Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Measuring

◎Your hip measurement hasn’t changed.◎

Li Lan’s face didn’t look good. Her expression shifted between pale and red, and finally, it turned a little dark. It was the first time Zhu Qing had seen such a lively expression on Li Lan’s face.

It looked like she was trying very hard to hold something back.

Zhu Qing thought to herself that she was being so stupid. Li Lan wanted to scold her, but due to her upbringing and the fact that they weren’t that close, she was just holding it in, probably stifling herself.

Zhu Qing covered her face and said in a muffled voice, “I’m sorry. Just scold me if you want, but don’t say anything too mean. It would make me sad.”

Li Lan looked down at her for a moment, and her heaving breath calmed down. She didn’t say anything and silently turned to leave.

Zhu Qing lowered her hands and saw Li Lan’s back. The back of her form-fitting pajamas was soaking wet and wrinkled. It was from when she was frantically bouncing around in Li Lan’s arms like a wet cat.

In reality, Li Lan’s shirt was oversized, so it was quite long on Zhu Qing and could cover her thighs if she stood still.

Zhu Qing suddenly remembered the “pants-less” style that Qian Cancan had mentioned. That girl was such a jinx. In the end, her pants really were “missing.”

She had made a fuss in front of Li Lan while being improperly dressed. Oh, and right, she had also knocked over the shelf and gotten toiletries all over Li Lan.

Zhu Qing sniffled silently and went to take a bath with a heavy heart.

As she was showering, she felt a sense of sorrow. The thought of Li Lan’s disgusted look made her heart ache. “Zhu Qing, Zhu Qing, you tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice,” she thought to herself.

Zhu Qing felt like the crying face emoji. She was so speechless and choked up with sorrow while scrubbing herself that it felt like she had been abandoned by a lover.

Zhu Qing slowly finished her shower, slowly put on clean clothes, and then pushed the door open, only to be stunned.

Li Lan was standing outside the door with a small first-aid kit, looking like she had been waiting for a while.

She had also changed her clothes. The expression on her face was calm again, and she gave Zhu Qing a lukewarm glance.

“Your legs need some medicine.”

Zhu Qing was wearing a spaghetti strap dress that was an inch above her knees, as simple as a high school student eating popsicles at home during the summer. Li Lan’s gaze lingered on her freshly washed hair for a moment, and she suddenly frowned.

“Did you take a shower?”

Zhu Qing nodded blankly.

Li Lan’s breathing seemed to get heavier again, but she quickly suppressed her emotions and turned to the sofa. “Come over and let me put some medicine on you.”

Zhu Qing was a little confused. What did she say wrong this time? Why was Li Lan suddenly unhappy?

Li Lan took out gauze and medical cotton from the first-aid kit. After dabbing some iodine on the cotton, she tilted her chin, gesturing for Zhu Qing to sit down.

Zhu Qing looked at the sofa and sat down next to Li Lan, about to lift her knee.

“Don’t move,” Li Lan said softly, stopping her.

She knelt down with the gauze, her head slightly bowed, and gently wiped Zhu Qing’s knee.

Zhu Qing’s skin was thin, and her veins were more visible than others. She had also lost a lot of weight in the past two months due to her bad mood and had been hospitalized a few days ago. Her weight had been dropping steadily, and Li Lan noticed that Zhu Qing’s legs were noticeably thinner.

Her thighs were no longer meaty, and the bones in her knees were clearly visible.

As a model, her colleagues were all extremely thin, but thinness was not the same for everyone. Some people had small joints, so their kneecaps were naturally narrow. Even when they were thin, their bodies had a flesh-over-bone texture, making them look lean but not bony.

But most people weren’t so blessed. When they became thin, they became bony, and you could clearly see the curve of their bones when they moved.

Li Lan thought she was already used to seeing bony bodies, but she still felt an inexplicable rage when she touched Zhu Qing’s knee.

Li Lan hated seeing a bony feeling on Zhu Qing.

“The skin here is broken,” Li Lan gently pressed her index finger against Zhu Qing’s knee, opening her leg to the side. She pointed to a small broken area on the inside of her knee and said expressionlessly, “The wound can get infected again if it gets wet. Be careful these next few days.”

Zhu Qing’s fingers, which were resting on the sofa, curled slightly. She said in a low voice, “Okay.”

Li Lan continued to put medicine on Zhu Qing. She had fallen hard, and her skin was thin, so a large patch of her skin was bruised and looked pathetic. As she put medicine on her, Li Lan’s expression got worse and worse.

From Zhu Qing’s perspective, Li Lan was kneeling on the floor, holding one of her legs with one hand and resting her other hand on Zhu Qing’s other knee, slightly parting her legs.

Li Lan was kneeling between her two legs, only a half-hand’s distance away from her. This position instantly made countless provocative scenes flash through her mind. It looked so sensual no matter how she looked at it…

Li Lan looked up and frowned. “Why is your face red?”

Zhu Qing stared at her blankly. Li Lan looked even better when she was angry and had an icy expression.

Li Lan’s current posture was very threatening, but Zhu Qing wasn’t scared. She blinked and said shamelessly, “My leg hurts so much. Can you blow on it for me?”

Her tone was pleading and pitiful, and her voice was soft and sweet at the end.

Li Lan’s cold expression froze in an uncanny way and then slowly cracked and fell away from her face.

Zhu Qing moved her leg a little, her ankle intentionally brushing against Li Lan’s arm. This pulled on her knee injury, and Zhu Qing let out an exaggerated hiss. “It hurts.”

Li Lan came back to her senses, grabbed her wayward foot, and her gaze shifted.

“I told you not to move.”

Li Lan’s fingers were fair and slender, and they rested on her ankle bone. Zhu Qing said softly, “Then blow on it for me. It won’t hurt if you blow on it.”

Li Lan’s heart trembled at every word she said. The emotions she had just suppressed came rushing back up again.

Her temples seemed to be throbbing, and they were constantly getting more bl00d with her accelerated pulse.

It was getting harder to maintain her cold expression.

Most of the time, she didn’t quite understand how Zhu Qing’s mind worked. They say there’s a generation gap every three years. She was eight years older than Zhu Qing, so it was a normal three-generation gap. It was normal for her not to understand what Zhu Qing was doing, but Zhu Qing just had to keep teasing her.

She had fallen in the bathroom wearing her shirt, and she had flailed around in her arms, letting her see everything she had. How could someone be so oblivious? Was she like this when she was outside, too?

Zhu Qing hadn’t been close to her for a long time. Li Lan also had normal needs. Even if Zhu Qing had amnesia, she shouldn’t be teasing her like this. She was just starting the fire and not putting it out.

And the injury on her knee, the skin around the wound was already starting to turn white, and there was a high chance it would get infected and fester. Didn’t Zhu Qing know that you couldn’t put a wound in water?

After a long time, Li Lan still couldn’t win against Zhu Qing. She sighed softly, lowered her head, and blew on her knee twice.

The cool air on her red, hot skin made her shiver slightly. A tingling sensation spread all the way up her calf.

Zhu Qing’s heart skipped a beat.

In her line of sight, the redness and swelling of her knee became clearer. After Li Lan blew on it twice, she couldn’t help but reach out and gently touch it without making contact. Her lowered eyes were filled with undisguised heartache.

“How did you get it like this?” Li Lan’s voice was husky.

Zhu Qing was truly wronged now, and she was filled with disappointment and sadness. “I didn’t do it on purpose. My clothes got wet. Whose fault is it that your shirt doesn’t have any pants? I just wanted to dress up nicely.”

Li Lan asked in confusion, “Why do you need to dress up at home? You’re fine just as you are.”

Zhu Qing: …

Suddenly, she didn’t want Li Lan to blow on it anymore.

After disinfecting it, Li Lan carefully examined the wound, sprinkled some medicinal powder on it, and put on a bandage.

“Okay, be careful when you walk, and don’t pull on the wound,” Li Lan stood up and held out her hand to Zhu Qing. “Come eat.”

That was when Zhu Qing remembered the table full of dishes she had made.

“I’ll go heat them up,” Li Lan said, ladling a bowl of soup for Zhu Qing. “The soup is still warm. You drink this first.”

Zhu Qing, who had originally planned to show off her cooking skills, was given a bowl of soup and pressed into a chair to wait for her meal.

And Li Lan’s thoughtful care.

Zhu Qing belatedly realized that this feeling was quite nice. Li Lan hadn’t been disgusted with her and had even put medicine on her!

Li Lan heated up the food, placed it in front of Zhu Qing, and sat down opposite her. “Eat.”

The dining table was very quiet, with only the occasional light clatter of chopsticks against the bowl. Zhu Qing ate in small bites, occasionally sneaking a peek at Li Lan. Li Lan ate very elegantly. Her back was ramrod straight, and even her chewing was very restrained, like a habit that was ingrained in her.

Zhu Qing hadn’t had much of an appetite, but seeing Li Lan eat with gusto, she also ate a lot.

From her observations, Li Lan liked all three dishes and the one pasta dish on the table. She seemed to prefer the sweet and sour food, but she also ate everything else.

Remembering their previous meal, Zhu Qing asked cautiously, “Do you have to watch your diet? Are you going to starve yourself tomorrow because you ate this meal today?”

She remembered that models had to maintain their weight.

Li Lan didn’t stop. She put a sweet and sour lotus root slice in her bowl and said calmly, “No. My main job is no longer being a model. I’m not young anymore, and I can’t maintain a low body fat percentage. I probably won’t have many chances to go to a fashion show anymore.”

Zhu Qing thought for a moment and then smiled. “That’s great. You can eat more. Do you want to try this soup?”

She scooped up a spoonful of tom yum goong soup and held it out. Li Lan stared at the spoonful of soup, seemingly hesitant. Zhu Qing’s hand was suspended in mid-air, and she suddenly felt that this gesture was a little over the line. Just as she was about to pull it back, Li Lan leaned forward slightly and drank the soup from her hand.

Li Lan’s warm breath brushed against Zhu Qing’s fingers. Her fingertips trembled, and she almost dropped the spoon.

“…Is it good?” she asked in a low voice.

Li Lan looked up at her, and her eyes reflected the warm yellow light of the restaurant, like melted amber.

“Mm.”

With just that one word, Zhu Qing’s ears inexplicably started to burn.

Li Lan said softly, “The food you make is delicious, so of course I’ll eat more.”

Zhu Qing’s mind suddenly short-circuited, and she stammered, “Oh, my food is delicious. You eat more because the food is delicious, but if you eat too much, you’ll get fat. So, because of me… did I make you fat?”

Li Lan’s chopsticks paused, and after a while, she shook her head with a soft laugh.

“It has nothing to do with you. The lifespan of a model is short. It’s just a job. Retiring at the peak is the best outcome for a model.”

Zhu Qing’s face showed a look of hesitation, and she said in a troubled voice, “Really? It’s not because I married you, or because I did something that affected you?”

Li Lan’s expression was subtle. “No. What makes you think you would affect me in any way?”

“I don’t know, but don’t they say you get ‘happy fat’ after falling in love? A happy and carefree state will make you gain weight. I eat and drink with you, so of course you’d get fat. And then because there’s no pressure in life, your ambition would fade, and you would go from your career to focusing on family or something.”

Of course, what Zhu Qing was more worried about was whether she had caused a fuss and delayed Li Lan’s work.

Li Lan rested her hand on her forehead, her gaze deep, and reminded her word by word, “Zhu Qing, you have a job too.”

Zhu Qing was stunned.

Li Lan said, “You’re an assistant teacher at Xiyuan Kindergarten. A job with a salary that’s… not high. You didn’t give it up, so why would I give up my career?”

No pressure after getting married? Li Lan actually felt pressure after getting married, but it also came with a lot of motivation.

This house cost 16 million in full, and it was only a flat with an area of less than 200 square meters. She had to raise a daughter and give Zhu Qing the best life. The pressure was only going to increase.

Zhu Qing had a habit of looking for reasons in herself when things went wrong, and she would find a bunch of reasons that Li Lan couldn’t even think of, finding fault with herself in a roundabout way. Li Lan was a little speechless and didn’t want to continue the topic.

She looked up at Zhu Qing and said in a calm voice, “And I won’t get fat after being with you… because you rarely cook.”

Zhu Qing had already heard this from Xiao Bao and said guiltily, “I’ll cook more in the future.”

Li Lan said sharply, “We? Who else? Who else are you planning to cook for?”

Zhu Qing said innocently, “Xiao Bao. She ordered a bunch of dishes, and I also made breakfast for her this morning.”

Li Lan was silent for a few seconds and then said calmly, “Mm.”

After that, she said, “She has a nanny, and the kindergarten provides three meals. You don’t have to worry about her.”

Just as Zhu Qing was about to say something, Li Lan used a serving spoon to put a piece of meat on her plate and frowned. “Stop talking. Eat more.”

“Oh, okay. I’m not really that hungry,” Zhu Qing said, but Li Lan kept putting food on her plate, and soon a small mountain of food was piled up in front of her. “I can’t eat all this.”

Li Lan said in a low voice, “Eat more. You’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“Really?” Zhu Qing hadn’t paid much attention to her figure. No one had ever told her she was fat, and the word “diet” had never been in her vocabulary. “Maybe it’s the summer heat. I’ll gain it back in the winter.”

Li Lan said calmly, “No, you won’t. You lose weight in the winter, too.”

“What do you mean, lose weight in the winter?” Zhu Qing was amused. “I lose weight in the fall, too.”

Li Lan pursed her lips in displeasure. “I’m not lying to you. You really have lost a lot of weight. Have you been on a scale recently?”

Zhu Qing thought for a moment. “I have no memory of it.”

Li Lan said directly, “Go weigh yourself.”

She took the scale out of the kitchen, placed it at Zhu Qing’s feet, and helped her stand up.

Zhu Qing thought Li Lan was making a big deal out of nothing and said with a laugh, “It’s fine. I’ll do it myself. My weight is usually just over a hundred… Ninety-two!?”

Li Lan looked down at the two numbers, and when she looked up at Zhu Qing again, her gaze was clearly full of reproach.

Zhu Qing laughed awkwardly. “It’s close, right? You can round it to a hundred. Maybe I lost weight to fit into my wedding dress and just stayed that way, hahaha.”

Li Lan said expressionlessly, “The last time you weighed yourself was sixty-seven days ago. You were ninety-seven pounds.”

Zhu Qing was shocked. “You remember that?”

Li Lan ignored her words and repeated in a deep voice, “You need to increase your food intake.”

Seeing how serious Li Lan was, Zhu Qing started to worry, too.

When she had her physical in her senior year of college, she was 171 cm tall and weighed a little over 100 pounds. She had always been that weight and rarely had a weight in the nineties.

Zhu Qing nodded obediently. Just as she was about to agree, she remembered something and said in a troubled voice, “Then the clothes I bought won’t fit.”

She had just bought five outfits yesterday. They were all form-fitting and based on her current size. When she gained back those eight pounds, the clothes would definitely not fit, which would be a waste.

Speaking of clothes, Li Lan asked the question that was on her mind. “The clothes you wanted to wear, were they the ones in the bathroom?”

If she hadn’t seen wrong, the fabric and cut of that outfit were very ordinary.

And the one Zhu Qing was wearing now was ugly, and the style was consistent.

Zhu Qing said yes. “Qian Cancan and I spent a long time shopping before we finally bought them. It’s so hard to buy clothes now.”

Li Lan watched her silently for a while and then said, “It’s not hard to buy clothes.”

Zhu Qing gave her a confused look.

Li Lan said, “I can buy them for you.”

It took Zhu Qing two seconds to process this. Oh, right. Li Lan was a model and had collaborations with many big brands. And the entertainment and fashion industries were intertwined. She could just ask Li Lan what to wear!

“Then you can buy them for me,” Zhu Qing said, her face filled with joy, and she secretly added a small thought. “Just buy whatever style you like. I don’t know what suits me, so you can choose.”

Li Lan didn’t refuse. “Okay.”

“Then do you know my measurements?”

Li Lan was about to say yes, but then she remembered that Zhu Qing had lost a lot of weight, so she shook her head.

Zhu Qing happily grabbed a measuring tape and put it in Li Lan’s hand. “Then help me measure.”

Li Lan: ?

She stared at the measuring tape, and her gaze shifted to Zhu Qing, falling silent again.

This person who was very good at starting fires but couldn’t put them out was someone Li Lan really wanted to keep her distance from.

Zhu Qing urged her. “Come on, measure me.”

Li Lan opened her mouth to refuse but couldn’t think of a good reason.

Zhu Qing said happily, “I’m going to have new clothes!”

Facing Zhu Qing’s expectant gaze, Li Lan sighed softly.

She took the measuring tape with a sense of resignation.

“Stand up straight.”

Zhu Qing obediently spread her arms. The fabric stretched slightly with her movements, outlining the curve of her waist. Li Lan’s gaze slid from her collarbone to her waist and then quickly retracted.

When the measuring tape went around her shoulder, Zhu Qing smelled the faint scent of cedar on Li Lan’s wrist.

“You smell so good,” Zhu Qing blurted out.

Li Lan’s movements paused, and her knuckles accidentally brushed against the back of Zhu Qing’s neck. The touch was fleeting, so fast that it felt like a hallucination.

“Don’t talk.” Li Lan’s voice was lower than usual, as if it were veiled.

When the measuring tape reached her waist, Li Lan’s fingertips hovered at Zhu Qing’s side, always maintaining a distance that was close but not touching.

Zhu Qing felt a little ticklish and couldn’t help but shrink her neck. “Have you ever measured anyone else?”

Li Lan’s movements didn’t stop. “Never.”

Zhu Qing curled her lips.

“Inhale,” Li Lan suddenly said.

Zhu Qing instinctively did as she was told. As her chest rose and fell, Li Lan had already neatly tightened the measuring tape.

“I’ve got it,” Li Lan quickly stepped back and rolled up the measuring tape.

Zhu Qing felt like she had missed something and asked suspiciously, “Are you done?”

Li Lan nodded.

Zhu Qing tilted her head and looked at herself. She didn’t remember getting her hip measurement.

“You seem to have forgotten my hip measurement.”

The air froze for a moment.

Li Lan’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and her knuckles, which were pressing against the measuring tape, were slightly white.

“You don’t need to measure it,” she paused. “It hasn’t changed.”