Chapter 27 Junior Year
Old Qin was discharged from the hospital. This treatment took half his life. Grandpa Nan went to Old Qin's house to visit him early in the morning.
At breakfast, the three of them were alone at the table. Nan Jiu munched intently on his egg-filled pancake, while Song Ting lowered his head to sip his porridge. Neither of them uttered a word. Nan Qiaoyu, somewhat uneasy at the silence, opened the conversation by asking, "Did you have any fun in the mountains this time?"
Nan Jiu lowered his eyelashes and chewed silently. Song Ting looked up at him but didn't say anything.
Nan Qiaoyu looked left and right: "Why don't you say anything?"
Song Ting picked up the bowl and drank the porridge in one gulp. Nan Qiaoyu glanced at the wound on his forearm and asked, "Uncle Song, what's wrong with your arm?"
Nan Jiu had bitten his arm that night. The wound had already scabbed over, and the tooth mark was no longer visible. Song Ting picked up the bowl and stood up, replying, "A mosquito bite."
Song Ting had already walked away, but Nan Qiaoyu was still chattering, "I told you the mosquitoes in the mountains are poisonous. Luckily I didn't go there. My blood type attracts mosquitoes."
Nanjiu glared at him and said, "You are the poisonous one. Even eating can't stop your mouth."
Nan Qiaoyu turned around in confusion. He hadn't provoked Nan Jiu, so he didn't understand why she was so angry. He casually asked, "Is your period here?"
......
Although Nan Jiu was very reluctant, Nan Qiaoyu still begged her to buy a ticket on the same train back to Feng City with her, and his seat was next to hers.
On the morning of her departure, Grandpa Nan called Nan Jiu into the house and handed her the envelope containing the tuition.
"Keep it safe, don't drop it on the way. Also, don't let Xiaoyu see it. You know he... I won't say anymore."
Nanjiu tucked the envelope into her backpack and zipped it up. When she looked up again, she surveyed the room. The walls were still the same green wainscot, and the terrazzo floor had remained the same since Nanjiu's childhood, unchanged for decades.
She asked aloud, "Why hasn't this house been renovated?"
"Song Ting wanted to do something with my house as well, but I didn't let him. It was like this when your grandmother was alive. I've lived here my whole life, so why would I do anything else with it?"
Nanjiu slowly withdrew his gaze, his delicate and complex emotions tangled like countless twine. Just as the previous generation couldn't bind this generation with foot binding, the current generation couldn't forcibly separate the previous generation from their own era. That was the path they had walked, the hardships they had endured, the life that flowed into their very blood.
Mr. Nan still doesn't know how to use an ATM, clear his phone's memory, or transfer money received via a QR code. Song Ting is the bridge that connects Mr. Nan to this era. She touched this bridge, but she couldn't make it collapse in her grandfather's world.
......
Song Ting loaded Nan Jiu and Nan Qiaoyu's luggage into the car first. Nan Jiu stood at the entrance of the alley, backpack on her back. The wind blew the ends of her platinum hair. Her eyes penetrated the swaying figures at the entrance of the alley and fell on Song Ting.
He closed the trunk and turned his head.
A gust of wind blew through the hall, stirring up dust and dead leaves. A smile spread across Nanjiu's lips. "Aren't you going to buy me some osmanthus cake?"
Song Ting turned and walked towards the cake shop. Nan Jiu was waiting for him in the car.
In a moment, he knocked on the car window. Nanjiu lowered it. He passed the bag of sweet-scented osmanthus cake through the window. Nanjiu took it and hooked her fingers around his knuckles. Her knuckles tightened slightly, and the lines of his fingertips burned between her fingers, burning into her body.
When Nan Qiaoyu turned his head, Nan Jiu let go of his hand and closed the window again.
Nan Qiaoyu, sitting in the passenger seat, stretched his head and asked, "Why do you have it and I don't?"
Nanjiu picked up the bag and asked, "Do you want a share?"
"I don't want to eat."
"Don't take all that crap."
This time, the car didn't stop at the square in front of the station, but drove directly to the parking lot. Song Ting carried their luggage and drove them to the station.
Fengshi City completely eliminated standing tickets in 2014, and Nancheng District plans to phase them out this year. This was Song Ting's first time buying a standing ticket, and it would be his last.
Before the train arrived, Song Ting reminded Nan Qiaoyu that he needed to go to the restroom early. Nan Qiaoyu replied that he didn't feel like peeing right now. Song Ting glared at him and said, "Don't go looking for a restroom on the train."
Nan Qiaoyu thought about it and it made sense. His seat was next to the window, and he would have to ask Nan Jiu to give way to him when he went to the bathroom. She would then turn her face away, so he might as well go first.
Nan Qiaoyu threw the luggage to Song Ting and asked Nan Jiu: "Do you want to come with us?"
Nanjiu replied in a chilling voice: "Are you sick? Should I go to the men's room with you?"
Nan Qiaoyu turned around awkwardly and walked away.
Song Ting withdrew his gaze, grabbed Nan Jiu's wrist, and pulled her into the shadow behind the pillar. He tightened his arms, pulled her into his embrace, and pressed his hot palm against her lower back, pressing her against him. Their heartbeats resonated, their breaths entangled. He lowered his head, a faint undercurrent in his breath: "Are you coming back for the National Day holiday?"
She pressed her face against his heaving chest, a subtle current coursing through her body. "I'm not sure if I have time."
After a brief embrace, they walked into the skylight again, but they had already separated.
The train pulled into the platform, and Nan Jiu and Nan Qiao Yu followed the crowd onto the train. Nan Qiao Yu found a seat by the window, and Nan Jiu sat down next to him.
The small square windows framed Song Ting's figure outside the train. After Nan Qiaoyu sat down, he waved to Song Ting through the window. "Actually, I think Uncle Song can be quite nice sometimes. He even bought a platform ticket to come in and help us with our luggage."
Nan Jiu turned her gaze to the side, her eyes fixed on the slender figure outside the window. The rails trembled under her feet, and the train moved slowly. She turned her head until her sight was completely cut off, and his figure disappeared outside the window.
Nan Qiaoyu's big head suddenly appeared in her field of vision, filling her empty sight.
"The car is already moving, what are you looking at?"
Nanjiu turned his head and lowered his eyes: "What do you care about me?"
"There must be something going on between you and Uncle Song."
Nan Jiu's heart suddenly slowed down, and his shaking eyes were hidden under his eyelids.
"I noticed something wasn't right with you guys since you came back from the mountain. Were you with him in the mountain..."
Nanjiu clutched his backpack tightly and his breathing gradually became lighter.
"Argued? I see you guys haven't been talking much anymore."
Nan Jiu's fingers loosened silently. She slowly raised her gaze to look at Nan Qiaoyu, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes: "You do have some intelligence, but not much."
......
After getting off the bus, Nan Jiu received a message from Song Ting asking if they had arrived at their stop. She hastily replied: "Yes, we have."
It wasn't until Nanjiu returned to the dormitory and put down her luggage that she saw Song Ting's reply message. In the message, he told Nanjiu that he had put a bank card in her backpack and sent her the bank card password.
Nan Jiu finished reading the message, put down her phone, and immediately took out her backpack. In the outermost pocket was a card, which Song Ting had put in there when he dragged her behind the pillar before getting on the bus.
Nanjiu held the bank card in his hand for a long time, then put it in the drawer.
The next day after she came back, she went to Xingyao to handle the leave cancellation procedures. The next time she saw Lin Songyao was outside the conference room. Through the glass of the conference room, Nan Jiu saw Lin Songyao throwing a stack of materials in front of several people, and his words were sharp: "Look at how many institutions there are in Feng City now. After the New Year, there are three more in Qingyang District alone. There are so many people learning to dance. The new institutions hold activities every few days. How many of your students are still loyal? Relying on their own competitions and performances, they are so greedy that they want to grow on top of their heads. They don't care whether the people below can learn or not. They are perfunctory in basic skills and can't break down the movements properly. Asking you to come up with an activity plan is harder than climbing to the sky..."
Nan Jiu sat outside, listening to the people inside for half an hour. Lin Songyao was considered a standout among the wealthy second-generations in Feng City. He wore designer clothes and drove a sports car, so naturally, he had no shortage of fun and women. Nan Jiu had always thought that Lin Songyao was a playboy who opened an institution just to pass the time. She heard that his family was wealthy and had no shortage of small businesses. Besides, he didn't come to the institution very often. Nan Jiu had been teaching at Xingyao for so long that she could count the number of times she had seen him on one hand. After listening to this, she admitted that she had judged Lin Songyao by his appearance.
The door to the conference room opened, and Nan Jiu stood up from the sofa. Lin Songyao glanced at her and asked, "Looking for me?"
Nanjiu held the list in his hand and said, "Sign it."
"Go to the office and sign."
Lin Songyao pushed open the office door, his steps heavy and hurried. Before he even sat down, his phone rang. Lin Songyao took out his phone, glanced at it, and said to Nanjiu, "Wait a moment."
He answered the phone and negotiated with the person on the other end of the line.
"I heard that they plan to arrange for him to return home after the New Year."
"My mother should have known it before me, but she hasn't told me yet."
"How can we talk about it? If we bring it to light, won't it just lead to a falling out? Now is not the time..."
Lin Songyao sat at his desk, lowered his head and pinched his furrowed brows, and every word he said was filled with a sense of exhaustion as if his patience had been exhausted.
Nan Jiu stood a few steps away from him, her eyes darting to the tea cabinet on her left. She slowly moved over to it and picked up a teacup. She rinsed it clean, warmed it, and poured in the tea. While she didn't have Song Ting's fluid tea-making technique, she'd seen pigs run, even if she hadn't eaten pork. After spending so much time in the teahouse, making a simple cup of tea was no problem for her.
A steaming cup of tea was placed before Lin Songyao, the movement so gentle it made almost no sound. Lin Songyao's gaze followed the steam upward, a hazy outline emerging from the shrouded white mist. A white wrist withdrew from the bottom of the cup. Nan Jiu set down the tea and returned to his original position, quietly waiting.
Lin Songyao lifted the tea to his lips, the aroma curling around his tongue as it soaked into his throat, his pent-up emotions unnoticed by the warmth. He held his phone, his gaze vaguely scanning Nanjiu.
She wore a high ponytail, a slightly tilted chin, and upturned eyes. Each of her features, taken individually, wasn't particularly striking, but when combined, they created a memorable look. Lin Songyao had only met her once, and he remembered her name as Nan Jiu, and that she was still in school.
After hanging up the phone, he raised his gaze slightly: "What do you want to sign?"
"Cancellation of leave form." Nanjiu walked to the desk and handed him the form.
"Please sit down." Lin Songyao took the list and took a look at it.
Nan Jiu pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him.
He picked up a pen, opened the cap, and asked, "Is your back injury okay?"
"It's okay."
After Lin Songyao signed, he pushed the leave cancellation form in front of Nan Jiu. He glanced at the phone in her hand and smiled: "Did you change your phone?"
The last time Nan Jiu saw Lin Songyao was when he signed the contract. It had been such a long time, but he still remembered these minor changes, which surprised Nan Jiu a little.
"Did my boyfriend buy you this?" Lin Songyao closed the pen cap and put the pen back into the pen holder.
"Can't I buy it myself?" Nan Jiu picked up the leave cancellation form and replied with lowered eyes.
"Given your current financial situation, I'm afraid you wouldn't be so generous to yourself." Lin Songyao leaned back in his chair. "I heard from Jin Yang that you went back to your hometown a while ago. Your boyfriend's hometown?"
A subtle chuckle crossed Nanjiu's lips. "Do I need a background check before returning to work?" She raised the list in her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Lin."
Nan Jiu turned around, unhurried and steady, closing the door with a decisive and decisive movement. Lin Songyao picked up the teacup, his gaze lingering for a few seconds longer than usual.
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