Xu Nuo's hair was ruffled by the evening breeze, obscuring her eyebrows and eyes.
She held the herbal tea in one hand and reached out to lift it, but the herbal tea was too heavy, and before her fingertips could even touch her hair, it fell heavily to the ground.
It looked like it was about to fall to the ground.
Fortunately, Nie Wenkai reacted quickly and caught it.
The two ended up standing quite close together.
A sweet fragrance filled Nie Wenkai's nostrils, and his breathing became somewhat rapid.
Xu Nuo quickly reached out and hugged him, took a small step back, and said to Nie Wenkai with a smile, "Thank you."
Bright and beautiful.
Nie Wenkai stood up straight and nervously scratched the back of his head: "It's nothing."
He pointed to the things in her arms: "Let me help you with them."
Xu Nuo shook her head and pointed to his car: "No need, I can take it myself."
"It's okay, give it to me, it's quite heavy."
Seeing that he genuinely wanted to help, Xu Nuo handed him the somewhat heavy herbal tea, her voice soft: "Thank you."
Nie Wenkai, holding the stroller in one arm and pushing it with the other, said with a smile, "Don't be shy."
The two had the same goal: to go to the military family compound.
The further they walked, the more Nie Wenkai frowned. During this time, he scared off several men with his eyes that were looking at him suspiciously. When he turned around and saw that she looked normal, he asked with some concern, "Why are you alone?"
Xu Nuo looked up at him and said innocently, "My sister went to the countryside, and my parents went to work, so I had to come by myself."
There was nothing wrong with what he said, but Nie Wenkai still felt it was inappropriate. He glared fiercely at a man walking towards him, and the man immediately lowered his gaze after being glared at by the tall and strong Nie Wenkai.
"It's really not safe for you to be all alone."
He frowned, looking very worried, and then realized his words were inappropriate: "No, what I meant was that the security situation is not good now, and it's too unsafe for a young woman like you to go out alone."
Xu Nuo knew he meant well and smiled, "It's okay, I always go to crowded places."
“That won’t do either, Comrade Xu Nuo. I’m serious. You don’t know what these men are like these days… oh no, I mean, some of them are just not honest. Yesterday, our station even caught one of them acting like a hooligan on the street.”
Xu Nuo asked in surprise, "You're a police officer?"
Nie Wenkai straightened up instantly and nodded calmly: "Yes, it's just working at the police station."
"The police are great," Xu Nuo said softly, smiling at him. "They can catch bad guys."
Nie Wenkai was taken aback by her laughter, coughed, and deliberately lowered his voice, trying to appear more composed: "Yes, we police officers are here to serve our comrades and protect the safety of the people."
Xu Nuo smiled slightly, as if she had thought of something, and asked him curiously, "Then... have you ever arrested anyone for speculation and profiteering?"
"Speculation and profiteering? You know about that?"
Xu Nuo paused for a moment, her big eyes looking completely innocent: "I just saw police chasing someone on the street, apparently for speculation and profiteering."
Nie Wenkai said casually, "Those middlemen are common. They catch them every day. A few days ago, they even caught someone dealing in pornography. Let me tell you, dealing in pornography is no good. It's smuggled from outside, a serious crime."
"Selling porn?"
Seeing her interest, Nie Wenkai explained, "It's gold, brought over from the outer port. Those middlemen make a profit from the price difference between the two places. We arrested two of them recently; they were both bringing goods in from the outer port."
"I see." Xu Nuo nodded, not paying much attention. At this moment, she never expected that Li Xian would be involved in this matter.
After walking for a while, the gate of the military family compound came into Xu Nuo's view.
The gatekeeper looked at Nie Wenkai and greeted him familiarly, "Comrade Nie."
When his gaze fell on Xu Nuo, he was quite amazed and promptly let the two of them pass.
Xu Nuo thought Nie Wenkai was going home, so she reached out to take the herbal tea, but unexpectedly Nie Wenkai walked with her towards the Su family's house.
Nie Wenkai said, "I'm going to my Uncle Su's house too."
That's good. If Nie Wenkai is there, the atmosphere shouldn't be so awkward.
Xu Nuo thought that Grandpa Chen would be there, but when she arrived, only Chen Qingxia and Su Minxiong were there. Upon seeing Xu Nuo enter with Nie Wenkai, Su Minxiong immediately stood up, a hint of barely perceptible joy on his usually composed face: "Comrade Xu is here."
Xu Nuoxin was surprised, but obediently greeted the two of them: "Hello Uncle Su, hello Aunt Chen."
Chen Qingxia nodded, then frowned when she noticed she didn't have a backpack: "Did you bring your herbal tea?"
Nie Wenkai also knew about herbal teas, and held up what he was holding: "It's here."
Chen Qingxia's expression softened slightly, and she smiled at Xu Nuo: "Sit down and have a cup of tea."
"No need, Aunt Chen, I have something to do. I'll leave after delivering the things."
Seeing that Xu Nuo was about to leave, Su Minxiong glanced at Chen Qingxia, who then stood up knowingly.
Su Minxiong looked at Xu Nuo and said very kindly, "Little Xu, I've also tried this stuff, and it's really good. Could you get me a little more? I'll buy as much as you have."
Xu Nuo's floral water was increasing in quantity, and she readily nodded, "Then I'll bring you even more next month, okay?"
Su Minxiong was clearly not satisfied: "How about this, I'll have someone go and collect it every two weeks, and we need it for all the uncles, is that alright?"
Xu Nuo hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."
Chen Qingxia came out with the money and handed it to her with a smile: "Count it, this is for the herbal tea."
Xu Nuo accepted it with a smile, and gave Chen Qingxia a polite but firm smile: "No need to count, thank you Aunt Chen."
Chen Qingxia hummed in agreement, picked up her water glass, and sat back down on the sofa. She had no intention of seeing Xu Nuo out. In her eyes, Xu Nuo was just a maid who helped run errands.
But it wouldn't trouble her, a bureau chief, to see him off.
Unexpectedly, Su Minxiong stood up and said, "Comrade Xiao Xu, let me see you off."
Chen Qingxia's smile froze, and she curled her lip in disapproval. Seeing Nie Wenkai follow her out, she said, "Wenkai, let's have dinner at home tonight."
Nie Wenkai turned around and grinned at Chen Qingxia: "No need, Aunt Chen, I have something to do. I'll come see you next time."
As she spoke, she and Xu Nuo walked to the entrance.
Xu Nuo stopped Su Minxiong from putting on his shoes and said to him politely, "Uncle Su, please stay. I'll go back now. Please take care of yourself."
Seeing her obedient and humble demeanor, Su Minxiong's usually serious face softened, and he nodded, "Alright, Comrade Xu, be careful on the road."
After saying that, he looked at Nie Wenkai and said, "Xiao Kai, see Xiao Xu off for me."
Nie Wenkai, who was already planning to take Xu Nuo home, nodded upon hearing this: "Don't worry, Uncle, it's getting dark, I'll take Comrade Xu Nuo home."
Xu Nuo shook her head: "No need, no need, I can go back by myself."
Su Minxiong's eyes lit up, and he looked at Nie Wenkai and said, "That's right, Xiao Kai, take Xiao Xu back home and let her know where her house is. Next time, you can help your uncle pick it up, so that Xiao Xu won't have to run back and forth."
Nie Wenkai laughed heartily and said, "No problem."
After Su Minxiong said that, Xu Nuo couldn't say anything more.
Chen Qingxia heard this from inside and impatiently put her cup down on the table, making a loud but not too loud noise.
Su Minxiong entered with a sullen face, giving her a lukewarm look that made Chen Qingxia unable to hold back her anger any longer: "Don't you even know who you are? You're just a middleman. You can just pay him off. Why bother you to deliver it?"
Su Minxiong picked up the herbal tea packet that Xu Nuo had brought. Seeing that it was piled high with herbs, his expression softened slightly. He said to Chen Qingxia, "What do you know? This stuff is very popular in the military. A few days ago, Chief Wen even came to ask me about the origin of this tea."
"Then just give me more money." Chen Qingxia said with disdain, "These businessmen only do things for money."
Su Minxiong glanced at Chen Qingxia, shook his head, and went back to his room with the bag of herbal tea.
The sun was setting in the west, and the sky was shrouded in a deep, lingering glow.
Nie Wenkai was a natural chatterbox; once he started talking, he couldn't stop. Fortunately, Xu Nuo was also easy to talk to. As the two walked out of the family compound, their initial awkwardness gradually faded.
When Xu Nuo heard Nie Wenkai vividly describe the embarrassing things he and Su Zhao did when they were young, she couldn't help but laugh several times.
She was born as beautiful as a porcelain doll, and when she smiled, her eyes curved and the corners of her mouth resembled the rising crescent moon.
Seemingly very curious, yet a little embarrassed, Xu Nuo stared at Nie Wenkai several times with wide eyes, then asked softly, "Is Uncle Su really that fierce?"
“Of course.” Nie Wenkai raised an eyebrow: “Don’t let Su Zhaosi’s gentle appearance fool you. When we were kids, he was even more mischievous than me. He was always the one who led me into doing bad things.”
Xu Nuo clicked her tongue slightly, looking incredibly cute: "Really? Su Zhao?"
Nie Wenkai nodded vigorously, his face showing a "you believe me" expression: "He was a real troublemaker when he was a kid. Later, his dad was transferred back and saw how naughty he was, so he whipped him with a belt every day. That's how he turned him into the way he is now in just a few years."
Xu Nuo's cheeks puffed out as she recalled Su Zhao's appearance; no matter how she thought about it, he was always gentle and refined, a handsome young man.
It turns out I was quite the mischievous little monkey when I was a child.
She exclaimed sincerely, "Uncle Su is really amazing!"
Nie Wenkai scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "That's right, my Uncle Su is really something. Before, whenever he came back, none of the kids in the compound dared to play in front of his house, for fear of running into Uncle Su. One look from him could scare everyone so much they'd wet their pants."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and imitated Su Minxiong's fierce expression. Perhaps because his acting was so bad, Xu Nuo burst out laughing again.
Seeing her smile, Nie Wenkai grinned, a little embarrassed, and continued, "My dad saw how well Su Zhao was managed, so he sent me there too, thinking I could become like Su Zhao. But after all these years, I'm still the same. Maybe I can't change."
After chatting all the way, Xu Nuo found Nie Wenkai's personality quite interesting; he was just a sunny, innocent boy. She smiled and said, "Everyone has a different personality, and I think you're great just the way you are."
"Really?" Nie Wenkai turned to look at her in surprise, his bright eyes filled with delight: "Don't you think I'm a nag? My mom says I'm a nag every day, that I talk more than my grandma."
Nie Wenkai, however, was very talkative. Xu Nuo thought he was perfect for performing crosstalk and would definitely make the audience laugh. She nodded with a smile and said, "Really?"
She blinked her big, watery eyes: "I never lie."
Nie Wenkai was embarrassed by the praise, and his wheat-colored cheeks turned a little red: "My mom always talks about me, saying that I'm like a grasshopper, always making a fuss."
Perhaps it was the times that made everyone wear a thin cocoon. Not to mention between men and women, even between people of the same sex, there was a sense of politeness. So, Nie Wenkai's carefree personality seemed particularly unconventional in his mother's eyes.
However, Xu Nuo, who comes from the 21st century, does not dislike Nie Wenkai's way of speaking. On the contrary, she can see some of her older cousin's shadow in Nie Wenkai.
Xu Nuo's older cousin is also a complete chatterbox and a sister-obsessed girl.
Therefore, Xu Nuo carefully examined Nie Wenkai and came to a conclusion.
"A grasshopper? It does look somewhat like one."
The evening breeze carried Nie Wenkai's hearty laughter.
...
The fertilizer plant had previously demolished and rebuilt its main gate, and after half a month, it was already halfway completed.
From that pile of dusty sand, one could glimpse the shape of the gate. Perhaps by coincidence, Xu Nuo's gaze lingered on the gate for a moment, and then her steps also stopped.
Seeing that she had stopped, Nie Wenkai asked curiously, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"
The two had been walking for more than ten minutes. Xu Nuo, being such a delicate girl, was definitely too tired to walk anymore. He was very glad that he had brought his bicycle. He reached out and patted the bicycle seat, asking her, "Can you ride a bicycle? How about you ride the bicycle and I run behind you?"
Such a fresh and unconventional idea made Xu Nuo turn her gaze away, her eyes widening: "Huh?"
Nie Wenkai patted his bicycle: "I can run really fast, I can keep up with you even if you're riding a bike."
Xu Nuo ignored him and focused her gaze on something not far away.
At the main gate of the fertilizer plant, a tall man was talking to someone, and a slender girl was standing next to him. Just as Xu Nuo was about to look away, he seemed to sense something and looked over in their direction.
Across the street, Xu Nuo and he locked eyes.
It was quite unexpected.
What surprised her most was the girl who ran over with Li Xian.
Xu Yan was surprised to see Xu Nuo here and ran over excitedly, saying, "Nuonuo."
Xu Nuo sweetly called out, "Sister."
Seeing Li Xian looking at her, Xu Nuo was afraid of giving herself away, so she winked at him and pretended not to know him, saying, "Comrade Li Xian, what a coincidence."
She smiled sweetly, but the joy in Li Xian's eyes dimmed instantly, and his fist clenched at his side.
He managed to squeeze out a "hmm".
Li Xian was always aloof and cold, so Xu Yan didn't notice anything amiss and asked Xu Nuo, "Nuonuo, what are you doing here?"
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Nie Wenkai, who was standing to the side. Seeing that he was tall and handsome with an upright demeanor, she had a good impression of him.
Xu Nuo quickly introduced the two of them.
"Sister, this is Nie Wenkai."
Seeing Xu Yan looking at her with a smile in her eyes, and fearing that she might misunderstand, Xu Nuo explained, "I went to Su Zhao's house to deliver something, and he was worried that it wouldn't be safe if it was late, so he brought me back."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com