Chapter 31 Mint: I want to be with you again.
After the sports meet, Class 8 of Grade 11 won first place in the overall score of the entire grade.
Who says that science classes are necessarily a bunch of bookworms who can't do anything but study? Class 8 of Grade 11 is the best! This sentence has become the mantra of several boys in the back row for almost a week.
After November, the students' enthusiasm quickly faded with the lingering warmth of autumn, and Jiangcheng quietly entered early winter. The students' coats became thicker and thicker as the final exams approached.
As soon as the bell rang, Li Mingyuan slammed his test paper shut, rubbed his aching neck, leaned back in his chair, and slumped into a daze.
"Damn, the material I'm learning is getting harder every day."
"I was doing a set of practice problems last night, and my brain just gave out on the third page. Now I feel like throwing up whenever I see functions."
Gao Hexin lay on the table, grabbed a test paper and casually draped it around her neck like a scarf. Qi Ruiheng glanced at her and helped her straighten the "scarf" a little.
"This week has been really stressful. How about we go to Yinbinglou for a chat this Friday?"
She raised her eyebrows slightly, her previous dejected mood gone, and winked at Li Mingyuan.
"How about inviting Sweet Wine and Joe Bolin to go together this Friday?"
"Sister Jiu, why don't you go and call him?" Li Mingyuan said weakly. "I can't get Berlin to come. He's been too busy lately."
Since winning the gold medal in the CMO National Finals, Qiao Bolin has been shuttling between school and the national team. The Olympic Winter Camp will be held in Beijing at the end of December, and he has been busy preparing for the camp these past few days. He leaves as soon as school is over, and we don't even have much time to talk to him as usual.
Thinking this, Gao Hexin sighed softly and remarked with emotion.
"Is Qiao Xueshen (a nickname for a top student) going to get a guaranteed admission to Peking University...?"
"uncertain."
Qi Ruiheng noticed their gazes and put down his pen.
"Judging from Qiao Bolin's grades, he could have entered any major at Peking University without being recommended for admission," he analyzed rationally. "For him, the CMO or IMO medals are not much different from other medals, and he didn't plan to be directly admitted to the School of Mathematical Sciences."
In Qi Ruiheng's view, Qiao Bolin has always been the kind of person who clearly distinguishes between "being able to do" and "wanting to do".
He never shies away from his mathematical talent and is willing to use competitions to verify it and respond to external expectations, but this does not mean that he will tacitly agree to follow this path to the end.
After listening to Qi Ruiheng's words, Li Mingyuan and Gao Hexin fell silent for a moment.
Undeniably, as ordinary middle school students, even if they get along well with Qiao Bolin on a daily basis and can joke and banter with him, they always feel deep down that there is something between them and that they can't really connect with him.
How to describe that feeling? It's like looking at a blooming flower through glass on a sunny afternoon. You can see that its petals are full of color, and its shape and posture are extremely outstanding. You can even seem to smell its fragrance, but you can't feel its real touch and temperature.
However, to meet such an amazing person at such a young age, regardless of how their relationship goes, they must be considered very lucky.
Thinking this way, Gao Hexin felt a little relieved. During the break between classes, he regained a lot of energy and spirits. He happened to run into Ning Jiu, who was returning from the restroom. After telling her about their plans to go to Yinbinglou on Friday, she showed an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry, Tsuruko," Ning Jiu said, genuinely feeling apologetic. "My dad has some things he needs my help with lately, so I'll have to go home early these next few days."
Gao Hexin exchanged a glance with Li Mingyuan and Qi Ruiheng, then waved goodbye nonchalantly.
"Oh, it's nothing. Things at home are definitely more important."
“Let’s make plans to go out and have fun during winter break,” Ning Jiu said, guessing that Ning Xuan should be almost done with building the new bar by then. “I saw a really fun amusement park in Shanghai on social media the other day. Let’s go there.”
"Great! I went there with my cousin before," Gao Hexin blew her a kiss, "I can be your tour guide this time~"
On a late afternoon in early winter, at the same time as school let out, it got dark earlier than usual.
Yuan Liangjing waited at the school gate early. The two walked to the bus stop as usual, but they didn't take the bus they usually took.
This bus was noticeably less crowded than the previous one. Ning Jiu found a window seat and looked out at the plane trees lining the street. Most of the leaves had fallen, leaving only bare branches that looked desolate under the dim streetlights.
She remembered something and asked Ning Xuan about his recent bar search.
"The location my dad found for that bar..." Ning Jiu didn't really understand the ins and outs of it, so she carefully asked, "Is the owner a good person? Did they sign a contract?"
Yuan Liangjing was amused by Ning Jiu's tone and rubbed her round head.
“Your dad has been around the block for a while, he won’t be easily fooled,” he said, not too worried about the matter. “The boss’s surname is Huang. I’ve met him once, he’s a nice guy. He just asked for a higher rent at first, but your dad and I have since lowered it.”
Ning Jiu felt a little relieved.
The bus stopped at the station. Ningxuan's new bar was located some distance from the bus stop. The two got off the bus and walked through a maze of low old residential buildings before reaching a narrow alley.
The bar is located at the very end of the alley, and the sign at the entrance is temporarily covered by a canvas, with only the corners of a few letters showing.
Ning Jiu pushed open the door. The room was a bit dusty, and there were a few things left in the corner. It was clear that it hadn't been cleaned thoroughly yet.
The central space was cleared out, with several chandeliers hanging in mid-air with plastic covers. In the middle of the hall, there were a few second-hand sofas that had been repainted with new leather, and the low-saturation dark green and cream white colors made it look quite decent at first glance.
Ning Xuan was standing by the wall, holding a half-unfolded sketch with one hand, slowly fixing it to the corkboard with thumbtacks. Huang Jianhua squatted in front of the toolbox, looking it over, and suddenly took out a small electric drill and shook it.
"Do you want this light to be a little more angled? Let me tell you, move it in ten centimeters more, so the angle is softer. Otherwise, it shines on the sofa over there, and it hurts people's eyes if they sit there for a long time."
“Okay, I’ll do as you say,” Ning Xuan jumped down from the stool and clapped his hands. “My daughter’s here, so I won’t be doing this with you for now, Lao Huang.”
"Wow, this is the first time I've seen you."
Huang Jianhua, speaking with a thick Jiangcheng accent, looked at Ning Jiu and smiled amicably.
"Your daughter has such fair skin."
Ning Jiu called out "Uncle" softly, then looked away from Huang Jianhua and turned her gaze back to Ning Xuan, noticing that his eyes were much brighter than they had been recently.
Indeed, when people do what they truly love, they naturally radiate light.
She had almost finished her homework at school, and since she had nothing else to do, she helped Ningxuan move desks and chairs and paint on the walls. When she had a moment to herself, she opened her phone and found a message on WeChat.
[Joe Bolin] Are you home yet?
These past few days, he's been going to the provincial team after school, so their appointment to meet in the psychology classroom has become once a week.
Ning Jiu didn't think much of it. She had adapted well to Jiangcheng's learning style during this period. Her grades remained stable in the top five of the grade in the monthly exams after the midterm exams. Her grades hadn't dropped, and there was nothing she needed to ask Qiao Bolin for help with.
Although they spent less time together, something quietly grew within that distance.
With winter approaching and the weather getting cold quickly, Ning Jiu has become increasingly less hungry at noon. She often divides the breakfast that Yuan Liangjing gives her in the morning into two meals, and after eating, she just buys some hot drinks from the convenience store downstairs to tide her over.
Lately, things have been mysteriously piling up in her desk drawer. Sometimes it's a glass bottle of milk with a French label and a box of low-oil salad, and other times it's a chicken breast sandwich with her favorite sweet chili sauce.
At first, Ning Jiu would return those things to Qiao Bolin untouched after school when no one was looking, threatening him that if he did it again, she would announce it to the world. The supposedly upright and intelligent Qiao Bolin would actually sneak lunch into the girls' desks.
To everyone's surprise, the person who was called out smiled slightly upon hearing her say that, as if waiting for her to actually do it.
She couldn't do anything about him, so she could only go to the cafeteria with Gao Hexin for lunch as soon as it was noon. Her stomach pains stopped coming back so frequently, and Qiao Bolin stopped stuffing food into her desk.
Thinking this, Ning Jiu leaned back on the newly moved sofa and casually replied.
[Ningjiu] Hmm.
[Qiao Bolin] You've been really enjoying this song lately?
[Joe Po-lin] [Music Sharing: ]
Unexpectedly, Qiao Bolin brought up this topic. Her fingertip hovering over the screen paused for a moment. She remembered that a few days ago, when she was feeling a bit emo late at night, she switched to a few songs on her music app to change her mood, and this song happened to be playing at that time.
The low tones of rhythm and blues slowly seeped in, and the languid and sexy male voice brought a slightly intoxicating rhythm, seeping into her nerves little by little, nonchalant yet with a touch of ambiguity. She thought the song was very nice at the time, and under the influence of her emotions, she set it to "listen to music" mode.
However, she should have changed her status before taking a shower, and the time interval was less than an hour. How could he have just happened to see it?
To be more precise, it's the singer's voice.
Why not flirt with her? Besides, she was telling the truth.
This male voice is very distinctive. It is naturally deep without any pretentious bubbly sounds, and the trailing notes are just right, like mint liqueur slowly melting on the tongue, slightly hazy, yet captivating.
[Ningjiu] I think your voices are a bit similar. If you sing this song, you should be able to sing it just as well as him.
Ning Jiu looked for other songs by this singer, and after sending over the ones she was interested in, she realized that they formed three songs: , , and .
...This is too much of a coincidence.
She almost dropped her phone, and just as she was about to pull it back, it suddenly vibrated.
The ringing quickly spread throughout the spacious area, and Ning Xuan and the others who were busy at work all looked over at the same time.
Ning Jiu didn't expect him to call, so she chuckled dryly and vaguely said that a friend was calling to invite her to go out on the weekend.
The moment the call button was pressed, the boy's gentle voice slowly descended from the other end of the receiver, rippling with a barely perceptible low hue.
Qiao Bolin: "Are you on the second floor?"
"...What?" She didn't understand.
"I saw that the dessert shop on the first floor was locked, so I assumed you were on the second floor."
One second, two seconds.
Ning Jiu realized what he meant.
"Are you serious?"
Because there were people around, she couldn't speak too loudly, but her tone couldn't hide her surprise.
"Hmm?" Compared to her surprise, Qiao Bolin's voice remained unchanged, calm with a hint of amusement. "I don't think I have any reason to lie to you?"
He had no reason to lie to her.
But she lied to him.
With a bang, Ning Jiu almost immediately jumped up from the sofa.
My heart was beating faster than I expected. I quickly said goodbye to Yuan Liangjing and Ningxuan, saying that I still had homework to catch up on, and then I started running towards the bus stop.
As I passed the street corner, I inadvertently brushed past a group of people in suits.
The men's suits were all dark-colored with slightly high collars, which she hadn't paid much attention to until she caught a glimpse of a card holder on one of the men's chests, with a hint of red lettering peeking out from the corner. She stopped abruptly in her tracks.
This group of people came from Chaoningxuan Bar.
Ning Jiu turned back almost instantly and saw the group of men in suits walk into the alley bar that was still under renovation. The leader pulled a document out of his briefcase and said something to Ning Xuan. Ning Xuan's smile froze instantly.
"Don't you know? The accident case over there hasn't been closed yet. The license application is currently stuck in the system and won't be released until the investigation is completely finished."
"Asking us won't help. The higher-ups are holding it back. The case hasn't been approved yet, so the process here can't be completed."
The leader went through the motions of a businesslike process. By the time Ning Jiu returned to the bar, they had already made a quick exit. Huang Jianhua stood in the corner, frowning at Ning Xuan with a look of surprise and apprehension.
Ning Xuan's face, which had been rosy just moments before, was now deathly pale, and he still wanted to try to persuade her to stay a little longer.
"Comrades, are you sure you haven't made a mistake? The investigation over there has been completely closed..."
"I've already told you, asking us is useless!" The leader's tone was already very impatient. "What's the use of us saying anything about this? It needs approval from above—"
Halfway through her sentence, a slight sound of a door opening rang out. Ning Jiu felt a tall figure walk past her, and the people who were standing still straightened up reflexively when they saw the man enter.
"Director Qiao!"
"Hall Qiao."
"...Director Qiao, what brings you here?"
The leader realized something was wrong, and for a moment he looked away from Qiao Jialing's gaze, managing only an awkward smile.
"Why didn't you let me know you were coming? I would have sent someone to meet you outside..."
Before he could even utter a word, a glance from Qiao Jialing forced him to shut up.
The man was tall and straight, and the well-tailored suit looked neat and tidy on him, even with a touch of gentle charm that was captivating. However, his every move exuded a subtle sense of pressure.
The expensive leather shoes looked out of place on the dusty, sawdust-covered floor. His features, bearing a striking resemblance to Qiao Bolin, were sharp and unassuming, revealing no emotion. His deep black eyes swept around the room before finally settling on—
The girl who had been silent at the door for a long time.
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The author's note: The difference in family backgrounds may become a factor that makes Sweet Wine start to really think about their relationship, but they will not separate for this reason.
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