novelraw Chapter 161: The Origin of Distance
Chapter 161: The Origin of Distance
"If you couldn’t wake up, he’d give you artificial respiration." Chen Xiaoqian said with a cheeky smile.
Yu Minglang and Zheng Xu simultaneously showed disgusted expressions.
Zheng Xu thought to himself that if Yu Minglang had to give him artificial respiration, he’d rather just be out of breath for good.
Yu Minglang thought that if he had to give artificial respiration to Zheng Xu, he wouldn’t have the face to hang around the group anymore.
Thank goodness!
Both let out a sigh of relief, almost experiencing something nauseating — terrifying!
"What just happened to me?" Zheng Xu asked, looking at the dust on himself. He only remembered entering the warehouse, but couldn’t recall what happened afterward.
"You..." Qian was about to say when she saw Yu Minglang eavesdropping with his large ears.
"Let’s eat first, talk later." Patient confidentiality must be kept.
"I’ll pass on eating." Zheng Xu pondered that sharing a meal with Yu Minglang could nauseate him for half a year.
"Come on, I worked so hard to save you, almost gave you artificial respiration. At least give me some face and eat with me. Imagine if I really did give you respiration! I’d have to rinse my mouth with bleach to scrub off that taste of humiliation." Yu Minglang was trying to use the meal to assert his presence and strongly declare his ’territory’.
"Same here, if you had given me respiration, I might’ve just smashed myself into a wall." Zheng Xu replied.
Qian patted their shoulders, "I know you two are close, alright, give me some face, let’s have a good meal. It’s not easy to get together. Zheng Xu, we don’t have much to offer, would you do us the honor?"
"You’ve already said that, how can I refuse?"
Zheng Xu fetched a roasted chicken from the car, "I won’t eat your fish soup for free; I’m contributing. This chicken was a gift to my dad from a fellow villager, made using an ancient farmhouse method. My old man has longed for this taste for years. You two are in luck!"
"Three of us can share one. Why’d you take out two?" Qian asked.
"My dad’s petty. If you steal one, he’ll dwell on it for ages. If we finish both, on the way back, I can just fool him with some from a deli." Such was the end of Mr. Zheng’s long-awaited chicken, Qian had to respect Zheng Xu as someone who accomplishes big things, reckless yet bold, much like in a past life.
Yu Minglang was lighting a fire, covered in soot, and looked up to see Zheng Xu and Qian sharing a smile, frustrated.
"Hey, Zheng Xu! Come help with the fire, don’t just stand there eating for free!"
Zheng Xu raised his eyebrows at Qian, "Is this the magnanimous man you were talking about?"
Qian let out a dry laugh, internally cursing Yu Minglang as useless. She’d been trying to portray him as noble to Zheng Xu, had barely set up a magnanimous reputation for Yu Minglang, and here he was tearing it down.
"I’ll go help him. Your husky is too petty." Zheng Xu said as he turned, with Yu Minglang brandishing a flaming stick at him.
"Hurry up!"
Seeing the flame in his hand, Zheng Xu suddenly blacked out, the world blurred around him.
"Zheng Xu!" Qian hurried to support him.
Yu Minglang came over quickly, helping Zheng Xu sit down. After a while, Zheng Xu regained his senses, pale-faced.
"Zheng Xu, how are you feeling now?" Qian searched around but couldn’t find a serrated edge, which was odd — this was the first time Zheng Xu’s ailment struck without any serrated edge present.
"I’m fine..." Zheng Xu’s mind was filled with images flashing rapidly. He looked at Yu Minglang, squinting, trying hard to recall.
Seeing he was alright, Yu Minglang returned to the firewood pile and found that the small twig he had placed there had caught fire.
"You plan to plant flowers but they don’t bloom, yet inadvertently, the willow thrives. A casually placed twig has caught fire, heat the fish soup and let’s eat!"
Yu Minglang’s words clarified the fleeting thoughts in Zheng Xu’s mind.
A burning twig sparked the fire, classmates nearly choked...
"Zheng Xu, are you okay?"
Qian’s words pulled Zheng Xu out of long-buried memories.
Zheng Xu looked at Qian with a complex expression.
"Chen Xiaoqian, didn’t you say that if I could remember things from when I was fourteen, my illness might be cured?"
"Not a hundred percent, but there’s a significant chance it could improve."
"If one day I’m cured, will you still meet me?" He was nearly holding his breath, awaiting her reply.
Zheng Xu had asked her the same question in a past life.
Qian had originally forgotten this detail, but hearing Zheng Xu mention it today, the memories came flooding back.
She had joked back then, saying, who cares about you once you’re cured, go chill somewhere cool.
At that moment, her daughter Xiaowei was beside her, a kid clinging to her leg saying, once you’re better, mom will find my real dad, my real dad is super handsome.
Back then, Xiaowei was just a few years old, always clamoring to see her dad. Qian casually deflected by saying her dad was a very handsome man who’d gone far away for work.
Looking back now, she realized she was a bit cruel to Zheng Xu.
The man had helped them a lot, yet she joked with him like that.
"Of course, even after you’re cured, we’ll still be friends." Across two lifetimes, she could finally say this answer openly.
"Friends...?" Zheng Xu repeated, feeling indescribable.
Yu Minglang was eavesdropping all along, and interjected immediately upon hearing this.
"Absolutely friends, I’m a straightforward guy with a broad chest. See, my future wife can have several male friends and I don’t mind at all; you two can be friends freely, I have no thoughts about it."
Qian looked at him amusedly, this guy, was he getting jealous here?
"Just make sure your fish soup is good, or I’ll make you eat the chicken head!"
"Don’t worry, my fish soup is the best in the world. Zheng Xu, whenever you want some, come over to my house. Qian and I welcome you; I’ll personally cook for you. And when you have a wife, our families can hang out just like our parents did, and our friendship will last forever."
Yu Minglang finished speaking, glanced at Qian, as if to say, Qian, did I perform brightly enough as a bro?
Qian gave him a thumbs up.
Zheng Xu was so blocked by Yu Minglang, his thoughts were thoroughly disgusted away.
Though Yu Minglang sounds enthusiastic, wasn’t he implying that he’d keep a close watch on Qian, leaving no room for Zheng Xu to intervene? And that everlasting friendship line was enough to make Zheng Xu feel sick for half a year.
Zheng Xu wanted to retort a few words to Yu Minglang, but accidentally glimpsed Qian’s gaze.
Qian was smiling at Yu Minglang, although it was just a faint smile, such an expression had never appeared with him. While Qian often teased Yu Minglang, the affectionate teasing was something Zheng Xu couldn’t bridge even with two lifetimes.