Forty-four stars
She knew that the institute was sending a group of people to the Arctic for a two-month scientific expedition, and that they would have to undergo training at the public security bureau. This training also required signing an agreement with the training institution. So, when she saw the document in his hand, Lin Tang guessed the general purpose of his visit.
However, usually the research institute would go to the public relations agency to sign the contract with them. She was a little curious why Yu Jingming came this time. When he approached her, she asked this question.
The answer I got was: "I happened to have nothing to do at the moment, so I came to the institute to take a look."
The scratches on Lin Tang's clothes were obvious, and they were a striking red. Even with his arm hanging down, it was easy to notice. Yu Jingming's eyes unconsciously fell on that spot and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Lin Tang replied truthfully: "I accidentally scratched it while doing an experiment."
"Has it been dealt with?" Yu Jingming asked again.
Lin Tang nodded and lifted his sleeve to show him that the wound was already wrapped with layers of gauze.
Yu Jingming, after all, was a graduate of a police academy, and since they were prone to injuries during field missions, wound care was a must-have skill. With just one glance, he could tell the bandage was unprofessional.
He was standing on the next step down from Lin Tang, where the awning wasn't completely shielded. He was still holding his umbrella, so he was eye-level with her. After checking her arm, he suddenly said, "Would you mind taking down the umbrella for me?"
Lin Tang didn't understand why, but he did it anyway.
When his hands were free, Yu Jingming unwound the gauze wrapped around her arm and rebandaged it, saying, "If you don't bandage it properly, it can easily get infected."
Lin Tang nodded thoughtfully and replied, "Thank you."
Her arms were half-raised, and when she raised her head inadvertently, a figure appeared not far away, past him.
He was holding an umbrella, looking over here. The drizzle blurred his figure a little, and their eyes met across a distance.
He stood there for a long time, and she initially thought he wasn't going to come over. But when she half-lowered her eyes to see the effect of the bandage, she saw him approaching in her peripheral vision.
After Yu Jingming finished tying the knot, he also came to the two of them.
There was no change in his expression at first, just as cold as when they first met, but when he saw the condition of her arm, his brows twisted slightly.
Yu Jingming took the umbrella from Lin Tang and said to her, "I'll go find Dean Zhang first."
Lin Tang nodded hesitantly and his eyes fell on Feng Chibai.
The umbrella that had just been held overhead was folded up, and a new one was replaced to block the falling raindrops. Feng Chibai whispered, "Let's go."
In the car.
As the car drove out, Feng Chibai suddenly grabbed Lin Tang's wrist and pulled up her sleeve, revealing her gauze-wrapped arm. A hint of worry flashed in his eyes, but his tone remained emotionless: "How did you get hurt?"
Lin Tang answered randomly, "I was accidentally hit by a flying meteorite while picking stars."
Feng Chibai guessed immediately: "Did he get hurt during the experiment?"
Lin Tang pulled his hand back and slowly lowered his sleeve, muttering, "I really hate talking to you smart people."
She was not given any room to maneuver.
Unlike Ying Yu, who would say, "Boss, you are so handsome. Others have scars on their faces, but you have scars on your hands."
And he always becomes cold for no apparent reason.
Not long after returning to the suite, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Feng Chibai went to open the door, and within seconds, a man came up behind him carrying a medicine box.
The man placed the medicine box on the table and said politely to Lin Tang, "Miss Lin, I'll help you treat your wound."
Hearing this, Lin Tang subconsciously glanced at Feng Chibai. Seeing him standing aside with a sullen expression, he silently averted his gaze, allowing the doctor to tend to his wound. The cut was long and thin, and while it had stopped bleeding, it might still leave a scar.
She squinted her eyes in displeasure, and Ying Yu's prediction came true.
After the doctor left, the living room suddenly became quiet and the atmosphere was inexplicably cold.
She looked up at Feng Chibai, and thinking of what happened during the day, she said without warning: "Feng Chibai, I like you."
Feng Chibai's pupils suddenly shrank, his breathing suddenly became heavy, and he asked in astonishment, "What did you say?"
But Lin Tang didn't see his shock, thinking he was baffled. Seeing that he had finally calmed down and thinking the atmosphere had eased, she smiled and said, "Why don't you tell me about it too? After all, today is the only day we can joke around."
Feng Chibai was stunned for a moment before realizing what day it was. He laughed for no apparent reason, looked away, gritted his teeth, and nodded intermittently.
Seeing that he was about to smile, Lin Tang thought he had returned to normal, and finally started to talk to him about business: "Feng Chibai."
When his gaze returned to her, she continued, "You don't like me being with him? Why?"
Feng Chibai knew exactly who the "he" she was referring to, so he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked, "Then why do you ask that?"
Lin Tang said truthfully: "Because I saw your cold face this afternoon."
When he got out of the car and stood alone in front of it with an umbrella, looking over here, she vaguely sensed a hint of...unhappiness.
Or perhaps her eyes were even colder. But the raindrops dripping from the umbrella slid down, clouding her vision, so she couldn't see clearly.
Feng Chibai finally had a genuine smile on his face. He sat down, his eyes slightly tilted towards her, without saying anything directly: "If you signed a project with someone, strictly speaking, this project can only be participated in by the two of you, but you turned around and found that he was discussing the project with someone else, what would you think?"
Lin Tang blinked and thought seriously. After a while, she said in a panic, "Am I really that extreme?"
Feng Chibai didn't look at her again, but hummed with a smile.
Lin Tang chuckled twice and lowered his arm in a rare flattering gesture: "Calm down, calm down."
The injured hand was suddenly grasped, then slowly lowered, and a voice rang in my ear: "I don't need this hand anymore. I'm afraid you might try to scam me."
Lin Tang: “…”
How could she be so wicked?
*
On the day of Qingming Festival, a group of people gathered at the gate of the Feng family early in the morning, waiting for the time to come to set off to the Linqing Cemetery to sweep the grave of Grandma Feng.
Lin Tang married into the Feng family and is considered a member of the Feng family, so naturally she has to go with them.
One rare day she got up early in the morning to wait, but it was past the meeting time and some people were still late.
The old man looked at Xu Jianyun who had hurried over and asked sternly, "Why are you up so late?"
Xu Jianyun explained with a wry smile, "Oh, I realized the clothes I was wearing weren't suitable, so I quickly changed into another one."
Feng Chibai glanced at her indifferently, but suddenly felt that the bracelet she was wearing today seemed familiar. However, before he could see it clearly, the bracelet slipped into her sleeve as she moved. In addition, Lin Tang reminded him that it was time to leave, so he withdrew his gaze and did not investigate further.
Linqing Cemetery is vast, densely packed with tombstones, but one stands out. Deep within, fenced off, it seems to belong solely to it. Flowers are planted along its edge, and it looks spotless, as if someone regularly cleans it.
Unfortunately, it rained today. Everyone held an umbrella and waited for the servants to clear the weeds around them. Then they started burning incense and offering sacrifices.
By the time all the processes were completed, it was almost noon and the rain was getting heavier.
The bustling crowd made way for the old man. Feng Siru supported him and left first. When the old man walked to the front, everyone walked out of the cemetery in a disorderly manner.
Feng Chibai looked at Lin Tang, his eyes somewhat deep, and said in a hoarse voice: "Lin Tang, in a moment..."
But before he could finish his words, a cell phone rang at an inopportune time.
Seeing it was Milson calling, Lin Tang quickly picked up the phone. The person on the other end seemed to be talking to her about work. He only heard her nod and say, "Okay, I'll be right there."
He took back all the unspoken words, and when she hung up the phone, he simply asked, "What about the research institute?"
Lin Tang hummed: "I have a temporary mission, so I have to go there."
Feng Chibai didn't stop her, but quietly stared at her back as she left until she disappeared from his sight. However, he had no intention of returning to the old house immediately. He held a pure black umbrella and went to a place alone.
In front of where we stopped was a tombstone with the words "Bai Ruotong's Tomb" clearly engraved on it.
Bai Ruotong is his mother's name.
Unlike Grandma Feng's tombstone, this one was surrounded by other tombstones. Because of the rain, some water had accumulated in front of the tombstone. He half squatted down and reached out to wipe away the rain.
His fingertips gently stroked his mother's name, and his vision suddenly became blurry.
Raindrops drifted diagonally onto his clothes, soaking patches of them, but he seemed unmoved. After a long silence, he choked with sobs and said, "Mother, it's been a while since I've seen you. I wanted to bring her with me, but today seems inopportune."
His face was already wet, not sure if it was from the rain or from the overflowing tears.
"I always feel sorry for you. In your best years, you fell in love with someone who was unworthy. He was selfish, cowardly, and promiscuous, yet he chose to drag you into the abyss, ruining you from everlasting despair."
"So, ever since you passed away, I've always believed that love is the most insignificant thing in this world. But I never expected that feelings... are beyond our control."
"She is slow-witted, yet also lucid. Even though I know this is a fruitless ending, I still can't help wanting to get close to her. I hate her contact with others, and I'm also afraid of her leaving."
"Mother, I seem to have become... selfish and cowardly."
The fierce look he once had in his eyes disappeared without a trace, leaving only a circle of scarlet.
He spoke many words to the tombstone in a hoarse voice, but the only response he got was the crisp and continuous sound of rain.
The useless umbrella couldn't stop the heavy rain at all. He stood up straight, and for the first time, he lost track of time and allowed himself to become miserable.
When we returned to the old house, it was already very late. There were still some raindrops falling outside, but not heavily.
The old man saw that Feng Chibai was soaked, and frowned. He asked, "Why are you wet?"
His expression had returned to its usual calmness, and his tone was calm: "I didn't hold the umbrella firmly, so I got caught in the rain."
The old man asked again: "Did you go to see your mother?"
Feng Chibai hummed, without looking at him: "I'll go upstairs and change clothes."
Leaving this sentence, he turned and walked upstairs.
The moment the door opened, he subconsciously glanced around and immediately realized something was wrong.
There were obvious signs that things in the room had been moved around, as if someone was looking for something, but because time was too short, they had to be put back in a hurry.
Lin Tang hasn't come back yet, so it definitely wasn't her.
He walked into the room with a cold face, not even bothering to change his wet clothes. He checked every corner from the wardrobe to the drawers without exception.
Almost nothing was lost, except for a bracelet left by his mother.
That was specially passed down to her by the Bai family on the day of her mother's wedding. Even though she later married into the Feng family and had everything she wanted, Bai Ruotong still treasured that bracelet and wore it on her hand all day long.
After her death, Feng Chibai secretly took the bracelet away and hid it in a box as if it were a treasure, placing it at the deepest part of the drawer.
But now the box is empty, the bracelet inside has been taken away.
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