Decayed Vulgarian chapter 55
What’s his last name?
Meng Yuan Cen nodded in agreement, “mmh.”
Shen Xun’s tone grew more dissatisfied, “Did that person compensate you for your medical expenses? They can’t just say sorry and run off, right?”
Meng Yuan Cen nodded, “Yeah they did.”
Indeed, that’s the truth. Although Zheng Cong was chased away by Meng Yuan Cen, Shen Xun didn’t need to understand the details of the incident. Knowing the result was sufficient.
Shen Xun was speechless, “That’s just too rude!”
Meng Yuan Cen found this amusing. Fortunately, Shen Xun couldn’t see his face, so he suppressed his laughter.
Shen Xun’s bleak voice over the phone, accompanied by the chilly air inside the subway car, extinguished the burning sensation in Meng Yuan Cen’s arm. Shen Xun kept rambling, sympathizing, and consoling Meng Yuan Cen.
Shen Xun rarely talked this much. Meng Yuan Cen recalled Shen He’s evaluation of Shen Xun, mentioning that he was a forensic expert with less empathetic capabilities. He felt this was absurd – Shen Xun did just fine.
It seemed that his attempt to elicit sympathy was a success.
Meng Yuan Cen, seeing the chance, changed the subject, “What are we having for dinner tonight?”
Shen Xun replied, “What do you want? I’ll buy it for you.”
Meng Yuan Cen joked, “Would you buy whatever I want?”
“Yep.”
Meng Yuan Cen teased, “The treatment for a patient is indeed extraordinary.”
Shen Xun hurriedly clarified, “No, I just happen to have free time today. So I’ll try to fulfill your requests.”
Meng Yuan Cen grinned mischievously, with some mischievous thoughts emerging, “So, you’re okay with it?”
Shen Xun didn’t understand for a moment, “Huh?”
“You asked me what I wanted to eat, right?”
Shen Xun was stunned for a few seconds, but then he reacted. He couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Meng Yuan Cen, you’re still on the subway, right? Are you so unfiltered even on the subway?”
Meng Yuan Cen chuckled, “What did I say?”
“You just said—”
Shen Xun’s voice abruptly stopped.
After biting his lip, he squinted his eyes and continued, “Meng Yuan Cen, what do you want for dinner, I’m almost there.”
Meng Yuan Cen chose a place for dinner on the way, so Shen Xun didn’t have to run around everywhere. When he got home, the day was already becoming gloomy. In less than fifteen minutes, he heard a knock at the door. There stood Shen Xun, holding ointment and dinner in his right hand, changing his shoes at the entrance. In his left hand, he carried a deep blue cloth bag, the contents of which were unknown.
Shen Xun’s first act at home was to apply ointment to Meng Yuan Cen’s arm.
Meng Yuan Cen, akin to a compliant puppet, let Shen Xun take charge, his eyes fixed on Shen Xun’s face. Fair skin, sharp eyes, thick eyelashes, captivating lips… How could someone be so attractive, as if his features were tailor-made according to Meng Yuan Cen’s aesthetics? Not only the face but the whole body, perfect as if custom-made.
After applying the ointment and listening to Shen Xun’s instructions, Meng Yuan Cen’s gaze fell on the coffee table. He casually asked, “What’s in the bag?”
Shen Xun, already thinking about the now-cold dinner, stood up and walked to the kitchen to reheat the dishes. “My police uniform. I brought it back to wash.”
Meng Yuan Cen followed him, “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you in your police uniform yet.”
“I have pictures. I’ll look for them later and show them to you if I find them.”
Meng Yuan Cen nodded, then paused before saying, “I suddenly realized that you always wear your own clothes when you go to work. Do you usually change into your police uniform at the police station?”
“Yes,” Shen Xun bent over to turn on the gas stove. “Even my colleague Old Zhang, usually takes off his police uniform to buy cigarettes at the nearby store and puts it back on after the purchase.”
Though the discussion was discreet, Meng Yuan Cen suddenly became enlightened. He recalled a piece of recent social news—there was an accident, and a concerned citizen firmly held onto an off-duty criminal police officer wearing a police uniform and refused to let go, insisting the officer oversee justice. The problem was that the officer was a criminal detective, how could they do the work of a traffic police officer?
Not pursuing the subject further, once they talked about clothing, it inevitably led to the topic of matching outfits. Meng Yuan Cen changed the subject, “What do you think about the clothes I sent you?”
“Too many colors.”
“Which one?”
“The first one you sent me.”
Meng Yuan Cen opened it and chuckled silently. It was a bicolored striped T-shirt, the one with the fewest colors among the striped T-shirts. If it had been tri-colored or multicolored, would Shen Xun have been more disdainful?
“You don’t like stripes?”
“…Not that much.”
Ah, so that meant not liking them.
“Why don’t you like the second one?”
“The color is too bright, it hurts my eyes.”
So, Shen Xun didn’t like royal blue. Meng Yuan Cen silently made a note, “Other than black, white, and gray, do you have any other favorite colors?”
Shen Xun seriously pondered for a moment and shook his head, “No.”
“What about the third one?” Meng Yuan Cen persistently inquired, “Isn’t that in the black, white, and gray series? When I picked it, I guessed that you might end up choosing this, so why don’t you like it?”
“The letters on the back are too large, and there’s a bit too much use of color, a bit flashy.”
“What kind do you like?”
“The simpler, the better, like basic solid colors.”
“…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Which couple’s outfits are plain solid colors?”
Shen Xun was considering this question for the first time. “True.”
Meng Yuan Cen felt helpless and somewhat amused. He began to persuade, “Actually, you can try the new style. I think you will look good in the clothes I chose for you.”
“But I wear my police uniform most of the time at the station—” Shen Xun realized midway that something was off, and quickly rectified, “I will try it in the future.”
“When will that be? Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Shen Xun was about to respond when he suddenly caught a faint scent of something burning—
“The food in the pot is burning!” Meng Yuan Cen reminded.
In a hurry, the dishes were moved onto the plates, and Meng Yuan Cen went to set the table.
The appetizing aroma stimulated the appetite, and Shen Xun usually preferred to eat silently. Meng Yuan Cen occasionally chirped, “That alumni event is quite troublesome.”
“How?”
“Qichuan Province, it takes two hours by high-speed train, and I have to book my own hotel. Not only that, my superior wants me to take the newly arrived teachers from our school. They’re all doctor alumni in the law field. Returning to their alma mater, isn’t that a familiar place for them? Why do I have to take care of this?”
Shen Xun swallowed a mouthful of food and keenly asked, “You don’t like that new teacher?”
Meng Yuan Cen nodded. “Yes.”
“Did you have some issue with them before?”
Not a major issue, just an intuition that this person was difficult. Not just the water splashing incident a few hours ago after rejecting Zheng Cong, as the Business School was right next to the Law School, he had encountered Zheng Cong several times. Even then, he remained quite proactive, maybe a little too courteous. But Meng Yuan Cen could handle it on his own; there was no need to tell Shen Xun and make him feel uneasy.
So, Meng Yuan Cen vaguely replied, “Sort of.”
“I remember you mentioned that the participants in this alumni event are all law field doctoral graduates. So, is he the new teacher in your law school?”
“He’s a teacher in the Marxist School. At Huada, the Marxist School and the Law School are separated, but at Qida, they are combined into the School of Society and Law.”
Shen Xun’s chopsticks abruptly stopped. Previously, Shen He, with good intentions, caused the misunderstanding that Meng Yuan Cen was not single, which also left a deep impression on him. Shen Xun couldn’t help but ask, “What’s his last name?”
“His last name is Zheng.”
Shen Xun raised his head in disbelief, repeating, “Zheng?”
Meng Yuan Cen nodded, puzzled, and asked, “Hmm? What’s wrong?”