Chen Mingsheng looked at the serious Yang Zhao and said, "What do you want to eat?"
Yang Zhao turned to look at the waiter: "What dish is fast?"
The waiter was a little girl less than twenty years old, she looked at Yang Zhao and said, "Hurry up."
Yang Zhao said to Chen Mingsheng, "Order whatever you want."
Chen Mingsheng ordered three plates of pork and cabbage soup dumplings, another plate of soft fried tenderloin and a plate of sauced beef, and then asked Yang Zhao if he wanted anything else. Yang Zhao thought for a while and said, "I want a local fresh food."
After ordering, the two sat facing each other and waited.
There was a lot of noise in the store, and it seemed that there was more silence between them.
Chen Mingsheng was staring at the soy sauce jar on the table, but accidentally raised his eyes and found that Yang Zhao was looking straight at him. Chen Mingsheng said, "What's wrong?"
Yang Zhao shook her head. She said, "I came directly from the experimental middle school. Your leg is still at my house. You can get it later."
"My legs..." Chen Mingsheng laughed, holding the seasoning bottle on the table in his hand, shaking it once and for all.
Yang Zhao said, "I'll go back and get it later."
Chen Mingsheng said: "Don't bother, I'll drive."
Yang Zhao glanced down, as if seeing Chen Mingsheng's legs through the table.
"If you're like this, what if you get caught driving?"
Chen Mingsheng didn't know what he thought of, he pulled the corner of his mouth lightly, and said, "You also know that I will be arrested if I do this?"
Yang Zhao was dumb.
At this time the dishes came, Chen Mingsheng poured out half a stack of soy sauce, and handed it to Yang Zhao, Yang Zhao took it and poured a little too.
Chen Mingsheng ate very quickly. He blew on a dumpling and took a sip. He ate half of the plate. When he looked up, he found that none of Yang Zhao's plates had been touched. He asked Yang Zhao:
"You don't like to eat?"
"I'm sorry, I apologize." Yang Zhao said.
Chen Mingsheng was stunned again, "What?"
Yang Zhao was sitting upright, and said again, "I'm sorry, I apologize. What I did before was really thoughtless." After speaking, she bowed her head to Chen Mingsheng.
There was still a dumpling in Chen Mingsheng's chopsticks, which was fixed in mid-air, and the soy sauce slowly slid down the dumpling skin.
"...It's okay." Chen Mingsheng said.
Yang Zhao nodded, "Thank you for your forgiveness."
Chen Mingsheng silently ate the dumpling in his hand without any taste.
After they finished eating, Chen Mingsheng paid the bill.
"Fifty-three in all," said the waiter.
Chen Mingsheng took out the money. In fact, he felt that this meal was not considered a treat. Even if he was a taxi driver and had no money, the meal was too shabby. Moreover, the food on the table basically went into his stomach, and Yang Zhao put down his chopsticks after only eating three dumplings.
He felt that Yang Zhao might not be hungry, but what was more likely was that she really didn't want to eat in such a small restaurant, and she chose this restaurant just to accommodate him.
Thinking of this, Chen Mingsheng could only smile wryly in his heart.
"Wait for me." Yang Zhao said, "I'll drive the car to the door."
Chen Mingsheng said, "Let's go together." He stood up with his crutches, and followed Yang Zhao out of the shop.
"Miss Yang, just put me at the intersection of Qima Road, my car is parked there." Chen Mingsheng said.
Yang Zhao said, "Do you want to drive?"
Chen Mingsheng said, "I'll follow you to get it."
Yang Zhao said, "You're like this..." She didn't finish, but her eyes were on Chen Mingsheng's legs. Chen Mingsheng stood still and said, "It's okay, just don't pull people. Whoever is okay will go to the taxi by the window?" Look inside."
Yang Zhao nodded.
Chen Mingsheng drove his own car and followed Yang Zhao.
He once again personally experienced how slow Yang Zhao's car drove. Every time she passed a traffic light, she was still tens of meters away, and she began to slow down, and the deceleration was quite slow, even for a green light. On the road with few people, she drove almost as well as in the downtown area.
Chen Mingsheng opened the window, lit a cigarette, put his elbow on the car window, and watched the silver-white Jaguar in front slowly move forward at a speed almost like a turtle crawling.
After suffering for an hour, I finally arrived at Yang Zhao's house.
Chen Ming let out a long sigh of relief.
Yang Zhao asked Chen Mingsheng to drive the car downstairs to his house, then knocked on Chen Mingsheng's car window, and said, "Come up and sit for a while."
Chen Mingsheng's first reaction was to refuse, but he turned his head and saw Yang Zhao bent over looking at him from the car window, with the same clear expression on his face, and he agreed.
This is the third time he has come to Yang Zhao's house.
After entering the room, Yang Zhao said to Chen Mingsheng, "You don't need to take off your shoes, you sit down first, and I'll get you something." After she finished speaking, she went into the study, and Chen Mingsheng looked at the clean floor, and finally sat at the door and put The shoes are off. When Yang Zhao came out, he saw Chen Mingsheng standing up again holding his crutches.
She came over and gave him a hand.
"Thanks."
Chen Mingsheng looked at Yang Zhao's hand, what she was holding was his thigh prosthesis.
Chen Mingsheng was inexplicably embarrassed, as if a part of his body was really held in Yang Zhao's arms.
Yang Zhao took Chen Mingsheng a slipper from the cabinet. Chen Mingsheng watched her bend over and put the slippers by his feet. When Yang Zhao raised his head, Chen Mingsheng looked away.
"Come in and sit down."
"Thank you..." Chen Mingsheng sat on the sofa in the living room, and Yang Zhao said, "I'll help you pour some water."
Chen Mingsheng said, "You know how to use the kitchen?"
Yang Zhao turned his head and saw Chen Mingsheng sitting on the sofa looking at him with a serious expression on his face and a teasing expression on his face. Yang Zhao felt that her face was slowly turning red, she didn't know whether it was from embarrassment or anger.
"Of course it will work." Yang Zhao said, on the way to the kitchen, she thought of something again, turned her head, and said solemnly: "Navigation will also work."
Chen Mingsheng watched Yang Zhao's back disappear from sight, this time he really couldn't hold back, and burst out laughing.
Yang Zhao quickly boiled the water and brought it over. Chen Mingsheng looked at the tray in her hand, and then at the two cups—the cups were really old-fashioned, just like the tea mugs used by old pedants in the 1990s, and they didn't fit in the whole room.
These two cups were bought by Yang Zhaoxin. A few days ago, when she went to the supermarket to buy fruit, she saw such hot water cups for sale. She stood in front of the cups for a long time. The white cups with blue borders always reminded her of that old-fashioned driver. After looking at them for more than ten minutes, she bought them back.
Chen Mingsheng took a sip of water, Yang Zhao said, "Do you want to check it?"
"Um?"
Yang Zhao pointed to the artificial limb leaning on the sofa, Chen Mingsheng glanced at it, and said with some doubts: "Check what?"
Yang Zhao said, "Before you leave, check it out, or put it on, and see if there's anything wrong."
Chen Mingsheng still didn't quite understand, "What's the problem?"
"I don't know either." Yang Zhao said, "I didn't touch it after I took it back, but it's not even bumped into on the road. You should check it out. If there is any problem, I will compensate you."
Chen Mingsheng stared at Yang Zhao for a while, and felt that she was not joking. He put down the water glass, brought the prosthesis over, and stood up on one leg.
Chen Mingsheng looked inside and out while supporting the artificial limb, and said to Yang Zhao, "Last time... there should be a bandage cover."
"Ah, that's right." Yang Zhao remembered and stood up quickly, "Yes, wait a minute." She went back to the room, and Chen Mingsheng saw her bring a folded bandage over after a while.
"I just forgot, here you are."
Chen Mingsheng took it and looked at the clean bandage cover in his hand, "Have you washed it?"
Yang Zhao nodded, "Can't you wash it?"
Chen Mingsheng smiled and said, "It's okay."
Chen Mingsheng pulled the bandage cover a few times, Yang Zhao looked at him and said, "Don't you put it on?"
Chen Mingsheng paused, and said, "No need." He stretched for a while, and put the prosthesis aside. Yang Zhao said, "No problem?" Chen Mingsheng smiled, "What's the problem?"
Yang Zhao nodded and said, "It's fine."
The afternoon sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows, very soft. Yang Zhao sat on the sofa, holding the old-fashioned tea mug in his hand. Chen Mingsheng looked at her and asked, "Miss Yang, what do you do?"
Yang Zhao looked at Chen Mingsheng and said, "Call me Yang Zhao."
Chen Mingsheng smiled, "Yang Zhao."
Yang Zhao took a sip of water and said, "I don't have a regular job, and occasionally I do some art restoration work."
Chen Mingsheng: "Art restoration?"
"Yeah." Yang Zhao looked at Chen Mingsheng, "Do you know this job?"
Chen Mingsheng shook his head, "I don't understand."
Yang Zhao said, "It's just to repair some calligraphy and paintings or bottles and cans."
Chen Mingsheng smiled, "Bottles?"
Yang Zhao looked at Chen Mingsheng, the sun shone on his side face, and his smile was very flat. She put down the tea mug and said to Chen Mingsheng, "Come with me."
Chen Mingsheng raised his eyebrows and stood up, "Where are you going?"
"upstairs."
Yang Zhao led him into his studio.
Chen Mingsheng came to Yang Zhao's studio for the first time. This house is just above Yang Zhao's apartment, and its area is slightly smaller than her apartment. The whole studio is connected, only the bathroom is separated.
There are two long tables in the center of the studio, covered with flat and clean white cloth, and a small lockbox is placed on one of the tables.
Not far from the table, there was a sink. Yang Zhao walked over, sanitized and washed his hands carefully, then put on thin gloves, and opened the lockbox.
She glanced at Chen Mingsheng and said strangely, "Why are you standing so far away?"
Chen Mingsheng hesitated for a moment and said, "I, I wash my hands too?"
Yang Zhao said, "No, just don't touch it."
"Um."
After finishing speaking, Yang Zhao was quiet for a while. When Chen Mingsheng was a little strange, he saw Yang Zhao raised his head again. Chen Mingsheng met her eyes, and heard her say, "It's okay to encounter it, it won't affect much."
Chen Mingsheng: "..."
He reacted for a long time, and realized that it might be that Yang Zhao felt that what he said just now was harsh, and he was trying to make up for it.
He looked at Yang Zhao who was sorting out the boxes with his head half down. He was much taller than Yang Zhao, standing beside Yang Zhao, Yang Zhao couldn't see his expression unless he raised his head.
Chen Mingsheng smiled softly in this spare time.