Chapter 15 Chapter 15 “I’ve been touching needles since I was eight years old, and you…
Coming out of the police station, Ji Ci was like a frightened rabbit, looking left and right, and no one looked like a good person.
Jin Sen didn't continue wandering around outside and took a taxi back to the store.
In the back seat of the car, Ji Ci lowered her head and pinched her fingers: "Aren't you curious why I'm so reluctant to appear on camera?"
Jin Sen's eyes rested on her fingertips: "You told me before."
Running away from home and being caught would be very miserable.
Ji Ci looked up: "Do you believe it?"
Jin Sen felt helpless: "Did you lie to me?"
"No," Ji Ci said, feeling a little guilty, and lowered her head again, "It's just a trick."
"I know," Jin Sen sighed. "You must have your own reasons for not wanting to go back. If you don't want to say it, then don't say it. It's okay."
Ji Ci bit her lower lip.
A sour feeling welled up in her nose, rushing into her eyes like a hazy mist. She opened her eyes wide, trying to stop the tears from falling, but the May sunlight in Cloud City was too glaring. She only glanced out the window briefly, and her eyelashes trembled, fanning a tear.
Ji Ci calmly wiped the moisture off the back of her hand.
Jin Sen looked away.
He did not interfere abruptly, fearing that he would cross the line and make Ji Ci feel uncomfortable.
This kind of consideration has never happened before. Jin Sen has always been decisive in doing things. He takes care of the things he should take care of and doesn't ask about the things he shouldn't ask. Logically speaking, Ji Ci's private affairs have nothing to do with him, but she is different from other people. Jin Sen can't quite grasp the balance between them for a while - or maybe he can grasp it, but he is always worried about deviations.
After considering the entire journey, he tried to speak as he exited the elevator: "How did you eat lunch?"
Ji Ci lowered her head and said, "Just eat something."
She showed no interest and had no desire to chat. She lowered her head and took out her key from her pocket. While opening the door, she was thinking about what vegetables were left in the refrigerator.
"Come eat at my place," Jin Sen said behind her, "I'll cook."
Ji Ci went back home and took out some potatoes and three colored peppers from the refrigerator.
Jin Sen's door was not closed. She knocked on the door but got no response. She leaned half way inside but didn't see anyone in the living room.
"Boss Jin?"
"Why."
The sound came from the kitchen.
"I'm coming in." Ji Ci said this and stepped into the next room for the first time.
"It's a good time to stir-fry some shredded potatoes," Jin Sen took the vegetables from her hand, "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Ji Ci shook her head.
The kitchen was spacious enough, so she didn't leave immediately after handing over the dishes.
Boss Jin was wearing an apron with an advertisement for the department store next door printed on it. There were pork loin and ribs in the sink. After washing the potatoes, Jin Sen picked up a peeler.
"Let me do it." Ji Ci found a job for herself.
Jin Sen gave her the potatoes and went to prepare the ribs.
"Boss Jin, you seem to be good at cooking." Ji Ci said while peeling.
Jin Sen smiled and said, "I grew up touching firewood. At the age of six, I could cook for myself with my eyes closed."
"You're really amazing," Ji Ci said. "My grandma doesn't let me do this. She's afraid I'll touch fire."
Jin Sen laughed: "Were you very naughty when you were a child?"
"A little naughty," Ji Ci also laughed, "I'm naughty outside, but I'm very honest when I get home."
Their hands were busy but their mouths were idle, and the two of them talked about a lot of things in the past.
Jin Sen's father died early, and he didn't have a good childhood. He didn't get a good education, and after passing the college entrance exam, he joined the army without a clear mind. Since then, he has been staying in the army with a group of old monks. Ji Ci said before that he liked this job very much, but Jin Sen didn't know. He didn't have any plans for his life. The only time he refused the assigned job was after he retired. He learned to open an auto repair shop and chose a completely different lifestyle.
She peeled two potatoes. Jin Sen had just finished blanching the ribs. The next process would produce smoke, so Jin Sen asked Ji Ci to sit in the living room for a while.
"The remote control is on the coffee table. You can sit down and flip through it at will."
Ji Ci responded, walked to the sofa and sat down, turned on the TV, and randomly picked a popular TV series. She didn't watch it, just listened to the audio, and then looked around like a thief scouting the place.
I don't know if it was a last-minute tidy-up or if Boss Jin was just a neat freak, but there were very few odds and ends. The living room was decorated just as simply as the apartment Ji Ci rented: white walls with tiled skirting, a sofa and coffee table set, old-fashioned mahogany furniture with a very textured feel. Ji Ci thought her grandmother would like this kind of furniture.
She smelled a bitter smell and followed the direction to find something wrapped in brown paper in the utility basket under the coffee table.
You don't need to unpack the Ji porcelain to know that it should be a plaster, given by Sister Sun. Boss Jin always has leg pain whenever it rains.
Ji Ci curled her lips.
After a while, the bitterness was covered by the fragrance. Ji Ci couldn't sit still anymore and secretly ran to the kitchen to take a look. As soon as Boss Jin lifted the pot, the flames shot up high.
Hearing the movement behind him, Jin Sen turned around: "Are you hungry?"
"No," Ji Ci went into the kitchen and closed the door, "I smell something fragrant."
The spareribs were still stewing, and Jin Sen was stir-frying shredded potatoes.
The bell peppers are not very spicy, and they look much better when placed next to the yellow potatoes.
Jin Sen lifted the lid of the stew pot, and steam billowed, flashing before his eyes for a moment before being sucked into the range hood.
He took out a pair of chopsticks and took out a piece, the size of a bite, wanting Ji Ci to taste it to see if it was cooked through. But the moment he turned sideways, he felt something was not right, so he took a bowl with his other hand, put the ribs in the bowl, and handed it to Ji Ci along with the chopsticks: "Try it."
The ribs in the bowl were steaming. Ji Ci took it, blew on it a few times, and took the first bite.
It was salty, fragrant, soft, and just the right amount of spicy. She held the bowl and couldn't get enough of it. "Delicious."
Jin Sen picked up another piece for her.
The chef over there was still working while she was eating heartily over here. Ji Ci felt a little embarrassed and put down her bowl to get some rice.
I don’t know if it was because I was really hungry or because Boss Jin was a great cook, but Ji Ci ate more and slower than usual.
Eating with big mouthfuls is undoubtedly the greatest compliment to the cook. After Jin Sen finished his own meal, he held his chin with his hand and watched Ji Ci eat with a smile on his face.
"If you eat like this every day, you might get fat." said Jin Sen.
"I've gained weight," Ji Ci said seriously, "I've gained three pounds recently."
Jin Sen comforted her: "It won't be a problem if you gain another 30 kilograms."
Ji Ci curled her lips: "I won't listen to you."
He felt much better while chatting and laughing. After the meal, Jin Sen got up to clean up the dishes.
"Isn't it said that people who cook don't wash dishes?" Ji Ci asked.
Jin Sen thought about it and said, "Then you wash it?"
The ribs were not finished, so the two bowls of rice and a dish of vegetables only took three minutes in total.
Ji Ci took it to the kitchen to wash, and Jin Sen stood beside her, wiping the water stains with a dry rag and putting it in the cupboard.
"Boss Jin, your cooking is so delicious, please make more in the future."
"I'm too lazy to come up here," Jin Sen said, "I'll just eat."
"You need to take care of your legs," Ji Ci washed her hands and handed Jin Sen the crutch, "Don't stand all the time."
Jin Sen leaned on his crutches and said, "Okay."
As they walked out the door, Jin Sen asked her, "What time will you go to the store this afternoon?"
Ji Ci leaned sideways and said, "The three o'clock shift."
"Then you take a nap." Jin Sen said.
Ji Ci hummed, and when she was about to reach the door, she smelled the bitter taste of the ointment again. Her mind went blank and she suddenly stopped.
"Boss Jin," she turned completely around, "Didn't you say you were going for acupuncture? Did you go?"
Jin Sen thought briefly for two seconds: "I forgot."
It's not procrastination, it's just that I don't have time. I'm always looking for this and that, and Ji Ci's electric scooter is too slow, so all the time is wasted on the road. The little time I have left is all spent on thinking about how to ask Ji Ci out to watch a movie, so I don't have time to take care of myself.
"That ointment..." Ji Ci hesitated, "Forget it, I'll go ask Sister Sun."
"You ask me," Jin Sen said without any preparation, "I know too."
"I don't have anything to ask," Ji Ci turned towards the door again, "I just feel that you don't know how to take care of yourself at all. Don't let yourself get infected again."
Jin Sen's mother had never taken care of him since he was a child. It was the first time that he, a wild boy who rolled around in the mud, heard someone say that he couldn't take care of himself.
"What are you laughing at?" Ji Ci felt a little embarrassed.
"No," Jin Sen lowered his eyes and coughed lightly, "Maybe it will rain tomorrow. Just now when I was eating... my legs hurt a little."
Ji Ci turned around quickly and said, "You've been standing there for too long."
Jin Sen coughed again, his head drooping even lower. His hands couldn't be idle, and he very deliberately lifted his trouser leg: "I don't know."
Ji Ci looked worried and raised her hand to support his elbow: "Sit down and I'll take a look at you."
Half an hour ago, Jin Sen was still able to stand normally, humming a song and stirring the wok. He strode to the sink with the pot in his hand and threw it in.
Half an hour later, after being asked by Ji Ci to do this, he seemed to be suddenly possessed by a ghost. He walked slowly and limped, and sat down on the sofa in a pretentious manner.
Ji Ci brought over two stools, one for Jin Sen to rest his feet on and one for herself to sit on.
Jin Sen was a little nervous when he rolled up his trouser legs. His leg hair had been shaved, so he didn't look so good now. But he soon found out that he was really worrying too much, because the scar on his leg was so ugly and prominent that people could completely ignore the other scars.
"Oh," he said with a look of self-loathing, "it's so ugly."
"You're secretly smoking during your recovery period," Ji Ci said, not surprised at all. She pressed a few spots on his calf. "If you're not ugly, who is?"
The girl's fingertips were soft, like cotton. After pressing, she asked Jin Sen if it hurt. Jin Sen shook his head, he felt itchy.
Ji Ci rolled up her trouser legs a little more, exposing her knees.
"Is this a burn?"
Her fingertips accidentally brushed against the side of his patella, a touch that reminded Jin Sen of Ji Ci's loose hair at some point in the past. Her hair was long and black, cascading down like a waterfall. The wind blew over it, and the ends of her hair fluttered across time and space, brushing against his knees.
"Boss Jin?" Ji Ci looked at him puzzledly.
Jin Sen came back to his senses: "That fire was quite dangerous."
No matter where it is, it's dangerous.
"Oh...it's very dangerous." Ji Ci was indeed led astray by this sentence, and even her expression became much more serious.
"But there were no casualties," Jin Sen regretted pretending to be sick when he had nothing better to do. "It's too ugly. Forget it, don't look at it."
After he said that, he tried to bend his knees and pull his legs back, but before he could even lift his calves off the stool, Ji Ci pressed them back with one hand.
"Let me give you a few injections so you don't have to go over there again."
Jin Sen was stunned for a moment, a little surprised: "You can also give acupuncture?"
"I've been touching needles since I was eight years old," Ji Ci said seriously, straightening up. "Just like you cook, with your eyes closed."
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