C56.1

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Translator: Cheese

Don’t Know Him

The sky had obviously been clear in the day, but at night it suddenly started to rain without any warning.

He Qingwan opened the store door and went out to take a look. The rainfall wasn’t light, and the November wind mixed with the raindrops, resulting in a biting chill.

She checked her watch. Classes were about to end soon at Luocheng Middle No. 1. Right now wasn’t like summertime, where it didn’t matter even if you got a bit wet from the rain. In this kind of weather, she feared the children would catch a cold on the way back from school.

He Qingwan couldn’t sit still. There were still two girls in the shop, eating desserts and looking outside in worry. Neither of them had brought an umbrella, and they grumbled about the awful weather.

The two were complaining when they heard the lady boss’s gentle voice: “Are your homes far away? I have an umbrella in the store, but I can only give you one. If you don’t mind, please use it.”

The two girls froze for a moment. A bit embarrassed, they asked, “Then what will you do, lady boss?”

He Qingwan smiled. “It’s fine, there’s one more. I would give it to you two, but my daughter is about to finish school, and I need to go pick her up…”

The girls heard this and were even more embarrassed. They wanted to refuse, but seeing that the downpour was growing heavier, and it was getting late, they just incessantly thanked He Qingwan, saying that they two of them didn’t live far away, that one umbrella was enough, that they would return it to her tomorrow.

He Qingwan smiled. She took out two umbrellas and gave one to the girls. The two were embarrassed, but they still helped her clean up the shop before leaving with the umbrella.

He Qingwan closed the shop, but didn’t go directly to the school. It wasn’t just Tiantian at school, but also Kaiyan and Xiao Xue. Kaiyan definitely didn’t have an umbrella, and she didn’t know if Brother Wang had thought of giving Xiao Xue an umbrella.

She returned home. There were two umbrellas at home; they should be enough for them to use.

He Qingwan hurried home and took out her door key. But before she could open the door, it opened by itself.

Xi Yun stood behind the door, holding two umbrellas. When he saw He Qingwan, he said, “Auntie, it’s raining outside. Are we going to pick up jiejie?”

He Qingwan: “I’ll go pick up Tiantian. You wait at home.”

Ever since Xi Zhiqiang was detained, because they couldn’t get in contact with Xi Yun’s mother at the moment, the child had been staying with them.

Xi Yun: “I’ll go too.”

He Qingwan: “You can’t, it’s too cold outside. You boil some hot water at home. Wait for auntie and jiejie to come back, okay? Otherwise we might catch a child.”

The kettle at home was electric. It was simple and safe, making it possible for kids to use.

When Xi Yun heard that he could help, he didn’t insist on coming along. He nodded and scampered to the kitchen to boil water.

Carrying two umbrellas and holding one for herself, He Qingwan hurried to school.

As she was coming downstairs, she ran into Wang Haoxue’s father, who also had an umbrella. He was clearly just like her, going out to pick up his child.

Good timing, let’s go together.

Today was the first day of shooting. The purpose was just for staff deployment and equipment setup. It wasn’t a difficult task, so their work finished early.

But Chief Ji didn’t have time off. After the filming was over, people from the local government dragged him out to eat.

Even if Ji Shaoheng disdained the bureaucracy’s unspoken rules, sometimes he had to do as the locals did1. Otherwise, others would inevitably think more and think that he was here to rectify the local government, which would add unnecessary trouble.

Moreover, even if he wanted to do that, it wasn’t the job of the Ministry of Public Security; that was the CCDI’s2 job.

But Ji Shaoheng also didn’t wrong himself, and after expressing his gratitude, he left early. The others knew his temper; for him to come was already being respectful, so no one dared to keep him.

When Ji Shaoheng came out, a local police officer came over with an umbrella, wanting to escort him back.

Ji Shaoheng took off his overly stiff uniform and draped it over his arm. Accepting the umbrella, he asked, “How do I get to Sweet Summer Dessert Shop?”

The officer’s gaze on him instantly glowed with high regard. “You want to see the ones who performed a meritorious service?”

Ji Shaoheng was practically a prodigy; with one look, he could see what the young comrade was thinking. He nodded in a completely natural manner. “En, there are some details that need clarifying.”

The young police officer’s gaze grew even more fervent, and he quickly expressed his enthusiasm by offering to take him there himself.

But Ji Shaoheng stopped the other party. “Just tell me where it is, and I’ll go there myself.”

Though he was disappointed, a leader’s orders must not be disobeyed. The officer could only tell him the specific location and how to get there.

Ji Shaoheng nodded, silently reciting it in his heart. He said thanks to the young comrade and left holding the umbrella.

The police officer was rooted to the spot and getting drenched by the rain, admiringly watching Ji Shaoheng’s broad and imposing figure. He decided to learn to be a leader and become an industrious and hardworking police officer.

Ji Shaoheng, who had duped the young officer, didn’t feel an ounce of guilt as he happily held the umbrella aloft. What he was expecting was there being no umbrella in the dessert shop, and he’ll just happen to have one. Along the way, he’ll offer to walk the beauty back home, then the two of them would share an umbrella, strolling at night under the steady autumn rain. An ambiguous atmosphere, rich with sentiments, dry wood feeding a blazing fire…

Eh, just this for the time being. Although he thought of it, the beauty may not necessarily agree…

Ummm… it’d be good if he could send her to the door of her house. If he was lucky, maybe he could come in for a cup of hot water…

His imagination level was so high that he could actually see the captivating beauty. She was holding an umbrella, walking in the night under the autumn rain, the wind blowing under her windbreaker and causing it to flutter…

Everything was exactly as he’d imagined.

But wait!

Why was there a male organism next to her???!!!

Ji Shaoheng was instantly surrounded by a cloud of black energy. He stood by the side of the road, watching the two people speaking intimately as they walked past.

“Thanks to your family’s Tiantian, Xiao Xue has become a lot more sensible during this time. She improved on the last exam, too. That girl, she simply takes Tiantian as her idol in life.” Brother Wang exclaimed with a chuckle.

He Qingwan’s eyes curved into crescents as she demurred modestly, “Xiao Xue herself is sensible. It just happened that the two of them get along well with each other, that’s all. Speaking of, I still haven’t formally thanked you for that incident with Lin Xiuping last time. If not for Xiao Xue rushing over, Tiantian probably would have been bullied by that woman…”

“Thanks for what? Haha, it’s mainly because Tiantian gave Xiao Xue that bracelet.”

It was this bracelet that let Brother Wang thoroughly understand that there was no possibility between him and He Qingwan.

A gift given by her daughter to her friend was almost equivalent to his income for several years. Their family conditions were too far apart.

“How could that be? Still…”

Halfway through speaking, there was a sudden gust of wind, and the umbrella in He Qingwan’s grasp was blown into a steep tilt. With the other two umbrellas in her grasp, she couldn’t grip the handle firmly, and the umbrella was swept off, dropping to the ground far away.

Uncle Wang hastily rushed over. “I’ll go pick it up for you.”

He Qingwan was drenched by the rain. Nodding repeatedly, she shouted a thank you.

Just as she lowered her head and prepared to unfold one of the umbrellas she was holding, the rain pelting her body suddenly stopped. Even the biting wind seemed to disappear.

He Qingwan looked up in astonishment. Ji Shaoheng stood next to her holding an umbrella, smiling at her.

He said, “Last time you gave me an umbrella. This time I finally get to return it.”

[1] 入乡随俗: when in Rome, do as the Romans do

[2] The raws say 纪检委, which is short for (中国共产党中央纪)律检查委员会, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (of the CCP)

Cheese: as mentioned in last chapter, ch 56 is twice as long as a normal chapter, and without the safety of a stockpile, i couldn’t guarantee i could get the whole chapter out this week. next part will come out in 2 weeks as usual! thanks for your understanding 🙂

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