Joyful Reunion (Part 5)
Grandma wants An to stay here.
An was already in a difficult position, but she knew the old man meant well.
However, she still wanted to go home to see the puppy, as she had left the new puppy outside on its first day.
Ji Qingzhou said, "Grandma, An has already gotten used to her new bed. I'll come back to keep you company in a couple of days."
Grandma didn't insist; she still hoped that Ji Qingzhou could spend more time with his girlfriend.
Uncle Lin drove them back.
There was another car following behind them.
An had already asked who was behind him.
Ji Qingzhou explained, "It's Aunt Lin who cooks."
An had already seen Ji Qingzhou's daily life and residence, but didn't say much.
Did you enjoy dinner?
An said, "It's alright."
"This is what this auntie made. You can call her Aunt Lin. She will cook for us."
She looked out the window, realizing that she had always made him eat sweet potatoes and corn with her, and that she had been neglecting him.
She thought for a moment, "Are you tired of the food I make?"
Ji Qingzhou smiled and said, "If you can eat on time every meal, I will never mind."
An and Ji Qingzhou went to the pet store to pick up Milk Tea first.
Milk Tea was sleeping in its cage when An called it twice and it woke up, waking up and wagging its tail at An.
An Yi's mood was affected by the puppy, and she turned to Ji Qingzhou and said, "Look, how cute!"
The store manager opened the cage. "Milk Tea has been doing well these past few days; her appetite is increasing every day!"
An was already very pleased.
She hugged Milk Tea and ruffled his hair, saying, "Milk Tea did a great job!"
Cod's love for cats and dogs has greatly influenced An-yi, who has a lot of patience for puppies.
An thanked the store manager and took the milk tea home.
Milk Tea was overjoyed to be home, running around excitedly.
An has checked Milk Tea's injuries and there are no major problems.
She played with him.
On the way back, I passed a pet store and bought some toys for Milk Tea.
Ji Qingzhou finished packing her suitcase and came out. The two of them, one human and one dog, were having a great time.
He actually started to feel like an outsider.
An had smiled at him before, but it was never as innocent and relaxed as this.
As usual, Ji Qingzhou lay on the sofa when he went to sleep.
An had come out of the bathroom and saw that Ji Qingzhou had one leg sticking out of the sofa.
"Go to the bedroom and sleep," An said.
Since we've already slept in the same bed, and he's my boyfriend after all, it's not appropriate to always let him sleep on the sofa.
Ji Qingzhou obeyed and took the blanket to the bedroom.
He had originally planned to get a bigger bed as a workaround, but today he was suddenly told he could come in.
An had already lay down beside Ji Qingzhou and opened her phone to reply to a few messages.
Ji Qingzhou was fine and lay there quietly. She felt something poking under her neck, so she touched it and looked at it under the light.
It's a condom.
An has also discovered it.
She was a little embarrassed; she had bought a box of these just in case when she went to the supermarket earlier.
Ji Qingzhou said, "We..."
Before he could finish speaking, An interrupted him, "It's your first time being someone's girlfriend, you have no experience."
Her candid attitude made him feel as if this was a task between a couple, something he could choose to do or not.
His sudden embarrassment made it seem as if he had ulterior motives and was overthinking things.
An was afraid he might say something strange, so she grabbed it first, threw it into the drawer, and turned off the bedside lamp, saying, "Go to sleep."
She fell asleep quickly, leaving Ji Qingzhou to take a few deep breaths before getting up and walking outside.
She seemed to have entered a dream again, in which she was still the young general, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
It was as if he was waiting for her, yet didn't want her to get close.
She was afraid of that heart-wrenching feeling, yet she stubbornly insisted that he turn back.
"Huaichuan... Huaichuan..."
When Ji Qingzhou returned after drinking the water, he saw An Yi curled up, and his originally gentle face crumpled into a frown.
He hesitated for a moment, then bent down and hugged An Yi, gently patting the blanket, trying to comfort her in this way.
It seemed to have some effect; she gradually calmed down, though she was still mumbling some words.
It has a name, "Huaichuan".
Ji Qingzhou murmured the name; it was the name of an old friend who resembled him, someone she had told him about before.
He silently watched An Yi's lips move slightly, repeatedly uttering those two words.
The name is like the persistent rain on a rainy night, both annoying and chilling.
Ji Qingzhou was annoyed; that name had appeared again.
He reached out and stroked An Yi's cheek, then raised his thumb and gently pressed it against her lips.
The soft sensation under his fingertips made him even more irritable.
He stared at it for a moment, then removed his hand.
He wrapped one arm around her waist and supported her neck with the other, then flipped her over so that An was lying on top of him.
An Yi's head was buried in the crook of his neck, and now she couldn't speak.
But Ji Qingzhou became increasingly agitated.
No matter how much he's tormented, it's always him who suffers.
"I should have silenced him with my mouth," Ji Qingzhou thought to herself before falling asleep.
On Friday, An had already returned from get off work, and Ji Qingzhou was busy in the kitchen, studying recipes on her tablet.
He's making fried chicken wings; he bought them last week and only now has time to process them.
"Where's Aunt Lin?" An asked. "She can do it."
It wasn't that An had quickly gotten used to Aunt Lin's arrival or to having someone cook for her.
An already felt uncomfortable about the way Ji Qingzhou was being neglected.
Since Ji Qingzhou has a need for an aunt, let's do as he says.
"I didn't let her come today. Didn't I say I'd make it for you?"
It seems there was such a thing. An nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
Ji Qingzhou's cooking movements were clumsy.
This meal might be a little difficult to eat.
An had washed her hands and went to help, working with him in the kitchen.
They worked for two or three hours, and only half of it was completed, while the other half was wasted.
Ji Qingzhou asked An to try it first, "Is it delicious?"
Unable to catch it, she took a bite from Ji Qingzhou's hand.
"It's delicious."
"Really?" Ji Qingzhou also tasted it, and the bitter and salty taste immediately filled her entire mouth.
He immediately said, "It's so salty, spit it out quickly."
An took two more bites and said, "It's alright."
Ji Qingzhou smiled. "Are you sure?"
"If it doesn't taste good, don't eat it."
An laughed along, "I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm."
In the end, the two of them still roasted two sweet potatoes.
Codfish and An had made plans to go shopping together. An had even finished her makeup when Codfish told her she couldn't come.
She also complained to her that Guan Ming was unrestrained and couldn't get up even now.
After hanging up the phone, An started removing her makeup.
After changing the dog's dressing, Ji Qingzhou prepared to leave. "How about I come with you?"
An said, "But aren't you going to the company?"
"It's nothing urgent, we can go tomorrow."
However, An had originally promised Xueyu to go shopping for some clothes with her, but since Xueyu wasn't going, she didn't really want to go either.
"I don't really want to go out."
Ji Qingzhou said, "Then come out with me and let's go buy a rope for Milk Tea."
This was obviously impossible to refuse; she had saved the milk tea, yet someone else cared about it even more than she did.
Ji Qingzhou first went to buy An a cup of milk tea.
He remembered that An had bought this cup last time.
The two of them strolled around casually looking for a pet store.
As An passed by a clothing store, she saw a very pretty dress in the window.
A white long dress with a wide ruffled neckline.
She glanced at it a couple more times.
"Shall we go in and give it a try?" Ji Qingzhou said.
There was no rush, and An had already stepped into the shop.
A short while later, the person came out of the fitting room, and the sales assistant kept praising how beautiful she looked.
The dress really suits An Yi, making her look very elegant.
Ji Qingzhou's eyes seemed to brighten slightly.
He seemed to see An Yi from his student days; the first time he saw her, she was wearing a white dress.
I brushed past him at the entrance of the cafeteria.
That day was quite a coincidence.
He ran into her twice, once at the entrance of the cafeteria and the other time at the library.
That was when An was a senior in college and he was a third-year graduate student.
An, carrying two books, approached him and asked, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
"No." Ji Qingzhou shifted her belongings. "Please sit down."
An had been sitting next to him all morning.
When she went to the restroom, a boy left a small note on her seat.
There are often people in the library who come under the guise of studying to find prey.
Ji Qingzhou was nearby, and with a glance, she saw a string of numbers.
After An returned, she simply placed the note aside and did nothing else.
An turned her head to look into Ji Qingzhou's eyes. Ji Qingzhou's fingers paused, and the pen that was spinning at her fingertips fell to the ground.
With a crisp "bang," the sound, though not loud, seemed to explode before he and An Yi.
The carbon pen rolled a few times and came to rest at An Yi's feet.
The skirt blocked Ji Qingzhou's view; he could only see the slightly swaying hem, beneath which stretched a pair of slender, snow-white legs.
Realizing her rudeness, Ji Qingzhou immediately raised her head and looked away.
An saw the pen, bent down, picked it up, and returned it to Ji Qingzhou.
Ji Qingzhou said "thank you," and An Yi smiled slightly and lowered her head to do her own thing.
Ji Qingzhou originally planned to complete the task in three hours, but it took her an extra half hour that day.
No one expected that on the first day of the meeting, they would meet a second time.
That afternoon, An arrived in front of him with a stack of documents.
Ji Qingzhou snapped out of her daze. "It's been a long time since I've seen you wear a white dress."
An Yi thought it was alright and wanted to buy the dress, so Ji Qingzhou paid for it.
He said, "I'll do it. I haven't bought you anything yet."
An had already checked the price tag on the dress; it wasn't cheap.
She remembered Cod saying: When a man wants to show off, never refuse him.
Ji Qingzhou raised the corners of her eyebrows.
The sales assistant said that those who spent money were happier than those who got a new dress.
After buying the dog leash, the two walked back.
I was passing by Mr. Zhou's hot pot restaurant when he came out of it.
"Miss An," Mr. Zhou said, "What a coincidence!"
An was taken aback for a moment, then quickly recalled the person. "Hello, Mr. Zhou!"
"Miss An, do you still remember me?" Boss Zhou said with a smile.
"You're joking," An said politely. "Aren't you taking a break today?"
Boss Zhou waved his hand, "I'm too busy to rest!"
"This is..." Boss Zhou gestured to Ji Qingzhou.
After hesitating for a moment, An said, "This is my boyfriend, Ji Qingzhou."
She then introduced Boss Zhou to Ji Qingzhou, "...a...friend."
She felt a little guilty, never expecting that she would encounter a blind date when her current partner was also in this situation.
Ji Qingzhou nodded in acknowledgment.
Boss Zhou reached out and shook hands with Ji Qingzhou, jokingly saying, "Miss An is so efficient, finding a good man so quickly!"
An has already laughed it off and moved on from the topic.
Mr. Zhou said, "Since you're already here, why don't you come in and have a seat? It's on me!" He always adhered to the principle of making a profit.
Although a relationship with An is no longer possible, maintaining a good relationship with her might lead to a collaboration between her mother and me.
Before An could refuse, Ji Qingzhou said, "No, dinner at home is already ready."
Boss Zhou didn't insist.
After Ji Qingzhou and An Yi had walked away, Ji Qingzhou asked An Yi why she knew Boss Zhou, since it didn't seem like they had known each other for a long time, yet Boss Zhou's attitude was as if he understood An Yi very well.
An gripped the milk tea tightly and said, "Don't be angry when I tell you."
She usually felt there was nothing to say about this, but the objective nature of this matter was indeed very bad.
"Um."
“He was my blind date before,” An said truthfully. “I went on a blind date with him a while ago.”
Ji Qingzhou paused, a surge of anger rising within him. Realizing he couldn't vent it immediately, he quickly suppressed it.
He led An to a corner. "A blind date?"
His tone was tinged with displeasure. An looked into his eyes and blinked. "You promised you wouldn't get angry."
Ji Qingzhou laughed in exasperation. He had always felt that his plan should follow An Yi's pace to avoid scaring her away.
And she actually came to a blind date.
"My mom arranged for me to go on a blind date with him."
"Your mother?"
In other words, her mother still doesn't know she exists.
Looking at Ji Qingzhou laughing heartily, An felt a little sinister.
She bit her lip; saying too much would only make things worse and add fuel to the fire.
An Yi tugged at Ji Qingzhou's sleeve, "Don't be angry!"
Ji Qingzhou's eyes grew increasingly deep.
When will An Yi, this frog, finally be cooked through, like a frog being slowly boiled in warm water?
He said with a stern face, "Give me a kiss."
"Huh?" Her expression immediately turned to surprise.
He would never make such a cross-boundary request to her, but it wasn't exactly a cross-boundary either; they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
He held the milk tea cup with increasing force, and the milk tea almost overflowed.
Ji Qingzhou stared at An Yi while barely managing to support him.
The lost milk tea was like an invisible film between them, which Ji Qingzhou tore off first.
An was caught in a dilemma, as if she had lost her protective barrier.
He's angry, so be it; she didn't do anything wrong.
She didn't cheat on him or cuckold him; she was just fulfilling the task her mother gave her.
However, what seemed to be the simplest and most convenient way for her to deal with her mother was actually unethical.
My mind is wandering, I can't make sense of things anymore, and I'm not as confident as I used to be.
Ji Qingzhou looked into An Yi's stubborn eyes, and a look of grievance appeared on her face, but her heart softened.
An suddenly tiptoed and kissed his cheek.
Her lips, soft and jelly-like, landed on his face. Before he could fully savor that softness, she was gone.
She snatched the milk tea and turned to leave.
Ji Qingzhou was left standing there for a long time, unable to recover from the shock.
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