A small candy

Article 12: Always care about you and care about you

The dinner ended at half past ten, and Jian Ling was not spared and had to drink a glass of rice wine.

The supervisor suggested a group photo. He handed the waiter his phone, and everyone stood up, raised their glasses, and gathered in the center. The waiter pressed the camera button, freezing the frame. Then, everyone clinked their glasses and finished their drinks.

Groups of two or three walked out of the barbecue restaurant. Dai Wangchu stood by the roadside, brushing the hair beside his ear. He turned and asked Jian Ling, "Why are you going back?"

Dai Wangchu had drunk quite a bit that night, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes a bit blurry under the streetlights. Jian Ling saw that she was the one who should be worried. "I can just take a taxi. What about you?"

Dai Wangchu burped: "I'll take the subway."

Jian Ling frowned: "Can you do it alone?"

"No, it's okay." Dai Wangchu waved his hand and said with a thick tongue, "I can drink quite well. There's no way a few glasses of white wine can make me drunk."

The male colleagues tonight were all drunk, so they couldn't offer a ride. Jian Ling was a little worried about her, so she stopped an empty car and said, "I'll take you home. Can I stay at your house tonight?"

Dai Wangchu held her neck and nodded heavily, "With great pleasure."

The taxi stopped by the roadside and Jian Ling helped Dai Wangchu sit in the back seat.

After a 20-minute drive, Dai Wangchu arrived at the residential complex she rented. She had fallen asleep in the car, and only got out of the car in a daze after being woken by Jian Ling, and took out her access card from her bag.

Taking the elevator to the tenth floor, Dai Wangchu took out the key and tried several times but failed to find the keyhole.

Jian Ling had no choice but to take the key from her hand, inserted it, turned it twice, grasped the door handle and pushed it down to open it, then helped her to sit on the sofa in the living room.

Dai Wangchu sat for two seconds and then fell down and lay on the sofa.

Jian Ling was busy running around. She first locked the door, then found a cup, poured a glass of warm water and placed it on the coffee table.

Dai Wangchu was confused for a while, then he sat up and drank half a glass of water, and his mind was almost clear. "It's getting late, let's go back to the room, I'll find you a set of pajamas."

Jian Ling: "Okay, thank you."

The house Dai Wangchu rented only had one bedroom. The two girls entered the bedroom. Dai Wangchu took out a set of clean pajamas from the closet and gave them to her, as well as some underwear she had never worn. "The toothbrush and towel are in the bathroom cabinet. They are all new."

"Can I use your makeup remover? I don't have any in my bag."

"It's on the sink, feel free to use it."

Jian Ling nodded and went into the bathroom.

A moment later, the sound of water dripping from the shower came from inside. The sound of water lasted for a long time, covering up the sudden ringing of a cell phone outside.

Dai Wangchu squinted her eyes and searched around before she realized the ringtone was coming from Jian Ling's bag. She slipped on her slippers and walked to the bathroom door. She raised her hand and knocked twice on the glass door. "Jian Ling, your phone is ringing."

"Ah? What?" Jian Ling couldn't hear clearly because of the water curtain.

Dai Wangchu then repeated it loudly. Jian Ling heard it clearly this time and said, "Help me answer it. I'm washing my hair. There's foam around my eyes and I can't open them." Her whole body, including her hair, was stained with the smell of barbecue. She couldn't sleep without washing.

Dai Wangchu took out her cell phone from her bag: "I'll answer it for you."

Jian Ling guessed it might be someone from her family calling, so she said nonchalantly, "Go ahead and answer it."

Dai Wangchu glanced at the caller ID and was startled for a moment. Her whole body was alert, but her hand had already subconsciously pressed the green answer button. She could only suppress her shock for the time being and stammered, "Cheng... Mr. Cheng?"

The caller ID showed "Cheng Zhixu"!

Is Jian Ling...really the Cheng family's sweet wife?

However, judging from her behavior yesterday, she was clearly secretly in love with someone and was filled with frustration and confusion because she couldn't get the love she wanted. What was going on?

Cheng Zhixu noticed something was wrong with the voice and was stunned for a moment: "Jian Ling is not here?"

"Ah, that, I... I..." Dai Wangchu was so nervous that he almost bit his tongue. He managed to find his voice again, "I'm her friend. She's taking a shower now, so it's not convenient for her to answer the phone."

"Did she drink too much last night?"

"No," Dai Wangchu said sternly, as if reporting to his superiors. "I drank a lot, and she was responsible for taking me home. She stayed at my house."

"Oh--"

Dai Wangchu heard from the drawn-out "oh" that someone wanted to say something but stopped. She waited quietly for a while, but there was no response from the other end.

She took the phone and held it in front of her eyes to make sure the call was not disconnected.

"Mr. Cheng, do you have anything else to say?" Dai Wangchu held his breath and asked cautiously.

The person on the other end of the line seemed to have taken the phone away and coughed softly, but Dai Wangchu, with her keen hearing, still caught it. The next second, she heard Mr. Cheng ask, "Did you play games at the dinner?"

Dai Wangchu stared at the ceiling and answered truthfully, "Yes, we played Truth or Dare, and some other small games."

Cheng Zhixu was silent again, then said softly, "It's okay, I was just asking." After a pause, he explained, "I'm asking on behalf of his uncle."

Dai Wangchu didn't understand and didn't know how to respond. Fortunately, the other party hung up the phone after he finished speaking, saving her from embarrassment.

At this moment, the bathroom door was opened, and Jian Ling poked her head out, tilting her head to look at Dai Wangchu who was sitting on the edge of the bed: "Which towel is this for drying your hair?"

Dai Wangchu looked at her and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Jian Ling looked at her in confusion, as if remembering something: "By the way, was that my uncle calling just now? What did you say?"

"It's Mr. Cheng who called." Dai Wangchu couldn't believe what he said.

Jian Ling paused, wondering if there was water in her ears: "Who are you talking about?!"

"Cheng Zhixu." Dai Wangchu called him by his first name, rebelliously. "Your caller ID is exactly like this. Judging from the voice, it's indeed Mr. Cheng. There's no such thing as having the same name. Tell the truth, Jian Ling. What is your relationship with our boss? I'm not curious because you have his personal contact information. After all, you went to meet the Italian client together. But the boss actually called you late at night to express his concern for you. It's hard not to think of something wrong!"

Dai Wangchu spoke a long string of words in one breath, almost suffocating himself, and then he took several deep breaths after he finished speaking.

But Jian Ling only paid attention to the first sentence. Cheng Zhixu called her? "Ahhh, I actually missed the chance to answer his call!" Jian Ling screamed, "If I had known it was him, I should have run out to answer the phone regardless of the risk of foam getting in my eyes!"

To be honest, Dai Wangchu had just recovered from the shock of receiving a call from his immediate superior, and was stunned again by Jian Ling's reaction.

Jian Ling didn't even bother to wipe her hair. She rushed over and put her hands on Dai Wangchu's shoulders. "Please repeat to me exactly what he said!"

Dai Wangchu calmed himself down, swallowed his saliva, and began to recreate the scene for Jian Ling.

"I answered the phone and stuttered, 'Mr. Cheng... Mr. Cheng,' and then Mr. Cheng calmly asked me, 'Is Jian Ling not here?'" At this point, Dai Wangchu even tried to imitate a deep male voice, though his imitation wasn't very convincing.

In this way, she imitated Cheng Zhixu's voice for a while, then changed back to her own voice, and restored the entire conversation process with questions and answers.

-

While Jian Ling was still slowly digesting the conversation, Dai Wangchu went to the bathroom to take a shower. When he came out, he saw Jian Ling still in a daze. He was a little speechless, so he handed her the hair dryer to blow dry her hair.

After everything was tidied up, the two girls lay on the bed. Dai Wangchu turned off the ceiling light, leaving only a floor lamp on, and said slowly: "Do you want to tell me about your relationship with Mr. Cheng?" This was what she was most curious about.

Jian Ling clutched the edge of the quilt, her face enveloped in the dim, warm light. She fluttered her curled eyelashes, "He's a good friend of one of my relatives."

Dai Wangchu understood: "Your uncle?" Mr. Cheng mentioned this on the phone.

Jian Ling did not deny it and nodded lightly.

Dai Wangchu rolled over to his side, looked at Jian Ling's face, and asked tentatively, "So, the person you're secretly in love with is actually our boss Cheng Zhixu?"

Jian Ling closed her eyes. She knew that this matter could not be hidden from the clever Dai Wangchu. After a pause, she nodded frankly.

"You really are...how can I put it." Dai Wangchu took a breath, "You are very courageous."

"Yeah." Jian Ling muttered, "My roommates said the same thing."

"Have you made any progress now?" Dai Wangchu asked curiously.

Jian Ling felt a little sad when she mentioned this. She put her hands outside the quilt and spread them out. "It can be said that there is no progress. Didn't you hear it? He was just asked by my uncle to show concern for me from the perspective of an elder. That's all, nothing else."

Dai Wangchu shook his head and said mysteriously, "Not really."

"What doesn't look like it?"

"Mr. Cheng mentioned at the end that he was asking on behalf of your uncle. It didn't sound like he was asked to do so, but more like an excuse to cover up the truth." Dai Wangchu analyzed logically, "He must really care about you and care about you. Jian Ling, I think your secret love can be transformed into an open love."

Jian Ling looked at the lonely floor lamp beside the bed and was completely dumbfounded.

-

The whole month of July was busy.

As August arrives, the weather is so hot every day that it feels like being in a steamer. The road surface is so hot that it is smoking. Going to and from get off work has become the most difficult time.

Jian Ling finally had her first day off since she started working. She rushed home and acted like a pampered little princess. She lay on the bed for most of the day, enjoying the long-lost relaxing time of watching TV series, eating fruits, and petting the dog.

Unfortunately, happy times are always so short.

In the evening, Jian Ling brought the side dishes made by her aunt and walked with heavy steps towards the driver waiting at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go back to her rented place.

She had just opened the car door and had not yet gotten in when she saw a white shadow flash past her eyes. When she looked again, Dora had already jumped into the back seat of the car and was lying on the seat, grunting and sticking out her tongue.

Jian Ling burst out laughing: "Do you want to come with me?"

Dora barked twice, and Jian Ling nodded, as if she was helpless: "Okay, then you stay with me for a few days, I'll get you a doghouse and a food bowl."

Jian Ling put the side dishes into the car, said something to the driver, turned back to take Dora's daily necessities and put them in the trunk of the car.

Ye Xianxin disagreed, saying she couldn't take care of herself, and bringing the dog along would only make things messy. But she couldn't persuade Jian Ling, so she had to agree.

The driver drove Jian Ling to her destination and helped her move her things into the house.

At night, there was only one person and one dog in the huge house. With no one to supervise her, Jian Ling let herself go. She turned on the wall-mounted TV which she had not turned on since she moved in, found a funny variety show to watch, and ordered some takeout with her mobile phone.

Half an hour later, the takeaway arrived, and before she even opened the bag, she could smell a peculiar smell. Dora's keen nose picked up the scent and she ran away, not daring to get close to her.

Jian Ling took a deep breath of the snail noodles, opened the lid and started eating.

A layer of red oil floated on the soup, and the ingredients were complete. In addition to the necessary noodles, there were also vegetables, peanuts, pickled bamboo shoots, fried bean curd sheets, shredded wood ear mushrooms, etc. She was worried that it would not be enough, so she also ordered tofu puffs and duck feet.

Take a sip of the noodles, the fresh, spicy and numbing taste stimulates your taste buds, it’s so delicious that you’ll squint your eyes.

Jian Ling looked at Dora, who was huddled in the corner and about to vomit. She couldn't help laughing and waved at him, "Dora, come here and have dinner with your mother."

She placed the dog's food bowl on the coffee table, poured an appropriate amount of dog food into it, and knocked on the edge of the bowl.

The TV volume was too loud, so Jian Ling didn't hear the door open. Cheng Zhixu swiped the fingerprint lock to open the door, and then paused at the door.

As far as the eye could see, Jian Ling was sitting on the carpet beside the coffee table, buried in a bowl of unknown food. Next to her was a dog, squatting on the carpet like its owner, munching on dog food from the bowl on the coffee table.

The actions of the man and the dog were surprisingly consistent.

What's even funnier is that there are two pieces of tissue paper stuffed in the dog's nostrils.

Jian Ling sipped some noodles, raised her head to watch the variety show, and inadvertently glanced at the man standing at the entrance. Her eyes slowly shifted from the bottom to the top, from the pair of long legs to the handsome and familiar face.

With a puff, all the powder in Jian Ling's mouth sprayed out.

　Jian Ling: Help! Someone, help! It's haunted—

　　Cheng Zhixu: ???

　　
　
(End of this chapter)