Chapter 88
It's too late.
Guan Nan lowered her head.
Looking at that clearly defined claw mark.
I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: [?]
A message came in, and the screen on Guan Nan's phone, which was about to go black, lit up. Guan Nan's eyelids trembled slightly.
I don't know why I feel a little down.
I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: [Don't tell me you've already scratched it?]
Guan Nan hesitated: 【meiyo】
Before I could finish typing, the chat window automatically switched to letters, and the chat interface turned into a black screen with profile pictures.
—I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off and invite you for a video call.
Looking at the face that filled the screen, Guan Nan accidentally clicked "accept," her expression still a little dazed, her mind still blank.
In the footage, he appears to be in a car, and the lighting is dim.
Jiang Li: "Where did you scratch?"
His tone was calm and revealed no emotion, but the outward-curling amplified syllables caused the bird to shrink its neck, losing its swagger and drooping its head cautiously.
Guan Nan withdrew her hand and smiled naturally: "No."
"You're not going to talk, huh?" Jiang Li snorted, placed his phone on the holder, and started the car: "Like a parrot scratching someone—"
Before he could finish speaking, someone knocked on the car window, as if asking him where he was going.
Jiang Li leaned back in his chair, glanced at the bracket with his eyelids, and said lazily, "Let's go out for some fresh air."
The man seemed to be saying that this place could also be transparent.
“Or,” Jiang Li’s face turned cold, he put his hand on the steering wheel, revealing a long-lost air of menace, yet seemingly without temper, “would you handcuff me here?”
The man then said a lot more, trying to persuade him not to go out, especially since he was driving.
"I won't make things difficult for you," Jiang Li said, barely managing to hold back his temper while maintaining proper etiquette. "I'm going out to buy a pack of cigarettes; I'm craving one."
Hearing these words, Guan Nan didn't utter a sound.
After the car started moving and drove out of a certain gate, Jiang Li said his phone was low on battery and ended the voice call.
Guan Nan just watched him switch off the voice call without hanging up.
"Jiang Li," Guan Nan had something to ask and a lot to say, but didn't know where to begin, "smoke less."
Jiang Li gave a casual "hmm" and then said, "If this bird is disobedient, just leave it there to dry. It'll behave after a few meals of hunger. It's too spoiled."
"Okay, sure," Guan Nan replied verbally, but her hands didn't follow through.
Seeing the parrot's frightened expression, and since Jiang Li hadn't mentioned hanging up the phone, she simply took advantage of the quiet atmosphere and carried it back to Building 26.
After a moment of silence.
Guan Nan felt the atmosphere was too awkward, so she changed the subject: "Your bird is quite unique."
After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Li calmly corrected her, "It's not my bird. It has a name. And you've already said that."
Guan Nan pursed her lips and said listlessly, "Oh."
"Make a lot of money," Jiang Li said.
Guan Nan: "I know."
Jiang Li softened his tone: "If you think it's tacky and don't like it, then change it."
If you don't like it, just get a different one?
Isn't this a bit too casual?
Guan Nan glanced at the bird and said seriously, "No need to change it, it's fine."
"Oh," Jiang Li asked, "what's good about it?"
Guan Nan was surprised that he would ask about this issue. After a few seconds of pause, she realized what he meant and avoided using words that sounded like "money". Instead, she answered him very sincerely, saying, "Simple, down-to-earth, and with a good meaning."
"Really?" Jiang Li said. "People say it's too realistic, don't you think so?"
Leaving the commercial street, Guan Nan walked slowly along the streetlights, thinking, "Isn't it better to be realistic?"
"Too realistic, it's annoying." Jiang Li was frank and casual, showing no sign of mind, his deep, clear voice captivating. "Aren't you quite annoyed by it?"
Guan Nan frowned, "...I didn't."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li smiled, it was hard to tell whether he minded or didn't believe her.
“Someone told me a long time ago,” Guan Nan said, following the last note in her mind, “and she repeated it in a low voice, word by word, “Everything is based on human needs. As long as it exists, it must have its value. Making a lot of money is a human need, a necessity for everyone, and it is the same for me.”
Jiang Li listened without saying anything.
"Jiang Li, you taught me not to care about what others think."
"·····"
"But what about you?"
"·····"
“Why should we care about these things?” Guan Nan said softly. “Let them think what they want, let them say what they want. Whether it’s good or bad, it has nothing to do with us.”
There was no sound from the other end of the phone for a long time. Guan Nan stopped under the banyan tree, looking at the corner not far away. His gaze pierced through the lights of thousands of homes. His attitude and tone were unusually calm. "What really concerns us has always been only ourselves."
Life is your own.
The power of external voices is too great; no one can break the deadlock. All we can do is hold our ground, endure it bit by bit, and survive until the very end.
Without absolute will, one will eventually be swayed by words.
This battle is going to be incredibly tough.
Even if you persevere to the end, it is by no means a victory.
But she only hoped not to be assimilated into it.
For a moment, Guan Nan was also unsure whether these words were meant for Jiang Li or for herself. Those sleepless nights, those days spent awake until dawn, were filled with torment.
That's how she is; she tells herself that over and over again.
Coming to her senses, Guan Nan realized her blunder and stammered, "Sorry, I misspoke a bit... um..."
"Hmm," Jiang Li suddenly responded.
Guan Nan stood there, stunned.
The next second, I heard him say, "I know."
Whether it was genuine knowledge or feigned knowledge, Guan Nan gave a vague "oh".
As she passed downstairs, Guan Nan quickly put away her phone, greeted her neighbors, and explained to them as they joked that good things were about to happen.
Clearly, everyone just thought she was shy and embarrassed to admit it.
Guan Nan felt helpless. She carried the cage upstairs and put away the precious bird food container. She put her long hair up, went back to the bedroom to pick up two sets of pajamas, and went straight into the bathroom.
He completely forgot about the phone that was still ringing in the canvas bag on the sofa.
After taking a shower, she fed the birds and then sat cross-legged on the coffee table to work on her laptop.
Just as Guan Nan finished writing the script, his stomach started rumbling. He glanced at the bottom right corner and saw that it was already 1:32 AM.
I closed my laptop and pulled out a pack of instant noodles from the cabinet.
Before I could even boil water, there was a knock on the door.
Guan Nan opened the door, her movements stiff.
She stood in the half-open doorway, biting into a half-torn seasoning packet, holding a torn instant noodle in her arms, and holding a fork in her right hand.
The two looked at each other through an iron gate.
"Is there any more?" Jiang Li opened the door and came in, taking the seasoning packet she was about to put on her lips and teeth, and skillfully handled everything. "Give me a whole bucket."
Guan Nan stared at her empty hands and said in a daze, "Yes, yes."
"Did you boil water?" Jiang Li turned to look at her.
Guan Nan shook her head: "No."
Seeing this, Jiang Li casually put down his phone, straightened up, and went to the kitchen.
A few seconds later, Guan Nan shifted her gaze downwards to the phone screen, which hadn't been turned off. It displayed a low computer warning and finally shut down automatically.
413 minutes.
6 hours and 53 minutes.
Guan Nan squeezed her eyes shut, then squeezed them open again.
At that moment, I couldn't say anything; my nose just felt sore and tingly.
It all seemed so unreal.
After a long and tiring day at work, he was starving and pulled out a bowl of instant noodles to stave off his hunger. Before he could even boil water, he appeared as if in a hallucination.
Knock on the door, unlock it, and there he is at the door.
Everything felt so unreal.
It felt like a dream.
Hearing a soft "ding," Guan Nan stood still and looked towards the kitchen.
The kitchen has no door, and the range hood was installed when Ran Mingxia was still there. Through the not-too-large door, a tall and slender figure is busy working alone.
After a while, Jiang Li came out and took away two buckets of instant noodles.
Then she turned around and went into the kitchen without any hesitation.
Through the hazy mist, Guan Nan and he sat at the same table, their eyes meeting once again.
The steam from instant noodles can make your eyes water and cause eye strain and heartache.
He drove nearly seven hours back just for this bowl of instant noodles. The noodles were cooked in a pot, with meat, an egg, and chopped green onions.
If Guan Nan hadn't personally held the instant noodles, she probably wouldn't have believed that there were instant noodles in the ceramic bowl next to her.
Guan Nan sniffed, feigning nonchalance, and asked, "Didn't you say you had something to do?"
"Um," Jiang Li said, biting into his instant noodles, "something came up."
Guan Nan lowered her head along with him, taking a small sip of her instant noodles. "Are you... done with your work?"
Jiang Li brushed it off lightly: "Soon."
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan said nothing more.
He didn't say much, and the two of them finished a large bowl of instant noodles, sitting across a small, old dining table.
Guan Nan has a small appetite. Although she was so hungry that her stomach ached at the time, she felt much better after eating some hot food. There were still two-thirds of the food left in her bowl.
She realized she couldn't eat anymore, but she didn't want to say it in front of Jiang Li.
So, he poked the noodles with his chopsticks and slurped them up.
She pouted, the way she slowly ate her noodles resembling a little rabbit munching on a carrot. Thinking of this, Jiang Li put down his chopsticks; the bowl was already empty.
After waiting a while longer, he saw that she was still the same, glancing at him every now and then.
After a few moments, Jiang Li called out her name: "Guan Nan".
"?" Guan Nan looked up, staring blankly at her, with a mouthful of instant noodles she was about to slurp into her mouth.
Perhaps she had just taken a shower, because her long, coiled hair had come loose, scattering messily around her ears, neck, and eyes. As she looked up, her moist, clean eyes met her gaze.
It's so touching it makes your heart melt.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Guan Nan slurped up the remaining half of the instant noodles. "What's wrong?"
"Are you full?" Jiang Li glanced at her bowl, raised an eyebrow slightly, and showed no signs of fatigue from working the night shift.
Guan Nan hesitated, then said, "A little."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Li used both hands, taking advantage of his long arms, to switch the bowls: "Go wash the dishes after you're full."
"..." Guan Nan was startled by his speed.
Just as she was lost in thought, the bowl of instant noodles was placed in front of him, and at the same time, the crisp sound of chopsticks clattering echoed in the room.
"and you--"
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