N-M Chapter 49: A Blushing and Heart-Pounding Morning
Chapter 49: A Blushing and Heart-Pounding Morning
When Song Qingning rushed out of Lin Bei's bedroom, her round face was still flushed.
She practically jogged across the corridor.
He didn't stop walking as he passed through the living room, only saying, "Mom and Dad, I'm leaving now," before he reached the door.
"Bang!"
The living room door was then closed.
The door closed, stirring up a gust of wind that flipped several pages of the newspapers on the coffee table.
The four adults, who had been chatting happily, all looked towards the door when they saw Song Qingning suddenly run out.
Then, they turned back and looked at each other in bewilderment.
I don't know what just happened.
Song Qingning's mother held her teacup, paused for a few seconds, then continued to drink her tea.
The curve of her lips peeked out from the rim of the teacup.
Su Ruolan nudged Lin Jianjun with her elbow, and the two exchanged a knowing look that only they could understand.
"Well... the child might be in a hurry to go back and help prepare the lunch banquet," Song Qingning's father broke the silence first.
His tone was sincere, and his expression was very serious.
But the people present were all over forty years old, so how could they not know what was going on? Naturally, no one believed what they said.
Everyone tacitly agreed to move past that topic and continue chatting.
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Song Qingning's parents got up to say goodbye, saying they would see her at the restaurant at noon.
A few minutes later.
Lin Bei put on his pants in the bedroom, folded the quilt, and then haphazardly brushed his hair back in front of the mirror.
When he came out, Su Ruolan was standing in the corridor, wiping a vase that didn't need wiping.
"Why did you touch the lime just now?" Su Ruolan asked without turning her head, twirling the rag in her hand around the mouth of the vase.
She ran out, her face as red as a boiled shrimp.
"I didn't do anything!" Lin Bei shrugged, looking completely innocent. "There are so many people in the house, what could I possibly do?"
Su Ruolan stopped wiping the vase, turned to look at her son, and slowly a smile appeared on her lips: "Oh..."
"So you mean, when no one's around, you want to do something to her?"
Lin Bei stopped at the bathroom door and turned to look at his mother.
Look at this, is this something a biological mother would say?
Does she really not trust her son that much?
Forget it, Lin Bei decided not to play word games with a middle-aged woman who had been a Chinese language teacher for eighteen years, and simply pushed open the bathroom door and went in.
Su Ruolan glanced back at Lin Jianjun, who was pretending to read a newspaper on the sofa.
The couple looked at each other for a second and then smiled at the same time.
No one laughed out loud, but their shoulders were shaking.
Su Qianqian was reading a book in her room when she received Song Qingning's call.
She leaned against the single sofa by the window, an original English economics book lying open on her lap.
On the small round table next to it, there was a cup of warm lemon water.
When her phone rang, she glanced at the caller ID, tucked the bookmark into the pages, closed the book, and pressed the answer button.
"Qianqian!"
"Are you busy today?" Song Qingning's voice came through the receiver, bright and fast, carrying the excitement of having just escaped from embarrassment.
"My family is having a celebration banquet for students graduating from high school at Fumanlou Restaurant at noon. Why don't you come too?"
Su Qianqian put the book on the small round table, picked up her lemonade and took a sip.
"Okay, send me the address."
After hanging up the phone, Su Qianqian put her phone on the sofa, stood up, and walked to the wardrobe.
She stood in front of the wardrobe for a few seconds, then chose a beige dress with a hem just below her knees and a thin, matching belt around her neck.
She laid the dress flat on the bed, then sat down at the dressing table and began to put on makeup.
Su Qianqian wasn't the type to steal the spotlight at graduation banquets, and she didn't often attend gatherings or banquets.
But she naturally wouldn't miss her best friend Song Qingning's college entrance celebration, as Song Qingning was her only friend during high school.
……
The rest of the morning was spent tidying up by the family members.
Su Ruolan took out a dress from the closet that she usually couldn't bear to wear, and stood in front of the mirror for a long time trying it on.
Lin Jianjun changed into a newly bought short-sleeved shirt. He buttoned it all the way up, but felt it was too formal. He unbuttoned the top button, but still felt it was too formal.
In the end, he gave up and sat on the sofa in his old man shirt, waiting to leave.
Lin Bei left home almost forty minutes earlier than his parents.
He first went to the tobacco and alcohol wholesale store at the entrance of the community, bought two cartons of cigarettes, wrapped them in newspaper, and stuffed them into a plastic bag.
Then I dialed Lao Gao's number.
"Old Gao, Qingning's family is having a graduation banquet at noon, why don't you come too?"
"A graduation banquet?" Old Gao's voice suddenly became louder.
"How many points did Qingning get on her exam? Should we throw a celebration for her graduation?"
"What... you got 6... 604 points?"
"Holy crap! She actually got 604 points!"
"Everyone else is just playing around, so why did she get so many more points than us?"
"Stop talking nonsense, are you coming or not?" Lin Bei put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.
"Come on, of course I'm coming!" came the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets from Lao Gao's side. "I can't go empty-handed, can I?"
Send me your address, I'll go to the street and buy something as a gift.
"It doesn't need to be too expensive, just the gesture is enough." Lin Bei put the lighter back in his pocket and hung up the phone.
Then, carrying the plastic bag, he walked towards Fumanlou.
……
After arriving at Fumanlou, Lin Bei did not go directly into a private room, but went up to the second floor and waited by the window in the corridor.
He leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette case from his pocket.
I had just pulled out a cigarette and put it in my mouth, but before I could even light it, I heard footsteps coming from the stairwell.
Old Gao was seen carrying a beautifully wrapped gift bag as he turned around at the top of the stairs.
The bag is light pink with a cartoon flower printed on it. Inside is a plush toy and a gift set of hand cream for women.
He saw Lin Bei and shook the bag.
Lin Bei noticed that Lao Gao had gotten even darker after not seeing him for a few days.
"Here it is." Lin Bei took the lighter out of his pocket.
"Hmm." Old Gao walked to his side, put the gift bag on the windowsill, and looked out into the corridor.
"Where are the private rooms?"
"I didn't expect this place to be so big."
"The second shop after you turn the corner." Lin Bei handed him a lighter: "No rush, have a smoke first."
Old Gao had just taken the lighter and hadn't even lit it when a figure suddenly darted out from the side.
The figure was extremely fast and its target was clear: it lunged directly at Lin Bei's arm.
Then she wrapped her arms around him, putting all her weight on Lin Bei.
"Brother Lin Bei!"
"What a coincidence, you're here too!"
Lin Bei looked down and realized that he recognized the person.
Wu Xiaoxun looked up at him and smiled, her twin ponytails still swaying on either side of her shoulders from the sprint.
Today she was still wearing that JK uniform: a white short-sleeved shirt, a gray pleated plaid skirt, white over-the-knee socks pulled up above her knees, and a pair of black leather shoes.
She clung tightly to Lin Bei's arm with both hands, hanging on it as if she were hugging a tree trunk.