TPIL - 12

Looking back, it was so laughable. Given his financial situation at the time, trying to use money to buy her peace of mind was nothing but self-humiliation, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

He carried her down the mountain on his back.

At that time, several rescue teams were searching separately. Qi Xiaochuan admitted that leaving the group was a bit risky, but perhaps his biggest flaw was being too confident and relying too much on himself, which had led to some funny incidents in the past. Fortunately, this time he was lucky.

After promptly contacting the adults, he carried her down. To be honest, this wasn’t the first time he had carried Luo Andi on his back. Before, those wealthy kids loved to stir up trouble, forcing him to join their games. Back then, Qi Xiaochuan was always the one being teased. He knew very well they just wanted to see him lose his temper or get angry. If he did that, maybe their interest in him would diminish. But he deliberately refused to give them that satisfaction.

Qi Xiaochuan didn’t hate bowing his head to others. In a sense, he just didn’t want to see those he disliked achieve their goals. He found it most annoying when people looked smug after their schemes succeeded.

Luo Andi lay on his back without feeling awkwardly stiff like other girls. Instead, she stretched out her limbs as if he were merely a mount. That made things easier. Qi Xiaochuan was happy to be carefree, staying vigilant for special circumstances and carefully moving forward.

She held the flashlight in one hand and rested the other on his shoulder, slowly asking him, “Xiaoxiao, what kind of girl do you like?”

“What?” It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard clearly; he just didn’t like the question. “Short hair, older than me, straightforward personality... preferably someone who isn’t too heavy to carry.”

Luo Andi giggled and suddenly grabbed his ear, sweetly saying, “That’s completely opposite from me!”

Qi Xiaochuan winced in pain, twisted his head to break free, and irritably replied, “Yeah.”

She relaxed only after meeting him, her voice gradually softening: “Xiaoxiao, I’m sleepy.”

Instinctively, he wanted to say, “Don’t sleep,” but somehow felt it would be unlucky, like telling someone in extreme cold that they wouldn’t wake up if they fell asleep. So, he changed it to: “We’re almost out of the forest.”

“Aren’t you scared?” she asked.

What an on-point question. Someone like him, who wouldn’t flinch even if captured by enemies and hung upside down in a slaughterhouse, could still sneer and defiantly yell, “Great, I’ve been wanting to die for a long time.” Of course, he confidently answered, “Not scared, why should I be?” Although at that moment, he thought about how if a wild boar suddenly charged out, he really wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

Luo Andi said, “Then tell me a dry joke.”

He stuttered, not getting a chance to speak before he saw lights ahead. Beyond the trees were steps, and then he saw other people.

When these memories came flooding back, Qi Xiaochuan had just finished heating up borscht from the fridge, preparing to take it to the dining table to eat while looking over some documents. Suddenly, his phone rang, startling him. The soup was already scalding hot, and it spilled all over him. He didn’t say anything, just went to pick up the phone. Seeing it was a private number, he hurried to answer, only to realize it wasn’t the voice he expected.

“Hello, hello?” Maybe the signal was bad on the other end.

“I’m listening,” Qi Xiaochuan wiped his clothes with a towel, “Sister-in-law.”

A few years after starting his business, Zhou Hanyao developed cancer. The affected area had a low incidence rate but a high mortality rate. When he was at his worst, Qi Xiaochuan visited him in the hospital. Zhou was emaciated from chemotherapy but still insisted on working on his PC.

Qi Xiaochuan said, “I bought you some cookies. The kind you used to like.”

“Oh, great.” Zhou Hanyao never told him that he couldn’t eat them anymore. He simply smiled, put on his glasses, and subtly signaled to the nurse who had just checked on him, “That young lady is quite pretty and still single. Go ask for her number.”

“Go ask for your own number.”

“Don’t ask for my head; I’m still sick.”

“I need to go back. I have to oversee a deal at the airport. None of the managers we hired are reliable.” Qi Xiaochuan grumbled, “What’s HR doing?”

Zhou Hanyao bitterly smiled and helplessly advised, “Don’t say that in front of them.”

Sure enough, he got a confident reply: “Isn’t this just gossiping behind their backs? I’ve already told them.”

As he was leaving, Qi Xiaochuan had already reached the elevator when he turned back and poked his head out to say, “Get better soon.”

“Okay, don’t worry.” Zhou Hanyao smiled and replied, “When I get back, we’ll accomplish great things together.”

“Who said we’re brothers...”

“Then father and son, okay?”

“...”

The longtime friend who always secretly paid the bill after celebratory banquets and provided midnight snacks to fellow company founders eventually became a portrait in the funeral home. At that time, their business had just started to thrive, and Qi Xiaochuan didn’t have time to grieve. After acting as the chief mourner, he immediately returned to work, fearing that previously secured investments might withdraw due to changes.

Zhou Hanyao lived a life of sincerity, kindness, integrity, and thoroughness, helping countless friends. Besides the company, he left behind his wife, who had shared most of his life with him.

After graduating from university, Luo Andi didn’t rush to find a job. When she needed to provide internship experience, she wasn’t particularly flustered. She participated in spring and autumn recruitment, and even had companies offer her a position right after graduation, but she politely declined with, “Let me think about it.” When classmates asked why, she just lightly scratched the back of her neck and laughed, “Hmm… I want to rest a bit first.”

Even though Zhong Shiwei was a year younger, he often appeared unexpectedly in their class, suddenly joining in conversations: “Isn’t this what they call a gap year now? Young people in the West do it often.”

Other senior students complained half-jokingly, “Junior Zhong!” Of course, most didn’t mean any real dissatisfaction. After all, he was pleasant to look at and had been fond of Luo Andi for more than a day or two.

During her off-duty rotation after failing to recognize Qi Xiaochuan, Luo Andi went to the library.

She was accustomed to going to the living area of the comprehensive library.

By chance, she saw a book on children’s handmade clothing by Ueki Yuki, couldn’t resist opening it, and started reading while using Youdao Dictionary to translate. However, after reading for a while, she still wanted to bring it to the store to have the language-savvy shopkeeper help interpret it. She asked a volunteer and was disappointed to learn that new books temporarily couldn’t be borrowed, only read inside the library.

Luo Andi could only take out her notebook, quickly sketch the pictures from the book, and deepen her memory to facilitate her ideas. After leaving the bookstore, she went directly to the store. The colleague who had taken over the previous shift was also there, excitedly asking her, “Do you know the customer who came last time?”

It would have been better if she hadn’t mentioned it.

Luo Andi had managed to stop thinking about it, but after much deliberation, she couldn’t help herself and took out a childhood photo to show her colleague, along with her current eager face seeking confirmation: “Have I... changed too little?”

Although this question lacked context, her colleague still leaned in: “Wow! Is this from elementary or middle school? So cute!”

“I was recognized, but I didn’t recognize him at all. So embarrassing, ugh.” Luo Andi covered her face.

“Hahaha, it’s no big deal. If I met my middle school classmates now, I might not recognize them either. Even if I did, calling out their names would be uncertain.”

Luo Andi didn’t like makeup much. Usually, she just applied light makeup for politeness before going to work. Her skin was naturally pale, and with a touch of color on her lips, she already looked exquisite. As a child, she had naturally rosy lips and white teeth, so the difference wasn’t significant. Actually, Qi Xiaochuan hadn’t changed to the point of being unrecognizable. Why hadn’t she recognized him immediately?

After making a ham and cheese sandwich with the toaster at the store and eating it, Luo Andi headed home and entered the subway station. Although she had avoided rush hour, it was still crowded. She stood for a long time, unable to reach the nearest handrail, uncomfortably swaying, her feet slightly numb.

Fortunately, at this moment, a passenger in front of her got off. Having transferred once already and standing through more than ten stops, with just a few more to go, she finally got to sit down.

Just as Luo Andi sat down, she saw a mother with a child enter through the train doors.

Her back still aching, she stood up again.

The mother thanked her as she sat down, and Luo Andi smiled, taking out a lollipop from her pocket and handing it to the child.

When leaving the subway station, she realized it was raining outside. Many people were trapped inside the station by the sudden downpour. Those who were prepared barely managed to leave under umbrellas battered by the rain, while vendors traveled long distances to sell stockpiled umbrellas. Luo Andi stood inside the crowd, tilting her head up to look at the dense droplets on the dark glass canopy.

She thought, the rain will ease up a bit later.

People around her who weren’t in a hurry to leave all pulled out their phones. Luo Andi looked around and slowly took hers out.

She hadn’t charged it last night, so there wasn’t much battery left. It wasn’t that she didn’t use her phone much; rather, aside from POS machines, she wasn’t adept at modern technology. Even booking classes at the handicraft store was clumsy, so she was often jokingly called an ancient person by those around her.

When she took out her phone, the business card tucked at the bottom of her bag also slipped out. On it was written Qi Xiaochuan’s name and company, with contact information on the front and another handwritten number on the back. She tried entering it, intending to save it to her contacts with the note “Xiaoxiao.” But her skills weren’t proficient, and she accidentally dialed it.

She let out a surprised “Ah,” intending to hang up, but her right index finger clumsily tapped around, somehow switching back to the dialing interface. However, the call was still ongoing, and Qi Xiaochuan quickly answered.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hello?” she said too.

“Luo Andi?” he had already recognized her voice and then asked, “Is something wrong?”

Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, Luo Andi couldn’t help but smile. She said, “No, just wondering what you’re doing.”

“Just finished seeing a client, about to head back to the office.” He might have hesitated internally, but verbally responded immediately. It was like kids whose families had just installed a phone, calling each other during the brief window after school when adults weren’t home. “What about you? What are you doing?”

“Hmm... nothing much.” She chuckled.

This was a good place to pause the conversation, but Qi Xiaochuan cleared his throat and suddenly said, “I happen to be passing by your place. Are you home?”

“Really? Too bad, I’m not home yet.” Luo Andi replied, “Let’s eat together next time.”

“Alright.”

The call should have ended, but she moved the phone away, preparing to figure out how to return to the call interface. Hearing a voice come through the receiver again, she hastily brought it back to her ear, hearing him say, “The sound of rain is loud where you are.”

“Hehe, is it?” Luo Andi said. She raised her eyes and saw an umbrella vendor patrolling nearby. “Hold on.” She prepared to search for change.

At the subway station exit, crowds of people waiting to go home gathered. Luo Andi stood deep inside, the deepest part. At that moment, even strangers engrossed in their phones couldn’t help but look up.

A man in a suit stood in the rain, holding a black golf umbrella, shouting loudly like someone with a problem: “Luo Andi! Luo Andi!”

Qi Xiaochuan said, “Luo Andi? Are you there?”

Unconsciously, the phone slid down from her ear, and she froze like a statue. But soon, Luo Andi raised her arm amidst the crowd that almost swallowed her. “I’m here! Xiaoxiao!” she answered, “I’m here!”