After fishing out the key to open the door, while taking off shoes at the hallway, Boss Luo found he was being glowered at by an excited Subeditor Ren.
Ren Ziling appeared daunting with arms on her hips, but that wouldn’t scare a cat, let alone Luo Qiu who had long since gotten used to it.
Without saying a word, Luo Qiu walked into the sitting room as soon as he put on his slippers, pouring a glass of water and drinking it on the sofa.
Subeditor Ren couldn’t stand it anymore after witnessing the entire process, from the moment Luo Qiu entered till he sat down. She gave a menacing smile, pulling Luo Qiu’s ear while dragging him towards her. "Are you disregarding me?"
"Yes."
"F*ck! You actually admitted it?!!" Ren Ziling gaped, a bellyful of words were cut off.
Yet, as the household and legal mother, she felt this was a loss of face. By these reasons, Ren Ziling sneered and said in a deep voice, "It seems it is time to teach you how to be a person!"
Luo Qiu slapped away Ren Ziling’s hand on his ear, then took out a bag of jerky from his backpack and gave it to her.
Ren Ziling took it, tearing it and picking one to bite. "This matter isn’t settled with a damn bag of jerky! How could you go missing without leaving a message for me!!"
"But I’ve sent a text message to you."
Ren Ziling groaned, "Do you think it’s appropriate to take a spontaneous trip but send me only one message?"
"Don’t forget the landscape photography everyday?" Luo Qiu fished out another bag of toffee.
Ren Ziling snorted, tearing the bag open and threw one into her mouth. "Don’t think one toffee plus one bag of jerky can seal my mouth!"
So Boss Luo turned the backpack upside down, pouring out everything down to cover Subeditor Ren’s legs. "These will be enough for you to eat a whole week."
Ren Ziling glared at him. "I’ll get fat!!!"
Luo Qiu threw her a supercilious look, massaging his own shoulder while walking towards his room. "I’m tired, we can continue talking tomorrow."
Ren Ziling said while she was tearing up another bag of local delicacies. "Oh, Uncle Ma will leave the hospital the day after tomorrow! Let’s have a dinner, Uncle Ye Yan will join us too!"
The door was already closed.
Uncle Ye Yan.
Luo Qiu turned on the lamp, before walking to the wardrobe after a while of silence. Then he opened it and took out a box.
He hadn’t opened this box in a long time.
While thinking about this, Luo Qiu opened it and brought out the object--- a tenor saxophone.
His hand touched the words carved on the tube. ‘Happy birthday, Ye Yan’s’.
Luo Qiu smirked. He cherished the memory of the days he learned this instrument from that uncle. Unwittingly, he picked it up, putting it close to his mouth.
"Yesterday-Once-More"
When the low, deep but strong rhythm spread over the living room, the anger Subeditor Renfelt suddenly dissipated. She felt relieved and smiled, "I will forgive you for the sake of these gifts."
Ren Ziling let the sweet toffee softly rotate on her tongue tip. Involuntarily, she thought of the past that never come back.
"Brat."
Her eyes teared up.
…
…
In the office of Xinxin Food Limited Company.
"Zhuge! Print this material for me please!"
"Yeah! One minute!"
"Zhuge! Don’t forget to order lunches!"
"Yep!"
It was probably a misconception, but Zhuge seemed to be in a good mood these days. His clumsy body always seemed to be walking about in the office.
He suddenly became very hard working, always finishing the tasks before getting off work. Furthermore, he was the first one to leave the office as soon as it came to the closing time.
The speed he rushed out of the office was as if special effects had been added on.
When his colleague asked him if something good happened to him, he laughed crazily instead when he was in the washroom.
"No, nothing."
In short, nobody got the answer--- And today, Zhuge was also the first one to leave.
…
Zhuge’s mood couldn’t be described as ‘good’.
Rather, it was sweet! Every day for him was like eating honey and would never feel sick of it.
Why?
This was because he could eat a steaming hot dish after work every day. He could also witness Nanako waiting at the door with his slippers neatly placed there, etc.
The original messy room with body odor now became tidy and clean, emitting a faint and fragrant scent all the time.
He could hear ‘Take care’ when leaving home in the morning, and ‘Thanks for the hard work’ after coming back home.
Today was the same.
Zhuge gave a satisfactory smile, eating Nanako’s… egg fried rice little by little. She could only cook egg fried rice, but Zhuge felt he wouldn’t be fed up with it forever.
That was because when he was eating, Nanako would be sitting opposite of him, watching him silently.
"Oh yeah, Na, Nanako…" Zhuge still dare not speak smoothly to this almost faultless girl.
"Yeah, what’s up?"
"Nothing, I just want to ask…" Zhuge paused, "You see me eating every time, but don’t you feel hungry?"
Nanako shook her head, showing a sweet smile. "Because, I feel extremely happy to see Zhuge eating his fill!"
As if being shot by Cupid’s arrow, Zhuge sensed he would die of happiness… dying without any regrets.
"Ah! It’s the time to prepare the hot water for Zhuge to wash!" Nanako stood up promptly, going over to the washroom.
When it came to washing, Zhuge couldn’t help giggling, thinking of events happened during these days--- a man and a girl being in the single room. He had some hormone-controlled thoughts.
Yet, every time he saw the flawless smile on Nanako’s face, it was as if cold water was poured over him. He would then change his mind and thought that doing that kind of thing with her would be insulting to her.
On the other hand, he started to think about many many questions.
Such as how was Nanako’s future? Because Nanako came to his life from nowhere, or should he say, from the cellphone.
She didn’t have a legal identity… so how could she live in this society?
Could she only live in this rented room forever?
If she felt bored or lonely when he wasn’t at home?
While thinking of these, Zhuge opened his mouth to ask, "Na, Nanako! Will you feel unhappy by yourself?"
Nanako now popped out her head with a smile. "No, if I think Zhuge will come back soon, I’ll feel really happy."
This was really… dying without any regrets!
What a perfect girl she was!
Suddenly, Zhuge took a deep breath. "Then… how about taking a stroll outside sometime?"
How merciless it was to have such a wonderful girl to hide in such a small space. When he thought of this, an idea of taking her for a stroll emerged in Zhuge’s mind.
"Where does Zhuge want to go?"
Thinking for a second, Zhuge answered, "What about this week… Yes! I have no idea yet, but I will think about it!!"
"I’m looking forward to it! Going on a stroll with Zhuge…" Nanako suddenly held her face with shyness, "Is it a date?"
Zhuge… Zhuge sensed countless Cupid’s Arrows shooting towards him.