Chapter 28

Cheng Huai’an watched the girl’s retreating figure and suddenly noticed a tear on her sleeve. He pursed his lips and turned to leave.

Li Yuechan returned home and found her mother was on the night shift. The house was empty, just her alone. She suddenly felt a little lonely.

She had already put spiritual spring water into the meals at her grandmother’s house today, so now she could only stretch her foot into the big bath she dug herself.

She had previously dug a large pit in her space and filled it with river water to take a bath. The water used for the bath she watered the plants with, which didn’t affect using the river water for other purposes.

After a while, the sharp pain eased a bit, and Li Yuechan moved her foot.

Although it wasn’t completely healed, it felt much better.

What a terrible day it had been! As for whether her father had done something wrong, she thought she would find out in the future.

At this point, her stomach growled with hunger, so she went to the kitchen and saw the pan-fried dumplings her mother had left for her. She quickly devoured them.

Meanwhile, Cheng Huai’an was driving toward the family compound.

As soon as he entered the house, he heard a woman’s voice: “Huai’an, why are you so late? Didn’t you say you’d be home by six? Your dad and I have been worried sick.”

Then she turned to another middle-aged woman and said, “Li Jie, hurry up and serve the dishes!”

Cheng Huai’an put down his bag and replied, “It’s nothing. I accidentally hit a girl on the road and had to take her to the hospital.”

“Ah? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, just sprained her ankle.”

“Well, tomorrow, bring some stuff over to her house and check on her.”

Cheng Huai’an nodded, “Okay. Oh, by the way, Mom, we’re out of fabric, and the clothes for that person are all torn. It wouldn’t be right to send them clothes like that.”

Cheng’s mother hesitated, “We don’t have fabric, but we still have fabric coupons. I’ll prepare some for you.”

At this moment, Cheng Kuiyun also walked over. “Why are you driving the car? What happened to the other guy?”

“Oh, I told him to go back first, and I just drove the car back myself.”

“How could you be so careless and hit someone?”

Cheng Huai’an said disinterestedly, “I don’t know. I just zoned out for a second.”

Cheng’s mother hurriedly said, “Alright, alright, let’s eat. It’s already so late.”

After dinner, Cheng Huai’an went back to his room on the second floor.

He thought about the girl from earlier, with her mouth like a machine gun, talking non-stop. He couldn’t help but laugh.

Li Yuechan, after finishing her meal, went to the space to exercise.

She had been running every day in her space, but since she couldn’t run today, she did push-ups instead. She did 500 in one go, then swam for a while in the river.

Just as she was drying her hair, she heard a series of “thud thud” noises from outside.

She left the space, opened the window with a whoosh, and saw Gu Zhixing again.

“What’s up? You come here every day now?”

To her surprise, the man handed over a lunchbox. “This is dinner, I’ve been keeping it warm for you. Try it!”

Li Yuechan took the lunchbox, opened it, and found rice, stir-fried potatoes with shredded pork, and some stir-fried bean sprouts. She was actually a little hungry.

“Why are you here so early?”

Gu Zhixing scratched his head. “I know mom’s on the night shift.”

Li Yuechan widened her eyes. “What do you mean ‘your mom’? That’s my mom!”

“Right, right, it’s your mom. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold.”

“Have you eaten?”

Gu Zhixing’s eyes lit up. The girl actually cared about him. He smiled and said, “I’ve already eaten. Go ahead and eat.”

Li Yuechan took the chopsticks he handed her and began eating quickly with loud chomping sounds.

“This is so delicious. The cafeteria really doesn’t skimp on the oil!” she mumbled as she ate. “I’ll pay you later, but I don’t have any ration tickets.”

When Gu Zhixing heard this, he frowned. “What do you want my money for?”

Li Yuechan, chewing her food, said vaguely, “I can’t just eat your food for free, can I?”

The man looked at her carefree expression and frowned, then walked away without saying a word.

Li Yuechan looked up and saw that he had actually left. She furrowed her brows, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

She had just shown him some kindness, but he’d acted coldly toward her. It seemed like her judgment was wrong.

She stared at the now-empty lunchbox, suddenly realizing that the meal wasn’t as appetizing anymore.

As she was pondering, she suddenly heard footsteps again.

She turned to look outside the window and raised an eyebrow. “Huh, you’re back again?”

The man’s large hand reached through the window and took the lunchbox from her hands. “This is my lunchbox.”

He then handed her another lunchbox. “This one’s yours, already washed clean.”

Li Yuechan was stunned for a moment as she took the lunchbox, thinking, what’s this man up to?

Then she saw him hand her a bottle of soda.

“I know you like it, so I bought it for you.”

Li Yuechan furrowed her brows, looking at the soda in front of her, smelling its sweet and sour fragrance. For some reason, without thinking, she reached out and drank a large gulp. “Wow, so sweet!”

She then heard the man mumbling, “Don’t mention paying me money again. If you feel like you owe me, just go to the police station and see me. My family’s not here, and I’m all alone.”

Li Yuechan looked at the man’s sad expression, and for a moment, she felt a little uncomfortable.

She didn’t even say anything, so why was he acting like this? She really couldn’t figure out what was going through his mind.

The man muttered to himself, “I’ve been in Luo’an for over twenty days now. I’ve been so busy at the station that I haven’t even gone to the department store.”

“I don’t know my way around here, and I don’t know which state-run restaurant has the best food. I haven’t gone anywhere fun, and I haven’t even visited any other places…”

As for the time before this, when he’d stayed in Luo’an for almost half a year, there was no need to tell her about that.

Li Yuechan continued drinking the soda while listening to the man go on and on.

What was up with him? Was he depressed?

Well, she was a native of this place, so maybe she could take him around and show him the sights.

She shoved the soda bottle into his arms and said, “Alright, when you have time, come find me. I’ll take you to the department store.”

But after thinking for a moment, she added, “Actually, never mind. You don’t have any money. How about I take you to the movies instead? The movie tickets aren’t expensive.”

When the man heard this, he immediately grinned. “Sure, I’ve never seen a movie before!”

Li Yuechan frowned. “You’ve never seen a movie? Isn’t your family from Beijing?”

Gu Zhixing shook his head. “I’ve always been too busy, and I never had time. Also, I never met anyone who could go with me.”

Well, that explained it. It was mainly because of her. She knew her charm was irresistible, and it was just how she was—people couldn’t help but like her.

“Alright then, wait until you have some free time.”

“I’ll be free tomorrow. Tomorrow is my day off.”