Chapter 25 The supermarket is "cold outside".
After watching Bai Zeyu walk away in a disheveled state, the atmosphere instantly became somewhat awkward.
Zhang Minglang patted the dust off his palms, looked down at the tips of his shoes, and Tang Yi blinked before looking out the window again.
"Um, may I ask what your relationship is?" Zhang Minglang finally couldn't hold back any longer. He cleared his throat and asked tentatively.
Tang Yi shifted her gaze from the window and looked at him calmly.
"It's okay, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't." He could foresee her decision to remain silent and expressed his understanding.
"There's nothing I can't say, it's about my ex-boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend??" Zhang Minglang wondered if he had misheard, and turned to stare at her incredulously with his hands on his hips.
Tang Yi glanced at him, put her hands in her pockets, and pretended to be busy looking at the sky and then at the ground, but she didn't want to look at him anymore.
Zhang Minglang laughed heartily. He pointed in the direction Bai Zeyu had just run off in, and brought his face close to Tang Yi's: "This guy, how did you fall for him? He's got the height, the education, the looks, the character, the education, and..."
Tang Yi felt uncomfortable because he was too close to her. So she quietly took a small step to the side and said in a low voice, "You said it yourself, he has an education."
"No way, can a degree put food on the table?" Zhang Minglang got even angrier. "If that's the case, then I also have a degree. Aren't I a returnee from overseas?"
"How can that be the same? I was in college back then, and now I'm working."
Zhang Minglang was about to say something more when Tang Yi became impatient: "He's my ex-boyfriend, what's there to say?"
"That's true." Zhang Minglang thought it made sense; Tang Yi's casual remark had easily extinguished his anger.
"Alright, go back now, don't just stand there." Tang Yi waved her hand and walked away on her own.
Back at the dining table, Tang Yi saw from afar that only her parents remained. Chen Lian stood with her arms crossed, her face ashen as she stared at the food on the table, seemingly waiting for Tang Yi to return and settle accounts.
Tang Yi sighed and silently returned to the empty seat opposite her at the dining table.
"Eat up, the food's getting cold."
Tang Yi spoke in a flat tone, showing no desire to explain.
Chen Lian lifted her eyelids, her face stern: "You've made them leave in anger, and I've lost all face. Are you satisfied now?"
"I have no complaints or dissatisfaction. I never intended to come to this meal, and any unexpected events are beyond my control."
"You can't control it?" Chen Lian said sarcastically, as if she had heard a joke. "Didn't you call Xiao Zhang over to cause trouble? I really don't believe it."
Tang Yi stopped what she was doing, looked up at her aggressive mother, and said in a cold voice, "Is that how you see me?"
Chen Lian was startled for a moment by her gaze and tone, but her face remained stiff, and she did not speak again.
Tang Yi felt there was no need to waste any more words. She slammed her chopsticks down on the table, then got up, picked up her bag and phone, and left with the words, "You guys eat slowly." No matter how much her mother shouted and cursed behind her, she didn't turn back.
"Tang Yi".
Zhang Minglang happened to come in from outside and saw her rushing out with her head down, so he quickly called out to her.
Tang Yi looked up and saw his familiar face.
When Zhang Minglang saw her slightly reddened eyes, his heart clenched, and he had a thousand thoughts he wanted to say.
But he didn't ask anything; he simply reached out and handed her her coat, his voice gentle:
It's chilly outside.
Tang Yi's eyes sparkled, her nose tingled, she whispered a thank you, took the clothes from him, and walked past him.
Zhang Minglang stood there watching her figure disappear outside the door before finally turning around and sitting down at his table.
When he reached the table, he realized the dishes were already served. Cheng He looked up from his phone and saw his missing brother had finally returned, even abandoning his game. He let out a long sigh.
"Brother, what's wrong with you? Why did it take so long? Luckily, the food here is slow to serve, or I would have been waiting forever."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Zhang Minglang lowered his head and apologized, "I'm sorry, brother."
Cheng He was shocked to see Zhang Minglang, who never apologized, bowing his head. She exclaimed as if she had seen a ghost, "Have you been possessed? We haven't seen each other for a month, and you've already reformed and learned to apologize?"
Zhang Minglang clicked his tongue and was about to step forward to cover his mouth.
Cheng He laughed as she dodged: "Your company really has magic. I learned to apologize after only one month on the job."
What was said unintentionally may have been taken to heart by the listener.
Zhang Minglang fell into an unusual silence, and naturally thought of Tang Yi.
Could it be that my temper has actually improved under her influence?
He shook his head and chuckled to himself, erasing the thought from his mind.
Cheng He immediately noticed something amiss, but knowing that asking would be pointless, he simply pretended not to see it.
Tang Yi was exhausted after just one meal, and to make matters worse, she was starving; a series of unexpected events had left her feeling unsatisfied.
The first thing she did when she got home was to open the refrigerator. Seeing that it was empty, she realized that there had been no food left since yesterday.
Tang Yi scratched her head and had no choice but to open the food delivery app. However, before she could even choose what to eat, a message suddenly popped up at the top of the screen.
[Zhang: I ordered takeout for you, go downstairs and pick it up.]
Tang Yi stared blankly at the short line of text. Before she could figure out how to reply, several more messages popped up on the other end:
[Chapter: I'm sorry for causing this mess. I think you probably haven't eaten enough.]
[Zhang: But you have to admit, my trick worked; at least you're free now.]
Tang Yi chuckled softly, his smug expression almost palpable in his words.
Tang Yi: Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang.
-
On Saturday, Tang Yi didn't let herself sleep in. She got up early to clean the house and water the potted plants on the balcony.
For busy working people, watering flowers and tidying up the house every day is enough to bring them a little comfort.
A thin stream of water flows from the kettle, splashing onto the soil in the potted plant, and the sound inexplicably brings a sense of healing.
Bathed in the sunlight streaming through the balcony window, Tang Yi felt refreshed and no longer dwelled on yesterday's negative emotions.
After tidying everything up, it was almost lunchtime. She ordered takeout and started scrolling through her phone, feeling utterly bored.
When bored, bothering her best friend seems to be an age-old principle. While eating, she tapped Xu Xiaoxiao's profile picture and typed, "What are you doing?"
Xu Xiaoxiao replied instantly: 【My dad dragged me to the company...】
[Recliner: It's alright, you go ahead with your work.]
[Just laugh it off: What are you so busy with? Taking a break. You finally have some free time?]
Tang Yi replied with "Yeah," and immediately received a series of messages from the other end, saying that since there was nothing else to do, they absolutely had to go to Heaven tonight and have a blast until they were drunk.
She thought about it and figured she had nothing to do that evening anyway, and she'd been so busy lately that she hadn't seen Xu Xiaoxiao in a long time, so she readily agreed.
Upon hearing that she was going shopping in the afternoon, Xu Xiaoxiao perked up and quickly said that she would sneak out of the company that afternoon to come and find her, and the two of them would go shopping together.
So at 3 p.m., Tang Yi and Xu Xiaoxiao, who were too lazy to drive, took a taxi to a supermarket that Tang Yi often frequented.
"Yiyi, is this all you're wearing?" Xu Xiaoxiao's voice came before she even got in the car, "Anyone who didn't know better would think you were going out for a stroll."
Tang Yi was both amused and exasperated. She looked down at her "outfit": a simple, loose-fitting white cotton dress with a short camel-colored cardigan casually draped over her shoulders, topped with a black baseball cap, and her long black hair draped loosely over her shoulders.
She was in a hurry to leave and didn't put on makeup, so her facial features were much softer than when she was working, giving her a gentle temperament.
“I’m not dressed that badly,” Tang Yi tugged at her clothes, responding to Xu Xiaoxiao’s words. “Besides, we were just taking a walk.”
"That's why I said you have no experience!" Xu Xiaoxiao leaned closer to her with a mysterious look, her strong perfume wafting towards her. "It's said that men who don't go out and mess around on weekends and come to the supermarket alone are usually good-looking men who are family-oriented and don't mess around."
Tang Yi didn't even bother to listen to the end, so she pushed Xu Xiaoxiao away and said with a helpless smile, "Come on. That Cheng guy, isn't he the one you met at the supermarket? You chatted for two months and then found out he was already married."
Hearing her best friend recount her embarrassing past, Xu Xiaoxiao sighed and tried to cover Tang Yi's mouth. Just then, the taxi arrived at its destination, and Tang Yi quickly stopped the commotion, opening the door and telling her to get out.
The two of them leaned against each other, pushing a small cart as they shopped. Xu Xiaoxiao, still unwilling to give up, absentmindedly craned her neck, searching for her target.
Tang Yi was picking up a box of steaks to check the date when Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly lowered her voice, patted her shoulder with one hand, and excitedly said in a certain direction, "Yiyi, look over there, the one dressed all in black and wearing a baseball cap, he looks alright!"
Tang Yi listened to the description and felt it sounded strangely familiar. However, she didn't think much of it, glanced in that direction symbolically a couple of times, made a few "uh-huh" sounds to appease Xu Xiaoxiao, and then continued to focus on checking the production date.
"Why does he look so familiar... Damn, he has a girlfriend? Never mind then."
Xu Xiaoxiao looked in that direction, her voice suddenly deflated, and she turned around to hug Tang Yi's arm, walking forward listlessly while muttering, "What's going on? How come all the handsome guys have boyfriends? Where's my boyfriend?"
Tang Yi smiled and shook her head, replying, "Haven't you dated enough boyfriends?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoxiao sighed deeply and said in a drawn-out voice, "What do you know? I'm not as loyal as you. I dated Bai Zeyu for two years straight."
Upon hearing the name of this person whom she had just met the previous night, Tang Yi's heart stirred, but she said nothing.
Realizing what she had just said, Xu Xiaoxiao quickly grabbed Tang Yi's slender arm, shook it from side to side, and cautiously asked, "I'm sorry, I forgot... Are you alright?"
Tang Yi snapped out of her daze and found it amusing. She turned her head and said, "It's fine, I'm alright."
After observing and confirming that she was indeed alright, Xu Xiaoxiao felt relieved and boldly spoke up: "That scumbag, get as far away from me as possible and never show your face in front of us again! Otherwise, I'll slap him every time I see him..."
After listening to Xu Xiaoxiao's satisfying rant, Tang Yi finally told her the truth: "He went back to China."
"He's back in China???" Xu Xiaoxiao stopped cursing, her eyes wide with shock. "He still has the nerve to come back? He didn't contact you, did he...?"
As Tang Yi walked towards the cashier and led her to pay, she told her in detail everything that had happened that morning.
When she talked about why Bai Zeyu left the restaurant, she paused, hesitating whether to mention Zhang Minglang.
When Xu Xiaoxiao heard that she had stopped talking, she shook her arm in confusion. Tang Yi was about to speak when she suddenly heard Xu Xiaoxiao gasp and tighten her grip on her arm.
She turned her head in confusion and saw that Xu Xiaoxiao's eyes were fixed on something, and she had forgotten to say anything.
Tang Yi followed her gaze and saw a tall, dark figure. Under the baseball cap, a very familiar face came into view.
"What a coincidence, we meet again." Zhang Minglang said, looking pleasantly surprised.
Xu Xiaoxiao couldn't remember who he was for a moment. She just looked at him and then at her own Yiyi as if she had stumbled upon some juicy gossip. She consciously let go of his arm, quietly took a step back, took the plastic bag from Tang Yi's hand, and started packing her things while listening intently to the gossip.
"It's quite a coincidence that we meet again so soon." Besides feeling that it was a coincidence that they could meet again in less than a day, Tang Yi was also quite surprised to run into this young master who looked like he never lifted a finger in such a small supermarket.
“Surprised?” Zhang Minglang easily read her thoughts, then explained, “A friend came to my house, and he sent me to buy groceries.”
Remembering something, he raised his hands: "I didn't follow you."
Tang Yi was amused by his exaggerated actions and smiled, while Zhang Minglang also stared at her with a silly smile.
Just as he was about to say something, a lively female voice came from behind Zhang Minglang: "Brother Minglang, can we buy this?"
Zhang Minglang and Tang Yi looked at the same time.
Tang Yi got a clear look at the girl's face. She looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, with short curly hair, rosy cheeks, and a large jar of candy in her hand. She was looking up at Zhang Minglang.
"No, put it back." Zhang Minglang's voice suddenly dropped several octaves, and his tone became serious. "Didn't your brother say you were getting your teeth fixed?"
"Tch, fine, don't buy it then." The girl rolled her eyes at him, leaving him with only a view of the back of her head.
Tang Yi watched the interaction between the two with great interest, lost in thought.
After dealing with the situation, Zhang Minglang turned around again and saw Tang Yi looking like she had just heard something. He quickly explained, "She's my friend's sister. She insisted on coming along to buy things."
Tang Yi nodded slowly.
Seeing that she didn't seem to believe him, Zhang Minglang hurriedly stepped forward to explain in detail.
However, the cashier suddenly spoke up, reminding Tang Yi that she could pay now. Tang Yi then stopped paying attention to Zhang Minglang's expression and looked down to open the payment code.
After paying, Tang Yi glanced at her phone; it was almost 4:30. Thinking she still needed to go back and prepare the groceries, she didn't plan to stay any longer. She told Zhang Minglang, "Take your time shopping, I have to go now," and then left the supermarket with Xu Xiaoxiao.
Zhang Minglang had a lot to say, but he could only stand there, unable to speak.
Author's note: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone! [cheering emoji]
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