"I was happy to see him all day, but when he came home at night he was sulking by himself."
"You think he's still a child?"
"He's just a child," Aunt Li retorted.
"Young man, don't fall in love anymore, okay?" Uncle Liu said this casually, but Aunt Li took it to heart. She looked at Ai Jingchu's profile again and it seemed to be true.
"It's long overdue." He's already thirty, and the emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is. If it weren't for the repeated instructions from his aunt, Ai Jingchu's grandmother, before she died, the whole family would have introduced him to a partner in the reinforcement platoon.
Grandma Ai's original words were: "I have fallen into a big trap because of his father. I have regretted it every day for decades. After I die, you don't have to interfere in Xiaochu's affairs. It doesn't matter which girl he likes, whether he marries a girl from a higher family or a lower family, or even if he doesn't want to get married, you don't have to interfere, and his grandfather doesn't have to interfere either. Just let him do whatever he wants, as long as he is happy."
Look, even if he has grown to this age now, if it were in their hometown, the children would be able to go to elementary school.
Aunt Li said to her husband, "Old Liu, go out the back door and buy something for me. Come back soon."
Old Liu always followed his wife's lead and immediately obeyed the order once he received it. He came back in a short while.
Aunt Li held the two movie tickets she had just received and walked towards Ai Jingchu, "Xiaochu, my eyesight is not good, can you help me check, what time is this movie?"
Ai Jingchu put down the book and took it: "It's tonight, at eight o'clock."
"Oh, I went to the mall to buy something today. It was a gift from a lottery. I have a lot of things to do here. What should I do?" Aunt Li slapped her thigh and said, "Why don't you take it and have a look?"
"The cinema is not far away. I'll take you there. If you have anything else, tell me and I'll clean up." Ai Jingchu declined.
"We are already old and our ears hurt when we go to the cinema. It is better for you young people to go and call a friend to go together." It would be best if it was a woman, a female nurse, a female doctor, a female patient, or a female student.
Ai Jingchu understood now that his second aunt must have noticed something when she saw him not talking all night, so she deliberately tried to make him happy. It was pitiful that parents loved him. Although he had no parents since he was a child, the love he received was no less than that of others.
He nodded.
Aunt Li was delighted to see this.
When he left home, he originally planned to stroll around and then go back when the time came, but he was afraid that they would get suspicious, so he drove onto the street.
He had never pursued a girl before, and he was not good at sweet talk and coaxing people. He didn't know what they liked or disliked. But since yesterday, when he made up his mind, he wanted to be close to her, look at her face, listen to her voice, immerse himself in her breath, and then he wanted to bring all the good things in the world to her.
But who would have thought that all the force would hit the cotton.
The next day, Zeng Li went to the library on time wearing a mask that covered half of his face.
As soon as Director Li saw her at the elevator door, he said, "Didn't I tell Professor Ai that you can take a leave? I was planning to organize a few colleagues to visit you tonight."
"Ask for leave?"
"Professor Ai called me yesterday and told me that you had a car accident and asked me to give you a few days off. Didn't you know that?" Director Li's face was full of meaning.
Zeng Li was choked and didn't know what was going on.
"Go back and have a good rest. Don't worry about work. I've asked Xiao Wu to take over for you."
Then Director Li escorted Zeng Li out of the elevator like a Bodhisattva.
She sat on a chair at the entrance of the library and called Ai Jingchu. Perhaps he was busy, the phone rang once and was hung up. She was not a model worker, and she did not ask for sick leave because she felt that her influence was not important, and the injury looked serious but was only a superficial injury, so it was not easy to ask for it. Now that the leader was so generous, she had nothing to be embarrassed about, so she put away the phone and took a car home.
On the subway, the morning rush hour was still going on, and people were crowded. She stood in the crowd, not short, and wearing a light blue disposable medical mask, which was quite conspicuous. But at this height, a man next to her was squeezed when he reached out to pull the ring on the car, and his elbow hit Zeng Li's face.
The man hastily apologized.
Even though Zeng Li was in so much pain that tears were about to come out, she could only say it was okay.
At this time, Ai Jingchu called back.
"I was just in class," he said.
"I just wanted to ask about the leave. Director Li said you asked for leave for me."
After hearing Zeng Li mention this, Ai Jingchu just remembered, "Yes, I forgot to remind you. Did you go to work?"
"Yeah. Director Li asked me to go home again."
The man next to her was still apologizing: "I'm sorry, girl, I really didn't mean it."
Ai Jingchu heard the voice from the side, frowned and asked what happened.
"There are too many people in the subway, and people bump into each other."
"Are you okay?"
"It's okay." How could she be so delicate
"You should have a good rest these days and don't run around. I will come to see you after get off work." He said softly.
Her heart almost skipped a beat when she heard his words.
Zeng Li returned home and found the bag of pomegranates still hanging there. She originally thought that someone must have put it in the wrong place, but now it seems that it is not the case. She weighed it and took the things back home.
In the afternoon, Wu Wanxia really led a group of people to Zeng Li's home to express her condolences.
"Director Li asked me to bring you the union's condolence money. He said that young people have a lot to talk about with each other, and everyone would feel restrained if he came, so they would not get involved with us." Wu Wanxia conveyed the leader's words.
In addition to Wu Wanxia, there were also several colleagues who were close to each other. Everyone pooled their money to buy a lot of fruits and nutritional supplements. A group of people gathered in Zeng Li's small home, and it suddenly felt very lively. Someone asked Zeng Li how he fell and how he went to the hospital. Someone else asked if it hurt and how the doctor sewed it. There was a lot of discussion.
Zeng Li was not able to deal with this situation, so when he couldn't explain something clearly, he would peel off the gauze and show it to everyone.
"How are the stitches made? Shouldn't they be cosmetic ones? There's no need to remove those."
"The doctor said they are all the same. As long as the thread is thin and the stitches are careful, the effect will be the same as cosmetic thread." Zeng Li replied.
"Will it leave scars? Why don't you go to a cosmetic dermatologist?" asked Colleague A.
"It's the same as maxillofacial doctors, right? They are also professional surgeons." Colleague B answered.
Zeng Li went to the kitchen to boil water and make tea for everyone.
At this time, someone rang the doorbell. Zeng Li had both hands full, "Help me open the door."
"Who did you leave behind? Why do you come just now?" Wu Wanxia said as she stood up. When she opened the door, she saw a tall and handsome man standing at the door carrying something.
Wu Wanxia felt that he looked familiar at first sight, but it was only at the second glance that she remembered that this was the famous doctor with a bad temper - Ai Jingchu.
“Ai… Ai…” Wu Wanxia stuttered for a long time without any further words.
Ai Jingchu didn't wait for Wu Wanxia to stutter out his name and walked straight in. He was carrying some food in one hand and a bag of fruit in the other.
Zeng Li came out of the kitchen with tea, saw Ai Jingchu, and then looked at his colleagues crowded in the room, and suddenly felt embarrassed.
Wu Wanxia stood up and introduced herself, "We are Zeng Li's colleagues."
Ai Jingchu nodded and greeted him.
Wu Wanxia added in a flattering manner: "I saw him last time."
Ai Jingchu nodded again in agreement. In fact, Zeng Li estimated that he didn't even remember what she looked like.
Afterwards, Ai Jingchu put the ingredients in the kitchen, and at the same time did not forget to say: "I bought some vegetables, let's see what to eat tonight."
Therefore, all the colleagues present, even those who had not heard of Zeng Li's past scandals, understood that this was the return of the male owner, and he could still buy groceries and cook. Among the colleagues present, the single men sighed quietly, while the single women looked at each other secretly.
Ai Jingchu thought of something and turned around to add, "Everyone stay for dinner." Unfortunately, when he put his things away and washed his hands, he found that everyone had left. Ai Jingchu couldn't help wondering, he felt that he was quite enthusiastic just now, and he had never been so enthusiastic to his colleagues at school.
"What did I say wrong?" he asked.
“No…” Zeng Li was speechless.
“I didn’t expect there would be so many people.”
"They heard that I was injured, so they made an appointment to come and see me after get off work," Zeng Li explained.
"When you're done another day, I'll take them out for dinner and return the favor."
She didn't quite understand the ways of the world, and only after he reminded her did she remember that this was probably the proper etiquette.
Ai Jingchu went to the sink to wash lettuce leaves, and Zeng Li ran to help.
"Don't touch the water," he said, "and be careful with the wound on the back of your hand, otherwise it will easily leave a scar."
Is this why he came to cook for her? Zeng Li suddenly felt warm in her heart.
"I have gloves, just wear them." She showed him her hands.
He washed things very carefully, washing the lettuce leaves almost leaf by leaf, turning them over and over again. He was much more hygienic than Zeng Li himself.
"Is it okay to just rinse it hard?" How long will it take to wash like this
"There are pesticides and bacteria on it," he said.
"Are you a germaphobe?"
"A little bit." He confessed honestly.
“Do you usually cook?”
“No.”
Zeng Li thought about it and realized that only people who don’t cook have the time to do this.
He casually asked, "Do you eat cauliflower?"
"Eat." she replied.
"How did you wash it?"
"Just cut it into small pieces and rinse it." You can't break the cauliflower into pieces and wash it.
"Next time, soak it in light salt water for a few minutes and maybe you will make a new discovery," he said casually.
"What did you find?" she asked curiously.
"I discovered that the vegetarian cauliflower you ate before was actually meat."
She imagined the scene and suddenly felt a little disgusted.
He also did not forget to comfort her, "In fact, the protein content is quite high, and it is nutritious."
Zeng Li wanted to never eat cauliflower again in his life.
There were three dishes for dinner, white oil lettuce tips, crab roe tofu, and yesterday's chicken soup.
When Zeng Li took her first bite of the crab roe tofu, Ai Jingchu carefully observed her expression. She scooped a spoonful of it into her mouth, tilted her head, and scooped another spoonful. After a while, she murmured to herself, "This tofu is quite tender and smooth."
He didn't say anything, just pretended not to hear, but his thin lips raised a little and his eyes were filled with smiles.
After washing the dishes, Ai Jingchu glanced at the red pomegranates on the shoe cabinet and asked, "Why didn't you eat them?"
"You gave this to me?"
"Who do you think it is?" he asked.
"Were you here yesterday?"
"Um."
"Knock on the door and I'm not here?"
"Hmm." He responded indifferently again, lowering his eyes uncomfortably, without any trace of the cunning he had when he teased her just now.
After making more than ten phone calls and failing to find anyone, he went to the cafe again and lied to her that he was just passing by? Thinking of this, Zeng Li suddenly felt his heart tightened, with an indescribable feeling.
So, he really likes her, right
It wasn't sympathy or pity, it wasn't a spur of the moment, it wasn't a way to kill time, and it wasn't a deliberate attempt to tease her.
He likes her? These are the four words that have been popping up in Zeng Li's mind for the past 72 hours, starting from the kiss the night before. She never dared to believe that he really likes her.
Zeng Li moved a small stool and sat in front of the coffee table. She placed a small plate on the table that she usually put fruit peels and melon seed shells on. She picked up a pomegranate, peeled it with a knife, broke off one of the seeds and put it between her teeth. She bit it gently, and the juice flowed into her mouth. It was sweeter and juicier than the pomegranates she usually bought in the supermarket. It was much more delicious, and her lips and tongue were filled with the sweet fragrance. Somehow, her tears began to fall like beans.
Zeng Li had her back to him, so Ai Jingchu didn't notice she was crying at first.
She spat the seeds into the small plate, opened her mouth and took another big bite, swallowing her tears as well.
He suddenly realized that something was wrong with her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She didn't say anything, just shed tears and chewed pomegranate seeds in her mouth.
"You were fine just now, why are you crying?" Seeing her tears, his brows furrowed. He walked over and pulled her up from the stool, made her stand up straight, then tore two pieces of paper from the tissue box next to her and wiped the moisture off her face.
"Tears flowing into the wound will cause inflammation," he said.
"Pomegranates are not delicious at all." She said in a sob.
"If it doesn't taste good, just throw it away."
"It would be a shame to throw them away. I'm going to eat them all." She had something in her mouth and her voice was vague.
"If you eat too much, you'll get a stomach upset."
"Aren't you a doctor? Can't you cure it?" She spat out the seeds and asked indignantly.
Ai Jingchu did not continue to talk to her this time. Zeng Li was completely different from her usual cautious self at this moment. She seemed to be in a stubborn mood. He stared at her for a moment, and the corners of his lips could not help but rise.
She is acting coquettishly.
Coming to this conclusion, a smile spread across his lips, and he took her in his arms, then gently, avoiding her chin, and let her face rest on his chest.
She held the remaining half of a pomegranate in her hands, and for a moment she didn't know what to do with her hands, and the remaining juice in her mouth was all over his gray shirt.
"Your clothes are dirty." Didn't he say he was a germaphobe? This is hard to wash.
But he didn't move.
"Hey—" she reminded him.
"Zeng Li." He called her.
"What?" She struggled in vain and had to wipe the remaining juice on her hands onto his shirt.
"Can you please not call me 'Hey' or 'Hello' every time?" He was a little dissatisfied.
"What's that called?" she asked deliberately, "Professor Ai?"
"What did your mother call your father before?"
"With both the given name and the surname." The whole family is like this, no one has a nickname, and she doesn't have a nickname either. In the past, when she went to her classmates' houses, she always envied them when she saw that their mothers and fathers called them by their nicknames.
"Nothing else?"
Zeng Li thought about it and said, "Yes."
"What?"
"Dead bastard." Mom would call Dad like this when she was angry or happy.
Hearing these two words, Ai Jingchu smiled deeply.
Zeng Li quietly put her ear close to him. He was half a head taller than her. Her ear was just below his collarbone, higher than his heart. She couldn't feel his heartbeat, but she could hear his voice clearly. He certainly didn't know how much she liked to listen to him talk, but he always didn't like to speak.