Chapter 42 Skateboard
Zhan Lintian was teasing him on purpose.
Jiang Xia pondered for a moment, then leaned forward, speaking slowly and with a smile, "Lin Tian, right?"
After he finished speaking, he looked up with a slightly sly look.
Zhan Lintian paused, stared at his face, and slowly smiled, placing his hand on Jiang Xia's shoulder: "Yes, calling him President Zhan every day is too formal..."
Before Jiang Xia could answer, he said, "Come on, let's see what vegetables you bought."
"So much?" Zhan Lintian was stunned when he saw the table full of meat as he led Jiang Xia into the kitchen.
Jiang Xia smiled and told him, "I've already started stewing the ribs."
Zhan Lintian couldn't help but chuckle. What was he so proud of?
Just twenty minutes ago, when the two of them were chatting, he was still shopping at the supermarket. Now he has already prepared the groceries. He must have rushed back in a hurry, afraid that his guest would have to cook for him again.
There were two flames on the stove, one of which was simmering in a pressure cooker, and the other was the large iron pot I had seen last time.
In the iron pot, winter melon was placed at the bottom, various vegetables were placed on top, and two bowls of soup were simmered on top.
Zhan Lintian stroked his chin and looked at Jiang Xia beside him. This guy didn't seem to know how to cook. The whole thing was a hodgepodge of flavors.
Jiang Xia asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhan Lintian lowered his hand, which seemed to indicate that he was quite confident. It meant that if he didn't do it this way, the taste would probably be terrible.
For those who aren't very good at cooking, this kind of mixed dish is indeed more palatable.
Jiang Xia set a time: "It should be ready in about an hour on a low flame."
The original plan was to start eating between 10:30 and 11:00, but Mr. Zhan arrived early.
Zhan Lintian rolled up his sleeves: "Let me tidy up the table."
He neatly and efficiently put the remaining vegetables into the refrigerator.
Jiang Xia wanted to talk to him about Wu Zhou, but Zhan Lintian looked out the window and said, "The weather is nice outside, let's go downstairs and get some sun."
"Oh, by the way," he walked to the door and took out the black skateboard that was behind the door, "I was going to tell you last time, you can skateboard?"
"I can only stand on it and do a few simple moves. I haven't skated for many years."
"Let me see?" Zhan Lintian asked for his opinion.
Jiang Xia was taken aback for a moment, then agreed: "Okay."
It's boring for the two of them to walk around down there.
Jiang Xia carried the skateboard downstairs and tried to stand on it to slide, but he could only slide by stepping on it.
Zhan Lintian followed on his left, while Jiang Xia stood on his skateboard watching him. The two walked along the riverbank.
Zhan Lintian asked, "Did Wu Zhou say he'd give you a few days to think about it?"
"He didn't say." It could be tomorrow, or it could be the day after.
Jiang Xia kicked the skateboard, causing his body to sway.
Zhan Lintian looked at his face: "Then will you agree?"
Jiang Xia felt her face burning and whispered, "I probably won't."
Zhan Lintian put one hand in his pocket, quickened his pace, and muttered to himself... It shouldn't be... It should be.
He didn't say it outright, but frankly said, "That's fine then. Although I'm not very familiar with him, I know he's not an unreasonable person. You can explain it to him later."
Zhan Lintian said, "Jiang Xia, this is not a big deal."
After hearing this, Jiang Xia repeated, "It's not a big deal... Yes, it's not a big deal."
Life is full of events, but when we grow old and our hair turns white, looking back on today's events is just a drop in the ocean of memories.
Seeing that he hadn't shown any skateboarding tricks, Zhan Lintian believed that he wasn't being modest and that he really only knew how to skate smoothly.
Jiang Xia noticed him looking at the skateboard and asked, "Mr. Zhan, you can skateboard too?"
"When I was studying in the Fog country, I sometimes rode a bike or skateboard to the teaching building."
Jiang Xia wobbled and got off the skateboard. Zhan Lintian raised his hand and stepped on the tail of the board. The short board tilted up and he grabbed the skateboard.
"Let's go skate in the open space downstairs from your house."
Jiang Xia tried to start a conversation with him: "Is President Zhan going to teach me something?"
Zhan Lintian said frankly, "If possible."
Jiang Xia was just being polite; I never expected him to mean it that way.
Since there was nothing else to do, Jiang Xia took a deep breath and said, "Okay, but I don't have any protective gear at home."
Zhan Lintian didn't care: "Then I'll protect you at all times. If you fall, I'll catch you."
The two walked back.
Today is supposed to be a workday, but Jiang Xia is on holiday. It's one of the few leisure days he gets throughout the year, so Zhan Lintian is working flexibly. Recently, there haven't been any investments that require his personal visits to secure; he's been having his subordinates negotiate them.
The old woman was pushing her little cart out and carrying out fruit one by one when Jiang Xia and Zhan Lintian went over to help.
Then the old woman sat under the tree basking in the sun. The long-awaited warmth of the approaching winter in Mengcheng made her feel cozy all over.
The old woman sat in her rocking chair, watching two people in the distance awkwardly skateboarding.
The old woman watched as Jiang Xia, guided by his friend, tried new movements. He had a good learning ability, but his physical movements were still not very skillful.
Jiang Xia ran over a small pebble on his skateboard, quickly got off, and stumbled forward before being caught by Zhan Lintian.
Perhaps out of embarrassment, or perhaps out of relief that he hadn't fallen, Jiang Xia was in a good mood and smiled as he looked at Zhan Lintian.
The old woman thought to herself: This is the kind of energy young people should have.
If we could start a family, life would be even better.
But lately, I haven't seen his elusive friend named Wu Ming.
In the past year or two, he has basically come to Jiangxia's house drunk to sober up, arriving late at night and leaving early in the morning after sobering up.
Jiang Xia was always reluctant to say more.
At that moment, in the Wu family compound, Wu Ming suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose.
He muttered to himself, "Who's talking badly about me behind my back?"
Wu Zhou stood to the side with a cold expression. Wu Ming sneezed again, rubbed his nose with a tissue, and said, "What the hell?"
At that moment, an assistant came over and glanced at Wu Zhou.
Wu Zhou nodded, and his assistant said, "The flowers have arrived, Mr. Wu, would you like to take a look?"
Wu Ming was still rubbing the tip of his nose when he asked, "Big brother, what kind of flower is that?"
Wu Zhou sipped his tea: "You misheard me."
Wu Ming said "Oh," and asked, "I wanted to go see Jiang Xia today, but he hasn't been answering my calls. I'm worried about him."
Wu Zhou narrowed his eyes: "Aren't you going to keep Xie Xingzhang company?"
Upon hearing the name, Wu Ming felt his blood pressure spike. He stood up and explained, "Brother, as I said, Xingzhang and I have agreed that it's just an engagement, not a marriage. Marriage is a serious matter that can't be rushed."
Wu Zhou looked at him coldly: "Does dating mean you can be so casual?"
Wu Zhou's assistant handed him a tablet, and Wu Ming watched him swipe on it, seemingly looking at some pictures.
But Wu Ming didn't have time to think about that right now. He gripped his phone tightly and said, "I've listened to you and the engagement banquet has gone smoothly, right, brother? Haven't you reached an agreement with the Xie family yet?"
"Well, but they said that since we're engaged, there's no rush to get married."
With the marriage agreement in place, the Wu family could no longer secretly find someone else for Wu Ming.
Wu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the screen that remained unlit, stood up, and said resolutely, "I'm going to find Jiang Xia."
He informed his older brother without seeking his consent.
Grandpa Wu, who was standing nearby, had been having a headache lately because of his son's affairs. He had thought his grandson would be able to settle down and start a family, but it turned out he was no pushover either.
He does bear some resemblance to his biological father.
Wu Zhou stood up, and Wu Ming asked, "Big brother, where are you going?"
"The company." Wu Zhou grabbed his coat, and Wu Ming took the opportunity to follow. "Brother, could you give me a ride? I'm going to Jiangxia's house."
Wu Zhou glanced at him, and Wu Ming said to himself, "Jiang Xia only replied to me this morning. He took the day off today, so he must be at home. Why didn't he reply to me? Is he not feeling well?"
"Could it be that someone got him drunk at the engagement party yesterday? Did you see it?"
Wu Zhou stopped in his tracks, feeling unwell... Yesterday, only Zhan Lintian fed him a cup of wine, and he left a caregiver behind before leaving. When Jiang Xia woke up this morning, the caregiver said that Mr. Jiang was fine.
However, after the caregiver left, Jiang Xia did not reply to his message.
Jiang Xia would pretend to be fine in front of outsiders, and even if he had a splitting headache, he would not easily let the caregiver see it.
Wu Zhou squinted and said, "Let's go."
Wu Ming thought he was going to refuse, but things took an unexpected turn, and he happily followed after him: "Okay!"
In the car, Wu Zhou was using a tablet to browse through pictures, and Wu Ming, with his sharp eyes, noticed that all the bouquets on the screen were roses.
Wu Ming let out a soft "oh" with amusement. Although the company would give employees bouquets as gifts during holidays, such a small matter was not worth his elder brother's personal selection.
And these were roses from the Qingyu shop...
In the past year or two, "Qingyu" has become a popular flower shop in Mengcheng. It pursues exquisite, expensive and rare styles and flowers, making it one of the shops that wealthy young men and women in Mengcheng can choose when they want to express their love.
Sometimes, if a shop doesn't have the flowers it needs, they can find a way to airfreight them from overseas.
Wu Ming always chose this shop first when sending flowers to Xie Xingzhang.
However, this place is not easy to book; you need to wait in line. Wu Ming didn't want to give face to the Wu family for such a small matter.
If it's available, we'll commit; if not, we'll wait.
Wu Ming wanted to tease his older brother, but he never expected that his usually solitary older brother would be so romantic and thoughtful when pursuing someone.
Wu Ming couldn't help but say, "The Fairy Kiss is quite popular lately."
Wu Zhou couldn't help but turn his head to look at him: "What?"
Wu Ming looked up and casually said, "The Fairy Kiss Rose can have its petals turned inside out. I talked about this with Jiang Xia last time, and he also said it was beautiful."
Later, he ordered a bouquet for Xie Xingzhang from Qingyu.
Wu Zhou hummed in agreement. Wu Ming was unsure of his mindset and was curious about which young lady he was pursuing, but he couldn't ask directly. He thought to himself that he would subtly inquire with Assistant Xie later.
Wu Zhou has several assistants, and Wu Ming is only familiar with Assistant Xie. He guesses that Xie doesn't know anything, since Assistant Xie is used by his older brother to keep an eye on him... He is only slightly closer to Jiang Xia, and doesn't get involved in other matters.
Wu Ming didn't expect to get any answers from the questions.
He was just genuinely curious.
I hadn't heard anything about my older brother liking anyone before, but suddenly it's showing today. Could it be that he fell in love with someone at first sight during his engagement party?
A lot of people did come yesterday.
However, Wu Ming did not notice who his elder brother treated better.
Wu Ming doesn't have much time to think about this now.
He felt uneasy. He kept reassuring himself that Jiang Xia might have really just wanted to give him a surprise yesterday, but that surprise was based on deception.
As the vehicle drew closer to Jiangxia's home, Wu Ming grew increasingly nervous.
He called Jiang Xia again, but still no one answered.
When the car stopped a short distance downstairs, Wu Ming asked the driver, "Uncle, why didn't you go over there? You can park downstairs."
The driver said, "Mr. Jiang is downstairs, and it's inconvenient for the car to stop there."
Wu Ming's eyes lit up with joy. Jiang Xia was downstairs?!
As soon as he opened the car door, he saw Jiang Xia standing with President Zhan, playing on a skateboard. Jiang Xia had a smile in her eyes and was looking up at the man in front of her.
The bright sunlight today seemed to fall like a layer of scattered gold between his eyebrows and eyes.
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A note from the author:
Jiang Xia's cooking is actually quite average, but that's okay, he has two husbands who have children. [Okay].
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