02 | The Little Mermaid - Part 1

A rush of air escaped her lips as she took off her mask, throwing it into the nearby trash before going out to inform the patient’s family about the successful surgery. Their relieved smile washed away her wariness, dimples cutting deep into her cheeks when they gratefully thanked her for what she had done to their beloved son.

It was the last surgery she had to do that day and she wasted no time to take off her blue scrubs and proceeded to the changing room. Doctor Tsai Meiying was considered too young to be an oncologist since she only got her license two years ago but Meiying felt lucky because the famous oncologist, Doctor Li Qingxia, brought Meiying to every surgery she did from which Meiying directly learn.

However, her age was the thing that shied people away from her because they preferred an older and experienced doctor. Not that Meiying could protest about because she admitted that she couldn’t best the other doctors with her current surgeries record.

‘Good work today, Doctor Tsai.’ Meiying smiled as she turned around at the pat on her back. Tian Xiulin released her hairdo and waved it slightly, taking off her nurse uniform and took out her clothes from the locker.

Meiying snorted at the formality. ‘Good work to you too, Xiulin.I hope you’re not too busy for a dinner?’ Meiying put on her blouse, glancing at the mirror to fix her side-swept bangs. She extracted a brush from her bag to fix her shoulder-length hair. She always wished to have long wavy hair like Xiulin’s but she didn’t have the privilege to look after it with her busy schedule.

‘Sure! I’m famished and need something hot to energise me. How about Misua?’ Xiulin said as she put on her coat.

‘I’m thinking about the same thing. Let’s go!’ Meiying said as she locked her locker.

The warm steam hit her face, filling her smelling sense with the smell of her childhood. The transparent and thin noodle smoothly slid through her throat and there was nothing more rewarding than drinking the hot and thick pork broth that entirely warmed her body. The Misuastall was located just three blocks from the hospital and always packed with people who wanted to get the nostalgic taste for it had been established since 1965.

They were sitting close to the entrance because Meiying liked to ask for an extra broth from the owner, who happily gave it for free. The place was packed with people, young and old alike. The students who were chattering on the corner reminded her so much of her school life when she ate dinner like this before going to the night courses.

‘Here. Have my mushrooms if you like it so much,’ Xiulin said as she passed her wood ear mushrooms to her bowl.

‘How can you not eat mushrooms, Xiulin? Not that I dislike your generous donation though.’

‘I don’t like their slimy texture.’ Xiulin held the mushroom with her chopsticks and crinkled her nose as she put it into Meiying’s bowl. ‘They’re really horrible.’

‘That’s your loss then. You don’t eat this and soon enough you’d be my patient. They’re rich in antioxidant that beats cancer.’

‘Yeah, yeah, Miss Oncologist.’ Xiulin drank her broth and contently sighed. ‘So, how’s your father doing, Meiying? Is he good?’

‘Never been better. Despite having only one working leg, he has no problem doing things casually. He’s our Captain Hook after all.’ This, Xiulin snorted. ‘I’ve been asking him to move in with me over and over, but yeah, I can understand why he doesn’t want to move down. Yaming Mountain has better air than here after all.’

‘I see . . .’ Xiulin looked down at her empty bowl while twirling her wavy hair.

Meiying put down her bowl when finished then asked, ‘So, are you over Lugang now?’ Xiulin nodded, first with her slightly depressed look then transitioned into her jovial visage.

‘Actually, that was all the way in the past and I’m seeing someone right now . . .’ she whispered the last part with a smile.

‘Already? You broke up with Lugang like what? A month ago?’

‘Half a year, Mei,’ Xiulin corrected with a snort. ‘Time must fly for you because you kept going back and forth to South Korea for that seminar.’

Meiying rolled her eyes to the left then back to Xiulin. ‘It’s been half a year, already? Why time flies so fast?’

‘Yes, it has been half a year since then so you better hurry and start looking. Especially, since we already are leftover ladies.’

‘Leftover ladies, my arse. I’m just fine like wine. The older I am, the better. Besides, the storm begins right after marriage,’ Meiying said as she fixed her bangs while looking at her compact mirror. Sometimes, Xiulin’s dreamy statements on marriage annoyed her to no end. Sure enough on her twenty-seven, a lot of people incessantly asked her ‘when’.

‘You’re right about that . . . There’s just no way we met our prince and marry him the next day like in fairy tales, right?’ Xiulin took her pink marble-patterned scarf and put it around her neck.

‘Oh, dear Xiulin… My dear Xiulin…’ Meiying waved her index finger. ‘Talking about fairy tales, do you know what I’ve learnt from the Little Mermaid Story?’

‘You must do everything for love?’ Xiulin dreamily said. Unlike her, Xiulin loved reading romance novels and loved to write a poem she usually posted on her Instagram.

‘No, no, and nope! First, don’t sign a contract without reading it properly. Second, don’t give up what’s important to you for the man you don’t know. And third, the most important of all, you’d end up dying if love is all you’re chasing.’

‘We’d die without love, Meiying,’ Xiulin said as she rubbed Meiying’s left shoulder.

‘If you ask me to choose between love and career, I choose both because I love my career, ’ Meiying nonchalantly answered.

‘You just haven’t met the right one yet, Mei. Once you met that man who can bend your knees, you’ll know what I meant.’ Xiulin was looking straight into her eyes when she said this as if she wanted to imprint her words forever in Meiying’s heart. Meiying only wanted to be realistic. It was hard to imagine herself marrying anyone with so many things in her hands.

‘We’ll see that.’Meiying took out her wallet and paid for her dinner. ‘So, who’s the lucky guy?’

‘I will introduce him to you later.’ Meiying smiled when she noticed a faint blush on Xiulin’s face. ‘He’s a great guy and I’m pretty sure that he’s the one. Yeah, he is the one . . . We’ve been together for only two months but I know it, Mei . . . He’s the fairy tale prince I’ve been searching for.’

Years had passed since she met Xiulin the first time in the university but never once Meiying saw her glow the way she was at that moment. Meiying’s life goal had never been a marriage, but it was for Xiulin. Her friend was truly in love and only the right man could make her look like that. Meiying pondered if there would be a moment when she would look the way Xiulin was…

‘I wish you both happiness, Xiulin. I really do . . .’

‘Oh, thanks, Mei . . . I wish you find your guy soon! I can only rest in peace if you find the one who really cares about you!’

‘Well, talking about my guy —‘ Meiying took out her phone and flashed her phone screen to Xiulin, ‘— here he is. Talk to you later, Xiulin! I really have to answer this.’

‘Ow . . .’ Xiulin sweetly smiled, displaying her dimples as she nodded in understanding. ‘Be careful on your way home, Meiying! Send my regards to him! See you!’ Xiulin waved her hand as she walked towards the metro station.

‘Sure! You too, Xiulin! See you!’ Meiying’s cheeks almost hurt from her smile. She slid her finger to accept the call. ‘Hello?’

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author's note

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Misua [麵線]read as Mianxian in Mandarin, is a very thin variety of salted noodles made from wheat flour. It’s not the same with rice vermicelli although they look almost the same. Misua is usually served in various ways, either stir-fried or broth. I’m favoring broth of course, especially during the rainy season or winter. XD If you come to Taipei, Taiwan. Do visit A Chung Misua [阿宗麵線] in Ximen but they don’t provide seats over there because it’s a to-go food. [They should hire me as their food ambassador because I keep telling everyone to try it. LOL]

Sheng Nu [ 剩女] or leftover ladies/women is a very bad term for women who are still unmarried in their late twenties. However, I advise you to ignore this term when someone called you one because you're just fine no matter how 'young' you are.

Please note that I only upload this story on Wattpad, Goodnovel, and Webnovel. If you happen to find the story outside these two platforms, please kindly inform me.

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