Chapter 19: CH 19

Lu Qi thought in his heart that Lu Yuan really did understand him. Tonight he was destined to not be able to sleep. There was no air conditioner for warmth, and the cold was slowly seeping into the room.

He did not feel the cold as he closed his eyes and rested on his pillow, trying to remember every little detail since he had been reborn. He didn’t find any concrete evidence and could only think about his suspicions inside his heart.

Nine o’clock at night, Huo Ming Chen returned to his family home. The housekeeper saw that he looked a little drunk and brought a bowl of hangover soup upstairs to his room. When she entered his room, she could hear the phone on the desk vibrating nonstop and glanced at it a few times,

“Oh Ming Chen, it looks like someone’s trying to give you a call.”

Huo Ming Chen laid on the sofa, and his Adam’s apple moved. He used the back of his hand to cover his eyes as if he was drunk to the point of unconsciousness. But maybe it was just her imagination, the housekeeper thought she saw his mouth twitching, making him that much creepier for some reason.

“Mhmm, it’s nothing. I’ll pick it up after a while.”

The phone has been ringing for so long, why would he need to wait a while before picking it up? The housekeeper has been tending him since he was a baby, and could not help seeing him as her own nephew. She persuaded in a kind voice,

“Don’t fool around, and pick it up quickly. If they don’t call again after a while, what are you going to do? Letting someone wait like this is not good.”

Huo Ming Chen nodded his head, but she couldn’t tell if those words were taken seriously or not.

After she left, the phone was no longer ringing. The room was so silent one could hear the pitter patter of the rain outside, and the wind blowing the branches. After a few days, it would probably snow.

Huo Ming Chen sat up and tilted his head to listen, his eyes lowered, and his fingers tapping in the air. He did not look like he was anxious or in a rush and instead a bit pleased.

Fifteen minutes later, the phone started to ring again.

Lu Qi had a lot more patience than he imagined.

Huo Ming Chen pouted and extended his arm to finally pick up his phone and answer the call. The first sound was Lu Qi’s deep and stable breathing. After a few seconds, Lu Qi finally said,

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“Why didn’t you pick up the phone?”

Lu Yuan had tied her hair up into a ponytail, and was dressed with a light white lamb fur jacket which made her look more youthful and pretty. She knocked on the door, and lazily leaned against the door frame,

“Li Si Ao has come back too. He’s even coming over to greet1 us for the new year.”

Lu Qi opened the door, eyes still not quite open,

“It’s not even the first day of the new year, what are they greeting us for? What did they say?”

Li Si Ao was the neighbor of the Lu family. He had always liked Lu Yuan since they were small and was always following behind her like a little duckling. They only lost contact when Lu Yuan went out to work a few years ago.

“Nothing, just gave us a bunch of gifts. Milk, bird’s nest, and the like. I didn’t take it though.”

“Huh, that’s rare of you, when did you become this generous?”

Lu Qi went to brush his teeth and clean his face in the washroom. He could hear Lu Yuan’s chattering quite clearly through the closed door,

“I don’t even like him, why would I want his expensive stuff?”

Notes:

*1   New year greetings: Chinese New Year has multiple festivities and takes over multiple days, and there may be quite a few differences depending on where you go. But most simply, down to the bare bones, each day has different custom or things you do. For example, one day you greet/give blessings to your family, one day you greet your relatives, one day you eat certain foods, one day you don’t wash your hair, one day you clean the entire house to welcome the new year, etc. 

*2   A foundless worry, “杞人憂天” means as a metaphor to not worry about crossing a bridge until you are there to cross it/don’t cross a bridge before you come to it. Saying that the person is uselessly worrying when they are not there or at that point to have those worries.

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