Chapter 102

Before Lin Manman could even say no, Li Mingcheng's clothes were already on her body, carrying the unfamiliar scent of a man.

Li Mingcheng doesn't smoke, and doesn't drink much. He mostly relied on his eloquence to get by at the table. He is good at talking, but not at drinking. It was the same when he was in the Hainan Army. When there was a drinking party, he relied on his eloquence. When others were drinking, he would talk about everything, and he would even talk people so much that they forgot to persuade him to drink.

So there was only a faint smell of alcohol on Li Mingcheng's coat, which was not unpleasant.

Lin Manman's father passed away when she was very young. She had seldom been alone with a man since she was a child. Thinking back carefully, this was probably the first time.

If it were in the past, she would have been embarrassed again, but after arriving on the island and interacting with more people, her personality became more cheerful and she didn't blush as easily as before.

"I heard from my sister-in-law that you are now working as a pharmacist in the health center on the island?" Li Mingcheng asked.

Lin Manman nodded: "Yeah."

"That's it. I've been afraid of taking medicine since I was a child. Could it be that after seeing you this time, I felt that your whole aura has changed? It turns out that you are going to be a pharmacist." Li Mingcheng said half-jokingly.

Lin Manman pursed her lips and smiled, then raised her eyes and glanced at Li Mingcheng: "You are a grown man, are you afraid of taking medicine?"

"Who says that grown men are not afraid of taking medicine? Aren't we pursuing gender equality now? Men can also be afraid of taking medicine."

"Too."

"But the medicine you prescribe might not taste that bad."

Lin Manman was distracted and asked, "What?"

Li Mingcheng shook his head: "It's okay, let's go, I'll take you back to the dormitory first."

"Oh..." Lin Manman dragged out the tone. She really didn't hear clearly what Li Mingcheng said just now. His voice was a little soft and it was windy outside.

Li Mingcheng panicked for a moment, and when he walked, he unconsciously quickened his pace. He was tall and had long legs, so one step could take two steps of Lin Manman. Lin Manman couldn't catch up with him, and she was too embarrassed to say anything, so she could only quicken her pace.

It was Li Mingcheng who reacted and slowed down his pace immediately, waiting for her: "I was thinking about something just now, so I walked faster subconsciously. Why didn't you remind me?"

Lin Manman said, "I thought you were in a hurry to go back. I was thinking about you going back to the guesthouse first and I'll go back to the dormitory by myself."

Li Mingcheng: "No, sending you back is my first priority."

Li Mingcheng looked serious, his features softened by the moonlight. Lin Manman withdrew her gaze, her cheeks flushed.

"By the way, thank you so much for what you did last time. I was in a hurry that day and I didn't have the chance to thank you properly. I felt quite regretful when I thought about it later." Lin Manman said.

"No, ponkan is delicious and sweet." Li Chengxi said, "If you still feel embarrassed, how about you treat me to a movie tomorrow? How about that?"

Lin Manman looked up, and then she remembered something and said embarrassedly, "It's not possible tomorrow. I swapped shifts with my friend today, so I have to go on duty tomorrow. I, I'll think of something else."

"Okay." Li Mingcheng nodded.

Li Mingcheng, who had refused lesbians' requests to go to the movies several times throughout his life, was finally rejected by a lesbian.

*****************************

At home.

Yueyue was put into the crib by Lin Tao to sleep. Lin Changhai also went to sleep after washing up. Now only Lin Tao and Li Chengxi were still awake at home.

Lin Tao took out the things Li Mingcheng had sent her today. Inside was a small purse, inside the purse was a small box, inside the box was a silver longevity lock.

Li Mingcheng had already given other things, so it was obvious that this longevity lock was from Li Guodong and his wife. Looking again, there was a piece of paper in the box with a blessing for Yueyue written on it, and it was signed by Li Guodong.

Lin Tao took out the longevity lock and showed it to Li Chengxi, who said, "Put it away."

Lin Tao nodded and hid the box and purse in the cabinet.

Perhaps one day they will give Yueyue the silver bracelet, but as for this longevity lock, they will probably keep it here and won’t take it out for a long time.

The grudge from that time is still there and it is not so easy to get rid of it.

After taking a shower, Lin Tao changed into clean clothes and got on the bed. She leaned on Li Chengxi and asked, "Did Mingcheng tell you about what happened in Shanghai?"

Li Chengxi shook his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"That should be fine." Lin Tao said, "When he first arrived, he told me about Shanghai. He said his old man was sick and in the hospital, so he asked for sick leave. But now he has been discharged from the hospital, so he should be fine."

It's not that Lin Tao is too worried about that, but when Li Mingcheng mentioned this to her, she changed the subject. However, it would be better to tell Li Chengxi about it. As for what he thinks, it all depends on him.

Lin Tao had said long ago that when it came to the couple's attitude towards this matter, Li Chengxi's attitude would be the same, and she would always support him.

"It should be fine." Li Chengxi said.

"Yeah." Lin Tao nodded. "By the way, did you know that Manman and Mingcheng have known each other for a long time? That guy...what was his name? I think it was Xiaomu, right? Didn't he fail to pick up Aunt Fang and Manman? Manman and the others were sent to the bus station by a living thunderbolt. Who would have thought that the living thunderbolt was Mingcheng."

The couple talked for a while and then prepared to go to bed.

Who knew that just as the lights went out, Yueyue whispered, "Daddy...hug me..."

The couple sat up from the bed at the same time. Li Chengxi took out a flashlight and saw that Yueyue was still asleep. It turned out that she had just been talking in her sleep.

Suddenly, Li Chengxi came to his senses and glanced at his wife, then asked, "A Tao, who did Yueyue call just now?"

Lin Tao smiled and said, "Who else can I call you? I'll call you dad."

Yes, Yueyue was calling out "Daddy, hug me". Just now, Li Chengxi's first reaction was that Yueyue woke up and he wanted to hug her. He didn't even realize that Yueyue would actually call out "Daddy".

But it was also quite funny. The first time Yueyue called daddy, she actually did it in her dream...

The kid didn't know what he was dreaming about, his lips were smacking and saliva was almost flowing out.

Li Chengxi watched Yueyue sleeping for a while, then returned to the bed and hugged Lin Tao. His embrace made her feel safe. Lin Tao leaned on his chest and asked, "How is it? How do you feel?"

"It feels good." said Li Chengxi.

*************************************

The next day, at the health center.

"Manman is here to work?"

"Well, didn't I switch shifts with Xiao Feng yesterday? I'll take her shift today."

"Yesterday was Teacher Lin's daughter's birthday. She made a lot of delicious food, right?"

"Once I have learned my sister's cooking skills, I will cook for everyone when we have a party at the institute. How do you think?"

"That's great. You better learn faster. We are all waiting."

The girls chatted and laughed for a while, then went back to their respective posts.

Lin Manman is a pharmacist, that is, a medicine dispenser. When someone comes to see a doctor, the doctor will prescribe some medicine for them and they just have to bring the prescription to her to get the medicine.

At the beginning of the month, the seasons had just changed and the temperature dropped drastically, so more people were sick. But recently, things have gotten much better, and fewer people are coming to the clinic, so they have more free time.

But she couldn't do anything else while on duty, so Lin Manman sorted the medicines and put them in places that were easier to find, so that when someone asked for a certain medicine, they could find it immediately.

At this moment, a man wearing a white navy uniform came to the counter. Lin Manman was busy and didn't have time to look up before he asked, "Hello, please give me the prescription and I'll get you the medicine."

"Can I get the medicine directly from you without a prescription?" Li Mingcheng's voice rang out.

Hearing this voice, Lin Manman raised her head and saw that it was indeed Li Mingcheng. She smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "Why are you here? I thought you were a patient coming to get medicine. Why are you here? If you are still watching a movie, then I really don't have time now. You see, I am the only one on duty here today. If I leave, there will be no one to dispense medicine."

The little girl looked a little helpless. After organizing the medicines in her hand, she poured him a glass of water, brought out a stool and asked him to sit down.

Li Mingcheng smiled and was about to speak when someone came to prescribe medicine.

Lin Manman took the list, glanced at the medicine on it, and immediately found where the medicine was. She wrapped a few pills of a can of medicine in a small paper specially used for medicine, and said, "I'll prescribe three days' worth of medicine for you. Take this medicine three times a day, two pills at a time. Remember to take it half an hour after a meal."

Li Mingcheng sat beside her and watched. Lin Manman worked very seriously. After the patient took the medicine and left, she smiled at Li Mingcheng and asked, "So what brought you here today?"

Li Mingcheng said, "I'm here to get some medicine, too. I have a headache."

"Headache?" Lin Manman asked, "Are you catching a cold or having a fever? Wait a minute, I'll get you a thermometer, take your temperature first."

As he said this, he went to get a thermometer for Li Mingcheng.

Li Mingcheng took the thermometer, put it under his armpit, and measured for about five minutes. Lin Manman said, "You can take it out now."

She took the thermometer and looked at it. She said, "You have a low fever. I'll prescribe some medicine for you. In addition to the headache, do you feel any other discomfort?"

"It's just a headache, everything else is fine." Li Mingcheng said.

"Headache..." Lin Manman murmured, then found a medicine and said, "Then I'll prescribe you one medicine first. You can try it and see how it works. Originally, I should prescribe two medicines to take together, but didn't you say you were afraid of taking medicine? Your symptoms are relatively mild. This medicine can reduce fever and relieve headaches, so it should be enough."

Lin Manman went to pour Li Mingcheng a glass of warm water.

The medicine and water were handed to Li Mingcheng. Li Mingcheng took them but did not move for a long time. He looked at the medicine as if he was facing a formidable enemy: "This medicine... is quite bitter, right?"

Lin Manman: "All medicine tastes bitter."

Li Mingcheng: "...Forget it, I don't think my head hurts that badly, why don't I just give it up for now."

Lin Manman's fair face frowned and she said, "No, that won't work. You must take medicine in this condition."

Li Mingcheng: “…”

He suddenly felt that he should not have come here today. There was no other way. With Lin Manman watching him, Li Mingcheng could only stiffen his neck, take a deep breath, put the medicine into his mouth, take a sip of water, and swallow the medicine.

But he has never been good at taking medicine since he was a child. When taking pills, he can never swallow them directly, he has to dip his tongue in them. This is the most painful moment. The bitterness of the pills explodes on his taste buds, so bitter that it can make people's scalp numb.

Li Mingcheng was born prematurely. He was not in good health when he was young. He would catch cold easily when the seasons changed. But as he grew older and exercised more, his health improved and he rarely got sick.

This time, it may be caused by the huge temperature difference between the two sides.

Li Mingcheng's face was wrinkled like a bitter gourd. The medicine was too bitter. He drank a whole glass of water, but his mouth was still bitter. At this time, Lin Manman took out a White Rabbit candy from her pocket, handed it to him, and said, "Here, take the medicine and then eat a candy, and it won't be bitter anymore."

Li Mingcheng was stunned for a moment, then took the White Rabbit candy and peeled off the candy wrapper.

The candy wrapper was warm, carrying the temperature of Lin Manman's palm. He put the white candy into his mouth, and the milky sweetness immediately covered the bitter taste of the medicine.

Li Mingcheng asked: "Did you prepare this specially?"

Lin Manman nodded: "Well, sometimes some children are afraid of taking medicine, so I always keep some candy in my pocket. If they don't want to take medicine, I will take it out to coax them."

The smile on Li Mingcheng's face froze. He used to be very thick-skinned and was the only one who could tease others. But now his face turned red, he coughed lightly, and quickly changed the subject.

Lin Manman said, "Did you catch a cold last night?"

In fact, she was quite embarrassed. Li Mingcheng was in a bad mood. She thought it was because Li Mingcheng gave her his clothes last night.

Li Mingcheng said, "No, don't think too much about it. I had a headache before I came to the island. It's probably because the temperature difference between Hainan, Shanghai and here is too big, so that's why."

"Is there a big temperature difference between Hainan now and here?" Lin Manman was puzzled. She had been to very few places and didn't know Hainan well.

Li Mingcheng nodded: "Yes, it's still like summer in Hainan now."

Lin Manman was very curious and listened to Li Mingcheng talking about Hainan for a long time. At noon, it was time to go to lunch.

Lin Manman usually went to the army cafeteria to eat with Hu Xiaofeng, but Hu Xiaofeng was not there today, so Li Mingcheng asked, "Are you going to your sister-in-law's house or the cafeteria for lunch?"

Lin Manman said, "Let's go to the cafeteria. Sister Tao is now the school's director of education and teaches in a junior high school. She's very busy at work, so I can't always go to her house for free meals. Besides, the food in our army cafeteria is also very delicious. Today is Monday, and we have braised hairtail and seaweed egg soup. I don't know about the other dish, it depends on the mood of the quartermaster."

Lin Manman couldn't help laughing while she was talking.

Li Mingcheng also smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll go to the army cafeteria with you to eat."

"Okay, I just wanted to thank you for what you did last time, so I'll treat you to dinner today." Lin Manman said.

"Yeah." Li Mingcheng nodded.

The health center is not far from the army canteen, and it only takes about ten minutes to walk there.

The army canteen was the busiest at this time. Lin Manman took her aluminum lunch box and a temporary plate from the army canteen to line up. Li Mingcheng took the lunch box and plate from her and said, "I'll line up. You go find a seat and wait for me."

There are so many people here, and Lin Manman is small, so she is easily squeezed in.

Li Mingcheng subconsciously protected Lin Manman in front of him to prevent her from being squeezed. Lin Manman didn't notice his action, took out a meal ticket from her pocket and handed it to Li Mingcheng, saying: "Then I'll give you the meal ticket, you give me less rice, two taels is enough, don't give me too much, I can't finish it."

"Two ounces of rice?" Li Mingcheng raised his eyebrows and glanced at Lin Manman's slender waist. "No wonder she's so thin."

Lin Manman didn't hear his words, and gave another instruction: "You feel a little unwell, so it's best to order something light, not braised pork."

He looked just like a little teacher. Li Mingcheng couldn't help laughing. He was just preparing to braise pork.

After saying that, Lin Manman found a seat nearby and sat down.

Unexpectedly, Li Mingcheng had not arrived yet, but another gay man came. This gay man's surname was Zhao, Zhao Fan. He sat opposite Lin Manman with a lunch box and said, "Manman, are you coming to eat too?"

Lin Manman's brows wrinkled consciously, because Zhao Fan could have called her "Comrade Lin" or "Lin Siyao", but he insisted on calling her by her name, which made Lin Manman feel uncomfortable.

Especially after Zhao Fan had made it clear that she had no intention of treating him beyond a homosexual friendship, he still always acted very intimate with her after seeing her. But in fact, apart from her prescribing medicine for him twice, the two of them had no other contact at all.

Lin Manman was very distressed. She even asked Hu Xiaofeng to tell Zhao Fan that she didn't want to date someone at the moment and didn't have that kind of thought towards him, and asked him not to do that in the future.

But Zhao Fan said that he didn't want to be in a relationship now, because if he continued to be in touch with her, she might have some thoughts about him. Feelings are cultivated, so it's okay to take it slow.

But if you don't like someone from the beginning, no matter how much you cultivate, it's impossible to have feelings for them!

Lin Manman said, "Comrade Zhao, someone wants to sit here."

"Who is it? Didn't Hu Xiaofeng leave the island?" Zhao Fan knew everything about Lin Manman's situation. He even knew that Hu Xiaofeng had left the island, which made Lin Manman even more uncomfortable.

Lin Manman was about to speak when Li Mingcheng came back with his meal. He saw a man sitting opposite Lin Manman and talking to her, and Lin Manman frowned, obviously not wanting to say anything more to him. She roughly understood what was going on.

"The meal is ready." Li Mingcheng put the lunch box and plate on the table, putting more distance between Zhao Fan and Lin Manman. His movements were not light, and some of the soup in the plate splashed out and spilled on Zhao Fan's hands. Zhao Fan looked up and was about to say something.

But when he met Li Mingcheng's eyes, he felt a little scared again.

Although the brothers Li Mingcheng and Li Chengxi do not look much alike, when Li Mingcheng gets angry, his serious look and eyes are exactly the same as Li Chengxi's, which is quite scary.

Zhao Fan was just a rookie who had just joined the army for a year. When he saw Li Mingcheng, he naturally couldn't match his momentum and felt a little nervous.

The day opposite Lin Manman was occupied by Zhao Fan, so Li Mingcheng naturally sat next to Lin Manman. Li Mingcheng asked, "Manman, who is this person?"

"He... is the person who came to me before to get prescription medicine." Lin Manman said.

He called her by the same name, but for some reason, when Li Mingcheng called her that, Lin Manman didn't feel so uncomfortable.

"Here's what I'm going to do." Li Mingcheng smiled, then ignored Zhao Fan and said to Lin Manman, "Eat quickly, or the food will get cold. I've made your favorite braised hairtail and seaweed egg soup."

"Why did you give me so much rice?" Lin Manman felt that today's rice seemed to be a lot more than usual.

Li Mingcheng: "You are too thin. You need to eat more. If you can't eat anymore later, give it to me and I will eat it."

Li Mingcheng's expression was very natural when he said this. Lin Manman's ears blushed, but she knew that Li Mingcheng said this on purpose for Zhao Fan to hear, and he was helping her.

So I followed his words and said, "Then let's talk about it after I finish eating."

Zhao Fan looked at the way the two men were talking, chatting and laughing. Lin Manman's attitude towards Li Mingcheng was obviously different from when she faced him. He could guess that this man was Lin Manman's partner.

He looked a little embarrassed and quickly finished his meal and left.

Only after Zhao Fan left did Lin Manman breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Mingcheng asked while eating, "Does that boy like you?"

Li Mingcheng himself is not very old, but he is called a kid.

Lin Manman nodded and said helplessly: "I have already said that I don't want to be with anyone now, but he is still like this, which makes me very uncomfortable."

Li Mingcheng said, "Next time you see someone like this, you have to be more direct and say that you don't like him. Some people just don't know what's going on. If you say you don't want to be with someone right now, they think you'll be willing after a while, not understanding that you're actually keeping his face in mind and not saying anything too harsh."

What Li Mingcheng said made sense, but Lin Manman's personality has always been like this, and she has never said a harsh word to anyone since she was a child.

This was the first time I encountered such a thing, so it was inevitable that I didn't handle it well. But after experiencing this, I understood it later.

"Have you told your sister-in-law about this?" Li Mingcheng asked.

Lin Manman said, "No, Sister Tao has been too busy recently, and I didn't want to bother her with everything. I thought it would be fine as long as we made things clear. I didn't expect him to do this."

If Li Mingcheng wasn't around and Zhao Fan continued to act like this, I'm afraid Lin Manman would really have to go to Lin Tao for advice.

"But after today, I'm afraid no one will do this anymore," said Li Mingcheng.

Lin Manman was stunned: "Why?"

Li Mingcheng smiled and said, "Nothing. Can you still eat? If not..."

Before he finished speaking, Lin Manman nodded quickly, hugged the lunch box and continued eating, saying, "I can eat it. I just happen to be a little hungry today."

Li Mingcheng's personality is quite different from that of his brother-in-law Li Chengxi. He means what he says. Lin Manman is really afraid that he will really do what he says and help her finish the rest of the meal.

She had already eaten all the food, how could she have the nerve to let him eat her leftovers?

Seeing Lin Manman continue to eat, Li Mingcheng smiled and said, "That's right, you are so thin, you should eat more. If a typhoon hits the island, you will definitely be the first to be blown away."

Lin Manman blushed and glared at him angrily: "..."

After lunch, Lin Manman asked Li Mingcheng to go back to the guesthouse early to have some rest and sleep so that he could recover faster.

"Oh, by the way." Lin Manman took out a few more candies from her pocket and handed them to Li Mingcheng, "Take them. You can eat them when you take your medicine later."

Li Mingcheng took the candy and smiled: "Thank you."

After watching Lin Manman leave, Li Mingcheng put the candy into his pocket, rubbed it gently several times, and raised the corner of his mouth.

Lin Manman walked towards the dormitory. They had news at noon, so she could sleep for an hour before going to work at the health center.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the dormitory, I was surrounded by several roommates.

They all asked her, "Manman, who was the gay man you just had dinner with? Is he your boyfriend? He's so handsome."

"Our Manman is pretty too, Manman, you know, you and him standing together are a perfect match."

"But Manman, when did you start dating someone? You didn't even tell us. And that gay guy looks a little unfamiliar to me. I don't think I've seen him before."

"Yeah, I feel like I've never seen one before. There are still such good-looking gay men on our island. There's no reason for us not to know about them."

These girls like to talk about which gay man is good-looking when they have nothing to do, but they have never met Li Mingcheng. If they had met him, they would definitely mention Li Mingcheng.

As soon as Lin Manman came in, she was stunned by their words.

She was misunderstood to be in a relationship with Li Mingcheng, her cheeks flushed, and she quickly explained: "You misunderstood, he and I are not in a relationship, we are just... when I came to the island a year ago, I couldn't find the way, and he helped me find the way. Then this time when Yueyue celebrated her birthday, I found out that he was actually my brother-in-law's younger brother."

"He's Captain Li's younger brother? If you hadn't told us, we wouldn't have noticed. He doesn't look like Captain Li at all. But this is also good, it makes the relationship even closer."

"Let's not worry about whether we are close or not, that's secondary. The most important thing is to see what Manman thinks, whether she likes it or not. It has to be what she likes. Isn't that right, Manman?"

"Look at what you said. Is there any need to ask? Isn't it obvious?"

There are six people living in their dormitory. Hu Xiaofeng has left the island and is no longer here. There are still four people in the dormitory. They are all Lin Manman’s good friends on the island and they are all very nice people.

At this moment, the four of them surrounded Lin Manman, asking questions one after another and waiting for her answer.

Lin Manman didn't have anything in mind at first, but when they looked at her, she couldn't help but think of Li Mingcheng, and her cheeks suddenly became hot.

She said, "There's really nothing going on between him and me. Stop asking me. You won't get any information."

Her roommates were good in every way except gossip. They loved to talk about who was in love with whom, who liked who, and so on. When they talked about these things in the past, Lin Manman just listened for fun. She never knew that one day, she would become the subject of their discussion.

After saying this, Lin Manman got on her bed, covered her face with the quilt, and said in a low voice, "I'm so sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night. I have to get some rest quickly, otherwise I'll be sleepy in the afternoon and the team leader will scold me."

She knew that if she didn't do this, they would definitely not let her go so easily.

She hid under the quilt and was unwilling to confess. Several roommates gathered together and talked in low voices for a while. They all felt that Lin Manman and Li Mingcheng had something going on, so they went to bed.

Those who work in the health center, no matter what position they are in, need to stay in good condition and must not doze off, otherwise it is easy to make mistakes, so a lunch break is very necessary.

Seeing that everyone had gone to bed, Lin Manman lifted the quilt, revealing a fair face.

She pursed her lips, thought of Li Mingcheng, shook her head, drove him out of her mind, and went to sleep.

To be honest, she really didn't think so much about it at first. She just thought that Li Mingcheng helped her at that time, and she didn't thank him properly. She just invited him to have a meal in the cafeteria, which was already the most ordinary thanks.

But now that I'm being teased by everyone, I feel a little embarrassed.

On the other hand, Li Mingcheng returned to the guesthouse and took another dose of medicine half an hour after dinner. After taking the medicine, he quickly peeled a piece of candy and put it in his mouth. The medicine was really bitter, but the candy was really sweet.

His head still hurt a little, so Li Mingcheng planned to lie down on the bed for a while. He played with the candy wrapper in his hand, and when he thought of Lin Manman, he couldn't help but smile.