Chapter 12

Translator: Amber.es

Editor: merahmapple 🍁

The China Telecom Expo opened two weeks later. It was just this weekend. Qu Zhengyan originally thought that he would pick up He Ziming earlier that day. If he had the opportunity to meet his landlord, he could worm his way into being friends with the landlord. See if He Ziming’s rental contract could be ended in advance. In the end, even before that day, he saw the landlord.

Two days after the computer was repaired, the strong cold air still blew and by the time he got off work, light rain and snow were already drizzled outside. On this day, Qu Zhengyan had some desk work that needed to be dealt with and he stayed until nine o’clock before leaving. As he walked through the deserted hall on the first floor, he heard the security door “bang” being pushed open, and someone was walking down the stairs. Subconsciously turning his head and looking around, Qu Zhengyan was a little surprised.

He Ziming seemed a little surprised when he saw him while carrying a take-away meal with him.

“You…work overtime?” Qu Zhengyan asked.

“Well,” He Ziming came over and the two walked out side by side, “System debugging.”

With that said, Qu Zhengyan vaguely remembered that the computer center would use the off-duty time to maintain and debug the computer business system.

“Why are you alone?”

“En.” It was not an answer.

Qu Zhengyn thought for a while, then did not continue to ask. “I will take you home.”

He Ziming glanced at him. “No need. It’s not on the way.”

“It’s okay.” Qu Zhengyan insisted.

He Ziming didn’t answer. When the automatic door opened, a cold humid wind blew in instantly, making him shiver. The wind in this city was strong after winter.

Qu Zhengyan only noticed that he only put on a thin jacket and immediately stopped walking. “You can’t go out like this. Wait for me here.”

He Ziming was pulled by him and looked sideways back.

Qu Zhengyan walked back, and said, “I still have thick clothes in my office. I’ll get them for you.” Although there was a car, they should be careful when entering and exiting. Xiao Jin’s physique was never very good.

“……No need.”

“Wait for me here!” Qu Zhengyan hurried back to take the elevator.

He Ziming watched him leave in silence.

However, when Qu Zhengyan held his clothes and umbrella in his hands and returned to the lobby on the first floor again, he could no longer see He Ziming. He looked around for a while anxiously, so he had to ask the guard. The guard asked about the time but said that the person had already left.

Qu Zhengyan held his clothes for a while and walked slowly to the parking lot. He opened the car door and sat down; he thought for a long time and found the number on the phone to dial. It rang a few times before the call was connected. There was a bit of noise in the background sound.

“Where are you?”

“Already in the car.”

“You…” Qu Zhengyan took a breath, “You…” He couldn’t manage to complain aloud. “…Be careful on the road!” Ugh! It sounded so frustrated.

“……I know.”

He Ziming would rather brave the biting cold wind, brave the rain and snow to hail a car than to wait for a few minutes for him. Qu Zhengyan’s confidence was instantly shattered, and all the hopes for the future that he had originally held were all crushed at this time.

The large temperature change was sudden. When he arrived at the office the next day, Qu Zhengyan found several people sneezing. He was a little worried. He waited until almost lunchtime and finally couldn’t help but dial a call to the computer center to find He Ziming. The other party’s answer made him very disappointed: Xiao He? He didn’t come today. He called for sick leave in the morning.

Look! See! He deserved it! Qu Zhengyan thought so. But these were just his thoughts.

He grabbed his car keys and drove to the place where He Ziming lived. On the way, he went to the supermarket and bought some ingredients for making soup and porridge. When he drove downstairs, he remembered that he didn’t know which floor Xiao Jin lived on. He dialled again on his phone. When the call was connected, Qu Zhengyan was already standing in front of the elevator door.

“…I’m asking which floor you live on.”

He Ziming, on the phone, was not in a good situation. A little breathless, he replied, “28th floor, you said you are downstairs to me? But…”

Qu Zhengyan entered the elevator, reached out and pressed the floor button, “I’m coming up.”

At this time, the elevator door was about to close, he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling outside, “Wait! Don’t close the elevator’s door!” Reflexively pressing the door’s open button, he saw He Ziming rushing in, half-hugging, half-dragging a person. Qu Zhengyan blinked, then blinked again.

The man was about twenty-four or twenty-five-year-old, leaning almost fully on He Ziming. The two human figures were similar in shape, both tall and thin, so He Ziming was struggling to support them. The man leaned on his shoulders with his head buried in the fossa of his neck, his head turned halfway, his eyes dimly looking at Qu Zhengyan.

“This is my landlord, Xiao Xia,” He Ziming stood still, panting, and introduced, “He got a fever, we just came back after getting the IV infusion.”

Qu Zhengyan frowned. “Aren’t you sick too?” To take care of another patient, could he do it?

“Oh, that…” He Ziming pursed his lips, his gaze began to fly diagonally upward. Qu Zhengyan understood. In other words, his excuse for asking for leave was purely to deceive the supervisor.

Xiao Xia, the landlord, could not stand upright and fell straight down. He Ziming wanted to hug him but the bag of medicine in his hand swayed. Qu Zhengyan sighed and placed the food bag on the floor, he stretched out his hand. “I’ll do it.”