Zeng Li looked at him and suddenly felt a sense of disharmony. He didn't know what was wrong with this society. If a woman had never been in a relationship at an old age, some people would think there was something wrong with her. If she had been in a relationship, people would question whether she was a decent woman.
“Aunt Qin doesn’t quite understand the situation. I’ve actually talked to her about it once before.”
"How did you separate?"
"Can we not talk about this?"
"How far has the discussion progressed?" Gu Haidong glanced up and down at Zeng Li when asking this question.
She thought it was ridiculous. How could this be love and marriage? This was a business deal!
Seeing that she didn't answer, Gu Haidong felt disappointed and took out his cigarette case and started smoking in front of Zeng Li.
At this moment, Zeng Li really wanted to borrow a cigarette from him so as to completely overturn his image, but he was afraid that he would report it to the elders.
The two were silent for a long time.
Zeng Li regretted that he didn't make an appointment with Ma Yiyi or Wu Ying when he came here just now. He could call them within ten minutes or something so that he could find an excuse to slip away.
Just when he was feeling depressed, Zeng Li's cell phone rang and a text message came in. The sender was actually Ai Jingchu. There were only four words in the message: It was Qiu Shaoyun.
Inexplicable.
Zeng Li pondered for a while, but still didn't understand what was going on, thinking he had sent the wrong message. Suddenly, Zeng Li remembered her conversation with Wu Ying in the cinema, and then checked the call logs. Sure enough, she saw that the latest call was from Ai Jingchu, and she guessed that she had probably made a mistake by not locking the keyboard.
She turned back to open the text message, read the four words again, and then couldn't help but burst out laughing.
When Zeng Li smiled, the dimples at the corners of her mouth appeared slightly.
Gu Haidong's eyes moved slightly, and he was a little stunned.
Zeng Li noticed that the other person was looking at her, and she quickly raised her hand to slightly cover the lower half of her face, lowered her head a little, and quickly pursed her lips.
"What are you happy about?" Gu Haidong couldn't help asking.
"A joke from a friend."
"Would you like to hear me read it?"
Zeng Li put his phone away and smiled faintly, "It's just a cold joke. It's not funny at all when you read it out loud." Then, Zeng Li sat with the other person for a while, bored.
When they parted, Gu Haidong asked, "Can I continue to contact you?"
Zeng Li was a little surprised. She didn't expect that he still had a good impression of her, so she said hesitantly: "Mr. Gu, you have good conditions, but you are not suitable for me."
"What do you find unsatisfactory?"
"It's not that I'm dissatisfied, it's that..." Zeng Li used his hand to smooth over his hair and said, "I have someone else in my heart."
"Then why do you come to a blind date?"
"Because..." Under the pressure of the middleman... But I couldn't come up with this excuse.
"I'm sorry." After a long while, Zeng Li could only utter these three words.
"So that's why you rushed to pay the bill with me just now, and last time too?" Gu Haidong asked.
Zeng Li nodded silently. She never liked to owe others anything, not even the inevitable tea and meals during a blind date.
"Are you together?" Gu Haidong asked tentatively, not giving up.
Zeng Li looked away dejectedly.
Gu Haidong understood what was happening. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Give me a chance."
"I..." She really didn't know how to refuse people.
"Don't be so anxious to answer me!" Gu Haidong interrupted her hastily, "We'll talk about it next time we meet."
Zeng Li slowly uttered the same words: "I'm sorry." There won't be a next time.
It was not until she got home that Zeng Li remembered that out of courtesy she should call Ai Jingchu to explain everything. However, when she looked at the time, it was no longer appropriate, so she gave up.
The next day Zeng Li got up early and went to help in the cafe.
Xiaomai, who went home to visit her family during the Chinese New Year, has returned. She has been working at Carol's and has worked in other places before, so she is familiar with everything, unlike Doudou, a part-time student who needs to be taught everything. Xiaomai took a month off during the first month of the year, and now that she is back, Zeng Li and Ma Yiyi are both relieved.
There were not many customers in the morning, so Ma Yiyi went out to purchase goods. Zeng Li then taught Dou Dou how to make fruit juice while receiving the customers.
"Just use it raw?" Dou Dou pointed at the okra in Zeng Li's hand.
"You can blanch it in hot water, but I like to use it raw. It tastes fresher and looks greener." As he spoke, Zeng Li soaked the raw okra in salt water for a while, then scraped the fluff off the skin, cut it into small pieces and put it in a food processor.
"Add another cup of milk." Zeng Li said, and pressed the work button of the food processor.
Then, a cup of emerald green okra milk juice was formed. Zeng Li poured the liquid into the glass, inserted a straw, and asked Dou Dou to serve it to the guests.
After a while, a boy who looked like a college student walked in. Dou Dou smiled as soon as he said "Welcome".
"Why are you here again?" Dou Dou smiled and led him to a seat by the window, then took his order and poured him some water.
"Know him?" Zeng Li asked.
Dou Dou covered her mouth mysteriously, "Sister Yiyi didn't let me tell you."
"There's an affair?"
"Don't tell me I said that."
It turned out that the boy was pursuing Ma Yiyi and had been coming to see her every day in the past few days, which made Ma Yiyi annoyed.
In order to get a few more glances at him, Zeng Li personally brought the mocha he ordered to him.
The boy smiled at Zeng Li, "Thank you." The smile was bright against his wheat-colored skin.
Zeng Li couldn't help but smile back, and she immediately understood why Ma Yiyi was annoyed with him.
This man is not Ma Yiyi's type at all. I have known Ma Yiyi for many years and I know that she has always been attracted to uncles. He is the type with white skin, a calm expression, always wearing a decent suit, only raising his eyebrows when happy, and slightly narrowing his eyes when angry; he is naturally good at strategizing and everything is under his control; he should be ten years older than her, so that all women in the world are obsessed with him, but the uncle only loves her.
Ma Yiyi simply loves this kind of plot. As for childhood sweethearts, innocent campus life, or siblings, none of them are her love.
Wu Ying once summarized twelve words to describe Ma Yiyi's dream lover, which are: mature and stable, successful in career, and the last point is especially important - fair skin and beautiful appearance.
But this boy obviously has nothing to do with these twelve words.
Suddenly, Zeng Li thought of Ai Jingchu.
If he could be ten years older, work harder and become a dean or president, or win a 100 million lottery, he would probably be Ma Yiyi's dream lover. Thinking of this, Zeng Li couldn't help laughing.
"Little sister, isn't Ma Yiyi here?" the other party asked.
Zeng Li was wearing the store's work clothes and had her hair tied into a ponytail. She was fair and tender, and looked about the same age as Dou Dou, which made him misunderstand that she was also a part-time student.
"She went out and won't be back for a long time." Zeng Li replied.
But at noon, Ma Yiyi cleverly called Dou Dou and found out that the man had been waiting for her. She simply handed over the store affairs to Zeng Li and asked for leave and left.
On Sunday, the scene repeated itself.
The boy came and Ma Yiyi hid again.
Fortunately, Wu Ying didn't have to be on duty, so she watched the store with Zeng Li. When Zeng Li wanted to call to ridicule Ma Yiyi again, he saw Gu Haidong appear in Carol's.
"You..." Zeng Li was stunned.
Gu Haidong smiled awkwardly, "I heard from Aunt Qin that your store is here, so I came to take a look."
Since the visitor was a guest, Zeng Li didn't know what to say and just led him to sit down.
"Who is it?" Wu Ying asked.
"A blind date guy." Zeng Li confessed honestly.
"You two clearly went to Dongshan to worship Buddha, so how come you ended up bringing back so much bad luck?"
"screw you."
"Actually, she looks quite decent." Wu Ying started to make fun of Zeng Li again.
Zeng Li poked her and told her to shut up.
"Oh, yes, you and Yiyi both need to have fair skin and beautiful looks."
"… "
Zeng Li did not have Ma Yiyi's indifferent personality. After a moment, he felt that it was not appropriate to leave Gu Haidong alone like this. After all, he was formally introduced by the elders, so he walked over and sat down and talked to him for a few words.
"Your place is really nice. We should have met here last time." said Gu Haidong.
Zeng Li smiled and didn't say anything.
Gu Haidong picked up the coffee cup and took a sip.
Zeng Li saw his little finger, which had a short nail. He looked at his other hand on the table, and the same thing happened. In fact, his hands were well-shaped, and the little finger with a short nail didn't look out of place.
But she didn't like it.
Yu Yi's knuckles were thicker, the blue veins on the back of his hands were bulging, and his nails were cut very short, even into the cracks of his flesh, which did not look pretty at all.
When she mentioned the adjective "beautiful", she thought of another pair of hands, hands that had a similar feeling to Yu Yi's. In the hotel in Dongshan, it was placed on the sofa in the living room of the room, warm and slender, white and clean. At that time, she touched it a little uncontrollably.
Later, when she was hesitating by the river whether to crash the other car to get revenge, it covered her again, held her hand, and taught her not to be timid.
That's where he and Yu Yi are most similar.
Zeng Li looked up and said to Gu Haidong, "Mr. Gu, I think I made my point very clear that day."
Gu Haidong nodded, "I know. I just came here to sit down. As a customer, am I not welcome?"
Since he had said so, Zeng Li could no longer refute and had to let him go.
When she stood up, she saw the boy in the other seat, who smiled and said, "Little sister, is Ma Yiyi coming today?"
Zeng Li was very upset. What was going on? Spring had really come. Are the peach blossoms blooming everywhere
Zeng Li went to the dental hospital on Wednesday.
She usually registers at the lobby on the first floor after entering the hospital. Today, she went back to work before coming, which delayed her a little, so when she arrived, there were already many people queuing at the registration desk. After it was finally her turn, she handed over her medical card and follow-up card and said, "I'm going to see Ai Jingchu for a follow-up visit."
Then the staff handed out the change and the registration number.
At this time, the man with a foreign accent next to him was not happy. He grabbed Zeng Li and said to the nurse who was registering him, "What's the matter? Are you bullying us from the countryside?"
Zeng Li looked at the man in surprise.
"Why did they say there was no more when we called Ai Jingchu? Did she have it later than us?" The man shouted, "You're bullying us, don't you understand? Are you using a backdoor?"
The nurse said unhappily, "He came for a follow-up visit and made the appointment a month in advance."
"We are from other places, how can we have a month-long appointment? Aren't you bullying me?"
"Professor Ai's schedule is full. Please pick someone else." The nurse was too lazy to continue arguing with him and turned around and shouted, "Next."
The man looked like an honest man from the countryside, with a woman behind him holding a two or three-year-old child. When the nurse ignored him, he pulled Zeng Li's clothes and said, "Girl, give me your number, we are in a hurry."
"What's wrong?"
"The child can't speak clearly, so a fellow villager recommended us to see Doctor Ai. But when we came yesterday and the day before yesterday, they said he was not seeing patients. When we came today, they said there were no more appointments."
"But, this number..." It has a name on it, and it's a follow-up visit, can I give it up? Besides, isn't Ai Jingchu a dentist? Is it up to him to decide whether he can speak or not
"What are you doing!" A shout interrupted Zeng Li's thoughts. She turned around and saw that it was Gu Haidong again.
Gu Haidong pulled the man's hand away and protected Zeng Li behind him.
"Are you here to see the doctor too?" Zeng Li asked Gu Haidong puzzledly.
"Your mother said you were going to see the dentist today. I know they have a long wait for follow-up visits here, and I'm on my day off anyway, so I came to keep you company and help you pass the time." Gu Haidong explained.
His face is getting thicker each time.
Zeng Li left Gu Haidong and said to the couple, "Teacher Ai is a very nice person. Why don't we go look for him together? If he's free, maybe he wouldn't mind seeing one more person?"
Zeng Li was a little hesitant when she said this. She was not a nosy person. There were many people in the hospital who could not see a doctor, and each of them had their own difficulties. But the person was talking about her, and they were a pair of parents who were worried about their child. She really couldn't just stand by and watch.
Yu Yi had told her about his childhood. When he was two or three years old, he still had problems with pronunciation, and his parents were worried. Country people were not well educated and didn't understand anything, so they thought he had a low IQ and was stupid. As a result, they took him to the city hospital for a check-up. The doctor said, "Hi, it's because the frenulum is too short. It's no big deal." Then he did some preparatory work, took a pair of scissors and cut the tendons under the tongue, and the problem was solved in a few minutes.
So sometimes, Zeng Li feels that a very small thing can affect a child's life.
Afterwards, Zeng Li took the couple upstairs, and Gu Haidong followed behind. Along the way, Zeng Li was nervous, hoping that Ai Jingchu would not be so ruthless, and would not think that she had only met him a few times and acted on his behalf.
When I arrived at the clinic, Ai Jingchu was not there. He said he had gone to the mold room.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Ai Jingchu came back.
This was the first time Zeng Li had seen him in four weeks. He wore a dark grey shirt under his white coat, with the top button unbuttoned and the collar slightly open. He saw Zeng Li as soon as he entered the room, his eyes paused, and he was about to walk over, but was intercepted by a student. Zeng Li did not dare to disturb him, and waited for a long time before he saw him walk over.
"Ai... Teacher." Zeng Li didn't pay attention and almost called out the teacher's full name.
"Put the follow-up card on the table. I'll call you later." Ai Jingchu said.
Zeng Li looked at him a little guilty, "I have a friend whose child wants to see you, but can't get an appointment. I wonder if it's convenient for you." Zeng Li pointed to the couple behind him.
Ai Jingchu turned his gaze to the couple and asked without hesitation: "What went wrong?"
Seeing his attitude, Zeng Li breathed a sigh of relief. After standing there for a few minutes and finding that there was nothing for her to do, she said hello to Zhou Wen and went to wait in the waiting hall.
Gu Haidong also came out and sat next to her.
"Let's start by being friends," said Gu Haidong.
Zeng Li glanced at him, wanting to say something but stopping himself. We were all adults, and there was no need to waste words on things that had already been made clear. So Zeng Li didn't respond anymore, took out his phone and started playing games.
"Can't we start by being friends first?" Gu Haidong asked after a while.
Zeng Li remained silent.
Not long after, the couple came out holding the child. Seeing Zeng Li in the hall, they nodded enthusiastically to thank him. Zeng Li asked, "How is the situation?"
The man said, "Doctor Ai asked us to go to their hospital to see Doctor Tang from the ENT department."
"Can you find someone?"
"Yes, Dr. Ai has just called and contacted them for us," said the man.
"Thank you, sister," the woman also said to Zeng Li, "You are all kind people."
After seeing the couple off, Zeng Li sat down again.
After waiting for dozens of minutes, Zeng Li's number was finally called on the radio.
Gu Haidong continued, "You told the doctor that the couple you didn't know were your friends. We've met so many times, but they don't count as friends?"
"Do I have a friend like you?" Zeng Li asked back.
"I can't do it anymore, okay? I just want to see you, but you don't answer my calls or reply to my text messages."
"I think I have made it clear to you." Zeng Li was helpless. She was not very good at dealing with such situations.
"You are single, I am single, and I have the right to pursue."
His words were a little loud, attracting the attention of others. Zeng Li didn't dare to argue with him, fearing that he would continue talking, so he stood up and said, "This is a public place, can you please pay attention to the occasion?"
"Then I'll wait for you for lunch." Gu Haidong insisted.
"I… "
Just as Zeng Li was about to continue to refuse, a voice interrupted their conversation.
"Zeng Li—" Ai Jingchu was standing not far away, calling her name.
"I've called you twice on the radio. If you don't come in, I'll change you to the next one." Ai Jingchu added expressionlessly, his voice cold and indifferent.
"Hey!" Zeng Li followed Ai Jingchu into the clinic happily as if he had picked up a life-saving straw.
Zhou Wen changed his gloves, set up the tray, turned on the light, and asked Zeng Li to open his mouth. He felt that the situation was a bit strange. The master's wife in the scandal was lying on the treatment bed, the master was sitting upright, and two meters away, there was a man guarding one side with affection.