Chapter 55: Lively
Time rewound, and at the other end, Fu Jiaming waited for her to leave the office. Taking advantage of Director Liang getting off work, he quickly approved the fake sick note, then hurriedly limped on one leg to the nearby Mechanical Factory.
After he smoothly entered the factory gate without obstruction, even though he knew it was already time to get off work, he still went straight to the spot behind the Chief Engineer’s Office building—a two-story small building—and didn’t choose to go to the canteen or dormitory.
“Old man, trouble you to find Engineer Yan from the Research Lab.”
“It’s you again, coming to drag Engineer Yan to eat, hahaha, kid, wait a bit!”
The gatekeeping old man was long used to him pulling this stunt every few days.
Besides, Engineer Yan was good in every way, but when he got into work, he was desperate—no one watching meant he wouldn’t eat or sleep, just working straight through to late into the night!
As the old saying goes, man is iron and rice is steel; skip a meal and you’ll feel starved. How could a young guy do this often without wrecking his body?
Thinking this while opening the iron gate and walking inside, the old man moved quickly and soon reached Room 202. “Engineer Yan? Engineer Yan? Someone’s looking for you.”
“Pa~”
Yan Bei, interrupted in his thoughts, snapped the pencil in his hand. He hadn’t noticed while immersed in the formulas, but snapping back to reality, the pain in his chest made him gasp.
Knowing it must be Fu Jiaming, he put the documents and drafts in his hand into the drawer, locked it, slowly stood up, walked to the door, and opened it.
“Engineer Yan, are you okay?”
The old man’s teasing words, on the tip of his tongue, were immediately swallowed upon seeing his face. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“I’m fine, probably just been in the room too long and feeling stuffy.”
Really?
Covered in cold sweat, his face already whiter than a girl’s now looked transparent. How did this not look fine at all?
The old man confirmed caringly several times until they reached outside the building and he saw Fu Jiaming waiting, then he finally relaxed a bit.
The two guys—one limping with a plaster cast, the other with thick layers of bandages wrapped around his chest under his clothes—neither knew who should support whom.
“What do you want to do this time?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, listen to yourself.”
Fu Jiaming glanced at him casually and continued, “Fine, Su Ning went to all that trouble for nothing, wasted my trip. You go back and keep enjoying your alone time with the Research Lab!”
“What do you mean?”
“What what meaning? Su Ning’s having a housewarming tonight and specially invited us over, but since you’re busy, I’ll pass on your apologies for you.”
His steps halted abruptly, and Yan Bei suddenly looked up straight at him. “Su Ning, housewarming?”
“Yeah, what’s…”
“Hey, Yan Qi, where are you going? The gate’s this way!”
Fu Jiaming, who got to see him change face again as wished, felt a surge of smugness in his heart but immediately suppressed it.
No!
After confirming the news, why was he striding straight toward the staff dormitory instead?
“Hey Yan Qi, you’re serious? Really not going?”
“Wait!”
Full of question marks until he followed him on a trip to the dormitory, then it suddenly clicked.
Fu Jiaming extremely regretted not having a camera; otherwise, capturing that rare scene just now would have him laughing for… no, two or three years!
“Yan Bei oh Yan Bei, Little Yan Qi, you say your mouth is the hardest part of you—what’s the point of not admitting it?”
“Hahahaha…”
“Shut up, unless you want news of your long underwear tomorrow spreading through both factories, keep going.”
“You’re ruthless!”
……
So because someone specially went back to dress up carefully, the two patients had to speed up. By the time they found the address she mentioned, it was just on time for the appointment.
“South Gate First Street, No. 63, this is it…”
Before the questioning words came out, Fu Jiaming saw the familiar little black ball behind the half-open door. “Little Round Circle still remembers me, right?”
“Woof~”
Little Round Circle sniffed, then woofed milkily upon smelling the familiar scent, completely without the fierceness it showed toward Luo Shuangshuang.
“Good!”
Stroking its chin, Fu Jiaming nodded to his good buddy. “Let’s go Yan Qi, this is the place, we didn’t get it wrong.”
“Su Ning, are you there? We’re here!”
Having just finished the last soup and sat down to rest, laughing and messing around with Luo Shuangshuang, they heard the call from the courtyard. The two exchanged a glance and immediately got up to walk out of the kitchen.
“The meal is all ready, just waiting for you guys.”
“You know, us two!”
Fu Jiaming shrugged and spread his hands helplessly at her. “We really couldn’t walk fast, and couldn’t ride a bike either, so we’re a bit late.”
“Comrade Su, sorry.”
“Not late, I just finished too. Comrade Yan, no need to say that. Come on, let’s go inside and eat first.”
After everyone entered the kitchen and sat at the dining table, Su Ning briefly introduced them to each other, then lifted the empty plate covering the dishes to keep them warm.
The dishes smelled so good just from the aroma—you knew they had to be great!
Fu Jiaming took a deep breath, and his already empty stomach growled even louder.
“Couldn’t tell, huh? I thought when you said eating at home, you meant getting a few hard dishes from the state-run restaurant. You really made these?”
“I guarantee, these are truly all made by Ning Bao Gai!”
Luo Shuangshuang’s eyes were just like his at the moment—like wolves starved for days, staring at the dishes on the table with green glints.
“So, can we eat first?”
“Agree! My question was totally unnecessary!”
Seeing them staring eagerly at her, Su Ning said no more and, as the host, picked up her bowl and chopsticks first to casually take a dish.
The two couldn’t wait and cheered together, then immediately started eating.
Back and forth, their hands moved so fast you could only see afterimages on the table. Later, they even started competing.
Su Ning and Yan Bei, sitting beside them, tacitly shifted back a bit.
“Comrade Yan…”
“According to Jiaming, I thought we were friends too?”
The meal was delicious, but hearing her distant and polite address one after another made Yan Bei feel like even the best food was hard to swallow.
“Of course.”
After all, she had saved him, and she bore some responsibility for his injury, even intervening to change his fate.
No matter how you looked at it, it was fate that made them friends, nothing wrong with that, so Su Ning answered straightforwardly.
“Good then. Su Ning, what were you about to say to me just now?”
Hearing her affirmative answer without hesitation, Yan Bei’s cool brows and eyes instantly bloomed like a snow lotus on an icy mountaintop.
The moment the flower bloomed seemed to stun time, making it pause.
Su Ning, equally stunned, felt her breath catch for a brief instant, though very short.
“Ah, um, I wanted to ask how your injury is. I heard from Fu Jiaming that you went straight to work without sick leave?”
“Yeah, there are still some things to wrap up at hand. I wanted to finish them first. The bone is already healed, nothing major.”
Understanding, she nodded, then oddly glanced at his chest. Thinking back now, it was unbelievable—how did she injure him like that back then?
Compared to his ribs, her forehead just had a big swelling and mild concussion—considered lucky?
“You still need to be careful yourself, don’t cause secondary injury.”
“Rest assured, I will.”
Over there, the two were happily gorging and snatching food, while they chatted more and more amiably, no longer distant.
In short, everyone was very happy after the meal.
Outside, night was deepening. Along the bluestone slab path by the embankment, people were holding reed fans to cool off and chat idly, with bursts of laughter now and then.
The courtyard gate wide open, Su Ning saw the three off to the gate but was still uneasy. “How about I send you guys instead?”
“No need, we’re patients but not made of mud to shatter at a touch, right? Luo Shuangshuang’s safety is in our hands too—we guarantee to get her safely home!”
Fu Jiaming waved off her kindness. If some blind fool crashed into them looking for trouble, who knew who’d be the unlucky one.
“Rest assured Ning Bao Gai, I’ll be home in a few minutes. Since you’re free tomorrow, I’ll come find you then.”
“Okay.”
Without saying more, Yan Bei just gave her a deep look. The instant she looked back, he smiled and nodded before leaving with them.
……
“Little Round Circle, done spinning? Let’s go!”
After they were far out of sight, Su Ning called Little Round Circle, who was still spinning around, to come home.
She still needed to go back inside to see what that girl Ying Ying had written, and while it was early, reply to letters for her and Grandpa Fu.
“Woof woof woof~”
“What’s wrong Little Round Circle?”
Her hand tightened on the gate, and she called again toward the dark ahead. “Come back Little Round Circle!”
“Woof woof woof! Woof woof!”
Tormented by relatives to no end, late today, sorry. (;︵;)
