Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Huanhuan, where have you been? I thought I was about to die from starvation! I’ve washed the vegetables for dinner.”
Yan Huan wanted to smile at her, but could not. Her forehead was slick with cold sweat. Suddenly, her vision swam. She hastily grabbed the door and tried to steady herself, but it was no use. She collapsed to the floor.
When she opened her eyes again, she did not know how much time had passed. The sky had grown dark, and the streetlights had come on. Light blazed from the windows of every house; it was the time of day when families gathered around the dinner table to have their meal together before watching TV. It was when everyone was finally able to kick back and relax after a hard day’s work. For Yi Ling and Yan Huan, however, they could only sit in their tiny room and count their meagre earnings from the day.
Yi Ling lifted her head, and saw that Yan Huan’s eyes had fluttered open. “Huanhuan, are you awake?” She immediately threw herself onto Yan Huan “Huanhuan, you nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were going to die, just like Auntie… What am I going to do, if you leave me too?” Yi Ling sobbed.
Yan Huan’s pale, bloodless lips moved slightly. She reached out a hand and gently patted Yi Ling on the shoulder. “Yiyi, first things first—can you please get off of me?”
“I don’t want to.” Yi Ling wiped her tears and snot on Yan Huan’s clothes. “I’m so afraid you’ll leave me in your sleep.”
“But you’re crushing me. I can’t breathe.” Yan Huan laughed wryly. She wasn’t joking; she couldn’t breathe.
Yi Ling quickly sat up. She began to rub Yan Huan’s chest soothingly, to help her breathe. “Are you okay?” A string of snot hung under her nose. At that moment, she looked a lot more pitiful than Yan Huan, who was supposed to be the patient.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Yan Huan tried to sit up, but another jolt of pain seared through her abdomen. She thought idly to herself, men will never understand what this pain feels like.
“Don’t get up.” Yi Ling quickly wrapped the blanket securely around Yan Huan. “The doctor said that you came into contact with cold water during your period, and that’s why you fainted from the pain. What did you do, splash cold water all over yourself? You know how painful your periods can be, you should have known better.”
Yi Ling could not stop lecturing Yan Huan, even as she helped smooth the blanket over her. She was beginning to ramble like one of those old, senile women.
“I don’t know what happened. Maybe I accidentally washed my hands with cold water?” Yan Huan was determined not to let Yi Ling know about her additional scene as a stunt double.
“Yes, yes, very hygienic of you.” Yi Ling poked Yan Huan’s cheek with an admonishing finger. “What are you, some kind of clean freak?”
Suddenly, Yi Ling’s stomach began to rumble.
“I’m hungry.” She rubbed her stomach. “What should we do? We still have a few biscuits in the kitchen.” Yi Ling wondered if their dinner that night would have to consist of plain biscuits and water.
“Why don’t we go out for dinner?” Yan Huan sat up carefully. She was still feeling a little uncomfortable, but her stomach cramps had more or less subsided.
“Are you up to it?” Yi Ling was genuinely concerned for Yan Huan and her hopelessly frail body. She was sure that a strong gust of wind would be enough to send Yan Huan tumbling to the floor. Imagine what would happen if there was a second gust of wind— she would be blown to pieces!
“Yeah, I should be fine. I can’t recover if I don’t eat proper meals, anyway.” With that, Yan Huan got to her feet and made her way to the bathroom.
“We can always make do with biscuits and water, you know. Wait, I think we also have a pickled cucumber lying around- why don’t we split that?”
Yan Huan came out of the bathroom. She no longer looked deathly pale, thanks to the light makeup she had put on.
