Returning Swallows (Part Two)

"Is it good?" Boss Zhou asked.

An had already given a soft "Mmm".

It's lunchtime now, and even inside the private room, you can hear the noise from outside.

Mr. Zhou chose this place as the meeting spot, saying he insisted that she come to his restaurant to try his food.

On such a hot day, An didn't want to eat hot pot.

Mr. Zhou responded with a simple, honest smile, seemingly not getting the reaction he wanted.

He continued, "The ingredients in my shop are all very fresh, unlike other shops where frozen meat or 'zombie meat' can be stored for a year or two."

This hot pot restaurant belongs to Mr. Zhou. Business is good; he has already opened several chain stores.

"We usually put a lot of effort into building good relationships with our suppliers so that they will reserve the best products for us."

"The chefs in our restaurant have a competition every month to see who can best use their knife skills and cooking techniques."

An Yi said, "It suits my taste perfectly."

Boss Zhou has said so much for this shop, it wouldn't be right for her not to show her support.

Mr. Zhou, who had been smiling the whole time, put down his chopsticks, crossed his arms, rested his elbows on the table, and asked An Yi, "Has your mother told you about my needs?"

An shook her head: "No."

Her mother only told her: "Go on a blind date with him," and didn't say anything else.

An Yi's mother arranged many blind dates for her that year.

An is already of marriageable age, and her mother is probably worried that she might make a bad choice in a partner like she did, so she is particularly concerned about An's marriage.

For her blind date, the frequency of communication in a month could be more than in any previous year.

Even though her own marriage was a complete mess, she still thought she could save it.

After An Yi's parents divorced, her father quickly remarried, and An Yi lived with her mother.

The mother harbored resentment towards the father, and after the father passed away, this resentment was transferred to An Yi.

Although she never lacked food or clothing for An Yi, she wasn't very good to him emotionally, and sometimes she didn't even fulfill her responsibilities as a mother.

But she was An's only family.

Her mother's intention in arranging the blind date was for her own good, and she didn't want to go against her wishes.

Having a meal once or twice a month is not a difficult thing for her to handle.

She considered telling her mother that she had a boyfriend, Ji Qingzhou.

But she knew that in her mother's heart, Ji Qingzhou was not a suitable marriage candidate, and her mother would even advise her to break up with him.

Because Ji Qingzhou, like his father, is a highly educated individual.

Kong Yue's father often found fault with her in daily life, which annoyed her.

The mother had a prejudice that all men she labeled as "highly educated" would have this disease.

But in An Yi's opinion, her father acted this way because he didn't love her mother.

Mom wants to find someone she can marry as soon as possible.

Ji Qingzhou was clearly not the first choice.

Not to mention her mother, she hadn't even considered Ji Qingzhou's marriage.

She doesn't understand her mother. She's clearly a powerful woman at the top, but her mind is like a rag wrapped around her feet.

If her mother finds out about Ji Qingzhou's existence, she will not only continue to arrange blind dates for her, but may also play the role of a wicked stepmother and break her up with Ji Qingzhou.

By then, Ji Qingzhou...

An Yi didn't know what Ji Qingzhou was thinking, but she didn't want such a scene to happen in her life.

I'd better not let my mom know.

As for herself, she knows she has a boyfriend and she would never do something like cheating on him.

At most, I'll have meals and watch movies with them, but that's about it.

Actually, this isn't good either.

An sometimes faces moral condemnation.

Fortunately, An has only met all her blind date partners once so far.

If they're easy to deal with, they won't even leave their contact information.

Boss Zhou picked up some duck intestines and put them in An Yi's bowl. "Try this. Customers say it's incredibly delicious."

An lowered her head and quietly moved the duck intestines aside.

She doesn't like eating animal organs.

Mr. Zhou resumed his previous posture. "I'm a straightforward person, please don't mind me."

An's lips curved slightly: "Go ahead and say it."

"I'm quite satisfied with your appearance."

An wasn't particularly beautiful, and she wasn't someone you'd immediately notice in a crowd, but she was more pleasing to the eye than any of the blind dates he'd ever met, and the more he looked at her, the more compatible she seemed.

An had already taken the warm water from the side, taken a small sip, and said, "Thank you."

"If you think it's okay, let's officially start dating, get to know each other for two months, and then we can try to talk about marriage."

“Our family is quite traditional, and I hope to have one son and one daughter.”

"I know, we can't control the gender. Having more children is fine too, there are many blessings, and it also responds to the call!"

Mr. Zhou was lost in his dream, thinking, "I've killed two birds with one stone."

An was quietly drinking water, holding her cup.

This Mr. Zhou fits my mother's criteria perfectly, what a pity.

An put down her water glass, rubbing the rim, and said, "I'm not in a hurry."

Mr. Zhou's smile faltered for a moment, his leaning body pressed back against the chair back, before he regained his composure. "Okay, I understand."

Everyone knows what he knows.

"I will communicate with my mother; it's my problem."

Boss Zhou repeatedly said "okay" and "great."

He asked the waiter to bring him a VIP card for the store and handed it to An Yi, saying, "We're all friends, come again soon!"

Boss Zhou is a very good businessman. He and An are no longer a couple, and he won't let someone who comes to his door leave empty-handed.

Giving someone a membership leaves a good impression and can be seen as contributing to one's own business.

The remarks that Boss Zhou just made sound like she used the same kind of foot binding cloth as her mother.

This idea about marriage and childbearing is not quite in line with human progress, but it is practical, speaks its mind, and knows how to act appropriately.

An put the card into her bag, said goodbye to Boss Zhou, and left.

The waiter picked up the cup and plate that An had already used and asked Mr. Zhou for his opinion.

The plate still held the duck intestines that had just been given to her.

Boss Zhou waved his hand: "Let's leave."

The elevator doors opened, An came out, and a man in a suit went in.

There were only three or four households on her floor, and she had seen them before, but this was the first time she had seen this person.

The man held an oil-paper umbrella in his hand, which was folded up and placed beside him.

Oiled paper umbrellas are rarely seen these days.

But she didn't feel like a stranger.

Ji Qingzhou's computer wallpaper is a tilted oil-paper umbrella.

The man looked somewhat familiar; it seemed as if I had seen him somewhere before.

She couldn't remember for a moment.

She pushed open the door, and Ji Qingzhou was sitting in the living room, holding a teacup in her hand. She raised the teacup to her lips, but hesitated to drink it.

The table was covered with a complete tea set.

"You're back?" Ji Qingzhou put down his teacup. "I used your tea set and tea leaves for a bit."

As if he had been caught touching her toy, he proactively reported what he had used before An Yi even asked.

"Mm." An had washed her hands and sat down opposite Ji Qingzhou.

Ideally, tea should be drunk at a tea table, but we don't have one at home.

An no longer thinks about buying it, and is too lazy to buy it.

She saw this tea set while shopping at the supermarket. It was made of glass, with a lotus flower design. The design was ingenious, and An Yi was immediately attracted to it. For no reason, she thought it would match Ji Qingzhou perfectly.

She spent half a month's salary to buy it.

She doesn't enjoy drinking tea, so she just put it on this table as a decoration when she bought it.

After it got dusty, An wiped it a few times but got too lazy to clean it anymore, so she simply threw it into the cabinet.

Ji Qingzhou dug it up today.

The pale yellow tea liquor, served in a glass, resembles a fine, aged wine; the tea liquor and the glass complement each other perfectly.

Ji Qingzhou poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of An Yi. An Yi took a sip and said, "It's so bitter!"

"This tea was some holiday gift from the company," An thought to herself, silently cursing the capitalist.

After graduating, An started working at Meikai, a large foreign trade company.

An took a sip of tea, and Ji Qingzhou watched her every move, from raising her eyebrows slightly to taking a sip of tea.

A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.

An put down her teacup and said, "This tea isn't very good."

Ji Qingzhou loves tea, so he can naturally tell by the taste.

"It's alright, the guest doesn't mind."

Thinking of the person she met at the elevator entrance, An had already guessed something when she entered the room.

An nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

Ji Qingzhou's voice rang out from behind: "Aren't you going to ask who it is?"

His response was a long silence.

It could be a classmate, a friend, or someone in his family.

An had no intention of inquiring further.

After finishing the rest of her tea, Ji Qingzhou took the tea set to the kitchen to wash it.

An was busy in the kitchen, with many bowls on the counter, but it was unclear which one she would use.

The range hood vibrated slightly, and the billowing white smoke from the pot was completely drawn away.

A few stray strands of her hair fell beside her ear. As if sensing the inconvenience, she raised her arm to rub her cheek, trying to tuck the hair behind her ear. After rubbing it twice, the hair remained in the same place.

Ji Qingzhou placed the tea set down, walked behind An Yi, reached out, and tucked away the stray hairs.

Her body stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and said, "Thank you."

Ji Qingzhou washed the tea set, arranged it neatly, and was about to put it back in the drawer.

An called out to him, "Just put it on the coffee table outside."

Ji Qingzhou then placed the tea set in the spot designated by the hostess.

Ji Qingzhou can't cook, so she originally wanted to eat out.

An has already said to stay at home.

She had just finished steaming the rice in the kitchen when the deliveryman knocked on the door.

An had already taken the takeout from Ji Qingzhou, and this time she even skipped the step of putting the food on a plate.

The food was exactly the same.

She didn't even change the dishes she ordered.

Ji Qingzhou ate half a bowl and then put the bowl down.

Do you often order takeout from this restaurant?

"Just a small order," An Yi said. "Sorry, I didn't have time to ask you what you'd like to eat."

Ji Qingzhou shook her head, "It's okay, I'll eat whatever you eat."

An didn't eat much either; the hot pot at noon was too greasy, and she didn't have much of an appetite.

After eating a little, his gaze gradually fell on Ji Qingzhou's hands.

His hands have long, beautiful knuckles, but the chipped bowl in his hand looks out of place.

I forgot to throw it away again, An thought.

She really liked the way Ji Qingzhou typed on the keyboard. He would rest his hand on the keyboard, concentrate for a moment, and then turn the words in his mind into text, and the text into an article, which would then appear on the screen with black text on a white background.

The nimble fingers, like fluttering butterflies, can leave afterimages even at extremely high speeds.

It was a speed she could only envy when her inspiration dried up.

Ji Qingzhou didn't eat much either, and soon put down her chopsticks.

He still volunteered to wash the dishes, and this time An didn't say anything.