Chapter 353: – Blind Date
Friday morning, at just six o'clock, when Lin Jin was woken up by a phone call from her mom. She climbed out of bed with a muddled face, opened the door, and headed to the bathroom to change into a pretty set of women’s clothing. Then she put on some slippers and planned to go back to her hometown with her mom to get her ID card.
But just as she was about to leave, she was grabbed by her mom without any courtesy.
"Come here, I’ll help you wear some makeup." Her mom sternly said. "Look at you right now, your hair is a mess and your face wasn’t even washed clean. What did I tell you before? A blind date is a formal occasion, you need to at least put on some light makeup, understand!"
Eh?
Lin Jin thought she looked fine, nothing wrong at all. At most, maybe just that the slippers weren't very beautiful.
"But for the ID card, you can't wear makeup for the photo, right?" Lin Jin didn't mind makeup, but the idea of wearing make up for a blind date with Liu Shengqi was something she strongly opposed.
"That's true." Her mom frowned. "Then wear some makeup after we finish with the ID card."
Much better! She could just slip away after getting the ID card, who would still go to the date then? She was only nineteen. She hadn’t even finished college yet already a blind date, wasn’t that too much?
After her mom tied Lin Jin's hair into a ponytail with a comb and a hair tie, she made Lin Jin wash her face again and apply her mom's sunscreen before she was allowed to go outside.
Even though her mom was in her forties, because of her makeup and dress, she still looked quite young. Her mom seemed to have the habit of exercising as well. So even in her forties, her skin was still tight and smooth. Although she couldn't compare to Lin Jin, a girl not yet twenty, she was still quite the beauty.
The beautiful mother and daughter pair walking on the street attracted a lot of attention, but regardless if it was Lin Jin or her mother, both were already used to such looks. The two calmly walked to the side of the road, where her mom hailed a taxi using the DiDi app. While waiting, she asked Lin Jin: "What do you think of that Liu Shengqi? Seeing your expression yesterday, you must still be in contact with him recently, right?"
"Not much" Lin Jin frowned. Why did her mom bring this up again?
"But I heard he has a good personality and can endure hardship. Even though he dropped out in ninth grade and might be a bit lacking in education, he was already working on construction sites making three to five thousand yuan a month when you were in high school." Her mom had a very good impression of Liu Shengqi. Even though most of it was what her friend had said, she felt that after meeting him today, she'd at least get to know what his person was really like.
Her mom thought a bit more and continued to speak up for Liu Shengqi: "He has a technical diploma, though it's one of those where you pay and only take the exams without attending classes. Plus, he self-studied and passed the exam for a level two construction architect, should be quite impressive."
"Isn’t that just all talk? What school lets you get a diploma without attending classes?" Lin Jin scoffed dismissively.
Her mom looked at Lin Jin in surprise. Only now did she discover that Lin Jin seemed really dissatisfied with Liu Shengqi. At least, there were no good feelings towards him at lal.
Was there some past issue between them when they were classmates?
Her mother didn’t continue this topic further as she could see Lin Jin’s repulsion. She just sighed, feeling that all her hard work was probably going to be in vain.
They took a dedicated taxi to the train station, waited another twenty minutes, and then boarded the train. They smoothly reached the provincial capital where their hometown was located, and then took a bus to the county town. This series of trips took about four hours in total, only then did Lin Jin finally arrive at the local county’s public security bureau.
Applying for a new ID card wasn't too complicated, but making changes was very troublesome. The past few days, her mom had done some ground work and found some connections. So there was someone to help them get a queue ticket as soon as the bureau opened. By the time Lin Jin and her mom arrived, there were only three or four more people left before it was their turn.
Like the procedures for renewing an ID card, Lin Jin just took a photo and filled out a form. Then she was told to wait about half a month for the ID card to be mailed to her school in Xiamen. The officer handling her case seemed to know about Lin Jin's situation, initially looking at her with a strange gaze, but soon his expression softened into a gentle smile and showed no apparent discrimination against transgender people.
As for the other stuff, her mom had already taken care of them in the past few days. The needed documents were all prepared, so for Lin Jin, this was just an ordinary process of renewing her ID card.
Once the ID card situation was sorted out, Lin Jin started to think about finding an opportunity to sneak away and spend a few hours in an internet cafe before meeting up with her mom again in the evening.
Well, it seemed like a pretty good plan.
So Lin Jin started to look around. Her pace slowed slightly, lagging about a person’s distance behind. Then checking if her mom’s attention was still focused on her, ready to bolt the moment her mom got distracted.
However, her mom was on guard and noticed Lin Jin’s suddenly slower steps. She also slowed down, and reached out to grab Lin Jin’s arm, giving her a meaningful look.
Damn it? Did she need to be that attentive?
Lin Jin looked utterly dejected. Once she realized that there was no chance of escape, she even needed her mom to drag her before being willing to walk a couple steps.
"Lin Jin, I've already set the meeting. Even if you have some issues with Liu Shengqi, you still need to at least go and see him." Her mom helplessly stopped walking, turned back to Lin Jin and said "For stuff that were already set, even if you have something urgent come up or don’t want to go, you shouldn’t just run away without doing anything."
"Then I’ll call him and say something?" Lin Jin’s eyes lit up.
"No! He especially came back from Xiamen!" her mom glared at her.
Lin Jin pouted unhappily and huffed: "Didn’t I also come back from Xiamen?"
Though it was to get the ID card situation sorted out.
"Anyway, you're definitely going today!" her mom fiercely glared, causing Lin Jin to immediately retract her pouting lips and sullenly turn her head away.
The blind date spot… oh wait no, the meal place was the county town’s Walmart Plaza. It was somewhat similar to the Wanda Plaza in Xiamen where Lin Jin often went, though the scenery here was better. It was surrounded by a small park and an artificial lake, but the Walmart Plaza had fewer shops compared to Wanda Plaza. And there were no streets with street food.
Following her mom's lead, Lin Jin walked into Walmart first floor’s Harvest Masterpiece chain restaurant.
Her mom easily arrived at a small private room. After entering, she saw the two already seated people and nodded at them with a smile. Then she pulled the grim faced Lin Jin and sat opposite them.
One of them was Liu Shengqi and the other was Liu Shengqi’s mother. Lin Jin had met her once during middle school. At that time, she had been exceptionally polite, earning a "their child is so much better" kind of praise.
Yet the next meeting was under the circumstances of a blind date...
She really wanted to die...
Lin Jin lowered her head and slumped down in her chair like a salted fish. The hopeless Lin Jin was completely clueless about how to handle the situation.