Chapter 15 Turning the Tide: When Have I Ever Not Been Fierce?
Li Baidong sent the restaurant's address to Xing Lan. Just as Xing Lan was about to open it, she suddenly received a phone call from her father.
He instinctively thought it was his grandfather having some health problem again, so he answered the phone without hesitation.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end of the phone was cold and stern, devoid of any warmth, as if it were questioning: "Your Uncle Zhang said he saw you at the hospital a few days ago. What happened?"
"It's nothing, just passing by," Xing Lan said calmly.
He stood up, avoided Li Baidong who was eating next to him, and went into the study alone, closing the door as soon as he entered.
Li Baidong looked up at his back. Although it was only for a moment before the door closed, he could see obvious irritation and impatience on Xing Lan's face.
That was an expression he had rarely seen Xing Lan display in all the time he had known him. Clearly, he was extremely annoyed with the person on the other end of the phone.
"Don't go to those kinds of places unless you have to." Xing Yi said coldly, his face stern. "The hospital is full of flu viruses right now. If you get infected by accident, it will waste medical resources and cause trouble for society."
"I understand." Xing Lan raised her head, gave a sarcastic smirk, and said, "If I accidentally get sick, I'll just die. I won't cause you or society any trouble."
A loud bang suddenly came from the other end of the phone. Clearly, Xing Yi was provoked by his words and was slamming his fist on the table in a fit of rage. Xing Lan calmly moved the phone slightly away from her ear.
"...What are you saying? Xing Lan, do you even remember your own surname? Is this how you talk to your own father? I've wasted the last twenty-odd years raising you—"
Xing Lan frowned and interrupted him: "What exactly do you want to say? If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."
Xing Yi suppressed his anger and took a deep breath.
He glanced at the photo on the computer screen and said to Xing Lan, word by word, "Your Aunt Lin has a distant relative who recently returned from studying abroad."
"You're not getting any younger, and I think she's a good match for you. Why don't you—"
Xing Lan chuckled silently, his last shred of patience completely exhausted. He lowered his head and hung up the phone without hesitation.
Xing Yi called him several more times, but Xing Lan ignored him. Finally, he turned off his phone, threw it aside, and turned on his computer to start working.
The "Aunt Lin" that Xing Yi mentioned is Xing Lan's stepmother and Xing Chen's biological mother.
Back then, as an assistant, she had an ambiguous and unclear relationship with Xing Yi, which caused Xing Lan's family to fall apart and her mother to die of depression. However, she married into a wealthy family as she wished, and gave birth to her own child when Xing Lan was eighteen years old, forming a happy family of three.
Xing Lan would never have any connection with the Lin family in her life; she felt disgusted even to look at them.
From childhood to adulthood, Xing Lan knew that he had always been just a tool used by Xing Yi to save face, using his good grades to prove that he was a good father who was successful in his career and a great father.
Unexpectedly, even though he had moved out of the house so many years ago, Xing Yi still tried to use him as a favor to please his new wife's family.
It's ridiculous and laughable; they don't treat him like a human being at all.
Past memories kept replaying in his mind, making Xing Lan feel agitated and unable to concentrate on his work.
Frustrated, he turned off his laptop and listlessly slumped onto the cold, hard wooden table in the study.
After a while, footsteps were heard at the door.
Li Baidong knocked on the door twice, and when there was no response, he turned the handle and came in.
He immediately saw Xing Lan lying face down on the desk with her back to him, eyes closed, motionless, and he couldn't tell if she was asleep or resting.
"Brother?" he called out tentatively, but Xing Lan ignored him.
Li Baidong walked around the study, doing something that seemed to involve closing the windows and drawing the curtains.
After he finished doing all that, he went out for a while and came back quickly.
When he returned, he placed something warm and soft on Xing Lan's shoulder, stood beside him quietly for a while, and then quietly closed the door and left.
Xing Lan slowly opened her eyes, reached out and touched herself, and found a light blue coral fleece blanket on her shoulder, printed with cartoon airplane patterns. It was clearly not something Xing Lan would have at home.
Besides that, there was another box on the table, neither too big nor too small. Xing Lan opened it and found a small round cake inside.
The cake is a blueberry mille-feuille, with each layer of sauce and cream spread very carefully, just like the Blue Heart cake sold in the coffee shop, except that it is no longer a small, stingy triangular slice, but a whole complete circle.
The sticky note next to him had Li Baidong's familiar handwriting, the characters still flamboyant and unrestrained, like scribbles.
Xing Lan held up the sticky note, and like a detective solving a case, carefully examined each line under the lamplight, finally piecing together the message:
[The sweetest little cake, for my best brother (^ ^)]
-
On Friday, Xing Lan unusually did not work overtime. After finishing her work for the week in the afternoon, she prepared to leave the company and drive to Ningda to pick up Li Baidong for dinner.
Xing Lan's work has been progressing very well recently. The new project is going smoothly, and she has also successfully renewed her contract with Shiweijia.
General Manager Liao was very pleased and praised him highly at the morning meeting, and also gave him a generous bonus.
This made Deng Hao extremely jealous, his nose and eyes contorted with resentment, with nowhere to vent it. Today, Xing Lan left work early, finally giving him the opportunity.
"Director Xing, are you leaving get off work so early because you're going on a date?" Deng Hao said sarcastically, watching his retreating figure. "We employees have dedicated our lives to the company, and you, as the director, are leading the way by leaving early. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Upon hearing this, Xing Lan stopped and turned to walk towards Deng Hao.
He expressionlessly took a stack of documents from his briefcase and gently slapped them on his desk.
"...What is this?" Before Deng Hao could even look at the contents of the paper, he had a bad feeling.
“This month’s attendance sheet.” Xing Lan pointed to the paper on the table with her fingertip, looked at him, and said calmly, “From the beginning of the month until now, you have been late eleven times, three of which were more than twenty minutes late.”
Is this your attitude towards life?
"I..." Deng Hao didn't expect Xing Lan to suddenly take out this thing, and he couldn't think of any rebuttal for a moment, his neck turning red.
“I did have something to do today, but I’ve already finished all my work ahead of schedule, and everything complies with the company’s regulations,” Xing Lan said coolly. “If you have any objections, you can go directly to General Manager Liao. There’s no need to say anything useless here and affect the work progress.”
After saying that, he didn't look at Deng Hao again and turned to walk out of the office.
Deng Hao glared at his tall, straight back, feeling both angry and guilty. He gritted his teeth inwardly, regretting that he shouldn't have been lazy and given Xing Lan something to talk about.
-
Xing Lan drove out of the company and stopped at the entrance of Ningbo University.
He sat in his car and sent Li Baidong a text message: "I'm at your school gate."
After waiting for about ten minutes, Li Baidong still hadn't replied.
Xing Lan wanted to call him to ask, but she was afraid he was in class and might not answer even if she called.
After thinking for a moment, he opened the door and got out of the car, intending to go in and take a look. Even if he couldn't find Li Baidong, he could at least reminisce about his alma mater.
Ningbo University's campus remains as clean and spacious as ever. Several students, carrying bags, walked along the green path, chatting and laughing about the latest variety shows and games.
Xing Lan, dressed in a proper shirt and trousers, stood out among the crowd of people in loose hoodies. Many people glanced at him, seemingly curious about his identity.
Xing Lan glanced at the tall teaching buildings not far away, turned a corner, and stepped into the gymnasium next door.
He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that Li Baidong might be here.
The gymnasium at Ningbo University is very large, and there were a few boys playing basketball inside. Although there weren't many of them, they were playing with great focus, and everyone looked tense and was sweating a lot.
The boys who play basketball are all tall and have good physiques. Even their clothes are similar, consisting of black or white short-sleeved shirts and uniform-style pants, much like school uniform pants.
Even so, Xing Lan spotted Li Baidong at a glance.
Li Baidong was the only blond among the crowd. He was always smiling, and even when he was playing basketball, his lips didn't fall, and he still had a light smile on his face, as if nothing could affect his good mood.
His dribbling is very smooth, his dunks are stylish and cool, and every step he takes is light and free. Although he is tall, he does not appear clumsy at all.
Although he played very well, the opposing team was equally strong, and judging from the current score, Li Baidong's team was clearly at a disadvantage.
Li Baidong raised his hand and clapped twice in the air. He turned to encourage his teammates not to give up. His voice was clear, loud, and full of energy, like a cheerful, sunny puppy.
Xing Lan didn't greet Li Baidong. He silently walked to the stands next to him, chose the most inconspicuous corner, and quietly watched them.
A group of young women were scattered around the front row of the stands. A few of them seemed to be the girlfriends of the male players on the field, and they kept cheering loudly for their boyfriends, their slender arms waving in the air.
Xing Lan didn't cheer for Li Baidong, but Li Baidong still saw him.
The moment their eyes met, Li Baidong paused for a second, then smiled brightly at him, his handsome face shining brightly in the golden sunlight.
Xing Lan pursed her lips, slightly raised her chin, and gestured with her eyes for him to stay focused and fight properly.
Li Baidong narrowed his long, narrow eyes slightly, turned his head away, and refocused his attention on the court.
Compared to his previous relaxed demeanor, he suddenly became very aggressive after returning to the field, scoring several goals in a row and leaving his opponents bewildered. They quickly adjusted their strategies to strengthen their defense, but they couldn't stop his powerful attack at all.
In just a few minutes, the situation on the field was completely reversed.
Although Xing Lan didn't understand basketball, she could see that Li Baidong's team's score was increasing rapidly as if they had a cheat code. From initially catching up to gradually surpassing, the gap became wider and wider, and the opposing team was basically powerless to turn the tide.
In the end, Li Baidong's team turned the tide and won the match.
Several teammates came over and put their hands on his shoulders with a smile.
"That's awesome, bro. How come you're suddenly going all out like that?"
"Yeah, those little fangirls are practically deafening me with their shouts."
Li Baidong held the ball and raised an eyebrow.
"When did I stop being fierce?"
"That's right, my Dong-ge always plays like this," his teammate exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
"Alright, stop flattering me, go find your girlfriend." Li Baidong smiled and tossed the basketball in his hand to him.
A teammate caught the ball, looked at Li Baidong, and teased him with a sly smile, "Hey, when's our Dong-ge going to find a girlfriend?"
Another person echoed exaggeratedly, "Yeah, I've known you for so long and I've never seen you date... You didn't secretly cultivate the Path of Heartlessness, would you get struck by lightning if you kissed someone?"
"Get lost." Li Baidong laughed and cursed at them, then ran his hand through his hair and said casually, "Why didn't I stop talking? It's just—"
He paused, looked towards the stands, and slightly curled the corners of his lips, his words carrying an air of certainty.
"If we're going to talk, let's talk about the best."
A note from the author:
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