Chapter 14 ***
In the span of a second, a 100,000-word dog blood drama flashed in Brother w.a.n.g"s brain.
He subconsciously looked Xu Lian over. A lovely girl, and her height perfectly suited.
Seeing the man fail to promptly answer, Xu Lian became worried and continued to ask: "Did his injury worsen?"
While Brother w.a.n.g filled in the plot of his 100,000-word drama, he also realized something: Turns out Xiang ChangKong"s injury was related to this woman named Xu Lian.
When he saw Xiang ChangKong"s injury a couple of days ago, he was so shocked. He asked him what had happened, but Xiang ChangKong only said that he accidentally fell.
What a joke. He was young once you know! Who could he not tell that his injury was from fighting with others?
So this fight was caused by fiery youths competing for a beautiful young woman?
But he couldn"t understand. If that was the case, why didn"t Xiang ChangKong deliver the order today? Where"s the contradiction in my logic?
As a colleague and predecessor of that young man, Brother w.a.n.g felt that he had a heavy burden pressing down on his shoulders. He opened his mouth and told Xu Lian: "That"s right. Little Xiang"s injuries are so bad, but he insists on not going to the hospital to have them checked out. I don"t know what to do. I"m not sure you know ah, but he usually gets plenty of good reviews on our site. The day he got injured was the first day he ever got a complaint."
Xu Lian saw stunned. Didn"t he say that he didn"t get any complaints?
She slightly opened her red lips, but didn"t say anything for quite a while. Brother w.a.n.g watched her and said: "If you want to find him, you can just visit his home directly. His house is just on the other side of ZhongRong district."
Xu Lian"s eyes flickered. Go to his house?
Brother w.a.n.g saw the look on her face and felt that his mission had been successfully completed. "If there"s nothing else, I"ll be going first."
"Ah, thank you."
"It"s no problem."
Leaving Xu Lian"s store, Brother w.a.n.g"s footsteps were more confident compared to his walk coming in. He took out his phone and dialed. "Hey Old Wu, guess what. I just did a great thing."
"What"s the matter? Did you drop an order all over the sidewalk?"
"Bah! It"s about Little Xiang..." Brother w.a.n.g braked. "Forget it, I won"t tell you. I"ll keep it to myself and get all the praise."
Brother Wu: "..." Then why make a phone call you fart!
Back in Xu Lian"s store, Zhang GuoEr and Xu Lian had long lost their appet.i.te. Xu Lian was too busy thinking about Xiang ChangKong. Zhang GuoEr, on the other hand, had eaten too much fruit as she watched the drama, making her too full.
Zhang GuoEr looked at Xu Lian, thinking that something big was about to happen to her Boss, ah!
The two women settled their lunch and started the afternoon"s work, both pretending that nothing had happened.
In this adult world, emotions such as joy and anger never influenced work.
Xu Lian continued working through orders on the second floor. Zhang GuoEr stayed behind the counter, tapping her pen while looking up towards the second floor from time to time.
She wondered when her Boss" self-control would snap, finally making her give in to her urge to drop everything and run to that takeaway brother"s house to find him.
By Friday, Xu Lian continued to write "please let Xiang ChangKong deliver the meal" on the notes, but Xiang ChangKong didn"t come once. So on Sat.u.r.day, instead of requesting Xiang ChangKong, she asked for that fat takeaway uncle who delivered to her last time.
"Ah, Little Xiang is taking a day off today. If you need to contact him, it"s best to go to his house and find him directly." Brother w.a.n.g said as he put down Xu Lian"s order, inadvertently revealing a piece of news.
Xu Lian seriously thought about it.
For her, going to someone"s house was a very intimate act. She had never been to any cla.s.smate"s house when she was young, and even though she and Wei YiChen have known each other for so many years, she had never been to his house.
However, when she thought that it was Xiang ChangKong"s house she was visiting, such acts didn"t seem so difficult to accept.
These days, she would always end up thinking about Xiang ChangKong. His gentle voice, that small dimple that showed up whenever he laughed, those starry eyes that seemed to pierce through people, eyebrows he couldn"t help but scrunch when he was injured...
For the first time in her life, Xu Lian was experiencing thoughts of love.
Xu Lian put down her lunch, picked up her keys, and said to Zhang GuoEr: "I"m going out, help me look after the shop."
Zhang GuoEr, with a spoon in her hand, looked at her and blinked twice. "Oh, sure, you go ahead in peace."
Xu Lian didn"t say anything else. She didn"t even bother opening her lunch and simply left. Zhang GuoEr watched Xu Lian drive away, then picked up her pen and wrote in her notebook.
"The t.i.tanic actress Ruth once said that she needs someone who can ignite her pa.s.sion for life. Everyone needs someone who can ignite our pa.s.sion. I think the Boss" special person already appeared."
When she first met Xu Lian, Zhang GuoEr felt that she was a lonely and indifferent person. Xu Lian didn"t seem to need friends, nor did she need to integrate into any sort of social circle. And because of her work, she does come into contact with a variety of people every day. It"s just that whether friend or guest, it made no difference in Xu Lian"s eyes.
She didn"t establish any close ties with anyone, nor did she need such relations. Perhaps people"s first impression of her was a cold woman, like an iceberg. But to Zhang GuoEr, Xu Lian wasn"t an iceberg, but a fire simmering just beneath the ice. When the fire ignited, her pa.s.sion would devour everything around her.
Like Xu Lian"s favorite lipstick, she was a warm, fiery red.
Xu Lian drove towards the ZhongRong district. Although the name sounds tall and imposing, the buildings in the area were relatively old. However, there were some advantages to living in an old district: there were many old and competent supermarkets, vegetable markets, snack shops, and grocery stores dotted around the area.
She came across an old basketball court that seemed to have been unused for a long time, its basket rim shabby.
Using is as a "parking lot," she soon got out of her car. She looked around, thinking of finding a local resident to ask for clues.
Soon, a girl with short hair was walking towards her. She was carrying a school bag and wearing a high school uniform, looking very cute.
Xu Lian approached and asked: "h.e.l.lo, do you happen to know which house Xiang ChangKong lives in?"
The girl was stunned. Looking at Xu Lian with bright eyes, she laughed: "Sister, you"re looking for my brother? He lives here." The girl pointed to the side.
Now it was Xu Lian"s turn to be stunned. She remembered Xiang ChangKong talking about his sister, but...what a coincidence that she just happened to ask her.
"Sister, are you my brother"s friend? I"ll take you up." Xiang Nuan persuaded Xu Lian to follow her upstairs. "My name is Xiang Nuan, Nuan as in warmth."
Hearing the other party introduce herself first, Xu Lian also introduced herself out of courtesy. "My name is Xu Lian."
"Xu Lian? Lian as in love?"
"Well..."
Xiang Nuan looked back at her with a smile. "Sister"s name sounds pretty, ah!"
"Ah, your name sounds nice too." Xu Lian became a little embarra.s.sed. What is this, a flowery commercial where they praise each other?
(T/N: In Chinese, many different words can have the same sound, but different character.)
Xiang ChangKong"s apartment wasn"t very high up, so they soon arrived. Xiang Nuan took out a key and opened the door. When she walked in, she looked towards the kitchen. "Gee, I think my brother went out."
Xiang Nuan knew that Xiang ChangKong should"ve been in the middle of cooking lunch. A quick glance showed that all the ingredients were cut, but the cook himself was missing. Did he go out to buy some soy sauce?
Xiang Nuan invited Xu Lian inside and said: "My brother might"ve gone out to buy something. He should be back soon, so you can wait for him."
"Alright."
Xu Lian followed her to the living room and saw a middle-aged woman sitting on the sofa. The woman was wearing a red sweater, her hair was draped on one shoulder, and she was holding a cup of tea. Hearing the front door open, the woman had looked towards them. Her eyes showed no emotion, but she still somehow made Xu Lian feel a little uncomfortable.
Weng ShuLi"s eyes lingered at Xu Lian for a moment, before moving away. Xiang Nuan put down her schoolbag and shouted out: "Mom, I"m back. This sister is brother"s friend!"
Weng ShuLi gave no response, but Xiang Nuan smiled and said to Xu Lian: "I"ll take you to my brother"s room." She took Xu Lian"s hand and walking through the living room, whispered to her: "Sorry, my mom was sick, and afterward, she"s been like this."
Sick? Xu Lian"s eyebrows slightly raised. She was curious to know what was wrong with Nuan"s mother but felt that it was disrespectful to inquire about other people"s illnesses. Finally, she kept her questions to herself and simply nodded to show that she had understood.
After leaving the living room, a few steps took them to a closed door. The door wasn"t locked, so Xiang Nuan easily opened the door and said: "Sit here for a while, I"ll pour you a gla.s.s of water."
Xu Lian wanted to decline, but before she could open her mouth, Xiang Nuan had already run out.
In the end, Xu Lian turned and looked into the empty room.
His room was small. The single bed, two-door wardrobe, and desk that occupied the room already filled the room. These were the only furnishings, with the only a few trinkets on the desk decorating the place.
One of those trinkets was the sky blue aromatherapy candle Xiang ChangKong had bought from her.
Ah, this candle, she remembered telling him that she named the candle "Loving the Sky."
At the time, she didn"t know his name and therefore naturally didn"t feel anything. But after finding out that his name was "ChangKong," she felt really panicked.
(T/N: remember ChangKong means vast sky and Lian means love/to love)
Seeing in the middle of his desk, Xu Lian walked up to it and gently picking up the candle. Xiang ChangKong hadn"t lit it once, with the candle still wholly intact. Its unique fragrance wafted towards her. Xu Lian had always thought that it closely resembled the scent of the vast blue sky, but now she felt it resembled Xiang ChangKong more.
Yes, Xiang ChangKong made her feel like she was up in the skies.
On the spot the candle stood was a small, wooden plane.
***