“Aunt Liu, where’s my uncle?” Zhong Ziang had just come back from playing basketball. Though the autumn air was cool, he was only wearing a thin, breezy jersey—sweating profusely, face flushed and panting.
Aunt Liu quickly handed him the lightly salted water she had prepared, “Just made this—drink some… Sir just went upstairs.”
“Huh? When did he get back? I didn’t see him come in when I was outside,” Zhong Ziang smacked his lips. The salted taste was strange to him—he wasn’t used to it.
“Sir came home this afternoon, stayed in the study the whole time, and didn’t even eat dinner.”
“Huh? He’s that free?”
Lately, Xie Dingyuan had been heading out early and returning late. He had even insisted on picking Zhong Ziang up from school for a few days, but that had already been dropped.
Zhong Ziang didn’t mind—actually found it freeing. If only his uncle had been this busy a few days earlier, he wouldn’t have had to come home on time. Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue had taken extended leave.
So now their schedules were misaligned again.
Zhong Ziang had been bummed out about it for a while, but seeing Yi Ci equally gloomy made him feel just a tiny bit better.
If I can’t see her, then you shouldn’t either—haha, perfect!
Aunt Liu: “Sir just happens to have a bit more free time today. He didn’t come home at all last night…”
“Huh? My uncle didn’t come home last night?”
“That’s right! He came back early this morning, changed clothes, picked up a lunchbox, and left again. Didn’t stay more than half an hour.”
Zhong Ziang: “Lunchbox? What lunchbox?”
Hanquan had a cafeteria—Xie Dingyuan never brought food.
Aunt Liu: “Seemed like it was for a sick friend—he brought the food to the hospital.”
A friend?
Zhong Ziang was even more confused. Does my uncle even have friends?
More importantly, a friend that could get him to personally deliver food?
Now that’s mysterious.
“Did he say who?”
Aunt Liu smiled, “How would I know? He didn’t say. But… I guess it’s a young lady.”
“What?! A girl?!” Zhong Ziang perked up like a dog sniffing something foul.
Aunt Liu took the empty cup from his hand, set it aside, and sheepishly said, “Just my guess, might not be right.”
Zhong Ziang asked her how she figured it might be a girl.
Aunt Liu explained that when Xie Dingyuan asked her to prepare the food, he specifically asked what kind of dishes young women like these days.
“…I told him everyone’s tastes are different, but most girls don’t like greasy food.”
Xie Dingyuan took the advice seriously and had her make the meal light and tasty. He even swapped out the usual preserved egg and pork congee for vegetable porridge.
“I’ve never seen Sir put this much thought into someone before!” Aunt Liu clicked her tongue in amazement.
Zhong Ziang muttered, “A girl… and she’s young…”
Uncle definitely has something going on!
He dashed upstairs, ready to dig for gossip straight from the source. But halfway up, he abruptly stopped.
No, no—knowing Uncle’s personality, even if something was going on, he’d never admit it.
Asking would be useless. Worse, he might get scolded.
This needed a tactical approach!
Zhong Ziang turned back around and started pacing in front of Aunt Liu like a detective deep in thought—eyes flickering, expression tangled.
Aunt Liu gave up and grabbed a dry towel for him: “Don’t panic, don’t panic. Think it through slowly. First wipe off that sweat—don’t catch a cold now.”
Zhong Ziang took it and wiped his face randomly. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off.
“Aunt Liu, is my uncle going to the hospital again tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
Aunt Liu told him what Xie Dingyuan had said earlier: “…He didn’t look like he was in a good mood.”
“I see…” Zhong Ziang looked disappointed.
Tomorrow was Saturday—no school. He’d plan to tail him!
Author: Let’s have a little quiz with prizes:
Will Zhong Ziang eventually figure out that the “young girl” in the hospital is Sister Yue?
A. Yes
B. No
