Chapter 51. 051. Thanks. It seems you prefer the boat crossing...
The host of the banquet still had to keep the guests at ease. After Xia Chan finished dealing with Madam Jing's matter, she hurriedly returned to the living quarters. She washed up carefully, changed her clothes, and stood silently by the sink for a long time.
She was very confused.
Xie Xun had already seen her and knew she was here.
Although she was not afraid to face her, she felt no guilt towards her.
But this unexpected meeting still left her with very mixed feelings, as if the already indistinguishable ball of yarn had become even more tangled.
She gazed at her reflection in the mirror, her face covered in water droplets, for a long time before slowly closing her eyes.
The door to the staff room was suddenly knocked twice from the outside. Xia Chan was startled and pulled herself together to open the door.
The door opened, and there stood the daughter of Lanjiang Electronics, who smiled gratefully at her astonished gaze.
In the corridor outside the staff room, Jing Zixi said, "Manager Xia, thank you for saving my grandmother. I just asked the store manager and he told me that you are the front-of-house manager here, so I came over without permission. I apologize if I have disturbed you."
“My grandmother is old, and what happened today was really dangerous. We are so grateful to you. You are our family’s savior. If you don’t mind, we would like to invite you to our home another day to express our gratitude. My father just called and asked me to make sure to express my special thanks to you.”
Xia Chan immediately shook her head and said there was no need to thank her, as this was within her job scope, and if anything happened to a customer in the store, it would be the hotel's responsibility.
"You should thank me."
Jing Zixi insisted, and even begged her repeatedly to exchange contact information with her.
Just as Xia Chan was trying to find an excuse to decline her so-called invitation to come home, another figure suddenly came straight from a distance. Xia Chan was slightly taken aback when she saw him.
Outside the corridor window, the setting sun bathed the entire corridor in a light golden glow.
Chen Zhoudu must have also used an excuse to leave the banquet and come over; the sunlight bathed him in a golden glow.
He walked towards them, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, his tall figure silhouetted against the light. As he approached, he first nodded and smiled at Jing Zixi as a greeting, then looked intently at Xia Chan and asked, "Manager Xia, how are you? Are you alright?"
Xia Chan glared at him with a hint of resentment, pretending not to recognize him. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern."
“Zhou Du, Manager Xia doesn’t really want me to invite her to my house,” Jing Zixi asked him for help. “Bo Han said you and Manager Xia knew each other before, could you help me persuade her?”
Xia Chan glared at him. Chen Zhoudu smiled faintly.
"Grandma Jing is a very important person to us. We grew up together. She has always been very kind to me since I was a child. By saving her today, you have actually saved many people here. Manager Xia, we hope you will accept our gratitude and give us a chance to repay you."
"I……"
"Yes, Manager Xia, please come over. I promise I just want to treat you to a thank-you dinner and it won't interfere with anything else you're doing. Thank you."
The two of them took turns persuading her, and Xia Chan found it hard to refuse. However, she was also worried that someone might see her, so she could only bite the bullet and reluctantly agree.
After Jing Zixi bid farewell with a satisfied smile, Chen Zhoudu made an excuse to stay a little longer. Only after confirming that Jing Zixi was far away did he quietly approach her and ask in a low voice, "How are you? Are you really alright?"
He had just seen her looking exhausted, as if she were about to collapse, and she seemed to be in a bad mood and preoccupied when she left.
There were surveillance cameras in the corridor, but their location was in a small blind spot, just a tiny area.
Xia Chan glanced around uncomfortably, turned her face slightly away, and took a step back. "It's nothing."
But there was a wall behind her, and as soon as she took a step back, her back hit the wall.
Chen Zhoudu then took another step forward, trapping her directly between his chest and the wall, his eyes lowered and a faint smile on his face.
Xia Chan felt genuinely annoyed and suddenly raised her eyes to glare at him, but he simply lowered his gaze and stared at her with a smile on his lips.
The distance was so close that she could vaguely feel his shallow breathing.
As if remembering that she had just performed CPR... she turned her face away uncomfortably.
At that moment, Chen Zhoudu suddenly raised his hand and touched her lips very lightly.
She wasn't wearing lipstick, and her lips, which she had washed several times, were now grime-covered and had some tiny cracks around the edges.
He lightly brushed his fingertips across the small tear, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
Xia Chan's heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at him in surprise.
His gaze remained deep and intense, his fingertips gently stroking her skin, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he softly said, "Xia Chan, you're amazing."
"What I just said wasn't a lie. Grandma Jing really was very good to me. After my mother passed away, she was the best female elder to me..."
Xia Chan's eyes flickered with a silent pause. He said, "The more you do this, the less I want to let go."
-
Before the birthday banquet ended that day, many people came to greet Xia Chan. Most of them were guests at the banquet who claimed they wanted to meet the benefactor who saved Old Madam Jing and express their admiration.
Some people even offered her olive branches.
The store manager also specifically praised her for doing a good job and said that he would apply to the group for employee recognition on her behalf, which would also help her with future promotions.
He was trying to reassure her, Xia Chan knew, and fortunately she didn't have any intention of changing jobs at the moment, so she readily agreed.
But the thought that Shen Jinghai has now seen her makes one wonder what he is thinking.
When Guan Bohan arrived, she was full of amazement, "Manager Xia, you really surprised me! You're amazing! Just how many more abilities do you have that I don't know about? You truly are a heroine of our time, a woman who is just as capable as any man! Truly..."
Xia Chan replied indifferently, "Welcome to visit again next time. Goodbye."
"Hey, seriously," Guan Bohan chuckled and leaned closer, whispering, "I'm really starting to like you more and more!"
Xia Chan stared at him with wide, strange eyes for a moment, then suddenly had a brilliant idea and blew a breath of "fairy air" towards his bangs.
“Hey, no…” Guan Bohan remembered that she had just given CPR and instinctively dodged to the side.
Worried that she might misunderstand, he quickly explained, "Hey... I didn't mean to look down on you! It's just... you'll understand, right?"
"But Xia Chan, I truly admire you! What you did just now was so cool! I really didn't know you had studied medicine. Thank you so much for saving Grandma Jing. I swear you will always be my idol, my forever No.1..."
Xia Chan ignored him and practically chased after him, blowing on him to chase him away. The two seemed to be playing around when suddenly two people stood still at the other end of the corridor.
Guan Bohan, noticing her, stopped and called out in surprise, "Dad, Mom?"
Xia Chan stiffened and turned around rigidly.
Behind her were Guan Yuntian and Xie Xuan, who had also come to greet Xia Chan and, incidentally, to look for Guan Bohan.
Xie Xun stared at her with a blank expression and extremely complicated eyes, while Xia Chan met her gaze in silence, her eyes devoid of warmth.
Guan Yuntian stepped forward in a friendly manner, exchanged a few words with her, and handed her his business card as if she were just another person.
He was a refined and upright man who also prided himself on his ability to judge character, and his words did not conceal his appreciation and expectations for her.
Xia Chan politely accepted the business card and exchanged a few friendly words with him.
He glanced sideways and saw that Xie Xun's face was growing paler and paler, but he didn't have any interaction with her throughout the entire process.
After that, life returned to its usual normal routine. Xie Xun never came to see her again, and Xia Chan acted as if none of this had ever happened.
Perhaps in her view... her existence was indeed so insignificant that she didn't need to bother with it.
Xie Mei is no longer the same person she once was, and Xia Chan's whereabouts are none of Xie Mei's concern.
The thank-you banquet that Jing Zixi mentioned was scheduled for half a month later. By then, Grandma Jing's physical condition had completely stabilized, and the Jing family formally extended an invitation to Xia Chan after picking Grandma Jing up from the hospital.
Xia Chan chose a free weekend day, and the Jing family held a small family banquet for her in the garden.
The residential area where the Jing family lives is called Junzhou Huafu, a true villa area for the wealthy, with its own lawn and garden.
In Shanghai, land is incredibly valuable, yet Jingjia owns over a thousand square meters of it.
As Xia Chan stood beneath the gates of that mansion and looked up, she couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing feelings, emotions, and reflection).
Jing Zixi truly looked like a little princess. Today, she wasn't wearing a formal dress, but just a simple tracksuit. She looked pretty with no makeup, and her long hair was tied in a ponytail. She was still full of enthusiasm and energy.
They hosted him at the Jing family villa. Upon arriving at the Jing family home, a nanny helped her hang up her bag and take her shoes, and others brought her fruit and poured her tea.
This made Xia Chan quite uncomfortable for a moment.
Jing Zixi's mother, Lin Lan, is also an extremely beautiful and intelligent woman, and she personally brewed tea for her.
She was unable to attend the birthday party due to an international business trip. After hearing about what happened, she felt it was a close call and expressed her gratitude to her repeatedly, telling her to make herself at home and not to feel awkward.
Madam Jing held her hand tightly for a long time, her expression full of affection, "Good...good child..."
"Thank you so much, child, thank you so much, you are a person who has done me a great favor..."
Although Grandma Jing has been discharged from the hospital, she is still weak and needs to use a wheelchair to recuperate.
Xia Chan could sense from her kind gaze what Shen Zhoudu meant when he said she was the best female elder to him besides his mother.
She couldn't help but smile and say, "Grandma, I'm so glad you're healthy."
For no apparent reason, she suddenly thought of Grandma Xia.
My eyes couldn't help but feel slightly moist.
Jing's father was also a kind and gentle man, and he inquired about Xia Chan's work and life as if he were an elder in his own family.
He also half-jokingly and half-seriously said that if she ever wanted to quit working at Lanjiang Electronics, the door would always be open to her.
When the Jing family belatedly asked Xia Chan how she knew how to handle a sudden heart attack, Xia Chan paused for a moment and said, "I have a... younger sister."
"She has a heart condition, so I know a bit about it."
Before dinner officially began, Jing's parents asked Jing Zixi to take Xia Chan for a walk around the house so that they could chat with each other, since they were of the same generation.
As Jing Zixi led Xia Chan through the Jing family garden, Jing Zixi couldn't help but say, "Manager Xia, thank you so much for coming today. We hope our family didn't make you feel uncomfortable. If you did... please let me know, no need to be polite! We really like you and want to thank you, and I really want to be your friend."
"No," Xia Chan said with a smile, shaking her head. "I just hope you won't call me 'you' anymore."
The distance between the two girls seemed to shrink imperceptibly. The Jing family's garden was cleverly and beautifully designed; it was summer, and the various crabapple blossoms were in full bloom, displaying a riot of colors.
Xia Chan discovered two clay sculptures hidden in the center of the Hundred Flowers Garden.
One is shaped like a small mushroom with a red top and white roots, which is particularly whimsical, while the other looks like a poisonous mushroom that hasn't grown properly, standing awkwardly next to the red mushroom, which looks particularly discordant.
Seeing that she seemed interested in the two mushrooms, Jing Zixi smiled and explained, "These were made by Zhou Du and Bo Han when we were little."
“Chenzhoudu and Guan Bohan?” Xia Chan asked in surprise.
"Hmm." She assumed he was just curious about the two celebrities, so she went up and patted the two clay sculptures, and before she knew it, she was talking about them.
"Zhou Du, Bo Han, and I grew up together. Bo Han and I were kindergarten classmates, and Zhou Du and I were elementary school classmates."
"Zhou Du... was very smart from a young age, and his grades were excellent. Back then, he always came in first place in every test and quiz. He knew a lot of things, and he could learn things he didn't know very quickly. When he was little, he really stirred up some resentment between me and Bo Han."
"Bohan is always unconvinced and tries to compete with him, but of course he can't beat him. This clay sculpture was made by Zhoudu in a parent-child activity class when we were in fifth grade. My dad thought it was beautiful and insisted on bringing it back to put in the garden. But Bohan was not convinced and cried and insisted that my dad put his one in too. My dad had no choice but to bring both of them back and put them here."
It seemed as if one could truly imagine the little girl earnestly making clay sculptures from her detailed description, and Xia Chan couldn't help but smile as she listened.
I wanted to say, "He has always been excellent."
He changed his mind at the last minute before he could say it.
"He... Chen Zhoudu, does indeed seem like a very intelligent person."
"It seems you prefer boat crossings more?" Jing Zixi suddenly winked at her mischievously.
"Huh?" Xia Chan was stunned for a moment, her eyes widening. Jing Zixi couldn't help but laugh.
"No, Bohan told me he likes you and wants to pursue you."
Xia Chan's eyes widened even more, like copper bells.
Jing Zixi laughed even harder, "But I also think he's too unreliable and doesn't deserve you. Manager Xia, you deserve the best person in the world."
As the sun gradually set in the west, it cast a thin layer of gold over the cozy little garden. Jing Zixi started talking about Chenzhoudu and Guan Bohan as if she had opened a floodgate, and even took out a photo album to show her.
"This one is in the third grade of elementary school...this one is probably in the second year of junior high school..."
Xia Chan flipped through the pages one by one, as if she could really see a person's growth trajectory in this thick photo album.
Chen Zhoudu was very pretty from a young age. She was fair-skinned and looked like a little white dumpling before she grew up. She was delicate and cute.
He attended almost all international schools from a young age, and his handsome appearance was further accentuated by his British uniform.
Gradually, he grew up.
He's becoming more and more upright and handsome.
With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he possessed a refined and elegant appearance.
Holding up various trophies, she looks calmly at the camera, as if you can see through the photos and into her eyes.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" A cheerful laugh suddenly came from not far in front of us.
Xia Chan subconsciously looked up and saw two figures coming together. Before she could see their faces clearly, the dazzling sunset blinded her and she closed her eyes for a moment.
Then a figure walked up to her, the shadow obscuring the light from her face.
She subconsciously opened one eye and looked up.
She saw him standing diagonally in front of her, looking down at her with a smile.
Xia Chan suddenly had a strange feeling that she had just witnessed someone's past life. From age seven, to ten, twelve, fifteen...
Then at seventeen, the face in that photograph suddenly connected with the person in her memory.
Like a dream, it has long since faded into the distance.
But the moment he looked up again, he was standing right in front of him.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, and truly, cleanly, I stand in this midsummer.
It was his gift of vibrancy and brilliance that he offered to her.
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