Mo Qishen held her and seemed reluctant to let go, and Ni Yang reminded him, "Brother Mo, your boarding time is approaching, it will be delayed soon."
Mo Qishen sighed and said in a low voice, "Yangyang, I can’t bear to leave you."
"Don’t worry, I’ll write to you, and I’ll call you when I can," Ni Yang said.
In an era where communication tools were not well developed, making international calls was not easy. Writing letters was also inconvenient as it took a long time for them to arrive.
Mo Qishen tightened his arms and hugged Ni Yang firmly before finally letting go.
It was only after Mo Qishen’s figure disappeared at the boarding gate that Ni Yang turned to leave. "Brother Du, let’s go."
"Okay." Du nodded and followed Ni Yang.
The weather was very hot. Today, Ni Yang was not wearing a cheongsam but a simple white shirt and jeans.
Even in such a simple outfit, she still caught everyone’s eye, especially standing next to Du, who was clad in commoner’s clothes.
Throughout their walk, countless people turned to glance at them.
Ni Yang glanced sideways, "Aren’t you hot wearing so much?"
In the sixth and seventh months of the lunar calendar, the scorching sun was high in the sky, and it was the hottest time. She felt hot even in a thin shirt, but Du seemed unaware of the heat. He still wore his commoner’s clothes and cloth shoes, and, oddly enough, there wasn’t a single bead of sweat on his forehead.
"Not hot." Du twirled his Buddha Beads, "I was born with a cold constitution, immune to heat and cold."
"Really?" Ni Yang expressed her doubt.
"Do you want to check it?" Du reached out his hand that was holding the Buddha Beads.
Ni Yang paused, "How could I verify that?"
Du raised an eyebrow, "Aren’t you a doctor?"
Ni Yang had previously taken Du’s pulse, but she hadn’t noticed this peculiarity then.
Could there really be such a thing as a natural cold constitution?
While walking, Ni Yang reached out to touch Du’s wrist and listened intently to his pulse, "Your pulse seems to be different from that of a normal person."
Du withdrew his hand, "That’s the cold-body constitution."
Ni Yang continued, "Someone with your type of body would be more suited for medical research."
"What do you mean?" Du asked.
Ni Yang explained, "Simply put, it means that after you pass away, donating your body to medical researchers for dissection could lead to new breakthroughs in China’s medical history."
Ni Yang hadn’t planned on having much interaction with Du, but she had promised Mo Qishen to bring some warmth to this lonely old man.
Life as a lonely elder was not easy.
Du twitched his eyebrows, "You’re cursing me to die."
"Life and death are the common states of human existence," Ni Yang continued, "I’m certainly not cursing you."
Du, twirling his Buddha Beads, agreed, "You’re right."
While they were speaking, they reached the outside of the airport.
The car was parked outside.
"Brother Du, Miss Ni," the driver said as he promptly opened the door for them.
That morning, it had been Du who picked up Mo Qishen.
Du was a very considerate man and, worried Ni Yang might be uncomfortable, he took the front passenger seat.
Ni Yang sat in the backseat.
Having talked with Mo Qishen all the night before and not sleeping well, Ni Yang was seated alone in the spacious backseat. She fell asleep within three minutes of getting in the car.
A clear, picture-like face could be seen from the rearview mirror.
"Keep the speed down," Du instructed the driver in a low voice.
"Sure," the driver responded, immediately slowing down.
The car drove slowly down the street when suddenly—
The car, mid-drive, came to a stop. The sudden jolt woke Ni Yang, "Have we arrived?"
The driver, careful not to upset Du, replied, "Not yet, it seems the car has broken down. I’ll go check."
With that, the driver opened the door and stepped out of the car.
Ni Yang followed suit.
The driver lifted the hood and inspected it, fiddling around for quite a while without success.
It seemed Du was growing impatient as he also opened the door and got out, "What’s the matter?"
The driver said, "The problem seems serious. Brother Du, we... might have to walk back."
The airport was located in a remote suburb, no village in front nor a store in back, and they had no communication tools with them. It looked like they truly had to walk back...
"It’s thirty kilometers from here to Demingxuan," Du stated flatly.
Thirty kilometers? That probably meant walking all day.
The driver fell silent.
He feared he might lose his job.
Just then, Ni Yang walked over to the front of the car and looked down, then said, "Hand me the screwdriver."
"Miss Ni, you know how to fix cars?" The driver was surprised but immediately handed Ni Yang the screwdriver.