Chapter 12.2: The Most Pale Memories
That night while strolling, cousin’s interrogation was nothing more than——”Do you have his photograph?! Take it out to let me see!”
An Ning shook her head and gave her a mild expression of contempt, “You only care about outward appearance.”
Cousin sister laughed, “Don’t tell me that I should also be interested in his inner beauty ah?!”
Uh, leader Xu’s inner ah ……
“What does he look like? At least describe a bit ah.” Cousin did not have much patience, “He doesn’t look very unsightly, right?”
An Ning stared at her, “You are the one looking unsightly!”
“My 92，63，94 is international standard!” Cousin sister was angry. An Ning felt it was not a good idea to continue chatting like this, “All in all, he is the type I like.”
Cousin fixed her gaze on An Ning for a moment, “Oh no, your eyes look bashful and your red lips parted with a smile—— you are in heat.”
An Ning: “……”
Cousin’s mood turned rather joyful after winning back a round and cannot help humming, “Stars in the sky ……” She had forgotten and raised her head, “Look up to the North Star!” (This is the lyrics of a 90s Chinese song called ‘Heroes Song‘ for the drama Water Margin)
……
An Ning really wanted to go home.
Eventually, Meow Meow bowed her head all the way home. Whereas cousin did not ask about his appearance any more, so it can be considered to be a draw.
When she has just entered the house, her mobile phone started ringing. After looking at the name displayed on the screen, she smiled at her mother who was watching television in the living room and ran into her room.
“Have you eaten your dinner?” Such deep voice, very pleasant to hear. An Ning was holding the phone and lying on the bed, “Yes, I went out to eat with mother, aunts and other family members.”
“Can we meet up tomorrow?”
“Ah? So fast?” She said that subconsciously. After all, they have only parted this afternoon. However after asking it out loud, An Ning suspected that she has struck a rock. Indeed, the other party said faintly: “It seems that I have entrusted the wrong person.”
Entrusted the wrong person? An Ning felt strange. Leader Xu your figure of speech was really ……
“I’ve to accompany my mother to the supermarket to buy things tomorrow morning. I’ll only be free in the afternoon.”
“Then make it in the afternoon la.” Then the other side was laughing, “An Ning, I am looking at your email.”
Ah? Ah!
She remembered she had nothing to do for two days after the end of the exam. Thus she took a graphic tablet that has not been used for a long time in the dormitory and managed to draw seven to eight character’s pictures (Xu Mo Ting deity). She felt a sense of accomplishment, saved them in her mailbox and intended to modify them slightly when she got home …… the issue was did she send them out??
“You hacked my mailbox?!”
At this point, Xu Mo Ting was silent for a moment, “I think it must be you who sent them to me.”
How could that be?! Since her brain did not get short-circuit, she can still clearly differentiate storing the draft and sending. Mao Mao …… played with her computer.
An Ning had no more feeling, her heart is dead.
If An Ning knew the title of the email that she sent out, no, Mao Mao sent out ‘on her behalf’ was: That Boy, Whose Beauty is Beyond Measure [Hoju said it is a line from a poem called 汾沮洳 “The Marshy Grounds of Fen River” found in the “Odes of Wei” section in the “Classic of Poetry” and dates back to prior to the Qin dynasty.](that man ah, handsome until no limits), she might really commit suicide straightaway.
“I…… randomly drew them.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t take it seriously.”
Leader Xu heaved a sigh. “Are you coming by yourself or I go and pick you up tomorrow?”
“I’ll come by myself.”
After pausing for a moment, Xu Mo Ting said unhurriedly: “An Ning, are you putting up passive resistance?”
Her intention had been nipped in the bud before it could even have a chance to sprout, so she immediately changed gears and put on a positive, proactive front, “You are so busy. As your girlfriend, of course I’ve to be independent.”
Girlfriend, it seemed that she has been his girlfriend since a long time ago. However hearing it being said so naturally from her mouth, the feeling was a little different. Xu Mo Ting enjoyed hearing it, enjoyed immensely.
“An Ning.” A low and soft voice came through the phone receiver. The person named cannot help having her heart beating a little faster.
Nobody said anything for a moment. It seemed that he merely wanted to call her name. Only the quiet sound of breathing can be heard. An Ning felt this was not good for the heart, so she quickly said: “I want to go to bed. You should also go to bed earlier. See you tomorrow, bye-bye!”
They put down the phone right away. Mama Li was all smiles and leaning against the door, “Finished talking on the phone?”
An Ning sat up, “Mom was eavesdropping.”
“I did knock on the door but you didn’t hear.” Mama Li defending her innocence. She has already walked to her bedside and was holding up her daughter’s face with her hands, “My family has a daughter who has grown up.” [Hoju wrote this line is modified from Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi’s very well-known poem 长恨歌 “Song of Everlasting Regret” that tells the story of Imperial Consort Yang of the Tang dynasty (Yang Guifei)].
An Ning was about to give her mother a hug and continue the poem, but mama Li has already beaten her to it: “When do I get to hold my grandson?”
Hey mom ~ You’ve jumped way ahead.
She did not know how to response, so she lay down and pretended to have fallen asleep.
The next day, she accompanied her mother on a shopping trip to the supermarket. Chinese New Year was around the corner so the interior was covered with sale signs. Suddenly An Ning recalled a classic anecdote. A certain merchandise’s original price was $20 but selling at $19.99 now. After telling mother about it, mama Li only said ‘okay’. An Ning thought her mother really ate more salt than her eating rice because she was unperturbed. Suddenly, mama Li halted her footstep and burst out laughing, “This drop in price is similar to before the price dropped!”
Coughing! Her mom has always been full of love ah.
After barely walking away from the daily necessities area, suddenly An Ning stopped walking. This was because she saw Zhou Jin Cheng was walking over with a graceful woman who was holding on to his arm. Jin Cheng naturally also saw her and appeared a little surprised. When he was drawing near, he greeted An Ning’s mother. Mama Li cannot decide if she has a good or bad impression of him, but they know each other after all, “Mr Zhou is accompanying the girlfriend to stroll around the supermarket?”
Zhou Jin Cheng nodded, smiled faintly and said: “Ning Ning’s school holidays have started?”
“…… Yes.”
An Ning saw the woman opposite was giving her a friendly smile, so she also returned the smile.
“This is my niece.” Zhou Jin Cheng gently introduced her to his girlfriend. Then he turned his head to tell mama Li his girlfriend’s name.
An Ning felt this kind of introduction was really unnecessary, right?
The other party smiled at mama Li, “Hello.”
At this moment, Zhou Jin Cheng switched his line of sight to An Ning’s face once again and asked in a seemingly casual voice: “Does Ning Ning want to go back to G city to celebrate the Chinese New Year this year? Actually, I also have to go back there two days later. Thus, you can follow me to go back together. Your father will also feel a little more assured.”
“Uh, no need la.” Although she was being impolite, An Ning did not want to speak in a roundabout way on certain topic, “Thank you, but no need la.”
Mama Li smilingly stroked her daughter’s hair, “Aiya, this child. Mr. Zhou, I will send her over later. Thank you for your kind intention.”
This being the case, Zhou Jin Cheng did not say anything anymore. He said a few more polite words and bid them goodbye.
Compared to the past, Zhou Jin Cheng seemed to have already resumed his expected position, like a really upright ‘elder’ now.
After they have gone a fair distance away, An Ning thought of something, “Mother wants to send me over?” No matter what, she will also not let her mother drives three hours to send her over.
Mama Li replied: “Then send you to the station.”
An Ning looked distracted, smiled and hugged her mother’s arm, “Mom is really nice! Can I help you to push the trolley?”
An Ning went to her appointment in the afternoon. The journey was not considered long. Taking a taxi to the place mentioned by Xu Mo Ting, took only twenty minutes. She has just entered the entrance when she saw two girls were being stopped by a waiter, “Miss, I am sorry but we only serve our members here – – ”
“What ah.” The girls were a bit annoyed because after all, being intercepted is considered something disgraceful, “This is not a Royal Club ……”
The waiter gave a forced smile and explained amiably: “I’m really sorry but our regulations are like this.”
……
When another waiter came to ‘serve’ An Ning, she immediately took out the card in her bag and handed it over.
The waiter smiled: “Is it Miss Li? Please come with me.”
When she passed by that two girls, she can sense that their eyes were on her. An Ning gave an embarrassed smile and thought why a threshold has to be set for corruption in this era?
She was led up the stairs. The second floor is the teahouse, with quite elegant and quiet surroundings.
An Ning had arrived early. She chose to sit at a table that was semi-hidden and removed her light-colored scarf, “Please give me a cup of warm water first, thank you.”
While she was waiting, she spotted many books on the wooden rack beside her. There was even the Records of the Grand Historian, so she took and looked over it. She flipped through it until the Battle of Muye, where the Zhou dynasty used the few to defeat the many strategy to wipe out the Shang dynasty. An Ning always felt that the Shang dynasty was defeated in this battle not because of strategic blunder, but the composition of the army. The Yin army (the Shang dynasty’s army) is recorded to have seven hundred thousand troops but more than half of them were slaves and prisoners of war. These kind of people who were living from hand to mouth, were particularly easy to incite—— uh, this is to say that the so-called ‘using the few to defeat the many’ should be reconsidered.
An Ning loves history, mainly because it has many areas that are debatable, but it is set in stone and will not change again.
The elevator door opening sound made her lifted her head. A few people came out and one of them was Xu Mo Ting. An Ning looked a little surprise, since she did not expect to see other people around him. Xu Mo Ting also saw her at the same time. His eyes flashed once then returned to being calm. When the people in Western clothing turned into another passageway, An Ning continued to look at her book.
A few minutes later, Xu Mo Ting came back and his gaze has never left that graceful figure. When she sensed a person has sat beside her, An Ning turned her head and came into contact with his line of sight. He smiled, “Came early?”
An Ning gave him a ‘resentful’ expression, “Since you are busy with work, why did you still ask me to come out ah?”
“This is not considered work.” Xu Mo Ting said casually: “My dad is also inside so how about meeting him?”
“Ah?” This time she was really surprised.
……
“I’m still not ready.”
Mo Ting looked her up and down once, “You are already looking very good.”
“……”
An Ning’s mood went through innumerable twists and turns, how drinking tea became meeting the parent?
On that day, An Ning was brought into a private room and her only thought was that it was more like meeting the family than meeting the parent?
An Ning has to admit that she was a little surprised at seeing all the uncles as well as Xu Mo Ting’s father. It was just like what she had seen on television before. Uh, should she show her support for their policies?
Before she could say anything, this warm and magnanimous patriarch from the Xu family had already smilingly said a sentence to her, “Little girl, it’s an honor to meet you at last.”
“……” This was what she initially wanted to say.
An Ning moved her head to look at the person standing beside her. Xu Mo Ting has no intention to save the show!
“An Ning, right? Take a sit ah.” Father Xu pointed to a seat.
He even knew her name? Okay, she has no need to introduce herself.
An Ning cautiously sat down.
Then, under the polite probing of several friendly elders, she calmly answered one question after another. To say that she was calm, might as well say ——she was not nervous anymore. An Ning’s exquisite appearance and gentle temperament and style of conversation seemed to have gained the favour of the elders. Thus overall, the meet the family was considered satisfactory. So much so that an elder even said, “Wait until next year when both of you graduate, then can get married right away. The year after is the twenty-ninth year 15 of the 60 year cycle (e.g. 2012 or 2072), a good year to give birth.”
An Ning was embarrassed. It turned out that she should get married because the year after next will be the year of the Dragon, a good year to give birth?
The first day of holiday, such a wonderful day to be set up.