Chapter 62 Next Time

After spending the day at the city library, Luo Yan went to the car dealership to find her brother before dusk. Luo Hong arrived a little earlier, chatting with his childhood friend while checking his watch and glancing at the door every now and then.

Zhou Weifang was puzzled: "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Luo Hong never hesitated to assume the worst about men, and frowning as darkness fell, he said, "It's nothing."

Zhou Weifang knew him too well: "No, something's definitely wrong with you."

Luo Hong was about to brush it off when he saw his sister come in and breathed a sigh of relief: "You're late."

"Nonsense," Luo Yan said. "I'm never late. You're the one who left early."

Luo Hong also had a point: "I'm working overtime today. I'll leave as soon as I finish the work."

Everyone had indeed agreed to meet him after get off work, but Luo Yan still snorted, "It's not my fault."

Luo Hong: "Can you blame me?"

Luo Yan nodded, then greeted Zhou Weifang, her first question being, "How's your first week of school?"

The question was a bit odd. Zhou Weifang touched the spot on his eyebrows and said, "It was alright, not much was said."

In the beginning, we always have to proceed step by step. Luo Yan: "Our accounting class is also taught by Teacher Wu. She is a very nice person and likes students to ask questions."

But students prefer...

Zhou Weifang was still somewhat unsatisfied when he thought to himself, and said, "It's already nine o'clock after class, and I'm too embarrassed to keep asking."

Luo Yan: "It's okay, you can ask me."

Why are you bringing this up right away? Luo Hong slammed his hand on the table twice: "No talking about studies. What are we having for dinner tonight?"

Zhou Weifang ignored him and asked, "What does Yanzi want to eat?"

When someone offered to treat her to a meal, Luo Yan didn't know which restaurant to suggest, so she looked to her brother for help.

Luo Hong didn't stand on ceremony at all: "I want to eat roast duck."

He even picked one, but Zhou Weifang ignored that and turned his gaze to Luo Yan.

Luo Yan calculated that a trip to Quanjude would cost a lot of money, and gave her brother a bowl of pork knuckle: "Just eat something simple."

Zhou Weifang: "That won't do."

Seeing that she didn't want to make a decision, I thought I'd choose the more expensive one to show my sincerity: "This one will do."

Once the decision was made, Luo Yan rarely offered any opinions. She simply nodded silently and then took out two books from her bag: "These are borrowed from the city library. You can take a look."

Zhou Weifang took it and was about to put it on the table, but then thought better of it and left it in the attic.

Luo Yan reminded him, "The borrowing period is one month."

A month? Zhou Weifang had too many books to read and had to work from morning till night. He asked Luo Hong, "Didn't you say you'd find someone for me?"

Luo Hong: "Finding the right person isn't that easy."

Both apprentices were passable at car repair, able to do some basic work, but lacked the finesse. Selling things, however, still required a silver tongue and the ability to swallow one's pride.

Zhou Weifang has been looking to hire people for a while, saying, "Several people have come looking for work, but they're all a bit lacking."

Luo Hong: "Better to have none than to have something of poor quality."

She even used an idiom; Luo Yan took another look at her brother.

Luo Hong caught this and said irritably, "No, in your eyes, am I really that bad?"

Luo Yan shrugged, and was the first to lift the curtain and get on her bicycle.

Luo Hong and Zhou Weifang followed behind, discussing the car dealership. They didn't stop until they reached the entrance of Quanjude.

Seeing the large number of people, Luo Yan shrank back and urged her brother to charge into battle. Luo Hong tugged at her hair and said, "You really do always put people first."

Luo Yan flattered her brother: "Your writing is truly outstanding."

Who are you mocking? Luo Hong: "They can't compare to you, a college student."

After he finished speaking, he plunged into the crowd in line and was almost invisible from being squeezed.

Luo Yan failed the test of sarcasm and could only gesture behind her brother's back. Zhou Weifang, who had been watching her closely, gave her a suggestion: "Why don't you hit him and blame it on me?"

Luo Yan was quite tempted, her eyes darting around: "Let's save this opportunity for next time."

The word "next time" really sparks the imagination. Zhou Weifang: "Do you have a lot of classes?"

Luo Yan pulled out her class schedule with a snap: "I'm free on Thursday afternoon."

Yes, but only two hours of free time. Zhou Weifang: "That means you only have Sundays off."

Luo Yan: "I go to the library every day on Sundays."

She and Zhou Xiuhe agreed to meet at the city library on this day from now on.

The library? Zhou Weifang had a good idea: "Then I'll go next time, so it won't interfere with your studies."

Huh? Luo Yan hesitated for a moment before nodding: "Okay."

Zhou Weifang, observing the situation, asked, "Is it inconvenient?"

Luo Yan felt something was off, but she was a little embarrassed to say, "I went with a male classmate." After thinking for a moment, she said, "You can't talk loudly in the library."

She was quite assertive when explaining the problems, and would occasionally slam her hand on the table. Zhou Weifang joked, "That's limiting your performance."

Her eyes widened, which was especially cute. She said, "But there are a lot of people on the streets on Sundays, and the shop is busy. I have to wait until I find someone before I can go out."

Luo Yan thought that he probably wouldn't go anytime soon, so she didn't need to think about how to introduce Zhou Xiuhe for the time being. She said, "Let me know if you have time to go."

Is this a date? Zhou Weifang felt a surge of anticipation, then caught a glimpse of his childhood friend waving from the crowd and saying, "There are seats available."

Luo Yan squeezed into the shop and sat down next to her brother. Zhou Weifang sat opposite them and said, "Order whatever you want."

Luo Yan felt that these words were meant for her: "I want to eat Kung Pao Chicken."

Zhou Weifang wrote something on the paper first, then moved his gaze: "And you?"

Luo Hong lied: "Let's start with two ducks."

Zhou Weifang ignored him and continued writing, asking, "Does Yanzi want some soda?"

Why are you only asking her? Luo Hong: "Give me a pound of Erguotou."

Zhou Weifang continued to ignore it, finished writing the order, and went to find the waiter.

Luo Hong saw that he had brought back three bottles of soda and clicked his tongue, saying, "You can't treat your guests this way without being so disrespectful."

Zhou Weifang smiled enigmatically: "You're just benefiting from this; you're lucky to have anything to eat."

That's right, that's right. Luo Yan rarely stood on his side, raising her chin and looking at her brother provocatively.

Luo Hong set out the bowls and chopsticks: "Fine, I'm in a bind now, since I'm eating their food."

Luo Yan wasn't exactly in a position of confidence, especially after mentally weighing the options once the food was served. She thought to herself that she should have just gone to a dumpling restaurant instead. The other two, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying their meal, chatting as they ate.

Luo Yan mostly listened quietly, only asking once after finishing her meal, "Aren't there any questions today?"

Zhou Weifang thought to herself that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night without her, and said, "There is one."

Luo Yan could explain it all just standing by the roadside, saying, "That's it?"

Zhou Weifang reflected deeply: "I was too busy to read much."

"Oh, Luo Yan: 'Work is more important. I can learn slowly.'"

How do people who don't earn money make a living?

Zhou Weifang took it as concern and stepped to the right to block the wind in front of her. Luo Yan glanced at him and smiled. After her brother returned from the restroom, she said, "Then let's go home."

Zhou Weifang: "Okay, slow down."

The brother and sister rode home, and Luo Hong asked, "Didn't you go anywhere to play today?"

It was freezing cold. Luo Yan said, "I have two extra classes this semester, so I don't have time."

She then told her brother about what happened today.

From Luo Hong's perspective, he felt a little unhappy that his younger sister had expressed her feelings first, but some things always need to be said upfront. "It's fine as long as it's agreed," he said, concerned for his sister, "but you two are studying every day, so the school can't catch you doing anything."

Just like how Jianjun from the back house, although legally divorced, still gets to call Zheng Sanmei "sister-in-law," Luo Yan now implicitly agrees that she will date Zhou Xiuhe in the future, thinking: What else is there to do?

She wasn't entirely ignorant about relationships between men and women; she occasionally came across things in miscellaneous books that would make one blush. But when she thought about herself being one of those people, her heart would pound wildly, and she would exclaim, "People should really study!"

No one stopped her from reading, so why was she making such a fuss? Luo Hong whispered, "That's good, it puts people at ease."

Luo Yan didn't hear what her brother said clearly, so she asked again.

Luo Hong gave her a perfunctory reply, escorting her to the courtyard gate and saying, "Go in by yourself, I have something to do."

Luo Yan didn't ask him where he was going, but when he got home, she told his parents who were watching TV.

The son, Liu Yinfeng, was not worried and only said, "I thought my brother had asked you to come back by yourself."

Luo Yan: "How could that be?"

She hung the scarf behind the door and rummaged through the snack cabinet.

Seeing this, Liu Yinfeng asked, "Didn't you eat enough tonight?"

Luo Yan opened the hawthorn slices: "I ate too much."

She strolled around the living room to digest her food while chatting with her parents.

Luo Xinmin wasn't fully focused on the television. He said, "I've written an article that's going to be published in the factory newspaper. Can you give it to Dad for review?"

He only learned to read after the founding of the People's Republic of China. He could do some writing and calculation in logistics without any problem, but he couldn't muster much literary talent.

When Luo Yan was little, she often helped her father find typos in his work reports, saying, "Okay, where are they?"

Luo Xinmin: "On the table in our room."

Luo Yan went into her parents' room to get it, carefully proofreading each word. After reading it, she asked, "Dad, should I just edit it directly on top?"

Luo Xinmin: "Okay, write your words bigger, my eyes are getting blurry lately."

He's almost sixty, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to see things at night.

The fact that her parents were getting old was always touching. Luo Yan felt a pang of sadness, but she didn't show it too much. She just wrote each word as large as possible.

Luo Xinmin reminded his daughter, "Yanyan, lift your head a little higher."

Luo Yan sat up straight, her pen moving rapidly, and said, "When the factory newspaper comes out, you have to bring me a copy to read."

Luo Xinmin: "I'm just here to make up the numbers, but there are a few young people in our factory who are top-notch writers."

Luo Yan: "That's still the best written by my dad."

She's got a sweet tongue, Liu Yinfeng teased: "If you praise me a couple more times, all of your dad's secret stash of money will be yours."

"What a stroke of luck!" Luo Yan, with her silver tongue, managed to get two yuan from her father.

Luo Xinmin casually asked, "Do you usually have enough money to spend?"

The Luo family may not be considered extremely wealthy, but Luo Yan has certainly lived a life of comfort and ease over the years.

She said, "Can I spend less money?"

Luo Xinmin knew this, of course, but it was just to lead into the next sentence: "If it's not enough, tell your mother; if you go out with your classmates, you should spend some money."

Luo Yan understood what he meant: "We had noodles for lunch, which we bought separately."

They're both students, it's only right. Besides, once you've spent someone else's money, how can you expect to clear things up? The two kids aren't necessarily set up to get married in the future. Luo Xinmin knew his daughter understood, so he didn't say anything more about it, only saying, "Okay, go to sleep."

After washing up, Luo Yan went back to her room, snuggled in bed and read for a while. She only realized how late it was when she heard her brother come home, so she turned on the light and lay down to sleep.

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Author's note: Brewing up some chaotic scenes (not really).