Shi Nian bid farewell, and Huangfu Huazhang personally escorted her to the door.
Shi Nian carefully held onto her bag, inside were 6 original photographs and more than 20 reprints.
Huangfu Huazhang originally wanted to drive Shi Nian back to the company himself, but she declined graciously, "Your car... is really too conspicuous. I appreciate your thoughtfulness."
Huangfu Huazhang tilted his head and glanced at Xia Zuo, who sensibly called a taxi company. Soon, a nearby taxi arrived.
Shi Nian sat inside and smiled gently, "Chairman, thank you for the photos. Goodbye."
Huangfu Huazhang smiled but said nothing, reaching out to Shi Nian instead.
Shi Nian misunderstood his intention, thinking he wanted to shake hands goodbye, but unexpectedly, Huangfu Huazhang held her small hand and gently kissed the back of it.
His lips touched lightly and quickly, extrely restrained and courteous. Yet, it was enough for Shi Nian to feel the slight coolness of his lips and the texture on them.
Shi Nian froze, wanting to retract her hand quickly, but she couldn’t succeed. He held her small hand, gazing deeply at her, then—quietly, using the handshake gesture, he wrote two words with his fingertips in her palm.
See,
You.
So unobtrusive, so undetectable even if soone was standing beside them. Because his eyes were fixed on her, his fingers, shielded by the curve of her palm, quietly wrote those two words!
For so reason, Shi Nian felt her heart leap, beating wildly.
This way of writing in the palm, these slender, slightly cool fingers, this careful and elegant writing...she felt so familiar!
She lifted her head in astonishnt, opening her mouth to ask, yet not knowing where to begin.
Huangfu Huazhang wasn’t surprised by her shock, nor did he rush to explain, he simply bent her fingers back, wrapping her small hand into a fist, gently patting the back of her hand, "Don’t worry, all the past, you’ll rember on your own. My little girl, no one is smarter than you."
"My little girl"...
Shi Nian’s heart beat even faster. This sense of familiarity, this feeling that even in dreams couldn’t be forgotten, what was it after all?
He bent down, gazing into her eyes, "My phone number, my ho, are always open to you. If you ever face any difficult problem, rember, you can find anyti."
.
The car started, Shi Nian looked back through the rear window.
The slanting sun like gold illuminated the high ancient castle as if it were a fairy tale castle. The outer walls and windows seed to be gilded, shining brightly under the azure sky. And in front of the castle, stood a man in a black suit, proudly seeing her off.
The driver glanced at Shi Nian through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but say, "I’ve been in this business for over ten years, mostly around this area. This is my first ti having the opportunity to pick soone up in front of this house. Miss, you’re quite special."
"Really?" Shi Nian could only smile awkwardly.
.
On the way back, Shi Nian used Nana’s phone card to call the departnt office teacher, saying she wanted to move out. Although the school had regulations that students entering Kangchuan University must live in on-campus dorms for the first year and only move off-campus in the second year, Shi Nian’s registration information was as an exchange student, hence the school showed understanding.
Shi Nian then called Xiang Yuan, asking if she could use their original ho. If Xiang Yuan hadn’t moved out yet, she would find another solution.
Xiang Yuan imdiately said, "No problem, you can stay there tonight. I’ll go to my parents’ house tonight."
"Thank you, A Yuan."
Xiang Yuan chuckled softly, "What are you saying? It’s the house ant for you, why thank ?"
Just thinking about moving directly off-campus made her feel a bit down, so she hurriedly said, "Alright, then I’ll go straight back soon. I’ll hang up now."
"Shi Nian!" Xiang Yuan suddenly called her.
"Hmm?" Shi Nian didn’t press to hang up.
Xiang Yuan hesitated a mont before tentatively asking, "...Did sothing go wrong between you and Yanqing?"
Shi Nian lightly closed her eyes.
It seed the sadness in her tone was noticed by Xiang Yuan.
She smiled awkwardly, "It’s nothing. The reason for suddenly wanting to move back is that the case at Kangchuan University has wrapped up, and my cooperation with the police has temporarily ended, so I have to return to real life."
Xiang Yuan listened but held onto the phone, gazing dejectedly at the dimming sky outside the office.
When she moved out for the Kangchuan University case, she was still his wife, there was still room for reprieve between them; but now that she’s finally moving back, she and he have long severed their ties.
There was a long silence on the phone, Shi Nian gently called out: "A Yuan?"
She thought his signal was bad, that he got disconnected.
Xiang Yuan quickly refocused, "I’m here."
"Oh, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up first."
"Shi Nian!" Xiang Yuan exclaid softly, "I have one more thing... What I want to say is, the court hearing schedule is out, it’s next week. You know, I’m still Mark’s defense lawyer, so we might et in court then..."
Upon hearing this, Shi Nian felt relieved.
"It’s okay, A Yuan, I understand. You have no choice but to try to save Huatai Hall. Even if we et in court, both of us will just present our statents based on the law. Whether Mark is guilty and what kind of sentence should be imposed will be decided by the judge and jury."
Only then did Xiang Yuan heave a sigh of relief: "Okay, then I’m assured. Shi Nian, goodbye. Take care of yourself."
.
As evening fell, Shi Nian changed into casual clothes, sat on the sofa, and stared blankly at the photos on the coffee table.
Many strange thoughts kept surging in her mind, then quietly subsided. She didn’t deliberately capture and record them, nor did she feel regret about their silence.
Today’s events gave her a big shock, everything ca as a surprise. Many thoughts that erged in such a situation seed like sudden flashes of insight, but upon deeper thinking, they seed absurd.
After thinking for quite a while, she only wrote down one number on paper: 13.
This number, so unlucky in Western culture, unexpectedly beca the only tangible feeling she could record about today’s event.
——The Last Supper, with 13 disciples in the picture.
——She was 13 years old in middle school the first ti she stepped into that alley of old houses.
——Rosa was taken away by the clown and returned the following year. She was also just 13 years old when she was returned.
——And Nisha! It seems Nisha once said she was sold by her unfeeling parents to that old man and was brought to M Country under the guise of adoption when she was also 13.
But these instances of 13 might just be coincidental. After all, 13 is often the age when a girl transitions from childhood to adolescence, so many events related to girls occur in that year. There’s no way to prove these events are connected.
Shi Nian felt parched and a bit of a headache from thinking. Even though it was already evening, she had no appetite and didn’t want to eat.
After thinking for a while, she walked barefoot to the kitchen, leaned into the refrigerator, and dug out a vacuum-sealed bag of pickled chicken feet from the far corner.
She huddled back on the sofa, opened the bag, but instead of picking out the chicken feet, she chose to chew on a piece of pickled pepper.
Tonight, the only thing that could combat this sense of suffocating heartache was the pickled pepper.
The pickled pepper was thoroughly fernted, and biting into it brought not only spice but also a tangy aftertaste from ferntation. However, that tangy taste didn’t suppress the spice; rather, it created two similarly stimulating flavors that recklessly collided in her mouth, causing her to suddenly shed tears and snot. She quickly rummaged through the cushions for tissues.
She liked eating pickled chicken feet, but previously only ate the chicken feet, not daring to eat the pickled peppers. Today’s first taste left a deep impression.
Amidst the tears and snot, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Shi Nian thought Xiang Yuan might have co, maybe to see if she needed any help, so she straightaway opened the door. She hadn’t expected to see Mr. Tang standing in a perfectly pressed police uniform under the dim light outside.
.
Shi Nian was montarily stunned, forgetting the pickled pepper in her mouth, unsure where to start.
Should she begin with why she moved out of school, or talk about eting Shen Wan, or perhaps ntion visiting Huangfu Hua Zhang’s house?
A rush of mixed emotions overwheld her, knowing only at that mont of eye contact, her chest felt congested and her nose blocked.
It felt as if an inexplicable grievance surged forth, wanting to find soone to cry to; yet she knew clearly, it wasn’t that serious.
.
Tang Yanqing stared at her intently, his gaze scanning up and down, finally speaking first after a long pause.
"What, you see and cry like this?"
Shi Nian snapped out of it and quickly pulled the pickled pepper from her mouth, sniffled, and wiped tears with the back of her hand: "Mr. Tang, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not crying because of seeing you, it’s the spice of the pickled pepper."
Saying this, she stepped back to invite him in.
－
[Next installnt coming soon]
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