Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 31
McFlurry
At first, the car was very quiet. Li Zhao didn’t speak, only the sound of the turn signal ticking.
Gu Jiahe clenched his sleeves, feeling a bit nervous.
Time passed for several minutes like this.
“Have you eaten?” Li Zhao glanced at the time, it was almost 9 o’clock in the evening. He didn’t know what time Gu Jiahe arrived downstairs.
“No,” Gu Jiahe shook his head.
“What do you want to eat?” Li Zhao asked.
After hearing this, Gu Jiahe felt a bit uncomfortable. He thought for a moment, “McDonald’s.”
Li Zhao didn’t say anything, he reached out and pressed the button on the center console, turning on the car’s heater.
“No need, I’m not cold,” Gu Jiahe hurriedly shook his head.
“I am,” Li Zhao said without looking at him, stepping on the gas pedal.
At a traffic light at an intersection, the car was filled only with the sound of warm air blowing.
“How did you know I was here?” Li Zhao turned his head to ask.
“Guessing,” Gu Jiahe really guessed. He thought that Li Zhao left early in the morning, probably for something at the office, so he asked Qin Yi’s address.
“What if I wasn’t here?” Li Zhao asked.
Gu Jiahe shook his head honestly, “I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you wait at the front desk?” Li Zhao remembered that there was air conditioning at the front desk of the office building.
“If someone saw me, it would be embarrassing,” Gu Jiahe thought to himself. If he were caught by He Xiao again and Li Zhao wasn’t there, he would look like a complete fool.
Li Zhao cleared his throat and pulled the corner of his mouth, but didn’t continue the conversation.
Li Zhao drove to a McDonald’s near a commercial area. After parking the car, the two of them entered the restaurant one after the other.
“I’ll go order. What do you want?” Li Zhao walked towards the counter with his phone.
“I’ll do it.” Gu Jiahe stopped him.
Li Zhao ignored him and directly pointed to the display screen at the counter for him to choose.
“Just a hamburger,” Gu Jiahe held up one finger.
“What about a drink?” Li Zhao turned back to ask him.
Gu Jiahe answered, “A McFlurry.”
Li Zhao shook his head and said coldly, “It’s so cold, and you want to drink something so cold.”
Although he said that, five minutes later, Gu Jiahe still saw a McFlurry on his tray.
“Thank you,” Gu Jiahe brought his burger and McFlurry to the table, smiling at him for the first time.
If Gu Jiahe had any dietary preferences during this time, it would be his love for sweets. He would always treat himself to some sweets with whatever money he saved. Ice cream, cake, cream cookies – he accepted them all. Fortunately, he had an easy-to-lose physique, so he never gained weight.
Li Zhao also ordered a hamburger for himself. The two sat facing each other.
Li Zhao unwrapped his burger, but noticed that Gu Jiahe’s gaze had been fixed on his hand the whole time. He stopped his actions, “What are you looking at?”
“Your hand, is it okay?” Gu Jiahe pointed to his left hand.
“What do you mean?” Li Zhao didn’t understand what he was asking.
“Your left hand, isn’t it injured?”
“Who told you?” Li Zhao remembered that Gu Jiahe probably didn’t know about this incident.
“Your boss,” Gu Jiahe confessed honestly.
Li Zhao hadn’t thought that Qin Yi would mention this to Gu Jiahe. He shook his head, “It’s been fine for a long time.”
After saying that, he seemed to want to confirm that his finger function was not affected, so he made a fist and then let go in front of Gu Jiahe.
“Good to hear.” Gu Jiahe nodded, “So, is it because of that incident that you didn’t file a lawsuit later?”
Talking about work, Li Zhao’s tone softened slightly, and he spoke more.
“Qin Yi was worried that this incident would affect my mental state in court, so she had me do non-litigation.”
Li Zhao’s gaze lingered on Gu Jiahe’s face for a moment. After warming up in the car for a while, Gu Jiahe looked much better now.
He pondered for a moment, trying to keep a calm tone, “What about you?”
Li Zhao pointed to the back of his head with his finger.
He remembered the scar he saw on Gu Jiahe’s head in the hotel bathroom last time, about an inch long and crooked. But at that time, he didn’t know it was caused by a beer bottle.
“I’m fine. It’s been a while. The doctor who stitched it up did a good job, and it healed well,” Gu Jiahe even managed to force out a smile. “When I went for a follow-up later, the doctor said I was lucky. If the glass shard had pierced deeper, I might have died on the spot. Or at least been an idiot.”
“Ah, ah, ah, if you see me again now, you might say the same thing,” Gu Jiahe tried to joke with him.
Li Zhao’s hand paused, then fell silent.
Gu Jiahe was injured, went to the hospital, went for a check-up again – these were things he had no idea about. But now they were casually mentioned by Gu Jiahe, giving him an indescribable feeling.
“Do you feel pain on rainy days?” Li Zhao asked him in a low voice.
“Huh?” Gu Jiahe was still laughing and was suddenly stopped by his question, “Are you talking about this scar?”
“Yeah.”
Gu Jiahe paused for a few seconds, then said softly, “If I don’t think about it, it doesn’t hurt.”
The McFlurry had been sitting for two minutes and was starting to melt. Gu Jiahe scooped up a piece with a spoon and put it in his mouth.
After taking two bites, Gu Jiahe realized that Li Zhao was still looking at him.
He still held the spoon in his hand, with melted ice cream inside, and asked Li Zhao, “Do you want some?”
As soon as he said it, he regretted it. How could they share one spoon? His mind was in a mess, and he spoke without thinking.
Li Zhao would definitely refuse this unreasonable question.
“Sure.” But Li Zhao answered very decisively.
Gu Jiahe wanted to slap himself.
“I’ll get you a new spoon.” With that, he got up and went to the counter.
A minute later, the two of them sat facing each other again. Each had a small wooden spoon, sharing the half-melted McFlurry.
Gu Jiahe suddenly remembered the night they were 17 years old. They were also sitting face to face, eating red bean ice cream together.
Outside the window, the moon and stars were sparse, and tomorrow seemed like it would have good weather. The streetlights on the overpass in the distance lit up, as if they were connected to the sky.
“What are your plans next?” Gu Jiahe asked him.
“Are you talking about work?” Li Zhao replied.
“Yes.” Gu Jiahe knew that Li Zhao had only returned yesterday for that coordination meeting, and he probably wouldn’t be returning to the project again.
“I should still be in North City these days, there are some tasks left to handle. I’ll be starting a new project next week.”
“A new project? Where to?” Gu Jiahe raised his eyes to look at him.
“Ningcheng. A company in North City is acquiring a technology company in Ningcheng, so I’ll be on a business trip there for a while.”
“Ningcheng…” Gu Jiahe repeated softly, lowering his head.
“What’s wrong?” Li Zhao asked.
“Nothing.” Gu Jiahe shook his head and didn’t continue to inquire.
On the other hand, Li Zhao asked about his situation: “After your promotion, why haven’t you hired a subordinate?”
“Don’t mention it. I asked the HR department, they said the department’s quota is fixed, there’s no chance of hiring new people this year. We’ll talk about it next spring. Wu Mou was supposed to do some clerical work, but now that I’ve been promoted, he’s dumping everything on me even more,” Gu Jiahe said with a self-deprecating smile. “Actually, I don’t really care about the promotion, a raise would be more practical than anything else.”
Li Zhao sighed.
“Isn’t the money enough?” he asked, lowering his head.
“It’s just enough,” Gu Jiahe smiled. “We’re not like you, getting a commission from cases. Usually, we just get a fixed salary. After deducting my own rent and expenses, I send money to my grandmother every month…”
“Your grandmother? Is she depending on you now?”
“Yeah. After my mom passed away, I’m the only one taking care of her. She didn’t have insurance before, so these years, the medical expenses for her hospitalization and medication are all on me,” Gu Jiahe said casually.
Li Zhao crumpled and flattened the hamburger wrapper repeatedly.
“Let’s go.” After a while, he said when he noticed Gu Jiahe had finished eating.
Gu Jiahe nodded, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and got up.
Li Zhao began to tidy up the trays on the table to take them to the recycling bin. Gu Jiahe coincidentally reached out his hand too.
Clack—
Gu Jiahe’s palm touched the back of Li Zhao’s hand. For two seconds, no one moved. Gu Jiahe’s palm felt hot, transferring warmth to Li Zhao’s skin.
“You go ahead,” Gu Jiahe eventually let go first.
The two of them slowly walked back to the parking lot.
Before getting into the car, Li Zhao turned to ask him, “Are you going home? Or back to the office?”
Gu Jiahe raised his phone, indicating the time on it. “It’s already ten o’clock at night. Are you going to make me go back to work?”
The atmosphere between them finally relaxed a bit.
Li Zhao lowered his head and smiled rarely, “Got it. Get in.”
Although the Ring Road was clear late at night, Li Zhao didn’t drive too fast. It seemed like he wanted to spend a little more time on the road.
Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at the entrance of the small neighborhood where Gu Jiahe rented.
“Stop here, I’ll walk in from here,” Gu Jiahe hurriedly asked him to pull over.
Li Zhao stepped on the brake, and the car stopped by the roadside.
Gu Jiahe unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to get out of the car.
Li Zhao seemed to have thought of something and said to him, “Don’t come by yourself next time.”
Gu Jiahe’s heart tightened, he didn’t say anything for two seconds, seemingly deflated.
His head involuntarily drooped down, avoiding Li Zhao’s gaze, “Okay, I’m sorry for today…”
“What I mean is, if you’re coming, give me a call first,” Li Zhao added, “I can come down earlier.”
Gu Jiahe finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodding lightly, “Got it.”
He opened the car door and got out, standing by the roadside, he said to Li Zhao in the car, “You should go back quickly, it’s late.”
Li Zhao didn’t close the car window completely, nodded towards him, then restarted the car.
After driving about ten meters, Li Zhao glanced at the rearview mirror.
Gu Jiahe was still standing there, his hand came out of his hoodie pocket, waving gently at him.