Chapter 30 Senior Year
The success of that event made Xingyao famous among its peers and brought a new wave of enthusiasm for subsequent student recruitment.
Lin Songyao was always generous to those who could achieve results. Nanjiu received a generous bonus, which she used to apply for her driver's license. She passed the first part of the test on her first try, and her on-road practice was much smoother than her peers. Her instructor said she was cut out for driving, jokingly claiming she'd never starve driving for Didi. Nanjiu even seriously researched how to register as a Didi driver.
She successfully obtained her driver's license. Although she got a little tanned, she was finally able to drive on the road with her license.
During her senior year, Nanjiu's photo was finally displayed on the Xingyao cultural wall, alongside those of her former teammates. Her role also changed from a substitute teacher to a choreography instructor with her own name on the wall.
Her tuition fees have tripled since her substitute teaching days. She no longer has to worry about living expenses or food. She can even save a little to treat herself to nice clothes and good food.
Her relationship with her family remained unchanged, but it wasn't any worse either. She had her own life, as did her parents. She still went out for dinner during the holidays, just to keep her family company, but she never stayed overnight. She drifted outside her parents' home, like a rootless duckweed.
Before graduation, Nan Jiu gave Xia Yanran the hip-hop social network. Those rumors still haunted Xia Yanran, but she was no longer the girl who used to hide in fear. Time will eventually forge new landscapes, and so will people.
After taking graduation photos, everyone was about to go their separate ways. My roommates packed up the things that had piled up in the dorm for four years and took them home.
But Nanjiu has no home.
......
The wind still blew gently down Maoer Alley, sweeping from one end to the other. Maoer Teahouse's regular customers were fewer than they once were; some were leaving, others were leaving. If it weren't for the online platform Nanjiu had created two years ago, the number of customers would have been even lower. Since Nanjiu's departure, Song Ting has been maintaining the platform. Most of the time, he leaves it to the platform's operations, managing only the subscription fees. Occasionally, he'd upload something—a recent photo of the teahouse, something he found interesting, even a calico cat that had strayed into the teahouse. However, such instances were rare.
Just as July arrived, Old Man Nan received a call from his eldest son. After hanging up, he left the teahouse and went to look for Song Ting. He went to feed the calico cat at the door again. The cat was quite strange, constantly coming to the teahouse to rub against him, begging for food in a coquettish and cute way. After feeding it so often, Song Ting decided to keep it in the teahouse and give it a nest.
The cat crawled into its nest right in front of him, acting like a well-behaved child. When he came down again, the cat had already jumped out of the window and disappeared. After this happened a few times, Song Ting simply stopped trying to stop it. From then on, the cat would come at mealtime, clean up after eating, and leave.
When Old Man Nan saw Song Ting open a can of food and put it on the ground, he couldn't help but say to him, "Don't you have cat food? You always buy these expensive ones for him to eat. He's already got a bad taste in his mouth."
"Give it a change of flavor."
Old Man Nan poked his cane, and the cat glared at him with its bright eyes and breathed at him. Wrinkles formed on Old Man Nan's face, and he couldn't help but laugh, "Doesn't it look like Xiao Jiu now, with its teeth and claws bared?"
Song Ting picked up the can lid, his arms tensed slightly, and the outline of his shoulders and back became a little colder and harder.
"By the way, the boss just called and said that he would take Xiaokai back home to play for a few days while he's on vacation, and his mother will be coming along this time."
Song Ting's smooth movements paused subtly, then returned to normal: "They live at home?"
"I told them on the phone to clear out the room the eldest brother used to have on the second floor and give it to their family of three. The eldest brother said it would be too much trouble to carry the table from the private room back and forth, so they should just stay in a hotel." Old Man Nan snorted coldly, "It was probably her city-dwelling wife's idea. She insisted on staying in a hotel even though she's already home. She's got too much money to burn."
"Maybe they think it's more convenient to stay in a hotel. It's a rare trip back home, so let's do as they wish." Song Ting advised, then asked, "I'll book a hotel when they arrive."
"It's Saturday."
Song Ting bent down to put the bamboo chair at the door into the main room and asked casually, "Is Xiaojiu back?"
"Her father called her, but she didn't respond. You know that girl, she has a different idea every day. Who knows if she will come back."
Song Ting slowly lowered his eyes and closed the door of the teahouse.
......
On Saturday afternoon, Song Ting drove to the train station. Nan Zhendong saw him as he stepped out of the station and waved at him, "Brother Song, here you are!"
Song Ting walked towards them, looking behind Nan Zhendong. Nan Zhendong asked Liao Hong to come forward and introduce her to Song Ting.
Song Ting briefly greeted Liao Hong and took the luggage. Xiao Kai had grown considerably taller, but was still overweight, weighing over 100 pounds at such a young age. He looked up and called out to Song Ting, "Hello, uncle."
Song Ting patted his head, raised his head and glanced at the exit. Nan Zhendong said, "Let's go, where is the bus parked?"
Song Ting concealed the expression in his eyes, turned around and led them into the car.
It was a rare occasion for the eldest brother and his family to come back, so Grandpa Nan asked Song Ting to book a private room in a restaurant outside in the evening.
Xiaokai's appetite was as good as ever, and Old Man Nan couldn't help but teasing him: "You're just like the one who's missing food at home."
"Being able to eat is a blessing. No one can eat more than my son Xiaokai in school." Liao Hong's tone was full of pride when she mentioned her son.
Grandpa Nan smiled and turned to his son: "If your family can eat evenly, some won't be fat and some won't be thin."
Neither Nan Zhendong nor Liao Hong were considered thin, so it was obvious who was being referred to. Old Man Nan was openly talking about food, but Liao Hong understood his underlying meaning, but she didn't respond at all.
Old Man Nan sighed softly and asked Nan Zhendong, "Xiao Jiu will graduate this year, right? What are your plans for the future?"
"How would I know?" Nan Zhendong raised his wine glass and clinked it with Song Ting.
"You're her father, if you don't know, who would know?"
Nan Zhendong drank his wine and smacked his lips: "I don't even know if I can see her twice a year!"
Song Ting drank the wine in the glass in one gulp and poured himself another glass.
After leaving the restaurant, Nan Zhendong took his wife and children back to the hotel. Song Ting and Old Man Nan walked towards Maoer Lane. On the way, Old Man Nan said to him, "You drank quite a lot tonight, didn't you?" Old Man Nan rarely saw Song Ting drink, and even when he did, he was moderate. He couldn't help but nag, "Why did you drink so much?"
"It's rare for them to come back, so let me show my appreciation."
Song Ting slowed his pace to match Old Man Nan's, his gaze fixed on the bluestone bricks beneath his feet until a figure cast by the streetlights caught his eye. He raised his head and followed the shadow.
Deep in the alley, Nan Jiu sat on a black suitcase, one leg bent, the other slightly straight. Her long platinum hair had given way to a cool brown. As she turned her head, her lustrous hair brushed against her shoulders and neck, accentuating her features with even sharper, deeper lines. Like an old movie in slow motion, the surrounding light focused on her, the weight of every story hidden between her eyes, lips, and teeth.
Song Ting's eyes were fixed on a frame of image in his field of vision, hesitant and fixed.
"When did you come back? Why didn't you call?" Mr. Nan asked in surprise.
Nan Jiu straightened up: "I just called my dad, he said you guys are back, I'll be waiting here for a while."
Nan Jiu's eyes moved towards Song Ting. Without deliberately avoiding them, and without any extra emotion, he called him, "Uncle Song."
Song Ting responded in a cold voice, turned around and opened the door of the teahouse.
He didn't help her carry the luggage into the house, and she didn't ask him for help. The suitcase's wheels caught on the threshold, making a dull thud. She strained her arms, adjusted the angle, and lifted it with all her might. He stood by, his fingers unconsciously curling and unclenching, his eyes fixed on her red knuckles, then quickly shifting away, heading towards the tea room.
Mr. Nan asked her, "Have you had dinner?"
"I ate some bread in the car."
"Do you want me to make some dumplings for you?" asked Mr. Nan.
"Okay." Nanjiu said as he pushed the luggage, "I'll put the things in the house first."
She opened the door to the side room. The curtains had been changed, the things were neatly arranged, and the blanket was folded into a square shape and placed at the head of the bed.
Nan Jiu put away her luggage and left the room. The figure making dumplings changed from Old Man Nan to Song Ting. Old Man Nan told her to eat breakfast and rest, then returned to his room.
In the narrow hallway, Song Ting's shadow, standing in the kitchen, was cast on the white wall. His broad shoulders stretched and then contracted as he moved. Nan Jiu's gaze fell on the white wall, her chin resting on her hand, lost in thought, until the shadow disappeared from the wall and Song Ting's figure came into view.
He held a plate of dumplings in his left hand and a dish of vinegar in his right hand and placed them in front of Nanjiu.
The moment he bent down, Nan Jiu raised his eyes. A warm yellow light streamed across his sharply defined face. A faint scent of alcohol mixed with his refreshing aura slowly approached, then vanished in an instant.
"Have you been drinking?"
"Yeah." His expression was as calm as water. Without further interaction, he turned around and walked upstairs.
......
Nan Jiu woke up early in the morning and opened the door to the teahouse. Aunt Wu arrived late, having not seen her for a long time. She pulled Nan Jiu aside and talked for a long time. The teahouse door had been open for a long time, but no customers came in. Nan Jiu asked Aunt Wu, "How is business now?"
"That's how it is, sometimes good, sometimes bad." Aunt Wu replied.
Song Ting didn't sleep well that night, and he had a splitting headache. He was a person with a punctual biological clock, but on this morning, it was out of order.
Mr. Nan thought that he had drunk a lot of wine the night before, so he didn't call him.
When Song Ting went downstairs, the teahouse was already packed with guests, scattered across a few tables. He poured himself a glass of cold water, the water slowly flowing down his throat as his gaze followed the slender figure. The morning light streamed in, filling the teahouse like a hazy illusion, shrouded in a strong sense of unreality.
Nanjiu tied an apron over his short-sleeved shirt, took the bowls from the morning meal into the kitchen to wash them, and then came out to greet the tea guests.
An older neighbor recognized Nanjiu and told her about her childhood. Nanjiu stood by the tea table, her face softened by the warm light, a faint smile playing on the corners of her lips.
Noticing the gazes falling on him, Nan Jiu turned his eyes away. Song Ting stood behind the counter, wearing a dark grey short-sleeved shirt with three buttons of the same colour neatly fastened from top to bottom, tightly covering his sturdy chest and shoulders.
Nan Jiu withdrew her gaze and continued chatting with the tea drinker in front of her. When she turned around again, it was already a long time later. Song Ting's eyes were still firmly fixed on her, his overly calm expression carrying a faint sense of burning power.
Nan Jiu's eyes met his briefly, his breathing slowed down, and then he looked away and went into the kitchen.
Nan Zhendong's family didn't get up until almost noon. They planned to go shopping in the old street and asked Nan Jiu to join them. Nan Jiu said hello to Old Man Nan and went out.
After she left, Aunt Wu handed a piece of paper to Song Ting. "Xiao Jiu sorted out the inventory this morning. She made a table and asked me to show it to you." Aunt Wu pointed to the grid and said, "She said this table can be put on the computer. It's called something like... something like that?"
"Digital management." Song Ting took over.
"Yes, you young people are smart. Anyway, she told you what she said. I'll show it to you and you'll understand."
Song Ting glanced at it. The table clearly defined the inventory warning line according to the first-in, first-out principle to ensure the freshness of the tea. In the past, when the teahouse was doing well, this issue hadn't been a concern; the tea could be consumed without issue. Now that business is unstable, strict inventory control can indeed ensure the freshness of the tea.
Song Ting folded the list and put it in his pocket.
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