Chapter 44

The next day, Jiang Bai took the subway to work. The team members were shocked to see that her left hand was in a cast. Sister Zhu was also surprised. Although Jiang Bai said that she had a traffic accident when she asked for leave, no one expected that she would be in a cast.

Sister Zhu said, "Luckily it's my left hand, what would I do if it was my right hand?"

Yes, if it was Jiang Bai on the right hand, she would have forgotten about her job. She smiled and said, "Sister Zhu, you have to be gentle with me, otherwise I can't handle it with one hand."

Sister Zhu patted her shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry."

After being watched by everyone, Jiang Bai returned to her seat. At this time, Bai Shanshan came over with a cup of coffee and placed it on her table.

Jiang Bai looked up at her, and Bai Shanshan smiled, "It's your treat."

"Thank you~"

During his first week at work, Jiang Bai took the subway to work, and gradually got used to typing with his right hand. Apart from the slower speed, there was no other impact.

His typing speed slowed down, and so did his processing speed. Sister Zhu didn't say anything about this. Jiang Bai was her right-hand man, so this was acceptable to her.

In the second week of work, Jiang Bai typed a little faster. Her life was still a straight line between the company and home. She was the only one at home. Lan Shuqing never sent her a message or came here again. Jiang Bai did not delete Lan Shuqing's fingerprints.

Now that things have come to that, Jiang Bai thought that Lan Shuqing would not want to come to her again.

This week Jiang Bai spent the Lantern Festival alone again.

It was the third week of work and it was still the monthly settlement. This month Jiang Bai did not help the team members to check the data, but instead guided them to do it. There were some minor problems in the middle, and Jiang Bai also guided the team members to solve them, so it went relatively smoothly.

Fast forward to March, and there are still 100 days left before the college entrance examination. A countdown clock is hung in the classroom. Lan Shuqing stares at the three numbers that occupy a small space on the blackboard, and starts counting down in his heart.

Xie Rong sat next to Lan Shuqing, stretched out his hand, poked Lan Shuqing's arm, and whispered, "Shuqing, what are you daydreaming about?"

It was evening self-study time now, and everyone was doing homework or memorizing, except Lan Shuqing, who was quietly in a daze. Since the last time I spoke to Lan Shuqing on the phone, Lan Shuqing hadn't smiled much, but he was still as smart as ever.

She answered the teacher's questions in class and ranked first in the first monthly exam after school started, performing steadily. However, Xie Rong felt that Lan Shuqing was not as happy as before and always felt that she was worried.

Lan Shu tilted his head slightly to glance at Xie Rong, "It's okay."

Look at this cold and expressionless look.

Recently, Lan Shuqing hasn't used a pretty headband to tie her hair. Xie Rong took a ballpoint pen and poked the tip of the pen on the paper a few times. Lan Shuqing didn't want to talk to her, but she had no choice because Lan Shuqing was too stubborn.

When she returned home in the evening, Lan Shuqing went back to her room as usual, took out her mobile phone, and clicked on Jiang Bai's avatar. It was pure white and she couldn't see anything. She exited the avatar, and the chat interface was still stuck on Jiang Bai's last words: Thank you for the compliment.

Lan Shuqing turned off his phone, fell on the bed, and stared at the ceiling in a daze.

On the other side, Jiang Bai also returned home early. Lan Shuqing's things were still in the room. Jiang Bai did not put them away. Even if he put them away, he could not control his memories.

The room was filled with Lan Shuqing's shadow.

After washing up, Jiang Bai lay on the bed, covered with the quilt, and sniffed gently. There was no longer any scent of Lan Shuqing on the quilt. There was still a little bit of it before, but after washing, there was only the smell of laundry detergent.

Sometimes Jiang Bai felt that she was abnormal, but she was the only one in the room, so what did it matter if she released her longing?

Jiang Bai missed Lan Shuqing very much.

In the last week of March, the last two days of the month were weekends, so Jiang Bai had to work overtime. After a few more days of work, it would be Qingming Festival, and it would be time for Jiang Bai to remove the plaster.

On the eve of the holiday, when Jiang Bai got off work, he got off the subway at the middle school station. The subway went directly from Jiang Bai's home to Zhenghe Group. The subway also passed by the middle school where Lan Shuqing was, which was about seven or eight hundred meters away from the subway station.

Jiang Bai went to the braised food store to buy some vegetarian dishes, but didn't want to go back directly to take the subway. She walked slowly to the gate of the middle school. It was already vacation time at this time, and most of the students in the school had left. There were no private cars waiting at the school gate to pick up students.

The school gate was large and spacious. It was very obvious when Jiang Bai walked over, so obvious that Lan Shuqing saw him before he even left the school gate.

Lan Shuqing stopped walking. Xie Rong looked back at her, a little puzzled. "Shuqing, why aren't you leaving?"

The former did not reply to her, but just stared at the school gate. Xie Rong followed Lan Shuqing's gaze and saw Jiang Bai wandering at the school gate.

"Hey, isn't that it?"

Jiang Bai glanced into the school, and in that glance, Jiang Bai seemed to see Lan Shuqing. She took a step back, holding the bag in her right hand, and turned to leave.

"Hey, why did she leave?"

Xie Rong was a little confused. She tilted her head to look at Lan Shuqing, but saw no expression on Lan Shuqing's face. She was even more confused and couldn't help asking, "Shuqing, did you have a fight with that sister?"

Lan Shuqing didn't answer, but instead pinched the strap of her schoolbag and walked forward, "Let's go."

The next day, Jiang Bai went to the hospital for a follow-up examination and to have the plaster removed. After the plaster was removed, he underwent another examination. The doctor said that he had recovered well.

Jiang Bai has been controlling his diet for more than a month and hasn't eaten much spicy food. He usually eats in the cafeteria, combining meat and vegetables. He hasn't eaten instant noodles anymore. He occasionally buys some fruits and even searches online for which fruits are good for fractured bones to stay nutritious.

After removing the plaster and leaving the hospital, Jiang Bai finally felt alive again. Her left hand no longer needed to be in a sling. She almost felt like she had no left hand at all. She moved her fingers and found they were still quite flexible.

Jiang Bai walked to the subway station and took the subway home. She took out her mobile phone, and the top app on WeChat was still Lan Shuqing.

But before she even reached the subway station, she received a message on her phone.

Q version of the little man: Have you removed the plaster?

Jiang Bai was stunned where she was. She looked at the message on her phone that had been sent for over a month. A tear unconsciously slid down her cheek and landed on the phone. She wiped it away hurriedly, and then wiped the corner of her eye randomly before typing on the phone: Yeah.

This time the other party only replied with one word: OK.

And then nothing happened.

Jiang Bai stared at his phone for a long time, then took a deep breath and walked towards the subway entrance again.

It’s okay, this is good enough.

At the Lan family, Lan Shuqing sat down at the desk, put down his phone, and started doing his homework.

There are only two months left until the college entrance examination. Even Lan Shuqing has entered a period of intense review. She still remembers the time Jiang Bai mentioned for removing the plaster. Lan Shuqing couldn't help but think about it, so she sent a message to ask.

Still replying immediately, as if nothing has changed.

But Lan Shuqing didn't want to say more to Jiang Bai for the time being.

Knock knock!

Someone knocked on the door. Lan Shu said softly, "Come in." Li Liyue pushed the door open and came in, carrying a plate of cut fruit and placing it next to the desk.

Li Liyue stood there for a long time without moving. Lan Shuqing stopped writing, looked up, and asked with some confusion, "Mom, is there something wrong?"

Li Liyue looked at her deeply and asked, "Are you tired? Do you want to take a rest?"

My daughter gets up early in the morning and starts doing exercises. She rarely goes out. I don’t know if she is under a lot of pressure as the college entrance examination is approaching or what.

Lan Shu shook his head slightly. "No, I'll finish what I'm doing here first. I still have to memorize words in the afternoon."

Hard work is a good thing, but Li Liyue felt that Lan Shuqing was too hardworking. She looked at Lan Shuqing, wanting to say something but stopping herself. It seemed that since Jiang Bai was injured, Lan Shuqing rarely smiled.

Li Liyue thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll ask Aunt Yao to make sweet and sour pork ribs and winter melon soup for lunch."

They were all Lan Shuqing’s favorites. She nodded and said, “Okay.”

Li Liyue asked again: "Is there anything going on at school recently?"

Lan Shu shook his head slightly, "No."

"Where's Xie Rong?"

Lan Shuqing picked up the pen and said, "I'm going to give her extra lessons tomorrow. We'll have to go to the study room to review together on weekends for the next two months."

Li Liyue rubbed Lan Shuqing's head with relief and said, "Remember to rest and don't get too tired."

Lan Shuqing raised his head and glanced at her, then smiled, "I know."

Life in the third year of high school is so tight. Lan Shuqing attends classes during the day, studies at night, reviews on weekends, and occasionally explains papers to Xie Rong and others.

April and May passed by in a flash, and soon it was the eve of the college entrance examination. The examination venues were randomly arranged throughout City A, and each school drew lots to rotate the examination venues.

This time, Lan Shuqing and his school exchanged places with the laboratory, and the laboratory was in another district.

Li Liyue had booked a double room in a high-end hotel near the Experimental Middle School early on for Lan Shu to rest up, and Xie Rong to join him. The hotel was only a hundred meters away from the Experimental Middle School, mainly so that they could return to the hotel to rest and recuperate at noon in order to prepare for the afternoon exam.

There are many parents like Li Liyue. The hotels near the school are fully booked and there are almost no vacancies.

On the evening of the 6th, the eve of the college entrance examination.

Jiang Bai was still sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. She was holding her phone, focused on the chat screen with Lan Shuqing.

She hesitated for a long time, but still typed: Lan Shuqing, which campus are you taking the exam at?

It took several minutes for the other end to reply: Experimental Middle School.

Jiang Bai replied with an "OK", then opened the map and started searching the distance. It was a bit far and it would take more than an hour to get there.

The 7th will take the Chinese and math exams, and the 8th will take the liberal arts, science, and foreign language exams.

Coincidentally, June 7th and 8th this year were weekends, and Jiang Bai had a day off. The exam started at 9 o'clock, and she had to enter the exam room at 8:30. Jiang Bai got up very early and arrived at 8 o'clock. Because she didn't know when Lan Shuqing would enter the exam room, she just found a random place outside the exam room and waited.

Gradually, more and more people came to the school gate to see off the candidates. Jiang Bai looked around in the crowd for a long time before he saw the Lan family. Lan Shuqing was talking to Lan Qi, and Lan Zhaoting and Li Liyue were standing next to them.

There were many vehicles on the street, and behind the four people was the Lan family's car. Jiang Bai had never seen it before and couldn't recognize it.

Lan Shuqing was smiling, as bright as a young girl. She was surrounded by young people, some of whom looked very young. They all had a bright future. Jiang Bai looked up at the huge sign of the Experimental School, wondering what he was thinking.