Chapter 96: Du Hu's Vegetable Shopping Record

  One afternoon, Ning Qing was restless, feeling like time was passing too quickly and yet too slowly. She wanted to find an excuse to decline Du Hua's invitation, but at the same time, she felt that declining would make her seem petty.

  Every detail of the time spent with Du Hu's family surged to my mind, and I carefully recalled what he had said and his small actions. After having feelings for someone, no matter how tiny a word or action is, it seems like there's emotional intention behind it.

  It was not easy to hold on until the end of work, and as soon as the phone rang, Ning Qingming knew it must be Du Hu's family calling, so she gritted her teeth and hung up. After thinking for a moment, she told Zhang Yu a few words and took out a small bag from the mall entrance.

  "Get in, over here!" Du Huajun had already arrived at the entrance of the mall and saw Ning Qingyun come out. He rolled down the window and called out.

  Ning Qingmin had originally wanted to tell him not to come, to let him go buy iced tea outside by himself. But when she saw him, the words got stuck in her throat and couldn't be said. Unconsciously, she got on the car. Only after getting on did she realize that the thoughts she had struggled with for half a day had all vanished into thin air.

  The car passed by a shop, Ning Qingming let it stop, got off to buy several packets of herbal tea materials, and also bought a bottle of ointment.

  "Hmm, let's find a place to eat dinner first and then head up to brew some chrysanthemum tea!" Du Huajia looked ahead and turned to ask Ning Qingmian: "What do you want to eat?"

  "You were coughing anyway, and the dishes outside are all heavily seasoned, which is not good for your throat. There's a vegetable market up ahead, let me off and I'll go buy some vegetables and cook them at your place!" Ning Qing said hesitantly after a while (he remembered that when he went to Du Hu's house to borrow books last time, the kitchen was fully equipped, and he had mentioned that he had hired a part-time worker to clean three times a week and make soup, and other times he either ate at the company or outside).

  "Can you cook?" Du's family was surprised and delighted. "Nowadays, there are very few girls who can cook and are willing to cook."

  "My grandmother and mother used to run a small eatery, so I had to help with household chores and cooking. The food was just passable, not particularly delicious. But at least it's better than the bland food outside," Ning Qing said, slightly regretting her decision to become a chef. Since her grandmother and mother arrived, she hadn't cooked anything herself, and now that she's back in the kitchen, she doesn't know if her cooking is any good.

  "As long as you cook, I'll eat!" Du's words seemed to carry another meaning. He parked the car in a parking lot not far from the vegetable market and said with a smile: "I'll go down and buy vegetables with you!"

  "Are you going to buy vegetables with me?" Ning Qingmin smiled, her narrow eyes curved into a crescent shape. "You're wearing such high-end clothes to go shopping for vegetables with me? It's not matching!"

  A white short-sleeved shirt with a relaxed fit and embroidered hollow flowers at the chest and cuffs. The collar has three buttons, but only one is fastened, giving off an effortlessly casual vibe that's still unmistakably high-end fashion.

  "Huh? What does buying vegetables have to do with what I'm wearing?" Du Huajia looked at Ning Qing's outfit and laughed, saying: "You're wearing high heels and a skirt. It doesn't match going to buy vegetables!"

  "You're wearing white clothes. This fabric is very easy to get dirty. If you go to the vegetable market, I'm afraid this dress will be ruined." Ning Qingmin had some understanding of fabrics since she started doing clothing wholesale. She knew that Du Hujia's clothes were made of special materials and if they got dirty in the market, it would be difficult to wash them clean.

  "It's nothing. I have a lot of these clothes." Du Huo didn't mind. He stopped the car and took out two bottles of mineral water from under the seat. He twisted open one of the bottle caps and handed it to Ning Qingmian. Ning Qingmian reached out to take it, his fingers pinching the bottom of the bottle. The mineral water bottle was squeezed, and a stream of water shot out, splashing onto Du Huo's body.

  "Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Ning Qing saw that Du Huo's chest was soaked with a big patch of water and felt extremely regretful. How could she be so clumsy?

  "There's a free advertising shirt from an ad company in my car, I'll just put it on." Du Huajia said, turning around to look for it.

  Du Huajia searched for a while, pulled out a bag, and took out a white short T-shirt with rainbow stripes. He smiled and said: "If it weren't for the words printed on the back, I could wear it normally." Then he started to take off his clothes.

  "Wait!" Ning Qing said with a hint of embarrassment as she turned her head, "You should turn off the air conditioner before changing clothes!"

  "It's nothing!" Du Huo didn't mind, and with a lift of his elbow, he had already pulled up his clothes as if to take them off.

  Ning Qing suddenly became alert, what's wrong with this person? The air conditioner is turned on so cold, and he's changing clothes like this. If he catches a cold and gets injured, how will he be able to take it? Thinking this way, she leaned her body forward, stretching out to turn off the air conditioner. Because the air conditioner switch was near Du Hua's side, as soon as she stretched out her hand, it seemed like she was going to put her arm around Du Hua.

  Du Huajia had already taken off his clothes and came down, seeing Ning Qingyun turning around to turn off the air conditioner, laughing and saying: "I'm not cold, no need to be so nervous!"

  Ning Qingmin hastily turned off the air conditioner, and upon seeing Du Hua's bare upper body, his bronzed skin glistening with an alluring sheen, he quickly withdrew his hand and said in a low voice, "You'd better put on some clothes! If you catch a cold on top of your injury, you'll have to go to the hospital." As he spoke, his eyes stole another glance at Du Hua's chest.

  High fever.

  "Actually, I only coughed a few times. As long as I drink some cool tea, it should be fine." Du Hu saw Ning Qing's face turn red and smiled quietly, half-turning his body to put on the short jacket, pulling up the front and tucking in the back, but for a moment couldn't get it right, laughing and saying: "It's a bit tight!"

  Ning Qingmin looked at Du Huo's sturdy and sensual back, wanting to help him pull up the back part, but blushed and didn't dare move her hands, fearing that her actions would be too ambiguous.

  "Alright, get off the bus!" Du Huajia pulled his clothes into place and got off first, opening the door on the other side to let Ning Qingmian down. Seeing that her face was still red, he covered her head with his hand and said: "Let's buy two sun hats later, it's almost six o'clock but there's still sunlight!"

  Ning Qingmin felt her face grow even redder, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Du Hujia. Du Hujia wanted to say something else, but when he saw the flush on Ning Qingmin's cheeks, which didn't seem to be from the heat, his heart skipped a beat, and he stared at her in a daze.

  Ning Qing saw that Du Hu hadn't moved his feet, and with a slight raise of her eyes, she met the gaze of the Du family, and in her heart, there was a loud "boom", and she lowered her head.

  It's rare to see someone so easily embarrassed! Du Huo withdrew his gaze and smiled, saying: "Let's go!"

  "Haha...", just a few steps away, Ning Qingming burst out laughing and pointed at the big red characters printed on Du Huo's short T-shirt: "I didn't notice it earlier, so that's what was printed!"

  Originally on the T-shirt was a line of words: Dare to think, I'll do it, let's create the future together.

  "Oh, this is an advertisement phrase, very funny?" Du Hujia pulled on Lala's short T-shirt and said, "Next time we should let Old Li's family send a larger size, this large size is so narrow, it can't even save any fabric!"

  "The slogan on the ad isn't that funny, but wearing it on your body has a comedic effect!" Ning Qingming looked at the advertisement shirt tightly wrapped around Du Huo's body, looking extremely ridiculous, and couldn't help but laugh again, too sexy!

  The two walked side by side to the vegetable market. Ning Qingmi picked out a few dishes she knew how to cook and bought them, smiling as she asked Du Hujia: "You've never been to a vegetable market before, have you?"

  "When studying abroad, I went to buy vegetables by myself." Du Hua's family laughed. "I once missed my mother's soup and bought beef bones to make a stew, which tasted good."

  "Can you cook soup?" Ning Qingming looked at Du Hujia with a bit of disbelief, laughing and saying: "Really can't tell!"

  "Can't you see? Do you want me to cook a papaya soup for you?" Du Hujia said with a smile, seeing that the vegetable stall had all kinds of melons, and winked at the vendor girl who was looking at him.

  "As long as you dare, I'll drink!" Ning Qingming thought to embarrass Du Huajia, so he deliberately said: "I'm afraid you can't even tell the difference between a cucumber and a pumpkin."

  "As long as you dare to drink, I'll dare to cook." Du Huajia told Ning Qingmian to wait over there and said he would take care of buying the melons and bones.

  Ning Qingmin smiled and stood at a distance, pretending not to intervene. He saw Du Hu's family bow their heads to look at the dishes on other people's stalls, and the big red characters printed on his short T-shirt were very eye-catching from afar. He couldn't help but smile secretly: This time it was himself who dared to think about it, and he dared to do it.

  After a while, Du Hu's family brought over a big bag of things. Ning Qing said with wide eyes: "Aren't we just buying ingredients for one pot of soup? Why did you bring so much? Are you planning to make enough for the whole week?" She laughed loudly.

  "Hmm, the vegetable seller girl didn't have enough change for me, so I had to buy a few more things." Du Hua held up another package in his hand, "This is some complimentary pickled vegetables, she said she made them herself and asked me to try some!"

  "I just bought vegetables with her, why didn't she give me pickled mustard greens? It's unfair that good-looking people get things for free when they buy groceries!" Ning Qing saw Du Huo carrying a lot of things and felt like the distance between them had shortened. She couldn't help but tease him, saying: "If you come to buy vegetables every day, she might even give herself to you." As soon as she spoke, she realized what she said was too explicit and quickly walked ahead.

  "Hey, wait!" Du Huajia caught up with him, saying with a hint of a smile: "I just asked her what dish was appetizing, and she thought for a moment before sending me the salty dish."

  "If it were a man selling vegetables, this pickled vegetable would definitely be given to you, not me." Du Huajia nudged Ning Qingmian with her elbow, "Why aren't you speaking?"

  "Look who's talking!" Ning Qingmin actually thought that the current situation was quite like a young couple going out to buy groceries together, and she couldn't help but feel a little distracted. She muttered to herself: "He can even cook soup himself, why doesn't he just make his own iced tea? Why does he need me to go up and make it for him?" The more she thought about it, the more she felt that it was highly likely that he was just making excuses to get close to her. As she thought about this, she fell silent, her face burning with embarrassment.

  First, happy New Year's Day to everyone, thank you for your continued support! Secondly, I recommend a warm book, "Miss Yashi" by Bugan. If you like it, please go and support it. You can find it in the direct link on my page or look for it in the PKK area tomorrow. I've read this book too, although there aren't many words yet, but amidst all the family struggles, it presents a fresh feeling, still worth reading.