Slowly Falling For Changkong

***

Xiang ChangKong had brought his scooter to the police station. When they reached the scooter, he turned to Xu Lian and said: "Then I"ll be going first."

When Xu Lian saw that he was about to go, she reached out and grabbed the incubator fixed on the back seat.

Turning back, Xiang ChangKong gave her a puzzled look: "Is there anything else?"

At this moment, Xu Lian had to admit that Zhang GuoEr"s description of Xiang ChangKong was pretty accurate. His eyes were melancholic and deep, like the vast starry sky. Feeling swayed by his gaze, she said: "I still think you should go to the hospital to get checked."

She didn"t know why she continued to pester him endlessly and felt annoyed at herself. Xiang ChangKong said he was fine, and he still had a job to do.

After a few beats, he simply said "good-bye," then left.

Xu Lian stared at his retreating back for a long time, before turning around and flagging a taxi back to her store.

The store was only a little messy. Except for the few candles that fell to the ground, none of her other merchandise had been disturbed. In the end, the mess that was going to be the most difficult to clean was the broken flower pot that she broke herself.

The gla.s.s and porcelain fragments wouldn"t take much time to clean, but the earth from the pot was scattered and smeared everywhere. Xu Lian estimated that the entire first floor would have to be thoroughly cleaned. But she was feeling lazy, and besides, it had been her favorite pot of Anthurium...

Xu Lian owned several Anthurium flowers, but this particular pot had been her most satisfying purchase. She thought the color of these flowers were particularly vivid, and they had always made her feel a little more positive whenever she glanced at it. But now the flowers lay listless on the floor, and Xu Lian didn"t know if she could save them.

She picked up the flowers, rubbed them gently, then wrapped them up to be brought to a flower shop later. She would ask the florist to help check on them and properly re-plant them in a new pot.

She decided that the shop would have to be temporarily closed for two days. This won"t affect her orders much anyways since she could still come in and work upstairs.

She took out her cell phone and was just about to inform Zhang GuoEr that she didn"t need to come to work in the next two days when her phone started ringing.

It was Wei YiChen, asking for a video call.

Xu Lian pressed accept with a fingertip.

"Xu Lian, are you OK? I just heard Ah Mao say that Zhu Bing ran to your store and made trouble. Are you hurt?"

In sharp contrast to Wei YiChen"s anxious tone, Xu Lian"s voice was frosty. She turned her phone and pointed the camera towards her shop. Circling around, she asked: "What do you think?"

Wei YiChen was the state of her store and started scolding: "You can be rest a.s.sured, I"ll bear all the damages and losses your store will incur. I"ve already bought a return ticket, I"ll go clean up that Zhu Bing."

Xu Lian: "They"ve already compensated me for any losses, so you should come and clean my store for me instead."

"Alright, no problem, I"ll do whatever you say." Wei YiChen had antic.i.p.ated that Zhu Bing would retaliate, so before he left, he already arranged things with his bar. But he never would have dreamed that Zhu Bing would find Xu Lian and make trouble for her. "This kind of thing will never happen again, I promise."

Xu Lian didn"t really take Wei YiChen"s promise seriously. On the contrary, she only affirmed her long-held view- that when close relationships form, trouble would also inevitably come.

Although she never crossed that invisible line with Wei YiChen, to others they were considered "close," so trouble befell her.

As she ended the call, she caught a glimpse of something near the cash register. It was the chicken set that she ordered.

She walked towards the counter and touched the box. The meal was already cold, with a few drops of water hanging from the sides due to condensation. Somehow, Xiang ChangKong"s face appeared in her mind again, along with that strange feeling. She opened the takeaway app on her phone and for the first time, paid attention to the name of the man who delivered the meal.

Xiang ChangKong.

She read the name in her heart and gave him a five-star rating.

After closing the app, she picked up her long-cold lunch and found a paper bag to put her Anthurium in. She then locked up her store and drove away. Her first stop was a nearby flower shop in which she asked the florist owner if she could save her Anthurium.
　　
"It"s alright, as long as the roots weren"t cut they"ll be able to live. You can go ahead and choose another flowerpot and I can re-plant them for you." Most of Xu Lian"s flowers came from this young florist woman who had a gentle temperament.

Xu Lian circled the shop and eventually chose a flowerpot similar to the one she broke: "You can take your time, I"ll just come back tomorrow."

"Alright." The owner nodded and said: "The last batch of tablets I got from you are almost sold out, and I wanted to order another batch."

Xu Lian"s gypsum tablets sell quite well in this flower shop, many like to pair them with the bouquets they bought.

"That"s fine, but I"ve had a lot of orders this month, so I can"t make as much."

"I"ll order a little less and wait until you"re not as swamped."

The two soon agreed on the number of tablets and the scheduled delivery. Later, Xu Lian left the florist and was planning on just going directly home when she noticed the florist"s daughter nearby painting.

She tilted her head down and saw that the little girl was painting a sea of flowers in Starlight Park. The colorful flowers were mesmerizing, making one feel like they were peeking in fairyland.

Xu Lian waved as she pa.s.sed: "Goodbye, little girl."

The little girl looked up with a smile and waved back.

After Xu Lian arrived home, she put the cold chicken meal in the microwave, then sat in her living room and ate it. She had eaten this chicken set from Wolong kitchen way too many times. It wasn"t particularly good and was just something that fit her tastes.

But tonight, she felt that it tasted a little different from usual.

Was it because she reheated it?

Xu Lian picked up her phone and opened the takeaway app. She usually didn"t write reviews, but for some reason, she suddenly wanted to post a comment.

"Is today"s chicken set made by another chef? It tastes better than usual. In addition, I"d like to especially praise the takeaway brother. Thank you very much for his help today."

After a while, the restaurant responded: The chef didn"t change, miss. Maybe the warmth of the delivery man made the food a little bit tastier.
　　
Xu Lian:...

After leaving the police station, Xiang ChangKong made several phone calls to explain the situation to his customers. He mentioned that he was willing to pay for their meals, but he still received a complaint. Xiang ChangKong didn"t dwell on his matter though and simply insisted on finishing his day"s work. On his way home, he dropped by a small pharmacy and bought himself some medicine.

Usually, his mother would be long asleep when he returned home so he would always tiptoe around. But when he opened the front door today, he saw his mother standing at the kitchen, drinking water. She didn"t turn on the lights, but she still subconsciously turned the injured half of her face away from the front door.

"Mom, I"m back."

As usual, Weng ShuLi didn"t reply. She stared at Xiang ChangKong for a while, then put down the gla.s.s in her hand and went back to her room. Locking the door behind him, Xiang ChangKong went to his room and changed clothes, checking on his wounds as he did so.

There were bruises on his knees and abdomen. His knees looked the worst, and he could see blood. Just a gentle touch caused immense pain. He cleaned this wound first, applying some medicine. As he did this, he thought back to today"s events. He forgot to ask Xu Lian how she got into trouble. Although Xu Lian looks cold, she shouldn"t be the type to provoke such people. Xiang ChangKong guessed that it should be related to the man he saw visit Xu Lian twice.

Thinking of this, he turned on his computer and looked through Weibo. Ever since Xiang Nuan told him about Xu Lian"s Weibo, he had followed it and checked it ever so often. Xu Lian didn"t post a lot and usually only updated her Weibo when she made a new product or has a special offer. But she should have posted something explaining today"s events.
　　
Sure enough, there was an update.

MONSTER: Sorry, there"s been a little accident in the store today. We"ll be closing down for two days. In addition, I"d like to thank the brave takeaway brother. If your order was late today, please give him a little more tolerance.

She also added a picture to the post: Xiang ChangKong, his back facing the camera. The angle of the photo was taken from the outside of her store, through the windows. It must have been taken by someone from the crowd and was sent to Xu Lian.

Xiang ChangKong never expected Xu Lian to post a photo of him, let alone write those words. He always had the impression that Xu Lian was a cold person.

It seems that his impression of her had been too inflexible.

The number of reblogs this post had was surprisingly high. He scrolled through the comments but didn"t post one himself. He never posted anything in his Weibo anymore and only occasionally logged in to check the news.

But for some reason, someone sent him a private message.

He didn"t intend to read it, but while he had been reading Xu Lian"s post, the number of private messages changed from one to five, and was continuing to rise.

He looked at the little red icon and finally clicked it.

Generating love for aviators: Xiang ChangKong, are you still using your Weibo? Take a look at our cla.s.s chat group, Zhao Di that villain is talking about you.

Generating love for aviators: Really p.i.s.sing me off! I really want to hit a certain someone this evening!

Generating love for aviators: What exactly did he learn as a student of A University?

Generating love for aviators: I helped you take him down a peg, and many other cla.s.smates are roasting him! Even our cla.s.s flower is still standing up for you!
　　
Generating love for aviators: I had to drink a beer just to calm down! You should"ve seen it. And what the h.e.l.l is Zhao Di trying to do anyway?
　　
After reading these messages, Xiang ChangKong could guess what Zhao Di probably said. He had long broken off any contact with his fellow undergraduate cla.s.smates and had blocked their chat group. He thought about it for a moment then clicked the penguin icon in his desktop and logged in to QQ.

(T/N: Weibo is like Twitter or Tumblr while QQ is a messaging program/app like WeChat or Skype)

On his list of chat groups. There was one he hadn"t looked at in a long time. An icon next to the group displayed "99+" next to it. Even while Xiang ChangKong looked at it, the chat continued to refresh.

Okay, I"m the cla.s.s flower: Other people might not know the details of what happened to ChangKong"s family, but it should be clear to everybody in this group. You"re a disgusting villain. If it hadn"t been for ChangKong would you have gotten the recommendation that let you study your postgraduate abroad?

Zhao DiDiDi: Haha, I don"t think I said anything noteworthy?
　　
Refined Swine: Haha, if you didn"t think it was anything worth mentioning, then why say it, you fart.

Teacher Du: Alright, break it up. It is indeed Zhao Di in the wrong here.

The group was silent for a minute.

Refined Swine: Du XiaoTian you dunce, I really thought it was Teacher Du who spoke just now. Scared me to death!

Xiang ChangKong couldn"t help but smile at their silliness. But at the mention of Teacher Du, his smile slowly faded. Teacher Du, like Uncle Hou, had always placed high expectations on him. But now he had failed them.

He found Zhao Di"s name among the others and opened a new chat with him alone.

When Zhao Di saw the notification signaling ChangKong had messaged him, he was surprised. He guessed that Xiang ChangKong messaged him to ask why he was saying bad things, or to call him out. He sneered as he opened the chat, but instead found something unexpected.

Xiang ChangKong had only asked one question.

Why are you working in a finance company?
　　

***
That"s some hot burns you got there.

A little announcement: sorry for any readers following this, but I"m updating this once a week instead of the usual twice a week from now on. I"ll be updating this every Wednesday and updating another series in place of this on Fridays.