HMPS: Chapter 33

The movie-filled weekend was over.

Chi Xueyan felt that this weekend could be ranked in the top ten of his favorite days.

He had been very happy getting along with He Qiao these days, but he liked too many days and it could only be ranked here.

As the temperature continued to drop, the calendar finally changed to December.

In the last month of the year, many people were looking forward to snowflakes, gifts, Christmas and the new year.

Chi Xueyan wasn’t in the mood to welcome the holidays.

At the end of the year, not only were there more patients making appointments but there were also various summary reports to write.

He didn’t like to read this type of thing, let alone write it.

In this 9 to 5 job, the only part that Chi Xueyan hated was writing reports.

It was already annoying enough to write a summary report for the day before leaving work every day.

This month, there were more annual ones to write.

So from the first day of December, he started silently running away from it.

For example, once he woke up from his lunch break, there was still a while before he had to go to work.

In the past, Chi Xueyan would choose to go to the window to look into the distance, letting his mind wander for a while until he slowly entered the working state.

But not now.

He always remembered a blank report document.

There were even strict word count requirements.

Therefore, Chi Xueyan decided to play with his mobile phone.

The dynamics of his friends were always wonderful and helped to divert his attention.

[Wang Shaojing: I never want to hear the word fortune telling and praying again.]

This was caused by Chi Xueyan, so he smiled and gave it a like.

[Ren Xuan: The 2nd basketball court at 8 p.m, a passionate 3V3. We currently have five people and are lacking one. Enthusiastically sign up (College students are prohibited from participating. Your physical strength is too good and I can’t beat it.]

The seventh blind date, Ren Xuan, often mingled with students. He was recently no longer single and Chi Xueyan specially changed his nickname to his full name.

He hadn’t been out to play for a while and had no other plans tonight.

Therefore, Chi Xueyan casually commented a 1 below and Ren Xuan quickly replied with ‘okay.’

Usually, the communication between the two of them when occasionally playing sports was like this.

The next one was sent by He Qiao.

Seeing this post, Chi Xueyan was a bit surprised.

[Little Eleven: New Christmas icon.]

The accompanying text was very simple. There were only a few words and the picture was very cute.

It was the Three Trees’ mobile app’s holiday limited edition icon.

Previously, Ye Qing said he wanted to change the name of the app and he asked for their opinions. Finally, he adopted Chi Xueyan’s proposal.

Just like the name of the app, the new logo was three small trees side by side. They had a simple design and childish brushstrokes. This easily inspired users to have positive feelings.

In the new Christmas icon issued by He Qiao in advance, each tree had a small red and white Christmas hat with snowflakes floating on the side. The small fur ball on the tip of the hat was blown by the wind.

It had a type of awkward cuteness.

However, Chi Xueyan subconsciously glanced at the date displayed on the phone.

It was indeed the first of December.

He couldn’t help leaving a heartfelt sigh.

[Shahryar: The design staff are working hard.]

They finished the content of the work 20 days early.

Meanwhile, he was still resisting writing the annual summary report.

He Qiao’s reply came quickly.

[Little Eleven: A bonus is paid.]

Seeing this convincing reason, Chi Xueyan couldn’t help laughing.

It was worthy of being a sanctimonious capitalist.

He glanced at the three trees wearing Christmas hats again and forwarded the photo to his family group chat.

[Shahryar: Isn’t it like a family of three?]

This was the origin of the name of Three Trees.

Chi Xueyan successfully survived the work time and put away his phone.

The busy afternoon was both short and long as usual.

Once the day’s work was completely over, Chi Xueyan picked up his phone and found it was already full of unread messages. It was the same as ever.

There was a message from Ren Xuan, telling him that the school cafeteria had a new product. He could stop by for dinner, take a walk as a break and head to the basketball court.

The college where Ren Xuan taught was famous for its delicious cafeteria food. Chi Xueyan would try a whimsical new product every time he went there, so he responded positively.

There was a tender and ruthless abandonment from his parents.

[Chairman Han: I like it. I also saw that He Qiao posted it. This little hat is so cute.]

[Chairman Han: Oh, are you hinting that you want to spend Christmas with us?]

[Chairman Han: When you grow up, you have to learn how to celebrate holidays by yourself. Mom and Dad are going on a date.]

[President Chi: Your mother is right.]

[President Chi: Haha.]

Chi Xueyan: “……”

He didn’t have so many thoughts.

He didn’t care much about this overly loving couple. He just replied with a cold ‘haha.’

There was also a message from He Qiao.

The message was up to date and set to arrive when he got off work.

This person probably saw him finish work and change out of his coat from the opposite window.

[Little Eleven: How are you spending Christmas?]

The weather outside was still like late autumn.

Chi Xueyan thought he just asked casually because he was reminded of the new icon made by the staff of the design department.

Therefore, he also answered casually.

[Shahryar: I don’t care. It depends on you.]

[Shahryar: Don’t you have to celebrate your birthday with your family?]

He knew that He Qiao’s birthday was on Christmas Eve and he had been waiting to cooperate with the other party’s arrangement.

The other person typed for a while before sending a new message.

[Little Eleven: My mother asked us to live together.]

[Shahryar: I got it.]

His response was simple and had no unnecessary questions.

At the top of the chat box, there was another burst of input that appeared intermittently.

Chi Xueyan didn’t care. He got up, left the consultation room and said goodbye to the colleagues he encountered.

He was just stepping out of the elevator when he received the next message.

[Little Eleven: What do you want to eat at night?]

[Shahryar: I am playing basketball with Ren Xuan at night and I will eat in the school cafeteria.]

Therefore, he didn’t go to the opposite office building and wait for He Qiao to get off work today.

Chi Xueyan walked into the underground garage. He had just opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat when the phone in his pocket kept vibrating.

He picked up the sudden call and asked, “What’s wrong?”

He Qiao’s tone was similar to his normal one. It seemed like he was just confirming the evening arrangements. “Are you going now?”

“Yes,” Chi Xueyan replied. “I am just about to leave.”

He didn’t know what new dishes would come out this time.

He hoped he didn’t have to wait too long.

He was already feeling hungry due to imagining the food.

Perhaps He Qiao heard the impatience in his tone so He Qiao didn’t say anything else. He just asked, “What time will it finish?”

“I’m not sure. It starts at 8 so perhaps around 10 o’clock?”

“I will pick you up.”

Chi Xueyan wanted to refuse. This sentence was clearly still gentle in tone, but they seemed to have an air that they couldn’t be refused.

Therefore, he didn’t refuse. “Okay, it is the 2nd basketball court.”

It just so happened that he would be tired after playing and he would probably be too lazy to drive.

After hanging up the phone, the sapphire sports car drove out of the underground parking lot.

Chi Xueyan vaguely remembered them having a similar conversation last time and there seemed to be a question at the end. ‘Do you want me to pick you up?’

There was a slight difference from the sentence just now.

Maple leaves on both sides of the road had quietly fallen to the ground, laying a clear carpet on the clean pavement.

The dazzling blue flew away.

The air today was exceptionally calm. Most of the time, the balloon man on the window sill of the building just waited limply.

Occasionally, his body would suddenly fill up when a wisp of wind blew.

It became brilliant.

The new dish launched in the cafeteria was squirrel fish with an excellent appearance.

It sounded like it would be more expensive, more than what a college cafeteria should cost.

However, this dish was only sold for three yuan.

There wasn’t a squirrel or a fish.

The ingenious material that this ‘squirrel fish’ was made of caused Chi Xueyan to miss it throughout the entire basketball game at night. It was so much so that he missed two of the three pointers that he was usually best at.

It just so happened that Ren Xuan, who organized the game, also wasn’t very attentive.

The two of them were ridiculed by their friends present, saying that they exchanged their skills for love.

Doctor Chi, who had been single for so many years, just got married, and Teacher Ren, who was single for many years, had a new partner.

The players unanimously agreed that the main purpose of Ren Xuan’s game was to find ways to show affection.

Teacher Ren was quite popular among students and the people on the basketball court were particularly handsome, so there were many college students who came to watch.

The basketball fell into the hoop and the young and enthusiastic audience immediately cheered.

Ren Xuan’s eyes swept over the crowd and he said regretfully, “It is a pity that my partner has something to do today, so he couldn’t come and watch me play.”

The players: “…Tsk.”

This was a relatively simple show and everyone could only sigh.

There was also a relatively high-end show that only those who liked to read could understand, such as Chi Xueyan.

By the end of the game, the night got darker and most couples said goodbye with a simple good night.

However, college teachers who taught literature had a more romantic and subtle approach.

Teacher Ren put down the basketball while sweating profusely and couldn’t wait to talk about his carefully conceived goodnight approach.

“I’ve saved a lot of novels and I have just been waiting for this day.” He shared it with Chi Xueyan with interest. “I’m going to start with the one by Cortázar. Have you read it?”

Ren Xuan cleared his throat and skillfully recited from the beginning of the novel. “It sounds like a joke but we are indeed immortal…”

Chi Xueyan accurately followed his foreign literary joke and teased him, “Do you want to put a yellow flower by the bed?”

The name of that novel was ‘Yellow Flower.’

It told the story of a person who was numbly waiting for the end of the suffering in his life. One day, there was a chance encounter in the park with an ordinary little yellow flower. He suddenly felt a breathtaking beauty and the rest of his life contained a new meaning.

This was an image suitable for associating with a lover.

“Hey, you reminded me.” Ren Xuan’s eyes lit up. “It seems more romantic this way. I will buy a beautiful vase in a while. Sure enough, as expected of you.”

Seeing his undisguised excitement, Chi Xueyan also smiled. “Remember to invite me to dinner later. It is the squirrel fish.”

Love always seemed to make people want to share.

On the court in the evening, his mind flashed with the unrelated little yellow flower, the squirrel fish and the spectators outside the court.

Suddenly, Chi Xueyan remembered something.

He turned his head to look at the sidelines.

As the game ended and the crowd gradually dispersed, there was still a figure standing in the same place, his coat similar to the night.

He saw He Qiao.

He didn’t know when this person came.

He never cared about the audience.

He Qiao was watching from a distance and their eyes met. Therefore, Chi Xueyan took the initiative to raise his hand in response.

Ren Xuan followed his gaze and looked over. He couldn’t help shaking his head with a smile, “Okay, now it is my turn to be shown off to.”

Unlike a plain couple, these two had received a certificate and were about to return to the same home.

He Qiao came over to pick up Chi Xueyan. By the way, he also greeted Ren Xuan and shook his hand.

Ren Xuan felt that compared to the wedding day, He Qiao seemed to have changed a bit.

He couldn’t say what the specific difference was.

It was because the other person’s attitude was still very gentle and polite.

…It was just that his hand grip was a bit stronger.

It didn’t seem like he had Chi Xueyan’s personality that loved sports?

Ren Xuan took a towel and wiped at his sweat in a confused manner. He watched the two of them leaving side by side.

On the way back, Chi Xueyan chatted with the driving He Qiao.

“Have you noticed any difference between Ren Xuan and before?”

“…No. Where?”

“He is in a relationship and he feels completely different, but he is still more normal than Su Yu.”

Chi Xueyan finished speaking and the speed of the sports car seemed to slow down a bit.

“Is he in a relationship?’

“Yes, it is a former classmate and they have known each other a long time.”

He Qiao paused for a moment before asking him, “What mood are you in?”

Chi Xueyan felt that this question was subtly weird.

Still, he answered truthfully. “I’m happy for him. He is the type of person who wants to get married and start a family.”

“Do you think he will marry his current partner?”

“It is possible. After all, they have known each other for a long time and are good friends. It is only recently that they found out that they liked each other.’

This type of long-term relationship was probably relatively stable.

Chi Xueyan’s tone was very normal and the speed of the sports car also became normal.

He Qiao held the steering wheel and stared intently on the way home.

The moment he entered the house, Chi Xueyan went straight to the bathroom of the second bedroom. He had sweated a lot playing basketball. His priority was to take a shower and wash off the stickiness on his body.

Just as he was walking to the second bedroom with a clear purpose, He Qiao asked from behind him, “Do you want to take a bath in the master bedroom once you come out? I’ll go prepare water for you.”

Chi Xueyan thought about it and found it difficult to refuse this proposal. He nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

There was fatigue from exercising and it would be good to soak in a warm bathtub.

The bath water that had been prepared in advance, the evaporating steam and the hot water temperature.

Chi Xueyan suddenly remembered the empty and beautiful yellow flower from the foreign novel.

So he stopped the moment he was about to walk into the shower.

After a brief moment of silence, Chi Xueyan talked about what he saw today. “I ate squirrel fish in the cafeteria tonight.”

He Qiao stopped walking toward the master bedroom. He looked back and asked without hesitation, “What is it made of?”

Chi Xueyan wouldn’t take the initiative to bring up ordinary things.

Hearing this, Chi Xueyan laughed and answered him in a serious tone.

“It is made of potatoes.”

The golden potatoes cut with a knife and the sweet and sour tomato sauce poured over it made it possible to confuse it with the real thing.

It was the strangest squirrel fish he had ever eaten.

But it also tasted the best.

Chi Xueyan smiled and walked into the bathroom.

The door closed, leaving only a warm yellow light on the floor.

A gust of wind blew by and the balloon man outside the kitchen quietly opened his arms in the night.

He Qiao’s eyes moved away from the door where the sound of water could gradually be heard and he walked through the living room to the master bedroom.

On the coffee table in front of the TV, there were a few books that Chi Xueyan had been reading recently.

The beautifully bound collection of fairy tales was placed on top. He had been reading through it just last night.

It was a wedding gift from the college teacher who taught foreign literature.

The bathroom in the master bedroom was also lit.

By the time Chi Xueyan finished taking a shower, wrapped himself in a bathrobe and came out, the water in the big bathtub was almost full.

When passing by the living room, the surrounding ordinary scenery had changed slightly.

The collection of fairy tales was pressed at the bottom of several books.

Chi Xueyan didn’t discover it.

His hair was wet and water droplets kept falling in his neck, seeping into his snow-white bathrobe. This left water stains along the way.

Just like the day when He Qiao tested the bathwater, the bathroom door of the master bedroom was half-closed.

This time, Chi Xueyan walked over with his usual expression.

In the dim light, he leaned against the door and admired the student’s attentive homework.

The rolled-up shirt cuffs were wet with water again.

It made him think of He Qiao’s appearance when he was waiting at the edge of the basketball court tonight with a black coat that was as silent as the night.

It was pretty good.

He Qiao still didn’t seem to notice his wet sleeves.

The sound of running water finally stopped. Chi Xueyan walked to the bathtub and said casually, “Good night.”

He Qiao walked toward the door and responded, “Good night.”

However, this wasn’t the last line of dialogue tonight.

In the hot bathroom, Chi Xueyan heard the other person’s voice again.

It was a familiar voice and a familiar serious tone.

Only the emotions behind the words were strange and vague.

“That day, you said you owed me a detail.”

In the same place, in the same dense mist and passing by like before, He Qiao asked softly, “Can I still cash it in?”

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The author has something to say:

A kiss with the taste of vinegar ~3~