Not Familiar

Chapter 28

The clean and spacious room was pitch black, since the computer was not turned on and the phone was off, the only bit of light leaked from the sliver of space underneath the bathroom door.

Fang Huaining stood in front of the mirror for a long time after taking a shower, the drops of water on his body were already half-dry. Although his work more or less required for him to sit in front of the computer day and night, and his classmates also admitted that he was very good in his field, but even after several years of doing this, his appearance remained the same as it was before he started coding. Because Fang Huaining made sure to exercise for a fixed amount of time every day to ensure fitness.

At this time, he looked at the image of the boy opposite him, he had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and his body was tall with well-defined muscles. Compared to the handsome and gentle appearance he had when he was dressed, he seemed a lot more muscular with his upper body exposed.

But whether he wore clothes or not, the cold temperament he exuded all year round was still there. Giving Fang Huaining a touch of abstinence, and making him somewhat aloof and unapproachable.

Fang Huaining quietly looked at the person in the mirror, and thought, this should be himself, his normal self, the one he was used to.

But…

When he slowly closed his eyes, the scene that had taken place just a few hours ago flashed in front of his eyes…

The pudding that person made for him at Hyacinth Xiaoshe was so delicious that Fang Huaining couldn’t help but order it every time he went there. Because eggs were added to the pudding, the texture was soft and glutinous.

It was sweet because of milk and the cocoa gave it an endlessly delicious aftertaste. Fang Huaining had previously thought that it was the other party’s brilliant concoction technique that made him like it so much, but he finally realized the actual reason today. At that moment when the bus suddenly braked and he touched other party in that way, he felt that his lips seemed to be covered with soft snow. Like brushing the surface of a cold pudding, with a scent that had a hint of aloe vera.*

[TN: This paragraph was very confusing so I’ve rearranged it, the meaning is still the same but some sentences are not in the order they were originally written in. Otherwise it didn’t make clear sense.]

For a split second, both of them seemed to be dumbfounded. When Fang Huaining regained his footing in a hurry, he could still see Li Ting’s eyes slightly wide in surprise, and the glimmer of the streetlight shining in his pupils.

“Ah, I slipped, I’m sorry…”

When Fang Huaining spoke, his throat felt a little clogged and his voice came out somewhat hoarse.

Li Ting didn’t answer, and hurriedly pulled away, turning his head to the front.

Fang Huaining couldn’t tell if Li Ting was blushing, because the lights inside the bus were turned off, but Fang Huaining knew for sure that his own face must be blood red, from the neck all the way to the back of his ears. He felt as if he was burning.

His heart was racing…

And all his senses were out of control…

Fang Huaining slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, the person in the mirror still looked the same, but his expression was no longer as calm as before. By just thinking about that incident, his heart beat faster, he was blushing to his ears, and his eyes were full of chaotic waves, even his fingers propped on the sink were trembling slightly.

Is this still the original Fang Huaining?

How could this be him.

Fang Huaining turned on the faucet, scooped up some cold water and splashed it on his face several times. He didn’t stop to take a breath until his hair and face were thoroughly soaked.

One may be able to deceive others, but one cannot deceive his own self. Unfortunately, he found that there was no need to focus on contemplating and questioning himself, because the answer couldn’t be more obvious.

But why did this happen? After living for more than 20 years, he had never felt that he had this inclination, until today.

The object was also a little liar who he wasn’t even friends with. And for such a mysterious, cold, and elusive person, Fang Huaining didn’t know what he should do going forward.

After the brief moment of contact, neither of them spoke again. Li Ting kept facing the glass window of the bus, and contained his hands and feet tightly in his small space. Then he rushed out of the bus without looking back, or even glancing at Fang Huaining again.

What was he thinking?

Will you be disgusted by this kind of thing? Or hate me for it?

Fang Huaining suddenly remembered the breakup scene that happened in a restaurant near the research institute that day. It was Li Ting’s younger brother and another boy…

What was Li Ting’s reaction at that time? There seemed to be no obvious rejection, so was he okay with this kind of thing? Moreover, could he accept it for himself?

Didn’t Wei Ping say it too? Li Ting’s sexual orientation seemed somewhat unclear.

But…then there is also the matter of him living together with a girl. What is their relationship?

And what should he do with himself now?

All kinds of messy thoughts converged in Fang Huaining’s mind at once, and the ace who’d always had excellent logical ability failed to figure out his own feelings for a long time.

It was a sleepless night.

Li Ting was extremely busy today, and he really had no chance to leave the store to do other work, so he could only call Tian Dian again.

Tian Dian was very free during the day, and it was rare for Li Ting to ask for help from him, so he arrived quickly with all the required goods.

“I haven’t been able to make time for the past few days, so please take care of this for me.” Li Ting said.

Tian Dian patted his chest: “Don’t worry, leave it to me. You are guaranteed to be satisfied. Look at the goods I picked, they are so cute. Business* is sure to do well today.”

[TN: It hasn’t been clarified but I think the claw machine thingy across the street is the ‘business’ he’s talking about.]

Despite that, Li Ting was still worried, knowing that Tian Dian was unreliable after spending time with him for so many years. During his lunch break, Li Ting moved a chair and sat outside the shop, eating steamed buns while supervising Tian Dian at work.

At this moment, the cell phone in his pocket rang again, and Li Ting pulled it out to see that it was Li Han.

After thinking about it, he still picked up.

“Brother, are you busy today?” Li Han started as usual.

Li Ting said: “Busy.”

Li Han was speechless: “Then, do you still have time to talk to me?”

Li Ting paused: “Talk.”

Li Han laughed: “Ge, where have you been working lately?”

Li Ting took a bite of the steamed stuffed bun: “Don’t waste my time, just say it.”

Li Han was taken aback, then sighed quietly: “Oh, that…you didn’t come back that day, Dad was very angry at dinner, he said that…he wanted to send you to study abroad.”

Li Ting guessed without much effort that Li Eryang’s original words should be that he is ‘incapable of doing anything proper, and that he spends his days in some garbage school outside. Sooner or later, he will embarrass himself completely‘, and as his very capable and educated father, he feels that he has no choice but to take care of his disappointing elder son…But to study abroad? It was a bit of a surprise for him to be so unexpectedly generous.

Li Ting curled the corner of his mouth, not mentioning whether he was willing or not, and asked, “Does he still have money to send me abroad? Didn’t he say that all his money is used up cleaning my messes?”

Li Han didn’t answer, as if he didn’t know what to say.

Li Ting asked again: “What about your mother? Does she agree?”

After a while, Li Han said: “She, she didn’t know beforehand…”

“Then she should be quite angry right now.”

Li Han hesitated for a while, then murmured softly : “I don’t know, she didn’t tell me…”

As an adult, how could he not know? but since Li Han was pretending to be stupid, Li Ting didn’t force it.

“Got it, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait, ge… If Dad asks again…”

Li Ting said: “Then you go and tell your mother about it.”

…

Qian Kun and Fang Huaining made an appointment to exercise together in the afternoon. They decided to first meet at Hyacinth Xiaoshe, and then go to the swimming pool.

But Fang Huaining didn’t go in when he reached the bookstore, because he saw Li Ting sitting by the door.

Li Ting had some steamed stuffed buns in hand, eating like a little squirrel. Chewing and chewing, then swallowing quickly and finishing what was in his hand in two or three bites. His other hand was holding the phone to his ear, and he was talking with half a smile on his face. His eyes were focused somewhere across the road.

Fang Huaining turned his head with a bad premonition in his heart, and sure enough, he saw Li Ting’s cohabitant again. She was again standing in front of the claw machine, observing with great interest.

She was looking at something else, but Li Ting was looking at her.

Fang Huaining felt another jolt in his chest, and especially because he still hadn’t decided on his next step, this spot seemed particularly sore.

Turning around, he walked in the direction opposite to the bookstore and hurried out of sight.

When Li Ting hung up, he happened to see Fang Huaining leaving. He was walking so fast that he almost bumped into the delivery boy from another shop along the way, disappearing before his eyes within two or three seconds.

Li Ting, however, was still watching, and then he stretched out his hand to caress his cheek, unintentionally recalling…

*******

Li Ting’s reading speed was very fast. In just a few days, he was already finished with the documents Fang Huaining provided him with. Although he handed most of the papers in, his homework was not yet finished.

So he could only open the lemon tree website again to see if there were any more reference materials.

After a look, he was pleasantly surprised to find that there were two new folders, which were both carefully classified and had the key points marked clearly. Coincidentally, they were uploaded just yesterday.

Li Ting looked at the date, and something akin to warmth flashed in his eyes.

But then he thought again, maybe the other party just wanted to use it? That person had a lot of work to do after all, or maybe it was prepared for others?

After downloading the document, Li Ting moved the cursor around for a while, and finally clicked on the menu at the side, choosing an article at random and clicking to open it.

This article was about an app Fang Huaining had sold to a well-known company. He didn’t make much money, but he got some extremely valuable evaluation from the client. His description in the blog was very restrained, but his joy could still be felt from in between the lines.

Most of the comments below were congratulating him, while some people joked that he would rather post his own blog as soon as possible than accompany them to celebrate and have a meal together, leaving the girls at the dinner table unbearably disappointed.

Fang Huaining probably knew the other party, and replied casually with an emoticon.

Then the man cursed at him: Just wait for it, one day, there will be someone you want to chase, but when you can’t catch them, I’ll see how you cry.

Fang Huaining responded with a cold face.

Li Ting thought it was quite interesting, and ended up reading several more blogs, until he found that there was a statistical calculator in the corner of the webpage, where the IP adress of the visitor would be displayed, as well as the number of views on this page.

Only then did Li Ting feel a little awkward, and he quickly closed the webpage, thinking to himself, he probably won’t know that I read these right…

Then he thought, If I see that person tomorrow, I’ll just casually say hello to him and express thanks for these new documents, even though they might not necessarily be for myself, it was still helpful.

It was rare for Li Ting to take the initiative to get in touch with people, but it was a pity that he didn’t manage to implement it in the end because he didn’t meet Fang Huaining.

Not only did he not meet the next day, but for more than a week after that, that person did not show up, and even the employees in the store began to wonder why the handsome guy from before had disappeared recently.

“Could it be that the ace has lost interest in our store or some certain person in our store so quickly?” Someone speculated.

“It must be that I was too cold to him, so it scared him into giving up.” Another person said.

“He went to Library A to read, I saw him there yesterday.”

“Ah? What’s wrong with our service? We can’t keep such a good customer?! He even already has a quarterly card!”

“It should be that he’s busy, or maybe he’s in a relationship.”

“Don’t make wild guesses,” Wei Ping made a concluding statement, “He’s not busy, and as for being in a relationship…well even if he’s not in a relationship, he always likes to be alone anyway. In fact, him always running here, that’s the abnormality. All right, put these books away, is the juice for table three ready? Where’s Li Ting, Li Ting? Li Ting?! Why are you in a daze, the juice is overflowing!”