Chapter 7

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden roll of thunder sounded outside.

Xin Chun seemed startled and touched his chest. "The rain's gotten heavier, Owen."

Owen paused. "I'll go check whether the windows are shut properly."

Chapter 7

Xin Chun had sprained his ankle, and his hand was inconvenient to use, so Owen had been helping him wash his hair lately. As for bathing, he simply rinsed himself off.

Owen applied medicine to the wound on his palm, but Xin Chun insisted on handling his ankle himself.

Xin Chun drew back his foot, his cheeks flushing. The pale top of his foot arched slightly, his toes curling into the carpet, while his slender calves showed beneath his shorts.

"I can do it myself, Owen. I can't keep troubling you. Go take your shower first."

"All right. Call me if you need anything," Owen said as he stood.

Xin Chun nodded.

By the time Owen came out after showering, Xin Chun had already applied medicine to his ankle. The gauze had been removed, and the colored medicinal liquid stood out sharply against his skin, brown against white. The air carried the scent of traditional medicine as well.

Xin Chun looked composed. "The swelling in my ankle has gone down a lot. It'll be completely better in a few days."

He no longer needed the ointment, only the medicinal liquid.

Xin Chun took out that book of Y Language poetry. "Can you read two more poems tonight?"

"Of course."

The freshly bathed body still seemed to carry a trace of moisture. Owen's hair hung loose, his eyes gleaming like polished gemstones. His voice was magnetic and low, and Xin Chun soon fell deeply asleep once more to that rhythmic cadence.

Owen then closed the book, turned off the lights, and wished him good night.

The next day, it was still raining, though less heavily. The two went to the company together.

When Li Ze saw them, he could not help sighing to Ivy, "The boss and Mr. Xin have such a good relationship. They've been coming in together these past few days. I even saw the boss applying medicine to Mr. Xin's hand."

"And you didn't think anything was odd about that?" Ivy asked.

Li Ze gave a puzzled sound and scratched his head. "What's odd?"

"Straight men really are hopeless."

The rain continued on and off for three days. On the morning of Owen's final day staying over, Xin Chun unilaterally declared that his "sprained ankle" had recovered.

He woke up early and went into the kitchen to make mushroom soup.

He had truly had enough soup over the past few days and did not want to see it again for quite some time, but he had promised Owen, so he had to follow through.

After Owen got up, Xin Chun happened to be carrying the soup out. "You're awake. Hurry up and wash up, then come have some soup. I made mushroom soup. Try it and see how it tastes."

Owen did not turn around right away. He raised his hand. "Did you tie this?"

A dark green handkerchief was tied around his wrist. It was the first one Owen had used to wipe the mud from Xin Chun's face.

"Yes. I found blood on the other handkerchief, and it won't wash out. Once I figure out how to clean it, I'll return it to you, Owen." Xin Chun's eyes curved in a smile.

"You tied it beautifully," Owen said.

It looked like an ornament.

He could not say it aloud, but the moment he saw it upon waking, something had stirred in his chest. He could not help imagining Xin Chun holding his hand as he wound and arranged the handkerchief around his wrist.

It was a small surprise Xin Chun had left for Owen that morning.

After the injuries on his ankle and hand healed, Xin Chun threw himself back into his busy work.

One evening, Xin Chun received a message from a university friend.

Ke Hang: [Chun'er—pronounced only "Chun"—the group chat says we're having a class reunion. You muted it again, didn't you? Everyone's tagging you, the class monitor. Do you want to join the group and say something?]

Xin Chun frowned, with no intention whatsoever of joining the group. He directly refused: [No. Tell the vice class monitor to organize it. I don't want to attend the reunion.]

It was too bothersome.

Ke Hang: [All right. I'll make up an excuse for you in the group later. Honestly, it's fine not to go to this kind of reunion. It's all just people comparing themselves to each other. Pointless.]

Wasn't that true? Xin Chun had gone in his previous life, and it had been boring beyond measure.

Besides, he had very few friends from university, few enough to count on one hand. Other than Ke Hang, who had been in the same class, his other friends had not been classmates, and his relationship with the rest of the class was merely average.

Ke Hang: [Besides, I saw someone in the group saying they wanted to invite Senior Shao Kang to dinner too. They really want to stir things up and watch a show. It's good that you're not going. Don't give them what they want.]

Shao Kang...

Xin Chun glanced at the name without much concern. [Mm. Ignore them. If I'm not going, there's nothing interesting to watch anyway.]

[OK. I'll join the group and argue with them first. Talk later.]

[All right.]

But generally speaking, plans never kept up with changes.

This season was ideal for medicinal herbs to grow, but when Xin Chun checked on the herbs the next day, Li Ze suddenly ran over to tell him that a machine had broken down.

The machine was extremely expensive and was specifically used to extract the essence of medicinal herbs. Repairs would cost tens of thousands as well, but in a small place like Jingu Town, there were no manufacturers capable of repairing it.

"I'll take a look," Xin Chun said.

When he arrived, Owen was there too, inspecting the machine's parts. He had already dismantled part of it.

"The boss knows a little about machine repair," Ivy said.

Of course Xin Chun knew that. Besides, Ivy was being modest—Owen was extremely skilled with his hands.

But after checking it over, Owen looked up. "This machine needs quite a few replacement parts. We might as well replace it with a new one. This model is outdated too."

"But boss, only B City sells machines for this specialty," Li Ze said.

"Although we can place an order through the official website by phone, B City is too far from Jingu Town. Manufacturers generally won't arrange delivery."

They would have to arrange air freight logistics.

Owen wiped his hands. "I'll make a trip to B City myself. Xin Chun, come with me on a business trip. Some medicinal materials have arrived in B City, and I need you to identify them."

"Mm." Xin Chun froze for a moment, then nodded.

B City was the city where he had attended university. Naturally, the class reunion would be held there too. Hopefully, he would not run into them.

*

The plane landed in B City. After leaving the airport, Xin Chun spotted his friend and lifted a hand in greeting. "Ke Hang."