Chapter 14

◎ Reconciliation◎

Before leaving, Zhu Yao nudged Du Ningyang with her elbow and asked quietly like a thief: "You insisted on buying the bed and four-piece suit today because of Wen Xu, right? Afraid that this homeless little boy would have nowhere to sleep?"

Little boy?

He's very strong, okay.

Du Ningyang laughed and nodded, "Yes, I owe him."

After all, she made him homeless, and the most affluent family in Huaicheng.

"I think you're in love," Zhu Yao said confidently, looking at Du Ningyang's happy face, "Not bad, I thought you were so stubborn that you couldn't get out of it."

She denied, "Not in love... not suitable."

"Really," she emphasized.

It was indeed inappropriate, not in any way. Zhu Yao was powerless to refute, and advised angrily, "What's the point of being in a relationship, just be happy, I don't want you to remarry, oh, it's getting late, I have to leave first, otherwise Xiao Taoer will stay at my mother's house again tonight."

She held the handrail of the stairs and shouted upstairs, "Wen Xu, I'm leaving first, I'll come to see you when I have time."

"Okay," Wen Xu also shouted down, "Goodbye Zhu Yao!"

He looked like a male host.

Du Ningyang also asked in a hoarse voice: "Are you done? Let's go to the pedestrian street to eat something and buy you some daily necessities."

She planned to go home tonight, pack some clothes and tools, and move over bit by bit tomorrow. As soon as she finished speaking, she regretted it a little. As an adult man in his thirties, Wen Xu had been in a foreign country for so long, so he must have the basic survival ability and could go out to eat and buy things by himself.

There were always some feudal remnants of "Young Master Wen" in her mind, and she always unconsciously associated him with "fragile" and "weak as a willow in the wind", even though he was now a complete man, which she had experienced personally.

In short, there was still a sense of unreality.

What was even more unreal was that she actually had the potential to be Wen Xu's mother.

This was too scary, why not transfer some money to him, pat her butt and leave. She looked up, and was a little reluctant.

"Wait a minute, I'll clean the bathroom," he said, a little obsessed with cleanliness, struggling with the cement spots left over from the renovation, "Very soon! Five minutes!"

"Oh - then hurry up."

Du Ningyang sat on the steps at the door of the store, playing with his phone and waiting for Wen Xu.

The phone prompted that QQ had not been updated for more than ten versions. No one uses QQ anymore, and she even has to link her password to SMS to log in. Du Ningyang thought about it and deleted this old broken software.

Looking up, there was a light red sunset glow in the sky. The sky in Huaicheng has not changed. At dusk, it can charm a large number of pedestrians on the road. She remembered that Zhu He had shared similar photos. She was entangled in the 240,000 yuan from Zhu He.

Ten years of relationship, no matter whether she was unrequited in the first half or whether the second half was mutual affection, it was always difficult to give up in a short period of time. She almost regarded Zhu He as a relative.

Alas, but what's the use of waking up now? If it was half a year earlier, they would not have come to this point.

Du Ningyang adopted Zhu Yao's suggestion and planned to return all the money to Xiao Taoer and use it on Xiao Taoer in the future.

"What are we going to eat?" Wen Xu walked behind her, "I'll treat you."

"You treat me? Where did you get the money?" Du Ningyang clearly saw that his bank card was frozen yesterday. Could it be that he was bluffing her?

"I haven't wanted to live at home for a long time, but I haven't found an opportunity, so I secretly saved some private money to be prepared."

Wen Xu touched Du Ningyang's head, as if she was a red long-haired puppy, "Stupid, you work so hard, how can I be your burden? But I haven't saved much, I have to save it."

It turned out that she played a trick for him yesterday, and he went along with it on the other end of the phone!

Du Ningyang was unhappy instantly, and it felt bad to be used by others. She waved her claws and pretended to beat him. Wen Xu gently grabbed her wrist and said sincerely: "I will pay the water and electricity bills, and I will also pay the rent on time every month."

That's it?

Du Ningyang still stepped on Wen Xu, and his eyes seemed to be stabbing him. Wen Xu said in a deep voice, "But I have to thank you very much. I can't take this step without you. It was before, it is now, and it has always been."

"It is now" is easy to understand, and "it has always been" is a sweet talk that men use to coax women, but what does "it was before" mean?

Du Ningyang was stunned, afraid that he would make a passionate confession, which would make her look back on the past and realize how wrong she had made the decision, how sincere she had missed out on, and how she had made so many mistakes and ended up where she is now.

She didn't want to look back on the past.

She often felt that her life was a failure.

Wen Xu's life was probably a failure too, so they met again in the biting winter wind, hugged each other for warmth and healing. Such a relationship was not suitable for deepening, and it was fine to stay on the surface.

Yes, he couldn't continue.

Du Ningyang pulled his hand back, stood up and patted the dust on the back of his pants, pretending to be calm and said: "Forget it, I'm too lazy to bother with you, let's go eat, I'm starving. Since you're treating me, I don't care if you have money or not, I want to eat hot pot."

Wen Xu also stood up, as if he had received a special pardon, and said happily: "Okay!"

When ordering dishes, Du Ningyang saw "Black Bean Frozen Tofu". When she was a child, she liked to eat frozen tofu the most when eating hot pot. Since she was scalded by frozen tofu at the party celebrating her 20th birthday, she never ordered it again.

The scene brought back emotions, and she missed people by seeing things. She became enemies with her favorite frozen tofu.

"Do you want more dishes?" Wen Xu saw that her pen was suspended on the "Black Bean Frozen Tofu" for a long time, and it didn't fall down. "This is delicious and not expensive. If you want to eat it, just order it. It's cooked for a long time and is tasty and chewy."

"Okay, then order one."

The tone of his words was so refreshing that her knot in her heart seemed to be untied by a fairy wand.

When she picked up the first piece of frozen tofu soaked in red oil, the mist blinded her eyes and made her want to cry.

How could she be so cowardly that she didn't dare to eat even a piece of frozen tofu because of a man? Such soft, pure and affordable frozen tofu.

Wen Xu coaxed her through the mist like a child, "Don't be anxious, blow it before eating, don't burn it."

She couldn't wait to take a bite, the aroma of the beans filled her mouth, and the tofu danced in her mouth duangduang. It was delicious, really fucking delicious.

These ten years have passed like this. Let it go. Things in the past are inevitable to look back, but let bygones be bygones.

Du Ningyang smiled with tears in his eyes, and smiled with relief.

-After

dinner, the two strolled on the pedestrian street, smelling of hot pot.

Du Ningyang pointed to the small clothing store and asked Wen Xu if he wanted to go in and buy a few clothes to wear.

Wen Xu has a good figure and can be said to be a clothes hanger. He doesn't look bad in the old and outdated styles in the small store. He touched the material and shook his head.

"It hurts," he said softly, "Take a look."

He is essentially a pea prince. Although his mind is under control, Han Ling has never treated him badly in terms of material things. He has never had a hard life. Strictly speaking, he has never lived a well-off life, and he has not even lived a petty bourgeoisie life.

After visiting several stores, he either complained that the clothes were prickly or ugly. Du Ningyang sighed, "Why don't you go back?"

Wen Xu shook his head.

Du Ningyang looked at the time. It was almost time for Du Minda and Fang Fang to go to bed. If he went back and woke them up, he would be scolded again. He had to take a taxi quickly.

She said, "Then don't blame me for not taking you shopping. You have to sleep with the smell of hot pot tonight."

"You care about me so much?" Wen Xu smiled.

"No," she denied immediately, "I really think you should go back, really, one day is enough for ordinary people."

They took the bus in the morning, and she taught him to turn on Bluetooth to scan the bus QR code; at noon, they went to a roadside fast food restaurant to eat two boxed lunches, two meat and one vegetable for ten yuan, and he left more than half of the box; in the afternoon, he bargained with the shopping guide like a scoundrel; in the evening, he downloaded a group buying app, bought two vouchers to pay, and drank the sour plum soup that was given away for writing a five-star review.

He was completely unaccustomed to such a life, just like an alien who had just arrived on Earth. Du Ningyang watched it all secretly.

Why did he have to suffer so much? What was it all for? If she was as rich as him, she would definitely be Han Ling's most docile and obedient puppy, and she would do whatever she asked her to do. Except for marrying Xia Zhitang, she and Xia Zhitang didn't get along.

Wen Xu didn't move, Du Ningyang withdrew his thoughts and looked up at him. He lowered his head and looked at her, brewing a storm.

She couldn't hold back her temper and lowered her head to look at the brick floor in front of her. "Hey, why aren't you talking? The bus is coming soon. I have to go back. Remember to lock the door when you return to the store. I'll come early to clean tomorrow."

He was about to leave when he grabbed her shoulder with one hand. There was actually a little... hurt in his voice. "Don't say such things in the future. Don't always ask me to go back. Don't dislike me."

She heard a lot of emotions, grievance, sadness, unwillingness, and a little bit of coquetry.

"Let's work hard together."

The tone was just like the invitation made in front of the "Excellent Works" on that distant day.

"I will adapt and change."

But it was also steady and trustworthy after maturity.

It was such a moment again, and the moment was about to touch the bottom of his heart. Du Ningyang stammered "um", then the bus arrived and fled.

Wen Xu walked back to the store. The first floor was empty, without even a sign. He stepped up to the second floor. There were only two beds on the second floor. The beds were covered with quilts and pillows that were randomly put on. The moonlight was shining, and it was cool and empty.

There wasn't even any shower gel or shampoo. After taking a shower, he leaned against the bedside, the hard wooden bed pressing against his back. A light blue bird fluttered past the window, leaving behind a light shadow. It

was so free. He didn't have to finish a glass of sweet milk before going to bed, and he didn't have to fall asleep at exactly 11 o'clock. He wouldn't be checked to see if he was asleep.

Facing the bed was a whole white wall, not a camera; the phone on the bedside table didn't have to be set to an alarm for waking up at 6:50.

A good night's sleep.