In the end, Xiao Yang took Qiao Yin home —
She was someone who didn't recognize beds; as soon as she touched the bed, she found a comfortable spot and fell asleep without even opening her eyes. Xiao Yang found the remote control for the air conditioner, turned it on, and gave Qiao Yin a small blanket to cover herself. He stood by the bed, his face devoid of much emotion, looking at her for a while before closing the door and heading to the kitchen.
It was almost dinner time. He opened the refrigerator, intending to cook with the available ingredients. However, he noticed that the half-can of pickled chicken feet was still in its original position, seemingly untouched.
It seemed like she had been worrying about Zhou Chengze the entire week and had forgotten about food. Xiao Yang, with almost no expression, stared at the half-can of pickled chicken feet for a while. Eventually, he reached out to take it, only to find something attached to the cold glass jar.
Slightly raising an eyebrow, he took the jar and peeled off the attached sticky note, revealing Qiao Yin's delicate handwriting: "Afraid you'd come back hungry and find nothing to eat, so I didn't eat. But it's better not to eat such spicy chicken feet on an empty stomach. I put some buns in the freezer; you can steam a few. Don't find it troublesome, it only takes seven minutes to steam~"
Xiao Yang looked at it expressionlessly for a while and then put the jar back in the refrigerator. It was only then that he remembered he had come to the kitchen to prepare dinner. So, he opened the refrigerator again but suddenly remembered he hadn't been home since last Saturday. On that morning, before going out with Qiao Yin, he seemed to have forgotten to take out the clothes from the washing machine. The basin in the bathroom, where he soaked his shirts with bleach, also seemed untouched.
A whole week, it probably stank by now.
Rubbing his forehead, he went to the bathroom and found that the water in the basin had long been poured out, and the shirt soaked in it was nowhere to be seen. Guessing what had happened, Xiao Yang walked straight to the balcony. There were no clothes in the washing machine, and the clothes rack was empty.
Turning back to the living room, he saw several neatly folded clothes placed at one end of the sofa.
It had to be said that Qiao Yin was indeed meticulous. Xiao Yang leaned against the balcony railing, habitually took out a lighter and a cigarette, and smoked to relieve his mood. He thought about the past two months, and besides various annoying and headache-inducing cases, the most memorable thing was Qiao Yin. Although they had been neighbors for four years, they had hardly interacted before these two months. It was only after Li Cheng's case that he started to pay attention to her.
It probably started when Qiao Yin called him for help when she sensed danger. He felt a certain responsibility rushing to Tai Hao Restaurant when he went there. But when the case was over, and he found himself rushing to find her and take her home, he realized a change in his behavior.
Xiao Yang had been in love before, so he knew this was a kind of fondness. Perhaps it was because of Qiao Yin's impressive emergency performance in that dangerous situation and her behavior afterward, warning the reporters and telling him not to inform her mother about the danger to avoid worrying her. These actions made him appreciate her to a certain extent.
But Xiao Yang kept a clear head. He knew Qiao Yin had been in a relationship for several years, so he didn't take this initial fondness too seriously. However, when he encountered Zheng Zihao's family at his own restaurant and learned that she had broken up with Zheng Zihao and that she was now being targeted by the elder woman, Xiao Yang, unusually not restraining his impulses, took Qiao Yin and sat down at Zheng's family table.
He usually didn't like to show off, and his attitude towards the elderly was similar to Qiao Yin's, mostly tolerant, without deliberately contradicting them. That day, Xiao Yang didn't plan to let Qiao Yin know that the restaurant was owned by his father. But in the end, he couldn't resist showing off a bit to help her out.
He usually doesn't like to show off, and his attitude towards the elderly is similar to Qiao Yin's, mostly tolerant, and he won't deliberately contradict. That day, Xiao Yang didn't originally plan to let Qiao Yin know that the restaurant owned by someone from his hometown was opened by his father, but in the end, he couldn't help but show off while helping her out.
Looking back afterwards, Xiao Yang felt extremely childish. He was well aware that he was at the age when men and women were considering marriage, and his conditions and Qiao Yin's were not compatible. Moreover, his profession might not be something she could tolerate. Instead of spending some time together and then parting ways, it would be better not to complicate things at all.
As he thought about this, he couldn't help but pay more attention to her. He even catered to her preferences by cooking for her. The longer they spent time together, the more he noticed her strengths and little faults. Annoyingly, he appreciated those strengths and could tolerate those faults.
It wasn't until Qiao Yin started pursuing him that Xiao Yang regained his senses and realized that things couldn't continue like this. Unfortunately, she was not afraid of setbacks, and Yan Cong, on the side, added fuel to the fire, forcing Xiao Yang not only to end up at the edge of the cliff but also to fall off it with the horse. He had never thought that, after turning thirty, he would also have a "slip."
He smoked a cigarette for ten minutes, and when he thought of smoking another one, Xiao Yang restrained himself. He estimated that Qiao Yin hadn't had dinner yet when she returned from the hospital. Since she had also slept for almost an hour and a half, it would be better for her to eat something before sleeping. So, he returned to the kitchen and opened the fridge, only to find that there were too few ingredients left. He had to go out and buy some groceries.
Dinner was ready only after one and a half hours. To wake Qiao Yin up, Xiao Yang specially made sweet and sour spare ribs and carried them to the bedroom to entice her with the aroma and gently pushed her arm, "Wake up, let's eat."
Unexpectedly, Qiao Yin didn't even open her eyes. She just turned her head and buried her face in the pillow, ignoring him.
Xiao Yang raised an eyebrow, touched her forehead with his hand to make sure she wasn't running a fever, then pushed her again, "Qiao Yin."
This time, she couldn't be bothered to move, showing no response. Seeing that she was probably too exhausted, Xiao Yang didn't try to wake her up again. He had dinner by himself, put the sweet and sour spare ribs and a bowl of rice in the fridge using plastic wrap, then took a shower and slept on the sofa.
Xiao Yang usually slept lightly, so when there was a scream in the middle of the night from the bedroom, he woke up immediately. He rushed to the bedroom and turned on the light. Qiao Yin was lying on the bed, her hands tightly clutching the blanket, her face pale, forehead covered in cold sweat, eyebrows furrowed, and tears continuously rolling down the corners of her eyes. It seemed like she was having a nightmare with a panicked expression.
"Qiao Yin," he came to the bedside, bent down, and shook her shoulder, "Wake up, it's me."
She must have been half-awake by now. When she heard his voice, she struggled to open her eyes. After being dazzled by the light for a bit, she turned her head and adapted for a moment. Half-opening her large eyes, she stared at him with confusion, and the remaining tears in her eye also slid down.
"Xiao Yang..." It took her a while to recover, and identify the scene in front of her, "Is this your house?"
Xiao Yang nodded, then handed her a tissue from the bedside table, "Had a nightmare?"
In a somewhat strange state of mind, upon hearing his question, Qiao Yin suddenly widened her eyes. Taking the tissue, she nodded vigorously, "I dreamed of the psychopathic murderer I encountered last time in the United States." She wiped her face haphazardly, then squinted her eyes, her expression somewhat dazed, "Actually, he probably didn't intend to kill me originally... but I saw the corpse..."
Xiao Yang frowned, "What happened exactly?" He remembered she mentioned her experience in the United States once before, but it was only briefly mentioned, never in detail.
Shaking her head with a frown, Qiao Yin didn't intend to continue recalling, "I don't want to think about it, it's too terrifying." She lifted her eyelids to ask him, "What time is it now?"
He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, "3 a.m."
"Then let me sleep a little longer..." As soon as she heard this, she immediately fell back into exhaustion, mumbled incomprehensibly, and, after completing her muttering, she hugged the blanket and closed her eyes. Although Xiao Yang wanted to know the details, seeing her state, he didn't press for more information. He pulled the blanket up for her, covered her forehead with his hand again to make sure she wasn't feverish, adjusted the air conditioner to sleep mode, turned off the light, and left.
The next morning, Qiao Yin was finally awakened by the aroma of beef soup.
Lying on the bed, she first froze when she remembered that this was Xiao Yang's apartment, then she lowered her head to check her clothes, realizing it was still the outfit from yesterday. Without thinking much about it, driven by a strong desire, she got up from the bed, tidied her hair a bit, found the remote control, turned off the air conditioner, and walked to the bedroom door, carefully opening it and peeking out. Xiao Yang was sitting on the living room sofa reading a newspaper. Hearing her opening the door, he didn't lift his eyes and turned a page of the newspaper, "I set a new toothbrush and towel for you. Go wash up, we'll eat beef noodles later."
Qiao Yin listened, lowered her eyes, and quickly smiled. Then she rushed into the bathroom to freshen up.
"I have to change clothes later to go to the hospital to see Zhou Chengze." Sitting at the dining table with chopsticks and a bowl in hand, she ate a few bites of noodles, finally remembering the important matter. She looked up with her big eyes at Xiao Yang sitting opposite, carefully observing his expression, afraid to miss any emotional changes, "Do you want to come with me? Aunt Chen still wants to thank you in person." After thinking for a moment, she added, "Zhou Chengze's friend already told Aunt Chen yesterday. She now knows I'm not Zhou Chengze's girlfriend."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yang just continued to eat noodles without changing his expression, "Hm."
She blinked again, "Do you want to come with me?"
Xiao Yang took a bite of the omelet, chewed it leisurely, and then answered in a calm tone, "Sure."
"You're really not upset, right?" Qiao Yin tilted her head to look at him, not very sure, confirming with him.
After finishing the salad in the bowl, he calmly said, "No."
Seeing this reaction, she didn't know whether to be happy or not. Qiao Yin thought for a while, turned her eyes, and then put on a smiling face, dimples appearing again, "It's okay if you're not happy. If I knew you weren't happy, I would definitely be very happy."
"Building your happiness on other people's unhappiness." After finishing the last bite of noodles, Xiao Yang's face remained calm, straightforwardly commenting, "Can't compliment."
Every time he threw a sarcastic remark, Qiao Yin found it oddly amusing. She restrained her laughter, tilted her head, pretending to be angry, and glared at him with righteous words, "You are not someone else, you're clearly my own person!"
The response she got was a nonchalant glance from Xiao Yang, who put down his chopsticks, and indifferently said, "Eat your noodles."
Author's Note: So, in fact, it was Xiao Yang who was moved first... Looking back at all his previous actions, he was actually very regretful.
They are truly a perfect match.
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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