Tiannan College - Kapitel 6
"Grandma," Xiaotong, who was listening nearby, had already yawned several times; after all, she was just a child.
"Xiaotong, go out and play." Doctor Yu looked at Xiaotong with great affection.
"Dr. Yu, I wish I could be more beautiful than I am now." Xiaoju blushed.
"Silly child, appearance can only be called pretty at most, true beauty comes from within." Doctor Yu smiled and shook his head. "Alright, women always want to be more beautiful. You two sit for a while, I'll go and prepare your medicine."
A short while later, Doctor Yu came out with three small paper packets.
“Miss Lin, change must be gradual. As the saying goes, there is no construction without destruction. Pain is unavoidable, so you must be mentally prepared. Also, I must ask you not to tell anyone about what’s going on here. It’s not that I don’t want to help others, but these are chaotic times, and it’s better to avoid trouble. I’m too lazy to serve those officials’ wives.”
The paper package containing the medicine was stamped with a small seal in seal script: Hibiscus Soup.
On the way back, Wu Xia, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Teacher Lin, I think you are actually quite beautiful."
Xiaoju held Wu Xia's soft little hand and smiled, "Yes, I will be beautiful."
ten
Sir Howard was furious. When he arrived in Tianjin, he was greeted by the piercing sound of fire alarms. The fire had broken out in another warehouse belonging to the Licheng Trading Company. This warehouse was specifically used to store wine—thousands of barrels of fine wine.
Without a moment's rest, Howard wanted to call a meeting immediately. He wanted to confront Luo Xiuqing, to glare at her, to yell at her, to slam his fist on the table. But now he didn't need to. A minute before the meeting, he received a phone call, and Howard's anger subsided. His hand still slammed somewhere—not on the table, but on Luo Xiuqing's shoulder. This young man was quite good; thanks to him, the company had avoided even greater losses.
Luo Xiuqing was completely bewildered. She had been prepared to be scolded, so where did this inexplicable praise come from?
"Jiaming, how much damage did you suffer?" Luo Xiuqing wanted to know the answer and stopped Jiaming, who had just entered the room. Could it be that Howard was overly traumatized?
"Loss? The loss is zero." Jiaming was covered in sweat and was fanning himself with his unbuttoned shirt.
"What do you mean?"
"You have to treat her to a meal, treat Jian Rou."
"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me already."
“Jian Rou is meticulous. When she saw the series of incidents, she thought of moving all the valuable goods to a new warehouse overnight. Otherwise, who knows how much more chaos this fire would have caused.”
"Ah." Luo Xiuqing seemed to wake from a dream.
"Actually, I was afraid Mr. Luo would be angry." Jian Rou had walked up behind them without them noticing. "I acted on my own without your permission."
"Jian Rou, don't overthink it, Xiu Qing won't be angry."
"Yes, Jiaming is right." Luo Xiuqing indeed thought so. Xiaoju's fainting had already thrown him into complete disarray, and Jian Rou hadn't even had a chance to consult him. Even if she had, he probably wouldn't have been able to listen to anything at the time.
“There’s something else,” Jian Rou murmured. She could sense that the general manager wasn’t entirely convinced by the Japanese. “Please don’t be angry. Because of the time constraints, I have to transfer the goods to the warehouse that the Japanese have built in Dongjuzi.”
"It's just a temporary measure. We'll move out once we find a suitable place." How could Luo Xiuqing blame Jian Rou? It's rare for a girl to make such a decision.
Jian Rou finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.
"Jianrou, you're off work. I'll treat you to dinner. Let's go to Qishilin for Western food," Jiaming suggested.
“I don’t eat Western food, so treat me to stewed pork ribs from Zhou’s Canteen (note).” Jian Rou pouted.
"Don't try to save me money."
"No, I still want to eat tomato shrimp balls..."
Watching the two of them chatting and laughing all the way, Luo Xiuqing's mood lightened considerably. Speaking of ribs, she was really hungry herself; she should hurry home, Xiaoju must be hungry too.
As Luo Xiuqing was pondering, she was suddenly bumped into. She was unharmed, but the person who bumped into her fell to the ground. It was Old Wu who bumped into Luo Xiuqing. He quickly got up and dusted Luo Xiuqing off.
"Old Wu, I'm fine, don't bother. What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Mr. Luo, it's nothing, it's nothing. I was just lost in thought and bumped into you." Old Wu kept apologizing. "If you're alright, I'll be going now."
Before Luo Xiuqing could reply, Old Wu limped away.
Watching Old Wu's retreating figure, Luo Xiuqing sensed something was amiss; he seemed quite flustered. Turning a corner, Li Tongqi came panting up the stairs. Upon seeing Luo Xiuqing, he was speechless for a moment, only nodding repeatedly.
"Old Li, what's the rush? Why are you looking for me?" Luo Xiuqing was a little confused. Why was everyone acting so strangely today?
"No...it's nothing, Mr. Luo. My wife," Li Tongtian gasped, "my wife told me...to climb stairs when I have time...to lose weight. Mr. Luo, goodbye..."
So much has happened these past few days, but it hasn't changed the rhythm of people's lives. That's pretty much how life is.
(Note: Zhou Family Canteen actually opened in 1947. I was just getting really hungry while writing this and wanted to eat ribs, so I included this restaurant. I can't think of any other restaurants that were more delicious at that time, so please bear with me.)
eleven
The moon was bright and the stars were few; the spring night sky was unusually clear and transparent.
The beautiful weather gave Jiaming an excuse to invite Jianrou for a walk after dinner. Jiaming felt that fate was on his side, and he was also good at seizing opportunities. He wondered if he was sure he liked Jianrou, and whether he could bear the responsibility of loving someone.
"What are you thinking about? Taking a walk or measuring the road?" Jian Rou teased Jia Ming, then couldn't help but laugh first.
"With such a beautiful moon, people might become a little disoriented and forget to speak."
"Tell me your adventure stories. I heard from Mr. Luo that you are a legendary figure."
"Actually, it's nothing special. I just like the feeling of being on the road. I can't stay in one place for too long, otherwise I feel uncomfortable."
"Wouldn't the person who falls in love with you be pitiful? Girls always hope for stability."
"Who would love me? Nobody's that stupid."
The two of them suddenly fell silent, an awkward silence ensued, as if all the topics of conversation had vanished.
"Let me pick a branch for you to put in a vase at home," Jiaming asked Jianrou, as the roadside trees were in full bloom.
"Do you recognize what kind of flower this is?" Jian Rou looked up at the tree full of flowers. A gust of wind blew by, and the petals fell like rain.
"Hey, crabapple, are you testing me again?" Jiaming wanted to find a pretty branch to break off.
"Idiot, these are cherry blossoms, not crabapple blossoms!"
"Cherry blossoms?"
"Yes, cherry blossoms are more delicate and fragile than crabapple blossoms. I don't think cherry blossoms can be put in a vase; once they're removed from their roots, the flowers don't last long."
"I didn't realize you were so knowledgeable about flowers."
You'd never guess why I know so much about cherry blossoms.
"Why?"
"Because when I was a child, my teacher told me a story about Washington cutting down a cherry blossom tree, so I searched everywhere to see what a cherry blossom tree looked like."
"You don't want to cut down trees too, do you?" Jiaming deliberately acted scared.
“Hehe,” Jian Rou didn’t answer. It turned out that she could be mischievous like a boy when she laughed.
Before they knew it, the two had reached the Haihe River. The air was filled with the slightly fishy smell of the river water, and the breeze on the river had become gentle, stirring their hearts on this spring night.
"Jiaming," Jian Rou said with some surprise, "how did we get here?"
Jiaming then realized that they had already reached the vicinity of the burning warehouse.
The entire two-story building was charred black, and the direction from which the flames were shooting out could still be vaguely discerned through the windows. The smell of burning still lingered in the air.
"Let's go in and take a look." Jiaming wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or Jian Rou.
Jian Rou hesitated for a moment, then followed Jia Ming into the courtyard. Because of the fire, the power was out, and the dim light from the streetlights couldn't reach the depths of the yard. Jian Rou tugged at Jia Ming's sleeve, and he turned around. Jian Rou handed him a small flashlight. So close, he could faintly smell a delicate fragrance emanating from Jian Rou. Jia Ming mentally punched himself: "Don't let your mind wander."