My Iridescent Dream - Chapter 2

Sure enough, the girl came to the station to get him out.

And I finally learned her name: Nalan Tumi.

I covered my mouth, tipped my head back, and sighed.

Keeping the corners of my mouth down was so hard.

That’s what meeting your dream girl does to you. Your heart bursts into bloom, and you can’t control your reactions.

Nalan Tumi took on the role of Ma Zhiming’s wife. She apologized on his behalf, said every nice thing she could think of, humbled herself, and begged me to let him off this once.

Ma Zhiming sat in the mediation room, his face ashen.

He couldn’t deny it. I had far too much evidence.

I hadn’t gone looking for the truth. I’d gone specifically to zap him and vent my anger.

I didn’t need a confession. The evidence was conclusive; he couldn’t deny it.

Spreading rumors about his superior in a company full of security cameras. He really had some nerve.

Did he leave his brain at home when he came to work?

To preserve Ma Zhiming’s pride, Nalan Tumi had even pulled me into the corridor outside the mediation room to negotiate.

I watched her quietly and listened.

After she’d talked for a while, I interrupted. “You’re not from here. Can you understand the way people speak here?”

She froze.

After a long pause, she lowered her head. “I can understand about seventy or eighty percent now.”

“You pick things up pretty well, then. Can you speak it?”

“Not very well.”

“Any luck finding work?”

Her eyes suddenly reddened.

“I… I haven’t found a job.”

Saying it seemed to shame her terribly.

Her head sank lower.

I folded my arms and leaned against the wall, looking down at the crown of her head. “Four years here without a job. Where do you live? How do you support yourself?”

“I live with him. He… he…”

Nalan Tumi bit her lower lip, her voice very soft. “He… supports me.”

I gave a short, amused snort.

Her entire face flushed. She twisted her hem hard.

Some things are like that.

Easy enough to say. Not so pleasant to hear aloud.

“Miss Jun, why are you asking me this? We should be discussing Ma Zhiming…”

“Talking about him puts me in a bad mood. Let’s talk about you. Maybe if my mood improves, I’ll let him off.”

Nalan Tumi looked at me uncomprehendingly.

But she had no other choice.

She had to keep talking to me.

“He can support you on that salary?” I asked. “And you still have to go to all the trouble of bringing him lunch every day.”

She pressed her lips together.

After some hesitation, she said, “It’s no trouble… We do need to save up to get married.”

I looked her up and down.

“Those clothes are pretty old. When did you last buy something new? Do you need to save quite that hard?”

Her face grew redder.

Clutching her hem, mortified, she said, “Miss Jun… Could we stop talking about me? There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Then let him spend a few days locked up.”

I turned to leave.

Nalan Tumi caught me at once. “Miss Jun, we can talk. Anything you want. What else would you like to know?”

My lips curved.

Slowly, I turned back and leaned against the wall again.

“So you followed him here to build a life together, spent four years diligently keeping house, and he hasn’t even bought you some decent clothes?”

“No, he has!” she protested immediately. “Clothes and bags—he’s bought both! Expensive brands, too.”

“Where are all these expensive clothes and bags? I haven’t seen a single one.”

“I… returned them all.”

“Returned them? Why?”

She drew a deep breath and turned her face away. “We can’t even afford an apartment yet. How could we waste money on luxuries?”

I understood.

“You’re completely committed to marrying him, aren’t you?”

Nalan Tumi nodded. “Yes.”

“Is he that wonderful? You’ve never considered anyone else?”

“When you’re with someone, you don’t think about that.”

Her eyes were firm. “Once I decide he’s the one, I keep going. I don’t let myself get distracted.”

My heart beat faster.

All along, she’d been planning for her future with Ma Zhiming.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know there were better people out there. Once she chose someone, she was utterly loyal.

What a wonderful person…

Ma Zhiming wasn’t worthy of her.

She had no idea what he said about her behind her back.

I lowered my eyes. “You’ve been here four years. How long have you two known each other?”

“…Four years.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You’d only just met him, and you dared follow him to an unfamiliar city to build a life?”

Nalan Tumi bit her lower lip so hard it went pale.

“I said, once I decide to go with someone, I keep going without looking elsewhere.”

I looked into her eyes.

Firm, moist, doe-like eyes.

I couldn’t help looking away with a soft sigh.

She was just… so perfectly my type.

Beautiful in every way.

This was killing me.

I collected myself and looked back at her.

“What if you discover he’s not the right person?”

“Then I’ll leave.”

“Easy to say.” I smiled. “Four years. Can you really just walk away?”

“If we really can’t go on together, of course I have to leave. Besides, as long as you’re willing to turn back, there’s always another road.”

“What about all the time and effort you’ve put in?”

“Sunk costs don’t belong in major decisions.”

She said it calmly.

I watched her.

Then, very, very slowly… I let out a breath.

She was even better than I’d imagined.

The sort to run headlong and fall spectacularly.

Even a painful fall wouldn’t scare her. She’d get up, dust herself off, and immediately run on.

Some might call that reckless and rash.

Too quick to decide, then too stubborn and inflexible once she’d decided.

Most people in this world were different.

Many agonized indecisively before making a choice.

Then, once they’d made it, they often couldn’t stick to it.

But Nalan Tumi was never afraid to choose, or to commit.

She dared throw herself into something wholeheartedly because she saw a straight road ahead.

She knew where she wanted to go.

She wasn’t lost, and she didn’t complain. She wasn’t afraid to give, or to be let down.

A soul that unusual was hard to find in the world these days.

I really was… utterly delighted with her.