Returning Swallows (Part 5)
It was afternoon, and the sun wasn't so strong anymore.
An wanted to go to the supermarket to buy some groceries.
"Is there any dish you'd like to eat?"
She gathered her hair, pulled on the hair tie on her wrist, and twirled it twice.
Ji Qingzhou, who was engrossed in her computer, looked up and paused for a moment.
When we got back, we ate a simple meal together, nothing really appealing to us.
An Yi thought he was thinking about some fancy meal, so she stopped him, saying, "You'd better not say anything, even if you did, I might not be able to cook it."
She's best at steaming things; the rest are just a few simple home-style dishes.
Ji Qingzhou stood up. "I'll go with you."
Upon arriving at the supermarket, An went straight to the vegetable section.
Ji Qingzhou pushed the shopping cart behind her.
She paused for a moment as she passed the chicken wings, seemingly struggling with her decision.
He asked, "Want to eat?"
An has already said, "I can't do it."
Ji Qingzhou said from behind, "Buy some, I'll cook it."
She asked in surprise, "You can do that?"
She remembered that he couldn't cook.
“I’ll go back and learn how,” Ji Qingzhou said, pulling down a bag hanging nearby and starting to pack food into a bag. “I’ll make it for you.”
An had already returned to help Ji Qingzhou, "So eager, is it because you want to eat it?"
Ji Qingzhou smiled but didn't say anything.
"Can you really learn it?"
She felt that cooking was a difficult thing, not as simple as he said, something that could be learned in no time.
"Why don't you try to trust a PhD's learning ability?"
An couldn't help but think of that oil-paper umbrella.
Ji Qingzhou added, "Isn't there you still?"
"Didn't you see my cooking skills?"
At most, An can only make scrambled eggs with tomatoes or scrambled eggs with green peppers.
The bag was full of chicken wings.
An said, "That's enough, it's just the two of us."
Ji Qingzhou packed a few more.
"More will increase the success rate."
"..."
Who said we should try to believe?
After buying vegetables, I passed a shelf with many people, and An was almost bumped into.
Ji Qingzhou naturally reached out and pulled An into his arms.
Ji Qingzhou pushed the cart with one hand and put his arm around An Yi's shoulder with the other, and walked for quite a while without letting go.
An was already feeling uncomfortable, so she pretended to grab a bag of snacks and slipped away.
"Chicken wings? You clearly really want to eat them."
Only then did she notice that she had grabbed a bag of chicken wings in her haste.
An replied sheepishly, "It's alright."
Ji Qingzhou glanced at the area and said to An Yi, "Let's go over there."
Ji Qingzhou led An Yi in a different direction and entered the home appliance section.
"Dishwasher," the sales assistant enthusiastically guided the two, "over here! This one's the best-selling, large capacity and quiet!"
She whispered in Ji Qingzhou's ear, "Why did you suddenly decide to buy a dishwasher?"
"It wasn't something I suddenly remembered; I just happened to have some free time today."
He listened carefully to the sales assistant's introduction, grasping the key information in her words.
"But there are only two of us. After you leave, I'll be all alone at home."
Ji Qingzhou glanced down at An Yi, who was analyzing intently, and didn't miss An Yi's address, "Jia".
A smile flickered in his eyes. "I will be back."
An pursed her lips. "But the house is rented. It will be very inconvenient for me to move when I leave."
An felt that there was no need to buy a dishwasher.
Ji Qingzhou looked down at her and asked, "Where are you going?"
His earnest gaze suggested he was afraid she might suddenly leave.
The two people were talking quietly when the sales assistant stopped her presentation.
An smiled slightly, shook her head, and took a half-step back.
It was as if she was about to abandon him.
"Whatever you want, buy it if you want." An no longer stopped him.
It's just a dishwasher, but the issues it's brought up are getting further and further away.
Ji Qingzhou gestured for the sales assistant to continue.
He asked, "Do you have a smaller one, for two people?"
The sales assistant clapped her hands and said, "Yes!"
"You two are a young couple, right? Come and take a look at this one," the sales assistant said, leading them to a small dishwasher. "This one is perfect."
It seems Ji Qingzhou did her homework, as she bought it in no time.
Ji Qingzhou was talking to the supermarket staff about home delivery.
An wanted to go to the milk tea shop outside the supermarket to buy a drink.
Ji Qingzhou nodded. "Be careful, wait for me downstairs. Don't wander off."
He had just finished paying and was about to go find An Yi when An Yi called, "Can you come over quickly? She's in the alley next to the supermarket."
His heart leaped into his throat, and he quickened his pace to find An Yi. "What's wrong?"
An Yi's phone seemed to be far away, so she didn't hear anything.
Ji Qingzhou asked again, "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine."
She said, "I saw a small dog, injured, in the alley."
"Stand there and don't move, I'll be there soon," Ji Qingzhou said.
A small gray dog just walked past her.
It looks like a Bichon Frise, but a Bichon Frise's fur should be white.
She didn't quite understand, but Cod really liked puppies, and she learned some things about puppies from Cod.
The puppy walks with a limp.
The puppy looked injured; there was red blood on the fur of its hind leg.
The puppy turned into a small alley, and An couldn't help but follow.
It didn't go far; it turned the corner of the alley and lay down on the ground, licking its wounds.
An slowly approached the puppy, and when she squatted down in front of it, the puppy did not leave.
She boldly reached out and stroked the puppy's head.
The puppy whimpered softly in An Yi's palm.
An looked at the horrifying wound on his hind leg.
I was too far away to see how much blood was flowing; the wound under the fur must be very deep.
An glanced at it and dared not look again.
Fortunately, Ji Qingzhou arrived at that moment.
The puppy immediately got up and ran away when it saw someone, its eyes wary.
An said, "Slow down, don't scare it away."
Ji Qingzhou pulled her up, "Why are you touching the stray dog? What if it bites you?"
“I’m fine,” she said.
He still held An Yi's hand to check and made sure there was no problem.
The puppy was still not far away; he probably didn't have the strength to hide anymore.
An had already said to Ji Qingzhou, "Save it."
Ji Qingzhou did not respond to her.
She tugged at Ji Qingzhou's sleeve, "Let's take it to the hospital."
Ji Qingzhou said helplessly, "We can save it."
"But you can't do it."
An's pleading voice carried a faint smile, "I wouldn't dare touch him, otherwise why would I have called you down?"
Ji Qingzhou said, "You mean, if you dared, you would have taken him to the hospital yourself?"
"yes."
He said helplessly, "Can't you have any sense of safety?"
An replied dismissively, "Yes, go and save it!"
The puppy seemed very afraid of Ji Qingzhou, and it took the two of them quite a bit of effort to calm it down.
An had found a box and asked Ji Qingzhou to put the puppy inside.
Ji Qingzhou carried the box and took the puppy to the hospital.
The vet said the puppy's injury was probably caused by a sharp object and would require stitches and a minor surgery.
The two then waited at the hospital.
The vet suggested giving the puppy a bath if you're considering adopting it; it's a white Bibo.
There was a pet grooming salon next to the pet hospital, so she asked Ji Qingzhou to take the puppy there.
The puppy needed to be bathed away from its injured areas, and the two waited a long time.
Ji Qingzhou asked, "Do you want to adopt this puppy?"
An shook her head.
She lacks the capacity to confront a life, to face its departure or death.
"Then why are you running around for it?"
An said, "It's fate that we met."
This sentence reminded Ji Qingzhou of An Yi and him.
A self-deprecating smile flashed in his eyes.
"Are you planning to clear his name and then let him go?" he said with a hint of mockery.
An said, "Let's take it home first."
After its bath, the puppy was pure white and a very beautiful Bichon Frise.
For some reason, I ran near the supermarket and got injured.
It was already dark when the two came out of the pet store.
Various signs lit up along both sides of the street, and a row of streetlights illuminated the city's night.
Today is Sunday, and there are many people and heavy traffic on the streets.
Ji Qingzhou held the box in one hand and grabbed An Yi's hand with the other.
She recalled the overly affectionate head pat that morning.
He has been doing these kinds of actions frequently lately.
An had broken free from his grasp.
Ji Qingzhou turned around to look at her, her eyes filled with doubt.
She said, "Hold the puppy tight."
Ji Qingzhou said, "I can do it with one hand."
As he spoke, he took her hand again and said, "There are a lot of people, be careful."
Passing by the noodle shop downstairs, the aroma awakened An Yi's belated hunger.
I don't know where she put the two cups of milk tea she bought.
They hadn't eaten yet.
She turned her head to look.
Ji Qingzhou asked, "Want to eat?"
An said, "I'm a little hungry."
He didn't eat anything either.
"Then let's go in."
An shook her head. "Go home quickly."
An wanted to go in and grab something to eat, but knew he didn't like food from outside.
Even if the food at home isn't very good, it's still better than what you get outside.
An had already noticed from the two takeout orders she placed that he never ate much.
"Okay, let's go back and eat the sweet potatoes you steamed."
An frowned slightly. That was just a lazy way for her to fill her stomach; she wouldn't even find it delicious herself.
"Want to eat something delicious?" Ji Qingzhou asked.
An shook her head, taking out her keys from her bag with one hand.
It didn't matter to her what she ate.
The two went home, settled the puppy, packed their things, and hurriedly ate dinner.
An had already gone to bed early.
I woke up in the middle of the night and checked the time; it was still two o'clock.
She was worried about the new puppy, so she got up and went to the balcony.
The screen on the desk glowed, illuminating a figure.
Ji Qingzhou is still working.
"Aren't you asleep yet?" An asked softly.
The muffled sound also had a nasal quality.
"Why are you awake?" Ji Qingzhou looked up from the screen. "Want some water?"
"I won't drink." An walked to the desk and turned on the lamp. "It's better to have some light."
She had just turned it on when Ji Qingzhou turned it off.
“The puppy is sleeping,” he said softly.
An already closed eyes narrowed.
He even said he wouldn't let her rescue stray dogs, that he cared more about them than she did.
An was already crouching in front of the puppy in the corner.
The puppy huddled together in the box we brought back, sleeping soundly.
Inside the box was a large towel and a doll, which An had placed there to comfort it.
The puppy was fast asleep with its eyes closed.
Ji Qingzhou squatted down next to An Yi and they watched the puppy together.
She said softly, "I'll buy the puppy a little bed when I come back tomorrow."
"I just bought it, it will be delivered tomorrow."
An Yi heard this and turned her head to meet Ji Qingzhou's gaze.
Ji Qingzhou asked, "What's wrong?"
An shook her head slightly.
An had already sat down at the desk, and Ji Qingzhou still poured her a glass of water and placed it beside her.
Ji Qingzhou buried himself in his computer and continued working.
An took a sip and said, "Go to sleep early."
Doing a PhD is really tough. Even during holidays, I have to stay up late writing papers. It's already 2 a.m., and I'm still so energetic.
Ji Qingzhou chuckled, "Go to sleep."
An had been sitting for two minutes and was still not sleepy.
On the contrary, it was Ji Qingzhou's nimble fingers on the keyboard that gave her the urge to type.
She stopped sleeping, turned on her computer, and started writing the novel that had been stalled for several days.
An writes very casually, as long as she has inspiration; if she doesn't, she can put it aside for ten days or half a month.
Helpless, Ji Qingzhou got up in the middle of the night to write something.
An felt increasingly excited as she wrote, but the keyboard was becoming harder and harder to type on.
The body can't keep up with the brain.
She fell asleep on the table without anyone noticing.
When An woke up in bed in the morning, she was covered with Ji Qingzhou's dog blanket.
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