Chapter 1018: The Story of Ling and Heng (281)
Feng Ling’s voice was thick from her cold. “You place too much importance on yourself. Why would I skip work just to avoid you? As someone who has never taken a day off, does that seem like something I would do?”
“That’s why I specially asked the coach for your address. I came to visit you.” Chen Beiqing was not affected by her straightforwardness. He smiled and raised the ginger tea he had bought. “Drink some ginger tea if you’ve caught a cold. Previously, back at home, whenever I caught a serious cold, my aunt would force me to drink this. Although it tastes extremely bad, it’s very effective against colds.”
Feng Ling glanced at it and lifted her hand to receive it. “Al right, thanks. I’ll accept the ginger tea. You can leave now.”
Chen Beiqing did not consider stepping into her place but upon hearing her meaning-laden words, he lifted his brows. “Why? Will I eat you up? In the first place, there’s no way I can possibly win you in a fight. What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of anything. I’m a coach and you’re a student. The boundaries that need to be respected still have to be maintained,” Feng Ling said calmly. “Are there any other matters? If not, I’ll close my door now.”
Chen Beiqing looked at her: “Have you eaten anything in the past two days?”
“Yes,” Feng Ling lied.
Her complexion was quite poor, but since she was already sick, he couldn’t tell if she had really eaten. He saw that she really did not want to invite him in and nodded his head. “All right then. This is the first time you’ve accepted something from me in the past one year. Even if it’s just a bowl of ginger tea from a nearby restaurant, you still accepted it. I’ll work harder from here on. One day, you’ll definitely grow to like me.”
Feng Ling: “You’re thinking too much…”
“Rest well. I’m heading off now.” Chen Beiqing gave her a toothy grin and waved to her before turning towards the elevator.
After he entered the elevator, Feng Ling was about to shut the door when the next door neighbour suddenly opened their door. It was the household that had been doing some renovation work recently. She did not plan on being a busybody about what was happening next door, but something caught her attention from the corner of her eyes. She abruptly paused in her footsteps and spun around with wide eyes.
Li Nanheng stood by the door. He held the handle with one hand and his coat with another, and it seemed like he was preparing to head out. His gaze lingered on the ginger tea she was holding in her arms: “You caught a cold?”
Feng Ling stared at him in disbelief before shifting her gaze onto his apartment door. She recalled him mentioning that there was renovation work being done next door, and had heard the drilling noises immediately after.
Feng Ling: “…”
She had never seen her next door neighbour and only vaguely knew it was an elderly lady. Could it be that, within a few days, the house had changed owners? Or did Li Nanheng rent the place from the owner?
Otherwise, he would never appear here. It was clear he had been living here for the past two days. They were only separated by a single wall and he had never left!
Was the renovation work that day done by him?
As Li Nanheng approached, Feng Ling finally returned to herself. She stared at him. “Why are you living here?”
“What do you think? I’ve been searching for you for two years. I can’t possibly let you disappear again.” Li Nanheng reached out and took the ginger tea from her. “You’ve been using the skills I taught you to evade me for the past two years. You’ve gotten so good at using my methods against me. Aside from guarding the place closest to you, what else can I do?”
Perhaps because Feng Ling had caught a cold, her reaction was slightly slow. By the time she processed his words, the man had entered her kitchen with the ginger tea in his hands.
She rushed to follow him in only to see that he was using her stove. “This ginger tea isn’t warm enough. Heat it up before you drink. Why did you suddenly catch a cold? You haven’t been leaving the house so I thought you were taking a break from work. If I had known you were sick, that brat wouldn’t have had the opportunity to deliver this ginger tea to your door.”
The man’s voice contained a few hints of grievance and tolerance. Feng Ling suddenly realized that Li Nanheng seemed to have changed. She couldn’t quite tell how he had changed, or what really changed.
Even though he was as domineering as ever, he suddenly seemed more aware of boundaries. He did not have any inappropriate thoughts and did not force her for anything.
More accurately, perhaps it was because he now had something to fear. When it came to her, he no longer dared to be as direct and brash. Instead, he treated her carefully, as though fearful of taking the wrong step and driving her to run away from him again.
Feng Ling could not tell what sort of emotions she was experiencing. As she watched the man heating up the ginger tea, she rubbed her forehead and did not wish to speak.
He had already moved next door. Even if she tried to chase him away, it would be as effective as a joke. Their homes were separated by a few meters of distance. He would still be right next door.
Mentally ill.
She really wanted to curse him.
However, she had no way of competing against this man in terms of both stamina and energy. She decided to stay silent as she sat down on the sofa. She wrapped the blanket around herself and coughed a few times.
A few minutes later, the man brought the hot ginger tea out and placed it on the coffee table: “Drink.”
Feng Ling coughed once and lifted her head to look at him. “The apartment next door, did you rent it or buy it?”
“Does it matter?”
“…”
That was also true. As long as he wished to continue living there, he could do it no matter if he had bought it or rented it.
After all, he was the Li family’s young master. He had all of the money and influence he could possibly ask for. He was completely unlike all of the common people she had seen in the past two years.
As she picked up the bowl, the man reminded her: “Be careful. It’s hot.”
She paused and lowered her head to blow against the ginger tea lightly.
“That brat who gave you ginger tea, how is he related to you?” Li Nanheng stood across her to watch the way she held onto the bowl while sitting amidst the blankets. He asked in a heavy voice.
Feng Ling answered indifferently with a thick voice as she blew against the ginger tea. “He is my student.”
There was completely no need for her to explain too much about herself. Since Li Nanheng had found her, he had definitely investigated her workplace, the people she had interacted with, and everything else he could possibly find. He was surely very well-informed about her current identity and employment.
“Student. A male student who came specially just to deliver ginger tea to you?” The man’s voice was low and cold.
Feng Ling took a sip of the ginger tea and frowned. It was indeed very bad.
It tasted extremely bad. It was hot and spicy. However, it was undeniable that her body finally seemed to begin warming up.