Chapter 120 Misunderstanding?
"Understand?"
Zhou Anping took off her cotton hat and scarf. She had clearly lost some weight, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
"Come in and warm up." Nan Zhiyi pulled her hand, which was icy cold. "Aunt Wu, could you please make another pot of hot tea?"
She set out the tea and snacks, gave Nan Zhiyi a wink, and then quietly closed the door and left for the day.
Only the two of them remained in the living room.
Nan Zhiyi handed Zhou Anping a cup of hot tea: "Have some hot tea first. You look exhausted lately, haven't you?"
Zhou Anping held the teacup, sighed without any regard for his image, and leaned limply against the sofa back as if all his bones had been removed.
“Tired? Zhiyi, I don’t even know how to write the word ‘tired’ anymore. From the beginning of the month until now, I haven’t had a single day of rest. First, I practiced day and night in the rehearsal hall, not even daring to cry loudly, my chest ached from holding it in. After I finished practicing, I started running around everywhere.”
She counted on her fingers: "Memorial services at the military region's auditorium, commemorative events at the workers' cultural palace, mourning ceremonies organized by schools... As long as it's a slightly larger organization, they're all holding events, and our cultural troupe has to step up to support them."
It's either playing funeral music, reciting eulogies, or standing in silent tribute to maintain order... This afternoon I was at a textile factory in the east of the city, and tonight I rushed to a middle school auditorium in the west. The soles of my feet are practically worn thin.
"So many sessions?"
Nan Zhiyi was shocked. She knew the performing arts troupe was busy, but she didn't expect it to be this busy.
"You just got back from the west side of the city? Have you had dinner? Are you hungry?" Nan Zhiyi asked, feeling a little ashamed. "I shouldn't have called you here so late to talk. You should..."
Zhou Anping nodded in response to the questions, and then said, "My dear friend, don't think of me as so fragile. I wish I could come and talk to you."
Nan Zhiyi couldn't bring herself to ask the question she wanted to, and simply offered her some snacks, saying, "Try some first."
"good."
Zhou Anping chuckled, picked up a jujube paste pastry, took a small bite with little appetite, and then grumbled, "You don't know, the higher-ups said that the nation's condolences must be expressed in the most solemn way and delivered to every corner of the grassroots. We're that 'form'..."
She spoke with a self-deprecating tone, "Sometimes when I'm standing on the stage, listening to the sobbing of the dark mass of people below, and looking at the white flowers on their chests, I can't tell whether I'm just tired and want to cry, or if I'm really sad... or maybe both."
She took another bite of the pastry and chewed mechanically.
Nan Zhiyi silently refilled her teacup; Anping still had so many things on her mind…
She tentatively asked, "Then... what about home? Did your aunt say anything about Chen Hong's matter?"
Zhou Anping's eyes dimmed: "Chen Hong... she urges me to meet her every few days, to have a meal. How can I have the time? Once I squeezed out some time to go, but I was so tired that my eyelids were drooping and I was too lazy to even talk. He doesn't mind, saying he understands... but the more he does that, the more uncomfortable I feel."
She scratched her head in frustration, "Am I being too dramatic? He's not bad off, and he's quite considerate..."
"You can't force matters of the heart." Nan Zhiyi held her hand and said gently, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your health is the most important thing; you've lost weight."
Zhou Anping shook his head, seemingly trying to shake off those troublesome things.
She looked at the exquisite pastries on the plate and finally became interested: "These pastries are quite nice. Are they from the capital? Did Fifth Brother ask someone to bring them?"
Nan Zhiyi looked at her, unsure whether to speak or not, and said, "Yes, it was this afternoon... Fifth Brother asked a comrade to deliver it."
"Oh." Zhou Anping didn't ask any more questions.
She took a bite of her pastry angrily and said, "I saw Wang Lili and her boyfriend again at the memorial service a few days ago!"
"Wang Lili's boyfriend??" Nan Zhiyi frowned.
"Yes, that's the guy we saw at the department store entrance last time! His name is Meng Qingshan!"
Nan Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat; Meng Qingshan had clearly said he was single...
"Anping, how do you know that Meng Qingshan is Wang Lili's boyfriend?"
"I'm guessing! It's supposed to be a memorial service, but Wang Lili doesn't respect our hard work at all. She's only concerned with serving her boyfriend."
You didn't see how fawning and ingratiating she was! She practically clung to him! Offering him a scarf, hot tea, and smiling so sweetly! Would she act like that if he weren't her boyfriend?
“But that Meng Qingshan…” she pursed her lips, “his hands were in his pockets, he didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids, just occasionally gave a perfunctory nod. The scene…”
As he spoke, Zhou Anping slapped his thigh, raised his voice, and showed a hint of disgust on his face.
"Hey, you don't know, Meng Qingshan actually came to talk to me! He even came twice. Of course I couldn't talk to him. I gave him two big eye rolls!"
Nan Zhiyi was amused by her; it seemed Zhou Anping might have misunderstood.
"Anping, do you dislike Comrade Meng Qingshan because of Wang Lili?"
Zhou Anping looked disgusted. "Who is Wang Lili? What kind of person would she fawn over like that? They're all snakes and rats! Every time I see him, I think of Wang Lili's obsequious face. How can I not hate him?"
It was indeed because of Wang Lili.
Nan Zhiyi understood.
Anping, with his strong sense of justice and hatred for evil, naturally equated Meng Qingshan and Wang Lili upon seeing that scene.
She did not immediately refute Zhou Anping's judgment. Only after Zhou Anping's rapid breathing had calmed down a little did Nan Zhiyi slowly speak.
“Anping, you’re right. We all know what kind of person Wang Lili is. She was very attentive to Comrade Meng Qingshan; I saw it myself that day. But are you sure that Comrade Meng Qingshan and Wang Lili…have a relationship?”
Zhou Anping was taken aback: "Does this even need confirmation? Wang Lili is already like that..."
"Who Wang Lili fawns over is her business. Just like she harassed your brother, didn't she? What relationship did your brother have with her?"
Zhou Anping was stumped by the question and was speechless for a moment.
“I also saw Comrade Meng Qingshan today,” Nan Zhiyi continued. “Fifth Brother asked him to deliver something to our house; the two are old acquaintances.”
He sat down, drank some tea, and chatted with me for a bit. He said he was single…
Nan Zhiyi observed Zhou Anping's expression and saw that although her face was tense, the disgust in her eyes had eased a little before she continued.
"He came today not only to bring some things, but also to ask me for help with something. He said... he met you while attending a memorial service some time ago."
He said he wanted to get to know you, but... you were very cold towards him, and he's confused. He doesn't know what he did to offend you. So, he wanted me to ask you why... you dislike him so much?
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