Karen's House

In the afternoon, Mr. Wu drove Lily and Sun Mei to Karen's house in the suburbs. While they drove around a very upscale neighborhood, Sun Mei turned to Mr. Wu.

"Why do I have to go?"

Mr. Wu grimaced. "Apparently, Karen is a bit busy and needs your help."

Sun Mei frowned in thought. "What does Karen do for a living?"

"She's a gossip columnist."

"Really?" Sun Mei asked in genuine surprise.

"No, but I think that's her calling."

"I'm not going to argue. But what does she really do?"

"I actually have no idea. I never stay around her long enough to find out. You can ask her since you'll be spending some quality time together today."

Sun Mei sighed. "Why is she even hosting a playdate if she has no time? Does she always count on other people paying nannies to watch her kid too?"

Mr. Wu snorted with laughter. "You know what? That is a fair point! Maybe this is a scheme so that she can get free babysitting!"

"I knew it!"

While they talked, Lily was uncharacteristically quiet in the back seat.

"Lily, are you excited to see Julie?" Mr. Wu asked her.

"No, she's not," Sun Mei murmured.

"I already saw her at school," Lily said with a dark expression. "I haven't missed her yet."

Mr. Wu almost laughed, but he restrained himself in time.

"I want to go home and play with Sun Mei!" Lily pouted.

Mr. Wu smiled. "Well, maybe you don't know Julie that well. Remember when Sun Mei first came to stay with us and you didn't want to play with her either?" he asked her reasonably. "Now, you love playing with her!"

"I don't care. Julie stinks!"

"Well, this playdate is off to a great start…" said Sun Mei.

"Lily, do not tell Julie that she stinks," said Mr. Wu.

"Can I say it in Chinese?"

"You know how to say that in Chinese?"

"Yes, Sun Mei taught me."

Mr. Wu looked at her sideways. "Thanks for that, Sun Mei."

"You're welcome. For the record, I was not speaking about Julie. I was referring to Lily's poop."

Mr. Wu almost snapped his head around. "Her poop?"

"Yes, Lily loves to talk about her poop when you are not home. She finds it fascinating."

"I'm so glad I had a kid so I could have conversations like this one."

"I think that's the address!" Sun Mei pointed to a house on the right side of the street.

Mr. Wu quickly pulled over and checked the number. "Yes, we're here."

Nobody got out of the car for a while. They all just looked through the window and observed Karen's house. It looked just as big and expensive as Mr. Wu's, if not more. The garden certainly was way bigger, and there were three shiny cars in the driveway.

"Well, now we know what Karen does for a living," said Sun Mei.

"What?" asked Mr. Wu.

"She married rich."

Mr. Wu laughed. "That's why she and Jenny get along so well!"