Orange Storm chapter 90
Typhoon Day
When Jiang Zhijin received Fang Xing’s message, he was still at home. Outside, the weather was gloomy, even though it was already past ten o’clock, it looked like the morning hadn’t arrived yet. The wind had started to blow, causing the windows to rattle lightly.
Upon seeing the message, Jiang Zhijin immediately returned the call.
“Yeah, it hasn’t rained, but the wind is quite strong.”
“Where are you now?”
Due to the sudden emergency landing, half of the passengers in the cabin were making phone calls. Next to Fang Xing sat a girl in a floral dress, sounding like she was arguing with her boyfriend. In front, a man wearing a string of Buddhist beads was yelling particularly loudly, as if he wanted to give a speech with the phone in his hand.
“I’m in Yunshi. They said it was an emergency landing…”
Floral Dress: “I said we could leave tomorrow, but you insisted on me coming back! And now this!”
Buddhist Beads: “I’m at Yunshi Airport right now! Yunshi! Ah, we encountered a typhoon. You don’t understand, anyway, I can’t come back temporarily. I got a new order recently; you have to keep an eye on it for me, it’s worth millions!”
“I don’t know when we can leave…”
Floral Dress: “How would I know when we can leave? I’m not a flight attendant!”
Buddhist Beads: “How can I trust you with the orders? Every single one of them is worth millions!”
“Hey.” Jiang Zhijin had been chuckling for a while, holding back his laughter as he asked, “Are you listening to a comic dialogue next to you?”
“…Don’t bother picking me up.” Fang Xing sighed and insisted on finishing his sentence in the midst of the chaos.
“What will you do then, walk back from the airport? Don’t worry about it; send me a message when you get there.”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Zhijin glanced out the window.
It was still dimly lit outside, and the wind made the windows emit a dull sound. Tang Yuan probably hadn’t experienced such terrible weather before; it curled up in its cat bed and didn’t dare to come out. Jiang Zhijin checked all the doors and windows in the house again, then squatted in front of Tang Yuan’s bed to comfort it for a while. He glanced at the time; it was exactly one o’clock.
He had thought Fang Xing would come back for lunch, so he had bought a lot of groceries. But it seemed unlikely now. He quickly made something to eat for himself and sent a message to Fang Xing, who didn’t reply, probably because his phone was turned off.
Just as Jiang Zhijin was about to try calling, he received a call first.
It was from Gu Xun.
He answered the phone, and Gu Xun spoke first.
“Jiang Ge, do you have time now?”
“What’s up?”
“There’s a bit of trouble at the bar.” Gu Xun sounded a bit helpless, “could you come over?”
Jiang Zhijin drove to Cloud Seven in the rain. When he arrived at the door, there were already quite a few people gathered outside, and there were two police officers inside. Gu Xun stood at the front and waved to Jiang Zhijin as he approached.
“What’s going on?”
Gu Xun seemed quite annoyed too, speaking quickly, “Two customers who were drinking at the bar last night said their phones were lost here at the bar. Zhou Hong showed them the surveillance footage, and it seems like someone took them while they were drinking. There were too many people last night, and I didn’t pay attention either.”
Both of them were drunk and left their phones on the sofa, which were then stolen. Zhou Hong helped them report to the police, but they insisted that the bar was also responsible. They said they were tourists and were supposed to leave today. The delay caused them to miss their flight and hotel expenses, and who was responsible for that…
“Zhou Hong was in a hurry to close because of the typhoon, and after a few arguments, they got physical.”
Jiang Zhijin immediately glanced at Zhou Hong, who was talking to the police. Zhou Hong’s ears and side of his face seemed to have been scratched by something, with two bright red marks that were oozing blood. There were also two men standing nearby, and when they heard Gu Xun’s words, they immediately started shouting, “What do you mean? We’re the victims—the owners of the lost phones!”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhijin turned to look at them.
He was usually laid-back, and his emotions rarely showed on his face; even when he was really angry, he usually remained expressionless, but now he looked inexplicably intimidating. The men were forced to swallow their words, and Jiang Zhijin’s voice was cold as he said, “My friend is the real victim here. What happened to his face?”
“I didn’t mean to. I just pushed him a bit,…” one of the men began, then changed his tone, “Why is he speaking so aggressively?”
“Who the hell is speaking aggressively!”
Zhou Hong, who had been talking to the police, immediately turned around, “You were the one who accused me of colluding with the thief in the first place!”
“Okay, okay!” The policeman in front of Zhou Hong interrupted them, “Let’s all go to the police station first.”
After saying that, he turned to look at Jiang Zhijin, “You’re the owner, right? You come too.”
……….
After hanging up the phone, Fang Xing saw that Floral Dress and Buddhist Prayer Beads were still on the phone. He put on his earphones, closed his eyes, and didn’t know how long had passed—perhaps it was when Floral Dress had just broken up with her boyfriend and Buddhist Beads was talking about his umpteenth multimillion-dollar project—when the flight attendant finally came over to remind them to turn off their electronic devices.
After turning off his phone and waiting for almost half an hour, the plane finally started to move slowly.
This delay had almost cost Fang Xing an entire morning. By the time the plane finally struggled to reach Shaojiang, it was already past four in the afternoon.
The torrential rain hadn’t arrived yet, but the sky was as dark as ink. The trees on the roadside of the airport were blown askew by the wind, and the damp mist was already mixed with the wind. The cars on the road all had their headlights on, like blurry oil paintings seen through the mist.
Fang Xing dragged his suitcase with his left hand and opened his phone with his right hand, first calling Jiang Zhijin.
No one answered.
He called again, but still no answer.
He frowned and hung up.
Normally, Jiang Zhijin rarely didn’t answer his calls unless something was wrong.
After hesitating for a moment, Fang Xing didn’t call again and instead hailed a taxi.
The taxi driver was quite enthusiastic. He got out and neatly placed Fang Xing’s suitcase in the trunk, then chatted with Fang Xing as they got into the car.
“Traveling alone?”
Fang Xing smiled, “No, going home.”
Due to the weather, the car was driving slowly. Fang Xing lowered his head and opened WeChat to send a message to Jiang Zhijin.
“I’ve arrived.”
As he exited WeChat, his phone coincidentally received a text message.
“Affected by Typhoon ‘Narcissus’, heavy rain with localized thunderstorms is expected in the city on June 22nd, with rainfall ranging from 30 to 50 mm and locally exceeding 80 mm. The heavy precipitation is expected mainly tonight, accompanied by strong winds, thunderstorms, and other severe convective weather. An orange storm warning has been issued. Please take precautions.”
Fang Xing was surprised and quickly scrolled up, finding another message.
It was the same type of message he received when he first came to Shaojiang.
He inexplicably felt amused. He glanced at the message again, then closed his phone.
Jiang Zhijin spent nearly two hours at the police station, mediating, accompanying the viewing of surveillance footage, discussing compensation…
He had never encountered such a verbose person before. Just the mediation alone took nearly an hour. If it hadn’t been at the police station, he might have really resorted to violence. Finally, when everything was settled, the three of them left the police station. Jiang Zhijin took out his phone and glanced at it.
They weren’t allowed to use their phones in the mediation room, so now when he opened his phone, the first thing he saw was Fang Xing’s message.
“I’ve arrived.”
He sighed deeply and dialed Fang Xing’s number.
After a moment, someone finally picked up on the other end. Before Jiang Zhijin could speak, Fang Xing’s voice with a teasing tone came through.
“Jiang Zhijin, are you doing this on purpose?”
Jiang Zhijin didn’t react at first. “Huh?”
“On a typhoon day, you don’t answer the phone, leaving me alone at the airport.” Fang Xing laughed as he spoke.
“… My bad.”
Jiang Zhijin finally understood and sighed with a smile.
“I’ve got something going on here. Are you still at the airport? I’ll come pick you up.”
“Why would I be so silly? I hailed a taxi. I’m almost at the neighborhood.”
Jiang Zhijin breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I’ll wait for you at the neighborhood.”
After hanging up, Jiang Zhijin turned to look at Zhou Hong and Gu Xun, then gestured to the injury on Zhou Hong’s face.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Zhou Hong quickly waved his hand to indicate that he was fine. “It’s nothing, just a scratch. I’ll go buy some iodine at the pharmacy.”
“Alright.”
Neither Gu Xun nor Zhou Hong had driven, and the wind outside was so strong that it was difficult to stand. Jiang Zhijin wore a hoodie, which billowed in the wind, and his hair was a mess. He didn’t bother to fix it, saying, “Let’s get in the car.”
The moment they got into the car, the heavy rain started pouring down.
The torrential rain came unexpectedly, accompanied by the raging typhoon. It pattered loudly against the windshield, almost turning into columns of water as it flowed down. The entire car was filled with the sound of rain. Jiang Zhijin found a nearby pharmacy, and the three of them bought medicine. Jiang Zhijin drove the car to the entrance of the neighborhood, then handed the keys to Gu Xun.
“Drive the car back.”
Gu Xun was taken aback. “No need, the two of us can just take a taxi.”
“Can you even find a taxi in this weather? Drive slowly, and call me when you arrive.” Jiang Zhijin found an umbrella from the side of the seat and opened it neatly. He then unbuckled his seatbelt. Just as he was about to close the door, his phone rang. He closed the door and answered the call.
“Have you arrived?”
Through the rain and wind on the other end, Fang Xing’s voice was somewhat unclear. Jiang Zhijin raised his voice to reply, “I’m at the entrance.”
Although he had an umbrella, he knew it was useless the moment he stepped out of the car.
The rain was too heavy, and the wind was too strong, causing the umbrella to twist and turn. Just walking from the roadside to the entrance of the neighborhood, his lower body was already soaked by the rain.
There was already a lot of water on the ground, so he slowly moved, avoiding the water while making his way forward and talking on the phone. The rain and wind were too loud, so they had to shout to each other over the phone.
“You didn’t drive!”
“I didn’t drive back.”
Fang Xing paused for a moment, then shouted again, “I’ll come down to pick you up!”
“No,” Jiang Zhijin was surprised. “I’m already inside the neighborhood.”
There was a heavy closing sound from the other side. Fang Xing interrupted Jiang Zhijin’s words and repeated, “I’ll come pick you up.”
“… Okay,” Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but smile. “You’re coming?”
When they were almost at the entrance of the building, Jiang Zhijin finally saw Fang Xing’s figure.
Fang Xing was as disheveled as Jiang Zhijin. He had an umbrella, but it was still useless. His entire body was almost soaked, and rainwater covered his face. Seeing Jiang Zhijin, Fang Xing stepped over the puddles and quickly walked to his side, moving the umbrella towards him.
Fortunately, the entrance to the building was right ahead. The two rushed into the building amidst the rain and wind and pressed the elevator button.
Once inside the building, most of the rain and wind noise was blocked out. The elevator stopped on the twentieth floor. As they waited, Jiang Zhijin looked at Fang Xing, who was soaked through, feeling a bit helpless but also couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re quite the troublemaker, Fang Xing.”
“At least I’ve got a conscience.” Fang Xing immediately stared at Jiang Zhijin. “I’m here to pick you up.”
Jiang Zhijin smiled and leaned in slowly. “Sorry for not picking you up earlier.”
The word “earlier” was quite clever. Fang Xing chuckled for a while and only spoke when they reached the door.
“It’s okay. I’m here to pick you up now.”
In August of last year and June of this year, they met during a typhoon, and they reunited during a typhoon. It felt like they had crossed eleven months of time, yet they were intersecting at certain moments.
Like the same airport, the same unanswered phone calls, the same strong wind and rain, and the same orange storm warning.
The difference was that this time, Fang Xing received Jiang Zhijin’s call.
Jiang Zhijin listened quietly without saying a word.
Until they entered the house, and Fang Xing closed the door behind them, asking, “Shall we take a shower first? You’ve just recovered from a cold…”
“Fang Xing.” He called out his name, and when Fang Xing turned his head, Jiang Zhijin smiled at him.
“Come here, give me a kiss.”
His expression was calm, as if he had just said “hello” and “goodbye”. Fang Xing was caught off guard, standing still.
“What?”
Jiang Zhijin smirked and repeated, “Come here, give me a kiss.”
This time, Fang Xing didn’t hesitate. He strode over to him.
The next moment, his lips touched Jiang Zhijin’s lips.
Outside, the rain and typhoon raged on, and both of them were drenched. Their hair was soaked, and water droplets hung from their ears and necks, resembling a stream. But only their intertwined tongues and lips were warm. Fang Xing’s kiss, as always, was eager and assertive. Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but take a step back, falling into the sofa and pulling Fang Xing along.
In the cat’s bed, Tang Yuan was startled, peeking out and staring at these two not-so-bright individuals.
Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but laugh first, and Fang Xing took a step back, looking a bit helpless.
“Can you be more serious?”
“Sure.”
Jiang Zhijin nodded and leaned in again, kissing Fang Xing’s chin.
The outside storm hadn’t stopped yet, but it was all shut out, as if it were another world. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day, or maybe it would be another typhoon day.
It didn’t matter.