Extra 11: An old friend came to visit
For some reasons, Qu Bai's company encountered some .
He said it didn't matter, there was nothing he could do about it, and that their company was not the only one affected. But apart from the two years when he forced Ade to sell pancakes in front of the police station, he worked three days a week and rested two days a week. When he was tired, he let Ade do it and he moved an old man's chair nearby to bask in the sun. When he had enough sun, he would go to the shade of a tree not far away to play chess and chat with the elderly.
Over this period of time, there are sons without wives on this street, girls who are still unmarried, and aunts who have quarreled with their husbands and have been back to their parents' home for half a month...
He was very clear about things like this. Occasionally, he would help the police mediate conflicts in the community. Then he would wait for Chi Xia and Luo Xun to get off work, and when he saw an acquaintance, he would get in their car and go home.
The one who suffered the most was Ade. He could work well in the morning, but wanted to slack off in the afternoon. The most annoying thing was that he had to ride his tricycle home by himself, and Qu Bai refused to buy him an electric one.
Finally, Ade mustered up the courage to go on strike for three days, and even went on a hunger strike for half a day on the last day. He insisted on pestering Qu Bai to change his working hours to selling pancakes in the morning and taking a day off in the afternoon.
When colleagues at the police station learned about this, they came to Qu Bai every day and suggested that he should stop selling pancakes and do something else, anything else except stopping selling pancakes.
For this reason, Qu Bai thought about it and asked Ade to take out all the New Year's money he had received over the years and open a small supermarket nearby.
Ade turned into a supermarket owner, and threatened Shi Tianyi to crowdfund to hire a cashier for him. He lay on the lazy chair every day and sent a video to Chi Xia from time to time to ask: "What do you think I should eat next?"
Chi Xia would send a voice message to scold him at first, and after hearing it, Ade would happily send another message: "Give me some advice, I think we need to change the things in the store, I'm tired of them."
Later, Chi Xia was too lazy to reply to him. When she got off work, she rushed into the supermarket and took A De to find Qu Bai.
Qu Bai's chess game was disrupted by them. He watched helplessly as Chi Xia handed him a stack of A4 papers, which contained a provocative message from Ade to Chi Xia. As for the video...
As soon as she saw Luo Xun, Luo Xun very tactfully handed the tablet to Qu Bai.
After two years of this, Qu Bai finally couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed Ade to start working and pursuing his career honestly.
Due to unexpected events, several subsidiaries were forced to close down. Qu Bai was in poor health, and Chi Xia would not let him leave the manor unless necessary.
But the busiest people in the family are Chi Xia and Luo Xun.
During the time he was locked up at home, Ade became much more obedient. He disinfected diligently every day and monitored the health conditions of Qu Bai and several elders in the family.
Especially Qu Bai.
His body had just recovered not long ago, and Chi Xia and the others would be scared by a cold, let alone this aggressive virus. So for a long time, Chi Xia and Luo Xun did not dare to return to the manor and could only video call them.
Qu Bai could still hold it in, but Ade couldn't.
One day, Chi Xia and Luo Xun returned to their apartment at three in the morning. When they looked at their cell phones, they saw that they were all calls from Ade.
"Let me call him." Chi Xia said to Luo Xun who was disinfecting himself while standing at the door.
Luo Xun also disinfected his phone and the door handle: "Will he be asleep now?"
"No." Chi Xia pushed the door open and went in. "My mom said that he's been worried lately and has dark circles under his eyes every day."
Before Luo Xun could say anything, Chi Xia called him via video.
Ade answered it in a second.
Before he could finish his words, Chi Xia saw that his eyes were red. Her heart skipped a beat: "Ade, is it..."
Ah De interrupted her with a wronged look on his face: "Chi Xia, do I still have a chance to become a police officer? If not, auxiliary police is fine. Please think of a way to get me in."
It wasn’t Qu Bai, Chi Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ade, what's wrong with you?" Chi Xia asked, "Have you become interested in the police career recently?"
Qu Bai's voice came from the side: "He is worried about you."
After a pause, he added, "I'm also worried about Luo Xun."
Luo Xun raised his voice and shouted: "He has never had me in his heart!"
Qu Bai laughed and continued, "I haven't seen you for a few months. He is worried about you and misses you. He can't go out, so he has no appetite recently."
"It's almost done." Chi Xia changed her clothes quickly, "Let's hold on a little longer."
Four months have passed like this, and it will be the New Year in another month, but no one is in the mood at all.
First, everyone is still worried about the virus; second, Qu Bai and the returning company have both suffered a great impact this time; third, Chi Xia and Luo Xun are extremely exhausted this time and need time to rest.
But Gui Lai was open-minded and didn't care whether the money was more or less. He even called to comfort Qu Bai: "Brother Bai, don't be too sad. Maybe you can divert your attention and feel better."
Qu Bai asked: "How do I transfer?"
"To train the next generation." Gui Lai said stealthily, "You don't know, my son is dead..."
Qu Bai was stunned. "You are really busy, you have already given birth to a son?"
"What?" Guilai said with a disgusted sound, "My son, Guoguo! The Guoguo who inherited all the intelligence of me and my sister!"
Qu Bai held his forehead and said, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood."
Guilai was not angry and continued the previous topic: "Forget about my son. Everyone has been shocked this time, but people like us are still okay compared to everyone else. It's good to be content, right? Look, Ade takes good care of you. You are in good health, which is the greatest wealth, right? You can let Chi Xia and Luo Xun have a baby and it's good to take care of the child at home."
"As for giving birth to a child..." Qu Bai said slowly, "Let's wait for now. In the current environment, it will be painful to give birth to a child."
After returning, he thought: "Well, who said it wasn't true? My sister said so too."
It’s not that Qu Bai couldn’t accept it, he just felt a little regretful.
The other things don't matter, but in the past two years he has focused on scientific research and development , and has cooperated with many universities. Several subsidiaries that were affected this time are related to these, two of which are confidential in nature, and there is personnel loss and interruption of experiments. Taking all factors into consideration, it is very difficult to restart the work.
He just lost some money, but for the professors and students who worked day and night in the laboratory, it was a devastating blow. Several research projects were forced to be terminated at a critical stage. Qu Bai felt sorry for them.
Only Ade knew about these things. Qu Bai had specifically told him not to let Chi Xia and Luo Xun worry. Gui Lai had only one foot in this circle, so he knew a little bit, but only a little.
Taking all factors into consideration, this New Year was very boring.
There was only one thing, that was, when Qu Bai got upset, Ade would act particularly well-behaved. He would try very hard every day to make Qu Bai happy, and he would do his best to share the burden for Qu Bai at work. There were one or two days when Ade drove home and felt as if he had returned to those years in a trance.
At that time, all he thought about every day was how to share Qu Bai's burden, how to ensure their safety, and how to make more deployments without being discovered by Lao K.
“But it’s still different,” he said when he called Scorpion. “Now I don’t have to worry about waking up every day that I might die.”
Scorpion laughed on the other end: "Okay, I'm calling you today because I have something to tell you."
Ade stopped the car and asked, "What?"
"Someone said he wanted to see you."
Ade was silent for a while: "Are you sure you want to see me?"
"Yes, I want to see you by name, not Qu Bai."
"Everyone in this world who wants to see me is in that garden. If we don't see each other during the day, we'll see each other at night. If we don't see each other today, we'll see each other tomorrow. I can't imagine any stranger would want to see me."
Scorpion laughed again: "Why, don't you think about whether you have any enemies who are looking for revenge?"
"Impossible." Ade said firmly.
Now the scorpion was curious: "Why?"
Ade said: "My boss protects me very well, so all my enemies are his. No one will seek revenge on me. Even if there is, he will not let them find me."
Scorpion clicked his tongue twice: "I'm quite busy, so do you want to meet this person or not?"
Ade thought for a moment and said, "See you, send me the time and place."
Before hanging up, Ade asked again, "Since the other party asked you to be the intermediary, don't you know anyone?"
Scorpion snorted coldly: "I don't even know what he looks like, but he knows my relationship with you. You know what, I'm also curious about this person."
The next day after receiving the call, Ade went to the location given by Scorpion.
The meeting place was a teahouse. Before going upstairs, Ade flexed his fists. Even though he had lived a good life for so many years, he felt that if a fight really came to a head, he would not suffer any loss.
He, Ade, shoulders a glorious mission!
First, we must not embarrass Qu Bai!
Second, we can’t embarrass Chi Xia!
After finding the box, Ade was about to knock on the door, but the person inside had already opened the door before him.
At first glance, Ade didn't recognize the person.
He looked past the person who opened the door and saw the person sitting inside.
In Dongzhou's winter, the houses are well heated, but the man didn't take off his coat and looked a little thin.
Ade frowned.
He stood at the door without going in. As he spoke, he unconsciously showed Qu Bai's coldness: "Are you an old friend?"
The man suddenly started coughing.
The coldness in Ade's eyes had already surfaced.
At this moment, the door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and someone walked out: "It's an old friend."
The other person was holding a medicine box in his hand and looked up at Ade's face.
At first glance, Ade just felt that the other person looked familiar.
But when his eyes met the other person's eyes, he immediately confirmed the other person's identity.
"Liu Qingfeng?"
The blind man smiled at him and hurried to give the medicine to Meng Huaizhi. After Meng Huaizhi drank the medicine, he said to Ade: "I thought you would call me blind."
Ade paused and said honestly: "Our boss said that this is impolite and may hurt other people's fragile hearts."
Now it was the blind man's turn to be stunned.
Meng Huaizhi drank the medicine and finally turned around. Ade saw his face and said, "When we parted, you looked quite healthy."
"I had to be healthy at that time." Meng Huaizhi stood up. "I wanted to ask Qu Bai out, but I remembered that he didn't like making friends with outsiders, so I didn't bother him first."
Ade's expression softened. "Actually, our boss asked about your whereabouts, but couldn't find any news about you in Xining."
"I have been recuperating in the south for the past few years and have not had much time to return to Xining," said Meng Huaizhi.
Ade felt a little sad. Meng Huaizhi, who was so high-spirited back then, must have suffered a lot over the years. But although he had become so much thinner, he and the blind man seemed to be in a good mood.
Just like Qu Bai at the beginning.
As soon as the string that had been taut for more than ten years broke, he collapsed immediately, and all the pains that had accumulated over the years came back to him in an instant.
The current Qu Bai was the one they had snatched from the hands of death countless times.
Coincidentally, Meng Huaizhi also spoke up: "I have been dealing with the King of Hell for many years. After searching and picking up all the information, I found that the only person who can be considered a friend is Mr. Qu. Now that I am in better health, I want to meet my friends."
Ade suddenly smiled. Qu Bai had also said something like this, but he was afraid of disturbing the other party, so he was just talking.
He said, "The boss will be very happy to see you. I will help you arrange a place to stay and bring him to see you in the next two days."
The blind man was about to refuse, as he had already arranged accommodation, but Meng Huaizhi gave him a quick glance and he said nothing more.
"Then thank you for your help." Meng Huaizhi turned around and handed another bag to Ade. "It makes sense not to give a gift when visiting a friend. Take this to Qu Bai."
No matter what the gift was, there was no reason for Ade to refuse it. He accepted it on behalf of Qu Bai and expressed his gratitude.
Meng Huaizhi smiled: "I have always remembered your help in times of need. Now I am adding icing on the cake. I hope he won't despise it. But I don't think Qu Bai is that kind of person."
When Ade returned to the manor, Qu Bai was still in a meeting in the study.
Chi Xia just came out of the study and bumped into Ade head-on: "Ade, what happened? He didn't tell me. Did he lose everything? Is he going bankrupt? These are not important. It's not like I can't support you. You..."
Ade quickly stopped her from talking: "Pfft, pfft, pfft, don't be such a pessimist. Our family can't go bankrupt. We have such a big estate. If we go bankrupt, we won't even be able to pay the electricity bill."
Chi Xia suddenly became distressed: "Who said it wasn't true? I have feelings for this place. I get anxious if I don't come back for a few days."
Ade added: "The boss won't go bankrupt just for the flowers in the backyard."
"What if it breaks?" Chi Xia asked.
Ade suddenly felt wronged. "My boss said that if such a day really came, he would let me stay here as a flower farmer and protect those flowers with my life."
Chi Xia was a little touched: "Ade, you have suffered a lot."
"Don't you plan to redeem me? You have so much dowry, it's more than enough to redeem me, right?"
Chi Xia: "Well... well... you also know..."
Seeing that the two were talking more and more outrageous, Qu Bai called out from inside: "Ade, what were you doing just now? The people in the company said that you left work normally today."
Ade suddenly remembered his important work, glanced at Chi Xia, pushed her, and hurried into the study.
At dinner time, Chi Xia was surprised to find that Qu Bai had eaten two more bowls of rice than in the previous few days.
She winked at Ade at the dinner table, but Ade was completely focused on Qu Bai and didn't even look at her.
It was Qu Bai who put down his bowl and chopsticks and raised his chin towards her: "Eat your meal well."
Chi Xia took a few bites of rice and asked, "Does Ade not have to be left behind as a flower farmer?"
Qu Bai had no choice but to follow her words: "Well, no need."
"So your problem is solved?"
This time Qu Bai laughed: "Well, it's solved."
Chi Xia stretched his neck and asked, "Who solved it?"
"A friend." Qu Bai said.
There was a strong smile and anticipation in his expression when he spoke, which made Chi Xia very curious.
"What friends?" Chi Xia asked.
Qu Bai thought for a moment before saying, "Although we have met only a few times, we trust each other and are sincere friends."
Coming from Qu Bai's mouth, this is a very high compliment.
Chi Xia wanted to ask more, but Qu Bai looked at her with a smile: "Chi Xia, he is a very good friend of mine. He came to Dongzhou to visit me."
Looking at his eyes, Chi Xia was suddenly moved. She smiled and said, "He came to see you. What gift would you give him?"
Qu Bai just smiled.
After a long while he said, "The gift is not important. I mainly want to tell him something."
"What?"
Qu Bai said: "Back then he wished me to return home soon, and I wanted to tell him that I had been home for a long time."
