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Jiang Huali looked at him in silence for a long time before finally saying, "Okay."
Her face was calm, and her tone was even.
It felt as if they weren't being confessed to, but rather discussing what to eat today.
This answer was completely unexpected by Meng Zhiling, yet it made him laugh.
"good."
Meng Zhiling lowered her head and smiled, her joy almost overflowing.
The fact that she didn't refuse means he still has a chance.
The car started, and the two remained silent the entire way.
Meng Zhiling drove very steadily. The car was heated, and the temperature was just right. Jiang Huali closed her eyes without realizing it.
Although her workload has decreased recently, she is still quite busy overall, and she is somewhat tired.
When I woke up, the car was already parked near the hotel.
Jiang Huali opened her eyes, her voice a little hoarse, "Why didn't you call me?"
A soft blanket was draped over her. Meng Zhiling was sitting in the driver's seat. When he saw that she was awake, he explained, "I was planning to wake you up in a minute."
What he said was true, but every "minute" he would always want to wait a little longer.
Wait a minute.
She was very quiet when she slept, her breathing was even, and her long eyelashes drooped down, like a sleeping princess.
Meng Zhiling felt a little regretful, wishing time could have slowed down.
Jiang Huali folded the blanket around herself, checked the time, and said, "Then I'll go back first."
She placed her hands on the handlebars.
Meng Zhiling called out to her, "Wait a minute."
He took a bouquet of flowers from the back seat of the car and handed it to Jiang Huali, saying, "This is for you."
Jiang Huali looked down and saw a bunch of white lisianthus.
The petals are pure white, delicate and soft.
She took the flowers and said, "Thank you."
Just before getting off the bus, she suddenly turned around, smiled at Meng Zhiling, and said, "Good night."
Meng Zhiling looked at her and said, "Good night."
Jiang Huali returned to the hotel, took out the flowers, trimmed the stems and leaves, cut the roots at an angle, and placed them in a transparent vase.
The system appeared quietly. It was eager to ask something, but when it saw Jiang Huali's actions, it quietly quieted down and sat down to the side.
Its tiny electronic brain couldn't quite understand why Jiang Huali exuded a sense of tranquility and peace at this moment.
I just subconsciously felt that this scene was somewhat beautiful.
A breeze was blowing outside the window, but the room was warm and filled with a subtle scent of herbs.
After Jiang Huali had settled the bunch of white lisianthus, washed an apple, and was peeling it while sitting on the sofa, the system finally flew in slowly.
The small ball of light flew to the vase and said somewhat slowly, "Host, are you about to fall in love?"
Jiang Huali was peeling an apple when she heard this and said, "Hmm? I haven't agreed yet, have I?"
The system sat on the edge of the vase, pondered for a moment, and said, "Actually, many employees of the Time-Space Bureau are also in love in their own small worlds. Although..."
[Oh well—as long as the host is happy, that's all that matters.]
The system gave up thinking.
What it didn't say was that, although these relationships ultimately ended in separation, it had heard other systems mention, during training, the lovers their hosts had encountered in the small world.
They all said—
Love... is a truly magical thing. For those who truly love each other, the outcome isn't the most important thing.
Jiang Huali put down the fruit knife in her hand. The apple was a bit bumpy from the peeling. She took a bite, and the sweet juice burst in her mouth.
"I only agreed to give him a chance to pursue me."
System: [Then why did you agree to give him a chance?]
The system was still completely confused. Jiang Huali threw the apple core into the trash can, curled her fingers, and tapped its little head. Her voice contained a faint smile: "Thinking so much, go to sleep."
-
After that day, Jiang Huali received a bouquet of flowers every morning. The flowers were of all kinds, some rare and some ordinary. The only constant was that Meng Zhiling would always write something on them, with strong and powerful handwriting.
The messages mostly consisted of reminders to pay attention to the weather, keep warm, and be mindful of her diet.
The script that Meng Zhiling showed to Jiang Huali was a movie about people with autism.
Jiang Huali looked at it carefully and found it quite interesting, so she arranged a time to meet with the director that Meng Zhiling had mentioned.
The audition went smoothly, the contract was signed, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, this script will be Jiang Huali's next project.
This director is an up-and-coming director with a unique style and unconventional perspectives, who has produced many refreshing works.
In addition, Meng Zhiling also had his assistant deliver many scripts.
Jiang Huali didn't look at them; she returned all the scripts.
She can't expect others to pave every step for her from now on.
The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, the production crew gave all employees a day off.
Jiang Huali returned to her rented apartment from the hotel.
Many people say that the festive atmosphere of the New Year is fading, but Jiang Huali doesn't feel it at all.
She used to dislike celebrating the Lunar New Year, as she was always very busy on that day.
My mother was so busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner for the whole family. She helped out from the sidelines, and occasionally got scolded for making an unintentional mistake.
My father was busy playing mahjong with his relatives, chatting and laughing, and the pungent smell of cigarettes filled the entire living room.
Some gossipy relatives would secretly ask her, "Are your parents still planning to have a younger brother?"
She doesn't feel anything about the Chinese New Year anymore.
She was all alone, with no friends, and only a system by her side.
She originally planned to cook hot pot at home by herself.
But Meng Zhiling asked her on WeChat a week in advance if she could spend the New Year with her.
The reason given was: "My parents are traveling abroad, so I will have to spend New Year's Eve alone."
Jiang Huali thought for a moment and did not refuse: "Then come to my house."
A delicious homemade hot pot meal starts with buying the ingredients.
On New Year's Eve, Jiang Huali got up early, systematized into a small ball of light, and was still fast asleep in its special little nest.
Jiang Huali put on a wool coat and wrapped a red scarf around her neck, which made her look somewhat like she was celebrating the New Year.
When he left, Meng Zhiling was already waiting downstairs in the residential area.
Meng Zhiling looked at the girl. She was dressed brightly today. Perhaps because of the cold weather, her ears and nose were slightly red. Her eyes were stunningly beautiful as she walked towards him.
Meng Zhiling: "Good morning."
"morning."
They went to the nearby farmers' market together and bought some fresh beef, shrimp, crab and other meats, as well as some baby bok choy, potatoes, tofu and other vegetables.
In addition, they also bought some meatballs for hot pot at a supermarket near their community, as well as some seasonings and daily necessities.
When we headed back home, it was still early, not even noon.
They were carrying a lot of things. Jiang Huali's home was on the sixth floor. When they took the elevator upstairs, they happened to run into a resident from the same community.
Aunt Wang recognized the pretty young girl; she lived next door. Seeing the girl accompanied by a tall, handsome man, she smiled and asked, "Is this your boyfriend? He's quite handsome!"
Meng Zhiling was taken aback. Just as he was about to say something, he heard the girl next to him say with a faint smile, "No, we're friends."
He suppressed a slight disappointment and greeted Aunt Wang, "Hello."
"Hey, hello, hello." Aunt Wang misjudged their relationship and felt rather embarrassed, thinking that she shouldn't have said anything.
But she thought to herself, "It's the Lunar New Year, who wouldn't go home to celebrate at a friend's house?"
When the elevator reached the sixth floor, Aunt Wang said goodbye to them, and Jiang Huali led Meng Zhiling to her doorstep.
She entered the password, opened the door, and let Meng Zhiling in.
Jiang Huali closed the door, bent down and took out a pair of men's slippers from the shoe cabinet, and said to Meng Zhiling, "You wear these slippers."
After she finished speaking, she changed into her slippers and went to the kitchen with the things she was carrying.
Meng Zhiling stood by the door and carefully examined the men's slippers. They were very new and looked like no one had ever worn them; they must have been newly bought.
He changed his shoes with satisfaction.
Meng Zhiling also came to the kitchen. After cleaning her hands, she took out the ingredients she had bought and put the ingredients that needed to be kept fresh into the refrigerator one by one.
They simply cooked noodles for lunch.
After lunch, Jiang Huali started a thorough cleaning of the house, while Meng Zhiling prepared the ingredients in the kitchen.
A thorough cleaning is a must before the New Year, symbolizing bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new.
Sweep away all bad luck and pray for happiness in the coming year.
The house has a two-bedroom, one-living room layout. Jiang Huali considered that Meng Zhiling would be staying at home tonight, so she cleaned up the guest room and laid out the sheets and blankets that had been dried in the sun.
Jiang Huali plans to move after filming for "Above the Clouds" wraps up. The neighborhood she currently lives in is in a relatively remote location, and the security is not very good.
To make her work more convenient later, she decided to move.
After Meng Zhiling found out, he said to her, "I have an apartment in the city, in Washington, D.C., which you can rent to if you don't mind."
He added, "The community has good security, and it's conveniently located in the city center."
Washington, D.C. is an affluent area with a prime location, so its security facilities are naturally quite good.
Jiang Huali didn't rush to refuse, but simply said she would consider it later.
If he could, Meng Zhiling would have liked to present Jiang Huali with everything she needed and didn't need, and let her choose whatever she wanted.
However, it is quite obvious that this is unlikely.
Jiang Huali's cooking skills are so-so, only good enough to fill one's stomach. She has cooked a lot of dishes, but her cooking skills have not improved at all.
Perhaps this is also a kind of talent.
It's too early to tell whether Meng Zhiling is a good or bad cook, since hot pot isn't a particularly demanding dish. However, his knife skills are quite good, and he seems to handle ingredients with ease.
After cleaning up, Jiang Huali stood at the kitchen door and looked at Meng Zhiling.
The kitchen was small, and it would be crowded if two people stood there. Meng Zhiling told her to go outside and wait, and he would prepare the food.
Instead of doing any work, she took on the responsibility of chatting: "How about we make two hot pot bases tonight, one spicy and one tomato?"
Meng Zhiling smiled and said, "Okay, but I'm not very good at making tomato stew."
Spicy hot pot can be prepared simply by using hot pot base, but tomato hot pot is relatively more difficult to make.
Jiang Huali continued chatting: "Do you like cilantro?"
"Not bad, how about you?" the other person replied.
She frowned and said, "I hate eating."
She emphasized, "It's awful."
"I'll remember, I won't put cilantro in your bowl," Meng Zhiling chuckled.
Meng Zhiling was wearing an apron, black and white checkered, with two round pandas printed on it.
This outfit gave him the air of a... stay-at-home dad.
Meng Zhiling felt relaxed.
Ever since that night when Jiang Huali said she was willing to give him a chance to pursue her, she started chatting with him about small things in life and also expressed her likes and dislikes to him.
This made him feel safe.
It might sound like an exaggeration, but Meng Zhiling felt as if she had been trapped in a glass jar filled with honey.
It was so sweet it almost drowned him.
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