Chapter 20

In the afternoon, An Ning came out of the library. When he was walking downstairs, he was suddenly bumped into from behind, and with a clatter, the phone in his hand fell down the stairs. The person who bumped into him passed by him from the side. An Ning turned his head instinctively. He suddenly saw the person who he had only seen in the surveillance video—the one with tan skin and slightly shorter height.

The other party stopped for a second, stared at him, then turned around and walked away.

It wasn’t until the other person’s figure disappeared under the stairs that An Ning recovered, feeling a chill in his back.

This brief chill dissipated when he picked up the phone that fell down the stairs. He didn’t want to think about whether the collision was accidental or deliberate. If it was deliberate, the other party had succeeded. His phone previously had no sound coming out of it, so he spent a lot of money to repair it. Now the screen was completely broken.

This phone had been used for more than four years. When he bought it, it was the newest model, but now it was too slow. An Ning hoped to try his luck and tested the touch screen, but there was no unexpected response. While the sky still had not turned dark yet, he should go get the phone fixed. Instead of thinking about the other party’s intention by bumping into him, he was hoping that the phone screen could be repaired.

As soon as he left school, he saw the eye-catching ocean blue Porsche sports car. To be precise, he heard it. The engine sound was too special, like a tiger roaring from behind. He turned his head when the blue sports car stopped next to him. The window lowered on the side of the road. Qian Fei sat in the burgundy driver’s seat and greeted him: “An Ning? Where are you going?”

An Ning glanced subconsciously at the co-driver seat, but only Qian Fei was in the car. He greeted Qian Fei and said that he was going to repair his phone.

“Where are you fixing it?” Qian Fei asked.

An Ning said the business district.

Qian Fei said generously: “Get on. It’s on my way so I’ll take you there.”

An Ning really couldn’t find an excuse to refuse, so he got in the car. It was the first time to ride in this kind of sports car, and he was a little uncomfortable. The dashboard of the center console looked too advance, like something in a sci-fi movie. Moreover, the view was different from when he took taxis. It felt a bit…

Qian Fei smiled and said: “This car has a short chassis. You’re probably not used to it, right?”

An Ning nodded: “This is the first time I’ve been in this kind of car.”

Qian Fei reminded him to fasten his seat belt, then started the car, and said: “I also wasn’t used to it the first time.”

Maybe it was because of the low chassis, An Ning thought, because the car was moving very smoothly, as if flying in the sky. Actually, he didn’t know what it was like to fly in the sky. He was already this big, yet he hasn’t been on a plane before.

When he got in the car, he remembered the gossips on the campus forum. The corner of his eyes were always looking in Qian Fei’s direction. Qian Fei seemed to sense his gaze and turned her head back and smiled.

The generous smile made An Ning apologetic. He has been tutoring Yuan Xiaoye for more than a month, and Qian Fei has always been good to him. Although she was a rich person, she doesn’t have a bit of arrogance and superiority. Sometimes, after the lesson was over, she would chat with him and ask him about his studies and his livelihood. Talking to Qian Fei felt like talking to an older sister, albeit he actually doesn’t have an older sister, just a younger brother who was totally not close to him.

He wanted to remind Qian Fei not to drive such a conspicuous car to the school, but he didn’t know how to go about saying it. While he was brewing in his heart, the Porsche had already arrived in the bustling business district. Qian Fei asked him: “What brand is your phone? I’ll look for the nearest store.”

An Ning hurriedly said no need: “There is a small repair shop in front. I’ll go there to repair it.”

Qian Fei probably understood that he came here because it was cheap, so she turned off the navigation and said: “Then show me the way.”

Soon, a blue professional phone repair sign came into view on the side of the road. The CBD’s* road was pretty long. There were rows of doors, and the side of the road was full of cars. The Porsche 911 suddenly appeared amongst the vehicles, which was as eye-catching as Qin Weihang walking into a vegetable market.

[*TN: The author wrote CDB, which is a bank, but it makes more sense if it was CBD, which is an abbrev. of central business district. I changed it to CBD since they might’ve written it wrong.]

When An Ning got out of the car, he heard Qian Fei’s phone ring. He got out of the car and Qian Fei got out of the car along with him. She stood outside the store while on the phone with someone. He didn’t want to eavesdrop, but Qian Fei was too defenseless. He walked two steps ahead but could still hear what they were talking about. She was saying: “… I went to your school to ask, it’s just that the procedures are a bit complicated. Don’t thank me, I’m not only doing it for you, but also because of Yuan Xiaoye’s father last wish…”

An Ning slumped into the shop. The man who repair phones had seen An Ning come out from a Porsche, and watched him looking around for a while. Moreover, he saw that he had taken out an old model phone for repair, and couldn’t help scan him from head to toe. An Ning bit the bullet and asked if it could be repaired. The other party checked it over and over again, then said: “Ah, I have relied on your phone to practice a number of skills, so I will tell you the truth. The phone screen can be changed, but your phone is too old. If you’re going to spend money to fix it, then it’s better to just buy a new one.” An Ning still asked for the price of a replacement screen. The other party said that it might be necessary to replace both the internal and external screens, so at least 200($31).

An Ning nodded in pain, and sat there waiting for the phone to be repaired. Qian Fei walked in after talking on the phone and asked him: “Is it repaired?”

An Ning stood up and said: “I’m waiting for him to change the screen, so it will take a while. You don’t need to accompany me, Qian Fei-jie. Thank you for driving me here!”

“Okay,” Qian Fei said straightforwardly, clinking the Porsche car key with her fingertips. “Then I’ll leave first.”

An Ning took two steps and sent her off outside the store, but he couldn’t hold back and shouted: “Qian Fei-jie!”

Qian Fei stopped and turned around, her eyes curled with a smile: “What? Since we’re not in front of Yuan Xiaoye, you don’t need to call me auntie?”

An Ning lowered his head and smiled with embarrassment. Finally, he said the sentence that he had been thinking about for a long time: “Qian Fei-jie, I saw your car on the campus forum.”

Qian Fei blinked, confused: “Saw my car? What do you mean?”

An Ning glanced at the Porsche 911 behind her and said: “Your car is too conspicuous…”

Qian Fei’s expression froze. She gradually nodded as if she understood, and said sincerely: “Thank you, Xiao Ning.”

After the ocean blue Porsche drove off, An Ning turned around and returned to the repair shop, finally letting it go.

The next day, after classes were over, An Ning suddenly received Qian Fei’s WeChat message before dinner time. She was asking him if he had time to come to Lantian County for a meal; there was something she wanted to tell him.

An Ning didn’t know what was going on, but Lantian County was not far away anyway, just five stations away. He went over there once afternoon classes were over.

He thought it was something serious, but he didn’t expect it was really just eating. An Ning saw a table full of dishes, all western food. There was steak, lobster, pasta, salad, and red wine. He thought it was too grand. He didn’t see other people inside or outside the villa. Why did she just call him?

Seeing that he was feeling self-conscious, Qian Fei sat him down at the dining table and said: “Do you know why I invited you to dinner?”

An Ning pushed his glasses, looked up at Qian Fei, and shook his head in puzzlement.

Yuan Xiaoye sat opposite of him and said loudly: “It’s about me! Guess!”

An Ning blinked, and then his eyes lit up, thinking that he had hit it on the nail, “Oh! Your birthday?!”

Yuan Xiaoye felt offended, “How can my birthday be this grand?”

Qian Fei also sat down and said: “The results of his mid-term exam have come out. This time, he has made a lot of progress. The class teacher even praised him. It’s all thanks to you, so I invited you for dinner.”

An Ning was of course happy that Yuan Xiaoye had improved, but seeing this table of exquisite western food, he still felt sheepish. “It’s what I should do, so this is too courteous!”

“Just eat, Little Frog!” Yuan Xiaoye had already picked up the knife and fork and immersed himself in cutting. “How is this considered courteous? It’s not like we’re treating you to foie gras.” He found it funny every time he glances at An Ning. He always thinks this brother was like a little frog being cooked in a wok, ready to jump out and escape at any time.

Of course, this table of western dishes was requested by Yuan Xiaoye. It was the first time An Ning had eaten steak, so he couldn’t use the knife and fork well. Yuan Xiaoye laughed at him throughout, but An Ning was used to it. Although Yuan Xiaoye laughed at him, he would still teach him, except his lips curved a bit arrogantly. He was a good kid by nature, and Yuan Xiaoye had also improved. Now, when he looks at Yuan Xiaoye, he felt a bit of affection towards him.

When he left that day, Qian Fei called him and stepped forward to give him a cell phone box. He was puzzled. Qian Fei said: “I saw that your phone is too old, so just accept it.”

An Ning hurriedly refused: “No, it’s too expensive. I can’t accept this!”

“Not expensive,” Qian Fei said. “This is Yuan Xiaoye’s phone. His mid-term exam has improved, so I had just bought him a new one. It has only been used for less than a year, and it would be waste to throw it. I think…it’s better than buying a new one. Don’t refuse it, Xiao Ning.”

The other party said it like that, and An Ning didn’t know what to say. He looked over at Yuan Xiaoye, Yuan Xiaoye laid on the sofa and said: “Take it, Little Frog.” He raised another brand-new Apple phone in his hand and shook it, “I have this!”

Finally, An Ning took the box with both hands very gratefully, and said: “Thank you.”

If it were before, he probably wouldn’t dare accept it and would definitely refuse it. This was because it was too expensive, and it would hurt his self-esteem. However, with Qian Fei and Yuan Xiaoye here, his usual self-respect seemed to have temporarily gone to sleep. Qian Fei’s careful thoughtfulness and Yuan Xiaoye’s sharp-tongue made him feel comfortable.

Although life was always rough*, and bad things happen from time to time, but he has really met a lot of good people. It had always been this way.

[*TN:The idiom here was “pulling on the lapels exposes the elbows.” Specifically, it means to pull one’s garment to conceal the raggedness, only to expose one’s elbows. It means to have a lot of difficulties or be unable to make ends meet.]

On the subway back, he opened the phone box. It was an iPhone XS with an Iron Man phone case, exactly Yuan Xiaoye’s style. They said it has been used for less than a year, but the phone looks like a new one. He looked foolishly at the phone for a while, only to find that this phone seemed to be the same one used by Qin Weihang. But iPhones look the same in his eyes, so he was not sure.

It was weird, why was he so curious if it was the same model as Qin Weihang’s phone? He shook his head and closed the phone box. This thought was really absurd.