Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Xiang ChangKong didn’t know just how Brother Wang managed to tell Xu Lian his address, but he did understand that Xu Lian was worried enough to actually drive to his house. Xiang ChangKong looked at Xu Lian and said; “I’m really alright. You don’t need to take my injuries seriously, and I really don’t need any sort of compensation.”

Xu Lian had never been close to anyone since she was a child, and she never owed anyone either. Now that she’s experiencing it, Xu Lian couldn’t help but feel worried. Not only did he get injured, but he even got complaints from his job. To her, it was more than reasonable for Xiang ChangKong to receive some compensation for his loss. But Xiang ChangKong had repeatedly told her that he didn’t need it, so to not burden him any further, Xu Lian relented. “Alright. But remember to use the medicinal alcohol, and if you have any other questions make sure to ask me. You can just visit the store anytime.”

“Ok, I know.”

There was a moment of silence between the two, then Xu Lian said: “Then, I’ll be going.”

She turned around, opened her car and got in.

Standing at the basketball court, Xiang ChangKong watched her car slowly drive away before going back upstairs. He had the bottle of medicinal alcohol that Xu Lian gave him in his hand. It wasn’t the bottle that Xu Lian had used on him back at her store; this was brand new, sealed and unused.

Looking down at the bottle, Xiang ChangKong suddenly felt a warmth springing from the depths of his heart. It felt like a beam of sunshine melting his cold body.

Xu Lian was such a good, kind-hearted person. She should be treasured, not coveted by someone like him.

When he arrived back home, he closed the door, only to see Xiang Nuan rush towards him, phone at hand: “Brother, Brother, I just saw Big Sister’s Weibo. Her store had an accident last week and a takeaway brother helped her. Isn’t that you?!”

She shoved her phone towards Xiang ChangKong, its screen tilted his way.

“I didn’t help her or anything like that…”

“Nobody else posted a reply and claimed to be the one who helped her!” When it comes to things like this, Xiang Nuan was second to none. Laughing ambiguously, she said: “Brother, you got your injury by being a hero. Saving such a beauty, it’s definitely worth it. So am I getting a sister-in-law soon?”

Xiang ChangKong: “….”

Xiang ChangKong rubbed her little melon head, then walked further into the room: “If you have the energy to think something like that, then you should be able to study day and night no problem.”

“Why are you running away? Don’t tell me you’re shy?”

“I’m putting this bottle in my room, you go wash your hands and set the table.” As he said this, Xiang ChangKong’s pace seemed to be speeding up.

Back in his room, he placed the medicinal alcohol on his desk and saw a paper cup.

It was the cup Xu Lian had used. Xiang ChangKong picked up the cup, intending to throw it away, but saw a red lipstick stain printed on the edge of the cup.

The already cold water in the cup seemed to immediately boil up, making Xiang ChangKong’s hand feel hot.

An image of Xu Lian drinking water, her soft, tempting lips flashing through his mind.

He really is hopeless.

He took the cup to the kitchen, dumped the water, and then threw it in the trash.

As he placed the dishes on the table, he greeted his mother and began eating lunch with Xiang Nuan. Xiang Nuan picked up a piece of fried lettuce with her chopsticks and placed it in her mouth. As she did so, her expression immediately puckered. “Cough Cough, Brother I know you bought a lot of salt just now, but you didn’t need to put so much.”

She hastily put down her chopsticks and gulped down a large glass of water.

Xiang ChangKong thought that she was just exaggerating. But when he also ate a piece of lettuce he couldn’t help but frown. “Cough, it really is a little salty.”

“Not just a little! I think you dumped the whole bag in this! It’s so salty it became bitter!”

“….” Exaggerating so much. Xiang ChangKong placed the plate of lettuce aside and told his mother: “Don’t eat this, I try to save it later in the evening.”

As Xiang Nuan drank another glass of water, they went back to lunch. “I don’t think you’ll be able to save that no matter what you do. Good thing Big Sister didn’t stay for lunch.”

Xiang ChangKong: “….”

Xiang Nuan picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs. Carefully, she took a small bite. “Well, at least these ribs taste normal.”

Xiang ChangKong replied: “I probably got a little distracted when I was preparing the fried lettuce. Everything else should be fine.”

“Oh?” Xiang Nuan tilted her head thoughtfully. “So Big Sister scared you so much that you messed up?”

“No, I just wasn’t paying attention and accidentally poured more salt.” Xiang ChangKong said. Seeing that Xiang Nuan wanted to continue insisting, he took a piece of sweet and sour rib and placed it in her bowl. “Here, more of your favourite. Eat more.”

Xiang Nuan gnawed on the rib as she looked at him.

Look at this trickster! Maybe she really is getting a sister-in-law?

After Xu Lian left Xiang ChangKong’s house, she drove back to her store. Zhang GuoEr was sitting at the cash register and upon seeing her Boss arriving back so soon, she stood up. “Boss, you’re back already?”

Xu Lian walked over with car keys in hand, her high-heels clacking. “I’m done, so I’m back.”

Zhang GuoEr blinked. Then she straightforwardly asked: “What did you do?”

“I gave Xiang ChangKong some medicinal alcohol.” Xu Lian replied.

Zhang GuoEr: “….”

That’s it? You’re just teasing me now.

Xu Lian walked past her and went into the lounge. The lunch she ordered was still on the table, but it was now cold. She picked up the lunchbox and told Zhang GuoEr: “I’m going next door to borrow their microwave.”

Zhang GuoEr was surprised. “You haven’t eaten yet?” So you really just went out to pass a bottle of medicinal alcohol along?

“Yes. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” Xu Lian replied.

Zhang GuoEr: “….”

Maybe she was just too young to understand the complicated world of adults.

But nevertheless, she found out that Xu Lian had gone to Xiang ChangKong’s house. Her mood had vastly improved when compared to that of the last two days.

Xu Lian didn’t know about the many thoughts that went through Zhang GuoEr’s head. She continued making orders all throughout the afternoon. When she got tired, she took a break and turned on her phone. Opening the browser, she thought for a while, then entered the word ‘Aviation’ in the search box.

A lot of results popped up, but the subject matter was so broad that they were all over the place. She read through the results and finally, her eyes met with the word ‘Aircraft Design’.

“Aircraft Design?” Xu Lian mumbled the words over and over again, then wrote them on the search box.

‘Aircraft Design’. The first-level discipline of ‘Aerospace Science and Technology.’ The second-level…

As Xu Lian read the awkward sounding sentences, her expression became more serious. So Xiang ChangKong was learning about aircraft design?

She looked down and searched for the top university in China for this major. A City University…this is a first-class university…should be where Xiang ChangKong studied?

Perhaps the ordinary person wouldn’t associate a delivery boy with a talented individual who studied in the prestigious A City University, but Xu Lian wouldn’t be surprised if Xiang ChangKong did say that he graduated from this University.

She didn’t know why.

She read a lot of information about aircraft design on the Internet, including the current outlook of the students who took this major. A common comment was that this major wasn’t very helpful. Many students who graduated with this major changed their careers to the more popular finance industry, or the IT industry for various reasons.

But Xiang ChangKong was different. Why did he change his career and go to the…takeout industry?

Xu Lian frowned slightly, her fingers sliding down the screen of her phone. Information on postgraduate enrolment for the Aircraft Research Institute of A City. It was already time for graduate students to sign up. Xu Lian subconsciously paid more attention as she read through it. The deadline was on the 31st of this month.

There were only six days left.

Zhang GuoEr had been watching her from downstairs from the moment Xu Lian had picked up her phone. She took out her pen and notebook and wrote: ‘I don’t know what the Boss is thinking about, but she looks gloomy again. My many years of experience tells me that she’s obviously sick. Diagnosis: Boss caught the love bug.’

On the other side of town, Xiang ChangKong helped Xiang Nuan with her homework all afternoon, then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Xiang Nuan continued to study for a while and soon heard Xiang ChangKong calling for her to eat.

She walked out to the living room and looked at the dining table. The failed fried lettuce from lunch turned into lettuce soup.

Xiang ChangKong had used the biggest bowl they had to plate the soup. Xiang Nuan turned to her brother with a raised brow. “After drinking all this, do we even still need to eat rice?”

“….” With a struggle, Xiang Chang Kong said: “I needed to add that much soup to reduce the saltiness.”

Alright.

After tasting the huge bowl of soup, Xiang Nuan thought that her brother was indeed the most intelligent brother ever.

She had to admit that he really was smart. Other than studying, he always managed to do things better than others. Take cooking for example. Ever since her mother got ill, Xian ChangKong had done all the cooking. When she first tasted food made by Xiang ChangKong she had been really surprised.

It tasted better than her mother’s.

Another example would be today’s fried lettuce. Xiang Nuan didn’t think it could be saved, but Xiang ChangKong managed to turn it into a delicious soup.

Xiang Nuan drank two bowls and burped three times before dinner even started.

Xiang Nuan felt like her brother was raising pigs.

“I need to stand for half an hour.” After dinner, Xiang Nuan felt like her stomach was about to burst. She went back to her room and stood against the wall.

Xiang ChangKong cleaned up the table, waited until his mother got out of the bath, then took a shower.

After putting on some pyjamas, he went to his bedroom and sat on his bed. He looked at the medicinal alcohol Xu Lian had given him. Xiang ChangKong didn’t know how long he did this, but after a while, he finally opened the bottle and poured some on his palm.

He remembered the massage technique Xu Lian had taught him and tried to imitate it as he slowly massaged the bruise on his knee.

After putting medicine on it for a couple of days, it looked much better. Although the bruise looked scary it really didn’t hurt all that much.

As the medicinal alcohol did its job, his knee gradually became hot. This warmth reminded him of Xu Lian’s hands as she used the same medicinal alcohol to gently rub his skin, little by little. Her hands were small and soft, and every place that she touched burned like fire…

Xiang ChangKong abruptly stopped his massaging.

He fell on the bed behind him with an arm over his face.