Chapter 19: The Shadow Follows the Heart

  "Good!" Ji Si Xuan suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, furrowed her brow and asked with difficulty, "That... I'm going to your school, how do I get there?"

  Ji Siyuan followed the boy's guidance and turned around a few times before finally seeing the school gate.

  She is a blood type that attracts mosquitoes, even wearing long pants, her legs are still bitten with full of mosquito bites.

  Qiao Yu found her sitting on the horizontal bar in the playground, shaking her legs and humming a tune with her eyes closed, one hand supporting herself on the bar and the other hand scratching something through her pants.

  At the meeting, she was restless, so I specially bought some cooling oil to look for her, but who knew she would run all the way here.

  At that time he loved to tease her with this matter.

  "Qiao Yu, let's go to the drawing room together tonight and draw a picture."

  "Alright."

  "Really? You're not annoyed with me?"

  "You're gone, mosquitoes won't bite me anymore. I can finally paint with peace of mind."

  “……”

  Qiao Yu lowered his head and smiled slightly, slowly walking closer to stand in front of her. She suddenly opened her eyes, looked down, and called out to him, "Qiao Yu."

  Qiao Yu looked at her, "Huh?"

  Ji Siyuan waved her hand, "Fall back a bit."

  Qiao Yu took a step back obediently.

  "Alright, alright, just stand there." Ji Siyu said, swinging her feet back and forth. The shadow under her feet moved with her actions, kicking at the shadow that Qiao Yu had cast on the ground.

  Qiao Yu, all these years, every time I see my own shadow, I think, when can you stand in a place where I can reach out and touch you, close enough that your shadow is under my feet, and with just one step, I can touch you.

  Her heart was bitter and unbearable, but her face wore a playful smile, her head lowered and the corners of her mouth curved up more and more, until she burst out laughing.

  Qiao Yu didn't smile, silently stretching out a hand to her, "Come down."

  Ji Siyuan waved her hand with a look of disdain, "Move aside, I can get down myself."

  After finishing speaking, she exerted a bit of strength and jumped down, then crouched on the ground without getting up.

  Qiao Yu immediately tensed up and bent down to pat her back, "What's wrong? Did you twist your foot?"

  She buried her head for half a day without making a sound, suddenly stood up, raised her chin and glanced at him, "Qiao Yu, how can you still be so gullible?"

  Qiao Yu knew she was being stubborn, somewhat helplessly saying "Alright alright, I know you're fine, go sit over there for a bit."

  Ji Siyuan still had an air of superiority as she instructed Qiao Yu, "You walk in front, don't look back."

  Qiao Yuzai turned around, her face scrunched up, rubbing her ankle as she moved step by step.

  Ji Siyuan sat down on the steps, and Qiao Yu suddenly squatted in front of her, pinching her foot and gently rubbing it a few times.

  She struggled twice, and Qiao Yu's voice was calm and open: "Don't move!"

  Ji Siyuan knew that the strength of men and women was vastly different, so she gave up resisting.

  Qiao Yu rubbed for a while, then pulled up her pant legs, and saw that they were covered in red spots, some of which had already swollen, and some of which had been scratched until they bled.

  Qiao Yu lowered his head and wiped each package one by one with 'medicine', "Does it itch?"

  Ji Siyuan didn't struggle or respond, she just lowered her head and looked down.

  Qiao Yu waited for half a day without a response, looked up and saw that Ji Si Xuan suddenly turned her head to one side, seemingly distracted, and responded with a vague "uh-huh".

  Itchy, heart itchy.

  Qiao Yu suddenly burst out laughing and called out in a low voice, "Ji Siyuan?"

  His tone was tinged with a smile, his voice clean and gentle, like a feather lightly scratching her heart, this seemed to be the first time he had called her name calmly since she came back.

  Ji Siyun dared not look at him even more, her neck twisted so much that it was almost cramped, and she tried her best to stabilize her voice and responded with another "en".

  Qiao Yu's voice was filled with obvious amusement, "Alright."

  Ji Siyun turned her head back, and he was still smiling faintly at her.

  She looked at him with an inexplicable expression as he was still crouching on the ground, "Alright, why aren't you getting up?"

  Qiao Yu's face was suppressed, "My feet are numb..."

  “……”

  Later, the two sat shoulder to shoulder on the steps of the playground, neither speaking. The scent of menthol in the evening breeze gradually dissipated, replaced by his refreshing breath.

  It was a long time before Qiao Yu broke the silence, "Don't you have my phone number?"

  Ji Siyun got annoyed thinking of the phone call last night, and replied in an official tone, "Communicating with clients has always been Xu Bingjun's and Wei Xin's job. I don't have direct contact with clients, so I usually don't store their contact information."

  Qiao Yu turned his head and asked, "Why?"

  Ji Siyun stood up and looked at him condescendingly, "Because I'm too good-looking, I'm afraid the clients will overlook the plan and bury my talent."

  Qiao Yu burst out laughing, and seeing Ji Siyu's face getting uglier, he barely held back his smile. "I mean, my phone number hasn't changed, why haven't you called me?"

  Ji Siyuan wanted to say something else, but her phone suddenly rang, she picked it up and hummed before hanging up.

  She hung up the phone and didn't bother to continue arguing with him about anything. She turned around and walked back, "Let's eat."

  Qiao Yu walked up to the clinic in the village and suddenly stopped, asking her to wait for him at the entrance.

  He went in and came back soon, holding a palm-sized cloth bag, which he handed over to Ji Siyu.

  Ji Siyuan pinched it in her hand, lowered her head to sniff it, then scrunched up her face in distaste and stuffed it back, "What's with the smell?"

  Qiao Yu handed it back to her, "Mugwort and vinegar. Mugwort has the effect of regulating Qi and blood, warming the meridians and dredging the collaterals. After you go back, use a microwave oven to heat it slightly, apply it to your feet, and your feet won't hurt. You're not in pain now, but who knows, maybe tomorrow morning they'll swell up."

  Ji Si Xuan moved her foot a few times and indeed felt some dull pain, so she obediently put it back, "You still understand this?"

  Qiao Yu smiled and said, "Taught by Wen Shaoqing."

  "Wen Shaoqing?" Ji Siyu thought for a moment, "He isn't studying traditional Chinese medicine either, is he?"

  Qiao Yu walked and slowly explained to her, "The Wen family are all doctors, the grandfather's generation was traditional Chinese medicine, it wasn't until his father's generation that they started to get involved in Western medicine... actually he has been exposed to traditional Chinese medicine since he was a child..."

  Two people walked over from afar, one speaking softly, the other bowing their head to listen, occasionally exchanging a fleeting glance.

  A group of people watched for a while, and Liu Haoran raised an eyebrow and winked, "Hey, don't you think those two people... aren't that simple?"

  "Wow! Xuan Huang's aura is so strong, yet when you look at Qiao Bu, who is normally so gentle, standing next to her doesn't make him feel suppressed at all. On the contrary, it feels like their auras match perfectly."

  "Yes, yes! Look at Qiao's department, wearing a white shirt is really sunny and handsome!"

  "I used to think that the white shirt male god was Wei Jue, but it turns out that Qiao Bu is actually the white shirt killer, my little 'girl' heart."

  Wei Xin frowned, "Hey hey hey, don't involve innocent people, okay?"

  "Haha, no, it's not what you think! Wei Jue is handsome too!"

  "It's too late for you to brag now!"

  Yin Hechang stood by and listened for half a day, starting to frown, but looked up and had to admit that the two people standing together were indeed a good match.

  At mealtime, because there was no such large table, they were divided into several tables and sat scattered in the courtyard of the village chief's house.

  Following the international convention of 'ladies first', all the ladies were seated, while the gentlemen were still waiting by the stove to serve dishes.

  Dai Xiaohan leaned in close to Ji Siyuan, "Si Queen, do you guys have any class reunions or gatherings? Do you know if Qiao Department has a 'girlfriend' now?"

  Dai Xiaohan is under Xu Bingjun's team, and it's rare to see a workaholic with someone who likes gossip. Ji Sixuan was about to answer seriously, but when she looked up, she was startled. It's not just that her people didn't understand the situation, but also the little girls under Qiao's team were all staring at her with eyes full of curiosity and excitement.

  Ji Siyun bit her lip, looking puzzled, "I don't know, how about you guys, don't you know either?"

  Several little girls looked disappointed, "We don't dare ask, even if we asked Director Qiao, he would just smile and not say anything."

  Ji Siyun took a sip of cold water and analyzed lightly, "With an attitude so ambiguous, it's likely that there is one. It would be strange if this kind of man didn't have women surrounding him."

  These words were coincidentally overheard by Yin Hechang who happened to be passing by, he furrowed his brow and said, "Don't spout nonsense, our Minister is the cleanest of them all!"

  Ji Siyuan's face was playful, "Purifying oneself? That means there's a hidden illness."

  Yin Hechang's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, probably because of the awkwardness of Ji Sixuan being a collaborator, and after a long time, he managed to squeeze out two words, "Nonsense!"

  Ji Siyun looked at him with a smile, "How did you know I was lying? Have you tried it?"

  Hahaha...

  "Yin Secretary, forget it, you're no match for Xuan Huang."

  "To be honest, Secretary Yoon, does Director Jo have a 'girlfriend'?"

  Yin Hechang's face turned bright red, "I don't know!"

  "You're Secretary Qiao's secretary, aren't you? You're in charge of Secretary Qiao's daily life, how could you not know?"

  Ji Siyuan lowered her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke to someone beside the stove, "Hey, Qiao Bu, our little girl here wants to know if you have a 'girl' friend."

  Qiao Yu took the plate from the village chief's hand, and the simple and honest village chief heard it with a trembling hand, almost throwing the plate away. Qiao Yu quickly caught it and walked over with the plate, finally stopping beside Ji Siyu, bending down to put the plate in the center of the table before answering, "I have a 'girl' friend."

  The table was a bit low, he had to bend down to put the plate on it, and because he was standing next to her, for a moment the two of them were very close together, just like he was whispering in her ear, with a hint of intimacy, she could even feel his breath.

  It was just a whisper of sweet nothings, but his few words at this moment were like a sharp knife.

  Ji Siyuan's body stiffened, her hand grasping the cup tightened suddenly, and after a moment, she raised it to her lips and took a sip, feeling coolness penetrate her heart.

  Gasps of surprise surrounded her, and it seemed like a few more people had gathered around, gossiping about the news. But Ji Siyu gradually couldn't hear them anymore. She felt like an idiot, just like she was a few years ago, and even more so now.