Chapter 1: J
By the time Luna arrived at the kindergarten, it was already eight in the evening. Through the iron gates, she spotted Jojo sitting beside the slide in the distance.
“Jojo!”
Jojo looked up, her little face breaking into a smile. She ran toward the entrance.
“Auntie!”
The gate was locked, but Jojo’s teacher recognized Luna and hurried out to unlock it.
The moment the gate swung open, the little girl threw herself into Luna’s arms. She tipped her head back and pointed at the little red flower sticker on her forehead.
“Auntie, look! Can you tell what’s different about me today?”
Luna pinched her cheek affectionately. “You’re even prettier than you were yesterday, and you earned a little red flower, too. Is that right?”
She then looked up at the teacher. “I’m sorry, Ms. Chen. I had to work late again. Thank you for staying here with Jojo for so long.”
The kindergarten teacher gently patted Jojo’s head and smiled. “It’s all right, Ms.Smith. Work comes first. But… do you have any idea when Jojo’s parents will be back?”
Luna took Jojo’s hand. “It’ll still be a while. They’re away on a business trip. I asked them yesterday, and it sounds like they’ll be gone for some time yet.”
Jojo’s little face fell. “Huh? Then what about my parent-child activity?”
“Parent-child activity?”
Ms. Chen explained, “We sent out a notice in the parents’ group chat a while ago. Didn’t Jojo’s parents tell you?”
Luna fell silent for a moment. Christopher and Jasmine had been so busy lately that they might genuinely have missed the announcement. Luna wasn’t in the parents’ group chat herself; she only had Ms. Chen’s WeChat contact.
Jojo gazed up at her with pleading eyes. “Auntie?”
Luna said, “I can take a day off on Friday. Would it be okay if I went instead?”
Ms. Chen hesitated. “Of course. But the kindergarten has planned several activities that require two people to participate. If you go alone, some of them might be a little difficult.”
Luna nodded, getting a general idea of the arrangements. The event wasn’t mandatory. Parents could attend if they had time, and if they couldn’t make it, they could simply let the kindergarten know in advance.
Ms. Chen sent her the activity schedule, and Luna took Jojo home.
She opened the rear car door and made an inviting gesture. “May I have the honor of welcoming Princess Jojo aboard?”
Jojo climbed into the car. Once Luna had settled into the driver’s seat and fastened her seat belt, she turned around to remind the little girl to buckle up, too.
But the moment she looked back, she caught Jojo giving her a deeply aggrieved look.
“Jojo?”
In a small, listless voice, Jojo asked, “Auntie, do Mommy and Daddy not want me anymore?”
Luna: “…”
She smiled. “Of course they do. Mommy and Daddy are away on a business trip. They’ll be back in another half a month.”
Jojo asked again, “Then will you be the only one going to my parent-child activity?”
Luna could tell that the little girl was feeling down. Normally, whenever Jojo earned a red flower, she would spend the entire ride showing it off to her aunt.
“Wouldn’t it be okay if Auntie went by herself? I’m really good at running and rowing.”
Jojo lowered her head, picking at the strap of her backpack with her little fingers.
“There are thirty kids in my class, and everyone else’s mommy and daddy are coming. There are also two activities where we have to work together with our parents. If we finish all the challenges, we get little prizes.”
Luna fell silent for a moment. Christopher and Jasmine were both doctors, and their jobs kept them incredibly busy. This time, their business trips had happened to overlap, and they had already been away for a month.
Perhaps, more than anyone else, Jojo was especially attached to the aunt who had spent so much time with her.
“Jojo, how about Auntie finds someone to go with us? It doesn’t necessarily have to be Mommy or Daddy. Didn’t your teacher say the most important thing was spending time together, participating, and enjoying the festive atmosphere? You want the little prizes, don’t you?”
Jojo loved earning red flower stickers because collecting enough of them meant she could exchange them for prizes. She leaned through the gap beside the driver’s seat, and her gloomy expression brightened in an instant.
“Auntie, you can find someone to come with me?”
Luna gently pinched her nose, then pressed her forehead against the little girl’s and rubbed it affectionately.
“Of course! Your auntie has friends, too.”
Jojo snuggled against her, making a happy little sound. “Auntie, you’re the best auntie in the whole world!”
Luna rented a small one-bedroom apartment of her own. However, when Christopher and Jasmine got married, they had also set aside a bedroom for her in their home.
Their jobs kept them busy. Whenever they happened to be on night shifts at the same time, Luna would stay with Jojo, take her to and from school, and look after her meals. The little girl was quite well-behaved, so taking care of her was never much trouble for Luna.
After Jojo had fallen asleep, Luna returned to her room and stretched out on the bed. The first person who came to mind was her best friend,Tiffany. She could ask her for a favor. After all, the activity only required two people; they didn’t necessarily have to be a man and a woman.
But after looking through the activity schedule, Luna immediately crossed that idea off her list. Tiffany had a bad back and wouldn’t be able to handle the physical activities. Besides, she was busy preparing for her engagement.
Next, Luna thought of her older brother.
Without hesitation, she sent him a message.
Luna: Jojo’s kindergarten is holding a parent-child activity, and I need a partner. Do you have any friends who are strong and fast runners? Send someone my way to help me out, will you? I only need them for one day.
Christopher: They need to be strong and fast, too?
Luna immediately forwarded him the kindergarten’s activity schedule.
Luna: Take a look. There’s a three-legged race, a blindfolded obstacle course, and a little boat-rowing challenge where family members have to work together. I’ve never participated in anything like this before, but it looks pretty physical. There’s even a bonfire party in the evening. I can’t handle all of it by myself.
Christopher: All right. Give me a minute. I’ll ask around.
Luna was at her wits’ end. While her brother tried to find someone, she scrolled through her own contact list.
She hadn’t been at her current company for very long, and her relationships with her coworkers were merely cordial.
She reached out to several people, but everyone had a pile of work to get through. No one could spare the time, and Luna couldn’t very well ask someone to take a day off just to help her.
As for her friends from school, there weren’t many to begin with. Throughout high school and college, she had practically been inseparable from David. She had very few male friends of her own.
David…
Luna’s fingers paused.
If they were still together, she would have found someone to help her by now. David was six foot two, and he had been on the school’s cross-country team in high school. As for his strength?
She had learned just how strong he was during their relationship. He could lift her entire body with one arm.
Luna gave a self-deprecating smile. Why was she thinking about him? They had been broken up for five years. For all she knew, he might already have a child of his own.
A new message popped up on her screen. It was from her mother, Xu Xia.
Joanna: You and the son of Auntie Chen’s have known each other since you were little. Didn’t you say you’d arrange a time to meet? Why did you turn him down?
For no particular reason, Luna felt a wave of irritation.
Luna: I’m busy with work. I’ll meet him another time.
Luna was twenty-seven that year. Her mother, Ms. Xu, had been arranging blind dates for her for the past two years, most of which Luna had managed to dodge. Two months earlier, Xu Xia had introduced her to the son of her best friend.
Luna had met him before. He had shown up a few times while she was having meals with her mother. Luna knew Xu Xia was deliberately trying to bring them together. After all, he was her best friend’s son, someone Xu Xia had watched grow up. He had earned a master’s degree overseas, had a pleasant personality, and came from a family they knew well. Her mother felt she could trust him.
Luna’s parents had divorced when she was very young. Ms. Xu had always loved her freedom and spent whatever spare time she had traveling around the world. Whenever she returned home, she would occasionally arrange a meal with Luna and Yu Chen.
Luna had seen Auntie Chen’s son quite often when they were children, but they had barely kept in touch as adults. Yu Chen and Lin Jinmian, on the other hand, had remained in contact with him more regularly.
When Joanna eventually grew anxious about Luna’s love life, she wanted to find someone whose background she knew well and whom she could trust. After discussing it with her best friend, she asked the young man what he thought. He seemed to have some interest in Luna, too, so Joanna passed his contact information along and encouraged them to arrange a time to meet privately.
Luna idly turned her phone in her hand. A month earlier, after adding him as a contact, he had invited her out for a meal. She had made an excuse and postponed it.
Another message from Joanna arrived.
Joanna: You’ve met Lin before. I’ve watched that boy grow up. He has a sunny personality and he’s good-looking, too. He’s taking some time off work lately and said he’d like to see you. Why don’t you have dinner together and maybe catch a movie?
Luna really didn’t have the time or energy to deal with this. She brushed her mother off with a casual reply.
Luna: Mom, I’m pretty busy right now. Let’s talk about it later.
She put her phone down, grabbed a towel and a change of clothes, and headed into the bathroom. By the time she finished showering, it was already past ten.
She picked up her phone and saw a message from Yu Chen.
Christopher: Your sister-in-law and I asked some of our colleagues at the hospital, but everyone’s swamped with work. You know how our profession is. How about you give me a little more time? I’ll ask around again tomorrow.
Luna felt even more frustrated. She lay back on the bed and typed a reply.
Luna: Forget it. I’ll find a friend myself.
After sending that, she added another message.
Luna: Jojo misses you both. Call her on video when you have time.
Christopher didn’t reply for a long time. He was probably on a night shift again.
Lin worked in the emergency department and was even busier than he was. Luna hadn’t bothered to ask her, either.
She lay on the bed for a while before finally getting up and walking into Jojo’s room. Stuffed animals were piled high in the little girl’s partially enclosed bed. Princess dresses hung in her wardrobe, and the room was decorated in shades of pink—the kind of princess bedroom many little girls dreamed of having.
Luna sat on the edge of the bed and pulled up the blanket Jojo had kicked off.
She watched the little girl for a while, until the notification sound from her phone broke the silence.
Christopher had transferred some money to her, followed by a pleading-looking emoji.
Christopher: Luna, I’m sorry. I’ve been terribly busy lately. Your sister-in-law and I will video-call Jojo together tomorrow. The May Day holiday is coming up soon. Take her somewhere fun, okay? Your brother will cover the expenses. Eat whatever you want, have as much fun as you like, and if there’s anything you need for yourself, just buy it. I’ll pay.
He had transferred ten thousand yuan.
Ever since Jojo was born, the Yu family had spared no expense in giving her the best of everything. If the little girl wanted something, she usually got it. The one thing they couldn’t give her, however, was their time.
Luna accepted the money without hesitation. She planned to take Jojo to the new amusement park for a couple of days and buy her a few pretty outfits while they were at it. She could also treat the little girl to some delicious food.
Sitting beside Jojo’s bed, Luna went through her contact list again and again. Her social circle wasn’t very large. She needed someone who lived in the same city, had free time, was easy to get along with, could communicate with her without any awkwardness, and was willing to participate in the activities.
She searched and searched, but couldn’t find a single suitable person.
…Wait. Maybe there was someone.
The man Joanna had introduced to her.
He was a year younger than Luna, tall and slim, and the son of her mother’s best friend. He seemed cheerful, and since he ran a restaurant, his work schedule was probably flexible enough for him to take a day off.
But she had turned down his invitation last time. Wouldn’t it be awkward to ask him for a favor now?
Luna glanced back at Jojo. The little girl looked adorable in her sleep. She took after her mother: clever, ambitious, and determined to be the best at everything. More often than not, she managed to be just that.
Last year, Yu Chen and Lin had taken time off to attend the parent-child activity. They had won Jojo a star-shaped night-light, and she had been thrilled with it for ages, leaving it switched on in her room for days.
As Luna hesitated, another message arrived from her mother.
Joanna: Luna, I don’t know what you’re so stubborn about. You were the one who broke up with him, and you’re the one who hasn’t tried getting to know anyone else all these years. You’re standing still while he might already be married.
After all, David was the same age as Luna. He was twenty-seven now, well-educated, successful in his career, and handsome. It was hard to imagine that no one had been by his side all these years.
Luna replied.
Luna: Okay. Fine. I’ll try getting to know someone.
She opened her contacts and found the blank profile she remembered. She had chatted with the man a few times before and had even asked why he used a blank profile picture. He had told her that his restaurant was called Blank.
A week earlier, Jojo had borrowed Luna’s phone to play with it and accidentally cleared its data. All her chat histories had disappeared. When Luna opened the conversation with the blank profile, there wasn’t a single message in the chat. She didn’t think anything of it.
Luna: Are you there?
The reply came almost immediately.
Him: I am.
Luna: Can we put the blind date on hold for now? I have something I need your help with. I’ll treat you to a meal afterward. Are you free?
After sending the message, she worried that it sounded a little cold, so she picked out a cute cat sticker she had once stolen from An Yun and sent that, too.
The other person fell silent.
Luna waited anxiously for a long time—nearly fifteen minutes.
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Had she offended him by asking for a favor out of the blue?
At last, a reply appeared.
Him: What do you need?
Luna sent the message she had carefully prepared in advance.
Luna: My niece’s kindergarten is holding a parent-child activity, and we need to participate in some games. My brother and sister-in-law are out of town on business, so I’m one partner short. Would you be able to help?
The moment she sent it, a reply popped up.
Him: Sure. Send me the address.
Luna breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to thank him.
Luna: Thank you! I only need you for one day, this Friday.
Him: Sure. I’m free.
He really was a nice guy.
Luna sent him the kindergarten’s location, then asked, Luna: Should I get in touch with you again tomorrow to confirm everything?
Him: Okay.
At last, Luna felt completely relieved. Jojo’s problem was finally taken care of. All she had to do now was ask someone at work to swap shifts with her, and she’d be free on Friday.
She tapped the blank profile picture. The other person’s display name was simply a capital J. She had never saved his name in her contacts, and perhaps he had changed his display name at some point.
His social media feed was empty, too.
Luna found it a little strange. When she had dinner with him and Xu Xia before, he had seemed outgoing and eager to share things about himself. How could someone like that have never posted a single update?
In that respect, he reminded her of someone else.
David had also used a blank profile picture throughout high school, and his social media feed had been just as empty. He had seemed almost like a bot. It wasn’t until they started dating in college that he changed his profile picture to a matching couple photo with Luna and posted a picture of them together to announce their relationship. Only then had he seemed a little more like a real person.
David. There it was again. David.
Luna pressed her lips together, locked her phone, and got up to leave.
They had broken up a long time ago.
Whatever they had once shared, no matter how deep their feelings had been, it was all in the past now.
