Extra 5: Destination of Love
Xiaobai finally passed the civil service exam for the third time in her life. Everything went smoothly from the written test, interview, political review to the physical examination, and she started working smoothly in the summer.
At the end of February the following year, she suddenly and generously handed Ji Nan a bank card and said, "Take it. This is the money I promised you. The password is your birthdays."
While still preparing for the exam, out of gossip and gratitude, Xiaobai did verbally promise that if she passed the exam, she would give her entire year's salary as a share of the money to him and Zhong Jiajing.
When she mentioned this, Ji Nan remembered this incident.
He stared at Xiaobai, whose expression of regret was barely concealed, and raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You've only been here about half a year, right? Is it customary in your company to pay a full year's salary in half a year?"
Xiao Bai snorted coldly, "I've worked for you for over a year and it's not for nothing. Don't you allow me to have some savings?"
"Don't worry, you guys will be fine."
She even spent half an hour calculating on a smart calculator, adding every penny of the year-end bonus and other basic subsidies. Who wouldn't say she was a kind person?
Although there was only a thin card containing data in his hand, Ji Nan seemed to inexplicably feel the actual weight of the stack of money, which was heavy.
He returned the bank card to Xiaobai, his expression calm. "You do have the integrity of basic civic ethics, but we can't be so careless that we don't even understand the basic customs, right?"
Xiaobai held the returned card, feeling somewhat bewildered. "Boss, what are you secretly scolding me for?"
"But you know what, after your yin and yang, my little heart actually feels much better."
"Tsk, you are simply a miracle doctor!" Her gloomy face suddenly became sunny again.
Working at the grassroots level inevitably involves encountering some hot-tempered and unreasonable individuals. This job was practically Xiaobai's first official position. As a newbie in the workplace, he diligently followed the rules and regulations, but he often got scolded, which often caused Xiaobai to cry secretly at night.
"Your way of judging a doctor's skill is really plain and simple, just like your operation." Ji Nan said indifferently, "I just want to tell you that Zhong Jiajing and I haven't even gotten married yet. What kind of gift is this?"
"Put this money in Yu'e Bao, and you should have several dollars a day, enough for a one-way subway fare to work. What's wrong with you? Do you think it's too much?"
Xiaobai was shocked. She only caught the middle part of his sentence, "How is that possible? I clearly saw you buying a ring last week!"
Ji Nan's expression didn't change at all. He asked in a deep voice, "Is there a rule that only couples can wear rings?"
"......" There is indeed no such rule, but Xiaobai later secretly went to the store to ask, and the clerk told her that what Ji Nan bought was clearly a pair of rings, and they were quite expensive.
How could this not be a wedding ring? Xiaobai guessed that there was a high probability that the man in front of her was lying to her.
Based on experience, Ji Nan is very tight-lipped, and the chances of Xiaobai getting a piece of melon from this stingy guy are almost zero.
But it doesn’t matter. The same principle of making up for what you lack also applies to family composition. For example, isn’t there a big loudspeaker with a leaky mouth living in the home of Ji Nan, the iron-toothed and copper-jawed man?
Thinking of this, Xiaobai prepared to sharpen the knife and attack Zhong Jiajing.
She carefully put the returned bank card into the compartment of her bag and said to Ji Nan with a smile, "Well, it seems I misunderstood."
Afraid her lack of credibility would arouse suspicion, she changed the subject to cover it up. "But you know we won't stay long, yet you keep hiring newbies like us who aren't interested in working in a coffee shop. Don't you really think you're losing out?"
Almost half of the store’s employees have been replaced, and now most of them are young new faces.
The store was not busy at the moment. Several people were sitting in the corner reading books or doing exercises. It was obvious that the mini zoo would not be their final destination.
There are many people like Xiaobai who use mini zoos as a life-saving stopover. Some of her colleagues who joined the same company as her passed the civil service exam, some saved enough money to go back to school, some stopped working part-time after graduation, and some overcame a bottleneck in their lives and returned to their own fields of expertise...
In short, few people choose to stick to this small world, even though the treatment here is good enough.
Sometimes Xiaobai feels that Ji Nan is like the principal of a charity school in the mountains. He does not ask for anything in return, but only hopes that students can leave the mountains and pursue their own happy life.
This seemed inconsistent with his usual cold words, but he was indeed a good person, and Xiaobai knew it very well.
Ji Nan said calmly, "Who would do business at a loss? At worst, if you give me your entire year's salary, wouldn't I be making a profit?"
noob:"......"
As expected, one cannot expect him to say anything good. The tears in Xiaobai's eyes seemed to gather into a flood and drown Ji Nan!
The next weekend, Xiaobai asked Zhong Jiajing out shopping. She looked at her bare fingers and hinted, "Don't you feel like your hands are empty, like something's missing?"
Zhong Jiajing stretched out her ten fingers, looked left and right in front of her eyes, and then nodded frantically in agreement. "It's definitely missing something. Let's go get a manicure. I happened to see a pair of these on Xiaohongshu a few days ago."
It hadn't been long since she'd gotten a manicure. It was before the Lunar New Year, a festive style to create a festive atmosphere. After the Lunar New Year, her nails grew longer, so she removed them. Since she hadn't found a style she liked, she hadn't gotten new ones.
Zhong Jiajing actually prefers to have extended nails, but as a programmer she usually types on the keyboard a lot, she always feels that long nails are not strong enough, so she has to turn her attention to short nail styles.
Xiaobai, who was full of thoughts, really wanted to ask her directly: Did Ji Nan propose to you?
But she didn't.
She wondered, what if Ji Nan was planning a surprise? After all, Zhong Jiajing's birthday was in three days. Wouldn't it be a double-edged sword if she exposed her brother's intentions?
Just before parting, Xiaobai seemed to sigh casually, "The diamond ring on the nail salon owner's hand is quite beautiful."
"It's really beautiful." Zhong Jiajing agreed with her point of view, but had no other deeper thoughts.
Seeing that she really looked unaware, Xiaobai simply kept silent. She was now certain that Ji Nan was secretly preparing a proposal, and as someone on the man's side, she had to keep this secret at all costs.
But there is no impenetrable wall in the world, and the carefully guarded secret was eventually exposed.
When Ji Nan asked his parents to take him to "surrender" last year, Ji's father agreed readily, but did not take action immediately. Instead, he postponed it to this year's Lunar New Year.
After making an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Zhong to celebrate the New Year together, Mr. and Mrs. Ji dressed formally and drove from Qingdao to Zhenjiang with a car full of expensive gifts.
Ji Nan was also a fellow traveler on this Spring Festival travel rush. He sat in the back row, sharing a row with his family's two dogs and one cat.
Oh, by the way, I also have a turtle that I have raised for more than ten years.
It looked like he was proposing marriage with his entire family, and when Mr. and Mrs. Zhong saw it, they exclaimed it was spectacular.
At the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, Ji Nan confessed the truth and said that he wanted Zhong Jiajing to move in with him.
Seeing his blunt and frank words, Ji's father was very disappointed. He quickly offered a glass of wine and explained, "Ah, my dear, he just took into consideration that Jia Jia's commute was too long, so he thought it would be easier for her to commute there."
During their relationship, Zhong Jiajing did consider moving in with Ji Nan. However, she worried that if she moved in, she would be freeloading, which would create an unequal relationship. She didn't want that.
Later, the two of them each made a concession. Ji Nan agreed to let Zhong Jiajing transfer the household water, electricity, gas bills to his own card, and added the property management fee, and she reluctantly agreed.
After all, there are pets at home, and the air conditioner has to be turned on 24 hours a day whether it is too hot or too cold. The electricity bill is indeed a considerable expense. Zhong Jiajing was willing to agree only after understanding this.
She also spoke up to defend her boyfriend, "Besides, we each have our own room, so you don't have to worry too much..."
Ji's mother tapped her head and looked at her like an old antique. "Do you think I've never been young? Any normal person will have physical needs, especially young people like you who are full of youthful vigor."
"The emperor is far away, and I can't interfere with anything. But I only have one thing to say: don't get anyone killed before you get married."
Zhong Jiajing never expected that her mother would talk about such a thing in public, and her face immediately turned red like a monkey's butt.
Ji Nan pinched her face, which was a little round from eating too much during the Chinese New Year, and asked with a smile: "Did you drink secretly?"
Zhong Jiajing wanted to cry but had no tears. "I actually hope I'm really drunk."
It seems that the ideas and concepts of the previous generation are actually very open. Most of the so-called fashions today are the reincarnation of their generation, and their ideas are not necessarily old-fashioned and backward.
Including Zhong Jiajing's grandparents, a total of six elders were discussing at the dinner table which girl got pregnant before marriage and was abandoned, and which son was arrested and sent to the police station for violating male ethics and was forced to eat the government's food.
The six of us sang a story each and a classic song, and we were singing "Unforgettable Tonight" during the Spring Festival Gala. Some elders who went to bed early and got up early were still reluctant to leave as if they were still not satisfied.
But no matter what, after the New Year, Zhong Jiajing did move into Ji Nan's house smoothly, and even both sets of fathers helped.
But perhaps because her young heart still had some girlish shyness, Zhong Jiajing still moved to the guest room next door with a guilty conscience, even though she thought she had to "go home" every time after making love. Her determination was really scary.
Every time this happened, Ji Nan would lean on her porch and tease her, "When you act like this, I start to doubt whether I'm dating a Cinderella. After midnight, you have to transform."
Zhong Jiajing would always order her licking dog Duoduo to kick her own father out, and she would complain angrily, "Have you ever finished before midnight?"
"Yes," Ji Nan said seriously, "starting at eight or nine o'clock."
Zhong Jiajing: “…”
Back to the topic, when Zhong Jiajing returned home after finishing her manicure, it was not early, but Ji Nan had not returned home yet. He said that he had to work overtime to deal with the work piled up before the New Year, so he would be back late tonight.
Overtime work is normal for Zhong Jiajing. She expressed her understanding and went to the bathroom to take a shower after petting the cat and dog.
When she came out of the shower, I don't know what happened to Duoduo and Hei Ya. The two dogs pulled her thick nightgown to Ji Nan's room, one on the left and one on the right.
Zhong Jiajing was confused, but still followed forward to find out what was going on.
Ever since Zhong Jiajing moved in with Ji Nan, Ji Nan rarely locked the door of his room.
Firstly, it is convenient for Zhong Jiajing to sneak into her room in the middle of the night; secondly, the furry kids don't like his place at all. They just want to get into Zhong Jiajing's bed all day long. Instead, his place is like a barrier that cats and dogs can't see.
But today, it's not only the dog that's strange. Even the aloof little cat Dongdong, who usually lives in the living room, has entered Ji Nan's room and is sitting on the bedside table, wagging its tail.
Zhong Jiajing walked in and saw Dongdong fiddling with a small square black box, with one-third of the box already empty on the table.
Before she could call for a stop, Dongdong quickly tugged at the box, causing it to fall to the ground, and a ring inlaid with a circle of thin diamonds rolled to her feet.
She looked up stiffly and found another one lying in the box.
Is this a wedding ring? She thought so subconsciously.
After being stunned for a long time, she finally realized that she had fallen. She quickly bent down to pick up the ring and put it back in its place. Then, she used the strength of a giant to pick up the three children and ran to her room.
Four pairs of eyes stared at each other for a long moment. Zhong Jiajing placed her index finger on the center of her lips and whispered, "Hey, darlings, please keep your story straight. Let's just pretend this never happened, okay?"
The dogs shook their heads in confusion, looking dazed. There was no need to worry about them exposing their deeds.
But the arrogant kitten cannot be judged like this. Dongdong felt bored and jumped out of bed and wanted to go outside, which made him very suspicious of doing something bad.
Zhong Jiajing quickly tucked the cat under the quilt and said viciously, "I'll punish you by making you my bed warmer tonight."
After a while, the sound of Ji Nan returning was heard in the living room, and Zhong Jiajing quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be dead.
Zhong Heiya has grown up a lot. When Ji Nan opened the door, he saw his four big babies huddled in a small bed, and his heart suddenly felt warm.
Without turning on the light, he walked to Zhong Jiajing's bed, kissed her forehead, and asked softly, "Are you asleep so early?"
Ji Nan obviously knew that he hadn't slept yet. After all, even his own dog was in no hurry to close his eyes at this time.
Seeing that pretending didn't work, Zhong Jiajing simply opened her eyes and looked him in the eye.
It was still freezing cold in Shanghai in March. The man who had just returned from outdoors was feeling cold, but it couldn't lower Zhong Jiajing's fever.
She stretched her foot, which was numb from being pressed by the dog, out from under the quilt and kicked him a few times. She said angrily, "We're not doing it today. Leave now."
Ji Nan thought that he must have been too harsh yesterday, which led to her resistance today.
He suddenly remembered the word "gg" for Jinjiu - although Jinjiu is good, don't drink too much!
Ji Nan, who was hiding in the darkness, laughed pleasantly, "Well, let's not be greedy."
He tucked her feet back into the covers and moved the dogs to a new spot before saying goodnight and leaving.
Zhong Jiajing had been hiding in the quilt for a long time and felt uncomfortable both physically and mentally. She suddenly remembered the diamond ring of the nail salon owner that Xiaobai mentioned in the afternoon, and suddenly an idea came to her mind.
She made a voice call directly to Xiaobai.
Xiaobai, who was brushing his teeth, muttered, "A single moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold. Every second you spend on me is an extra second of damage to my health. Please take care."
Zhong Jiajing ignored her ambiguous remarks and directly attacked, "I suspect Ji Nan wants to propose to me!"
"???" Xiaobai was so scared that her toothbrush fell to the ground. She stammered, "That's not what I said."
"Of course I know you didn't say that," Zhong Jiajing whispered. "I saw the rings at home! They were a pair!"
Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was fortunate that the rumor didn't leak out from his mouth.
She asked, "You didn't tell him clearly, did you?"
Zhong Jiajing shook her head. "No, there's no way we could bring this up face to face."
Xiaobai thought about it and decided to share his thoughts with her, "Isn't Tuesday your birthday? I actually wonder if he wants to propose to you on this memorable day?"
Zhong Jiajing said: "To be honest, I think so too."
The two of them chatted a lot and shared a lot. Zhong Jiajing became extremely nervous just thinking about the scene.
On the day of the birthday, both parents took time out to come to Shanghai, and the two families and a group of friends took this opportunity to get together again.
It was a weekday, and both Mr. and Mrs. Zhong had taken a day off from work. They had to go to work the next day, so they celebrated their daughter's birthday and then rushed back overnight.
Ji's father and mother didn't want to disturb the young people's lives, so they left after eating and giving their blessings.
We went karaoke again in the evening, and the party was over and I didn’t see any so-called proposal.
Xiaobai leaned over to Zhong Jiajing's ear and whispered, "Given our boss's sullen nature, proposing to him in person might be a bit difficult. I suggest we go back and wait and see."
The drunken fool nodded, but as soon as he returned, Ji Nan pulled him to the bathroom, and the two of them made love all the way to the bed.
When her love was at its peak, Zhong Jiajing felt a cold ring on the ring finger of her right hand.
Her thoughts were becoming hazy due to the alcohol. She looked at him with hazy eyes, her voice hoarse and dry. She asked, "What is this?"
Ji Nan bent down and kissed her fingers, then replied in a hoarse voice, "Birthday present."
She always behaved boldly after drinking, and Zhong Jiajing asked doubtfully, "Aren't you going to propose to me?"
"Do you want to marry me?" Ji Nan raised his body and looked at her in the bright moonlight.
Did she really think about it? It seemed like she hadn't considered this question.
These days, she was so overwhelmed by the proposal that she almost completely forgot to think about whether she was willing or not.
Seeing her staring blankly with her eyes wide open, Ji Nan picked her up and sat her against the headboard, saying honestly, "I really don't have any plans to propose today. This is just a pair of couple rings."
It's just that the price is comparable to a wedding ring, but he didn't say that.
He leaned his head against her temples and said, "But if you're willing, I'd be happy."
"It's just that you just turned twenty-three today and have just embarked on a new journey in life. You can give yourself more time to think."
If Ji Nan proposed to her tonight, Zhong Jiajing would definitely agree.
Regardless of the future, at least at this moment, she knew that she loved him deeply.
But this is not the itinerary of her life plan. Young girls may have expectations for marriage, but most of them are more uneasy.
Zhong Jiajing whispered, "I don't think I'm capable of taking on family responsibilities right now."
Ji Nan was not discouraged by her retreat. He took her hand and clasped their fingers together, still smiling, and said, "What does it matter? I think we still have a long future ahead of us. There's no need to rush into this moment."
He moved his lips down along her face and placed them on her lips, fitting perfectly but without any hint of affection.
He said: "Love does not end with marriage. As long as you still love me, I have reached the destination of love."
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