Chapter 44, "The Sound of Rain," means, "Can I kiss you now?"
It wasn't until Tang Yi loosened Zhang Minglang's sleeve that the two crossed the street together and walked into the bookstore side by side. Tang Yi was already negotiating with the bookstore owner, while he was still in shock.
"What are you staring at?"
Tang Yi's voice rang out, and Zhang Minglang snapped out of his daze as if waking from a dream.
He lowered his voice: "It's nothing, it's just a bit sunny."
Tang Yi stopped paying attention to him. As usual, she walked around the bookshelf, personally selecting suitable books one by one.
Zhang Minglang picked up a book: "How about this one?"
She turned her head, glanced at it for only a second, and then shook her head: "I received this in July."
"What about this one?"
"There's already another version of this."
Zhang Minglang put down his book and tiptoed to her side. Sunlight streamed in through the window, filtering through her hair and enveloping her completely, making her look like a goddess descended from heaven.
Looking at her carefully chosen profile, he exclaimed, "Do you have a chip in your brain, Tang Xiaoyi? How can you remember everything so clearly?"
Tang Yi didn't seem to like him addressing her that way. She glanced up at him before replying, "Yes, actually I'm a robot."
Zhang Minglang exclaimed "Ah!" and then seriously took over her words: "Then our relationship can be considered a human-machine romance."
Tang Yi's breath hitched, and she turned to look at him.
Sunlight shone from behind him, creating a halo around him. He raised an eyebrow, a look of smugness and probing on his face.
Tang Yi felt a slight unease, but she turned around without making a sound and casually flipped through the book in her hand.
No one paid any attention to his ambiguous remark.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Minglang finally asked, "Do you go to Ju County often?"
Tang Yi shook her head: "No. I only go when I have time during holidays."
“I was busy recently, and your proposal should only be under budget review recently,” he recalled the progress. “I estimate we’ll have to review it again soon to determine whether it will be approved or not.”
As Zhang Minglang watched Tang Yi select books for the rural children, doing what she loved, he felt as if she were bathed in a gentle light. His tone softened accordingly: "How did you come up with the idea of sponsoring that place?"
Holding several books, Tang Yi was lost in memories: "One day, while on a business trip, I flipped through a magazine on the high-speed train and saw this project, so I decided to give it a try by funding it."
She looked up at the tall bookshelves and all kinds of books: "Later, I chatted with the locals and found that there were many left-behind children there, and even more psychological problems. I felt that they needed such a project."
Tang Yi's expression was serious, and her tone was exceptionally firm: "These funds are just savings for me, but for them it's a lifelong commitment. Even if the company can't approve my proposal, I will still continue to provide the funding in my personal capacity."
Looking at the small mole on her cheek and her eyes that sparkled with love, Zhang Minglang suddenly felt a surge of emotion.
He wanted to kiss her.
But this is a bookstore, with people coming and going. If he really did that, Tang Yi would definitely be angry.
Thinking of the serious consequences of her anger, the little courage he had finally mustered vanished along with the sunlight that suddenly disappeared outside the window.
A commotion erupted in the bookstore. They stopped chatting, turned around, and saw that the sky outside had suddenly become overcast, as if the end of the world was approaching.
Zhang Minglang joked, "What are we going to do? It's raining and we didn't bring an umbrella. Are you going to get an electric shock?"
Tang Yi knew he was still teasing her about being a robot, so she shrugged in agreement: "Then I guess you'll have to make do with your coat."
She handed the selected sample books to the boss, who, as usual, took out a sufficient number of books from the warehouse, packed them in a cardboard box, and handed them to Tang Yi. Tang Yi compared the items on the bill one by one, but suddenly her hands were empty.
The bill ended up in Zhang Minglang's hands.
She reached out to take it back, but he nimbly dodged and used his height advantage to block her movement.
"Keep your money for body repairs, little robot."
Zhang Minglang's voice was filled with laughter as he opened his phone to make a payment.
Tang Yi chuckled, crossed her arms, and stepped aside to watch the spectacle.
Unexpectedly, the bookstore owner pushed his phone away: "No need, Miss Tang often comes to order books, we keep track of everything, we'll settle the bill together before the New Year."
Zhang Minglang turned to look at Tang Yi, whose eyes were filled with smiles, and understood everything. He slowly put his phone back into his pocket.
"You knew all along that I would insist on paying, and you wanted to see me make a fool of myself, didn't you, Tang Yi?"
Looking at her vivid expression, he felt no anger or embarrassment at being tricked; instead, he felt a warm feeling in his heart.
"This is the temporary assessment I assigned to you," Tang Yi said, her eyes crinkling, her voice light and cheerful. "Congratulations, you passed."
Zhang Minglang's heart stirred.
This is an assessment of what kind of thing; there's no need to elaborate.
So he smiled along with her, took the initiative to walk over, picked up the box of books on the table, weighed it in front of her, and said in a playful tone, "Is this also an assessment?"
Tang Yiyang raised her eyebrows: "That's fine."
He was instantly filled with energy, put down the heavy suitcase, took off his coat and stuffed it into her arms.
Tang Yi suddenly embraced his scent, momentarily stunned.
Zhang Minglang picked up the cardboard box again, the veins on his arm standing out clearly. He gestured with his chin toward the glass door of the bookstore, the wisps of hair on his forehead fluttering in the air with the movement.
"Thank you for your help, examiners, in shielding the candidates from the rain."
Tang Yi looked at his spirited face and smiled as she shook the large coat she was wearing in her arms.
She reached out to push the door open, but Zhang Minglang's elbow beat her to it. He blocked the doorway, letting her pass through, and even gave her a smug smile.
The rain pattered outside the window, and their car was parked across the street. Pedestrians with umbrellas walked past the door unhurriedly, while those unfortunate enough not to have an umbrella had to take shelter under the eaves and wait for the rain to stop.
Zhang Minglang turned to the side: "Ready to get wet in the rain?"
Tang Yiyang waved the coat in her hand: "I'll try my best to keep you dry."
She unfolded his coat, stretched out her arms, and draped the coat over their heads, enveloping them in Zhang Minglang's fresh scent.
The melodious instrumental music playing in the bookstore was shut out by the slowly closing glass doors, and even the sound of rain seemed to weaken. Everything gave way to the two people huddled together, sharing body heat, under the same coat.
The two rushed towards the opposite side, splashing water from the puddles on the ground as they stepped on them. Water droplets clung to Tang Yi's skirt, feeling cool against her ankles, while the cardboard box Zhang Minglang was carrying pressed against his ribs, causing him pain.
But nobody cares about these things.
The world seems to have become very big, so big that even the journey from one side of the road to the other seems exceptionally long.
The world is so small that they can only hear each other's two hearts beating powerfully, close together.
The two of them struggled to reach the car. Zhang Minglang urged Tang Yi to get in quickly, opened the car door himself, put the book box on the back seat, and then bent down and climbed into the passenger seat.
He started the car and turned on the heater.
Suddenly, a cool breeze blew out of the air vent towards the two of them, and Tang Yi belatedly shivered.
Zhang Minglang saw her movement, turned around, grabbed a blanket from the back seat, and handed it to her: "Don't catch a cold."
He remembered something and chuckled, "You're the one who prepared this for me."
Tang Yi had naturally thought of that too. She thanked him softly, draped the blanket over her shoulders, and Zhang Minglang gave her a few more tissues to dry her hair.
The car's heater started to warm up a bit.
Tang Yi looked up at Zhang Minglang wringing his clothes like he was wringing a towel, then glanced at her own equally wet hair and couldn't help but laugh.
They always dress impeccably at the company; when have they ever looked so disheveled together?
Zhang Minglang heard her soft laughter and looked up.
The rain outside the car window showed no signs of letting up; instead, it pounded heavily against the glass, making a series of crisp sounds.
Tang Yi's hair was slightly messy, sticking to her forehead and cheeks, and even her eyelashes were adorned with a few small water droplets that swayed on the verge of falling off.
Her skin was translucent, appearing even whiter after being wet with rain. Her lips were rosy and glossy, slightly upturned, and her eyes were moist.
She watched him and smiled.
Zhang Minglang suddenly wondered if the air conditioning was set too high.
Otherwise, why would his throat feel so dry?
Thinking this, he reached out to turn the air conditioner down, but then, worried that she might catch a cold if she wasn't warm enough, he resigned himself to turning it up again.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked, startled by his own slightly hoarse voice.
Tang Yi stared at his lips without saying a word.
Zhang Minglang easily noticed where her gaze was fixed.
He instantly felt his blood rush to his head. He threw his coat on the back seat, and although he was dressed in thin clothes, he felt like a pill being refined in a furnace, surrounded by boundless heat.
The two unconsciously drew closer and closer, their faces magnified infinitely in each other's pupils.
Tang Yi felt her head was spinning and her body was ice cold; even the gradually warming heater in the car couldn't warm her up.
The man's eyes were already somewhat distorted. His gaze moved inch by inch down from her eyes, landing on her cheeks, then on the tip of her nose, and finally on her lips.
Zhang Minglang's eyelashes were also soaked by the rain, clustered together and trembling gently.
They were all inexplicably nervous.
They got closer and closer, so close that Tang Yi could see the small stubble on his chin, and so close that Zhang Minglang could see the fine hairs on her face.
They were so close that they could feel each other's faint breaths.
Zhang Minglang spoke softly, "Excuse me, Examiner Tang, when will the assessment results be announced?"
His Adam's apple bobbed as he stared intently at her lips.
Does that mean, "Can I kiss you?"
Tang Yi raised her eyelashes to look into his dazed eyes, then suddenly braced herself against the leather seat and distanced herself from him.
The rich fragrance suddenly vanished, and Zhang Minglang's eyes instantly cleared. He looked at her anxiously, as if waiting for her response.
Tang Yi wrapped the blanket around herself even tighter. She reached up and tucked her half-dry hair behind her ear, like a seasoned veteran of love.
"Anyway, not today."
She casually uttered those words, then turned away and never looked at him again.
Zhang Minglang: "?"
What do you mean by "anyway, it's not today"?
He secretly hated himself for not making up his mind earlier and kissing her while stroking the back of her neck.
He was burning up, his heart pounding. He glared angrily at the person who had caused this, sitting calmly to the side as if nothing had happened, then forcefully pulled out his seatbelt and snapped it on.
So he's the only one acting like a clueless idiot, still foolishly enjoying that atmosphere.
Zhang Minglang grew angrier the more he thought about it.
Therefore, he failed to notice her slightly flushed cheeks reflected in the passenger window.
Author's Note: Just one step away from completion! [Keep going!]
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