You know the drill: I own this story but not the characters or the show it is based upon.
Gan-gan, Ni Na, and Zhi Yi, were approaching Ximending station Saturday afternoon after having brunch and doing some shopping when they spotted Xiang Qin running towards the station from the opposite direction. Gan-gan's mouth, which had opened to call her name, closed abruptly as he saw who it was that Xiang Qin was running towards. All three nursing students stood, open-mouthed as they watched Xiang Qin and the object of their obsession have a short conversation and then walk off, with Zhi Shu even allowing Xiang Qin to cling to his hand. He didn't even try to shake her off; in fact, he even looked pleased for a moment before his face settled back into its usual aloof expression.
"So wait," Gan-gan began, "If Zhi Shu is married but he just met up with Xiang Qin…"
"Let's follow them!" Ni Na interrupted, and the trio took after after the couple, keeping a short distance between them.
They trailed them to the cinema, buying tickets to the film in the theater they saw Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin enter. They entered in time to see Zhi Shu lead Xiang Qin to a seat, and they also made note of Xiang Qin's clumsiness, not realizing it was because of the dark. "So it's not just in class," Ni Na whispered as they settled in a few rows behind, close enough to hear Xiang Qin's announcement that this was the wrong movie and Zhi Shu's laughter at her mistake.
When Xiang Qin fell asleep and started snoring, all three wished that Qi Tai was there to yell at Xiang Qin to wake up. How dare she sleep through a date with Zhi Shu?! Zhi Shu ignored her, and continued to watch the movie, while Xiang Qin's classmates watched the back of his head and imagined what they would do if they were sitting in Xiang Qin's seat. Not sleep, that's for damn sure.
Xiang Qin woke up in a panic, and the trio snickered as Zhi Shu scolded her for sleeping, and then they gaped as they heard him mention them being on a date. What was going on here?
"Let's keeping following them and see where they go next on this date," urged Zhi Yi. She was just as obsessed with Zhi Shu as her friends, but she didn't let it show as much. In this case, however, she really wanted to know what was going on.
They watched (at a distance) Xiang Qin shopping and modeling clothes for a bored-looking Zhi Shu who suddenly seemed to find something funny as Xiang Qin ran into the dressing room and slammed the door. At a restaurant, Xiang Qin wasted not one, but two pieces of steak, leaving Gan-gan to mutter "That man is a saint," as Zhi Shu laughed at Xiang Qin's inability to keep food on her plate.
While keeping a discreet distance as they left the restaurant, Gan-gan decided that this would be the perfect chance to find out where their idol/obsession lived. If what seemed to be the bizarre truth was the actual truth, then Zhi Shu and Xiang Qin would be going home to the same house. Luckily for them, Zhi Shu had no reason to notice they were being followed, and as usual Xiang Qin couldn't see anyone who was not Jiang Zhi Shu.
"OMG, look at that mansion!" gasped Gan-gan.
"Look at the view behind the house!" moaned Ni Na.
"Look at that picture." Zhi Yi was pointing to the portrait on the house. It was titled Love Nest.
Ni Na felt irrationally angry. "I can't believe she pretended not to know who he was when she's already married to him. I'd be shouting it from the rooftops, and I sure as hell wouldn't be in nursing school, especially if I sucked as much as she does!"
"Let's not let her know that we know." Gan-gan had an idea. "And don't tell Qi Tai either."
"What's the plan?" Ni Na and Zhi Yi were both grinning now.
"This is what we're going to do…." The trio walked away as they hatched a plan to get revenge on Xiang Qin.
During the taxi ride to the Love Nest, the friends in the back seat had a hard time not bursting into laughter at the panicky look on Xiang Qin's face as she heard where they were headed. How was she going to get out of this, especially with that big-ass portrait on the house for all to see? They could hear parts of a phone call she made, the pleading whispering to someone named Yu Shu, but what could he do, make the house disappear?
Gan-gan paid the driver and they set about stalking the house. Ni Na began to loudly imagine life as the mistress of the house, causing Xiang Qin some visible distress, but there wasn't much she could do unless she told the truth, now was there? Zhi Yi was rhapsodizing about following Zhi Shu home each day so he would fall in love with her, and Gan-gan was having underwear fantasies about him.
"Dammit," thought Xiang Qin, "they don't seem to care that he's married! Even though they don't know it's me, they should at least respect that he HAS a wife!" She continued to stew as they talked about breaking up her marriage like it was no big deal. When she crept down the sidewalk to see if Yu Shu had taken care of the wedding portrait, she was glad to note that he'd done a good job. She owed him, and it was going to be a bitch to clean, but who cared – her secret was safe and as long as Mom didn't see it, no big deal.
The sound of their voices brought her out of her reverie. What now? she wondered as they gathered to talk about the mess someone made of the portrait. Too bad, Xiang Qin thought smugly.
"Well played," Gan-gan thought as he took in the paint obscuring Xiang Qin's face. "Maybe we've underestimated you after all, Mrs. Jiang."
Yu Shu's exit from the house with Sweetie Pie in tow forced group back a bit, and the trio began whining about 'The Wife' again, adding a little more vitriol this time. Xiang Qin's defense of herself was making it hard for her classmates to stay in character, but they wouldn't let the charade end yet. How far would she let this go?
Ni Na spotted Zhi Shu coming towards them and hustled everyone across the street. The girl with them fit their expectations of a proper wife for Zhi Shu, so with some quick eye contact, they all came to an agreement. They began to praise her and comment on her beauty and suitability as Xiang Qin got quieter. By now they were feeling a little bit bad for her, but justified their actions by remembering how she had been lying to them since she joined the nursing program. Why wouldn't she just admit the truth already? Ugh!
They were so engrossed in their playacting that they didn't notice Xiang Qin disappear. How did she manage to cross the street and get into the house without them seeing her? No matter; they'd see her in class tomorrow and pick up where they left off today.
The nursing classroom was noisy with the sounds of chatter and clanking instruments, but Xiang Qin was uncharacteristically silent, and her usual sunny smile was gone, replaced by a frown.
"Do you think she's still upset?" Zhi Yi was looking over her shoulder at their classmate. Gan-gan and Ni Na didn't seem to hear her as they were regaling Qi Tai with tales of ZS, his 'wife' and their mansion. Xiang Qin must have overheard because she grabbed Qi Tai and and started to check his blood pressure. Her distraction was obvious: she kept inflating the cuff too much, then she forgot to put the stethoscope in her ears, and it just went downhill from there, ending with Qi Tai yelling at her for being inattentive and asking what her problem was.
Xiang Qin couldn't take anymore. She blurted out that she was Zhi Shu's wife and that she was in nursing school to help him. The class exploded in laughter and Ni Na began to needle her again, suggesting that she might like life as Zhi Shu's mistress while Ni Na enjoyed life as Mrs. Jiang. A frustrated Xiang Qin tried one more time to explain, then gave up and turned her back on her group. "Forget it," she pouted, wondering what she was going to do next.
Excited murmurs swept through the classroom brought her attention back to the classroom, and she turned around in time to see Zhi Shu walking through the room. Why is he here? she asked herself as he stopped next to her.
"Why is your phone off?" He sidled up to her, trying to have a private conversation in a classroom of noisy, nosy students.
"Um, the battery died."
"Can you go with Mom to take Sweetie Pie to the vet? I have a meeting tonight?"
"Sure…"
"That's all I wanted. Bye." Zhi Shu left just as abruptly as he came, leaving Xiang Qin thinking "I really hate when he does that." She knew he was a private person, but still.
Qi Tai had been open-mouthed during the exchange, and was looking around in shock. Gan-gan, Ni Na, and Zhi Yi stared at Xiang Qin expectantly.
"Well?" Gan-gan's arms were crossed, his foot tapping expectantly.
"Why did you lie to us?" Ni Na had stern look on her face, Zhi Yi by her side.
"Well, I, uh," Xiang Qin began stammering. "IREALLYWANTEDYOUGUYSTOLIKEMEANDNOT BECAUSEOFZHISHUANDI'MSORRY." Xiang Qin finished in a rush and bowed deeply.
Gan-gan looked at the other two girls and said "I think she's suffered enough by now." He turned to Xiang Qin. "We already knew you were married to Zhi Shu. We figured it out when we saw you together last weekend and followed you around. We decided to see how far we could push you before you admitted the truth. You didn't break easily, I'll give you that."
"Let this be a lesson to you," Ni Na warned. "Don't try and lie to us again; we won't be so nice next time."
"That was nice?" Xiang Qin asked herself as she nodded at her study group, and then when she heard her punishment, she wished that the truth had never come out. They wanted a group date with Zhi Shu's and his classmates? The man had to be dragged on a date with his own wife! Xiang Qin had a sudden flash of inspiration: What would Mom do in this situation…?