Every single hair on her body was expressing resistance, Qiao Ling’s expression was like having eaten bitter melon, with difficulty saying: “Dad, can’t you let my ge come and get it himself? Good intentions giving him extra dishes for the whole bar, he doesn’t even have this bit of awareness?”
“How can you say that.” Qiao Zhiwen laughed at her once, “Your ge is so busy at night, you still let him run?”
“What do you mean again!” Qiao Ling had bitterness but could not speak, repeatedly sighing, and also afraid Dad would find something and keep asking endlessly, “Nothing much…”
Forget it, can avoid the first day of the lunar month but not the fifteenth. [躲得过初一躲不过十五: inevitable confrontation]
She nodded and agreed, “Fine then, but after this don’t always work so hard, once or twice is enough.”
…………
When Qiao Ling carried a bunch of insulated food boxes out the door, it was already almost ten o’clock at night.
She resentfully glanced at the house door, thinking usually Dad can’t wait for her to sleep early and wake early, like a child going to bed and closing eyes at nine-thirty.
But when it comes to helping him do things, he actually advocates for young people to have some proper night life.
Qiao Ling drove out her parents’ car, halfway on the road it started raining.
Tonight there was thunderstorm, instantly could reach torrential rain scale.
The windshield wipers were busily swinging, creaking creaking muffled sounds like laying rhythm for the incoming downpour.
Qiao Ling held the steering wheel, glanced at the traffic outside the window blocked because of the rain, sighing.
Her driving skills were already so-so, plus rain, totally didn’t dare to drive ah.
Twenty minutes’ distance took a full half hour to arrive, Qiao Ling dawdlingly took all the late-night snacks, face full of unwillingness walking towards the bar.
She had just sent a WeChat message to Qiao Jing, he accompanied Xie Rouyin on business trip to Lin City, left in the morning, things were already done and now on the high-speed rail, waiting to get back to the bar just in time for closing and eat his actual uncle’s specialty dish.
Equivalent to now in epic there simply wasn’t anyone she was familiar with, just like that going to deliver food? She didn’t even know how to chat, wasn’t that even more awkward ah…
Qiao Ling with a sullen face pushed open the bar door, greeted head-on by the lively atmosphere inside the bar.
Just as she was about to look for Chen Kuang, a silhouette tall and pitch-black rushed straight over from the staff lounge side, almost bumping into her who was looking left and right.
Qiao Ling hurriedly retreated, tip of her nose nearly poking into the other party’s chest, she startled and raised her head, colliding with Chen Kuang’s also somewhat surprised gaze.
Four days not seen, the two’s gazes meeting carried some unclear slight unfamiliarity and inexplicable stickiness.
Chen Kuang was the first to ask: “How come you came?”
“Uh, I came to deliver food!” She wished to immediately explain clearly her “forced” reason for coming to the door, lifting up the food box to indicate: “Sending late-night snack on behalf of my ge.”
He nodded, seeming to be in a hurry to go out: “You sit wherever, Qiao Jing will come back later.”
Qiao Ling noticed the sense of urgency, couldn’t help pulling him: “At this time, what are you going to do?”
Shouldn’t you be busy at the bar?
Chen Kuang was very anxious, speaking concisely: “Neighborhood caught fire, child is home alone.”
Qiao Ling froze for a moment, actually didn’t understand the meaning of this sentence, but still instinctively reacted: “It’s raining outside, it’s hard to get a taxi.”
“I drove here, I’ll take you!”
His gaze at her had slight change, in the end nodding.
Qiao Ling put down the late-night snack, hurriedly followed him out of the bar.
………
The rain was falling too heavily, accompanied by lightning and thunder. Chen Kuang directly took over driving from her.
The road conditions were complicated, but his driving skills were much more skilled than she imagined, almost encountering no traffic jams as they quickly arrived at a residential community.
Fire trucks were piled under the involved unit building, surrounded by many residents, red lights flashing with a dangerous atmosphere.
Chen Kuang could only park the car nearby, got out and ran over there in a hurry. Qiao Ling went to the back seat to get an umbrella, and when she turned back, he was already gone.
Fortunately, there was no wind with the rain, so holding an umbrella was still somewhat useful. She held the umbrella and jogged to catch up to his figure going far away.
The soles of her shoes pitter-pattered stepping in the rainy ground, her heart sinking, the phrase “child alone at home” echoing in her mind.
Even though she really didn’t want to, she just couldn’t help but mentally fill in a lot of scenarios.
Ai, better not think of those messy things for now!
Arriving downstairs at the building on fire, there were too many onlookers and involved residents. The fire police barely maintained order at the scene, people were still constantly running out covering their mouths and noses.
The urgent and tense atmosphere made her uneasy. From childhood to now, Qiao Ling had never encountered this kind of scene.
She held the umbrella, looking around. In the curtain of rain, she just couldn’t see that familiar figure no matter how she looked.
Where did he go, where is he…
Qiao Ling got a little anxious, couldn’t help shouting out loud: “Chen Kuang?? Chen Kuang??”
Her heart was swaying with unease, rain slanting and wetting her pants, Qiao Ling’s throat was trembling, tiptoeing to look inside the police cordon.
Just then, a deep and steady voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Passing through the curtain of rain, dyed with a bit of hazy sound effect.
“Qiao Ling, over here.”
She suddenly turned her head, seeing Chen Kuang holding a little girl with golden hair.
The little girl who looked only five or six years old was terribly frightened, hugging his neck tightly, looking at her with wide eyes.
Chen Kuang’s usual soft curly hair was wet, sticking messily to his forehead, looking disheveled but still not losing handsomeness.
Rainwater dripped down from his tall nose, his soaked eyes even brighter.
Qiao Ling quickly moved closer, tiptoeing to lift the umbrella high, covering the two of them.
She looked at the little girl’s face blackened in patches from smoke, then looked at him again. Her mind was constantly forming guesses, difficultly opening her mouth to ask: “This is… your…”
So, moving all the way from out of town to Binyang, was it because…
Even refusing to share a roof with her, a single woman, was it because…
Chen Kuang saw her eyes inexplicably turning red, thought of her strange train of thought, and took the initiative to explain.
“Xie Rouyin’s daughter.”
Qiao Ling’s feeling of grievance was suddenly interrupted.
Ah?
Sister Rouyin has a child?!
…………
The rain was too heavy. After Chen Kuang finished explaining the situation to the police, he carried the child and left the fire scene together with Qiao Ling.
The bar was too noisy, Qiao Ling took the initiative to suggest, first take the child back to her apartment to rest.
The three of them returned to Qiao Ling’s one-bedroom in Zhoucheng Huating.
The little girl was very brave, she had only cried out loud once from being scared at the fire scene, but once in the car, as soon as she lay against Qiao Ling’s arms, she started dozing off.
On the way, Chen Kuang briefly introduced to her the situation of Xie Rouyin and her daughter.
Xiao Feng was Xie Rouyin’s daughter born out of wedlock, the father was a Frenchman she met in Canada.
Xie Rouyin and that Frenchman were passionately in love for five years, in order to maintain the relationship she kept flying back and forth between home and abroad, even going so far as to fall out with her family.
When it was time to talk marriage, that man gradually changed his face.
Maybe the freshness was gone, or maybe he simply didn’t want to end his romantic and free single state just like that.
In the end, the two tore all pretense of cordiality, and Xie Rouyin returned to the country to discover she was pregnant.
Her decision to give birth to Xiao Feng worsened her already bad relationship with her family.
At six-thirty, Xie Rouyin wandered everywhere with Xiao Feng, experiencing all kinds of sweet and bitter, sour and spicy.
Xiao Feng was understanding. From a very young age, she could sleep at home alone, so Xie Rouyin felt at ease opening a bar, accompanying her child during the day, busy at the bar at night.
Everyone at the bar often helped Xie Rouyin pick up and drop off Xiao Feng for school.
Today it was a neighbor’s house three floors above Xie Rouyin’s that caught fire, but the fire was too big and spread downwards, the child was carried out in time by the firefighters, although unharmed, still frightened badly.
Xie Rouyin received the call while on the high-speed rail and was almost so anxious she fainted, immediately called Chen Kuang.
That was why this scene now happened.
…………
“Come in.” Qiao Ling opened the house door, welcoming Chen Kuang holding the child inside.
She glanced at the shoe rack, awkwardly said: “You just take off your shoes and come in directly, the wooden floor doesn’t feel cold stepping on it barefoot.”
“I don’t have men’s slippers here.”
Chen Kuang gave her a meaningful glance, nodded, took off his shoes and followed Qiao Ling into the bedroom.
Qiao Ling lifted the blanket, helped him put Xiao Feng into the bed, “Her clothes are all wet, I’ll help her change first, you…”
As she spoke, she glanced at the clothes on Chen Kuang’s body, soaked through.
He understood what she meant, spoke first: “It’s fine, don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not trying to worry about you.” Qiao Ling blinked to ease the tension, awkwardly said: “But like this you’ll get my sofa wet.”
“There’s oversize T-shirt and sleep pants, go change in the washroom.”
She opened the wardrobe and quickly took out a set of clothes, stuffed it into the arms of the man who deliberately turned his eyes away to avoid suspicion.
Chen Kuang didn’t decline again, holding the clothes, turned and left the bedroom.
Qiao Ling took out clothes a bit too small for her own size, helped Xiao Feng change into them.
It seemed the little girl trusted the environment where Chen Kuang was very much, sleeping so soundly, even changing clothes didn’t wake her.
Qiao Ling wasn’t very good at taking care of children, her forehead broke out in a layer of sweat. After tucking in the quilt for the child, she straightened up her sore waist and walked out of the bedroom.
Just now, she had already heard bursts of hairdryer buzzing from the bathroom, and now it stopped.
She leaned close to the tightly shut glass door, couldn’t help but press against the frosted glass peeking inside.
Why couldn’t see anything at all, pity.
She raised her hand just about to knock, suddenly the door was pulled open from inside—
Qiao Ling’s hand was braced against the glass, all her weight leaning on the door, suddenly lost balance and fell forward.
She was caught and steadied by the person in front of her, grabbing her arm.
But in that moment of falling, her hand still pressed onto his abdomen.
In the span of milliseconds, the palm of her hand felt the other person’s lower abdomen tightening, Qiao Ling’s heart suddenly went empty for a second.
At the not-so-spacious bathroom doorway, an adult man and woman stood under the brown doorframe.
The thunderstorm sounds coming from outside the window, the sense of cramped space, all added a thicker tone to the atmosphere.
She timidly tilted her head up, meeting Chen Kuang’s eyes.
His hair was half-dried, under the naturally wavy fringe was a pair of gentle eyes looking down.
Chen Kuang had a face that was contradictory yet harmonious.
With sharp and cold contours, but possessing such a pair of gentle eyes.
So gentle that, him glancing at someone once, could easily make others get carried away.
Qiao Ling dryly swallowed down her throat, preventing her heart from jumping right out.
This guy… does he have to… be like this…
“Qiao Ling.” He suddenly called her name, stirring her heart into another round of battle.
Qiao Ling answered, her tone already sounding strange: “…Mn?”
Chen Kuang loosely holding her arm, glanced at that small pale hand stuck on his own abdomen.
He hooked up the corner of his lips, helplessly reminding: “Hand.”
“How long do you want to touch?”