Chapter 817: The Story of Ling and Heng (80)
“The food outside is all dirty and unhealthy junk food. Don’t eat those right now. Obediently have your bowl of noodles.” As usual, the man had facial paralysis and did not reveal any emotions on his face.
Feng Ling: “But Boss, this is my first time coming out to look at the street food, and those foods are really fragrant.”
Feng Ling’s expression was regretful from having missed the opportunity to taste the delicious street food. Since she appeared in the base, this was the first time the apathetic teen had displayed an expression of truly wanting something.
“After you’re fully recovered, if you really want to eat it, I’ll bring you here again. Tolerate it for a few days first.”
Feng Ling’s gaze landed on the English drinks menu on the table. After asking for a bottle of water, she lifted her head to look at him. “We can still come by again?”
“If the base isn’t busy, I can bring you by once on the weekend during breaktime.”
After speaking, Nanheng stopped paying her any attention. He ordered two bowls of the popular beef noodles offered at this chain restaurant.
Boss had clearly said he would bring her out to eat, yet he was now displaying an attitude of ‘I don’t want to be too warm to you.’ Seeing this, Feng Ling kept silent as they waited for their food.
Finally, when the waitress served the noodles, Feng Ling thanked her and asked politely: “May I know where the nearest barber shop is?”
Li Nanheng had just picked up a magazine from the shelf by their table. His arm immediately stiffened as he turned to stare at the female waitress with some danger in his eyes.
When the female waitress saw that such a handsome and fair young man was politely speaking to her, she was unable to pay attention to the other tall and handsome man’s gaze. She immediately answered happily: “It’s around three hundred meters away, behind the largest barbecue store here.”
Behind the largest barbecue store?
The one they had passed by earlier?
Feng Ling’s expression faltered. She abruptly turned to look at Li Nanheng.
When the waitress saw that Feng Ling had no more questions, she smiled and turned to leave.
Li Nanheng was expressionless. He did not explain himself and immediately spat out five distinct words: “You’re not allowed to cut.”
Feng Ling. “Why?”
He remained expressionless. “There’s no reason. I’m your boss. This is an order.”
“My boss can even interfere with my haircut?”
“There are too many men in the base with inch-length cuts. Just looking at it makes me tired. Your hairstyle is quite good.” Li Nanheng then carelessly asked another waitress that had passed by. He spoke mildly: “Isn’t his hairstyle quite nice?”
The waitress was baffled by the sudden question. However, after pausing to scan the beautiful and handsome young man, she immediately smiled sincerely. “It is. It’s handsome and attractive. He looks as though he walked right out of a comic book.”
Feng Ling could only smile in response to such a review. When she raised her eyes once more, she saw that Li Nanheng’s handsome brows were raised. Although he did not comment nor smile, his cold and apathetic expression clearly hid a hint of satisfaction.
Forget about it then.
Feng Ling picked up her chopsticks and began to eat.
They two of them did not speak as they ate. Boss Li’s temper was always difficult to understand and Feng Ling wasn’t comfortable with saying too much. Typically, she tended to be reserved. Since Boss wasn’t speaking, she became even quieter.
After finishing their noodles, the two headed to a supermarket across the street.
Feng Ling needed to stay in the hospital for a week. Although the hospital provided everything, she did not bring any of her daily necessities from the base.
She didn’t have any relatives who could help her purchase these things. Since they were already outside, she would buy them now. Even after her hospital stay, these things could be brought back to the base. It wasn’t considered wasteful.
At the supermarket, Feng Ling looked through quite a lot of things; shampoos, shower gels, toothbrushes, toothpastes, towels. She also glanced at the things they could usually obtain at the base, such as sunscreen and other necessities.
She did not pick the items quickly. In fact, she was moving at a slow pace. She was used to checking the prices, making comparisons between items, and deliberating about the value before finally making her decision. Bottle by bottle, she made her selection and added them to her cart.
Li Nanheng watched by her side. After a long time, he finally asked mildly: “Is the base’s pay too little? Even if a portion of your pay is with me, you should still be receiving at least ten thousand per month. Do you not have enough money?”
Feng Ling finally decided on a toothpaste. She placed it into the cart as she answered: “I have enough.”
“In that case, what’s the point of being so thrifty?”
Feng Ling faltered. She raised her head to look at him. “It’s a habit. I rarely spent any money before entering the base. After coming in, there also wasn’t any need for me to spend. It’s rare for me to come out to buy things, and to enjoy the sensation of picking things out.”
Li Nanheng: “…”
In fact, Feng Ling often went hungry when she was young. Some may have described her as poor, but she was not actually poor. At the time, she had no concept of money or life. She only knew to eat and to stay alive, just like an animal living on its instincts. Afterward, she gradually understood the importance of money. However, she did not dare to waste even a single cent as it would cause her to feel unstable.
Li Nanheng watched as she picked this and that, and compared this and that. He felt a wave of irritation.
The irritation did not stem from the impatience of waiting for her.
But because he could clearly see how difficult Feng Ling’s life used to be. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be as detailed as she was right now.
He recalled that this young man once passed by the window of a hotel and wanted to have a bite of someone else’s leftover but was almost chased out. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the harder days he had endured.
The XI Base had many members with poor family backgrounds. However, even then, they all had someone to rely on. Furthermore, most of them actually came from wealthy families and entered XI Base with the intention to carry out revenge.
But Feng Ling was clearly different.
“Do you still feel like having barbecue?” the man suddenly asked with a heavy voice.
Feng Ling paused in her movement of choosing a cup. She raised her head to look at the man.
It was as though she could see the unspoken emotions in the man’s eyes; as though, if he did not satisfy her earlier desire to have something, he would feel uncomfortable and guilty. It wasn’t obvious and Feng Ling only saw vague hints of it before the man coldly shifted his gaze away to look at the shelf behind her.
Feng Ling held the cup and chuckled. “Boss, I already ate a lot earlier. Even if you bring me to eat now, I won’t be able to have any. Besides, it’s already so late. I still have to return to the hospital later. Aren’t you afraid that I’ll have digestion problems?”
“Then we’ll go eat tomorrow.”
It seemed like his intentions were too obvious. Nanheng fell silent for several seconds before speaking: “I suddenly remember that those little brats once mentioned that the barbecue nearby is quite good. After walking for so long, we’ve only encountered a single barbecue shop. That means that that shop should be fine. It’s decided then. I’ll bring you there tomorrow night.”