On the 7th of that month, when all static management was lifted in China, nucleic acid testing sites were abandoned in large numbers, and it was no longer necessary to provide dual codes when entering and exiting crowded places, and when the news was exposed by major mainstream media, Ha Yue was wearing a red safety helmet and arguing with the maintenance team leader in the workshop.
The order deadline was fast approaching, and the delayed repairs caused another day's production loss.
Instead, the factory asked Ha Yue to communicate with the customer and extend the original contract for another week.
But customers don't care about these things. A deadline is a deadline; otherwise, what's the point of having a contract?
She kept repeating the same things over and over, losing control at every step, and the communication logic she used to use with clients was almost ineffective in the factory. She not only nearly wore her legs out from running around the factory, but her mouth was also practically dry from talking.
When the video call rang, the team leader on the other end was still yelling that the maintenance would take time. He didn't care about any foreign orders. He was furious and ignored the other party's loud chatter as he turned his back and walked out of the workshop.
Suicheng has been sunny for the past few days, and the snowmelt that has not melted for a long time is slowly flowing down the eaves and freezing again into rows of icicles.
Because she needed to frequently travel between the workshop and the temporary office, Ha Yue was dressed quite warmly, with thermal underwear as a base layer, and on top of that, a cotton-padded coat she had received from the labor protection department.
The cotton-padded jacket is dark blue with a red company logo embroidered on the chest. There are large silver 3M reflective strips on the back and arms to help workers be identified by vehicle lights when traveling to and from the factory at night, thus avoiding danger.
This work uniform completely disregarded the plight of the few female employees. Even the smallest size was abnormally large. If it weren't for a few slightly longer strands of hair peeking out from Ha Yue's collar, it would be impossible to tell whether she was male or female.
After walking a distance away from the main road of the factory area, the "robust" Ha Yue slowed down by a dead tree, took off her mask, walked around the tree, and climbed the external staircase of an abandoned office building on the east side. Only then did she sit down, leaning on the steel plate steps, and start using her phone.
On the screen, Xue Jing had just woken up, his hair was messy, half of his face was buried in the white pillow, and he greeted Ha Yue with a "Good morning" before his eyes were fully open.
Ha Yue took out her earphones and put them in her ears. She then pulled a piece of leftover bread that she had left on the radiator to dry the night before from her cotton coat pocket, crushed it into crumbs with her fingers, and scattered it under the dead tree. Soon, several sparrows flew down from the treetops and nimbly pecked at the food on the ground.
Before Ha Yue could even ask Xue Jing why he was only getting up now, Xue Jing, with a worried expression, began to express his longing: "I miss you. When are you coming home?"
The last time Ha Yue felt an urgency to "go home," she was a little girl not even ten years old. But now, thinking that Xue Jing would be in the house across from this one, her anxiety seems to have eased.
Humans are truly a strange species. A week ago, she was certain that she would end her life in the spring, but now, even though the weather is still so cold, she feels extremely attached to every little thing that touches her heart.
For example, Xue Jing makes frequent video calls, or mentions that she bought some delicious beef buns in the morning, or that she accidentally discovered the little bird in the factory area and has started feeding it every day.
Omnivorous sparrows rarely get to eat insects and seeds in winter, so human food is a good thing for them. In no time, they had completely cleared away the breadcrumbs on the ground. The flock of sparrows flew back to the trees, and one of them, quite bold, even landed on a treetop no more than ten centimeters away from Ha Yue, shaking its head and taking turns using its left and right eyes to observe her.
On the steps, Ha Yue also brought her phone closer so she could better observe Xue Jing's face.
She suspected that he had washed his face and brushed his teeth after getting up, otherwise how could he look so clean and refreshed? The video clearly didn't have any beauty filters, but you couldn't even see a single pore on his face.
Xue Jing always seemed particularly easy to bully when he first woke up, so Ha Yue couldn't help but use a coquettish tone: "Please, I've only been here for five days. I can't go back until the first batch of goods is shipped out."
"How is my mom? Is she getting along well with the caregiver?"
The caregiver, surnamed Wu, was the same age as Zhao Chunni. She had a particularly cheerful and talkative personality. On the day of the interview, Ha Yue realized that she had misjudged the situation when she finally met Wu in person. The salary demanded by the caregiver was not extortion, but rather a perfect match for her abilities.
Wu Fangtian not only has extensive experience in caring for Alzheimer's patients, but also demonstrates exceptional skill in communicating with them.
That day, she went to Ha Yue's house for an interview, and she also carried several brand-new coloring books in her backpack. In less than half an hour, she persuaded Zhao Chunni to sit down with her and do visual exercises on the three primary colors.
The two of them sat around the headboard coloring together, and Wu Fangtian even took the initiative to guide the other woman to talk about the past.
Whether it was how Zhao Chunni had endless farm work to do when she was a child, or the sweetness of her relationship with Ha Jianguo in the city, or her daughter's complaints about being disobedient, she encouraged the other person to keep talking.
She said that these narratives help stimulate patients' cognitive abilities and are a form of indirect intellectual training.
After Zhao Chunni took her afternoon nap, Ha Yue saw her off. With Ha Yue's permission, Wu Fangtian went to the kitchen to check on the remaining food supplies. Seeing the pots and pans full of seasonings and the fresh vegetables, eggs and milk in the refrigerator, Wu Fangtian smiled and praised Ha Yue for being thoughtful.
She mentioned that the patient she cared for before didn't even have rice or flour at home, only boxes of instant noodles, plus layers of locked windows and doors. When she took over, the patient was far from being as clean as Zhao Chunni, and the room reeked of a long-term musty smell that couldn't be dispelled.
"But I can understand that family members haven't received systematic training and are emotionally exhausted from taking care of their loved ones. However, we can't be careless about their diet. A good intake of protein and vitamins is very helpful for patients. It's also best to keep the area clean so that patients can be comfortable."
"Patients are human beings first and foremost."
Because of that sentence, before Wu Fangtian even boarded the bus that day, Ha Yue chased after her to the bus stop and signed an employment contract with her.
The Analects says that those who have different ideas cannot work together, but people who share the same ideals will always appreciate each other at first glance.
"Don't change the subject. Aunt Wu said she sends you videos and photos of herself every day. How could you not know how good she is?"
Xue Jing didn't answer any of the other questions Ha Yue suddenly threw out at him, and continued to mutter like a resentful woman in her boudoir.
"Oh. It's only been five days, so you don't miss me at all? I see, I get it. You don't cherish me anymore now that you've got me, huh?"
Some people are bestselling authors on the surface, but secretly act like whiny girls in front of their girlfriends.
She hadn't really "cherished" him much before, had she? He was the one who suggested getting back together; she didn't even go through the whole process. He was just lying there, completely exposed, at her mercy.
But does Ha Yue like his way of pursuing her? Of course she likes it very much.
Ha Yue looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then gently waved away the little sparrow that was still staring at her. Her ears reddened as she whispered, "I miss you, I miss you so much. You're just lying at home sleeping soundly until dawn, while I'm still working. Don't bother me, I'll call you after get off work! Be good!"
"Then kiss me."
"Xue Jing!"
"What's the matter!"
"Hanged up!"
After ending the video call, Xue Jing didn't call back, but he sent her a long text message.
“Auntie is doing well. Every day after lunch, when the sun is shining, Aunt Wu takes her outside for an hour. Yesterday, I drove them to the supermarket. When Auntie saw me, she didn’t scold me anymore. She even said a few words to me in the car. Although she probably still doesn’t know who I am, she said thank you along with Aunt Wu when we got out of the car.”
“I don’t just lie at home and sleep until dawn every day. Yesterday, my aunt and Xiaoyu restocked the store, Jinzi drove for the director, and I went over to help move the goods. I was busy until the early hours of the morning.”
"Also, the day before yesterday, Xiaoyu had her prenatal checkup. I was minding the shop in the morning when a little girl came to ride the rocking horse and asked who I was and where Sister Moon was. I told her I was Sister Moon's boyfriend, and she actually pouted at me! She even said I was lying and that you have to explain things to her when you get back!"
"Why are you the older sister and I'm the uncle? My beard is perfectly clean-shaven!"
"What kind of brats are these? Don't they have any sense of aesthetics? They might as well just call me grandpa! I'm planning to get up in a bit and take the kiddie ride home."
"Besides, is it really disturbing your work to video call you during your lunch break? I really shouldn't have encouraged you to follow orders. I regret it now. I've finished writing the novel. What's the point of me staying alone in an empty room? I might as well go back to Jicheng. Anyway, no one loves me here."
A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. After reading Xue Jing's short essay, Ha Yue held the phone to her lips and gave it two quick, virtual kisses, saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you. Why doesn't anyone love you?!"
"You must be tired waiting for me at home. Don't regret it, I'll bring you something delicious when I get home from my business trip!"
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?"
Putting her phone away, Ha Yue hummed a song as she walked down the stairs and returned to the workshop. The tense atmosphere from before immediately calmed down. Ha Yue stopped arguing with the maintenance team leader and politely ended the conversation: "If there's really no other way, then you can just go with your arrangements. I'll be responsible for reporting back to the leaders and the customer."
Beside the production line, the maintenance team leader was still smug, feeling that he had finally given the young Ha Yue a hard time.
Completely unexpectedly, after saying that, Ha Yue went back to her office and directly contacted Sun Qiming to issue a penalty notice to the factory for breach of contract in accordance with the contract.
She finally understood that it was no use for her to worry about this business alone. She had to be polite first and then take firm action against the uncooperative factory. The factory would have to pay for the air freight of the first batch of goods, and fines would be imposed on the responsible persons at each stage. Once they really suffered, the subsequent batches would naturally be easier to do.
The long-term goal is to achieve something; there's really no need to get angry right now.
She couldn't let these people, who always exuded negativity during work collaborations, lead her by the nose. This business was for her, and the money should ultimately be in her pocket, so she needed to actively adjust her mindset.
With the first draft of the novel completed, Xue Jing's workload has become much lighter in the past few days. However, for several days in a row, he has not made much progress in the first proofreading of the first draft.
Especially after he got up at noon today, he was in a daze and couldn't muster any interest in doing anything.
He squeezed face wash onto his electric toothbrush while brushing his teeth, and casually poured coffee grounds into his milk cup while making coffee. It wasn't until he had spent twice as long eating the white bread that Aunt Siqin had brought him yesterday that he discovered there was a bowl of lamb offal soup in the refrigerator that hadn't been cooked yet.
Yes, now that he's been in Suicheng for a while, he can not only eat freshly slaughtered geese, but he also dares to put animal offal in his mouth, something he used to never dare to touch. The first time he ate it, he found it hard to bear, but unexpectedly, his desire for food overcame his mental restraint, and after a few days, he wanted to eat it a second time.
But today he doesn't want to eat anything, and he doesn't want to touch any meat at all.
After rinsing his mouth, Xue Jing reluctantly walked to the computer, still pondering Ha Yue's words, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
The "short separation" was real, but he couldn't help but wonder what the word "marriage" really meant.
Could Ha Yue be hinting to him that she's already considering taking the next step in their relationship?
Although they had only been back together for a week, he had liked her for several years. He first fell in love when he was eighteen, so how could the four years they had been apart be considered a period of silence in their relationship?
If hibernation ends, does that mean bears are no longer bears?
If Ha Yue wasn't joking, shouldn't he respond and let her know that he also has this intention?
Feeling dizzy and disoriented, Xue Jing's mind was filled with nothing but the wedding march. He flipped through a dozen pages of a Word document without paying any attention, the manuscript swaying wildly in front of him like Harles' code. Xue Jing sat in front of the computer for less than half an hour before getting up again and pacing around the living room.
His fingers would rest on his temples one moment, then on the bridge of his nose the next, before he finally spread his hands and sat back down at the computer, opening the document as if he were at a funeral.
After repeating this process several times, not a single word of the nearly 400,000-word novel had been changed. In fact, he even added a lot of typos at the beginning. As the clock struck 2:30 in the afternoon, he suddenly returned to the bedroom, took off his pajamas, opened the wardrobe door completely, and threw all his clothes on the bed again.
After spending half an hour choosing his clothes for going out, Xue Jing grabbed his car keys and went shopping without stopping.
The first stop was the shopping mall with the most jewelry stores in Suicheng. The second stop was an outdoor equipment chain store. All the items, big and small, were stuffed into the truck bed, covered with a tarpaulin, and tied up. The third stop was, of course, the industrial park where Ha Yue lived.
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