Purpose - Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Purpose Character List

Chapter 14

“Right on time, as usual. Don’t you ever get tired of being the perfect one?” Jing’s voice was light, teasing, as she spotted her brother waiting by the entrance.

“Be nice,” Ming shot back, a familiar grin softening his features. “Or I am just going to keep my brilliant gift ideas to myself.”

“Fine, fine.” Xiao Jing closed the distance and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, squeezing. “It’s good to see you, you know.”

Ming laughed, his dimples deepening as he looked down at her. “I missed you too, you menace,” he said, gently prying her off. “Now, behave.”

“Never!” Her eyes sparkled behind her wire-rimmed glasses, a hidden signal that her polished exterior; the navy pantsuit, the sleek bob, the professor like composure, was just an act. Underneath it all was the same rambunctious sister who had once set the kitchen curtains on fire with a makeshift volcano.

“Let’s get a table,” Ming said, steering her toward the busy restaurant. “And don’t forget, you’re buying. No more ‘I left my wallet in the lab’ excuses.”

Jing gasped in mock offense. “That was one time! And I really did forget. But today,” she patted her purse triumphantly, “I came prepared. Can’t have you funding Mom’s present all by yourself.”

“You could, and you absolutely would if I let you.”

They slid into a cozy booth for two, and the familiar scents of broth and spices wrapped around them. A waiter appeared, and they ordered in easy unison: two beef noodle soups, scallion pancakes, pickled cucumbers.

“Mm, nothing like real food,” Jing sighed happily as their side dishes arrived. She immediately scooped up a cucumber slice. “We should get the black fungus salad, too. For health!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Ming chided, but his eyes were warm. He flagged down the waiter to add the salad.

Once all the dishes were spread between them, they ate in comfortable silence, the kind that exists between people who know each other’s rhythms by heart.

Halfway through, Ming glanced up. “Do you want to split a strawberry cake for dessert?”

Jing’s face lit up. “You read my mind! But you should get your own. You look thin.”

“I am not thin,” Ming protested, rolling his eyes. “I look exactly the same as I did last month.”

“Hmm.” She leaned forward, studying him. “Your eyes look tired. Are you sleeping at all?”

“It’s the start of the term. You know how it is…paperwork, scheduling. I’m teaching an extra class this semester, plus overseeing the new security system in the archives.” He shrugged. “Sleep is… optional.”

“Sounds like a string of excuses to me,” she sing-songed, pointing a chopstick at him.

“Says the one who forgot to buy her own mother a birthday present,” he fired back, grinning.

“I was busy! The lab equipment—”

“Alright, alright,” Ming laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “Finish up, Brat. We’ve got a mission.”

They finished eating quickly. Ming paid the bill while his sister slipped off to the restroom. A few minutes later, they crossed the street together toward the shopping center.

“I said I would pay,” Jing said.

“Next time.”

“That’s what you always say. You spoil me the most.”

“Maybe you should find a husband so I can save some money.”

Jing laughed. “Who would treat me as well as my big brother? No, thank you.”

Ming held the door open as they entered the mall. Jing hurried past him, and they immediately began their search. The place was crowded, people everywhere, voices overlapping, footsteps echoing against the polished floors.

“So,” Ming asked, “do you have any idea what you want to get her?”

“What did you get her?”

“A set of gold earrings with a matching bracelet.”

“Does it have a matching necklace?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Well, that’s not helpful at all.”

They circled the first floor, peering through shop windows. Nothing caught their attention. The second floor, no better luck. By the time they reached the third, Jing had lost her patience.

“I’ll just give her a red envelope.”

“You can’t just give her a red envelope,” Ming said firmly. “We’ll find something. Look, this store. It’s French. Come on.”

Before she could protest, he pulled her into a boutique filled with delicate, feminine items. Lacy scarves draped over glass counters, petite purses hung from gold hooks, and European-style trinkets shimmered under warm lighting. It was exactly the kind of shop their mother loved.

After a moment, Ming stopped in front of a display. “This,” he said softly.

It was an enameled jewelry box, white mother-of-pearl trimmed with gold, decorated in a Fabergé style. A painted garden bloomed across the lid, rich with color and fine detail. It looked like something their mother would treasure.

“Look inside,” Ming said. “It’s satin. And it plays music.”

He turned the small key on the back. Chopin’s Tristesse drifted into the air, gentle and melancholic. Jing stepped closer, shoulder brushing Ming’s as they listened together.

“It’s perfect,” Jing said at once. “I don’t even care how much it costs.”

She took the box from his hands and headed straight for the counter.

Ming lingered for a moment, his eyes wandering. A nearby display of lady’s kerchiefs caught his attention. One stood out. A pale pink fabric with an English rose delicately embroidered in the corner. He lifted it, feeling how light and soft it was, and imagined Mary holding it between her fingers.

He brought it to the counter just as Jing accepted her bag, the gift carefully wrapped and tucked inside.

“Something extra for 妈妈?” Jing asked, eyebrow raised.

“Something like that.”

“Would you like this wrapped, sir?” the salesclerk asked.

“Yes, please.”

Jing shook her head. “You always have to outdo me. Hey! Only one present! Not two!”

“I promise your gift won’t be outshined,” Ming said, taking the bag. “Come on, let’s go.”

They stepped back into the mall’s noise.

“Thank you for helping,” Jing said. “I would’ve given up if you hadn’t been here.”

“No problem. Anytime. You know that.”

“I do. Best big brother in the world.” She paused, then added teasingly, “But I mean it! No two presents!”

“I’ll save one for Spring Festival.” Ming glanced at his watch. “Alright, brat, I have to go. Class starts soon.”

“Okay. Be careful walking back. See you tonight.”

“You too. See you tonight.”

At the mall entrance, they hugged quickly, both eager to return to campus. Then they turned and walked off in opposite directions, blending back into the afternoon crowd.

Ming cut across campus at a near-jog, the calm from lunch evaporating with every step. He shouldered through the doors of the Humanities Faculty building and took the stairs two at a time. Thirty minutes. He had thirty minutes before the lunch hour ended, and the corridors filled again.

Breathing heavily on the second-floor landing, he fumbled in the shopping bag, pulled out the silk-wrapped kerchief, and slid the slender gift box into his coat pocket. He edged into the hallway, pausing to peek around corners. Empty. Good. The reception desk was abandoned, the secretary’s chair pushed in. He moved past it, around the partition, and into the open-plan office space. Deserted.

A tight sigh of relief escaped him.

In three swift strides, he was at Mary’s desk. He placed the small box squarely in the center of her clean blotter, scrawled a single line on one of her pink post it notes, “For your collection” and pressed it to the lid.

Then he fled.

He didn’t walk; he sprinted back down the hall, up the stairs into to the sanctuary of his own office. The lock clicked shut behind him, and he leaned against the door, his heart hammering against his ribs. He ran a hand over his face, a disbelieving laugh huffing out of him.

“I’m officially going crazy.”

Thank you for reading! I appreciate your time! Many Blessings.