Chapter Fifty-One: Filling in the Blanks

  After May Day, Ning's mother and grandmother finally decided to stay. The two of them went around to inspect the snack shops. Ning Qing said he wanted to accompany them, but his mother waved her hand and said: "Your schoolwork is important, we can go by ourselves. Besides, I used to live here for a few years, although some road signs and conditions have changed, basically I still know the way."

  "Didn't your mom buy you a cell phone? Just call me when something's up, two old ladies, no one will be interested." Ning's grandma smiled and patted Ning Qingmian's shoulder, leaning in to whisper: "Your mom has been very feisty since she left your dad, no one can bully her."

  Ning Qing had no choice but to let them go, only secretly reminding Zhang Yu and Zhang Ruili to keep an eye on them and call if anything happened.

  "Boss, you'd better worry about yourself! The turnover rate is so high when you walk out, if you really accompany Auntie and Mother-in-law out, they'll have to worry about you too! Besides, the new house is being renovated, and you'll have to spend time supervising it, there are too many things to worry about, just let them be."

  "The new house was handed over to a reliable decoration company, so I didn't have to worry too much. However, last time I signed up for a Japanese class, two lessons per week, and it's not possible to ask for leave, so I had to rush there." Ning Qingming took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, saying: "Recently, I haven't been sleeping enough, and I almost fell asleep in class."

  "Boss, you're still learning Japanese? That's amazing!" Zhang Rui Li said lively on the side, with her hands clasped to her chest, in a gesture of admiration: "The boss speaks English with clients so fluently! And now adding Japanese, it's incredible!"

  "Stop flattering, your salary won't be deducted." Ning Qingmin also smiled and tapped Zhang Ruili's head, "I've signed you up for an English class nearby, learn some simple foreign trade English, when you meet foreigners, speak more and you'll naturally get better."

  "It seems that my schedule is quite full! Three nights learning computer, three nights learning English, only Sunday night to rest." Zhang Yu stared blankly, "Even busier than in high school."

  "What, you don't want to learn anymore? If you don't want to learn, I'll go refund the tuition." Ning Qingming scared her, but actually knew she also wanted to learn English very much. Every time she met a foreigner, that dumb taste was really unbearable.

  "No, no, boss. I really want to learn, just sighing a bit. If I had studied so hard in high school, I wouldn't have worried about not getting into college." Zhang Yu hastily came over and pulled Ning Qingmian, making a pitiful face.

  "Gotcha! Just kidding!" Ning Qingming put away her backpack and was in a hurry to get back to school when her phone rang.

  "Xiao Min. Today is mom's special cooking day. Finish eating and then head back to school!" Ning's mom said from over there: "There's your favorite braised duck soup."

  "Wow, it's been a long time since I've had this soup. After work, I went home with Zhang Yu and the others." Ning Qingming thought of his mother's cooking skills and swallowed hard.

  I just finished talking to Ning's mom. The phone rang again. This time it was Du's voice. "Little Ning, the factory owner from Chaozhou has arrived. Come out and meet him. Let's have dinner together."

  Ning Qing hurriedly agreed. She had no choice but to call her mother and tell her about it. Then she rushed off to meet the client.

  After sending off the factory owner, Ning Qing was almost unable to stand up. Her whole body felt hot and her face was bright red as she said: "This wine really has a strong aftertaste."

  "This guy can really drink. He drank more than half a bottle by himself. You've only had two cups and you're already like this." Du Hu's family was also slightly drunk, slouching in his chair and saying: "I'll get the driver to take you back to school first."

  "Where are you?" Ning Qing saw that Du Huo had also drunk a lot, and smiled: "I'll drive myself back, let the driver send you."

  "No need, I'll call Huahua to come and pick me up!" Du Huajia waved his hand to summon a waitress, had her help Ning Qingmian down, and then made a few arrangements with the driver on the phone.

  Arriving at the dormitory building, the driver wanted to help Ning Qingming up, but Ning Qingming smiled and declined, "I can go up by myself, you quickly go back and see Director Du."

  The night wind blew, and the intoxicating feeling surged up. Ning Qing's footsteps were unstable as she went up the stairs. As soon as she entered the dormitory, she heard Zhou Ling shouting: "Qingmian, do you know? Xiao Banlong has advanced to the finals!"

  "What's going on in the semifinals?" Ning Qing didn't react for a moment, and then said: "The semifinals in Huacheng?"

  "Exactly!" Zhou Ling spread out a lot of books on his desk, still searching everywhere, and said: "Xiao Ban Zhang's talent show is singing, we are also high-achieving students in the Chinese department, let's just say we can't do better than ourselves. We can make up our own lyrics and have the music department compose a score. It's called an original song, at least no one has sung it before, and it can add points."

  "Where's your brother Jiang? Didn't he get selected?" Ning Qingming put down his backpack, let out a sigh, and collapsed onto the chair, almost not wanting to move.

  "The last spot was given to Xiao Ban Zhang, and later the host said that Xiao Ban Zhang had a warm smile and was affable, having a better connection with the audience than Ming Zhi, which is why he was chosen. Ming Zhi was just playing along anyway, and since it was Xiao Ban Zhang who got selected, there's nothing to be done about it." Zhou Ling said with a smirk "Ming Zhi secretly told me that during filming, he had to have his lips painted red, saying that this is what makes him look good on camera, but he couldn't take it."

  "Haha......" Ning Qingmin burst out laughing, "Your brother Jiang is too adorable!"

  "Wow, Qingmian, you've had a drink!" Wu Meimei was biting her pen head on the opposite table, and only when she looked up did she see Ning Qingmian's face flushed red, shouting: "Who got you drunk like this?"

  "Hey, I've only had two cups and look at me now!" Ning Qingming struggled to grab his clothes and go take a shower.

  After washing up, Mo Xiao Hong said: "Qing Min, you look drunk, come on, let's compose a poem like Li Bai did after drinking, and see if we can get some inspiration."

  "Alas, never mind, help fill in a word quickly!" Zhou Ling put down his book and looked at Ning Qingmian: "Among the classmates in our class, your composition is the best. Last semester's 'Ancient Literary Works Selection' exam, you also scored the highest. You can also help fill in one, and we'll see which one is better later."

  "I'm so tired, just fill it in for me!" Ning Qing's eyes were getting heavy with sleep and intoxication, she was about to put up the mosquito net when she saw Zhou Ling sitting at her desk, one hand pressing on a piece of paper and the other holding a pen, shouting: "Several classmates who are good at writing have already filled out their words, only you haven't!"

  "Haven't you seen that my eyelids can barely stay open?" Ning Qingmeng thought of crawling onto the bed, but was pulled down by Zhou Ling, who stuffed a pen into her hand and said: "I don't care about you, in any case, you're not allowed to sleep until it's filled."

  Ning Qing's mind was dull and heavy, half-leaning on the table, holding Zhou Ling's pen, and could only write a title on the paper.

  What should I write? Ning Qingmin suddenly hummed a song and quickly wrote down the lyrics on paper. As soon as she finished writing, she fell asleep with her head on the desk.

  When Zhou Ling saw that Ning Qingmian was really drunk, she hurriedly asked Mo Xiaohong to come and lift her onto the bed, covered her with a quilt, and turned around to see Wu Meimei coming over to pick up the lyrics Ning Qingmian had just written. After glancing at them, she shrieked: "It's really true that wine has inspiration! Look at these lyrics, I really can't believe they were written by her in one stroke."