Chapter 9 Just Going Along the Way Their bodies suddenly pressed close together in the cramped carriage…

Just as Li Baidong dejectedly looked away, Xing Lan suddenly took out a third egg from the bag.

Xing Lan has a special skill in peeling eggs. First, she rolls the egg on the table gently twice, then breaks it in half along the cracked shell. This way, the egg is peeled intact without damaging the egg white.

He peeled the egg in a few quick movements, glanced at the tabby cat looking out the window, and casually asked, "Can cats eat egg yolks?"

Without even thinking, Li Baidong said, "No, brother."

Xing Lan said "Oh" and naturally gave the last egg to Li Baidong.

Li Baidong snatched the food from the cat's mouth, and looking at the kitten beside him who was completely unaware of what was happening, a faint pang of conscience struck him.

It's okay, he'll make it up to it with his evening snack.

Xing Lan finished breakfast and was about to go to work. As he was standing at the door tying his tie, he saw Li Baidong get up from the table and slowly walk towards him.

"I checked the weather forecast, there's a typhoon today, and it's going to rain heavily tonight," Li Baidong said, handing him an umbrella and speaking softly, "It's best not to work overtime tonight, go home early, bro."

Xing Lan glanced down and saw that Li Baidong was holding a mint green umbrella with several dachshunds wearing colorful sweaters printed on it. Their eyes were small, round, and looked silly.

Xing Lan paused in tying her tie, and gave a very slight twitch at the corner of her lips.

He sometimes suspected that Li Baidong often shopped at the following two places: the flea market that the Central Road Kindergarten regularly organized every month, and the souvenir shop at the zoo.

He turned his face away and coldly refused, "No need, I'll drive there, I won't get wet."

"Better safe than sorry," Li Baidong said with a grin, without moving his body and still maintaining the posture of handing over the umbrella.

Xing Lan hesitated for a moment, looked down at her watch, and realized that it was almost eight o'clock.

He looked up and asked Li Baidong, "What time is your class? Are you going to be late?"

Upon hearing this, Li Baidong pouted, nodded pitifully, and then glanced out the window, his eyes revealing an undisguised sense of frustration.

Although the rain was not expected to fall heavily until evening, the sky outside was already gradually turning gloomy and cold, with light rain falling in bursts, like fine silver threads.

Li Baidong usually takes shared bikes to school, but in today's situation, he not only just injured his hand, but also has to brave the rain. It's like adding insult to injury.

That's just too tragic.

Xing Lan glanced at his dejected, drooping golden head and casually said, "Your hand is inconvenient, so I'll take you to school for the next few days."

Li Baidong's eyes lit up. Although it was still raining coldly outside, his mood immediately brightened.

"Really, brother?" Li Baidong blinked his bright black eyes at Xing Lan, his face full of anticipation.

Xing Lan looked at him and thought he was just like a puppy waiting for its owner to feed it jerky. When it couldn't get any meat, it would whine pitifully, and when it did get some, it would lick its lips contentedly and wait for the next piece.

Xing Lan meticulously fastened his tie in front of the mirror by the door, then turned and walked out.

"Let's go."

Li Baidong hurriedly slung his black backpack over his shoulder, took a few long strides, and caught up with him in a few steps. The two walked side by side down the elevator.

-

Xing Lan's car is a white Audi, a mid-to-high-end model of the brand. It's not a luxury car worth hundreds of thousands, but it's sufficient for daily commuting.

After Li Baidong sat in the passenger seat, he looked down at his bandaged hand and hesitated to speak.

Xing Lan glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and asked knowingly, "Can't you tie it yourself?"

Li Baidong raised his injured paw high and pitifully hummed in agreement.

"What about the other one?" Xing Lan slightly raised her chin, indicating that he should switch to the other, uninjured hand.

Li Baidong tried it, and he didn't know if it was because he was too tall, but it was a bit difficult to tie with one hand.

Seeing him dawdling, Xing Lan sighed, then bent down and personally fastened his seatbelt.

When Xing Lan leaned closer, Li Baidong smelled that pleasant, faint fragrance on him again.

The fragrance wasn't exactly the scent of the freesia shower gel; it was more like Xing Lan's own natural, unique scent, reminiscent of a vast expanse of thick snow in winter, with a single, vibrant red plum tree standing proudly against the wind and snow, exuding a cool and elegant aura.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath, staring intently at Xing Lan's soft hair whorl and the smooth, beautiful lines of her back as she bent over. His gaze was intensely infatuated, carrying a hint of barely perceptible aggression that was quickly concealed.

"Thank you, brother." Li Baidong smiled and licked his canine teeth with the tip of his tongue. "I'm really sorry to have troubled you so much lately."

"No trouble at all, it's just on my way," Xing Lan said emotionlessly.

After fastening Li Baidong's seatbelt, he was about to turn away when Li Baidong suddenly grabbed his tie.

Xing Lan was completely taken aback by his action, and after staggering, she braced her hand on the edge of the passenger seat.

The distance between the two shortened instantly, their bodies suddenly pressed close together in the narrow carriage. The surroundings were extremely quiet, with only their breathing becoming particularly noticeable.

Li Baidong showed no nervousness or evasion, and smiled as he met his gaze.

He has long eyelashes, a high nose bridge, and deep, handsome eyes; he is both gentle and dashing.

Although not the standard formula of thick eyebrows and big eyes, her appearance is still outstanding, like a bottle of refreshing fruit wine. It can't compare to the mellow aroma of aged red wine, but it is sunny and energetic, with a unique charm.

"...What are you doing?" Xing Lan was very uncomfortable being so close to someone all of a sudden, and frowned slightly.

“Brother, your tie is really nice.” Li Baidong smiled, his fingertips casually tracing the tie in front of Xing Lan’s hand, gently stroking it a couple of times. “What brand is it? The color is really nice, I want to buy one for my brother too.”

It was just a simple, basic black tie; Xing Lan didn't know what Li Baidong saw in it. However, he didn't dwell on that, and instead frowned, asking, "Your brother?"

“My older brother.” Li Baidong nodded and said, “Actually, I am the second child in the family. After my parents gave birth to me, they took my brother to work outside. I was raised by my grandparents in the village since I was a child.”

On a whim, he raised an eyebrow and asked Xing Lan, "Want to guess what my brother's name is?"

“Li Baichun,” Xing Lan said expressionlessly.

Li Baidong chuckled and said, "It's not called that, but it's quite close."

Xing Lan sat back in the driver's seat, started the car, and drove it out of the basement while casually asking Li Baidong, "You and your brother have a pretty good relationship?"

"It's alright, we're not that close." Li Baidong thought for a moment and said, "After all, we weren't together when we were kids, so we rarely had the chance to meet. We don't keep in touch much now, we just exchange greetings during the Chinese New Year."

Xing Lan nodded and said, "It's good that brothers can look out for each other."

“My brother is quite smart. He grew up in the city and has seen more of the world than I have.” Li Baidong turned to look out the window, watching the raindrops slide down the glass, and said casually in a conversational tone, “He ate pizza when he was seven or eight years old, and his parents buy him a birthday cake every year.”

“When I was little, my birthday was always just a bowl of noodles cooked by my grandma. Sometimes she would add an egg, sometimes not. It depended on whether my grandma raised chickens that year, and whether our chickens laid eggs that day.” As he said this, Li Baidong seemed to find it amusing and chuckled lightly, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

"I didn't eat pizza until I was a teenager, and a classmate treated me." Li Baidong paused for a few seconds, then smiled casually and said, "Back then, I thought it would be so wonderful to eat pizza every day. Bro, do you think I'm too pathetic?"

Xing Lan didn't reply or laugh; she kept her eyes on the road ahead, focusing on driving.

Li Baidong's eyes suddenly turned somewhat melancholy.

He turned his head and coughed lightly twice, then looked down at his hand, feeling the wound on his hand inexplicably start to hurt again.

Xing Lan glanced at him and then turned on the car's heater.

The apartment was not far from Li Baidong's school, and they arrived at their destination quickly.

Xing Lan parked the car, and as Li Baidong was about to get out, she took a rectangular object out of her pocket and tossed it into his arms.

This burn ointment is very effective, but it's not cheap either; a small tube costs nearly 100 yuan.

Yesterday, when Xing Lan went to buy the ointment, the shop assistant recommended several to him. After considering them, he finally chose this one. Although it smelled unpleasant, it was the most effective and wouldn't leave scars.

"Remember to apply it twice a day," Xing Lan instructed. "Also, avoid spicy food recently, as it will slow down the wound's healing."

Li Baidong took the ointment, nodded obediently, and turned to walk into the rain.

For some reason, Xing Lan didn't drive away immediately. Instead, she put her hands on the steering wheel and sat in the car quietly watching him for a while.

Only after he had completely disappeared from sight did Xing Lan turn around, purse her lips, and drive the car away from the school gate, heading towards the company.

-

The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier.

It was only three or four in the afternoon when the sky turned pitch black, and a little while later, there was a constant barrage of thunder and lightning.

With a super typhoon of level 17 passing through, even if Xing Lan wanted to stay and work overtime, she couldn't.

He rarely left work early, and on his way home, he happened to see a well-known chain restaurant still open, with warm and bright lights inside.

At this time, the wind and rain were strong, and the rows of camphor trees nearby were blown into a uniform C shape, as if even the leaves were about to be blown away by the gale.

Xing Lan hesitated for a moment, then turned off the engine, got out of the car, and opened the umbrella that Li Baidong had insisted on giving him during the day.

Just as Li Baidong was about to start cooking, he heard Xing Lan carrying a bunch of things into the house.

"No need to cook." Xing Lan looked at Li Baidong, who hadn't even tied on his apron yet, in the kitchen and said, "I bought some things, let's just eat something simple today and change things up."

After saying that, he opened the plastic bag and took out the steaming hot food items one by one.

Li Baidong curiously leaned over to take a look, but before he could see what was on the table, he noticed that Xing Lan's thin shoulders were soaked through by the rain.

He frowned, followed Xing Lan's gaze to the table, and saw a large, round pizza on it.

It's a cheese and salted egg yolk chicken flavor. It's freshly baked and smells amazing. It's evenly drizzled with salad dressing, making it look very tempting.

In addition, there were several snacks such as grilled chicken wings, and two glasses of fresh orange juice.

"Brother, what happened..." Li Baidong felt a tightness in his throat. He placed his hands on the table, his tone hesitant, and looked up to ask, "Did you buy the pizza?"

Xing Lan glanced at him, didn't answer, and casually picked up a slice of pizza and put it in her mouth.

The next second, he picked out a slightly larger piece and casually handed it to Li Baidong.

"Eat if you like it. Even successful people can enjoy pizza," Xing Lan said casually.

A note from the author:

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I might take a day off tomorrow, and I'll update again the day after tomorrow~ Mwah! [kiss][kiss]