a headache. It was the first time that the family had ever taken out such a large sum of money just to buy a gift, but everyone thought that it was prudent. As a result, it had not been dealt with for two weeks. Cheap? Don't want it. Expensive? Can't afford it. Pipi was annoyed and wanted to pay for it herself, but she had already handed over two-thirds of her monthly salary t her family so there was no way. All they could afford was food and a pathetic amount of pocket money. She planned to buy a couple of cans of good tea and forget about it, but she knew that it had to be something more special.
Whenever she thought of Jia Lin's mother, Meng Ayi, Pipi felt downhearted. After graduating from high school, she had not gone to Jialin's home at any time save New Year's. Firstly, now that she was older she began to be aware of the feeling of embarrassment. Secondly, Pipi felt quietly that while Meng Ayi was polite to her, she had not taken to her. At least, she wasn't as enthusiastic about her as she had been when Pipi was in kindergarten. Back then she'd buy her popsicles, give her sweaters, and tell her mother all about how naughty boys were and that she wished she'd had a girl.
But then, maybe she was just being sensitive.
Aunt Meng was particularly strict with Jia Lin and practically shameless. Once, Jia Lin had scored 80 in his mathematics test. When he'd gone home, he'd argued with Aunt Meng and run off to Pipi's house to revise. Grandma was distressed and advised Meng Ayi not to push him so hard, but she hadn't agreed, simply saying that girls who didn't perform well could marry a good man. Men who did not perform well had no escape route.
After that, Jia Lin's growth became a racecourse, with every obstacle inside set by his mother. He was testing for university in sixth grade, he graduated, as a grad student he had a TOEFL test, he passed that and went on to the GRE... one level after another, endlessly. Jia Lin loved to say that when he went abroad, she couldn't manage him.
Pipi panicked internally.
She didn't know what to do. If she followed her family to the country, what could she do? Reading and studying were not her strengths. Work as a waitress? Become a housewife?
She had to have a family.
Three months ago, after some intense speculation, Pippi had signed up to a TOEFL crash course not far from the dormitory. She'd paid the tuition fee and gotten busy getting a bunch of textbooks. Out of all subjects, Pipi's English was the worst. Her results were erratic and unstable. However, when the college entrance examination came, she had scored an amazing ninety-five points, the second grade, and higher than Jia Lin. It became a legend of the college entrance examination that year. Later, when she went to college, English became unimportant, and her grades naturally fell. Pippi decided to quietly take the TOEFL, get a good result, and surprise the family.
On the phone, Pipi was still happily talking about a suitable gift for Xu Auntie.