Half-baked

45
The action of wiping his head with a towel paused.
As Duan Huai'an finished speaking, the room and the other end of the phone fell silent.

Duan Huai'an's hair was still dripping wet, and the water drops dripped down the ends of his hair and hit Huai Nian's elbow. The cold water drops fell on Huai Nian's exposed skin, like a cluster of fire, burning her.
She withdrew her hand, her shoulders drooping, but she still couldn't help but cover his face with the towel.

At the same time, Cheng Songyue roared from the other end of the phone: "Can we chat? Don't talk about your girlfriend after just a few words. It's like you've never been in a relationship. What are you trying to show off?"
"It is indeed my first love." Duan Huai'an pulled off the towel from his face with his free hand and wiped his hair. As he did so, he said, "Mom, if you are okay, go find Huai Nian. I am busy accompanying my girlfriend."

Hearing this, Cheng Songyue acted quickly and tried to hang up the phone first.
However, it ended in failure, because when Duan Huaian said the last half of the sentence, his fingertips were already hovering over the "hang up" button.

Duan Huai'an casually put his phone aside and hugged Huai Nian: "Did I say something wrong?"
Seeing that he was wiping his hair roughly, Huai Nian took the towel silently. After a moment of silence, she said, "I'm not the only one who has sat on your front passenger seat. You're talking as if I'm particularly stingy and won't let others sit on your front passenger seat."

Duan Huai'an asked: "Besides you, who else will sit in my passenger seat?"
Huai Nian thought for a moment and uttered a name that could not be refuted: "Chi Jingting."

Duan Huaian clicked his tongue.
It really is.

……

Duan Huaian still had to work today, so after breakfast, Huai Nian accompanied him to the company for a while.
On the way, she remembered that Duan Huai'an had a work phone, so she took it and called Huai Yanjun: "Well, I met with a friend, and... Du Xuezhao, do you remember? I used her phone to call you. I brought cash, don't worry, mom. I'll be back for dinner, okay, bye."

After finishing the call, I caught a glimpse of Duan Huai'an's vague gaze sweeping over me.
Nostalgia helpless: "Du Xuezhao is a girl, my best friend in junior high school."
Duan Huai'an touched his nose and said, "I didn't ask her if she was a man or a woman."

Huai Nian tilted his head to look out the window and rubbed his forehead with a headache.

After arriving at his company, Duan Huaian had little time to take care of her. She missed playing with the little robot in his office, so Duan Huaian went to the R&D room to work.

I played for a whole day, and around four or five in the afternoon, someone pushed open the office door.
She looked over and saw that it was not Duan Huaian, but He Junhui.
He Junhui said, "The boss is still busy there. He estimated that he would not be able to come out for four hours. He asked me to call a car to take you home."
Nostalgia stood up: "Thank you."

When passing by the R&D room, Huai Nian took a look inside.
Separated by a glass wall, I couldn't hear any sound from inside. I could only see Duan Huaian sitting half-bent over the workbench, wearing a protective mask and holding a machine in his hand, with sparks crackling from it.

He is very focused and calm, and has a unique charm.

Huai Nian quickly retracted his gaze: "Let's go."

After returning home, Huai Nian found her cell phone and thought about returning the money that Cheng Songyue had transferred to her.
She opened WeChat, clicked on the transfer, and her eyelids twitched before returning the transfer.
She thought it was five hundred.
But it seems that it is not three digits, but four digits.

Count carefully.

500?
wrong.
There is an extra "0".
is 5000.
No.
Which female college student would spend 5,000 yuan on a meal when going out to eat?
Maybe I turned it the wrong way?
But then I thought about it.
But according to the Duan family's standards, five thousand yuan for a meal seems normal.

But regardless of whether the transfer was wrong or not, Huai Nian returned the money.

Cheng Songyue didn't reply to the message. She had a lot of contacts and messages in her phone. Once, she couldn't spare the time to reply to a message, so she asked Huai Nian to reply for her. Huai Nian saw that there were thousands of unread messages and didn't know which one to reply to.
"Do you want to reply to every one of them?"
"No," Cheng Songyue couldn't help laughing. She said a name, "Just find this person and reply to her message. I usually don't reply to people's messages. I will only reply to her messages when I have something to ask her."

I think it's the same today, but she has already returned the money and there are no other problems.
-
I missed taking a day off, and the next day I was picked up by my driving school instructor to practice driving.
Because it was summer vacation, the driving school was almost full of students who had just finished the college entrance examination. I missed the first day when I went there, and I was mistaken for a college entrance examination candidate. When I was told that I was a senior, the other three students in the car were shocked.

The three students in the car with her were all girls, and they were high school classmates who came here to learn how to drive.
Therefore, the atmosphere inside the car is very good.

During lunch break, Huai Nian came to the grocery store to buy some water. When she turned around, she saw someone walking towards her not far away. She was stunned.
The other party was walking towards this side, with a look of surprise on his face.
When Xu Ruqing was still four or five meters away from her, he called her name: "Huai Nian, what a coincidence."

Miss: "Brother Ruqing."
Xu Ruqing: "Come here to practice driving?"
Miss: "Yeah. What about you?"
Xu Ruqing: "Me too. It's hard to squeeze out time between the hospital and school. I'll practice a little more today and take the third test tomorrow."
Huai Nian nodded softly and said nothing more.

Huai Nian said, "Brother Ruqing, I'm going back to the car."
Xu Ruqing: “Yeah.”

Soon, the car she was practicing driving made a circle and came back to her.
Nostalgia said, “I’m going back to the car.”
Xu Ruqing: "Well, practice driving well."

Huai Nian lowered her eyes, nodded, and then returned to the car.

The three girls in the car knew that she had a boyfriend. When they saw her with a handsome guy, they were curious: "Sister, is that handsome guy your boyfriend?"
"No." Huai Nian said, "It's a senior in school."
"I thought he was your boyfriend."

"No, my boyfriend," Huai Nian paused and said seriously, "He is more handsome than him."

In an instant, the carriage was filled with screams.

The three girls pestered Huai Nian to ask for photos of her boyfriend. Huai Nian felt that there was nothing to hide, so she found the photos of Duan Huaian saved in the album and showed them.

The picture quality is rough and a little blurry, as if it was taken secretly.
The boy was standing next to the car, wearing all black, tall and thin, with an expression so cold that it was almost invisible, but his facial features were truly superior, and even though there was a strong sense of distance, he was still so handsome that people couldn't take their eyes off him.

"You're really handsome, sis. How did you two know each other?"
"With his face, it would be a shame if he didn't enter the entertainment industry."
"If he were to become a male model, he would definitely be a top star."
"..."

The atmosphere in the car was very lively and the topic soon went off track.
They chatted the whole afternoon.

Huai Nian didn't participate much in their conversation. She lowered her head and chatted with Duan Huaian.
Duan Huai'an: [I have nothing to do this afternoon. I'll pick you up later? ]
Miss: [Are you on the way? ]
Duan Huai'an: [Send me your location.]
I sent it to you to express my nostalgia.

About half a minute later, Duan Huaian sent a navigation screenshot, showing that the driving school was between the company and Duan's home.

Duan Huai'an: [What time do you usually finish? ]
Huai Nian thought for a moment: [Five o'clock.] The class ended at five o'clock, and the coach sent the students home one by one. Huai Nian was the last one. Because the coach and Uncle Li, the driver of the Duan family, were father and son, the coach sent Huai Nian and took Uncle Li home at the same time.

Duan Huai'an: [That will be soon.]
Duan Huai'an: [Baby, I should be there in ten minutes. ]
Nostalgia: [Well, I’ll talk to the coach.]

Then she saw Duan Huaian's continuous messages, piecing them together into a sentence.
【Just say it】
Your boyfriend
【I miss you so much】
【So specially】
【Pick you up】
【Go on a date】

"..."
Huai Nian stared at the screen for a long time, making sure that he was not shameless enough to say that she missed him. She typed calmly, imitating his way of speaking, and replied to him.
【Since you】
[Thinking like this]
【how】
【A few days ago】
【Not coming】

After replying, she felt it was so childish, but she didn't withdraw it. Since she had already sent it, there was no need to withdraw it.
After exiting the chat box, she found her coach's WeChat and sent him a message, saying that she had to leave early. After sending the message, she sat in the back seat and drank the last bit of water in the mineral water bottle. After a while, she wanted to go to the toilet.

The sky was grey and the air was sultry, as if a rainstorm would fall at any moment.
When Huai Nian came out of the toilet, she saw that there were only a few minutes left to reach Duan Huai'an, so she simply didn't go back to the car and turned to the grocery store. She chose two ice creams from the refrigerator, closed the refrigerator, and suddenly there was someone beside her.

Xu Ruqing asked her, "Are you leaving?"
Nostalgia nodded hesitantly: "What about you?"
Xu Ruqing said: "I am leaving too."
He glanced at the ice cream in her hand: "Is this delicious?"

"It's OK." Huai Nian said, "I like eating grapes, so I think this grape slush is delicious, but people who don't like eating grapes may not think it tastes good."
"Then I'll buy one to try and see if it tastes good." Xu Ruqing pushed open the door of the refrigerator. Unfortunately, the ones he had in his hand were the last two.

Huai Nian thought that Duan Huai'an would eat whatever she bought, so she generously gave the ice cream in her hand to Xu Ruqing.
"Here's one for you. I'll get another one."
She took a strawberry-flavored ice cream and when she paid the bill, she also paid for Xu Ruqing's share.

"Thanks." Xu Ruqing reached into the schoolbag behind him and took out a bag of grape candies. "This is for you. I remember you loved eating this when you were a kid. I wonder if your taste has changed over the years."
Missing the details he was amazed at, for a moment, it was like returning to her childhood. She whispered, "...Nothing has changed. Thank you, Ruqing."

Nostalgia took it.

Xu Ruqing smiled in the bright breeze and moonlight.

After a brief chat, Nostalgia opened the ice cream packaging and was looking for a trash can to throw the wrapping paper away when a man suddenly stood in front of her and took the transparent plastic cover from her hand. He held the plastic cover in his palm, making a crisp folding sound.
When his hand reached out, Huai Nian knew it was Duan Huai'an.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly and she looked up to meet his eyes, but his gaze met Xu Ruqing's.

Xu Ruqing spoke to Duan Huai'an in a gentle and polite manner, "Come to pick up Huai Nian?"

Duan Huai'an twitched his lower lip: "Yeah."
He pressed his eyelids, with a sharp cold light in his eyes: "Let's go?"

Realizing that he only said one word to her, Huai Nian naturally followed him and walked quietly with Duan Huaian.

Duan Huaian's car was parked on the side of the road.
After getting in the car, he started it, changed gears, and stepped on the accelerator without saying a word the whole time.
I was holding back a lot of energy and resentment.

Huai Nian tried to speak several times, but he stopped her: "Talk to me after you stop the car."
The atmosphere in the car was depressing. Huai Nian lowered his eyes and remained silent.

The air conditioning in the car was so cold that it stung the skin. The sky outside was gradually getting dark and the car was parked outside the yard.
The dim light of the street lamp shone into the car. It was quiet all around. Duan Huaian broke the dead silence.
"I'll contact someone to find you a new driving school."

She felt her heart tremble with nostalgia, and she felt like her throat was blocked by something, and it was difficult to sob. After a long while, she said, "Xu Ruqing and I really just met by chance. He went to take the exam after practice today. He and I will never meet again."

Duan Huai'an's voice seemed to be permeated with cold air. "Be good, baby. The driving school I learned to drive at before is quite good. It is also close to my company. You can stay overnight at my place, so you don't have to run back and forth all the way every day."
"Let's practice driving somewhere else tomorrow. I'll pick you up every day."

The engine in the car stopped.
Duan Huaian unbuckled the seat belt, turned around, and considerately unbuckled it for her.
His breath was warm as he pounced on her face, leaning over and kissing the corner of her lips: "Like I said, I really hate this person. He provokes me once, twice."

"How could he have that?"

"He didn't have it? That time with the campus card, and this time."
"What campus card?"
Huai Nian was silent for a while. His eyes were dark without any impurities, and his breathing was heavy, like a haze.
There was a loud thunder in the sky, and after a whole afternoon of silence, it started to rain.

"The time when I met Xu Ruqing while taking a taxi?" Her heart was pounding.

Duan Huai'an's eyes were cold, "Why did he give me the campus card instead of giving it back to you? Don't you two have WeChat? Isn't he your childhood sweetheart and good brother?"

"Can you stop calling me 'good brother' all the time? There is nothing in common between him and me." Huai Nian still had a gentle attitude.

"That's because you have me by your side." Duan Huaian pressed his tiger's mouth against her chin. He suddenly retracted his strength and held her face tightly with his hands. The prelude to the soft and lingering kiss in the past was now cold and sharp. "Do you believe that as long as I'm not by your side, he will let go and chase you?"

"If he pursues me, will I agree to him?" Huai Nian didn't understand.

I closed my eyes and missed you.
Her face was pinched by him, and it hurt. She reached out to push him away, but he grabbed her wrist and pressed her against the car window. She struggled, resisted, and resisted. Duan Huai'an suddenly kissed her lips, trying to pry open her lips and kiss her passionately. She whimpered and bit his tongue fiercely.

There is a rusty taste in the mouth.
Duan Huaian seemed not to notice and continued kissing her.

Until you feel a cool dampness on your cheeks.

Duan Huaian stopped moving, he stepped back, and looked at her red eyes.
His eyes were red, "Baby, you can't do this to me. You can't talk to other men when I'm not around."

"He and I were just having a normal chat." Huai Nian couldn't control her tears and her emotions collapsed in an instant.
"Duan Huai'an, do you want me to study abroad?" Tears wet her eyelashes. She couldn't bear it anymore and finally asked this question, "Or do you want to tie me to your side?"

(End of this chapter)