Lady

In fact, Ju Hui lied.

How could she not block the teacher? That post on her WeChat Moments was actually only visible to four people: Sheng Qijing, Bian Jiaping, Yun Aonan, and Pei Yao, whom she added to avoid being exposed.

Ju Hui had a little secret: that night she hoped someone knew how tired she was, and that when she woke up someone would comfort her by asking, "Are you okay?"

Just this one sentence is enough.

Ju Hui closed her camera: "How long did he stay yesterday?"

Shanqin was munching on the breakfast Ju Hui had brought—this time not tea eggs, but two steaming hot shumai. Startled by her voice, she paused before asking, "What's wrong with your voice?"

Ju Hui cleared her throat with a low cough, her voice hoarse as if black dust from an angle grinder could fall out: "I had a fever yesterday, and now that I'm better, my throat is ruined."

Fever is a magical chemical experiment. When it was found that the low fever of 37.4 degrees Celsius could not survive for more than 24 hours, it was impossible to kill Ju Hui. So, we had to fry her up and leave behind the sound of the teppanyaki grill.

Shanqin suddenly realized, and then answered her question: "He's only been here for two or three hours. Didn't you call him?"

Ju Hui nodded and turned to start working.

"Hey, don't go!" Shanqin's gossipy nature was piqued, and she pouted, her radar activated. "Your reaction... Did he come by himself? Did he know you weren't here? Is he chasing after you, secretly coming to be your fairy godmother?"

The Seashell Maiden Who Repays a Kindness?

It's more like revenge.

"No, we're living enemies."

Ju Hui lowered her eyebrows and smiled at Shan Qin with narrowed eyes: "Little Shan Qin, from now on, no one but me can touch the steel chair. If someone comes to weld it without a welding certificate, do you know what will happen to the steel chair?"

The steel chair needs to be credited to all collaborators in the portfolio. Ju Hui is the designer, and Master Shan is the welder responsible for the key structural welding. Although the steel chair is attributed to Ju Hui, both names must appear in the PDF file, one above the other.

Ju Hui initially had no intention of changing the welder, nor did she intend to have Sheng Qijing join their ranks.

Is Sheng Qijing a certified welder?

If not, his participation without a license would pose legal risks, and if reported, her steel chair would be forcibly removed.

But Ju Hui examined it carefully and saw that Sheng Qijing knew how to bevel the weld; the weld remained strong even after being hammered, like a skilled worker…

"No." She took a deep breath.

She needed to see his identification with her own eyes to feel at ease.

She was so eager for this idea that she couldn't wait even a moment longer. In order for the steel chair to be delivered, the factory nurse took off her dark brown coat, said a simple goodbye to Shanqin, and walked towards the light outside the door.

-

Inside the ward, Liuli was so uncomfortable from the bright light that she could barely open her eyes.

"...Um, thank you."

Suddenly, a patch of gray appeared in Liuli's vision. She squinted and saw a pair of hands blocking the light. Sheng Qijing, who was standing by the bed, reached out to shield her from the light.

"It's alright, you've worked hard." Sheng Qijing saw her struggling to sit up and took her hand back.

"It's really tough! Tough as it gets, but it's not really tough yet." Liuli looked up and smiled bitterly, wanting to punch her stomach a few times. "This little one is hurting so much, I thought it was finally going to come out!"

Liuli's due date was on Christmas Eve at the end of December. As delivery approached, she experienced frequent abdominal pains, and this was probably the umpteenth time she had been to the hospital.

My best friend, Sheng Jiashu, and her brother are always there, carrying the maternity bag and driving, making the Sheng family feel like her own family. Today the wind is cold, not exactly warm, and seven in the morning isn't particularly special. Oh well, there's no point in giving birth now.

"Liuli, do you want to eat breakfast?" Sheng Jiashu walked in from outside the ward, holding her phone to her ear, and asked her with her eyebrows, "Aonan is on his way and said he would bring you tofu pudding."

Liuli weakly hummed in agreement, and Sheng Jiashu made another phone call and went out. She adjusted her head on the pillow and looked at Sheng Qijing.

Liuli pointed to her belly: "Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'll name it Liuhuan. No one in the entire Ruobei region makes as much of a fuss as I do. Every time I come to the hospital, I have to call all my friends within the Sixth Ring Road."

Sheng Qijing twitched the corner of his lips, then slumped onto the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

Mothers are great. Sheng Qijing felt tired only on a physical level. Liuli must have suffered many times more physically and mentally than him.

The dusty smell of disinfectant in the ward was unpleasant and didn't induce sleep. Sheng Qijing finally managed to fall asleep when Yun Aonan arrived, sleeping with his clothes covering his face and his head tilted back.

The ward was quiet as everyone sipped their tofu pudding spoonful by spoonful.

"Knock knock knock—"

A knock came at the door.

"Hello, Ms. Liuli's examination is normal. You can go back after completing the formalities."

The nurse, holding a notebook, quickly scanned Liuli's face to make sure she was in good spirits, and then looked around at the family members in the ward.

She stood there, holding her breakfast bowl neatly, looking back at her. Her posture was quite like a movie poster.

The nurse smiled at Liuli, then turned and went to attend to the next patient.

"I'll go take care of the formalities." Sheng Qijing stood up, leaning on the sofa. He was the only one who hadn't eaten breakfast.

"No need! You keep sleeping, I'll go, I'll go." Yun Aonan grabbed her bag, put the bowl down, and waved her hands in the air a few times. "I want to try what it's like to be a pregnant woman's family member."

Sheng Qijing frowned and glanced at Pei Yao.

The latter smiled wryly and followed the person away.

The door was open, and a few wisps of cool breeze drifted in.

Before he could cover his face with his clothes again, Yun Aonan's high-pitched voice came from outside the door, excitedly calling out for someone, but he couldn't make out who it was.

It seems to be "Ju Hui", he thought.

Sheng Qijing stared intently at the doorway. Yun Aonan's voice continued to come, not loud and drowned out by the voices of his two older sisters beside him. He took a few breaths, then the sound at the door stopped, but no one appeared.

Sheng Qijing nodded and turned around.

"Knock knock knock—"

Almost immediately, a series of rapid heartbeats could be heard coming from the doorway.

Sheng Qijing stood up.

"...Excuse me, who are you looking for?" Sheng Jiashu frowned and asked the stranger at the door who was covered up.

Her face was wrapped up tightly, only revealing a pair of bright eyes, which made her look like a girl. She didn't speak, but raised her left hand, pointed her index finger at Sheng Qijing, and poked at him in the air.

-

Shortly after Ju Hui left the factory and texted Sheng Qijing to ask about the welder's certificate, Liu Li, whom she hadn't contacted privately before, suddenly sent her a photo.

In the white and blue ward, a sleeping figure was behind the billowing white blanket, his face covered by the blanket, which was also his thin coat.

Before losing consciousness, Liuli invited Juhui to visit her at the hospital. The hospital was in Haidian District, near Liuli's home. It took Juhui almost three hours to get there. Meanwhile, a taxi driver who had set off from the Sixth Ring Road unexpectedly received a large fare during the morning rush hour.

Sheng Qijing followed her out, with Ju Hui in front and him behind. The two were a full five steps apart, but fortunately there weren't many people in the hospital lobby, so they weren't separated.

Ju Hui stopped in the open space of the hall, separated from him by three windows. Ju Hui, who had just recovered from a fever, did not want to cause any accidents to Liu Li, so she left after finishing her business.

Do you have a welding certificate?

"Your throat...?"

Do you have a welding certificate?

Ju Hui raised her voice again.

The wind was still and there were no clouds by the window. The winter in the north was like an old movie from the 1990s. The faded light and shadows entered the hospital, turning into white and gray, spreading out as a canvas behind Ju Hui.

She wasn't wearing gray; she was dressed in a brown cotton coat and dark jeans, simple and worn, but around her neck was a Burberry classic plaid scarf wrapped twice, so tightly that the light blue mask underneath was almost invisible.

It's the weekend, and Ju Hui doesn't look like a rich girl at all; she looks like a rice dumpling.

"Oh……"

Sheng Qijing raised his hand to rub the tip of his nose, hiding the smile in his eyes. "Are you running a fever? That place is big and well-ventilated, it's definitely more convenient than a loft."

"Never mind that." Ju Hui was provoked by him. He took one step forward and she took three steps back. "Does it or not?"

Only her eyes were visible, but the emotions within them were more complex than usual: fear, embarrassment, anger...

Sheng Qijing calmed down and, seeing Ju Hui's determination to suffer there rather than return to the loft, said indifferently, "Yes, so what?"

"Send me a photo of your ID."

"It's not on my phone, the ID is at Loft."

"Then send it to me when you get home tonight."

"Go back and find it yourself if you want it."

A dark fire flashed in Ju Hui's eyes, but it was extinguished by Sheng Qijing's cold gaze after a while. She reached into her pocket, took out a half-folded plastic bag, and placed it on the windowsill.

"Wear your mask when you get back, so you don't catch a cold and infect Liuli."

After saying that, Ju Hui turned around and left towards the elevator.

Sheng Qijing took the mask, tore it open, and bent down to put it on. Although there was still some body heat left on it, Ju Hui treated him with icy indifference.

Can't she see that he's helping?

Sheng Qijing suddenly felt sleepy and yawned as soon as he turned around.

"Yo!"

"Yo!"

Two mocking words came flying at him.

Sheng Jiashu and Liuli leaned against each other, shaking their heads at Sheng Qijing's tearful eyes and crooked mouth.

Everything is understood without words.

-

At 8 p.m., Ju Hui received a photo of Sheng Qijing's ID at the factory, and the familiar yet unfamiliar cow cat WeChat profile picture popped up at the top of her contact list.

The photo shows Sheng Qijing at nineteen, with a thinner neck and face than he has now, and an expression that conveys a cynical and indifferent attitude towards everything.

"Oh……"

Ju Hui returned his smile from this morning.

This is his true nature.

Ju Hui pressed the photo button, saved it to her album, and replied in the input box: 【Received.】

Sheng Qijing: [Did you come here because Liuli posted a photo with me in it?]

The question was odd, but Ju Hui answered truthfully anyway: "Yes."

Sheng Qijing paused for a moment, then sent another message: "I didn't have my phone with me at the time."

Ju Hui was getting impatient, and through the phone it was as if she were looking him in the eye.

Ju Hui: [It's nothing.]

Ju Hui: Thank you for helping me yesterday.

"Hmm." Sheng Qijing lazily took a sip of wine. "Of course you should thank me."

Ju Hui: [But don't touch other people's things without permission.]

Ju Hui's message was a notification that the conversation had ended. Sheng Qijing stopped replying. The chat was refreshed recently, and Ju Hui was the last person to send a message, but the interface still didn't look right.

Sheng Qijing put down his phone, observed the color of the champagne in his hand, handed it back, and the sommelier at the tasting party deftly stepped forward to replace it with a new glass, and so on.

Sheng Qijing's wine tasting skills were still limited, and his purpose in attending this wine tasting event was not to select fine wines. He crossed his legs, with a hundred meters of air beneath his leather shoes, and used the moon as a mirror for Sheng Jiashu.

The two older sisters and Ju Hui had become so familiar with each other that Sheng Qijing took the new wine, drank it, and felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

"Hahaha..."

Sheng Qijing's shoulder was suddenly shaken violently. Sheng Jiashu shoved him, laughing exaggeratedly, like a parent urging their child to recognize relatives and friends when they were young.

Sheng Qijing let out a soft breath, picked up his wine glass, and stood up from the side.

The woman opposite him was instantly captivated by him. The man stood upright, his suit elegant, and he was as composed as a nobleman.

To be honest, she was taken aback.

"So, you finally have a boyfriend?"

“How could that be? He’s my brother.” Sheng Jiashu waved her hand with a smile. Sheng Qijing glanced at his sister and said, “He just took office as Mo Chen recently, so he probably hasn’t met his sister yet. Let’s get to know each other.”

Sheng Qijing smiled and casually clinked his glasses with hers. "President Liu, we met at Ruomei's graduation exhibition."

"……oh?"

Mr. Liu suddenly realized what was happening and burst into laughter.

Turning to the bewildered Sheng Jiashu, he exclaimed, "I know your brother, no, he's my little money god. I ran into him at Ruomei's graduation exhibition last time. He's polite and has good luck; he helped me sign up the most valuable piece of work at the entire event."

"...How much has it appreciated?"

"Nearly a million."

A chunk of flesh was pulled from Sheng Qijing's lower back.

"You're graduating this year, right?" Mr. Liu took a sip of the wine offered to him. "Can I get priority to buy CEO Mochen's debut work?"

“Sorry… I plan to keep it for myself.” Sheng Qijing chuckled. “After all, it’s my final work.”

Sheng Jiashu, like a crescent moon, was left aside by them and became an audience member. Sheng Qijing was in excellent condition, and even his own sister couldn't guess whether his words were true or not.

Has he made up his mind to manage the ink strokes?

"Wow, then I'll definitely bring you a bouquet of flowers even bigger than your sister's." President Liu raised an eyebrow at Sheng Jiashu. "Don't make it too big."

Sheng Jiashu snapped out of her daze and burst into laughter, albeit a beat late.

As the blues background music drew to a close, the rich voice drew the night sky down, the stars drooped, and only the blue sky remained in a melancholy mood. Sheng Qijing shook his head in sync with his feelings.

"It's alright, it's good that you're here." He exhaled, trying to calm himself. "The same goes for flowers, one bouquet is enough."