"Brother Jian, are you working overtime tonight?" Qin Xiangnuan asked Jian Zhiqing, already concerned about his stomach issues—if he had to work overtime, wouldn’t he go hungry without a meal?
"I’ll have to work a bit," Jian Zhiqing’s expression seemed rather helpless, "I’ll probably need to do overtime for a while. Oh, here, take this." Jian Zhiqing took out a medical record from his person. "Give this to your teacher, and you won’t have to do military training."
Qin Xiangnuan took it and glanced through it; doctors’ handwriting is always so hard to read. She wasn’t sure what ailment the doctor had concocted for her, but it seemed like she could make it out: probably hypoglycemia, prone to fainting or something like that, shouldn’t exercise too much, nor should she be exposed to too much sunlight.
Just that was enough for Qin Xiangnuan to skip the military training.
Qin Xiangnuan had taken a few bites of the wild vegetable pancakes, and eventually gathered the rest from her plate.
"What, you’re not eating anymore?" Jian Zhiqing broke off another piece of the wild vegetable pancake, dipped it in garlic sauce, and put it in his mouth.
"No more," Qin Xiangnuan picked up the plate with the wild vegetable pancakes and stood up to walk toward the kitchen, "I’ll put them in the pot for you. These won’t keep you full for long, I’ll save them for your late-night snack."
Jian Zhiqing’s fingers paused ever so slightly, his usually cool and distant eyes seemed to soften with a hint of warmth, rippling gently through the cool summer breeze.
Qin Xiangnuan went into the kitchen, placed her portion of the vegetable pancakes in the pot, just three pieces—not too many. There was also some pumpkin porridge in the pot, which she could heat up later in the evening. Eating that would be enough to fend off hunger. She had even saved her own rations for Jian Zhiqing.
Was this her way of saying thanks?
Yeah, that must be it.
The sky gradually darkened, Jian Zhiqing rubbed his shoulders. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting in that position; his whole body felt stiff, especially his neck, as if it was locked and unable to move. His entire body ached as if he had run a marathon.
He arranged the documents one by one by page number. His work efficiency had indeed been good today. At this rate, he would be able to wrap up in a couple of days. Then, he could take a good few days off to rest.
His stomach growled audibly.
He touched his belly, he was indeed feeling hungry now, and couldn’t help but smile wryly. Qin Xiangnuan was right; those wild vegetable pancakes really didn’t stay with you long. He was starting to feel the hunger. With an empty stomach, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
He still remembered that Qin Xiangnuan had saved some pancakes for him. What a nice girl, cold on the outside but warm inside.
He opened the door. It was already around half past ten in the evening. The street lights were still on, and cars were passing by. The Capital City was much busier now than before. Although the nights were shorter, most people had already gone to bed early.
There weren’t many residents in the small Siheyuan, just Granny Lu, Qin Xiangyang, and himself. Granny Lu, because she got up early, also went to bed early, and slept deeply. As for Qin Xiangnuan, her daily routine had always been regular. Even during her busy senior year of high school, she didn’t stay up too late. It was a good habit; unlike him, he had no choice. In a few days, once this helping hand gesture was finished, things would be much better.
He went into the kitchen, lifted the lid of the pot. The stove was still hot, so the wild vegetable pancakes inside were still warm. Beneath was a bowl of gently warm pumpkin porridge; just smelling it whetted his appetite.
He took out the bowl, ate all the pancakes, and felt his stomach settle a bit. After eating, he washed the dishes and returned to his room to continue working.
When school started, Qin Xiangnuan turned in her medical record; the teacher gave her special permission to go home and not participate in the military training. Although being exempt from military training meant missing out on the initial chance to get to know her classmates, she certainly did not want to sunburn herself into a ’ghost’ like in her past life.
She was truly frightened by the thought of those days in her past life.
And the military training at the university usually lasted about half a month.
Half a month—Qin Xiangnuan empathized with those students. Why did others have only one week of military training while theirs lasted for half a month, fifteen days?
What are you looking at?
Jian Zhiqing really found that Qin Xiangnuan seemed to be preoccupied these days. She kept pacing back and forth in the backyard, apparently in her own world. Their small Siheyuan might be small, but the backyard was quite spacious, although it was left unused.
One meter, two meters, three meters.
Qin Xiangnuan repeatedly measured with her feet, trying to figure out exactly how many meters the yard spanned, to see if it would suffice for her purpose.
"What are you doing?" Jian Zhiqing walked over just to see Qin Xiangnuan measuring this way and that, muttering to herself.
Taken aback by the sudden voice, Qin Xiangnuan jumped.
She blinked, a bit surprised—what brought Jian Zhiqing here? Wasn’t he busy working? Or had she been so focused recently that she had neglected the ’deity’ of the household?
"Brother Jian, how come you’re here?" She asked, while continuing to gauge the size of the yard with her steps.
"I finished my work, so I came back," Jian Zhiqing leaned against an ancient tree, an element of the Siheyuan’s old-world charm, including the venerable tree itself. Its trunk was too wide for one person to embrace. The tree’s shade covered the entire backyard. Otherwise, why would Qin Xiangnuan miss out on utilizing such a large space—she would have planted something. It was precisely due to the lack of sunlight, that they had to leave it empty, using it either to store random items or keeping it locked up; sometimes, people would forget they even had such a large, unused space.
"What are you doing?" Jian Zhiqing curiously followed Qin Xiangnuan’s steps, seeming to measure something.
"I’m measuring how big the yard is," said Qin Xiangnuan as she took a few more steps here and there, somewhat feeling the space seemed smaller, wondering if it would need to be demolished—a thought that pained her.
"What for?" Jian Zhiqing moved aside, puzzled by Qin Xiangnuan’s eccentric behavior.
Qin Xiangnuan suddenly turned around, staring intently at Jian Zhiqing with a flicker of something in her eyes.
Shortly after, Chun Xiangnuan personally brewed a cup of tea and placed it in front of Jian Zhiqing.
"Brother Jian, I have something to tell you."
"Hm," Jian Zhiqing took the cup, "I’m all ears."
Qin Xiangnuan took a deep breath and spoke with clarity.
"Brother Jian, I want to collude with you for business partnership, to join forces and connive together."