Mei Yin went to the bathroom to have a quick shower. After 15 minutes, she came out and made her way to her wardrobe to change into some more casual clothes. She decided to wear ripped black skinny jeans, a somewhat loose white t-shirt, and black and white Nike runners. Mei Yin wore her hair in a half up-half down hairstyle. She was only going to the park for a nice walk so she didn't bother to put on any make up.
Mei Yin walked around the park for 10 minutes before deciding to take a break. Silently cursing herself for forgetting to bring water with her. She was interrupted from her thoughts when she got a call. Looking at the caller ID she picked up the phone with a genuine smile on her face. "Mom." "Munchkin are you working today?" "No mom it's my day off." "Oh." Xin Yi Ran had a look of Glee on her face. "Do you think that you could visit home today? I'd really like to have dinner with you. I rarely get a chance to see my own daughter."
Mei Yin's brows furrowed at the thought of not seeing her own mother for as long as she hasn't. "Mom, I'll be there. Just wait for me." Yi Ran smiled. "Okay, I'll wait for you." Ending the call, Yi Ran thought to herself that ever since Mei Yin moved out from their family home, she hasn't gotten the chance to see her own daughter. It's been two weeks since they last saw each other and Yi Ran really missed her daughter. She hated being separated from her only baby.
After ending the call with her mother, Mei Yin's heart hurt a little. looking at the time, she finished her walk and decided to go grocery shopping. She had another long trip coming up soon and she wanted to prep some meals for work. It took about 15 minutes to drive to the grocery store; where she picked up ingredients for salad, oatmeal, chicken, rice, vegetables, and snacks, because she can't get through anything without snacks involved. Her drive home was relatively fast as there was no traffic to slow her down.
When Mei Yin got home, she first went to the kitchen and prepped her food for work, freshened up, and then headed over to her childhood home. She was an only child and was raised by her mom. She had a dad, but he left her mother before she was born. Her mom was visiting the US for vacation where she had met Mei Yin's father. Xin Yi Ran had almost instantly fallen in love and the two had a whirlwind romance. One thing led to another and due to a sudden lapse of judgement, she became pregnant with Mei Yin. Yi Ran went to the man to confront him, but he turned her away saying that it could have been anybody's child and he wasn't going to be involved.
Yi Ran did not have any type of American citizenship or green card; therefore, legally she had no power and could do nothing. Feeling distraught and not knowing what to do, Yi Ran flew back to China with plans to abort the child. However, the child did nothing wrong and also had her blood running through their veins, so she decided to keep the baby. It was a hard pregnancy. Not because of the baby, but because she was a single mother raising the child by herself. Yi Ran had worked two jobs just so that she could save enough to rent a house for her to raise the baby in. She figured no matter how hard she had to work and how much she lacked, her baby would appreciate her and never leave her.
While Mei Yin was growing up, her mother made sure that she could go to the best schools that she could afford. Mei Yin saw all of her mother's hardships and wanted to learn as much as she could so that her mother would be proud. Yi Ran has never talked bad about Mei Yin's father; but she also never said anything good about him either. Yi Ran figured that just because she had a vendetta against the man, didn't give her the right to soil his name in front of her daughter. What Yi Ran didn't know was that from the age of seven, whatever longing Mei Yin had for her father; for a father, slowly diminished and went completely dormant by age 10.Mei Yin only asked for her father once in her life, but of course she was disappointed. From that day forward, Mei Yin vowed to never call another man dad.