We Barely Know Each Other, but I'm Living with a Stone-Faced Mechanic! - Chapter 26

The injuries to Tao Ying’s neck were not serious. The doctor told her to speak as little as possible and get plenty of rest.

She was to avoid emotional stress, eat lightly, and she should recover in three to five days.

After leaving the hospital, she and Qin Zheng drove to the police station to give their statements.

Qin Zheng had been worried about how she would hold up. Instead, she kept a cool expression throughout and recounted everything that had happened in precise detail.

Qin Zheng added his account of the rescue, and the landlord gave a witness statement as well.

As for Kong Chengping, he had fractured several bones. He confessed from his hospital bed.

The case involved Tao Ying’s privacy, and she was a university lecturer, so the police kept the entire matter strictly confidential.

Qin Zheng quietly pulled a few strings, which helped the subsequent proceedings move unusually fast. In the end, Kong Chengping was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

Life after his release would not be easy, either. The fall from the second floor had left him permanently disabled.

For now, though, by the time Tao Ying and Qin Zheng emerged from the police station, the sky was completely dark.

Qin Zheng glanced at her as he drove. “Hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Want wontons?”

Tao Ying murmured her assent.

It was too late to cook once they got home, so Qin Zheng took her to a wonton shop across from the university.

The students liked the place, and he had eaten there before. The food was decent.

When two steaming bowls arrived, Tao Ying lowered her head and began eating in large bites.

Qin Zheng stared. “Careful. It’s hot.”

She nodded and slowed down.

He wanted to say something, but she never once looked up.

It was after midnight when they returned upstairs. Qin Zheng stayed close behind her, still unwilling to leave her alone.

Tao Ying took a towel and a change of clothes, then glanced at him. “I’m taking a shower. Are you coming too?”

The words stopped him cold. He stepped aside to let her pass.

Even then, he did not dare go far. He waited outside the bathroom the entire time.

When the sound of running water ceased, he called through the door, “Ms. Tao, do you want Miss Shu to come stay with you?”

“No. She’s busy with work.”

“Tomorrow’s the weekend,” Qin Zheng said. “You need someone here with you.”

The hair dryer started up inside. Qin Zheng sighed and continued waiting with what patience he had left.

More than twenty minutes later, Tao Ying emerged from the bathroom.

Seeing him still there, she asked, “Why are you still standing here?”

The concern in his eyes was impossible to hide.

“I’m really fine,” she said. “I was only frightened at first.”

She had never imagined Kong Chengping would wait for her on the second floor. It was only during those few minutes when he dragged her through the door that she had truly despaired.

She had even pinned her hopes on the landlord. After all, they had spoken only minutes earlier.

She simply had not expected Qin Zheng to be the one who came.

“Did you go after me because of the keys I gave Xiao Fang?” she asked.

Qin Zheng nodded. “She said you’d gone to hand back the apartment. Your phone was busy when I called, so I went over to check.”

“Thank you.” Tao Ying looked at him. “Thank you for saving me again.”

He searched her face for some sign of what she was feeling, but found nothing.

Everything about her appeared normal. Perhaps he had underestimated her strength.

“Get some rest, then. If you need anything, knock on my door.”

“Okay.”

Tao Ying returned to her room and left a small night-light on. She had never done that before.

The next day, she barely ate. She spent nearly the entire day asleep in her room.

Qin Zheng took her car keys and drove her car back, parking it by the south gate of the neighborhood.

When he returned, Tao Ying was still sleeping.

He did not go to the repair shop. He stayed home all day, glancing into her room from time to time to check on her.

Feeling guilty about what had happened, the landlord refunded her entire security deposit.

It was not until the city lights came on that Tao Ying finally emerged from her room.

Qin Zheng shot up from the sofa and asked if she was hungry.

“Mm.” She pointed at her throat. “How does my voice sound now? Can I teach tomorrow?”

“Your neck is bruised. You could cover it with a scarf. Your voice is still hoarse, though. Can’t university lecturers take sick leave?”

“It’s fine. I can assign projects in my studio classes. I won’t have to talk much.”

“I made some congee in the kitchen. It should be easy on your stomach. Have some.”

“All right. Tha—”

“No more thanking me. Save your voice for tomorrow.”

Tao Ying smiled at him. It was like a breeze under the moonlight, passing through him and leaving him dazed.

The following morning, Tao Ying put on a skirt suit and tied an understated silk scarf in a matching shade around her neck.

She usually arrived in class five minutes early. Once all the students were present, she explained that her throat was bothering her and assigned a three-dimensional composition project for the four class periods.

She circulated and offered occasional guidance. The four periods passed quickly enough.

On her way to the cafeteria at noon, she ran into Qu Le, and they greeted each other.

Qu Le immediately looked startled. “Ms. Tao, your voice…”

“It’s nothing. My throat is inflamed.” Tao Ying smiled faintly.

“That bad? Have you seen a doctor?” Qu Le assumed it was from talking too much in class.

“I have. It should clear up in three to five days.” Tao Ying did not want to linger on the subject, so she changed it. “Did your cousin go for the interview?”

“He went this morning, but he hasn’t heard anything yet.” Qu Le followed Tao Ying into the cafeteria.

They had barely sat down with their food when Qu Le’s phone rang. It was her cousin. The owner had told him to start work on a trial basis—an internship, essentially.

After giving him a few reminders, Qu Le turned to Tao Ying. “I hope you don’t mind, Ms. Tao. My cousin was never much good at studying, so he learned a trade instead. My aunt raised me when I was little, and I help where I can. That’s why I worked up the nerve to ask you for Boss Qin’s WeChat.”

Tao Ying smiled. “If he earned a place there, that’s because of his own ability.”

Qin Zheng’s shop was different from an ordinary garage. It was an upscale place with modern industrial decor, the sort of environment that appealed to younger mechanics.

Tao Ying and Qu Le shared an office and were only a few years apart in age, so they generally got along well. Most of the time, Qu Le talked and Tao Ying listened.

After resting in the office for a while, Tao Ying received another invitation from Zhou Tao.

He had asked her out several times already, and she had turned him down every time.

This time, she held the phone for a moment before finally replying with a single word.

Okay.

No sooner had she dealt with Zhou Tao than Qin Zheng sent her a photo. He had bought a great deal of groceries and asked whether she wanted to have dinner with him that evening.

Normally, she might have agreed.

She lowered her eyes and replied: *I already have plans with Mr. Zhou tonight.*

The smile on Qin Zheng’s face stiffened when he read the message.

Here he was worrying about her, and she had turned around and gone on a date with that blockhead.

Was it because she knew Zhou Tao well enough to trust that he would not do anything to her?

Irritation gnawed at Qin Zheng. He set his phone facedown, got up, and went to the smoking room.

Toward evening, Xiao Fang slacked off at the front desk, scrolling through her phone and sneaking a few bites of a snack while she waited for the workday to end.

Qin Zheng rounded on her. “Are you a mouse? If you’re going to eat, do you have to do it right under my nose?”

Xiao Fang immediately packed everything away and gave him her most ingratiating smile. “Boss, what did Ms. Tao do to you?”

Qin Zheng said nothing.

“Why are you standing here watching me? Go wait by the entrance. Then you’ll see Ms. Tao sooner,” Xiao Fang muttered, growing bolder.

What was there to see? Her going on a date with Zhou Tao?

That was what Qin Zheng told himself, anyway. His feet had already carried him outside.

As the crowd streamed through the gates, he spotted Tao Ying at once.

Among all those people, she alone seemed touched by light.

Then he watched her get into a very familiar car.

He knew that car. He had once given its battery a jump-start.

Qin Zheng lost all interest in working and left early without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Once darkness settled in, he changed into comfortable clothes and went out for a night run.

His route circled the university and the repair shop along two busy streets. Every so often, someone yelled at him.

“Are you insane? Go run on the riverside path! You know you could hit someone here?”

“Hey, man, is this some kind of obstacle course through a human sea? Do you win an air conditioner at the end?”

Qin Zheng ignored every one of them, because the person he had been waiting for had returned.

Tao Ying got out of Zhou Tao’s car. Zhou Tao climbed out after her, and the two exchanged a few words before he drove away.

Qin Zheng swept the cap off his head, raked a hand through his sweat-damp hair, and jogged up behind her.

“Ms. Tao.”

Tao Ying stopped and turned. Seeing him, she waited.

He reached her and asked with a smile, “Went on a date with Mr. Zhou?”

“Mm.” Tao Ying said, “He confessed his feelings tonight.”