Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

It was a middle-aged auntie making the pancakes. Nian Xi went forward and asked, “Aunty, why did the price of your pancakes change? You charged me 12 yuan when I bought an egg pancake from you earlier. Why is it so cheap for him? Only 10 yuan for two deluxe pancakes?”

The auntie glanced at Jiang Yuning behind her and said cheerfully, “How could it be the same? He is so adorable and handsome. I am even willing to give him pancakes every day for free.”

Nian Xi’s face twitched. She said indignantly, “I’m pretty too!”

The auntie chuckled. “After all, you are a girl and I don’t swing that way. I didn’t expect you to find such a good-looking boyfriend though. I’ll give you a discount if you tell me you’re his girlfriend the next time.”

“…”

She could only get a discount with his help? Nian Xi turned to look at Jiang Yuning. He flashed a bright smile at her. His innocence could melt someone’s heart. Nian Xi felt a little lost in his eyes. Well, if she was the auntie, she would have done the same too.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Nian Xi clarified.

“Oh.” the auntie nodded her head. “No discounts for you then.”

“…”

What a vain society! No big deal. Too bad the store owner wasn’t a man. Nian XI walked towards the police station angrily. When she sat down at her desk, Jiang Yuning put a pancake on her table in front of her. What a waste to throw away a deluxe pancake. She picked up the pancake and started eating it. It was luxurious with all the extra toppings and ingredients.

Chen Shunhua knocked on the door and said chirpily, “Nian Xi, Old Li and I are going on patrol now. You can stay here and watch the station since your boyfriend is here.”

Nian Xi’s face was dark. She looked over at Jiang Yuning. He was munching on his pancake silently and didn’t seem to have taken notice of anyone at the door. She was relieved, as she would have been embarrassed if he did.

She walked over and whispered to Chen Shunhua, “I told you he is not my boyfriend, so don’t be ridiculous.”

Chen Shunhua wriggled her brows and said quietly, “Well, you should take responsibility for what you did.”

She turned to leave and paused to look at Jiang Yuning before exiting the station. She wished that she was younger so that she could hit on him too.

Nian Xi sighed.

She was on shift that night at the station. If there were no arrests, she had nothing much to do. She started playing on her phone and ignored Jiang Yuning. After finishing his food, he stared out of the window in a daze.

After twenty minutes on her phone, Nian Xi looked up and caught him in the same position. She was amazed that he could daydream for such a long time. She stood up and looked over to where he was looking; he was staring at the moon.

“What are you looking at?”

He was pulled back from his trance and he wrote, ‘The moon.’

Nian Xi looked at the moon again. It was crescent-shaped that night and it was pretty. She didn’t expect him to be such a romantic. She sighed and said, “I wonder how bored and lonely Chang’er is on the moon.”

Like her, empty and meaningless.

Jiang Yuning looked at her curiously and he frowned. He picked up his notepad to write something but stopped himself midway. He put his pen down and suddenly said with his sweet voice, “There can’t be living creatures on the moon. There is no water, no air and no atmosphere on the moon. With no atmosphere, the ultraviolet rays on the moon could heat the surface to over a hundred degrees on the days and drop to negative hundred degrees at night. There are all sorts of comets and asteroids crashing onto the surface of the moon as well, creating the craters that characterize the appearance.”

Nian Xi was stunned. It was the second time she heard him speak so much. He had a really sweet voice. It was just a little inappropriate for him to reason with her like this after she said something so whimsical.

She didn’t need to know the facts.

Before he could tell her more about the Chinese astronauts landing on the moon, she quickly interrupted him saying, “Enough, I’m telling you about Chang’er. Shouldn’t you continue the conversation about the Jade Rabbit and Hou Yi?”

Jiang Yuning blinked and wrote, ‘Who is the Jade Rabbit and Hou Yi?’

“…”

Nian Xi was shocked. This man didn’t know about the folk tales?

She said to him, “Hou Yi is a legendary person in ancient myths, and Chang’er is his wife. She was the most beautiful woman in her time. Legend says that there were ten suns in the past and he shot down nine…”

Before she could finish, Jiang Yuning interrupted her saying, “That’s not scientific. That must be the prism effect. When a ray of light passes through a prism, there will be a rainbow refracted, showing seven rays of light. The degree of refraction…”

“Alright, enough. I’m not interested in that.” Nian Xi was about to faint if she had to listen anymore. “I already told you these are myths and folk stories. I now know why you don’t know these stories. I would be crazy if I told you them.”

Jiang Yuning frowned sadly and wrote, ‘I’m telling you about science.’

Nian Xi sighed. “You don’t need to write when you talk about science. You speak quite fluently about it.”

Jiang Yuning was silent again.

Nian Xi said, “I think your girlfriend has to be a science maniac too. You two can discuss hypotheses and theories together. A normal woman would be driven mad by you.”

Jiang Yuning pursed his lips. He looked like he wanted to say something but he lowered his head again.

His hair was dark and thick. It reminded Nian Xi of Xiaosi. He looked like a sad puppy, just how Xiaosi looked when Nian Junting bullied it.

She sighed as someone called out to her, “Nian Xi, come out for a moment. Someone called the police and it’s a couple. The wife is saying that her husband hits her.”

Nian Xi walked out to the lobby. A couple was standing there. The woman’s face was disfigured with bruises, and the man was sitting on a chair beside her, his face bright red. Before she drew close, she could smell the alcohol on him.

“Police, he hit me! He turned me into this!” The woman burst into tears when she saw Nian Xi.

The man pounded on the desk angrily when he heard her and said, “So what if I hit you? Don’t think I didn’t see you. I saw a man sending you home!”

Nian Xi frowned and slammed the table too and scolded the man angrily as she pointed at him. “What are you slamming? This is the police station, not your home. You better watch yourself. No matter the reason behind you hitting someone, you are in the wrong for using violence in the first place…”

The man was intoxicated and agitated. He started scolding Nian Xi too. “You b*tch! You think I’m afraid of you because you’re the police? I’ve never been afraid of anyone!”

Nian Xi was furious. “I think you’re really drunk, so you will have to stay here at the station before you sober up.”