Chapter 60 Building Connections

Until Xu Zhixia’s figure disappeared around the corner of the staircase, the sound of her high heels clicking step by step down the stairs could still be heard.

Both Xiao Zhu and I wore complicated expressions. I pulled out a dining chair and said, "You should eat first, or the noodles will get soggy soon."

Xiao Zhu sighed, hesitating to pick up his chopsticks. "Brother Jiang, maybe I should still take this up for President Xu..."

Seeing Xiao Zhu's dilemma, I felt quite helpless. "You eat yours. I'll make her a fresh one."

I must have owed her in my past life. I've only been back at the villa for a few days, and I've already had to take care of Xu Zhixia several times. Why hadn't I noticed before that she was so good at finding trouble for me?

I went back into the kitchen to cook a new bowl of noodles for Xu Zhixia. Xiao Zhu wolfed down his food and offered to help me clean up.

"I'm so sorry for troubling Brother Jiang with cooking for me today. Just tell me if you need any help with anything, Brother Jiang. I can do it!"

"No need, it's just a small task and will be done in a moment. Just take that up to Xu Zhixia later. I have a flight tomorrow and don't want to waste time bickering with her."

"Alright, I understand."

After the food was ready, I had Xiao Zhu take it up to Xu Zhixia's room while I headed straight to my own room to sleep.

Just as I lay down in bed, I suddenly remembered that I had agreed to practice Tai Chi with Elder Xu this morning.

And I didn't even have Elder Xu's contact information...

After pondering for a moment, I decided to set an alarm to wake up early and wait for Elder Xu at the park. The contract wasn't going to be signed until the day after tomorrow anyway, so I could just catch up on sleep at the hotel tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Xu Zhixia was sitting on the edge of her bed. Although she was much more sober now, the irritation from the alcohol was beginning to give her a headache. She hadn't eaten much during the day, and she had vomited everything she drank at night.

Her stomach began to rumble incessantly. The hungrier she felt, the more uncontrollably her mind wandered back to the bowl of noodles on the table earlier.

"Hmph, it's just a bowl of noodles, nothing special!"

"President Xu, may I come in?"

Xiao Zhu knocked on her door, and Xu Zhixia rubbed her temples, telling him to enter.

Entering the room ahead of Xiao Zhu was the aroma of noodles. Xu Zhixia looked up and saw that Xiao Zhu was holding a bowl of noodles in his hands.

"I already told you, you should just eat it yourself. You haven't eaten anything all evening either..."

"President Xu, this is a freshly made bowl Brother Jiang prepared for you. Knowing your stomach is empty and uncomfortable, please give it a try."

Xiao Zhu placed the bowl on the table and handed the chopsticks to Xu Zhixia.

"Who wants to eat something he made... *growl*..."

Hearing that embarrassing sound, Xiao Zhu tactfully backed out of the room. "Please call me if you need anything else."

"No need, go get some rest."

"Alright, President Xu."

Xu Zhixia picked up some noodles and put them into her mouth. Though it was just an ordinary bowl of noodles, at this moment she felt it satisfied her taste buds and her empty stomach far more than any exotic delicacies could.

There was no one else in the room besides her; no one would judge her posture or table manners. Xu Zhixia lifted the bowl and swallowed greedily, even drinking down every last drop of the noodle soup.

As she placed the bowl and chopsticks back onto the table, Xu Zhixia let out a sigh of satisfaction.

A wave of warmth radiated from her stomach through all her limbs, soothing the irritation caused by the alcohol.

Looking at the empty ramen bowl on the table, Xu Zhixia narrowed her eyes slightly. "Did the noodles he made before taste like this too?"

Xu Zhixia suddenly recalled that during the years she was married to Jiang Jian, whenever she came home after drinking, Jiang Jian would always make her some light noodles or porridge, but she had never paid it any mind.

"Why am I thinking about these things? It's just a bowl of noodles."

The next morning, my cell phone alarm dragged me out of deep slumber. I sat up, let out a long yawn, washed up, changed my clothes, and headed straight for the park.

When I reached the open space where I had met Elder Xu yesterday, it was completely empty. It seemed Elder Xu hadn't arrived yet.

It was still a bit chilly a little past four in the morning. Since I had time to kill, I threw a few random punches to warm up first.

"Young man, you're here very early today."

Elder Xu had changed into a silver-white Tai Chi uniform today, carrying his portable speaker as he strolled slowly toward me.

"He looks just like a living ribbonfish..."

Realizing I had spoken my inner thoughts aloud, I quickly clamped a hand over my mouth.

Elder Xu wasn't angry at all; he just chuckled and said, "Many people say my outfit looks like a ribbonfish. There's nothing wrong with being shimmering and bright, it's not an insult, you don't need to be so nervous."

Feeling embarrassed, I tugged at my ear. "Elder Xu, I have something else to tell you today. I have a flight this morning for a business trip and probably won't be back for two or three days, so I won't be able to practice Tai Chi with you."

Elder Xu turned on his speaker, stood to the side, calmed his mind, and began the opening posture. "A business trip? Where are you going?"

"Rongcheng."

"Rongcheng is a good place. The last time I went there was six or seven years ago. I remember there was a shop that made fantastic cured meats, but unfortunately, you can't buy them online."

Hearing Elder Xu say this, I chimed in, "Elder Xu, you can tell me the name of the shop and where it's located. I can drop by on my way and bring some back for you to see if it still tastes like the old days."

Elder Xu turned his head and looked at me with the mischievous smile of an old urchin. "That would be wonderful. I'll transfer you some extra money so you can buy some for yourself to taste as well."

As he spoke, Elder Xu fished his phone out of his pocket. Taking a glance, I saw it was the latest model.

Elder Xu's WeChat profile picture was a lotus flower meme that read "I've figured it out." I figured one of his younger family members must have changed it as a joke.

"Did Elder Xu change your profile picture yourself?"

"That's right, this avatar is quite interesting—'I've figured it out,' 'I haven't figured it out.' I'm old, not stupid, and the internet isn't just for young people."

After adding each other on WeChat, I tapped into Elder Xu's Moments feed. I had to admit, it really didn't look like the feed of a man approaching ninety years old.

Almost every post featured one or two meme images.

"Being your grandchild must mean having zero generation gap with you."

Mentioning grandchildren made the previously cheerful smile on Elder Xu's face fade into a hint of melancholy. "Sigh, it's been a long time since I last saw them."

"Do you live here by yourself?"

"Mhm, my old partner is at home. It's quieter here, and we won't get in our children's way."

Every family has its own difficult scriptures to read. Thinking of my mother living all alone in Changshui Village, a wave of soreness welled up in my heart.

"Let's not talk about that. You have a plane to catch today, yet you troubled yourself to wake up early and wait for me here. Hurry back and get some more sleep. I won't practice today either; I'll wait for you to bring me back some cured meats when you return."

With that, Elder Xu turned off the speaker, pulled me toward the edge of the park, and didn't forget to wave goodbye to me.

I noticed him quietly wiping his eyes with his sleeve and instantly regretted bringing up the topic and touching upon the old man's heartache.

Quickly catching up to him, I took the pull handle of the speaker from his hand. "Let me pull this back for you. If you don't mind me, I often come over to chat with you both. How does that sound?"

Elder Xu was quite surprised, his lips moving as if to speak, but no words came out.

Oh no, what if he took me for an opportunist trying to climb up the social ladder?!