Try Again chapter 23
Different Treatments
After finishing breakfast, Jiang Lin sat in front of the computer for a long time, unable to focus on the words filling the screen. In the end, he had to shut down the computer, change his clothes, and go to the pet shop.
He had just video chatted with Cheese yesterday, and when he saw him today, Cheese still jumped on him, licking his chin and lips with his long tongue.
He indulged Cheese for a few licks and only remembered he forgot to wear gloves when a staff member handed him disinfecting wipes to clean his mouth. The store’s latex gloves had all been used, so the owner gave him disposable plastic gloves. He wore them while playing with Cheese, but by the time he was leaving, his fingers started to itch one by one.
He took out the eczema treatment cream from his bag, bought a bottle of water at a convenience store to take his medicine, and felt some relief by the time he got back to the café.
Light rain began to fall again. As Deng Feng opened the café door and was mopping up the water at the entrance, he looked up and saw Jiang Lin arriving, jokingly saying, “You’re over half an hour early today. I’ll have to calculate your overtime pay.”
Avoiding the puddle on the floor, Jiang Lin replied, “No need; I came over early since I left home earlier.”
The typhoon had also affected many of the street shops, something Jiang Lin was well aware of. He put his bag in the staff lounge, grabbed his apron from the wall, and put on the newly bought latex gloves to help out.
The café was dimly lit, and the air was not great. He opened several floor-to-ceiling windows in the customer area to let in natural light and fresh air. Then, he grabbed a cloth and began cleaning the tables, chairs, and decorations. Once the customer area was tidy, he continued organizing in the order preparation area.
Deng Feng mopped the entire café floor. The two worked hard until after two o’clock, finally getting everything clean and ready to open for business.
After placing the mop and bucket on the iron rack across the room to dry, Deng Feng wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked Jiang Lin, who was busy labeling, “Have you eaten lunch yet?”
Jiang Lin had a late breakfast and was still not hungry. Deng Feng went to the beef offal shop across the street to buy a bowl of noodles, and then he picked up honey garlic-flavored Korean fried chicken from the fried chicken shop next door. Just as he brought the food back to the café, Deng Yi arrived, exclaiming that she was starving and snatched the fried chicken to eat.
Deng Feng sighed and complained, “You didn’t even ask me before taking it. That was for Jiang Lin.”
Deng Yi had just stuffed a piece of garlic fried chicken into her mouth when she glanced at Jiang Lin, who was busy whipping cream, and said to Deng Feng, “You didn’t say it earlier; I could just go buy another one.”
“No need,” Jiang Lin turned around and said, “You all eat; I really am not hungry.”
“Alright.” Deng Yi replied cheerfully, raising an eyebrow at Deng Feng. Deng Feng shook his head helplessly and grabbed a pair of chopsticks to eat the beef noodles.
The store was filled with the aroma of beef and fried chicken, along with the scent of the coffee machine grinding beans. After smelling it for a while, Jiang Lin felt hungry and thought of getting a bowl of beef noodles once he finished. Just then, a few student customers entered the store.
Since Deng Feng and Deng Yi were both eating, Jiang Lin put down what he was doing and came over to take their order. As soon as the students arrived, they placed a large order, requesting 28 drinks, with seven different types of coffee alone.
After Jiang Lin took the order, the two siblings put down their food to help out. As they were preparing the drinks, more customers came in one after another. Jiang Lin was so busy that he didn’t even have time to drink water, and it wasn’t until Xiao Xu came to the café around three that he could finally take a break.
Having just been hungry a moment ago, he found he couldn’t eat anything now, so he made himself a cup of Ovaltine. Deng Yi threw the cold fried chicken pieces into the trash can and picked up her phone, telling Deng Feng that she wanted to call Ji Minglun to bring food over.
When she got Ji Minglun on the phone, she learned he was at the university, so she asked him to bring ginger duck and oyster omelets from an old shop next to the university. When Deng Feng turned around, he found Jiang Lin was watching her. Assuming Jiang Lin wanted to eat too, he tapped Deng Yi on the shoulder and said, “Ask Minglun to bring more food; Jiang Lin and Xiao Xu are here as well.”
Deng Yi relayed the message, and then happily hung up. When Deng Feng asked her why she was so happy, she said, “It’s strange; he agreed so readily today and even asked me if I needed him to bring anything else.”
Deng Feng chuckled, “That’s unusual. Did he bump his head against a pole during the typhoon and damage his brain?”
Deng Yi playfully hit Deng Feng on the arm, “Can’t you just wish for your sister’s happiness?”
Rubbing his arm where she hit him, Deng Feng grinned, “I’m just reminding you because I’m wishing you well.”
Not wanting to deal with her teasing brother, Deng Yi picked up her phone and went outside. Deng Feng walked back to the counter and said to Jiang Lin, who was leaning against the wall drinking Ovaltine, “You’ve been busy for hours without sitting down. Go take a break; Xiao Xu and I can keep an eye on things.”
Jiang Lin didn’t refuse. After finishing the last sip of Ovaltine, he washed the cup and hung it up, saying to Deng Feng, “Call me if you need anything.”
Deng Feng watched him go inside and remembered something else. He told Xiao Xu to keep an eye on things and walked over to open the door.
Jiang Lin was sitting at the table, the gloves he had been wearing earlier were removed and placed aside, and his fair, slender fingers were very red. He was scratching his right hand with his left hand.
When Jiang Lin tried on the job, he had mentioned his eczema issue to Deng Feng. Since this condition was not contagious and he always wore gloves while working, Deng Feng didn’t mind. Now seeing it, he guessed what had happened and took Jiang Lin’s hand to check, “How did it get so serious? Have you been to the hospital?”
The warmth from Deng Feng’s fingers transmitted through the skin on his wrist, making Jiang Lin feel uncomfortable. He pulled his hand back and explained, “It’s probably because of the weather. I forgot to wear gloves when I was at the pet shop earlier, so I think I’m allergic again.”
Worried that Deng Feng might be concerned that this would affect his work, he added, “It’s not a big problem; I’ve already taken my medication. It will calm down soon.”
“Do you have any ointment?” Deng Feng asked.
The ointment was at home, and he had just gone into the break room to plan ordering more medicine. Deng Feng told him to wait and went out for a few minutes, returning with the café’s first aid kit.
Seeing Deng Feng pull out a disinfectant wipe, Jiang Lin reached for it, saying he would do it himself. Deng Feng didn’t insist; while Jiang Lin wiped, he continued rummaging through the medicine box, finding a partially used tube of anti-inflammatory ointment and asking if it was suitable for him to apply.
Jiang Lin had never used anti-inflammatory cream before, but now his hands were very itchy, so he decided to use it as an emergency measure. Seeing him squeeze it directly onto his fingers to apply, Deng Feng stopped him, saying, “You can’t just apply medicine like that.”
As he spoke, Deng Feng pulled out a medical cotton swab, squeezed some of the white ointment onto it, and held Jiang Lin’s wrist again.
“I can do it myself.”
Although Deng Feng was expressing concern, Jiang Lin always felt uncomfortable asking others for help with applying medicine, especially since they weren’t that familiar with each other. However, this time, Deng Feng didn’t let go: “Don’t be so polite with me. When I was a kid, my sister often scraped her hands and feet, and I helped her apply the medicine. I have experience with this.”
Since he said that, Jiang Lin couldn’t refuse anymore and just watched him apply the cream. Deng Feng was surprisingly meticulous, applying the medicine bit by bit without missing any corners, showing a lot of patience.
Just as he was almost done with the right hand, the door to the break room was suddenly pushed open.
A person outside shouted, “Ge, come out and handle an order. The machine seems to be stuck.”
Before Deng Feng could respond, Jiang Lin pulled his hand back, took the cotton swab from him, and said, “You go ahead; I’ll apply it myself.”
Deng Feng had to go out to take care of things. Just before closing the door, Deng Yi gave Jiang Lin a thoughtful glance and hurried to Deng Feng’s side. Before she could ask what was going on, a customer at table 3 pressed the service bell.
Inside, Jiang Lin didn’t notice Deng Yi looking at him. He dipped the cotton swab into the ointment and quickly applied it to a few other fingers. After finishing, he put away the medicine box and took out his phone to check.
The new unread messages were trivial, and the person pinned at the top still hadn’t contacted him. He then opened his friend circle and saw that Lu Zhe had posted a nine-grid photo of old streets in Hong Kong not long ago.
Lu Zhe liked photography and was good at editing photos. This set of street shots had a strong vibe of the 1990s. Jiang Lin saved each picture and even liked them.
After checking his friend circle, he put away his phone and went outside to help.
When Ji Minglun arrived, it was nearly evening. The rain had passed, and the sunset broke through the frosty white clouds, casting its last rays on the world and forming a faint rainbow in the sky. More and more people were on the streets, and the café was experiencing its peak time for evening customers.
Carrying two large bags of food, Ji Minglun looked at the order station and the food prep area but didn’t see Jiang Lin. Instead, his gaze collided with Deng Yi’s.
Deng Yi was sprinkling matcha powder on top of a coffee. As soon as she saw him, she pouted and said, “Why are you so late? We’re missing someone who can work. Hurry up and come help!”
Ji Minglun raised the food he was carrying: “I’ll take this in first.”
Walking through the break room, he spotted Jiang Lin in the corner at a round table, with his back to him, tidying up. Ji Minglun placed the food on the table in the break room and put on an apron hanging on the wall. When he came out, he saw Jiang Lin at the adjacent table, bending down to talk to a customer, seemingly laughing at something the customer said.
The person he was talking to was a girl with a ponytail. Jiang Lin’s smile made her smile sweetly in return, and she even unlocked her phone to show him something.
The usually aloof Jiang Lin looked seriously at the girl’s screen, then took out his phone to hand it to her. After chatting a bit longer, the girl returned his phone, and he straightened up to continue tidying up.
Ji Minglun scrutinized the girl’s appearance.
She had a baby face with bangs, wearing a ruffled short-sleeve shirt paired with a checkered dress, and was drinking an iced latte. Even after Jiang Lin walked to the next table, she continued to gaze at his back and whispered to her friend.
After more than half a year of running the café, Ji Minglun had accumulated a fair amount of experience in observing people, especially in situations like this that he often encountered.
On Jiang Lin’s first day at the café, Deng Feng had mentioned that a customer was photographing Jiang Lin. He knew this meant that sooner or later someone would confess their feelings for him. In the past, he would have tried to prevent such a situation, but now he felt powerless to do anything but watch as the day arrived.
While he was lost in thought, Jiang Lin had finished tidying up the table and turned around, noticing Ji Minglun standing at the break room door. Jiang Lin smiled at him, but Ji Minglun avoided his gaze and walked towards the counter.
The smile that hadn’t fully formed froze on Jiang Lin’s lips as he recalled the uncomfortable feeling Ji Minglun had when he left that morning.
That morning, he had woken up later than Ji Minglun, and when he got up, there was no one in bed. He could only hear water running from the bathroom.
At that moment, he hadn’t thought anything was bothering Ji Minglun, but later remembered it might have been because Ji Minglun woke up to them cuddling while sleeping.
If that was the case, it could explain Ji Minglun’s indifference towards him.
He took out his phone from his pocket and looked at the two tickets he had just bought for the grassland music concert.
Earlier, he had heard two customers talking about the concert happening that night and remembered how Ji Minglun used to often take him to karaoke to sing. He thought about inviting Ji Minglun to go together.
But in this situation, would he be rejected as soon as he spoke?
Staring at the two tickets positioned at the edge, he hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to give it a try.
After tidying up the table, he returned to the order area.
Ji Minglun was standing with Deng Yi. As Jiang Lin approached, he saw Deng Yi leaning against the table’s edge, tilting her head and saying, “You should go; otherwise, it’d be such a waste. Do you know how many people I asked for help to get these?”
Focusing on cutting lemon slices, Ji Minglun replied, “I really have something to do tonight. You can go with your friends.”
“Cut it out,” Deng Yi scoffed, “What could you possibly have to do? If you don’t want to go, that’s fine; there are plenty of people who want to accompany me.”
After saying that harsh remark, Deng Yi looked at Ji Minglun, who remained indifferent. Her eyes turned red, and she turned to leave. Deng Feng watched the whole process from the side, and only after his sister left the café did he pat Ji Minglun on the shoulder: “I really don’t know what to say about you two.”
Ji Minglun placed the cut lemon slices into an empty jar nearby without lifting his eyelids: “If you’re not going to help persuade her, then don’t say anything.”
“Can I even persuade her?” Deng Feng said helplessly, “After all, she’s my sister; I can’t say anything too harsh.”
“Feng Ge, come take a look at this,”
Xiao Xu at the cash register turned around and called out. Deng Feng went over. Ji Minglun finished cutting the last slice of lemon, and when he turned to grab the honey jar, a figure stood in the position where Deng Feng had just been, blocking his way.
Without guessing what Deng Yi wanted to invite Ji Minglun for, Jiang Lin only remembered how Ji Minglun had just rejected her, and he mustered up the courage to ask, “Do you have plans tonight?”
Ji Minglun glanced at him and replied, “Why?”
Jiang Lin unlocked his phone, held it out in front of Ji Minglun, and spoke in a low voice: “I have two tickets for the Grassland concert, for tonight. The seats aren’t great, but you can still see the stage. Do you want to go?”
Ji Minglun stared at Jiang Lin’s phone screen, and for a moment, he didn’t answer. Just as Jiang Lin’s breathing rate increased nervously, Ji Minglun finally spoke.
“How did you find out about this?”
Jiang Lin was not usually enthusiastic about entertainment activities; he would rather stay home than socialize. Ji Minglun knew this well and figured he wouldn’t have proactively sought out these noisy events.
“I overheard two customers talking about it earlier,” Jiang Lin confessed. “I thought you might be interested, so I bought two tickets, but unfortunately, the good seats were already taken.”
At the end, Jiang Lin’s confidence faltered a bit; after all, the seats were indeed quite poor. Nevertheless, he continued to look at Ji Minglun.
Compared to the second row that Deng Yi had mentioned earlier, these two tickets didn’t have much appeal, but they did because of who he was inviting. Ji Minglun focused on Jiang Lin’s fingers gripping the phone, and after a moment, he asked, “Do you want to go with me?”
Jiang Lin nodded eagerly: “I bought seats next to each other.”
Ji Minglun picked up a sour lemon slice and popped it into his mouth, suppressing his almost-revealed emotions, and replied in a calm tone, “Alright, let’s leave after the café closes.”