Chapter 23: Glasses

  Du Huahua saw Ning Qingmian suddenly lose her glasses, her eyes seemed a bit unaccustomed, slightly squinting, a small face flushed red, jumping and shouting, completely different from the rigid image with glasses, staring at her foolishly for a moment.

  Fan Dongyue saw Ning Qingming's glasses fall off behind her and burst out laughing, saying "Serves you right!" while stepping on high heels "heh heh" and squeezing past Ning Qingming.

  Zheng Tiancheng slightly frowned and said to Du Huahua, "Don't just stand there stupidly, accompany the little girl to get another pair of glasses." After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, "Your phone is always off, your dad says it's always unreachable."

  "He won't train me, I won't turn off the machine!" Du Huahua retorted, muttering: "Everyone is being controlled everywhere. When will there be human rights?"

  "Hmm, it seems like there are relationships everywhere! Ning Qing sighed and rubbed her eyes, then squatted down to pick up a broken mirror frame with one leg missing. She said dejectedly: 'Dòu fu huā (Tofu Flower), whenever you get close to me, nothing good happens.'"

  "If the old doesn't go, the new won't come!" Du Huahua saw Ning Qing find the other broken leg of the glasses and chuckled: "Do you want to use glue to stick it back together?"

  "You're still talking!" Ning Qing said with a huff, "One of my eyes is over 200 degrees and the other is almost 300 degrees, how can I do without glasses?"

  Du Huahua called over the aunt who was sweeping the floor to sweep away the broken glass, and said: "I'll go with you to get a new pair, I guarantee they'll be more beautiful than this old thing of yours. Don't complain anymore, maybe it's a blessing in disguise."

  Ning Qingmin saw that her glasses frame was also beyond salvation, so she had to give up and throw it back on the ground. She stood up and said, "Dòu fu huā (Tofu Flower), you go wait for me at the factory gate first, I'll just go wash my hands before we leave."

  "I'll wait for you at the entrance of the restroom. You're not wearing your glasses, what if you slip and fall?" Du Huahua saw Ning Qingmian squinting her eyes to look into the distance, knowing she wasn't used to not having her glasses on, stretched out his hand, gesturing for Ning Qingmian to hold onto his arm while walking, and chuckled: "If we don't leave soon, people will start gathering around."

  Ning Qing saw a female worker staring at them early on, so he wanted Du Huahua to go to the factory gate first and then sneak out himself, making him less conspicuous. But Du Huahua not only didn't leave but also made such intimate movements, and as a result, tomorrow he would become the public enemy of all the female workers in the factory.

  "You go first!" Ning Qingming had already sensed the hostile gaze coming from all directions. He said helplessly, "Wait a moment, I'll quietly slip out and that's it."

  "What's with the secrecy?" Du Huahua laughed. "It's not like we're having an affair!"

  "Then I'll go first!" Ning Qingming's face turned red as he led the way towards the factory gate.

  "Hey, you don't need to go to the bathroom anymore?" Du Huahua shouted from behind.

  Ning Qingmin felt her ears burning too, and quickened her pace.

  It was just after work hours. Many people saw Du Huahua being affectionate with Ning Qing, and then they saw the two of them leaving the factory gate one after the other. This sparked a flurry of discussion.

  Arriving at the glasses store, Ning Qingyun let Du Huhua pick out a few frames and try them on her face. No matter what, they looked better than her original black-framed glasses.

  "This is it!" Du Huahua finally settled on a pair. "The lenses must be ultra-light, ultra-thin and anti-UV."

  "Thank you, the total is 730 yuan!" The shop owner's respectful voice startled Ning Qingming, who pulled Du Huahua aside and whispered: "My broken glasses, the frame and lenses only cost 70 yuan in total. This one is too expensive." Seeing that Du Huahua wanted to say something, Ning Qingming added: "That pair was made during high school, now with inflation and rising prices, it shouldn't exceed 100 yuan at most. And I've worn them for so long, there's a depreciation rate. Just help me get a cheaper one, and later when I have money, I'll come back to get a good one."

  Du Hu looked at Ning Qingmian with a strange gaze, curled his lips and smiled: "You calculated so clearly, I thought you were a clever person, but who knew you were also a muddled egg."

  "Uh!" Ning Qingming was puzzled, "Sorry to have caused you so much trouble, what's going on?"

  "Those glasses of yours are an antique, priceless treasure, originally could have been kept and passed down to your children and grandchildren, but they ended up shattering like this. I'm really worried that you'll insist on me compensating with an identical one, in which case I'd be helpless. Now, if I compensate you with a modern pair of glasses, are you still afraid that I'm being extravagant? Isn't that foolish?"

  Ning Qing couldn't help but laugh at Du Huahua's joke and no longer stopped him, thinking that she would just pay him back when she had the money.

  "What, the earliest we can get the glasses is two hours later?" Du Huahua saw the shop owner explaining that grinding lenses takes time, and turned to say to Ning Qingmian: "Let's go eat and stroll around the street first, and come back later."

  "It's got to be this way!" Ning Qingming stood up and followed Du Huahua out of the shop.

  "What do you want to eat?" Du Huahua gazed at Ning Qingmian, her expression gentle in the night.

  "Just have a quick bite then!" Ning Qingming felt embarrassed being stared at by Du Huahua and turned his head away.

  "Now that we're out, I'll treat you to a good meal." Du Huahua didn't give him a chance to refuse and led the way into a restaurant.

  "This restaurant's 'yam head braised pork belly' is not bad, you try it later." Du Huahua let Ning Qingming order dishes and ordered two more himself.

  "Again, no taro was picked up, only fat meat." Du Huahua saw Ning Qingmian stretching his chopsticks to pick up the "taro and braised pork belly", couldn't see clearly, each time he picked up was fat meat, couldn't pick up taro, couldn't help but laugh.

  Ning Qingmian awkwardly threw the fatty meat onto the plate, hanging his head in shame and saying: "Taro with braised pork belly, isn't it supposed to be two pieces of taro with one piece of meat? Why did I only get fatty meat?"

  "Haha......, I'll help you dig it up!" Du Huahua smiled and scooped a piece of taro into Ning Qingming's bowl.

  "Does my appearance really resemble your mother's?" Ning Qing saw Du Huahua's sincerity and slightly believed what he said that morning.

  "You actually look a bit like my younger aunt! My grandfather had four sons, and only later did he have her, his only daughter, who is older than me. Both Grandfather and Father doted on her. I played with my younger aunt since we were kids, so our bond was very deep." Du Huahua felt a pang of sadness, "She was frail from a young age, and after she passed away two years ago due to illness, Grandfather was heartbroken. Last night, as I walked past the mold room door, I saw your back and thought you looked familiar, so I went in."

  Ning Qingmin suddenly remembered that she had only met Du Huahua last night, so why did it seem like they were so familiar with each other?

  "Really like that?" Ning Qingmeng secretly shook her head, "No wonder you've been sneaking glances at me all day!"

  "Hmm, you noticed, I thought I was being very sneaky and you wouldn't find out!" Du Huahua sighed, "Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm infatuated with you or anything, just a casual glance, okay?"

  "Haha......" Ning Qingmin couldn't help but cover her mouth and burst out laughing, "I'm not self-absorbed to that extent."

  "Actually, you look pretty good when you smile." Du Huahua also burst out laughing with Ning Qingmian, and after finishing, looked at Ning Qingmian and suddenly said: "I'm quite happy when I'm with you."

  Ning Qingmin's face suddenly turned red.