Chapter 55 Chen Fangli

When Wang Zhao stepped out the next day, she suddenly paused, recalling that Li Zhenguan didn’t seem to ask whether the colleague who sent her home yesterday was male or female.

This was a bit unusual. After all, every time she privately interacted with someone he wasn’t too familiar with, this man would eagerly investigate the other person’s background and history.

However, Wang Zhao didn’t think much of it. She and Li Zhenguan had assured each other many times. Perhaps after having a child, Li Zhenguan was no longer the same as before.

She left the house. Li Zhenguan sat beside the crib, staring at the sleeping child for a long time, reached out to touch the little one’s cheek, not knowing what he was thinking.

Today, Yang Shu returned to assist them. Li Zhenguan breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Ke felt much more at ease. This Wang Wen looked like a well-behaved little fellow, but was actually a little devil.

Whenever he was displeased, he would cry loudly, insisting on being held and coaxed before settling down. Otherwise, he would keep sniffling, making the adults’ hearts ache. Once their hearts ached, it played right into this little devil’s hands. After a day, both arms would be sore.

In July, Li Zhenguan had already graduated and obtained his degree. He found a job doing simultaneous interpretation, an opportunity he got through a senior female student. He had helped her out in university, and this time, there happened to be an international conference in Jiangcheng. She recommended Li Zhenguan. Paid by the hour, the earnings from these two days could probably equal an average person’s monthly salary.

The reason Li Zhenguan could get this opportunity was also due to his exceptionally strong English speaking ability, ranking top among his classmates in the same major for simultaneous interpretation.

The first thing he did after getting the job was tell Wang Zhao. However, after sending the message, he only received a reply in the evening. Wang Zhao directly called him.

“Congratulations, Zhenguan.”

She sat in the office, glanced at the tall buildings outside, and felt genuinely happy for Li Zhenguan. Rather than having Li Zhenguan take care of the child at home, revolving around her and the entire family, frankly speaking, Wang Zhao was more willing for Li Zhenguan to have his own life outside.

Because he had just graduated from school, once trapped in the siege of family, it would be very difficult to escape from this siege.

This was also the reason why she previously encouraged Li Zhenguan to make some career plans during this period, not because she despised him being at home, but because she didn’t want Li Zhenguan’s world to have nothing else besides her and the family.

Only then did Li Zhenguan ask, “You’re off work?”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have time to return his call.

“Yes, I’m in the parking lot.” Wang Zhao had just gotten into the car.

Li Zhenguan said, “I’m still outside.” He had actually just finished the interview and chatted with the person who hired him, mainly to test his simultaneous interpretation ability.

Wang Zhao started the car and heard this sentence: “Have you eaten dinner?”

“No,” Li Zhenguan said.

“Then let’s go eat together. I won’t go home today. We’ll celebrate you finding a new job and have dinner outside.” Wang Zhao drove the car out of the parking lot. After passing the exit and entering the road, she said, “Where are you now? Send me a location, and I’ll come pick you up.”

Li Zhenguan sent a location and also called Zhang Ke at home, saying that Wang Zhao got off work to pick him up for dinner outside and they might be back a bit late.

After being picked up, Li Zhenguan took the initiative to mention a place to eat, saying that the chef there had good cooking skills. He had eaten there once, and the taste was quite good.

Wang Zhao had no objection. She drove to that restaurant and discovered it was on the sixth floor of a mall, mainly serving Chaoshan cuisine with a rather light taste, not seeming like Li Zhenguan’s preference.

This time, they finished dinner quickly. Li Zhenguan didn’t say much, and the two returned home.

Wang Zhao didn’t notice anything unusual. Only one of the waiters in the restaurant, after the two left, sighed to his colleague that he had just seen a beautiful woman and a handsome man. About a year ago, they had eaten at this same spot once. That time left a deep impression on him because no matter when, Wang Zhao’s face wasn’t one that people would forget.

This time, the two sat in that window-side seat. When taking the order, this waiter recognized their faces from a year ago when the two met here.

At that time, the two hardly talked throughout the meal, seeming a bit stiff and not very much like acquaintances. She overheard a few sentences and tentatively guessed that this was a pair on a blind date. But this time, when they came again, both wore rings on their ring fingers, their actions intimate, looking like they had become a couple.

The whole way was very quiet. Only then did Wang Zhao sense that something was a bit off because Li Zhenguan wasn’t very talkative today. It could be said that after having a meal in the restaurant, he spoke much less.

So when they parked the car downstairs and got out together, Wang Zhao casually asked, “Did you encounter something today?”

Li Zhenguan looked at Wang Zhao.

She said, “I feel like you’re not in a good mood.”

This was such an ordinary and commonplace sentence, yet it suddenly made Li Zhenguan freeze. His eyes were a bit moist. He suddenly hugged Wang Zhao, hugging her tightly.

At that moment, he was truly so afraid and apprehensive of losing this person. Because he discovered a secret, or to be precise, he always had a feeling, which was why he felt uneasy inside.

The second hand exposed in the air seemed to be moved by an invisible hand, and then everything became chaotic. He seemed to have unexpectedly caught some pies, but feared that one day, this piece of pie he caught would also be illusory because it didn’t belong to him, so he was destined to lose it.

This reaction was unexpected to Wang Zhao. She also froze. Her entire being was suddenly embraced by Li Zhenguan. Finally, her eyelashes fluttered for a moment, but she still didn’t make any other movements. She just quietly allowed Li Zhenguan to hug her for a few dozen seconds before patting his back.

“Zhenguan, we should go upstairs.”

Li Zhenguan felt a bit embarrassed and even more ashamed when he met Wang Zhao’s calm gaze.

He wiped the tears from his face. His lips moved. A few seconds later, the words that were about to blurt out were swallowed back down. He explained in a low voice, “I don’t know why, but I suddenly wanted to cry just now.”

However, Wang Zhao understood it as postpartum depression. When she accompanied Li Zhenguan to learn about pregnancy-related courses before, she also heard that pregnant men were prone to sudden mood swings and tears within three to four months after giving birth, which was also called postpartum depression.

She expressed her understanding and used her hand to wipe the tear stains on both sides of Li Zhenguan’s cheeks: “If you’re in a bad mood, you can tell me.”

“If you don’t want to take this job, you can also refuse it for now. I’m not asking you to go out to work and earn money, just to have a bit of time for yourself, to try whatever you want to do or experience.” Wang Zhao said softly, “Zhenguan, you’re still young.”

Li Zhenguan agreed and took the opportunity to hold Wang Zhao’s hand. He hesitated for a moment but still didn’t say anything. In fact, he was also uncertain. He was unsure how much he weighed in Wang Zhao’s heart, whether this person loved him now or was together with him out of responsibility.

However, one thing Li Zhenguan was certain about was that no one could make him let go of this person’s hand, not even Wang Zhao.

The two went upstairs together. Zhang Ke didn’t notice Li Zhenguan’s abnormality. He was holding Wang Wen and joking around. The baby was only a few months old now, basically able to see things at close range, but not very sensitive to colors. Zhang Ke was training the baby’s grasping ability.

“Did you eat?” As usual, Zhang Ke asked.

Wang Zhao nodded: “We ate.” She and Li Zhenguan went over to touch the little baby, kissed the child’s cheeks, and then returned to the room.

After taking a shower and changing into clean loungewear, Wang Zhao was the first to go out. She said to Zhang Ke, who was sitting on the sofa holding the baby, “Dad, I’ve decided to move into Golden Avenue at the end of August. The ventilation has been going on for most of the year there, so it should be fine.” Moreover, she had specifically bought air purifiers and placed them in the house before.

“You pick a date, and I’ll help you tidy up then.”

Zhang Ke didn’t say much. After all, this young couple couldn’t keep living with them. It was inconvenient to do anything. Recently, because a caregiver was living here, the house felt a bit cramped, but perhaps it was also because there was a child at home and they bought a lot of things.

Wang Zhao said okay: “Let’s do it at the end of this month. I just happened to submit my resignation at the company during this time and am already doing a work handover. If I start working in September, it will be just right to move over this month, and it will also be more convenient for commuting.”

The procuratorate she was going to work for was still some distance from here, but it was much closer to Golden Avenue. That area was near the city center, and it only took about eighteen to twenty minutes to drive to the procuratorate.

After agreeing with Zhang Ke, that night, Wang Zhao mentioned this to Li Zhenguan. Although he felt it was a bit sudden when he heard it, after a moment of silence, he happily nodded and began to think about the items that needed to be sorted.

In the rare sleepless deep night, tossing and turning, he even woke Wang Zhao up. Now she felt that Li Zhenguan’s low mood from the evening had completely disappeared, and his entire being seemed to be rejuvenated with new vitality.

She smiled and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep, listening to the sound of breathing by her ear.

On a day at the end of August, a good weather day was chosen.

Cloudy, a slight breeze, no rain.

For Jiangcheng in August, a cloudy day was good weather. The temperature was around twenty-eight degrees, not very hot, just right for moving.

In fact, there wasn’t much luggage. The most were the two’s clothes and some daily necessities. Then there were the baby’s essential items like the crib, some clothes, milk powder, and a large pile of things, which almost rivaled their luggage when added together.

In addition, the furniture in the house on Golden Avenue had already been arranged. Some kitchen utensils needed to be selected and added after going there, but these were not urgent.

After sorting for three or four days, Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan officially moved into the large flat, along with little Wang Wen and the caregiver Yang Shu. The crib was also placed in the guest room, so it was convenient for Yang Shu to take care of the baby at night.

Wang Zhao also took out some documents that were originally placed in the bottom drawer of her bedside table. They weren’t any confidential documents, just some of the original owner’s childhood certificates, photos, and the like, as well as a notebook belonging to the original owner, which was the main part.

She put these things in a lower cabinet under the desk in the study and locked them. There was actually a letter inside. Wang Zhao felt it probably wouldn’t be needed, but for some unknown reason, she still wrote this letter and tucked it into the diary. Perhaps one day in the future, it might come in handy.

As Li Zhenguan started his interpretation work, in early September, Wang Zhao also started working at the procuratorate.

To be honest, it was quite relaxed here, not much to do. More precisely, compared to the law firm, the procuratorate was really much more laid-back.

It was basically clerical work, assisting the prosecutors. The first few days were an adaptation period. The colleagues in the unit were all quite nice. After a few days, Wang Zhao adapted.

Every day, she looked at the case files and went with the prosecutor to question criminal suspects. Her main task was to make transcripts. Two suspects were questioned in a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They were not in the office but had to go to the detention center in the county town below. The journey took four to five hours, so by the time they returned to the unit in the afternoon, it was basically time to get off work.

To be honest, at first, Wang Zhao had some difficulty adapting to this slowed-down work pace, but after a week, she had already adjusted her biological clock and habits.

After getting off work, she drove home. The car was parked in the parking lot below. Wang Zhao swiped her card and entered the elevator. Just as she was about to close the door, another person walked in.

It was a young man. Unfortunately, she knew this person.

The other party seemed to be stunned for a moment when he saw her, and Wang Zhao also froze. She glanced at the card in Chen Fangli’s hand and frowned almost imperceptibly, seeming to have thought of something.

Chen Fangli was only stunned for a second or two outside before walking in calmly.

After swiping his card, he pressed the floor number. Sure enough, it was the household above their floor.

The elevator door closed. Wang Zhao’s gaze fell on the elevator door in front, where the faint shadows of the two of them could be vaguely seen.

In this quiet space, no one spoke, as if they didn’t know each other, but the unusual atmosphere between the two didn’t seem like they were strangers.