Putting Up Big Scallions

Cigarette after cigarette, the room was shrouded in smoke, to the point that even the furniture seemed to have absorbed the smell.

After returning from the party, Chen Hai had stayed in his apartment, smoking in silence. Now, seeing the ashtray stuffed full of cigarette butts, he looked rather irritable. He had been in such a good mood earlier. He had only gone to the party to mooch a meal, never expecting to run into Feng Shan.

It wasn’t that he hated Feng Shan. It was just that, given the circumstances, Chen Hai had no idea what he should say or do.

Especially after seeing his daughter, Chen Hai had really wanted to keep her by his side. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. He even felt that asking Qiaoqiao to choose between her father and mother would be incredibly cruel. In the end, he had tacitly agreed to let Feng Shan take the child back to her hometown.

Just then, someone knocked on the nearby door—

Immediately afterward came the sound of a key turning in the lock.

An Yao appeared. The moment she stepped inside, she smelled the pungent smoke. The girl paused, glanced around, and finally noticed Chen Hai sitting on the edge of the bed, head lowered as he smoked.

Chen Hai had seemed a little off ever since they returned from the party.

“Are you all right?” An Yao asked as she opened the window to let some of the smoke out. After slowly taking a breath, she cleaned up the ashtray in front of Chen Hai and replaced it with a new one.

She didn’t ask any unnecessary questions. She was simply doing what she was supposed to do.

“I’m fine. Just a little irritable.” Chen Hai didn’t say much. His voice was muffled, and after clicking his lighter a few times, he lit another cigarette.

“Is that so?”

“Don’t you have anything you’re curious about?” Chen Hai raised his head, his gaze falling on An Yao. In truth, he rather liked this quality of hers—she never interfered too much in other people’s affairs.

“Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t. If someone wants to tell you, they will,” An Yao replied with a smile.

“Heh. That’s true.”

“Sigh… Why is my life such a mess?” Chen Hai lamented. He came from such a good family, yet he had managed to turn his life into a complete disaster. It left him feeling rather helpless.

“Sigh… In the end, I can’t accomplish anything.”

Sometimes Chen Hai felt that he didn’t want much. Perhaps he really had done things wrong, but he had no idea what he could do to obtain the things he wanted.

“An Yao, what do you think of me?” Chen Hai suddenly asked.

“Huh?” An Yao froze, her eyes widening slightly.

If she rejected him, would she lose her part-time job?

Chen Hai smiled. “I don’t mean romantically.”

“Brother Chen, you’re actually a very good person,” An Yao said with a sigh of relief. “You’re straightforward, kind, warmhearted… and you work hard too.”

“Wow. I have that many good points?”

“Mm.”

“I’m actually a rich second-generation heir. I don’t need to work this hard at all. Do you believe me?” Chen Hai asked.

An Yao paused. She had vaguely guessed as much. After all, this apartment was quite upscale, and the car Chen Hai drove was far from cheap. She had never seen someone running a roadside stall with such an extravagant setup.

“My hard work is really just me throwing a tantrum,” Chen Hai said. “It is a little childish.”

“Um… Brother Chen, I don’t know what happened, but you really aren’t as terrible as you think you are,” An Yao said. “Please stop tearing yourself down.”

“Mm… heh.”

…

…

After Christmas, the new year arrived in the blink of an eye.

After the Spring Festival, Chen Qin returned to work at the group and resumed her position as executive chairwoman. As for Ye Shuang, he continued in his own position, though unlike before, his workload had been greatly reduced.

Previously, he had been so busy because he had taken over Chen Qin’s duties. Once Chen Qin returned, she readjusted to everything within a week. She was also full of energy every day, showing no sign that she had only recently given birth.

Little Yi'an was left at the Chen family home after reaching one month old. Chen Qin had agreed, since Chen’s parents wanted to take care of the baby themselves. Neither she nor Ye Shuang had much free time, so it was better to let the elders help. Besides, the household staff and butler were all devoted to caring for the little treasure.

After spring began, Ye Shuang returned to Silver Mountain Academy to work as the school doctor. Unlike before, he now only needed to go to the group twice a week, leaving him free to arrange the rest of his time.

Although Ye Shuang himself hadn’t asked for any special treatment, Chen Qin had insisted that he get more rest.

“So Big Brother is back at the infirmary again. But why does he like staying there so much?”

Inside the classroom, Tang Keke asked Bai Yuyou curiously.

“Ye Shuang said he likes the atmosphere,” Bai Yuyou answered.

“He likes the atmosphere of working?”

“No.”

Tang Keke thought for a moment. “But if Big Brother is the school doctor, we can have lunch together every day… Achoo!”

“Keke, have you caught a cold?”

“No. It’s probably just a bit of a chill from the spring weather.”

“Achoo—”

…

“Achoo!” At that moment, in the Third Infirmary, the girl sitting on the edge of the bed let out a loud sneeze and sniffed. “Mmm…”

“You’re so noisy.”

“I’ve caught a cold!”

Their bickering drifted through the room. Ye Shuang took some cold medicine from the glass cabinet and glanced at Yaya, who was sitting on the bed.

“Here, Yaya. Take your medicine.”

As he spoke, Ye Shuang poured her a glass of warm water.

An Shiyaya had arrived early that morning, apparently because she had failed to keep warm the night before and caught a cold.

She accepted the medicine from Ye Shuang and thanked him repeatedly, but then stared helplessly at the pill in her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Shuang glanced at her.

“Nothing.”

“That girl’s been afraid of taking medicine since she was little,” An Shiyu suddenly remarked from her seat.

Afraid of taking medicine?

Ye Shuang paused and looked at the pill in An Shiyaya’s palm. It was only about the size of a soybean. Even he could swallow it without water.

“Still, some people really do have trouble taking pills,” Ye Shuang said understandingly.

“…”

An Shiyaya stared at the pill in her hand as though making a difficult decision. Then she shut her eyes, shoved it into her mouth, and began gulping down the water.

A few seconds later, she wore a bitter expression—but the pill was still stuck to her tongue.

“Wha—?!”

Ye Shuang: “…”

How had she managed that? How could she fail to swallow a single pill even after drinking water?

“If it’s really that difficult, we can use a different kind of medicine,” Ye Shuang said after thinking it over. Perhaps he should get An Shiyaya some cold granules instead. Those would be easier to take.

“Stop dragging your feet. Just use a giant green onion and send it straight in through the back door,” Anshi Yi said, clearly annoyed by An Shiyaya’s antics.