It was almost five o'clock now, and even if she slept a little, it was time for dinner. He checked the refrigerator again. Apart from yogurt, there were a few apples and some leftovers, and there was nothing else to eat. Not only did she have stitches on her chin, but she also had several scrapes on the back of her hands. She couldn't touch water, and it was almost impossible for her to cook when she lived alone.
He thought about it, went back to the living room, took the key that Zeng Li had placed on the shoe cabinet after opening the door, and then closed the door gently.
When Zeng Li woke up, it was already seven o'clock.
But she herself was completely confused and didn't know whether it was morning or night, so she got up from the bed and wanted to go to the bathroom. When she opened the bedroom door and saw the light on in the living room, she was a little puzzled at first, and then she saw Ai Jingchu sitting on the sofa.
Zeng Li was stunned, his head buzzed, and then he suppressed the urge to scream in his throat, retreated back to his room, and quickly closed the door again.
She stood in the bedroom, looked down at herself, and wished she could dig a hole and bury herself—
Because she wasn't wearing pants!
No! I was only wearing underwear!
Zeng Li has been living alone since graduating from university. He doesn't care about what he wears at home. It is even common for him to walk out of the bathroom naked after taking a shower without taking a change of clothes.
How could she have thought that there was another person in the room, how could she have thought that it was a man, how could she have thought that Ai Jingchu had not left yet.
How to meet people
How can I face people!
How can I meet people?!
Zeng Li wanted to call the Virgin Mary and greet Ai Jingchu's sister at the back of the door. The anesthetic had worn off long ago, and she had fallen asleep just now so she didn't feel it. Now she felt the pain in her wound, and with the rhythm of her blood, even her brain began to swell and ache.
Finally, she said to herself in an Ah Q way, it’s okay, just think of it as being in a swimming pool. If you wear a bikini you have to show your breasts, but she only exposed her lower body.
She comforted herself several times and found a pair of shorts from the closet and put them on.
This is a living example of what it means to be extremely embarrassed.
She wanted to stay at home for the rest of her life, but she wanted to go to the bathroom anyway, and she couldn't hold it in for long.
When she mustered up her courage and gritted her teeth to step into the living room for the second time, Ai Jingchu was still there, but this time he did not look up at her in time. Instead, he was calmly flipping through the magazine in his hand.
"I thought you...left a long time ago." Zeng Li cleared her throat and explained awkwardly. She had just thought about it. Although she wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, she had to explain this matter, otherwise he would think something was wrong with her.
Ai Jingchu closed the magazine in his hand and said, "I have something else to say to you in person."
"Oh. I'll go to the bathroom first." She said awkwardly.
The toilet was inside the kitchen. As soon as she arrived at the kitchen door, she saw soup cooking on the stove, a pot of porridge and a plate of tofu on the countertop.
"You..." Zeng Li was a little surprised.
"I didn't expect you to sleep so long. You must be cold now," he said.
Zeng Li looked back at him, not knowing what to say. All he could say could only be reduced to two words: "Thank you."
She didn't know why he seemed to have no need to even glance at her a few days ago, but today he stayed at her house to cook. She felt a little...
When Zeng Li's mind was distracted, Ai Jingchu's eyes also wandered.
He couldn't help but move his eyes down from her face, across her T-shirt, and then to her shorts. He and she met in winter, and they both wrapped themselves in thick layers. It was not long since summer began, so he had rarely seen her in summer clothes. She wore long pants during the day, but now, probably because of the heat, she changed into shorts. She was tall and thin, and her white and straight legs were exposed under her short pants. Then, he thought of how she had just walked out without even wearing shorts.
Ai Jingchu didn't dare to continue fantasizing, nor did he dare to look anymore, and turned his face away.
After returning from the toilet, Zeng Li sat in front of Ai Jingchu seriously, waiting for him to say those "things that need to be made clear in person".
He thought for a moment and said, "Let's continue with the topic you were talking about in the hospital. I was indeed the one who called."
Zeng Li guessed that this was what he was going to say, so he lowered his head and said slowly, "I'm sorry."
"Apologize for what?"
"I kept it a secret from you and pretended not to know you," Zeng Li said.
"When did you know that?"
"At the beginning." Zeng Li replied.
"When did it start?" he demanded.
"Before you treat my teeth." She simply told him everything.
"Zeng Li," Ai Jingchu glanced at her and asked indifferently, "Why?"
Zeng Li was slightly stunned.
Why? She didn't understand what these three words meant. Why did she hide it from him, or why did she know him in the first place, or why did she remember him.
She thought about it, not knowing where to start.
After a long while, Zeng Li said softly, "You mentioned your name on the phone at that time, and later Yu Yi also mentioned it, so I remembered it. Later, when I went to your hospital for business, I saw on your medical resume that you graduated from the same school as Yu Yi, so I was very curious, and then I saw three words with the same pronunciation. I thought at the time, maybe this is the 'Ai Jingchu' who called me." She seemed to be lost in her memories, "Later, in order to confirm, I attended your class. I didn't expect it was really you. However, it was really unintentional to ask you to see a doctor. The hospital transferred me to you, and I didn't mean to provoke you or lie to you. I just... I just..."
"Just for Yu Yi?" He replied calmly.
She frowned but didn't deny it. Who could say it wasn't true? If it weren't for Yu Yi, how could she be so curious about him
"Since you've been pretending for so long, why do you want to tell me today?"
"I..." When Zeng Li heard his question, he recalled what Wu Ying said that night, and then thought of the pair of warm and strong hands in the operating room. His mind was tangled, but he didn't know how to start.
Her hesitation caused Ai Jingchu to misunderstand, and a layer of anger appeared on his face.
"Is this why you want to change doctors? After you tell me and explain everything clearly, you can sever all ties with them, find someone else to do your orthodontics, and never have any contact with us again in this life?"
"No." She shook her head.
"Why? Because I helped you today, and you feel guilty, so you want to tell me the truth to repay me?" His anger increased.
Zeng Li hurriedly shook his head again, "No."
She had never seen him angry with anyone, even though he rarely smiled, even though he didn't speak, even though he taught his students harshly, even though he had a sullen face and didn't look at her, even though he hung up the phone on her, he always looked cold and indifferent, as if there was an invisible and intangible protective shield between him and others, and he would never get angry.
"Or maybe you think you understand things that others know nothing about, and it's fun to act it out, but now you're tired of it?" He got angry, his expression became colder, and his face looked bad, as if he would ignore people for the rest of his life.
She saw it and suddenly felt wronged, her nose felt a little sore and her eyes turned red.
"I'm not that kind of person." She murmured in defense.
"I'm not that kind of person, I just don't know what happened to me. I lied to you on purpose, but it wasn't what you thought. At first I thought maybe you didn't remember it at all, and there was no need to say it. Later, as I spent more and more time with you, I couldn't say it anymore. But you're so good, so good to me, no one has ever treated me like this in my life. When I was in the operating room, I thought, I want to tell you the truth, even if you are angry, even if you think I am a person with ulterior motives, even if you hate me. But you are really angry now..." After she finished the last sentence, tears flowed down her face.
It is said that tears are a woman’s most powerful weapon. Ai Jingchu deeply understands the meaning of this sentence.
His forced anger had long since disappeared, and the heart in his chest seemed to have melted softly, as if it had been soaked in warm honey water.
"Zeng Li." He called her name.
She raised her tearful eyes to look at him.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the kitchen, as if the soup in the stew pot had splashed out and poured onto the fire. Ai Jingchu reacted quickly and immediately got up and went to the kitchen to turn down the fire.
When he turned around, he unexpectedly bumped into Zeng Li who was following him.
Zeng Li's face hit his shoulder, and she subconsciously protected her chin first, but she still failed to avoid the collision. The force and speed were not great, but it still hurt.
Her wound was painful, and she was also a little anemic, which made her head dizzy. She couldn't help but reach out and grab the handle of the refrigerator on the side and move closer.
"Did you get hurt?" he asked.
She waved her hands in pain and leaned her back against the refrigerator door, trying to catch her breath.
Fortunately, the refrigerator was quite large and could hold her up completely.
Ai Jingchu's heart tightened, "Let me see."
He reached out and carefully peeled off the tape and gauze, then turned his face to examine it. She was standing in the narrow gap between him and the refrigerator, and he was half a head taller than her, so he had been bending over.
But at this moment, neither he nor she had her thoughts elsewhere.
She obediently raised her chin so that he could see more clearly, but in this way, the traces of tears from just now were clearly visible.
After confirming that everything was fine, Ai Jingchu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Be careful when you walk and sleep these days, and don't get wet." He reminded me while carefully putting the gauze back in place.
"oh."
After Ai Jingchu smoothed the tape, his eyes fell on her tearful eyes, and he suddenly remembered what he had not finished saying. "Actually, there is one more thing to say." He said.
He didn't get out of her way in time, and she was still trapped between him and the refrigerator.
"Hmm?" She gently touched the gauze outside.
"I asked you a question on the phone last time, do you remember?" he asked, staring into her eyes.
"What?"
"I ask you, is your heart still there?"
Zeng Li stopped what she was doing. Was he really asking this? He hung up the phone and never mentioned it again, so she thought she had misheard or misunderstood.
He did not wait for her to answer, but lowered his head a little more, closing the distance between their faces.
Zeng Li could almost feel his breath.
Those black eyes appeared so clearly and vividly in Zeng Li's vision, and those eyes like lake water were so fascinating that it was hard to extricate oneself.
"If it's still there," he leaned closer, lowered his voice, and it was very magnetic, almost captivating, "If it's still there, I'll take it away."
After saying these pleasant and charming words, his lips moved closer and kissed the corner of her lips lightly.