Chapter 17.2 - The Fragrance of that Tea (Part 6)
"Turn around." Ai Jingchu reminded her at the right moment.
"Oh." She quickly spun the steering wheel fully, turning. Unexpectedly, she was so nervous that her skills faltered. On the first try, she almost crashed into the flowerbed at the roadside. She quickly reversed and succeeded in making a 180-degree turn on the second attempt.
As they drove away, Zeng Li looked in the rearview mirror and saw the man and woman frantically getting out of their car again. The woman was still yelling, but she couldn’t hear what she was saying anymore.
Feeling guilty, Zeng Li sped up, and even though she couldn’t turn left at the intersection, she rushed through.
After driving several kilometers and seeing no signs of anything abnormal, Zeng Li finally took a secluded street, braked, and stopped.
She let out a long breath, and the first thing she did after parking was to go check the front of the car.
Fortunately, the car wasn’t badly damaged. In fact, it was in much better condition than the other car. There was some paint chipping, and the angle of the crash had been slightly off, so the right headlight cover was broken.
Zeng Li turned to Ai Jingchu, standing beside her, and asked, "How did I do?"
Ai Jingchu raised an eyebrow. "A bit more ruthless than I expected."
Afterward, Zeng Li didn’t mentally replay the insults that had been thrown at her, as she usually did. Because the café was busy, she went to Carol’s and shared her good mood with Ma Yiyi.
"Didn’t you say you’d fix it for him?" Ma Yiyi asked.
"I did, but he wouldn’t let me." Zeng Li replied.
"Ai Jingchu is such an oddball, a big man actually encourages you to do something crazy like that." Ma Yiyi frowned while wiping a glass.
Zeng Li smiled and placed the glasses one by one on the shelf.
If he had said nothing and done nothing at that time, she would have thought it was normal because after all, he was a man and shouldn’t get involved in a woman’s fight. If, like at that moment when she had grabbed his arm, Ai Jingchu had gotten out of the car to defend her, she would have thought he was a good friend.
But whether she had chosen the first or second option, maybe after she calmed down, her final impression of him would be either that he was too untrustworthy or too impulsive.
But he wasn’t either.
If he could be figured out, he probably wouldn’t be Ai Jingchu.
He taught her that if you can’t fight back with words, you can use other ways. For some reason, this simple rule came to her later than it did for others.
"You’re killing 3,000 enemies and wounding 800 of your own. It hurts the other person but doesn’t benefit you."
"But it’s really satisfying." Zeng Li smiled.
"Xiaoyu," Ma Yiyi suddenly said, "If you keep going like this, be careful you might fall for him."
Zeng Li’s face changed slightly. "Impossible!
She had sworn that she would only love one person in her life, and never change. She would never be like her mother.
Earlier, Zeng Li helped Ai Jingchu take out those two CDs, continuing to complete the task assigned by Director Li. He lived in the military family compound of the Air Force Command, and after parking the car, there was still a long way to walk to catch a taxi.
So Ai Jingchu accompanied her and sent her back to the main street.
The night breeze was strong, and Zeng Li’s hair was blown wildly, covering her face. She reached up to adjust it and remembered the hair tie Ai Jingchu had given her earlier. She put it on her wrist, then raised both hands and casually fixed her hair with her fingers.
She still had her bag on her wrist. Since she had left early in the morning, her bag was full of things like her toothbrush, toothpaste, and cup for the follow-up appointment. It was heavy and large. Her movements seemed clumsy, and she ended up hastily tying a messy ponytail.
Throughout, Ai Jingchu didn’t politely take her bag. Instead, he just stood by and observed her.
Zeng Li realized that the series of actions just now didn’t seem very ladylike and didn’t take into account the feelings of others. She smiled at Ai Jingchu in embarrassment.
When she grinned, her metal braces showed, and as she smiled, her canine tooth and the gap left by the extraction appeared. Her canine tooth wasn’t particularly sharp, but it grew in the wrong place, almost pushing the adjacent tooth inward, making it quite noticeable. Before this, he had always thought that all teeth should be in their proper place to be considered healthy and perfect. But he didn’t expect that flaws could actually make someone unique.
Finally, an empty taxi drove toward them.
Zeng Li quickly waved it down. Just as she was hurriedly saying goodbye to Ai Jingchu and running toward the car, Ai Jingchu took a few steps forward and called her.
She turned back.
Ai Jingchu stood in the wind, facing her, about three to four meters away. His deep eyes glowed brightly, but he didn’t speak for a long time.
The taxi driver impatiently asked, "Are you getting in or not?"
"Yes! Wait a moment, driver," Zeng Li quickly responded, opening the door and looking back at Ai Jingchu.
Ai Jingchu tilted his head slightly, furrowing his brow and saying, "Remember your follow-up appointment in four weeks."
Zeng Li smiled, "I won’t forget." Then she got into the car.
A normal person has 28 permanent teeth.
In ancient China, people believed there were 28 constellations in the sky.
Four weeks is exactly 28 days.
A woman’s menstrual cycle averages 28 days.
Sometimes advertisements for skincare products say they’ll bring about a complete change in 28 days.
There was once an American indie film called "28 Days," where the female lead received therapy that occurred every 28 days. Interestingly, there’s also a zombie movie called "28 Days Later," where the male lead wakes up from a coma after 28 days and discovers the world has changed.
But 28 days—
It was also the cycle in which Zeng Li and Ai Jingchu met.
