This should have been a moment of pure joy. But—
Qiao Qiao pouted and looked up at Lan Jin, her little face full of disapproval. "Mama, do bad stuff no bring me. Bad."
Lan Jin was caught off guard for a second. Of course, she knew what her little dumpling meant. She could see it coming from a mile away. But still, she explained, "You were already asleep last night. When Mama left, you didn't even stir. It didn't feel right to wake you. You usually wake up by yourself, remember?"
"Can wake me up," Qiao Qiao muttered in a scolding tone. "I no help. Mama too tired."
The child's desire to share in her burden touched Lan Jin deeply. But when it came to actually doing anything... Qiao Qiao didn't know her own strength. Lan Jin really couldn't afford to let her run wild.
"Alright, Mama was tired. That's true. I'm just telling you what happened so you'd know it's all taken care of now, okay?" Lan Jin looked serious. "Qiao Qiao, can we talk about this with anyone else?"
"No," Qiao Qiao said with a solemn nod. "Qiao Qiao no tell. Mama, our stuff stay home. No talk outside."
Then she hesitated, lowering her head. "But... but..."
She looked so disappointed.
Lan Jin pretended not to notice the small, regretful expression on her daughter's face and continued, "Right, we can't talk about the space either. And not about Auntie. Daddy and Auntie are our secret. If we tell, really bad things will happen, understand?"
Qiao Qiao sighed softly and gave her a serious look. "I know, Mama. I no say. I no know nothing."
"Good. Let's go eat breakfast. After that, Mama's going to learn boxing. You and Nana come with me, okay?"
Qiao Qiao tilted her head and let out a soft "Ah?" Going out sounded fun, but she had no idea what boxing was. It made no sense at all.
Lan Jin led her out of the spatial space. As they ate, she tried to explain it. But no matter how she phrased it, Qiao Qiao didn't understand a thing. It was like talking to a blank slate. Still, some things needed to be said.
"Qiao Qiao, when we're outside, you have to control your strength. Don't let people see how strong you are, alright?"
"Okay, Mama. Qiao Qiao not strong. Just can pick up fridge," Qiao Qiao said sweetly, eyes wide with innocence.
Lan Jin froze.
"What kind of answer was that?"
She leaned down, voice firm. "Picking up a fridge means you're very strong. Most grown-ups can't even do that. You should only carry something small, like a water cup. You're a delicate little girl, remember? Don't act like some muscle monster, okay?"
Qiao Qiao nodded again and again, but Lan Jin still felt uneasy. Well, they'd just have to try it and see how it went. If anything unexpected happened, they'd deal with it. She couldn't keep Qiao Qiao locked away forever. No one knew how long the insect disaster would last.
…
Yesterday, she and Huang Jinghe had agreed to meet at 8:30. When the time came, they messaged each other, locked their doors, and headed out.
By the time they reached the boxing gym, it was already 8:55. When they officially walked inside, the time was exactly 8:59.
Ling Jiang stood at the front desk, grinning. "Wow, you two really nailed the timing."
"We left at 8:30. It's not that far, but we didn't expect it to take that long," Lan Jin said.
As soon as she finished speaking, a tall man, easily over 1.8 meters, with well-defined arm muscles and a tank top, walked out from behind the counter.
Tank top and muscles? That had to be the neighbor Huang Jinghe mentioned.
Ling Jiang quickly introduced him. "This is my boss, Lao Gao. We're both coaches here at the gym."
"Nice to meet you, Boss Gao," Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe greeted him in unison.
Boss Gao waved it off. "You can just call me Lao Gao, like Ling Jiang does. Judging by looks alone, I'm probably the oldest here."
"If we're talking about looks, sure," Ling Jiang said bluntly. "But in terms of age, you're only a bit older than Huang Jinghe."
No one was buying that. Huang Jinghe added, "Hey, I'm only nineteen."
He meant to show how young he was, especially standing next to Lao Gao. From the outside, Lao Gao looked like he was pushing thirty-five, especially with his full beard and solid frame.
But that was just how he looked.
Lao Gao was actually only twenty-three. He had just turned twenty-three last month.
The moment she heard that, Lan Jin's jaw dropped. Even Huang Jinghe looked stunned. But that was the truth. Twenty-three years old, yet he looked at least ten years older. Very mature in appearance.
Lan Jin couldn't help but comment, "Is this what they call mature before your time?"
Huang Jinghe chuckled. "That phrase is usually meant to describe someone's mindset, not their face."
"Sorry, guess I didn't study enough books," Lan Jin replied, half-joking.
Lao Gao seemed used to the teasing. Listening to them go back and forth, he wasn't bothered in the slightest. Meanwhile, Ling Jiang had to suppress a laugh before finally saying, "Alright, let's get started. Just trying out one lesson today, right? We'll go one-on-one. I've already set up a little fenced-in area in the classroom for the kid and the dog. You can leave them there and not worry."
"Sounds good. Do we pay first or start first?"
"We all live next door. Even if you don't pay yet, I'm not worried you'll run off."
Huang Jinghe nodded. "Fair enough. Let's give it a try first."
Then Ling Jiang and Lao Gao led them on a little tour of the gym. To be honest, the place was much bigger than Lan Jin had expected. When Ling Jiang had said it was in an office building, he was clearly being modest.
Besides them, the gym was practically empty.
As they walked, Lan Jin asked, "Are your other students scheduled for the afternoon?"
"Besides you two, we don't have any others today. But tomorrow afternoon there's a class. It's hard for people to get around without transportation, and most of our students live nearby. Not many come these days." Ling Jiang paused and repeated, "Not many at all."
"So after this morning class, you guys are done for the day?"
Ling Jiang shook his head. "Not that easy. I still need to stick around in case anyone walks in. Gotta be here to greet them."
When they reached the classroom, Ling Jiang opened the door. The room was surprisingly spacious. Toward the back wall, there was a small fenced-in area filled with children's toys.
It wasn't exactly small.
Lan Jin looked it over and said, "This is supposed to be a tiny area? It's bigger than our play corner at home."
But that wasn't a fair comparison. The play corner at home had been carved out of the living room, which already had a sofa and coffee table. No matter how big it was, it couldn't match this space. A training room, even on the smaller side, would still be bigger than a corner of a living room. So the fenced-in area here? Definitely not small.
Once Qiao Qiao and Nana were settled inside, Lan Jin began her lesson with Ling Jiang.