He walked ahead, and Shen Zhiyi looked at the breakfast before accepting it helplessly. They walked along the stone-paved road, following the same route as yesterday, across the stone bridge and along the riverbank to the courtyard.
They sat down in their respective spots and got to work. Sometimes Chi Ye discussed work over the phone. He would always take his phone outside the courtyard, then return a while later and resume working on his computer.
Boss Yao stopped by once. Seeing that neither disturbed the other, she watched curiously for a while before hurrying away again.
Even Grandpa Chi approved of Shen Zhiyi's craftsmanship, so she had nothing to criticize either. She put her mind completely at ease and let Shen Zhiyi work freely.
"Shen Zhiyi, time to eat."
When she looked up again, Chi Ye was standing beside the stone table, calling her. He clearly had a bad temper, yet he could put up with this much to ask her for a favor.
She got up, washed her hands at the sink, then sat down at the stone table. She thought she could not keep eating these meals for free and should find a chance to give Chi Ye the money.
Beside her, Chi Ye was rather pleased to see her eating quietly without mentioning money, and his chopsticks grew busier picking up food.
"Eat more. Looks like you have a lot to do this afternoon. This soup is really fresh. I personally watched the owner dig up the bamboo shoots on Back Mountain."
Seeing her cheeks bulge as she ate, amusement filled his eyes. Then he picked up his bowl and began eating too.
For more than half a month, Chi Ye stayed close to Shen Zhiyi. Every day, he followed her into the little courtyard with his tablet and laptop and got to work.
The tea table had already been finished the previous week. After it was sanded and treated with tung oil and the like, Boss Yao waited until it was fully sealed before having someone carry it back.
Chi Ye had watched the tea table reach completion with his own eyes. He had seen the wood slowly become a shaped block. Then, under Shen Zhiyi's hands, patterns began to appear: a golden toad with lotus flowers entwined around it.
The craftsmanship seemed somewhat familiar to him. The old man seemed to have a tea table like this too. He had even been scolded for slapping it hard.
Understanding dawned in his eyes. Presumably, the old man had kept trying to bring them together because he approved of her craftsmanship. Thinking he had seen through the old man's intentions, Chi Ye instantly felt rather pleased with himself.
Whatever else might be said about the past half month, he had taken meticulous care of Shen Zhiyi, although he had not actually managed to do much.
Still, he had bought the meals and brought her to the courtyard, and he had even helped by passing her tools when he had a moment.
It was no exaggeration to say that half the credit for this tea table belonged to him.
Shen Zhiyi only had a few wood relief pictures left. She could finish them all in a few days, then return to S City.
Chi Ye looked at Shen Zhiyi. He needed to find a time to talk to her. Madam Ye would be back in another half month, and he had no desire to fall into an endless round of blind dates.
Compared with blind dates with no end in sight, putting up with things for half a month is nothing, he thought.
Another day's work ended, and they left the courtyard together. The riverbank was as lively as ever. Children chased one another around a large tree, while elderly men and women cooled themselves with palm-leaf fans.
When an elderly man saw Chi Ye, he raised the watermelon in his hands and called out.
"The first ripe watermelons of the year. You and young Shen should take one home to try." With that, he found a bag, packed the watermelon inside, and thrust it into Chi Ye's hands. Then he smiled at Shen Zhiyi.
"Eat plenty, young Shen. This watermelon is so sweet. You don't need to carry it. Let this lad take it. Come find me if it's not enough."
After speaking, the elderly man sat back down in his chair with a chuckle and continued chatting with the others. An elderly woman smiled as she greeted Shen Zhiyi.
Shen Zhiyi was quiet, so Chi Ye did most of the answering. The elderly woman's gaze moved back and forth between them, but she stopped teasing them and let them go.
Chi Ye carried the watermelon and his laptop bag. As the breeze swept past, he narrowed his eyes in contentment.
"Hey, Shen Zhiyi, look how nice those old folks are. And you should talk more."
Shen Zhiyi turned to glance at him, then looked away. She was not used to chatting with others. She had never expected Chi Ye to stay by her side for half a month.
She guessed that Chi Ye would start bringing up their cooperation again in the next couple of days. She looked up at the sky. The sunsets here were always beautiful, so beautiful they seemed a little unreal.
She had never watched the sunset or the evening glow before, nor had she ever taken the initiative to greet people passing by.
Chi Ye was different. Whenever he wanted, he could fit right in with those people and chat as though they were old friends. Those elderly people loved that about him.
Besides, he came from a distinguished family and was polite and measured in his dealings with others, knowing when to advance and when to step back. She thought that even if he had a bad temper, there would still be people willing to coax him.
Halfway through dinner that evening, Chi Ye received a call. To avoid disturbing anyone, he went out onto the balcony to answer it.
But the soundproofing was not very good, after all, and Shen Zhiyi still heard his angry voice.
"Didn't I tell you to change this program before? Why haven't you changed it?"
"You've dragged out a single bug for so many days. Are you waiting for it to fix itself so you can leave your jobs and get laid off early?"
"Impressive. You're so young, and you're already ready to live on a pension. Hmph."
One sarcastic remark followed another, though after he finished scolding them, he also supplied a solution. He had just finished one call when another came in. He steadied his temper and answered.
"Boss, you really must come back for the collaboration meeting in a few days. Also, progress on our Q7 project has been a little slow. Please come back and take a look."
Of course Chi Ye knew these matters were important, but he still had something else to finish here. He could not simply give up halfway.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, rapidly calculating.
At Shen Zhiyi's pace, she would probably finish Boss Yao's commission the day after tomorrow. Then he could spend another day negotiating with her. Returning in three days should be no problem.
"Arrange the collaboration as planned. Have the person in charge of the Q7 project prepare a report, and wait for me to get back to make arrangements. Handle the other matters for now. Email me any documents I need to review. All right, I'm hanging up."
Listening, Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyes and picked up the food in front of her, chewing slowly.
Chi Ye came back inside and saw a small hollow in the dish in front of her. Shen Zhiyi had only been eating what was directly before her; the dishes a little farther away remained untouched.
"You're hopelessly lazy, Shen Zhiyi." With that, he picked up his chopsticks and put some food from a farther dish into her bowl. Seeing her eat it, he continued serving her.
Neither brought up the phone call. Each was making their own calculations.
Shen Zhiyi finished the commission even earlier than Chi Ye had estimated. Once Boss Yao had inspected and accepted everything, she paid the entire remaining balance.
Boss Yao could hardly put the wood relief pictures down. Shen Zhiyi's work was both good and fast. No wonder everyone liked the things she made.
The wood relief pictures were framed one by one, depicting a hundred flowers in bloom, each with its own form. Even Chi Ye had to admit they were beautiful.
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