Chapter 20: 20

On the second day of November, the weather was exceptionally good, with warm sunshine and blue skies. The smog of the previous day was dispersed by the north wind, and the morning air was clear and clean, but the temperature was lower.

Xu Qin tugged on the scarf around her neck, walked quickly into Wu Fang Street, and saw the high blue sky, low red walls, and large pieces of steam floating in the streets and alleys, a burst of steamed buns.

The shops were not yet open, and the rows of wooden doors were closed, the doors were covered with colorful graffiti, unsure which art school students in the neighborhood did it. Colorful, from anime to antique, from characters to scenery, like an old woman’s face painted with youthful makeup.

In any block, the first to wake up were breakfast shops and stalls. Fried, steamed, boiled and stewed, all kinds of aromas drilled into people’s noses. Small white-collar workers living in Wu Fang Street huddled in front of the stalls to buy youtiao and soy milk, and some sat in the shop while swiping their mobile phones and drinking soup.

油条 yóu tiáo – deep-fried breadstick

This was how an ordinary person’s day began.

In the past, Xu Qin never paid attention to these people, they were like the background of this city, like the screws of a machine, one more and one less, just like the leaves on the tree added or decreased by one, insignificant.

But today, Xu Qin carefully observed each and every one of them. A couple bought two portions of porridge in front of the stall, packed them and kissed each other:

“See you in the evening.”

“Good work.”

“Got it.”

The two separated, turned and walked in different directions. The girl ran past Xu Qin, with a vigorous smile on her face. The boy walked a few meters away, looked back at the girl’s back, smiled, and continued to hurry.

Another girl was queuing up to buy breakfast while taking her mobile phone to report to her boss, when she put it down, she let out a long sigh of relief and looked very satisfied.

In the store, there were men who ate their noodles while scratching the plate, gobbled it up, one couldn’t tell whether this noodle was too delicious or they were in a hurry. There were also people carrying briefcases, humming songs and chewing youtiao, walking briskly past Xu Qin.

Of course, there were also black under eye circles to see that he didn’t sleep well last night, and he called while running: “Eh, master, I’ll be at the intersection soon, you wait for me for a minute. —I saw your car.”

The big world was not only the glamorous beauty on the other side of Zong Lu Gardens. There were also small bitters and sweetness after mediocrity and ordinary.

Xu Qin turned a corner into the alley, and golden ginkgo leaves paved the road, leading her around to Zhai’s house, and the main gate was wide open.

Uncle Zhai was a person who loved to get up early, and she didn’t know if she would bump into him.

Xu Qin walked lightly over the threshold, bypassed the shadow wall, passed through the cloister, and entered the courtyard. It was quiet, and the morning sun shone on all kinds of carpentry.

The birdcage in the tree was gone, uncle had gone out for bird walking. The door of the west wing was concealed, indicating that the people living inside had woken up.

Xu Qin walked over, looked inside through the crack in the door, and could only glimpse the wooden wardrobe, the cabinet door was half open, and there were several men’s sweaters and trousers hanging inside.

She lightly knocked on the door panel, no one answered. She reached out and poked again, and the door opened.

At first glance in the room, the deepest impression was that it was clean and tidy, with a certain discipline.

standard military-style tofu blocks quilt

The wooden floor was clean and dust-free. On the blue-gray bed, the sheets were smoothed without a trace of wrinkles, and the quilt was folded into standard military-style tofu blocks. The dark red cork sofa and coffee table were arranged in a regular manner, and the chair was also neatly placed in front of the desk, on which stood a row of books, such as flammable materials illustrating the world fire case. The clothes in the wardrobe were also hung straight and orderly, like you could smell the smell of laundry detergent and the sun; In the wooden frame at the bottom of the cabinet, a pair of men’s socks were rolled up and neatly arranged.

Sunlight shone through the wooden windows, which were clear, the air was fresh, and there was a faint smell of pine.

Everything showed that this was a self-disciplined man’s house, clean and sexy. Xu Qin stood in place for a few seconds, remembering that Song Yan’s house was not like this before. At that time, he was a typical teenager, with a quilt on the bed, dirty clothes piled up on the sofa, and comic books on the coffee table…

Still wandering, the door of the small room behind her opened, the man’s footsteps stepped into the corridor, Xu Qin didn’t have time to turn back, Song Yan was already standing behind her, and a casual voice came from the back of her head: “Here again?”

Xu Qin turned around and saw the man’s clear and hard collarbone, and she quickly took a step back.

Song Yan had wet hair, wrapped in a bathrobe, just washed his hair and came out of the bath, his whole face looked unusually clean and handsome, but his eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, his eyes not polite, and his chin pointed to the side: “Move.”

Xu Qin moved, Song Yan entered the house sideways, and the door closed, leaving Xu Qin in the corridor.

The sun was shining, and the ginkgo trees in the corner of the courtyard were golden.

Xu Qin looked at the leaves on the treetops and pondered his unfriendly attitude just now, which was the same as yesterday in her home.

At the slightest remorse or love in her eyes, he would softened. There was a slight hesitation and uncertainty in her eyes, and he was cold.

It was really poisonous enough, and she could see her true heart and bad roots clearly.

Not long after, the door opened, Song Yan came out, changed into a sweater jacket and trousers, saw that Xu Qin was still outside, and asked, “Looking for me?”

This was nonsense.

Xu Qin: “Yes.”

Song Yan: “Helping you clean the house yesterday was an official matter, and our execution of the work caused inconvenience to the citizens, so we should clean up the scene.”

Xu Qin didn’t feel anything at all: “I know.”

Song Yan: “You still look for me?”

Xu Qin: “Yes.”

Song Yan: “What for?”

Xu Qin: “Thank you.”

Song Yan poked through: “How long are you going to keep using that excuse?”

Xu Qin’s face did not change color: “Until you accept it.”

Song Yan: “…”

Xu Qin’s expression was calm, and her tone was also light: “I don’t like to owe favors to people, you saved me several times, and I have to pay it back.”

Song Yan: “How to return the favor?”

Xu Qin: “I’ll invite you to dinner.”

Song Yan seemed to see through her trick and snorted a laugh.

Xu Qin was plain, and her face was not red.

Song Yan didn’t answer for a while, took out the cigarette from his jacket pocket, and just put it in his mouth, Xu Qin opened her mouth in time: “Smoking early in the morning is not good for your health.”

Song Yan lowered his head to light a cigarette and raised his eyes to look at her.

Xu Qin said: “Advice from doctors.”

Song Yan took this advice as a wind, lit a cigarette, and asked, “Where did you get my work schedule?”

Xu Qin: “Xiao Yixiao, his cousin.”

Song Yan: “Ah.”

He stopped talking, just smoked.

Xu Qin stood for a while and said, “Let’s eat.”

Song Yan said, “No.” Turning around and entering the house, “Leave.”

As soon as he stepped into the threshold and looked back again, Xu Qin still stood in place.

Song Yan said, “Still not leaving?”

Xu Qin still said that sentence: “I want to invite you to dinner.”

He squinted at her for a long moment and snorted, “Then you just stand here.”

Before the words fell, the door of the east wing opened, Zhai Miao was carrying her bag and preparing to go to school, and as soon as she went out, she saw Xu Qin standing in front of her.

“I thought I heard someone babbling early in the morning, why are you here again?” Zhai Miao strode across the courtyard, “Told you to stop pestering my cousin, you don’t understand. Why are you so annoying?”

Xu Qin didn’t make a sound.

Song Yan glanced at her, then at Zhai Miao, and did not speak for a while.

But when Zhai Miao was about to speak again, Song Yan suddenly opened his mouth and forbade: “Zhai Miao.”

Zhai Miao didn’t care: “So annoying, can’t get rid of you, got rid of you last time and you came back today. Why is it so cheeky?”

Song Yan’s eyebrows frowned: “Okay. Go to school, what’s the fuss about here?”

Zhai Miao was not convinced: “Hmph, then I’ll tell my mother…”

Song Yan strode forward, grabbed Zhai Miao and walked out the door, Zhai Miao shouted, the word “mother” did not make a sound, and was covered by Song Yan and walked out the door.

Song Yan threw her down in the alley: “Still so fiery?”

Zhai Miao trembled in the down jacket, exasperated: “Ge! I’m afraid that you will be soft-hearted, I worry that you are dying. The last time she came looking for you, I bombarded her, but I didn’t expect her to dare to come again, just like herbal plaster…”

Song Yan’s face changed slightly: “Okay, got it, go to school.”

Zhai Miao still refused, and wanted to go to back the house: “You’ll be too soft, I’ll help you bombard her—”

Song Yan grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back: “Enough trouble.”

“Ge, I’ll talk to you—”

Song Yan said coldly: “Can’t you go?”

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Zhai Miao puffed out her mouth.

Song Yan: “One, two, three—”

As soon as he raised his hand, Zhai Miao covered the back of her head and ran away with a puff of smoke, shouting at him: “I will come back in the evening anyway!”

Song Yan watched her disappear around the corner of the alley, the red wall of the courtyard and the gray bricks above, the sky in late autumn was high and blue. With a gloomy face, he took a hard puff of his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with his feet, and turned back up the steps to enter the gate.

Xu Qin stood at the vermilion gate, her small face was pale and her black eyes were looking at him.

Song Yan stepped over the threshold and didn’t look at her: “Leave.”

Xu Qin turned around, still the same sentence: “I want to invite you to dinner.”

Song Yan went down the steps and didn’t turn his head: “No.”

Xu Qin said, “Okay, then you invite me to dinner.”

As soon as Song Yan got down the steps, he was stunned by her words, his eyebrows trembled, and he looked back at her incredulously: “Why would I?”

Xu Qin: “Yesterday I helped your entire fire brigade, you are the captain, shouldn’t you take the lead to thank me? But I waited at home for a day, no flower basket, no fruit, no pennant, not even a phone call to say thank you. I feel that I, a good citizen, have been in vain, how can you fire officers and soldiers do this?”

When she said this, her face was extremely indifferent, and her tone was also very reasonable, as if if Song Yan refused, he would be derelict in his duty, that is, he would not respect the good citizens who abide by the law and discipline, and regarded the selfless assistance of the citizens as grass and mustard.

Song Yan’s jaw tightened, looked at her for several seconds, and asked, “Xu Qin.”

Xu Qin: “Huh?”

Song Yan: “Do the people around you know your appearance?”

Xu Qin’s eyes thought for a while, looked at him again, and asked seriously: “What does it look like?”

Song Yan: “…”

He seemed to be fine, and finally nodded. “Okay, you are the ancestor,” he said while going outside.

Xu Qin put her hands in her coat pockets and followed without hesitation.

……

When walking up the main street of Wu Fang Street, the sun was shining from the eaves on the west side to the blue stone road. The white-collar workers who got up early had long disappeared, and migrant workers and delivery men came and went.
Shops were opening one after another. The proprietress of the spice shop pushed open the door panel, fine dust was in the autumn sun, the proprietress looked back at Song Yan and greeted: “Xiao Song, day off today?”

Song Yan smiled back: “Yes.”

Here were all the old neighbors, greeting one by one, Song Yan answered one by one, Xu Qin glanced at him, and saw that he had a hearty smile, his eyes were crooked, and he looked good like the sun. She remembered that the last time she saw him smile like this was many years ago.

And the smile at the moment was not for her. The proprietress was still gossiping: “Xiao Song, our family pickled dried fish with
sauce, and asked Zhai Miao to go to the house to get it after school.”

Song Yan: “Thank you Aunt Zhang.”

The proprietress smiled: “You’re welcome-” The eyes glanced beside him, and looked, “Oh, this is Meng Qin, right?”

Xu Qin replied: “Xu Qin, surname Xu.”

“Ooh.” The others didn’t care, nor did they worry, but they were more curious about how the two came together this early morning. But there were not many words on her lips, and she was busy opening shop.

They were also in and out of Wu Fang Street that year, he put his arm around her shoulders or took her hand. Unlike now, passers-by hurriedly passed between the two at a distance, and they would not notice that the two were together.

No one spoke, and one wondered if anyone remembered that year. The street was still that street, and the people were still that group of people. The children who were still close together back then were now moving forward silently.

Even Song Yan became exceptionally silent.

Walking to the breakfast shop and stopping, Song Yan turned around and asked Xu Qin: “What do you want to eat?”

豆腐脑 dòu fu nǎo – tofu pudding

红油面 hóng yóu miàn – chili oil noodles

Xu Qin said: “Tofu pudding, chili oil noodles.” It’s a specialty of this shop, and he used to eat here with her.

Song Yan paused for a moment, as if empty, before returning to his senses and saying to the boss: “I want two bowls each, plus a basket of shumai.”

烧麦 shāo mài – shumai (shao mai) steamed dumpling

麻团 má tuán – sesame dumpling

Turning to enter the door, Xu Qin said: “I also want sesame dumpling, youtiao, and soy milk.”

Song Yan paused, glanced at her sideways, and was a little suspicious of her food intake, but didn’t say anything, and looked back at the boss again: “Sesame dumpling, youtiao, and soy milk.”

The interior of the shop was shabby, with walls and floors made of wood, sometimes oily, and not very clean. The ceiling was low, not much taller than Song Yan.

As soon as the two sat down, the clerk brought two bowls of tofu pudding, heaped with daylily gravy, a thick layer.

When Song Yan brought Xu Qin here for the first time to eat tofu pudding, Xu Qin’s eyes widened: “What is this thick thing? Tofu pudding needs sugar, how to eat this?”

Song Yan raised his eyebrows: “Tofu pudding needs sugar? Your brain is sick.”

The two argued for a week about whether tofu pudding was sweet or salty, but later Xu Qin also accepted salty tofu pudding, salty and sweet, each with its own taste.

……

Song Yan didn’t say much, buried his head and quickly ate the tofu pudding, and Xu Qin still had most of it in her bowl. The chili oil noodles were also served.

Printed bowl, painted wooden chopsticks, and cracked notches on the side of the bowl. A large bowl of thin noodles, poured with chili oil, made people have an appetite and smell fragrant when they look at it.

Song Yan picked up the chopsticks and ate it, Xu Qin also picked up the noodles and ate it, eating and eating, and suddenly said: “It’s strange.”

Song Yan was a little absent-minded, and asked in a copious manner: “How?”

“The taste didn’t change.” Xu Qin said, “Many stores have been in business for a long time, and when the business improves, the taste and quality will decline. But this one didn’t. It’s still as delicious as before.”

Song Yan didn’t answer, he ate his noodles, since he entered the store, he said very little. However, the clerk who was busy on the side heard her words and answered: “We’re all neighbors, how can we do that to people?”

The guest who was eating breakfast said: “We are people of Wu Fang Street. Business and people are done in good conscience.”
The people in the store started chatting casually.

Song Yan quickly finished eating the noodles, chewed the roasted wheat in a few large mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and looked at Xu Qin, there was still half a bowl of tofu pudding, half a bowl of chili oil noodles, a sesame ball, a youtiao and soy milk in front of her.

She ate half of the chili oil noodles, and added a spoonful of chili pepper to the noodles.

Song Yan watched as the fiery red pepper was stirred by her and melted into the noodles and soup.

Years ago, she sat in this position and scooped up a spoonful of chili oil and put it in a bowl.

He smacked his lips: “So much?”

She didn’t think it was enough, picked up a large piece of chili pepper with chopsticks, and tasted it: “It’s so fragrant.”

She ate bite after bite – the Meng family did not eat spicy, and being with him can only release her nature.

He looked at it and snorted disdainfully. She picked up another large piece and handed it to him: “You try it, it’s really
delicious.”

Song Yan shook his head: “Am I sick, self-torture.”

Xu Qin said: “I will kiss you if you eat it.”

Without saying a word, Song Yan swallowed the pepper.

After a moment of thought, the girl back then became the girl she was now, and the tables and chairs in front of her seem to have not changed, but they were old. The chair under her butt was also loose and rickety.

Xu Qin was still eating noodles unhurriedly, a strand of hair slipped down her shoulders, she raised her hand to brush it, pinned it behind her ears, and her little pink ears were facing his side.

Song Yan watched coldly and silently. The hair seemed to be deliberately messing around, a small brush to pull it up, even more hair fell, Xu Qin slowly put down the chopsticks, put her long hair behind her head with both hands, tied it up with a leather band, revealing a white neck, slender lines and delicate mechanisms.

Song Yan bit his lower lip unconsciously, and she picked up the chopsticks and continued to eat the noodles, still not in a hurry.
“Less grinding.” Song Yan finally became impatient and urged.

Xu Qin then picked up a large bunch of noodles and sent it to her mouth, stuffed her cheeks, bulged, pouted, and her little red lips were also pursed.

Song Yan frowned inadvertently, his eyebrows twisted into a knot, and after a long time, he suddenly stretched out, his eyes looked away, and the corners of his lips hooked, a little contemptuous.

“Xu Qin, this age is not suitable for pretending to be cute, you know?”

“Huh?” Xu Qin raised her head, her eyes were dark, and her eyes were clean and straight, “What’s wrong?”

Song Yan: “…”

Without saying a word, he kicked the bench and got up, walked out of the store, and stood on the side of the road to smoke.

Song Yan smoked halfway, turned around and glanced coldly at the woman in the room.

Routines, all routines.

Note: We realised there was a mistake and have corrected it. The previous family name Di 翟 should actually be Zhai.

豆腐脑 dòu fu nǎo – literally tofu (bean curd) brain. We have kept it as tofu pudding so that you’re not imagining brains when reading the chapter haha. It’s a northern Beijing thing to call it tofu brain. TIL.

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