There was a queue at the order counter, and Yang Wei took out her newly bought phone and started fiddling with it. Today, she was wearing the black A-line skirt she had bought last time, paired with a white blouse with puff sleeves, giving her a slightly retro vibe. Because her seat wasn't far from the entrance, many men who came in would glance at her a few times.
Yang Wei connected to the store's Wi-Fi and had just finished downloading an app when she heard an unfamiliar male voice from across the room: "Beautiful lady, are you alone?"
Yang Wei looked up at him; he was a short-haired man in a blue shirt, with fairly fair skin. Yang Wei blinked, but before she could speak, Qi Xiaoyan approached: "Sir, what business do you have with my wife?"
The man in the blue shirt looked slightly embarrassed. He glanced at Qi Xiaoyan, then turned to look at Yang Wei, as if confirming with her. Yang Wei smiled, and the man in the blue shirt paused, scratching the back of his head and laughing, "Haha, sorry to bother you." He then quickly ran back to a table by the window.
Qi Xiaoyan glanced at the table and sat down opposite Yang Wei: "Not bad, just sitting here can exude hormones."
Yang Wei smiled slightly at him: "You're not bad either." She glanced at the group of high school girls at the corner table, where the three of them were laughing and whispering to Qi Xiaoyan.
Qi Xiaoyan glanced at her finger and asked, "Where's your wedding ring?"
Yang Wei paused for a moment, then glanced at his hand: "I keep it at home." Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that ever since she took off her wedding ring, people had started hitting on her again.
She thought Qi Xiaoyan was going to say something more, but he just ended the topic like that.
After the waiter placed the snacks on the table, Yang Wei checked them carefully. When she saw that there were only two fried dumplings, she smiled smugly at Qi Xiaoyan and said, "I ordered four fried dumplings."
Qi smiled and said, "There are only two pan-fried dumplings left, so I ordered a plate of steamed dumplings for you."
Just as he finished speaking, the waiter brought over the steamed dumplings. Yang Wei pouted and picked up the chopsticks on the table: "Aren't you going to order for yourself?" All the dishes on the table were what she had just ordered.
Qi Xiaoyan also picked up her chopsticks and put a steamed dumpling into her bowl: "I have an obligation to help you finish what you have left."
Yang Wei's heart inexplicably started pounding. It was just an ordinary sentence, but when Qi Xiaoyan said it, it sounded like he was saying sweet nothings.
Yang Wei kept her head down and silently began to eat the food in front of her. Remembering that Qi Xiaoyan didn't eat spicy food, Yang Wei proactively took the cold noodles and jelly noodles and placed them in front of her. Qi Xiaoyan looked at the bright red chili peppers in her bowl and unconsciously frowned: "Isn't your stomach upset?"
"No, it's delicious." Yang Wei looked up and winked at him. "Do you know why this jelly is called 'Sad Jelly'? Because everyone who eats it cries from the spiciness, looking like they're really sad. Do you want to try some?"
"...If you like it so much, then eat more."
"Hey, good things should be shared, come on, don't be shy." Yang Wei carefully picked up a piece of jelly and offered it to Qi Xiaoyan. Qi Xiaoyan stared at the jelly in front of her for a while, then opened her mouth and ate it.
Yang Wei was stunned. Holy crap, Professor Qi actually ate it! She was just joking, this jelly was really spicy…
She swallowed all the jelly in her mouth and carefully observed Qi Xiaoyan's expression. Qi Xiaoyan coughed a few times, her face changing from red to white and then back to red, and a faint glimmer of tears welled up in her usually indifferent eyes.
Yang Wei chuckled softly, leaning on the table, then took out her phone and snapped a picture of his face: "Professor Qi, you really cried? You look so heartbroken."
Qi Xiaoyan: "..."
He picked up a fried dumpling with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, trying to mask the spiciness. Yang Wei moved the plate of pineapple pancakes in front of him and suggested, "Eat something sweet to calm your nerves."
Qi Xiaoyan glanced at her without saying anything, but her eyes were still a little red, like a rabbit that was embarrassed and angry.
Yang Wei put away her phone and happily continued eating her cold noodles. Qi Xiaoyan took about five minutes to catch his breath. He picked up a tissue from the table and wiped his mouth, saying, "I'm full."
His voice was a little hoarse. Yang Wei chuckled and looked at him, saying, "Are you full from the spiciness? Ah, Professor Qi, you're really easy to please. From now on, one jelly of cold noodles will be enough for every meal."
Qi Xiaoyan looked at her, her brows furrowing slightly: "Is your stomach made of titanium alloy? How can you eat such spicy food without getting a stomach perforation?"
Yang Wei blinked and said, "Is your stomach made of tofu?" A single strand of cold noodles had turned him into a rabbit from the spiciness.
Hmm, I suddenly have a craving for rabbit heads.
Yang Wei swallowed hard, quickly finished the remaining food on the table, and took Qi Xiaoyan's car back to her apartment complex.
"Go to bed early tonight," Qi Xiaoyan instructed, then drove off without looking back. Yang Wei pouted at his taillights, then skipped upstairs. Once home, she tossed her things onto the sofa and collapsed onto it herself.
Stretching comfortably, Yang Wei reached for the box containing her wallet, took it out, and opened it to take a look. There was a card tucked into one of the wallet's card slots; Yang Wei assumed it was a brand brochure or something similar, but when she pulled it out, her gaze suddenly froze.
Buy a wallet now and get a free bank card? She didn't see the store was having this promotion!
She frowned and stared intently at the bank card held in front of her. The card number looked familiar... Wait, isn't this Qi Xiaoyan's card?
Author's Note: Special thanks to the little angel Shiyu-chan for throwing a landmine! Thank you so much, lestat! (* ￣3)(ε￣ *)
29
Yang Wei took out her newly bought Peach 10 phone, which already had a new SIM card inserted, but none of her original contacts were there.
However, Yang Wei already knew Qi Xiaoyan's number by heart.
She dialed Qi Xiaoyan's cell phone, and it was answered after two rings: "What is it?"
Yang Wei said, "Professor Qi, your bank card is in your wallet."
Qi Xiaoyan paused for a moment and said, "I don't have time to go get it recently, so I'll just leave it with you for now. The password hasn't changed."
Yang Wei blinked, a slight smile playing on her lips. Qi Xiaoyan waited a moment, and seeing that she didn't speak, asked, "Is there anything else?"
"It's gone."
"Then I'll hang up."
He hung up right after he finished speaking. Yang Wei listened to the busy tone on the other end of the phone, then leaned back on the sofa and laughed a few times. After she finished laughing, she got up and plugged her phone in to charge. When she went into the bedroom, she noticed with her sharp eyes that one of the pillows on the bed was missing.
Her first thought was that she'd been robbed, but after looking around the house, nothing was missing except her pillow. What kind of thief would have the leisure to come in and steal just one of her pillows? She dismissed the idea of a thief. The only person who had come to her house in the past two days was... Qi Xiaoyan.
Yang Wei chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief. She returned to the living room and called Qi Xiaoyan again: "Did you take a pillow with you?"
Qi Xiaoyan said without changing his expression, "This is public property, and I think it's fair for me to take one."
Yang Wei was almost laughing in anger. She could understand him taking a rice cooker or microwave, but why take a pillow? "But you took mine."
"Really? I might have taken the wrong one, but I don't have time to return it to you right now."
Yang Wei let out a breath and said, "Keep it if you like it, you don't need to return it to me."
Qi Xiaoyan on the other end of the phone silently curled her lips. Yang Wei hung up the phone, changed her clothes, and sat down in front of the computer. She opened the drawer and placed Qi Xiaoyan's card next to her salary card. On the far right, there was also a wedding ring. She stared at the contents for a while before closing the drawer and logging into QQ.
"I lost my phone, but the number hasn't changed. Could you please send me a text message with your name? Thank you for your cooperation."
Yang Wei posted this status update and then tapped the Calabash Brothers avatar in her friend list: "Shuang'er, could you please schedule another class for me? Also, has anyone asked me to write articles lately? QAQ"
Twin Gourds: "Weiwei'er, what's wrong with you? I'm not used to you being so diligent."
Twin Gourds: "Holy crap, I saw it! Your phone got stolen???"
"My wallet was stolen too QAQ" Yang Wei didn't dare say it was robbed, because the word "robbed" is too bloody, and "stealed" is much gentler.
Twin Gourds: "Was your bag stolen on the bus? You should put your bag in front of you! Thieves these days are really skilled!"
Twin Gourds: "There's a new class starting on Monday. If it's assigned to you, you'll only have Friday nights without classes. Can you handle that?"
"No problem!"
Twin Gourds: "...Why do I feel like you're in a good mood even though you were robbed? I'll ask about commissioning articles for you and get back to you in a bit."
OK, love you, muah!
Yang Wei turned on her music and listened to a song when Jian Shuang's message came in: "A publishing house needs a cover design, in the ancient style, featuring a man and a woman, priced at 4000, with a two-week turnaround time, interested?"
"Yo yo yo!"
Twin Gourds: "Send me a few of your ancient-style manuscripts, and I'll show them to the publishing house."
Yang Wei selected two photos that she was most satisfied with and sent them over. After listening to two more songs, Jian Shuang's profile picture started flashing again: "The other party said OK. I'll send you the detailed requirements later."
Yang Wei excitedly typed on the keyboard: "Shuang'er, I love you QAQ"
"...Alright, go ahead and disgust your Professor Qi. Oh right, I forgot you're divorced :)"
Yang Wei: "..."
For the next week, Yang Wei attended classes during the day and at night, while also squeezing in time to draw, like a tightly wound-up robot. Finally, Friday arrived, and Yang Wei relaxed completely at the thought of having no classes that evening.
The first period in the afternoon was math class. Ms. Luo walked to the office door, then turned back and quickly went to Yang Wei: "Ms. Yang, could you please distribute the test papers for me?"
Yang Wei stared at it for a few moments, then asked in confusion, "Teacher Luo, what's wrong?"
Ms. Luo said with a pained expression, "It seems like I ate too much spicy crayfish last night; I have a bit of an upset stomach today." She put down the test paper in her hand and ran out quickly. "Have them correct their mistakes, then go home and have their parents sign it. Bring it back next Monday!"
Yang Wei blinked as she watched his hurried back, then picked up the math test paper on the table and walked towards the classroom.
After the bell rang, the students looked at Yang Wei, who walked into the classroom, with puzzled expressions. Yang Wei walked to the podium, smiled at them, and said, "Teacher Luo has something to do and asked me to distribute the math test papers for him."
Upon hearing that a math test would be handed out, everyone's expressions became tense.
Yang Wei enjoyed the feeling. She opened the test paper and looked at the score statistics clipped to the front: "Three students got 100 points in this test, He Can—" She picked up a test paper from the front and looked in He Can's direction. He Can took the test paper amidst applause.
"Gu Lei—" Yang Wei handed him the test paper, adding, "You're so unbalanced in your studies, it's like you're a deformed person, you know?"
Gu Lei suddenly felt the math test paper in his hand getting hot. Liang Minghao laughed heartily in his seat. Yang Wei glanced at him and smiled, "Liang Minghao doesn't have any particular weakness in any subject; his performance in each subject is quite evenly distributed."
Liang Minghao: "..."
This time, the students burst into laughter.
Yang Wei finished reading all the papers with scores above 90 and turned to Liang Minghao's paper. She picked it up and said to Liang Minghao, "Liang Minghao, 87 points."
Liang Minghao pouted and took the test paper. Yang Wei said, "Correct your mistakes after you get the paper, then go home and have your parents sign it. Bring it back on Monday."
"Oh," Liang Minghao replied, returning to his seat like a timid wife. Two-thirds of the class was over when Teacher Luo finally arrived, her legs aching and numb.
Yang Wei gracefully withdrew from her duties and returned to her office to wait for the end of the workday.
Since she had no classes tonight, Yang Wei planned to catch up on some TV dramas and then work on her drafts tomorrow. On her way home, she bought two duck necks and a large bowl of spicy hot pot, intending to just let the night pass by indulging in this way.
Log in to QQ, and Jian Shuang's avatar is flashing again. Yang Wei clicks on it, and a chat box pops up cheerfully: "Weiwei, Takoyaki is coming to the comic convention this weekend for his new book signing! I can finally see him in person!"
Takoyaki is a top-tier novelist at the end of the line. Her novel "Dead Man Party" became incredibly popular, even among people like Yang Wei who don't read male-oriented novels.
She thought for a moment and replied, "Isn't he abroad?"
Twin Gourds: "I heard he came back recently! The organizers went to great lengths to invite him to the premiere of 'Dead Man Party' Part 2! Aww! I'm so excited to see my idol!"
Yang Wei twitched the corner of her mouth. Jian Shuang's male gods could be counted in numbers.
"Good luck."
Twin Gourds: "Aww, but I'm a little nervous going alone. Come with me, I've already bought the tickets!"
"I'm going to paint this weekend, so I'll ask your man to go with me."
Twin Gourds: "How could my man possibly go with me to see another man? You draw it tomorrow, and we'll go the day after tomorrow."
Twin Gourds: "Takoyaki is so cool!"
Yang Wei curled her lip, as if she were talking to herself like she'd actually seen it. She considered it for a moment, then agreed: "Okay, what time does the autograph session start?"
Twin Gourds: "10 AM, I'll treat you to lunch =3="