Half-baked

33
Chi Jingting was just trying to join in the fun at first, and he allowed a bunch of straight guys in the R&D team who only cared about studying and not love to tease him. But he didn't expect that the straight guys who usually stumbled when talking to girls would be overwhelmed with words of praise for the young couple.

Duan Huaian's face was getting darker and uglier.

Chi Jingting suddenly took a big step to the side, putting some distance between himself and Huai Nian.
He cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed, "Everyone misunderstood, this girl is not my girlfriend."

"Whose girlfriend is that? Did you bring her to Duan Huaian's office?"
"Don't you know that he doesn't like strange people coming to the lab?"

"..." Chi Jingting forced a smile, "Is there a possibility that she is Duan Huai'an's girlfriend?"

For an instant.
The whole room was filled with astonishment and shock.
The room was also filled with suffocating embarrassment.

Everyone was silent, not daring to make a sound.
You have to know how much Duan Huaian cherishes this girlfriend. He finally brought her to the laboratory once, but they mistook her for his good friend's girlfriend. He also heard a large group of them praising his girlfriend and his good friend for being a perfect match.
If it were them, they would be furious.

Duan Huai'an has very sharp double eyelids, and his eyelids are very thin, revealing the veins of his eyes that are difficult to discern. His eyes are cold, but they have an innate arrogance, and when he looks at people, he has a sharp scrutiny.
At this moment, after hearing everyone teasing that his best friend and his girlfriend were a perfect match made in heaven, he raised a sarcastic arc at the corner of his mouth and asked slowly: "How can you tell that they are a perfect match?"

"..."

Chi Jingting came out to smooth things over: "Maybe it was the first time they saw a girl around me, so they mistakenly thought your Huai Nian was my girlfriend. Alas, you guys are really short-sighted. If we were in the same school, you would see that a handsome guy like me would have different girls around me from morning to night. Each of them is sexy and charming, and each of them is a perfect match for me. It's really amazing."

He is a tactful person and can ease the atmosphere with just a few words.

At the same time, the food delivery man knocked on the laboratory door.
Seeing this, Chi Jingting walked out of the office and dispersed the crowd in a relaxed tone: "Alright, alright, everyone, disperse. You are all gathered here to stare at Duan Huaian's girlfriend. The girl is thin-skinned and can't stand you looking at her like this. Be careful that Duan Huaian won't bring her to the lab next time."
"We're having lunch. Who of you hasn't eaten yet? Want to join us?"

Everyone shook their heads and quickly dispersed from the office door and returned to their respective workstations.

Chi Jingting took the meal from the delivery man and returned to the office.
He closed the office door.

"Okay, don't be so sullen," Chi Jingting said, "Think about it, if you bring Huai Nian to the lab, will they make a mistake?"

These words seemed to be blaming Duan Huaian, but in fact they seemed to be blaming Huai Nian.
Nostalgia pursed her lips: "...I will try to come more often in the future."

After hearing Huaian's words, Duan Huaian's expression eased a little.
-
After that day, Huai Nian began to go to Duan Huaian's laboratory frequently.
But after she went there, she just sat in Duan Huaian's office reading and studying, and didn't talk much to anyone.
The people in the laboratory are also busy with the research and development of intelligent bionic prostheses and have no time to engage in nostalgic jokes.

Once, during the break after dinner, they saw Huai Nian but not Duan Huai'an, so they asked, "Where is Duan Huai'an?"

Huai Nian said: "He was stopped by the department head."
"I see." They finally realized what was happening and asked about Huai Nian's information, "Which college are you from?"
“Medical school.”

Another person came over and said, "There's a very beautiful girl in your medical school. I wonder if you know her."
Miss: "Who is it?"
The man said: "The name is also very nice, called Huai Nian."

"..."
Nostalgia had a clear understanding of the engineering man for the first time, and she really turned a deaf ear to the outside world. The fact that she and Duan Huai'an were in love became public after this semester, and it also made some splashes on the school forum. Occasionally, when they walked on the street, they would attract a lot of attention. However, the students in Duan Huai'an's studio didn't even know what nostalgia was called.

Huai Nian calmly introduced herself, "My name is Huai Nian."
"..."

It was the familiar embarrassment again.
Huai Nian noticed everyone's stagnant expressions and suddenly changed the subject, pointing to the intelligent bionic prosthesis on the workbench and asking, "Are you making this to participate in a competition?"

"No, this is a custom-made intelligent bionic prosthesis," He Junhui introduced to her. "It is customized according to her wrist to ensure that it can be installed perfectly."
Nodding, Huai Nian became curious again: "How much does this cost?"

"for free."
"what?"
"That client is a very famous blogger. It seems that she charges 700,000 or 800,000 yuan for each advertisement." He Junhui pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said, "The market price of bionic prostheses is between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan. With this calculation, she actually saved us hundreds of thousands of yuan in promotion fees."

"More than 200,000?" Huai Nian was slightly shocked when he saw the robotic arm in front of him.

"Well, the labor and costs add up to a lot. Duan Huai'an didn't take the money from that person, but he paid us the corresponding salary." He Junhui smiled, "The R&D team has spent millions of dollars in the past few years, all paid by Duan Huai'an. He is really amazing as a boss. He is generous, professional, business-minded, and well-connected. Everyone in our team has decided to follow him after graduation."

It was the first time I heard about Duan Huaian from someone else.

He was not born a child of destiny.
Rather, it is his ability and courage that make everyone admire and respect him.

"But I heard that Duan Huai'an plans to study abroad."

He Junhui's words brought back the scattered thoughts of nostalgia.
Huai Nian hesitated for a while: "Going abroad?"
He Junhui scratched his head and asked, "Don't you know? I'm not sure either. I heard him on the phone once, saying something about studying abroad. Could it be that it wasn't him who went abroad, but someone else?"

"But didn't he start a company?"
"Starting a company will not affect his study abroad. After all, our team is very mature now and we have worked together for three years. Even if Duan Huai'an goes abroad, it doesn't matter. We can communicate in real time on the Internet."

Huai Nian nodded slowly and gave a polite smile: "So that's how it is."

As they were talking, Duan Huaian appeared in their sight.
He Junhui walked away at the right time.

Duan Huai'an came to Huai Nian and asked her, "Are you going home this week?"
Nostalgia asked him back: "Do you want to go back?"
Duan Huai'an said: "My mother will return home tomorrow."

Thinking back, it seems like the last time I saw Cheng Songyue was half a year ago.
Duan Huai'an often used the term "princess syndrome" to describe Cheng Songyue. Every time she returned to China, her son, Duan Huai'an, had to go to the airport to pick her up. If Duan Huai'an didn't go, Cheng Songyue would definitely pretend to cry at home and say seriously: "I worked hard to carry you for ten months and gave birth to you, but you don't even want to come to the airport to pick you up. In your eyes, am I still your mother?"

I miss the chance to witness it once.
The acting is particularly heartfelt.

Duan Huai'an said expressionlessly: "She ranked first in the art exam."
Nostalgia was shocked: "...Is she studying acting? Why do I remember that she studied business?"
Duan Huai'an: "She was bored and went to take the art exam just for fun."
Nostalgia or shock: "You can get first place in the exam just by playing around, your mother is amazing."

Duan Huaian smiled indifferently.

It was already mid-April, and Nostalgia thought for a moment: "I have midterm exams and two classes next week, so I probably won't have time to go home this week."

"Okay," Duan Huai'an said, "I'll go back by myself."

Cheng Songyue will land at the airport at 4pm tomorrow afternoon, and Duan Huai'an has a class tomorrow afternoon, which ends at 3:30. It will take at least 40 minutes to drive from the school to the airport without traffic jams.
Nostalgia asked him, "Are you leaving early?"
Duan Huai'an: "Don't leave early."
Nostalgia: "What about Aunt Cheng?"
Duan Huai'an treated his mother equally: "Let her wait."
Miss: "..."
-
The next afternoon, I missed the full class.
During the last class in the afternoon, Xu Fu winked at the three of them and said, "There's a bar next to the school. Shall we go and play?"
Jing Yue was eager to go, but said: "I won't go. I'm short of money recently."
Xu Fu waved her hand and said, "Money is not a problem. Miss Xu will pay for tonight's consumption."

Xu Fu has always been generous. The skin care products and cosmetics she uses on a daily basis are all big brands, and the school bag she occasionally carries is also a luxury brand.

Jing Yue couldn't help but ask, "Miss Xu, your family is so rich, why do you want to study medicine? And the most difficult and tough eight-year clinical medicine."

"Because my family owns a hospital," Xu Fu said the name of a hospital, "Have you heard of it? It's the largest private hospital in South City."

The three nodded.

"My family runs it." Xu Fu smiled. "Why do you think I studied medicine? It's so that I can take over my family's hospital and become the dean. If you can't find a job after graduation, come to me. I will pay you a lot and let you work in the outpatient department instead of in the operating room."

As we all know, outpatient clinics have regular working hours every day, no need to work overtime, high pay and little work.

Jing Yue: "But I still want to go into the operating room. I feel like I'm just an outpatient, and I don't have the sense of accomplishment of being a doctor and saving lives."
Zhu Yutong: "I also think that the satisfaction and fulfillment of successfully completing an operation is incomparable to anything else."

Xu Fu was very disappointed with the two of them. She tried to find resonance in Huai Nian. She looked at Huai Nian and suddenly remembered that he was the best in his profession. She sighed and said, "Forget it. Huai Nian would rather stay in the operating room every day."

Huai Nian said seriously: "Then I will be exhausted to death. I am a human, not a machine." Xu Fu: "It seems that I am the only one in the whole dormitory who studies medicine not to cure diseases and save lives."

Nostalgia: "But you have money, Dean Xu."
Jing Yue: "But you have money, Dean Xu."
Zhu Yutong: "But you have money, President Xu."

Xu Fu smiled happily: "I just like people praising me for being rich. OK, let's go to the bar to drink tonight. I'll pay the bill. It's a deal."

Huai Nian didn't really want to go, but then she thought about it and realized that she hadn't participated in dormitory group activities for a long time. So she didn't spoil everyone's fun. After dinner, she returned to the dormitory, changed her clothes, and went to the bar outside the school with everyone.

Coincidentally, the bar was just one street away from the community where Duan Huai'an lived.
Huai Nian was not afraid of meeting Duan Huaian here. Firstly, he went to pick up his mother today and must have stayed overnight there; secondly, Duan Huaian didn't like such crowded places.

The atmosphere of this bar is very good and quite quiet, with only the resident singer singing on the stage.

Xu Fu had reserved a seat near the floor-to-ceiling window in advance. There was a minimum consumption, but a non-alcoholic drink for each of the four people almost offset it. If they ordered some snacks and fruit plates, they would exceed the minimum consumption amount.
They were sitting opposite each other on two sofas with a coffee table in the middle. Xu Fu sat next to Huai Nian. She looked around for a handsome guy and asked Huai Nian absentmindedly, "Have you been to Qing Bar?"

Nostalgia said: “No, but I have been to a bar.”

This answer was really unexpected. Xu Fu looked Huaian up and down and asked, "When did you go to the bar?"
Miss: "Freshman year."

"When you went to the bar, didn't the security guard ask you for your ID?" Xu Fu's face was full of suspicion.

"..." Huai Nian was speechless, but he didn't have much confidence when he spoke, "That bar was opened by Chi Jingting."
"The eldest young master of the Chi family does nothing all day long. He even opened a bar full of playboys." Xu Fu changed the subject and asked, "Is the wine in his shop good?"

"I thought you were going to ask him if there were many handsome guys in the store." Huai Nian said swallowingly.

Xu Fu couldn't help but laugh, her tone was ambiguous: "He's the signature of his shop. No one is more handsome than him."

Just then the waiter came over to serve the wine. Huai Nian didn't notice the profound meaning in Xu Fu's words. She took the wine glass and took a sip: "Sweet."
"Well, sweet wine goes with sweet girls." Xu Fu teased her.
Huai Nian glanced at her, tried to support himself and said, "I have drunk before, and I have drunk a lot. I was drunk."

"Is this true?" Xu Fu obviously didn't believe it. "When?"
"A thank-you banquet for teachers after the college entrance examination."
As she spoke, her tone of nostalgia gradually faded, and her eyelids slowly drooped, "They were all drunk and crazy."

Xu Fu asked: "What do you look like when you're drunk? I'm telling you, when I'm drunk I kiss every guy I see. Hey - my friends say I'm a pervert and I'm extremely obsessed with looks. Even when I'm drunk, I only kiss handsome guys."

"..."
The expression of nostalgia froze, as if there was something stuck in the throat.

Not only did she kiss the handsome guy, she also touched him all over and stripped him of his clothes.
She was so lustful that she ate the handsome guy up.

If Xu Fu, who grabbed a handsome guy and kissed him, is an old pervert, then what is the nostalgia?
I miss you so much that I dare not think about it.

Fortunately, Xu Fu on the other side was immersed in her own world and continued, "But I don't think I'm a pervert. I was drunk and kissed someone, and the handsome guy who kissed me wasn't drunk. Couldn't he stop my unruly behavior? I think they must have been very happy when I kissed them, otherwise why didn't they push me away? A grown man can't push away a drunk weak woman? Anyway, I don't believe it."

"..."

Huai Nian was stunned for a moment, then reacted.

She remembered very clearly that Duan Huaian did not drink a drop of alcohol that day and was very sober.
He could have pushed aside the nostalgia, and what happened afterwards would never have happened.

While thinking, Xu Fu beside him looked around and finally got something. She saw a handsome guy. So she immediately stood up and left without looking back: "You guys stay here, I'll chat with the handsome guy."

Although the four of them were sitting in the same booth, the sofas were about two meters apart, and there was an extremely large coffee table in the middle. If they wanted to talk, they would have to shout. And after they sat down, Jing Yue and Zhu Yutong chatted, and Xu Fu and Huai Nian talked, so when Xu Fu left, Huai Nian's place became quiet.

Huai Nian thought about it and came up with a ridiculous idea, but she was not sure. She could not believe that Duan Huai'an liked her in high school.

After hesitating for a long time, Huai Nian took out her mobile phone. She stared at the chat box with Duan Huaian and was silent for a long time.
She decided to take it step by step.

Miss: [Didn’t you not drink alcohol at the teacher’s farewell banquet? ]

After sending the message, she was very nervous and patiently waiting for Duan Huai'an's reply. At the same time, she imagined in her mind what Duan Huai'an would reply, something like "Why do you suddenly ask this?", "I didn't drink." And she also thought about how she would reply to him.

Two seconds after the message is sent, the words "The other party is typing..." will be displayed at the top of the chat interface.

When Duan Huaian sent the message, the cell phone made a "whoosh" sound.
While I missed seeing the content of his message, my heart also made a crackling sound and shattered into pieces.

Duan Huai'an: [Are you trying to say, you were drunk that night, but I wasn't, so why didn't I reject you? ]

Duan Huai'an: [I refused.]
Duan Huai'an: [But you seemed to think I was playing hard to get, so you kissed me even harder.]

"..."
If you want to reject it, you will welcome it.
The kiss became even more intense.

Nostalgia could not imagine what these two sentences meant, and it was even harder to imagine that she was the protagonist who did all these crazy things. She felt mixed emotions, and reached out to take the wine glass on the coffee table in front of her. The non-alcoholic drink tasted like a sparkling water drink, and after adding ice cubes, the liquid was cold.

She drank it in one gulp, and her whole body was filled with coolness, and her brain was also stimulated by the icy pleasure and became much calmer.

I miss my fingertips moving on the phone screen and typing slowly: [But you are a man and I am a woman. ]
What she meant was that there was a huge difference in body size and strength between men and women, and no matter how fierce she was, he should be able to resist.

Duan Huai'an: [Baby, you also know that I am a man. ]
Duan Huai'an: [Can a normal man refuse the embrace of a woman he likes? ]

Nostalgia took a deep breath and her throat felt tight as if it was frozen.
A sour feeling suddenly arose in my heart.

She was clearly choking on her breathing, but her typing speed also became very slow. It was as if her hands were frozen, and she stumbled and paused as she typed on the screen.
Then, she typed a line of words, but after finishing it, she couldn't press the send button.

Silence.
The phone in my hand suddenly vibrated.
Duan Huaian made a voice call request.

The bar was quiet, with only the resident singer singing on the stage in the distance.

Xu Fu booked a seat next to the floor-to-ceiling window. She sat next to the window and pressed the answer button.
No one spoke at first.

Huai Nian knew that Duan Huaian was waiting for her to speak, or perhaps not waiting for her to speak, but waiting for her to take the first step.

"Duan Huai'an..." Huai Nian felt the non-alcoholic drink she had just drunk playing tricks in her throat, and her mouth was filled with an unknown smell of alcohol. She glanced sideways, overlooking the bustling night scene of the city. The neon lights flickered in the distance, and her eyes flickered slightly. Her rationality was shaken, and her sobriety was also obliterated by the alcohol. "Did you like me in high school?"

Duan Huai'an said calmly, "A little less than like, what do you think it is?"

The unexpected answer did not ease my nostalgia, but instead made the pain in my heart even worse.
She muttered, "A little less than like, just not that much."

A little less than like is hard to express.
"A secret crush," Duan Huai'an laughed, "Baby, can't you guess this?"

(End of this chapter)