NOVPUBChapter 115: 109: Changling gives candy, Xie Shang is satisfied (first update)
Chapter 115: 109: Changling gives candy, Xie Shang is satisfied (first update)
“The lawful wife’s funeral is tomorrow, yet the scumbag parades with a companion through the exhibition at night, a complete moral bankruptcy, utterly conscienceless.”
What a headline.
He Dongzhou commented, “This journalist has some guts.”
The public were all cursing the scumbag, few discussed the perfume exhibition.
“I asked him to publish it.” Xie Shang used a dropper to extract a tiny amount of liquid, dropping it onto the blotter and gently waved it to sniff the fragrance.
“Did Zheng Lvhua offend you?” He knew that Xie Shang held grudges.
“Hmm.”
The scent of ebony was too strong, not what he wanted.
Xie Shang picked up a pen and revised the formula on the paper.
He Dongzhou, wearing a white lab coat and yawning, gossiped on the side, “Haven’t you made up with Miss Wen yet?”
Xie Shang took a new essence, dropped it into a new petri dish, and after realizing it was the old formula’s petri dish, he started over with another new petri dish, his eyelids slightly drawn together, “We’ve made up.”
Then why so distracted?
His phone in the storage box rang.
Xie Shang glanced at it and removed his gloves, “I need to take a call.”
He went out to answer.
“Changling.”
Xie Shang, head bowed, stood in the corridor.
A beam of light from the window just so happened to strike him, causing the passing R&D staff to pause and stare. His presence was both righteous and devilish, as if vastly cultured yet wild, both refined and feral, striking awe regardless of how many times one saw it.
At this time, Wen Changling should be at work, “Do you have time Sunday evening?”
“I’m free.”
Wen Changling said, “I got us slots for our hospital’s anniversary soirée, but the invitation suggests bringing a partner since there’s a dancing segment.” She explained, then asked, “Xie Shang, would you be my date?”
Miss Wen, how do you manage to slap and offer a sweet at the same time?
“Sure.”
Oh, why so easily pleased.
“Did you submit it?”
The gloom that had weighed on Xie Shang all day finally began to lift, “Yes.”
After hanging up, Xie Shang stood outside a while longer, his gaze squinting against the dazzling sunlight, his pupils—bearing the mixed-race gene inherited from Xie Jingxian—refracted the light like colorful glaze spilling over.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The suppressed emotions were gently smoothed out, allowing him a moment to breathe.
Upon re-entering, He Dongzhou asked, “Was that call from Miss Wen?”
Xie Shang hummed in response.
At that moment, He Dongzhou had only one thought: Miss Wen is quite something.
At four-thirty, the day and night shift changeover time.
Two medical staff left the hospital together, and upon passing the security booth at the entrance, they both glanced at the man standing there.
—A man holding a sign.
He had been standing there to the point of sunburn and dehydration, lips cracked and peeling.
“Why is that guy back again?” Xiao Jiang, a pediatric nurse, asked, “Could it really be a medical accident?”
The man had been there for several days, the same spot every day, holding the same sign that read: Medical malpractice at Dihong Hospital, justice for my sister.
Xiao Chu, a nurse from the hepatobiliary department, replied, “I heard our doctors say the hospital provided the medical records and prescription, all without issues. His sister’s complications were caused by a blameless blood transfusion.”
“Was an accident investigation conducted?”
“No, as the patient had registered for organ donation, they performed the extraction surgery and afterwards, her parents cremated the body.”
Xiao Jiang, from a medical staff’s perspective, didn’t feel much sympathy, not that she was heartless, but because doctor-patient relationships had become too complicated, “So it’s unclear now?”
Xiao Chu had heard plenty of firsthand information and was convinced it was just a case of medical disturbances, “His parents even came here causing trouble a few days ago, somehow hearing they could get money for organ donation and demanding the hospital to pay them. With such an unreasonable demand, how could the hospital possibly comply?”
“So it’s still about money then.”
“Most likely.”
Because the man kept “protesting” at the entrance, causing quite a bad impression, the security went over again to shoo him away.
But the man was persistent, always returning after being chased away.
Finally fed up, the security shoved him to the ground. Overcome by heatstroke, he couldn’t stand up right away, but still refused to leave, remaining seated and holding up his sign.
“You won’t achieve anything like this.”
The man remained indifferent.
Wen Changling bent down slightly, “Do you need help?”
He finally looked up at Wen Changling.
*****
The past couple of days were sweltering, at one point exceeding thirty degrees. The watermelon vines were wilted from the heat, and Granny Zhu said they were about ready to be pulled up since they’d harvested quite a few melons already, and it was unlikely any more would grow.
Wen Changling ran over to pull apart the vines, pointing to two immature fruits hidden inside that hadn’t lost their fuzz yet: “There are still some.”
Granny Zhu smiled.
Wen Changling had quite a knack for growing melons; from just five plants, they conservatively estimated a harvest of over two hundred pounds. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
She was watering the melon vines.
“Changling.”
She turned her head: “Hmm?”
Xie Shang held Huahua, who he had brought over to visit from his home, seemingly unbothered by the heavy shedding, cradling the cat effortlessly and leisurely: “Let’s go buy some clothes.”
“Why do you suddenly want to go clothes shopping?”
Huahua, comfortably perched on Xie Shang’s arm, exuded elegance, swishing her tail in an unruffled manner, occasionally meowing and grooming her fur with an air of untouchable nobility.
“Do you have a new outfit suitable for attending the anniversary gala?”
Wen Changling had no strong desire for clothes: “It’s not necessary to wear something new.”
Xie Shang put the cat down: “But I want to buy one for you.” The last time she went out with Yan Cong, she wore a dress she hadn’t worn before.
“Then help me water these, and we’ll go after we finish.”
“I’ll do it. You go rest in the shade for a while.”
“Okay.”
Wen Changling sat on Granny Zhu’s old rocking chair, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, watching Xie Shang water the plants.
The fourth floor of Huadi Department Store had a restaurant. Wen Changling wasn’t picky, so Xie Shang took her there for crab porridge. The second and third floors were full of luxury brand boutiques.
Wen Changling also saw the Noon Ferry boutique, bustling with customers.
She didn’t have a particular clothing brand she favored, so she picked a nearby store. Before entering, she tentatively asked Xie Shang: “Dressed like this, going into that kind of store, will the salespeople look down on me?”
A white T-shirt matched with long pants was Wen Changling’s most common summer outfit.
Xie Shang actually thought about it and then replied to Wen Changling, “If she looks down on you, just buy the store and then fire her.”
Of course, the money would be his.
Miss Wen is a nurse, and there’s only so much a nurse’s salary can be.
Miss Wen, with a face of sincere honesty, joked: “Xie Xingxing, you’re so outdated.”
Xie Shang: “…”
As a matter of fact, they didn’t encounter any salespeople giving them dirty looks.
The salespeople were professionally trained and had a keen eye for people. Some didn’t need brands to stand out; their presence alone, their demeanor, revealed their family background.
If a couple entered the store, whether they were lovers, married, or a kept arrangement, and who listened to whom, it was something the staff could discern with just a few glances. Although the two of them weren’t holding hands, with the lady walking ahead and the gentleman a bit behind, if they drifted too far apart or a passerby came too close to her, he would pull her closer to himself, protectively watching over her, never taking his eyes off her. Whenever she spoke, he would bend down and listen attentively.
Typically, when couples come into the store, the men would wait in the lounge area, make calls, drink water, read magazines, and so on.
This pair was different.
The gentleman stayed a moderate distance away, his gaze fixed on his girlfriend.
The salesperson went straight up to Wen Changling, enthusiastically helping her shop.
“Ma’am, these are the limited new arrivals for the season. Is there anything you like?”
Wen Changling casually browsed.
The salesperson maintained a professional smile: “If you don’t find anything appealing here, we also have haute couture inside.”
Wen Changling didn’t bother going to the so-called inside; she picked out two red dresses from an inconspicuous spot, one short and one long.
The salesperson opportunely suggested, “If you can’t decide, perhaps you could ask your boyfriend for his opinion?”
She chose the longer one: “This one.”
The whole process took less than five minutes.
It was clear that this client was very decisive and independent. The salesperson helped to take down the dress and led her to the fitting room.
Xie Shang sat down to wait.
*****
“Isn’t that Xie Shang?”
The speaker was Fang Jiyin’s circle friend, an actress with some fame named Tan Wanwan: “Do you want to go over and say hi?”
Fang Jiyin had already paused in her steps, watching in Xie Shang’s direction.
“No need.”
They were outside, just a few meters from that store, and had a clear view.
The salesperson in the store went over and said something to Xie Shang.
He stood up and walked towards the fitting room area.
Someone was in the fitting room. A hand reached out from inside, with a delicate wrist, pale and clearly a woman’s.
*****
