Chapter 21
Wen Xiaoli looked back as she walked, her tone full of worry: "Qingtang, if you anger him like this, he might really make things difficult for your lover. If your lover loses his job, how will you live? You can't support two people with your salary and food coupons... Besides, if you lose your job, you can't get a house. Where will you live then?"
"The man surnamed Kong is just trying to scare people. How can his family be so powerful that the provincial party committee can drive someone away? My wife didn't make any mistakes. What reason do you have to drive him away?" Xia Qingtang whispered, "Director Qi ignored that man just now. He was angry and came here to scare me on purpose. How could I not understand? If I believe what he said, I would be a fool."
Kong Liangchao was indeed bluffing. Grandpa Kong used to be a leader in the city, but he retired long ago. Even if he was still in office, he didn't have the ability to make decisions in the province. Besides, Grandpa Kong was a relatively cautious person, and it was impossible for him to go to the province to trip someone up just for the personal grudges of his juniors.
What's more, she now knows what kind of family the Xie family belongs to, so she doesn't need to worry at all.
Even if Kong Liangchao really didn't know how to live or die and tried to trip up Xie Jinxuan, he would definitely be the one to die in the end, and he might even drag down the Kong family.
So Xia Qingtang deliberately provoked Kong Liangchao, wanting him to dig a hole and jump into it.
Moreover, judging by the time, Xu Jianming should have taken action. By then, he will be facing internal and external troubles, so how can he have time to seek revenge on Xia Qingtang?
Seeing Xia Qingtang so confident, Wen Xiaoli finally felt relieved.
After saying a few more words, the two were about to separate at the corner. Wen Xiaoli thought about it and felt uneasy, so she held Xia Qingtang's arm and said softly, "Qingtang, your incident has spread to many units. That cadre Kong has lost face and will definitely retaliate against you. I know you are not worried about losing your job, but I heard from my dad that those capable people always have unexpected ways to bully others, so you must be careful."
Wen Xiaoli's words were filled with genuine concern, and Xia Qingtang felt warm in his heart. He squeezed her hand vigorously, then nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will be careful, and my lover will protect me."
"Well! If you encounter any problems, just tell us and we in the whole workshop will help you!"
"Thank you, I will." Xia Qingtang thanked her and watched Wen Xiaoli walk away before walking forward.
In his previous life, he always wanted to escape from the hard-working workshop as soon as possible, but looking at the workers in the workshop, they are all kind-hearted people. Xia Qingtang is not in a hurry to change jobs now and plans to wait until Xu Jianming takes action.
She slowly walked towards the city center. It was still early and Xie Jinxuan and her colleagues would not get off work for a while, so Xia Qingtang wandered around the nearby Xinhua Bookstore, planning to buy a novel to read.
After the resumption of the college entrance examination, Xinhua Bookstore is no longer the same as before. Now more people come here to buy dictionaries.
Xia Qingtang stood outside the counter and slowly looked at the books on the bookshelf, trying to find one that he had not read.
A novel now costs more than one yuan, which is not cheap considering the current income, but Xia Qingtang still has some extra money, so it is okay to buy a book to kill time. Besides, she has always liked reading novels, and she thinks it is worth spending money on her hobbies.
Xia Qingtang was scanning the titles of books one by one when suddenly a few young people walked by behind her and one of them bumped into her accidentally.
She turned around and looked, and the other person was also looking at her. He was a young man in his early twenties, handsome and familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was.
"Sorry, comrade. I wasn't paying attention and bumped into you. Are you okay?" The young man apologized first, then hurriedly picked up his cross-body bag and pulled it towards his body. However, he failed to move it and instead moved Xia Qingtang's cross-body bag with it.
The young man was stunned, and his ears began to turn red: "What's going on..."
Xia Qingtang looked down and said, "The badge on your bag is hooked onto the patch. Don't move it. I'll take it off."
Her cross-body bag has been used for many years. It was originally bought for Xia Qinghai by his family when he was in middle school. He finished middle school with this bag. Before going to the countryside to work, Zhao Meizhen bought him a new one to use. The old one was discarded and given to Xia Qingtang, who has been using it until now, and it has been patched up with many patches.
"Yu Jiankang, what are you doing?"
Xia Qingtang was lowering his head to untie the badge that was stuck when a very familiar voice sounded in his ears.
She untied the badge and looked up. As expected, the mischievous Kong Liangjing was standing next to the young man, looking at Xia Qingtang with hostility. The moment Xia Qingtang raised his head, Kong Liangjing's face instantly turned dark.
"Yu Jiankang, who is this?" Kong Liangjing asked impolitely.
Xia Qingtang couldn't help but sneer in his heart, and thought of Yu Jiankang.
This was the man that Kong Liangjing had taken a fancy to at the beginning. She liked his handsomeness and talent, but unfortunately he did not like her. The Kong family tried many ways, but still could not propose marriage to the Yu family. After all, the Yu family and the Kong family were of equal status, and the Kong family could not threaten others.
Later, Kong Liangjing was too old to wait, so she had to marry a poor, handsome young man. However, she always had Yu Jiankang in her heart. After marriage, she even went to other places to send gifts to Yu Jiankang, which caused a big scandal at the time.
Calculating the time, Kong Liangjing was still in the period of secretly loving Yu Jiankang. She was very wary of any opposite sex who appeared around Yu Jiankang. No wonder she showed such hostility when she saw Xia Qingtang's face.
"I don't know this comrade, but I just bumped into her by accident, and the badge got stuck on her bag..." Yu Jiankang looked down at Xia Qingtang's backpack, "Oh, your bag is torn, I'm so sorry, comrade, otherwise, I'll compensate you."
Xia Qingtang had only met Yu Jiankang a few times in her previous life and didn't know much about his character. But now, it seems that this guy is not bad. No wonder he looks down on bad people like Kong Liangjing.
Just as Xia Qingtang was about to say no, Kong Liangjing glared at him unhappily and said, "How is her bag torn? It was the patch that was torn. It was torn to begin with. Do you want compensation? Besides, how can you be sure that you bumped into her? Maybe this person saw that you were dressed elegantly and bumped into you on purpose in order to blackmail you."
Yu Jiankang's face changed: "Xiao Kong, why are you talking like that? This comrade stood here without moving. I'm sure I bumped into her."
"Then there's no need to pay for compensation. It's just a torn bag with patches all over it. Can't she just go back and fix it up?" Kong Liangjing couldn't help but roll her eyes at Xia Qingtang.
Neither she nor Kong Liangchao were good-looking. Kong Liangchao was quite energetic when he was young, but Kong Liangjing was quite ordinary when she was young. She inherited her small eyes from her mother, Kong's mother, and her eyes were always spinning around because of her evil intentions, which gave people a very bad impression.
In the previous life in the Kong family, Kong Liangjing was jealous of Xia Qingtang's beauty, so she always instigated discord behind her back, making Xia Qingtang's situation even more difficult. She even helped her brother Kong Liangchao to find a mistress outside, just to see Xia Qingtang humiliated.
Xia Qingtang looked at Kong Liangjing's ordinary face, and all the hateful past events suddenly came rolling back to him...
Comrade Yu Jiankang had no good impression of Kong Liangjing to begin with, and when he heard her say this, his face immediately fell.
"Comrade Kong, this matter has nothing to do with you. Please ignore us." Yu Jiankang said impolitely.
Kong Liangjing's face immediately turned red, and soon her eyes also turned red: "I'm just thinking about you. Why don't you know how to appreciate kindness? I'm helping you!"
"Then just treat me as unreasonable. This matter has nothing to do with you. Please stand aside." Yu Jiankang emphasized again.
Kong Liangjing couldn't bear it anymore. She sobbed and tears burst out, and she ran out of the bookstore.
Seeing this, a young couple who came into the bookstore with them hurriedly chased after them. Only Yu Jiankang did not move. He was still talking to Xia Qingtang about compensation.
Xia Qingtang said: "It's just that a patch was torn. I can go back and sew another one on. No compensation is required."
"How can I feel good about that?"
Seeing how serious he was, Xia Qingtang said, "If you really feel bad, just compensate me with a piece of rag."
"Okay, I'll compensate you with a piece of rag. But I don't have it on hand right now, can I give it to you tomorrow? Please tell me your name and unit, and I'll send it to you directly." Yu Jiankang took out a pen and paper from his bag, looking very serious.
Xia Qingtang said, "Then remember, Comrade Xie from the Secretariat of the Provincial Party Committee Office, just give the rag to this person."
“This person…isn’t this your address?”
"Yes, this is my lover's unit. It will be the same if you give it to him."
Yu Jiankang carefully wrote down the address, and then he said with relief: "I will definitely give the rags to your lover tomorrow. I am really sorry for today."
"It's a small matter, don't worry about it." Xia Qingtang turned around and continued to choose books.
When she bought a novel she had never read and walked out of the bookstore, Yu Jiankang and his friends were no longer there. Xia Qingtang walked south along the roadside. The provincial government building had already been closed for get off work. Groups of people were walking or riding bicycles. They all looked energetic and were dressed much better than the people in the cotton mill.
Many people would take a look at Xia Qingtang's washed-out blue work clothes when they came out, but there was no emotion in their eyes, they were just simply looking at a good-looking passerby.
In her previous life, Xia Qingtang would have felt inferior because of this kind of scrutiny, but now she can face it all calmly and is not afraid of anyone's opinion.
Xia Qingtang stood there and waited for a while, then saw Xie Jinxuan walking out with a young man of medium build.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the temperature was relatively cool. The young man put on a woolen vest over his shirt, but Xie Jinxuan still wore an ordinary, half-worn shirt, probably because she was not afraid of the cold.
"Qingtang!" Xie Jinxuan saw her and walked quickly to her. "Are you getting impatient?"
"Don't worry, I went to the bookstore to buy books and just got here." Xia Qingtang said with a smile.
"Jinxuan, this is your sister-in-law, right?" The young man following behind Xie Jinxuan asked with a smile.
Xie Jinxuan nodded and said proudly, "This is my lover Xia Qingtang. Qingtang, this is my cousin Sun Xiaole."
Xia Qingtang said: "Hello, cousin, do you work here too?"
"No, I work at a bank. I came here for a meeting today. After the meeting, I happened to chat with Jinxuan for a while, and then I found out that this guy is married." Sun Xiaole said: "When you are free, come to our house and sit down. My parents don't know that Jinxuan is married yet. When I go back and tell them, they will definitely be very happy."
"I'll take Qingtang to meet my aunt and uncle when I have time, but I won't say much today. Cousin, please go home quickly. I'm going to take Qingtang out for dinner." Xie Jinxuan said calmly.
Sun Xiaole chuckled: "Okay, okay, you quickly take your sister-in-law to eat, I will go back and tell everyone about your marriage."
"Thank you, cousin. Please tell my aunt that I will go to see her soon!" As she spoke, Xie Jinxuan had already pulled Xia Qingtang away.
The two of them walked side by side, slowly heading towards the nearest state-owned restaurant.
Xie Jinxuan seemed to be in a good mood. He said, "I brought meat coupons. You can order whatever you want. Grandma said that you are so thin, you must eat more good food to replenish your body. She has asked someone to buy eggs. I will send them to the steel plant when they are bought. You can eat them with Xiao Hu and the others."
"That won't do. If you give me the eggs, grandpa and grandma will have one less portion to eat, right?" Xia Qingtang firmly disagreed.
It's not easy to eat an egg these days, and she definitely doesn't want to eat the Xie family's food rations.
"How about this? I'll buy my bicycle back soon, and I'll take you to work and give you my egg. What do you think?"
"Then..." Xia Qingtang turned his head and glanced at Xie Jinxuan. He felt that if he didn't agree, he would definitely be sad, so he nodded, "That's better. I can listen to you on this."
"Well, then I will bring you eggs to eat in the future!" Xie Jinxuan was so happy that her face was beaming with joy. As they walked, she couldn't help but hold Xia Qingtang's little hand.
But because there were many people walking on the road and they were both good-looking, Xie Jinxuan let go after a while.
But when their arms accidentally touched each other while walking, Xie Jinxuan would smile slightly.
Xia Qingtang also noticed this, and she also found that she would feel happy because of his smile.
In her previous life, she read those lingering love stories in books and always wondered what liking and loving really was. Until now, when she experienced it again, she slowly discovered that feeling happy because of the other person’s smile might be a faint liking for him.
This was the first time in her two lifetimes that she felt this way. Xia Qingtang cherished this feeling and atmosphere very much. She stretched out her little hand unconsciously and held his big hand. As expected, she received Xie Jinxuan's brilliant smile.
The two of them walked to the door of the state-owned restaurant, which was the largest state-owned restaurant in the city center. It was originally a century-old brand with many traditional handcrafted dishes. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the best chef here was sent to a farm for reform, and the current chef's cooking skills are much worse.
However, the food was too bad in that era and people were not too picky. People with better conditions were still willing to come here occasionally to have a meal.
This restaurant is divided into upstairs and downstairs. There are single rooms upstairs, which are generally used by large groups of guests. Downstairs is for individual guests, and people with no more than six people are accommodated downstairs. It happened to be dinner time, so the whole first floor was bustling with activity, and you could smell the aroma of various dishes.
Xie Jinxuan was more familiar with this place. He took Xia Qingtang inside and found a seat. After searching for a while, they saw an empty eight-person table in the southeast corner, so he pulled Xia Qingtang towards that direction.
As a result, just as I walked to the empty table and hadn't sat down yet, someone sat down on the bench and snatched the table away.
Xie Jinxuan was a little unhappy. He said, "Comrade, I was the first one to walk to this table."
"I sat down first!" The person who grabbed the seat happened to be Kong Liangjing. She was no longer crying, and there were no traces of tears on her face. Instead, she said to Xie Jinxuan arrogantly, "Get out of my way quickly. You have the nerve to come here to eat when you are dressed so poorly. Can you afford pork?"
"Comrade..." Xie Jinxuan was about to say something, but Yu Jiankang, who was traveling with Kong Liangjing, pulled Kong Liangjing up and said sternly, "Comrade Kong, this comrade got to this table first. Let's not grab his table. Just go find one for ourselves."
Kong Liangjing was so angry that her face turned red: "I stole the table? It was clearly me who sat down first!"
"This comrade came over first. He wanted to give up his seat to the female comrade behind him, so you got there first. I saw it all." Yu Jiankang said very honestly.
Kong Liangjing felt very aggrieved: "Who did I grab the table for? Wasn't it for you? You have a bad stomach and can't go hungry. There are so many people here, there are no empty tables at all, and you still want to give them to others. I'm really mad at you!"
"We are not giving it to others, we are returning it to others." Yu Jiankang refused to give in. "If you take someone else's table, I would rather not eat."
"You!" Kong Liangjing rolled her eyes in anger, but she didn't dare to say anything harsh to Yu Jiankang.
A waiter passing by said, "Can't you just share a table? This big table can't accommodate the four of you?"
Xie Jinxuan said, "Okay, let's share the table."
Before he finished speaking, Kong Liangjing had already sat down: "Yu Jiankang, you sit down too, and see what you want to eat. I brought all the tickets today, so you can eat whatever you want."
Yu Jiankang greeted Xia Qingtang first and said, "Comrade, we are sorry to bother you. Also, I will give the compensation rags to your lover tomorrow."
Xie Jinxuan asked curiously, "Know him?"
"I don't know him. I just met him in the bookstore. This comrade wants to compensate me with a piece of cloth. I gave him the address of your unit and he will deliver the cloth to me tomorrow." Xia Qingtang explained simply.
"So that's how it is. Then just put it in our message room tomorrow and I'll pick it up after get off work." Xie Jinxuan said.
Yu Jiankang nodded: "I understand."
Xie Jinxuan then said to Xia Qingtang: "See what you want to eat. I'll go order the food."
Xia Qingtang said: "I really want to eat those big dumplings with cabbage and pork, and the big meat buns wrapped with dried vegetables. I want to eat that."
She was indeed craving for meat. After she came back, she had been eating very bland food. She had long missed the meat buns that would ooze out oil when you took a bite.
Although she suffered some hardship as a nanny at her cousin's house, their family used to have meat several times a week in the 1990s, and she could get a share as a nanny. The food was much better than it is now.
Xie Jinxuan whispered, "Is this enough? How about ordering braised pork or braised spareribs? Or a fish?"
"No, I just want to eat big dumplings and meat buns. I remember that the dried vegetable meat buns in this store are particularly delicious." Xia Qingtang said.
She had been here several times, but that was in her previous life. At that time, Kong Liangchao was dating her, and in order to show off his wealthy family, he would always take her to state-owned restaurants to eat good food. It was at that time that she ate the dried vegetable and meat buns here, which were truly a delicacy.
"Okay then. I'll go order the food." Xie Jinxuan smiled and walked towards the place where they took the order and paid.
At this time, you order food at the window, pay for it, point to your seat to the waiter, and wait for the food to be served.
After Xie Jinxuan went to order the food, Kong Liangjing also discussed with Yu Jiankang what to eat. When she saw Xie Jinxuan going to order the food, she said, "Yu Jiankang, I'll give you the money and the ticket, you go over there and order the food."
Yu Jiankang said straightforwardly: "Why? Didn't we agree that you would treat us to dinner today?"
"It's my treat, so I'll give you the money and the ticket, and you can go over there and order the food."
"Why bother? The window isn't far away. Can't you walk?"
Xia Qingtang lowered her head and listened to the two people talking. She couldn't help laughing in her heart. It turned out that Kong Liangjing and Yu Jiankang usually got along like this. Fortunately, she liked this unromantic man so much that she still had the patience to talk to him slowly.
Kong Liangjing continued to explain: "Just pretend that I can't walk, okay? Go order the food."
Yu Jiankang then said, "Why didn't you just tell me earlier that you couldn't walk? Give me the money and the ticket, and I'll go order the food."
After saying that, he took the money and ticket from Kong Liangjing and went to the window to order food.
After he left, Kong Liangjing began to look at Xia Qingtang's smooth skin and delicate features with a critical and hostile gaze, but when she looked at Xia Qingtang's work clothes, she showed a look of disgust.
Xia Qingtang sat there quietly, not even glancing at Kong Liangjing, because she knew this person's character too well. The more you pay attention to her, the more excited she will be.
After a while, Xie Jinxuan came back after ordering the dishes, and Kong Liangjing quickly withdrew her gaze and looked at Yu Jiankang on the other side.
It takes time to serve the dishes, so Xie Jinxuan took advantage of this opportunity to chat with Xia Qingtang about some topics that can be discussed outside. For example, he asked Xia Qingtang if she wanted to travel abroad on the 11th, and his grandmother also wanted to take this opportunity to meet Xia Qingtang.
Xia Qingtang still remembered that Xie Jinxuan was anxious to find a partner and get married because she was concerned about her grandmother's health, so she said, "Okay, we both have a holiday on National Day, so let's go see your grandmother together."
"I will send a telegram to grandma tomorrow to tell her the good news. She will definitely be very happy." Xie Jinxuan secretly held Xia Qingtang's hand under the table, "Grandma will definitely like you very much."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you are so nice. You are so nice, who would not like you? My family members, after meeting you once, all like you very much." Xie Jinxuan whispered: "Grandma was still talking to me this morning, saying it would be nice if you could stay at home for a few days."
Xia Qingtang smiled lightly and said, "Didn't you agree not to rush me? You are rushing me in disguise."
"That was my fault. I won't talk about this anymore." Xie Jinxuan quickly changed the subject, "Did your parents come to look for you?"
Xia Qingtang shook his head: "I saw my dad in the cafeteria at noon, but he didn't talk to me. My mom has completed the internal retirement process and doesn't have to work for the time being, so it's a good thing that I can't see her in the factory."
As he was talking, Yu Jiankang came back from the window. He handed the change to Kong Liangjing and said, "Count it. The amount should be correct."
Kong Liangjing didn't care about the small amount of money at all. She casually put the change into her trouser pocket and said, "Yu Jiankang, do you have time this Sunday?"
"there is no time."
"Huh? What are you going to do? Why don't you have time?"
"I want to go to the zoo with Liu Gang and the others."
"Then I want to go too."
Yu Jiankang refused outright: "No, we don't accept temporary additions."
"Then why didn't you make an appointment with me in advance? I also like going to the zoo." Kong Liangjing felt aggrieved.
Yu Jiankang looked puzzled: "Why should I ask you out in advance? We don't know each other very well."
Kong Liangjing's face fell, and tears began to well up in her eyes: "Are you going too far? There are outsiders here, what's wrong with you giving me a little face?"
Yu Jiankang was even more puzzled: "What are you talking about? Why should I give you face? Liu Gang and I have agreed to go out with the male classmates, why do you, a girl, have to follow us? Aren't you uncomfortable?"
When Kong Liangjing heard that no female comrades were with them, she stopped crying immediately. She pretended to wipe the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "Then do you have time after work tomorrow?"
"What are you going to do?"
"I want you to watch a movie with me."
"I don't want to go to the movies. I've seen all the recent ones."
There is a movie theater in the city. The tuition is not expensive, but only young men and women go there to watch movies. After all, they always play the same old movies. It would be better to wait for the movies to be played in the open space in the family compound.
As for young men and women going to the cinema, they don't go there just to watch movies. They go there mainly for a date. In a dim environment, two people who were originally shy may muster up the courage to hold hands, which can enhance their feelings.
When Xie Jinxuan heard others talking about watching a movie, she quickly asked in a low voice: "Qingtang, do you want to go to the cinema to watch a movie?"
"I don't want to go. There are too many people in the cinema and the air is not good. If you want to watch a movie, can't we go to the steel plant basketball court?" Xia Qingtang said.
"Hey, the main purpose of going to the cinema is not to watch movies..."
Xia Qingmei understood immediately. She smiled and said, "Then there's no need to go to the cinema. After dinner, come with me."
Xie Jinxuan was stunned for a moment: "Where are we going?"
"You'll know when you get there."
As they were talking, the meat buns and dumplings were served. They each had a large bowl of dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage, and four steaming hot dried vegetable and pork buns, each of which was as big as an adult man's palm and was quite filling.
Xia Qingtang immediately stopped talking. She took a pair of bamboo chopsticks from the chopstick holder on the table and handed them to Xie Jinxuan. She said, "Eat," and then started eating.
The dumplings are all white and plump. Although there is less pork and more cabbage, they are tender and juicy when you take a bite because there is a lot of fat. Paired with the soup made from big bones, it is very satisfying to eat.
Xia Qingtang hadn't had much meat for several days, so now that she could eat to her heart's content, she found the food especially delicious.
Xie Jinxuan smiled at her tenderly while eating, and asked her if she wanted two more meat buns.
Before Xia Qingtang could say anything, she heard Kong Liangjing next to her say disdainfully, "Anyone can come to the state-owned restaurant to eat. I don't know how long it has been since I last had pork. It's really shameful to see you craving for it like this."
Xie Jinxuan's gentle smile froze on his face. His eyes changed and he was about to speak, but Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "I really haven't eaten pork for a long time. We proletarian workers are all like this. We only have one meat ticket a month, so of course we crave meat. This female comrade doesn't seem to crave pork at all. I guess she eats pork often. I don't know what kind of job can allow you to eat so much more pork than us proletarians. You don't even crave it. I would like to ask which unit you are from. I would like to go to your unit to ask the leader why you eat more meat than us proletarians?"
These words were still very powerful at this time. Xia Qingtang kept calling Kong Liangjing "proletariat", as if she was a bourgeois. Her face became paler and paler, and finally she was almost pale.
"Why don't you say anything? You don't have a job? That's even more outrageous. How can a person without a job eat so much pork? I should ask him carefully." Xia Qingtang stared at Kong Liangjing's pale face and deliberately followed up.
It is said that enemies often meet on a narrow road. She had nothing to do with Kong Liangchao, but she still met Kong Liangjing. It was as if God was reminding her that she still had a grudge to avenge.
Kong Liangjing looked at Yu Jiankang beside her for help and even reached out to pull his sleeve. Yu Jiankang glanced at her and said, "When someone asked you what unit you were from, why didn't you tell them? We both work at the Transportation Bureau."
Kong Liangjing almost fainted. She glared at Yu Jiankang and cursed, "Did you do this on purpose? Why did you really tell her about your company? Can't you see that she wants to cause trouble for me?"
"I didn't realize it. Why did they cause trouble for you? Aren't the questions they asked very serious?" Yu Jiankang said honestly.
Kong Liangjing was so angry that she was shaking all over. She wanted to leave but couldn't bear to spend the money and meat tickets she had just spent, so she could only grit her teeth and sit there to see if there were any other empty seats.
But at this moment, there were more and more people and there were no empty tables at all. She could only grit her teeth and sit there pretending that she didn't exist.
Xia Qingtang didn't want to have more contact with her. After suppressing Kong Liangjing's prestige, she continued to enjoy the dumplings and big meat buns. She finished them all in one breath and drank all the soup. Then she sighed with satisfaction: "It's delicious."
Xie Jinxuan asked her with a smile: "Do you want to eat something else?"
"No, I'm already full."
Although the food in the state-owned restaurant was not cheap, it was genuine and the portions were large. The food Xia Qingtang had just eaten was enough for an adult man, so she was really full.
The food that Kong Liangjing and the others ordered also arrived at this time. There were braised pork with potatoes and fried stuffed eggplant, as well as two large blue-rimmed bowls full of white rice. They were all the snow-white, good quality rice that only state-owned restaurants could afford.
"Let's go out for a walk." Xia Qingtang glanced at the other person's food and pulled Xie Jinxuan away.
After Xia Qingtang and the others left, Kong Liangjing let out a long sigh and said, "This annoying person is finally gone!"
Yu Jiankang said: "How do you dislike people? I think you are the one who dislikes them. You are so uneducated to criticize people just because they are having a good meal."
Kong Liangjing finally couldn't bear it this time, she burst into tears: "Yu Jiankang, you did this on purpose, right? Why did you do this to me?"
After saying that, she stopped eating and ran out with her face covered.
Yu Jiankang looked puzzled: "What's wrong with me? What did I do to you?"
Not long after Xia Qingtang and Xie Jinxuan walked out, someone bumped into them from behind. She turned around and saw that it was Kong Liangjing. Xie Jinxuan got a little angry: "Comrade, what are you doing? It's fine that you bullied my wife in the restaurant just now, but why are you fighting now? Don't think that I won't beat you up just because I'm a man. You bullied my wife, and I will teach you a lesson no matter who it is!"
Kong Liangjing did deliberately rush out and bump into Xia Qingtang from behind. On the one hand, she was resentful of what happened just now, and on the other hand, she felt that these two people were particularly annoying. Her love was so hopeless, but these two strangers looked so affectionate. She couldn't accept it.
But she would definitely not admit it. She wiped her tears and said, "Who did it? I ran out crying and didn't see it clearly. You gay, why are you so vicious? What did I do? You beat me up even if I accidentally bumped into someone?"
"Then apologize. You bumped into someone. Whether it was intentional or not, you have to apologize." Xia Qingtang said word by word.
Kong Liangjing had never apologized to anyone before, let alone the other party was a shabby-dressed worker. She looked at Xia Qingtang's cold eyes and Xie Jinxuan's tall figure, suddenly turned around, and ran away.
This made both Xie Jinxuan and Xia Qingtang laugh. Xie Jinxuan said, "This person is so weird. I thought she was so great, but it turns out she can only run away. But, does she work in the Transportation Bureau? I have to go ask around about this person."
Xia Qingtang whispered: "Her surname is Kong, and she works in the Transportation Bureau..."
Xie Jinxuan reacted: "Kong Liangchao's sister?"
"It should be her."
"Then we should find out more about it." Xie Jinxuan said with a smile: "But let's not talk about this spoiler for now. Didn't you say you wanted me to go with you?"
"Yes, follow me, come this way." Xia Qingtang pulled Xie Jinxuan and walked westward, "Let's go to the Ring City Park. The scenery in the evening is very good. There are many trees and paths over there, and there are few people."
It was a great place for young men and women to go on dates, but Xia Qingtang had only been there once or twice because Kong Liangchao thought strolling in the park was boring and so he didn't want to go.
But Xia Qingtang really likes to enjoy the scenery here. Now she has the opportunity to go for a stroll with Xie Jinxuan. She is in a good mood and is looking forward to it.
It doesn’t get dark early in September. Some nearby residents who have had dinner come out for a walk, and children are playing by the river. The scene is full of vitality.
The two walked hand in hand to the other side, and then slowly moved forward along a road with few people. Xie Jinxuan began to talk about some past events in middle school, such as an activity held in the school one year, where you could climb over the wall behind to skip classes...
Xie Jinxuan spoke with great interest, and she also listened with great interest.
When they reached the entrance of a small path, Xia Qingtang interrupted him and whispered, "If you go that way, there will be fewer people."
Xie Jinxuan smiled and said gently, "You like the riverside, so let's walk by the river."
Xia Qingtang felt warm in his heart and the corners of his mouth immediately curved up.
People are really different. They are all young men, but Xie Jinxuan has always been so gentle and polite. Even if she took the initiative to suggest going to a place with fewer people, he wanted to accompany her to watch the sunset in a crowded place by the river.
Xia Qingtang felt warm but a little regretful. It would have been better if she could have received a letter from him in her previous life.
The two continued walking forward, and a child not far away suddenly said in a baby voice: "Mommy, mommy, there is a sister who wants to go swimming."
The child's mother and the people nearby looked in the direction the child pointed at, and saw a young woman in a flowered shirt and black trousers standing by the river. Before anyone could react, she jumped in with a splash.
"Help! Someone jumped into the river!"
Xie Jinxuan said hurriedly: "I can swim, I'll go save her, wait for me."
Before Xia Qingtang could say anything, he saw Xie Jinxuan stride over to the place where the man jumped into the river, take off her shoes and dive into the water.
Her heart instantly rose to her throat and she quickly ran over with the others.
Fortunately, Xie Jinxuan pulled the young woman up after a while. An old man who was fishing nearby quickly extended his fishing pole over, and everyone worked together to get Xie Jinxuan and the young woman to the shore.
Xia Qingtang then breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran over to take out the handkerchief from her bag to wipe the water stains off Xie Jinxuan's face.
"I'm fine. I'm a very good swimmer. Don't worry." Xie Jinxuan smiled brightly at her.
Xia Qingtang's eyes became hot and she felt like crying.
"Qingtang...you...don't feel bad, I'm really fine..." Xie Jinxuan panicked, and looked at Xia Qingtang helplessly, crying silently.
After a long while, Xia Qingtang sniffed and whispered, "I know you're fine, I'm just a little worried about you."
"Then I won't do anything that will make you worry in the future."
Xia Qingtang shook her head: "Then it's not you, you... just be yourself, I know you will be safe."
Yes, Xie Jinxuan is such a kind-hearted person, otherwise, he would not be the first one to rush up to help a strange aunt on the street twenty years later.
"Wake up, wake up, the girl is fine." An aunt shouted, "Hurry up, send her to the hospital."
The girl who had just woken up from spitting out water closed her eyes and whispered, "I won't go to the hospital. Let me die."
Xia Qingtang felt that the voice sounded familiar. She thought to herself, "It can't be such a coincidence that I ran into an old friend today, right?"
When she and Xie Jinxuan pushed through the crowd and walked over to take a look, it was indeed another old friend, and it was an old friend who had brought her a lot of pain in her previous life - one of Kong Liangchao's mistresses, and also the one with the most cunning personality.
She still remembered that this woman had pointed at her nose and scolded her: "What's the point of you being beautiful? It's useless! Your man has slept with so many other people outside, can you control it? What's the point of you looking for me? Your man just likes to be with me. If you have the guts, tie your man to the bed and don't let him go out!"
At that time, the woman had a smug look on her face, completely different from her current embarrassed look.
"Hey, female comrade, you are so young, how can you commit suicide? What's wrong with you?" A man said in a muffled voice behind the crowd: "If you have any difficulties, tell us and we can all help you."
"Yes, girl, people say that a good death is worse than a miserable life. You can't commit suicide." An aunt echoed.
"Yes, you are so young, just tell us if you have any difficulties, and we will all help you! There is no hurdle that you cannot overcome, and you must never seek death!" said another elder sister also enthusiastically.
Xia Qingtang was suddenly inspired and looked towards the place where the voice first came out. Sure enough, he saw Xu Jianming. He was wearing simple clothes and blending in with the crowd, obviously trying to do something to make a scene.
Xia Qingtang immediately understood that Xu Jianming must have collected the evidence she had sent to him before, but that was not enough. Xu Jianming had obviously found more evidence against Kong Liangchao, such as this woman.
Using such anecdotes about men and women as an entry point can attract more people's attention, because many people may not understand what is wrong and what is not, but they all like to talk about peach se news.
It was at this time that Xia Qingtang suddenly realized that Kong Liangchao had been with this woman in his previous life. She thought that this man had cheated on her after marriage. She was really deceived by him.
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