Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Thank You Gift
On her first day of fieldwork in the countryside, Xia Qingwan realized that although she was supposed to be there to learn from the project, she was actually just a free laborer doing odd jobs.
During the day, she followed the professor and senior student around the mountain villages, doing odd jobs. In the evening, she returned to the guesthouse in the county. The senior student and the professor would flip through books and discuss, while she was responsible for taking notes. In addition, she had to transcribe the recordings from the day into text, correct typos and grammatical errors, and add annotations where necessary.
Late at night, the professor went to sleep first, and Xia Qingwan helped her senior transcribe the arguments and references from the discussion into the computer.
It was two o'clock in the morning when I finished my work.
The senior student stretched, got up, rummaged through her bag on the bed, took out two packets of cassia seed tea, brewed them, placed a cup in front of Xia Qingwan, and said, "Let's go to the balcony for some fresh air."
It's still raining outside.
The continuous plum rain season in Jiangnan.
When I opened the balcony door, a damp earthy smell hit me in the face.
The senior student laughed and said, "I used to hate the rainy season in the south. I don't know if it's because I've been in the dry city of Beijing for too long, but now, in this rain, I feel a little nostalgic for the familiar atmosphere."
Then he said, "Are you from Shangjing?"
“Half and half,” Xia Qingwan smiled slightly, her eyes lowered. “Half from the capital, half from the south.”
“Oh,” the senior student said knowingly, “Your father is from Beijing and your mother is from the South?”
"Um."
Xia Qingwan blew on the steam in the cup and took a small sip.
The two were chatting when they heard a knock on the door. The professor, standing outside, raised his voice and said, "Why are the lights still on? It's time to go to bed. Don't overdo it right after you get here. There's still a lot of time."
Okay.
The senior student called back, "I'm going to sleep now."
Xia Qingwan finished washing up first, lay down in bed, took out her phone to set the alarm, only to see that Grandma Bai Tianxi had sent her a voice message.
The gist of it is that Mr. Ye sent someone over during the day today to deliver some fresh seasonal fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meat to save her the trouble of going out to buy groceries. There was also a massage chair for the elderly, which she has already accepted.
Xia Qingwan remained silent for a long time.
One day later, while chatting and having dinner with local villagers and officials from the county cultural bureau, Xia Qingwan asked a few questions about local specialties that were suitable as gifts. The villagers replied, "Our specialty is tea, of course, but the best quality tea has already passed the harvest season."
The quality of summer tea is slightly lower and the taste is astringent and bitter.
The official said, "There are quite a few specialty stores in the county. We should still have some of the first batch of white tea picked before the Qingming Festival. I'll ask around for you another day."
A few days later, the official helped her find a store, and Xia Qingwan went there in person and bought two packs.
Mid-July.
That evening, while having dinner, I was thinking of calling Grandma Xi since I finished work early, when her phone rang first.
Lai Xianshi is: "Wang Jingzi".
When Mr. Ye invited her to dinner, Wang Jingzi took the initiative to exchange phone numbers with her.
Why would he call?
Xia Qingwan got up and walked a little further away, then answered the phone with a puzzled look, "Hello, Mr. Wang."
"Miss Xia, I have something to tell you," he said gently, with a comforting tone that hinted at bad news. Xia Qingwan felt a sinking feeling in her heart, and her voice tightened. "...Go ahead."
"This morning, Grandma Xi fell outside the bathroom. I happened to visit her at noon and rushed her to the hospital in time. Her condition is now stable. She has a fractured tibia and needs to rest in the hospital for a while."
Xia Qingwan's heart was pounding. She said, "Thank you. Thank you for your trouble."
Wang Jingzi comforted her greatly, saying, "Fortunately, her hip joint wasn't injured. We've arranged for Grandma Xi to be admitted to the intensive care unit. Everything is fine, so don't worry."
"And now? Is Grandma Xi asleep? Is she feeling alright?"
"She's in good spirits and was even chatting and laughing with the nurses. She's already had dinner and gone to bed. You can call her again tomorrow at lunchtime. Also, Grandma Xi said not to tell Grandma Xia about this yet, so as not to worry her."
"Well, thank you so much, thank you--"
Wang Jingzi said gently, "You're welcome. I was asked to visit you every now and then, and this just happened to happen to happen."
Hang up the phone.
Xia Qingwan opened Mr. Ye's chat box on WeChat. Her conversation with him was still stuck on the time when he dropped her off at the tailor shop.
Fingertips hover for a moment, typing:
"Mr. Ye, are you free to take this call now?"
Not receiving a reply immediately, she returned to the table to continue eating.
The professors and senior students noticed that she looked a little pale after answering the phone and asked with concern, "Qingwan, what happened?"
"My grandma fell down..."
"Oh, are you alright?"
The senior student chimed in.
"Luckily, one of my brothers happened to send someone to visit and got him to the hospital in time."
Professor Zhang comforted her, "That's good, that's good. Someone happened to visit, which shows that your grandmother is usually popular and has accumulated good fortune. She will be fine."
Xia Qingwan smiled slightly and nodded.
-
After dinner, I returned to the guesthouse and helped with some tidying up. When I was about to take a shower, a reply popped up on Xia Qingwan's phone:
"Mr. Ye: I was at dinner just now and didn't look at my phone. It's convenient now."
Xia Qingwan turned her head while holding the phone and saw her senior sister lying on the bed talking to her boyfriend on the phone. She thought for a moment and went to the balcony.
A light rain was falling outside, and the distant mountain village was shrouded in a misty white fog.
I dialed the number, it rang three times, and then the other end answered.
She spoke first, "Mr. Ye."
"……Um."
This sound carried a hint of gentle weariness.
She couldn't help but guess and asked, "...Have you been drinking?"
"Yeah, I drank a little."
Xia Qingwan poured out the words she had carefully considered earlier, "I want to say thank you, thank you for letting Mr. Wang visit Grandma Xi, otherwise..."
"Nothing," Ye Peixiu said, "It's what I should do."
She knew what he meant. He meant that for the sake of Grandma Liang, he should take better care of the two old people and one young person in the Xia family.
Nevertheless, it is still an immense favor.
Grandma Xi fell outside the bathroom, unable to move or make a sound. You can imagine how desperate she was. If he hadn't taken care of her and asked Wang Jingzi to check on her every now and then, the consequences would have been disastrous.
That was Grandma Xi. During her childhood when she lived with relatives, she often visited Grandma Xi. Just imagining her lying on the floor made her heart ache and want to cry.
Ye Peixiu seemed to notice the slurred tone in her voice. "Don't worry, I've already spoken to Wang Jingzi. Tell her to stay in the hospital for a few months and do her rehabilitation before going home."
"thank you."
Xia Qingwan was filled with emotions, and in the end, she could only bring herself to say those three words again.
"You're welcome."
This sound still has a faint sense of fatigue.
Xia Qingwan reacted and said softly with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, please go to bed early. I won't disturb you anymore."
It makes sense. With his status and position, he is busy with all kinds of things every day, has dinner parties and social events in the evening, and also has to find time to take care of people. He must be in need of rest right now.
After she finished speaking, she waited quietly for a moment, and all she could hear was the sound of soft, deep breathing.
Did he fall asleep?
Just as I was thinking this, a faint voice came from the other end of the phone, "Xia Qingwan."
His voice was clear and upright, with a slight hoarseness from the alcohol.
"Um."
She responded reflexively.
"When you contact me or talk to me, all you say is 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry,'" Ye Peixiu chuckled and said softly, "It seems like you have nothing else to say to me, is that it?"
From his words, Xia Qingwan recalled the scene of her and him admiring the lotus by the pond on a misty night of spring rain.
Of course not.
Of course not.
She didn't answer right away, and Ye Peixiu didn't seem to want an answer either. He paused and continued, "...Do you really have to tell me so clearly?"
A slow, unhurried bass voice said, "Are 'help' and 'repayment' the only things we can discuss between us?"
Xia Qingwan shook her head and said softly, "...No."
"Besides, I never asked you to give me anything in return."
"Um."
This sound was unexpectedly very well-behaved.
Ye Peixiu suddenly felt the thirst from drinking reaching his throat, and he raised his hand to loosen his collar.
They remained silent for a moment.
Ye Peixiu asked in a low voice, "Is it raining over there?"
"Yeah, it's been raining for half a month now."
Ye Peixiu chuckled and said, "You like watching the rain so much, did you get to enjoy it to your heart's content now?"
Xia Qingwan mumbled, "...not really. Running around all day in the rain isn't very convenient. But," he paused, "the green hills are really beautiful."
"Yeah."
These two words are spoken in a low tone, not as a question, and have a gentle, feather-like quality.
Xia Qingwan had a strange illusion: as if they were not only talking on the phone, but were facing each other under the night window, chatting and enjoying the rain, and she was being gently watched by him under the lamp.
A sudden, inexplicable wave of bitterness washed over me.
She said, "...Although you said you don't want anything in return, I have already bought you a thank you gift."
"What is it?"
The gentle whisper was transmitted through the electric current, making her almost unable to bear it. She took the phone away, covered the microphone and took a deep breath. Xia Qingwan continued, "It's not a valuable thing, just a local specialty white tea."
"I like to drink tea."
His tone was casual, as if he were just saying something to show his understanding, making it impossible for people to tell whether he meant it or not.
"Is this true?" Xia Qingwan couldn't help but say, "You'd better tell the truth, otherwise next time I thank you and buy you tea, you'll be inconsolable."
Ye Peixiu reacted for a moment and realized that she was sending her to the tailor shop before "fighting back" and his "half-joking" in the car.
Since they met, she had found an opportunity to "fight back" every time he said something rude.
Ye Peixiu looked up and leaned against the back of the sofa, laughing.
Neither he nor she realized that she could subconsciously recall the incident on the way to the tailor shop, and he could remember it so quickly, simply because those few short moments together had been relived in their minds many times.
“...Really,” he paused slightly, “besides, it’s a thank-you gift, what can I, the recipient, possibly complain about?”
Xia Qingwan was just about to say, of course I can be picky, if it's not delivered in the right place, then it would be a waste, when she heard Ye Peixiu say softly, "I like whatever you give me."
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