funbook-pk Chapter 74 What does he mean?
Chapter 74 What does he mean?
When Lin Shuyao went to the department the next day, she found a jewelry box in her desk drawer.
The box looks familiar.
She opened it and saw that it was a pair of pearl earrings, and it happened to be the same pair she had tried on yesterday.
Who gave it to her?
She glanced at Li Wei and Wang Qiang's workstations. Yesterday, when she went shopping, only the two of them knew that he had tried on those earrings, and today the earrings appeared at her workstation.
She couldn't think of anyone else besides these two.
Lin Shuyao was thinking of asking the two of them when they arrived, and then returning it to them. Just then, two footsteps sounded at the door of the department, and Wang Qiang and Li Wei walked in one after the other.
Good morning, Comrade Shen.
"morning."
Lin Shuyao nodded slightly.
When Li Wei saw the box in her hand, the pearls shimmering softly under the light, his eyes lit up: "You went back and bought those earrings later? They really suit you."
"Let me see!" Wang Qiang leaned closer, his gaze falling on the pearl earrings. He exclaimed, "Wow, you women are really generous! You buy things that cost more than 20 yuan without hesitation. We men are so frugal. I don't even know how to spend my salary."
Wang Qiang is from out of town, but comes from a well-off family. Both his parents work, and he is the only son in the family. All the family's resources are focused on him, including his parents' living expenses.
He has a job now, and his parents send him things and money every month.
Li Wei grabbed his shoulder and said in a friendly tone, "Then you can spend my money! I saw a pair of suede shoes I liked at the department store today, you buy them for me!"
"Get out of here!" Wang Qiang punched Li Wei in the chest and rolled his eyes at him.
The two were chatting, laughing, and joking around.
Lin Shuyao didn't need to ask; she already knew for sure that the earrings weren't a gift from those two people.
But who is that?
There was no one else present yesterday.
She looked at the earrings, raised an eyebrow suspiciously, and then closed the box.
Let's leave it for now. Someone who wants to give such an expensive gift wouldn't give it away for nothing.
As soon as she opened the drawer, she heard Li Wei and Wang Qiang's laughter and banter suddenly stop for a moment, as if a pause button had been pressed for a second. Then came a respectful voice with a hint of awe: "Representative, good morning."
Lin Shuyao paused in her action of pulling the drawer handle, looked up, and saw Cheng Zheng walking in from the doorway. His tall and upright figure was wrapped in a crisp military uniform. He had dark eyebrows, deep eyes, a high nose, thin lips, and a slightly taut, sharp jaw, exuding a cold and stern aura.
Lin Shuyao met his gaze.
His dark eyes deepened for a moment, his gaze shifting to the jewelry box in her hand before subtly looking away.
"Good morning," he said.
Lin Shuyao nodded slightly in reply.
As she looked away, a sudden thought struck her: Could it be... that these earrings were a gift from Cheng Zheng?
Earrings aren't cheap; someone who can casually pull out 20 yuan or more must be quite wealthy.
Cheng Zheng clearly has the financial means.
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems.
But how did he know she liked this earring?
He gave her something for no reason, and even gave her jewelry that girls wear. What does he mean by that?
Does that mean I'm not interested in her?
Lin Shuyao blinked in confusion, then glanced at Cheng Zheng again. She was surprised to find him still looking at her. His deep eyes and the dark depths in them made her heart race for no reason.
She took a breath subtly, opened the jewelry box again, picked up a pearl earring with her delicate, petal-like fingertips, tilted her head slightly, put it on her earlobe, and then took out a small mirror from the drawer and looked at herself in the mirror.
The person in the mirror has black hair like clouds, snow-white skin, and a pure and beautiful face. The addition of lustrous white pearls adds to her ethereal beauty. She is so beautiful, pure, and ethereal that it's impossible to look away.
She blinked her captivating almond-shaped eyes at the mirror, then glanced subtly at Cheng Zheng. Her rosy lips parted slightly before she looked away, pursing her lips as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
But she just wouldn't ask him to confirm whether the earrings were actually a gift from him.
She's still fishing right now.
Of course, you have to wait for the fish to bite the hook.
She saw his Adam's apple bob slightly and his lips move.
He clearly wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Lin Shuyao understood.
These earrings must have been a gift from him.
If not, he would have definitely scolded her for being so vain during work hours.
But he didn't say anything.
Lin Shuyao took off the earrings and put them back in the jewelry box. She pouted her red lips and casually tossed the jewelry box into the drawer, seemingly unconcerned.
"Let me see the internal combustion engine document you translated yesterday," Cheng Zheng said, walking to her workstation and lightly tapping the table with his knuckles.
"Hold on."
Lin Shuyao opened the drawer where the files were kept, turned to the side to rummage through them, and after finding them, she stood up and handed them to him, her pretty face showing a polite but distant expression.
Cheng Zheng took the document and stood next to her desk, looking down as he flipped through it.
She was standing there too, very close to him.
He caught a faint floral scent, and his peripheral vision involuntarily swept over her jet-black hair, which seemed to smell like her shampoo.
She noticed the subtle gaze, and casually lifted her slender white fingertips to gently tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. With this movement, her eyes seemed to drift over unintentionally, their shimmering light carrying an unconscious allure within its clarity. In just a moment, she calmly looked away again.
Like a feather gently brushing against the tip of his heart, leaving a fleeting tingling sensation.
Cheng Zheng's hand holding the document tightened slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed silently.
He closed the document and handed it to her: "Notify everyone to assemble at the playground at 2 PM to go to the Xishan shooting range."
"Okay." Lin Shuyao's lips curled slightly, a formulaic, faint smile.
……
The last item in the military training was shooting.
There is no dedicated shooting range in the factory; we have to go to the Xishan shooting range on the outskirts of the city to practice.
It was 2 p.m., and the sun was blazing.
The comrades participating in military training have already lined up on the playground.
Several grass-green military trucks rumbled up and stopped in front of the column. The trucks were still covered in dust, and their tires kicked up fine ash as they rolled over the ground.
"Get on the bus!"
At the command of the officer in charge, the group, following their assigned shifts, climbed into the carriages in a somewhat clumsy but relatively quick manner.
There were no seats in the carriage, so everyone had to sit crammed together on the floor.
Lin Shuyao was slow, and by the time she got on the train, all the good seats were taken. Only a small corner at the back of the train had any space left, so she had to sit cross-legged there.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Zheng came up to me as soon as I sat down.
When everyone saw him, they automatically made way for him. Cheng Zheng's gaze swept around the packed carriage and finally landed next to Lin Shuyao: "You don't need to move, I'll sit here."
"Then everyone move over a bit and give the representatives some space," someone with good judgment immediately suggested.
After moving around a bit, there was much more space next to Lin Shuyao.
But she couldn't move because she was already at the back of the car, with an empty space on her left and the tailgate on her right.
If she moves to the inside, it means Cheng Zheng will be sitting on the very outside.
She's a leader, how could she sit on the very outside? She has that much workplace awareness.
So she didn't move.
Cheng Zheng didn't move. He looked down at her and gestured with his chin toward the empty space next to him: "You sit inside. It's not safe outside."
The leader was just being polite; how could she take it seriously?
Lin Shuyao replied without hesitation, "No need, no need, I'll sit here."
The engine started up, and Cheng Zheng didn't insist. He glanced at her and sat down in the empty seat.
The train was mostly empty, with people sitting cross-legged and arms rubbing against each other.
As soon as Cheng Zheng sat down, Lin Shuyao immediately felt a hard, warm touch on her left arm; it was Cheng Zheng's arm.
Lin Shuyao stretched her arm forward, just enough to create some distance between them, when the car suddenly started moving. Her body was thrown backward by inertia, her upper body leaving the air—
"what!"
She cried out in alarm, nearly being thrown off the rear bumper. She wasn't alone; several other people at the rear of the bus experienced the same thing, their cries of surprise echoing around them.
Cheng Zheng reacted quickly, reaching out to grab Lin Shuyao. He wrapped his large hand firmly around her shoulder, pulling her into his arms. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, and all she could hear was the strong, resounding beat of his heart.
Boom!Boom!
"Are you alright?" Cheng Zheng asked anxiously. After confirming that the car was stable, he released his hand from her shoulder, but instead of letting it hang down by his side, he braced himself against the rear bumper of the car next to her so that he could protect her in time whenever there was a bump.
"Thank you for earlier." Lin Shuyao breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back as if something was pressing against her. She glanced to the side and saw it was his arm. She then pulled back, not daring to lean against him.
"Let's switch places," Cheng Zheng suggested.
Lin Shuyao glanced at the carriage, where it was difficult to even put her feet down, and said, "Forget it, it's too much trouble."
Everyone sits cross-legged, so if you want to change positions, you have to stand up, which inevitably means you might step on someone's feet.
With the roar of engines and the sound of wheels rolling over the road, trucks drove out of the factory area one after another and turned onto the main road.
Dust billowed from the rear of the vehicle.
Lin Shuyao happened to be sitting near the car's exhaust vent. When the wind blew and the smell wafted by, she frowned coquettishly and quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
"Use this." Cheng Zheng handed over a neatly folded plaid handkerchief.
Lin Shuyao didn't care that she was still giving him the cold shoulder, and quickly took it. The faint fragrance of soap powder filled her nostrils, suppressing the nauseating smell of gasoline.
Her brow relaxed instantly.
The smell was gone, but sitting with her back straight for so long was very uncomfortable. She wanted to lean back, and without caring that Cheng Zheng's arm was still across her back, she naturally leaned back during a bump.
Cheng Zheng didn't move his arm, just let her lean on it. When the car bumped, his hand, which was bracing against the tailgate, quickly grabbed her right arm to prevent her from being swayed back and forth.
The touch of her fingertips was delicate and soft, and gradually, he held her close and didn't let go, protecting her the whole time.
The car turned onto a rural dirt road, and the bumps became more frequent and severe.
When you encounter a serious obstacle, it's no exaggeration to say that you'll be thrown into the air.
Exclamations rose and fell throughout the carriage.
Dust from the roadside kept flying into the carriage.
Everyone helped and pulled each other along, forgetting about the differences between men and women. At this moment, no one cared. Everyone looked disheveled and miserable, as if they were going through a tribulation.
Lin Shuyao was already delicate and soft-bodied, and the car was hard and bumpy everywhere. There was nowhere to lean her head, nowhere to stretch her legs, and she had to cover her hands with a handkerchief. Her butt was about to crack from sitting so long... This open-top truck was really uncomfortable.
Unable to bear it any longer, she took off her handkerchief, turned to Cheng Zheng, and asked, "How much longer until we arrive?"
Cheng Zheng glanced at his watch. "An hour and a half."
Lin Shuyao pouted coquettishly, almost crying, because it was still so long before they arrived.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Cheng Zheng's deep voice sounded in her ear.
His breath tickled her earlobe. She nodded, then shrank back and subconsciously turned to look at him. She met his deep black eyes, and his expression was very calm.
"Aren't you feeling unwell?"
"I'm used to it. I used to ride in this kind of vehicle all the time when I was in the army."
"Were conditions very tough when you were in the military?"
"Yes. It will be harder than it is now."
"You've worked hard."
"What?" He thought he had misheard and stared straight at her face.
Lin Shuyao leaned closer, almost touching his ear, her breath soft but her voice clear, repeating each word with heartfelt sincerity:
"I said, you've worked hard. No, it's you all who have worked hard." She paused, then added, "Without you, we wouldn't have the peaceful life we have now."
Cheng Zheng felt as if something soft and warm had gently bumped into his heart.
Lin Shuyao seemed unaware of what she had just said. She stretched her neck and shifted her bottom from side to side: "How much longer until we arrive?"
Cheng Zheng held his wrist out in front of her.
The car bumped along, and Lin Shuyao's gaze, which had been fixed on the watch face, swayed. She had to reach out and grab his hand to see the time on the watch. "Only 10 minutes have passed..."
Cheng Zheng's lips curled into a smile: "The more you count the time, the slower it seems to pass."
Lin Shuyao let go of his hand, her cheeks puffed out: "It takes even longer if I don't count."
No sooner had he finished speaking than another jolt occurred, and the brakes were applied sharply.
A dog suddenly darted out from the roadside.
Lin Shuyao was jolted and thrown into Cheng Zheng's arms. Cheng Zheng instinctively reached out and put his arm around her. Now she had a place to lean her head and support her body. When the car started moving again, Lin Shuyao was reluctant to get up. This feeling of having a human cushion to lean on was much more comfortable than sitting there swaying.
All those tricks for hooking him or ignoring him are relegated to the back burner.
Her comfort is the most important thing.
Lin Shuyao looked around the carriage. Everyone was leaning against each other. She was at the back of the carriage, so no one was paying attention to her. It should be fine to lean against them.
She leaned against Cheng Zheng with a clear conscience, and Cheng Zheng didn't let go, holding her tightly as he let her lean on him. Every now and then, he would glance down at her snow-white face resting on his chest, her long eyelashes, her delicate nose, and her bright red lips.
The wind howled in from the open carriage, ruffling her hair and tickling her face. She frowned, her slender white fingers trying to brush the hair from her face, but the hair wouldn't cooperate; it would blow back as soon as she tried to brush it away, covering her face completely.
Lin Shuyao groaned impatiently and was about to raise her hand again when she suddenly felt a warm, rough touch on her cheek. Cheng Zheng raised his hand to brush the hair off her face and tuck it behind her ear.