Chapter 27
Recently, Jiang Lan and Xiao Ming have been able to leave work on time. Every evening after dinner, they go for a run together in the nearby green park. Their lives are peaceful and fulfilling.
As the weather gradually warms up, the grass grows and birds fly, and everywhere is filled with the breath of spring.
Jiang Lan hasn't gone out to deliver food since New Year's Day last year. He no longer has the idea of finding the Dream Maker, so he no longer has the motivation to go out. Whenever he has free time, he still wants to stay with Xiao Ming. He realized that his mother was right, he really is a love-struck person.
He would occasionally browse the mercenary group to see the orders posted, the Rubik's Cube rules that others had figured out, or messages about new dream realms or old dream realms that hadn't been open for a long time.
The Dream Cube has existed for an unknown period of time. The death and replacement of dream creators is a common occurrence. These dream creators are all different individuals, and each person's dream has different patterns. Once an old dream closes, the mercenaries of that Dream Cube lose their battlefield and will revert to ordinary people. New dreams will then give rise to a new batch of mercenaries, and the Dream Cube continues to exist in this way, constantly changing and evolving.
That evening, just after dinner, the two were getting ready to go out when Xiaoming's phone rang.
"Hello? Brother Zheng."
"Xiaoming, I'm sorry to bother you after get off work."
"Oh, it's nothing. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Here's the thing, my child suddenly developed a high fever. I haven't been to any hospitals around here before. I wanted to ask which hospital you usually take your child to, and what the procedure is?"
Xiao Ming frowned, his tone unchanged: "You should go directly to the Third Hospital, but the pediatrics department is closed right now. Just go to the emergency room; it's a normal procedure, you can register right away."
"Could you come and help me? My brother and Xiao Zheng are both out of town and haven't come back yet. I want to find someone to help me, but I don't know who to ask."
Xiao Ming's face immediately turned cold: "Brother Zheng, I can't go. If I go out, my child will be home alone. My son is still young, how can I leave him home alone?"
"Could you ask a neighbor to help me look at this? I really need someone to help me."
"Isn't Sister Liu here? Sister Liu is very familiar with the Third Hospital. Usually when President Zheng's child is sick, she and President Liu also go to the hospital."
"How could they have time? My brother has two kids at home, they can't leave."
"I'm sorry, I can't leave either. You'll have to ask someone else for help."
After hanging up the phone, Xiaoming stared at the screen and cursed angrily, "You bastard!"
Looking up, Xiaoming saw Jiang Lan staring at him with a puzzled expression. Helpless, he rubbed his forehead and explained, "At the company, to avoid any romantic relationships, I created a persona: a divorced single mother with a child."
"Huh?" Jiang Lan knew about personas, but he hadn't thought of creating one for an unmarried woman. After thinking about it again, he realized it made sense and was a good idea: "Why didn't I think of that before?"
"It's normal that I didn't think of this. I'm not afraid of being hit on by random people, but I wouldn't have thought of this idea either. After all, it's a bit cruel to myself."
"What about that one just now? What happened?"
"That man was our boss's younger brother. He's divorced and has a son, and he's looking for a stepmother for his son."
Jiang Lan's fists hardened instantly upon hearing this: "He works at your company?"
"Yeah, he just joined this year. He just hangs around the company all day long. I don't know what he's doing here."
Seeing his cold face and furrowed brows, Xiaoming smoothed them out and said, "What's there to be angry about? If I can't afford to offend him, I can at least avoid him. If I can't fight one employer, I'll fight another. Everyone needs someone else to work for them."
Jiang Lan took her hand, pulled her into her arms, and asked, "My company is expanding right now, why don't you come work for me?"
Xiao Ming thought for a moment and shook his head: "If I run away without fighting back, it would make me look like I'm easy to bully, which would be too cowardly. I'll find out the situation in the next couple of days and see if I want him to stay at the company or find an opportunity to directly reject him. Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Jiang Lan was feeling irritable, and that night she acted particularly wildly. Xiao Ming, who hadn't applied medicine in a long time, started applying it again.
The next day during lunch break, when Sister Ying chatted with her, Xiaoming casually mentioned what happened the day before.
After hearing this, Sister Ying suddenly realized, "No wonder you didn't come to work today or ask for leave. It turns out your child is sick."
He sneered again, pointing at Xiaoming: "You're so naive. You actually thought he was asking you for help?"
"Huh? Isn't that right?" Xiaoming looked puzzled.
"Of course not. He only worked at the company for a few days before he came to me asking about you. He even asked how old your son was. Oh, right, he also asked me why you didn't send your son back to your ex-husband to raise."
"These people who have absolutely no connection to me are meddling way too much! They're even interfering in my son's affairs. What kind of person are they? Sister Ying, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"It's not too late to tell you now."
"What exactly did President Zheng invite him here for? He just wanders around all day, doing nothing."
At this point, Sister Ying lowered her voice even further, and Xiao Ming leaned closer to her: "I heard that his son is not even a year old yet. He cheated on his wife, and she cheated on him too. Then his wife insisted on a divorce. He originally had a business back in his hometown, but his wife's family had some influence there, and they ruined his business. He already lost half of his assets in the divorce, and with his business gone, he lost even more money. He's now penniless, and with a child to support, he can't do anything. That's why President Zheng asked him to come to the company temporarily, as a way of helping his brother."
"How long will he stay here?"
"I don't know, it depends on what President Zheng arranges. What about you, do you have feelings for him? If it works out, you'll be a member of the royal family."
"I'd have to be out of my mind to even think of that. Would you want a man like that? Forget about whether he's rich or poor, he's so calculating even when he's cheating. You'd be afraid of being taken advantage of as a friend, let alone as his wife. You'd be sold out and still have to pay him back."
The two of them scorned and complained about the scumbags of today before getting back to their busy lives.
Xiaoming loves eating melons, but when this melon grows on his own body, he's just annoyed. What can he do to get rid of this disgusting bug?
She scrolled through her phone's notes app, found a number, and sent a friend request to that number via the green bubble.
When Xiaoming finished get off work, his application was approved. He chatted with the person whose nickname was "Yishui Jiangnan Xiaoli" for a while and then transferred some money to the account provided by the other party.
After finishing, I smiled and left work in a good mood.
Jiang Lan's birthday is in a couple of days, and Xiao Ming wants to take advantage of Jiang Lan's busy work relocation and overtime these days to take the subway to the shopping mall to choose a luxury brand couple's watch as a birthday gift.
When they bought the couple's necklaces, they said they would wear them for a few days as a token gesture, but after she put them on, he wouldn't let her take them off. Xiaoming couldn't stand wearing them, so he had to compromise and ask to wear them during the day and take them off when he took a shower.
He still refused, and when it was time for bed, he insisted that she put it on again: "I'm wearing it around my neck, and your neck feels empty. I can't stand it. It might cause psychological problems in the long run, and what if it leads to functional problems?"
There was no other way but to wear it to bed. Then a few nights ago, she probably felt uncomfortable even in her sleep and unconsciously broke the necklace. She was depressed for several days, always wondering if it was some kind of prophecy. Although she got it repaired right away, she didn't dare to wear it anymore.
She had already made her initial selection on the official website, and today she went to the store to compare them again before buying them directly.
Jiang Lan hadn't gotten home yet when they returned from the shopping mall. Xiao Ming had ordered a cake and flowers again. They didn't like eating out, so they decided to cook longevity noodles at home that day, which would go well with the cake.
He wanted her to stay at his house for her birthday celebration, so he prepared her things in advance and they could stay there together for a few days.
When Jiang Lan got home from get off work, Xiao Ming was already asleep. He mumbled a few words to her as he lay down on the bed, and then fell asleep again.
Jiang Lan's birthday happened to be on a Saturday. Xiao Ming originally planned to give him a gift to celebrate right after midnight, but last night he sent a message saying that he was busy until the very last minute and would be back later. In the end, no one knew when he returned.
The next morning, Xiaoming packed his things and went to his house. The flowers from yesterday were no longer usable, so he went and bought another bouquet.
After I finished preparing the ingredients and making the bed, Jiang Lan called.
Why aren't you home?
"I'm at your house. Just grab a change of clothes, check the plumbing and electrical systems, and then come over."
Jiang Lan was overjoyed and silently put the house renovation on the agenda.
As Jiang Lan entered, a bouquet of flowers greeted her. She hugged the flowers to her chest, and Xiao Ming said to her, "Happy Birthday!"
"Thanks!"
He let Xiaoming lead him to the table and sit down, then watched as Xiaoming lit the candles on the cake: "Make a wish."
This birthday routine was cliché, but it didn't stop Jiang Lan from being deeply moved.
Because this was the first birthday he had spent with his beloved girl, and she had specially taken care of everything for him, he experienced the kind of ordinary happiness that others talked about.
After making a wish and blowing out the candles, Xiaoming took out his watch: "I don't know what to give you, how about this pair of couple watches? Do you like them?"
This pair of watches is an antique-style mechanical watch. Xiaoming dislikes metal being close to her body, so in order to wear the watch for a long time, she can only choose a watch with a leather strap.
Jiang Lan's satisfaction level dropped considerably upon hearing the word "couple," not to mention that the watch also suited his aesthetic taste.
"I really like it, put it on me."
After Xiaoming put the cake on himself, he took out the women's version and put it on Xiaoming as well. He held Xiaoming's wrist and looked at it side by side with his own, then took photos and videos with his phone for a long time before finally cutting the cake and eating it.
"I'll make you a bowl of noodles."
"Together."
The side dishes and soup base are ready in advance, so just put the noodles in to cook them, then put them in a bowl and eat.
Each person has a bowl of noodles, with two poached eggs on top and bright green vegetables lying on the glistening broth—a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.
As Jiang Lan lowered her head to eat her noodles, she felt her eyes welling up with tears. It wasn't because of the gift, nor because of the bowl of noodles, but because of this person.
After eating noodles, the two shared a piece of cake and watched TV together for a while. Jiang Lan started to feel sleepy; he had been too busy lately and hadn't had a full night's sleep.
"Sleep with me for a while."
"Okay." Xiaoming went to his study to pick out a book. Jiang Lan's study was mostly filled with reference books. Xiaoming picked and chose and found a biography of a historical figure. He lay down on the bedside and read it. He saw Jiang Lan hugging his waist and burying his face in his waist as he fell asleep.
It started raining outside sometime earlier, and the raindrops pattered against the windowpane. The bedroom curtains were very good at blocking out light, so the whole room was dim even during the day. Xiaoming read a few pages by the lamp, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he fell asleep.
The hotter she slept, the hotter she felt. She woke up from the heat and opened her eyes to find herself being swayed. She was lying on her side, being held tightly in the arms of the person behind her, and was being moved around. She was covered with a blanket, and her forehead, nose, and neck were covered in fine sweat.
She threw off the covers, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. Seeing that he was awake, Jiang Lan brazenly began to move.
The bedroom had a thick carpet, and the bed was of a much higher quality than Xiaoming's. No matter what Jiang Lan did, there was no noise in the room except for the sound of their skin touching.
Jiang Lan's lustful voice rang in Xiao Ming's ear: "Scream it out, the soundproofing here is very good, no one will hear you."
Xiaoming's neighborhood is densely populated and the soundproofing is poor. If others could hear this kind of noise, Xiaoming probably wouldn't be able to stay there anymore. So she usually grits her teeth and tries not to make a sound.
Perhaps because their sense of security in the environment was satisfied, both of them completely let go of themselves, and afterwards Xiaoming felt like his bones were melting.
Jiang Lan stroked the delicate skin beneath her palm, savoring the warmth of the moment.
"I've already bought the plane tickets to Liu Zhen's hometown. After his wedding, can we go on a trip to a nearby city?"
"Okay, you can arrange it."
Jiang Lan paused, then asked about the unresolved matter concerning Xiao Ming: "How's things going with your boss's brother?"
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