Finally, it was Chen Yunping who helped Mother Gu out. “I have a gathering tomorrow. Why don’t you come with? You know some them. There’s Qian Jinglan, Back then, you two were the school flowers. There is also your old neighbors Ge Meitong and the others.”
Mother Gu was in a good mood and had been in good spirit as of late. Her eyes lit up all of a sudden. “Yes, I haven’t seen them in a while. Rumor had it that Qian Jinglan is also divorced?”
She had resumed socializing and had heard some about what had been going on with her old friends.
There were so many of them. Some of them would inevitably be divorced. Then there were those who were only still married on paper.
With others to compare with, Mother Gu felt that she wasn’t the most pitiful one of all.
“Sister-in-law, come to my room and help me pick my outfit.”
Mother Gu, recovered from her trauma, started returning to her old self.
Not wanting to engage with her, Zhang Sheng waved his hand and walked away.
She was hopeless!
The next day, Mother Gu dolled herself up, looking in good spirit. She even had on a plum colored perilla wool long dress along with a string of round and glowing pearls. On top of that was a pure black mink coat. It was the classic look for a well pampered wife. Low key but poised.
Chen Yunping dressed how she normally did, whatever was comfortable.
When they arrived at the quiet tea room, many of the other ladies who hadn’t seen Mother Gu for a while went up to her.
They greeted each other and sat down to have their tea.
Occasionally, they would chat about interesting tidbits in their circle, or shared stories about their men or children.
Mrs. Gao rolled the bright greed jadeite bracelet on her wrist and picked up her cup of red tea with a smile.
“Jinglan, you and Zhang Wen were the prettiest ones among us. Who would have thought that you will be single again?
“When are you going to look for the next one?”
Mother Gu’s face dropped and did not want to respond to that at all.
Qiao Jinglan smiled. “I am already a grandmother. Why would I need to find myself another man? I quite enjoy my new-found freedom, now that I no longer wait on anyone any more.”
What she said made Mother Gu felt much better.
“She was exactly right.” Mother Gu added quickly and took the opportunity to switch the topic over to her.
“Where are you staying right now, Jinglan? I’ve heard that all of your children are living overseas.”
Qian Jinglan gave a slight smile. “Yeah, one of them opened up his own factory in Germany and the other one married and moved into a manor with her husband. I can’t get used to the food overseas. All they have area steak and potatoes every day. My stomach hurt after being there for just two months. So I decided to come back and stay in the house that I got from my ex-husband.”
When Mother Gu heard that, she felt that the two of them were quite similar.
But not quite the same. She willingly returned to City Shun with her big brother and still living with her family on her mother’s side.
Qian Jinglan, on the other hand, sounded like she didn’t even have a family to return to.
Why couldn’t her children satisfy her food requirement overseas? One could buy rice anywhere in the world. She had obviously been abandoned by her children but did not want to say that out loud for her self-esteem.
The thought made Mother Gu pity Qian Jinglan.
“You live by yourself? We are not spring chicks anymore. There will be times when we don’t feel well.”
Many elderlies who lived alone would die from sudden heart attack or strokes and it would be days before someone discovered it.
Qian Jinglan put down her cup and picked up a silver fork. “It’s fine. The money they give me is more than enough for me to hire a few maids. I have a butler too. That and I come out to hang out with you in the day time. In a few years’ time, when I have had my fun, I plan to move over to Jinyuan.”
Mother Gu was taken aback a little.
Jinyuan is an old folk’s home. How old were they right now?
It seemed like Qian Jinglin no longer wish to continue the subject. Mother Gu, on the other hand, felt more and more pitiful for her.
