Watching the sea from the shore

Chapter 2 Elegant and decent background board
Zhan Ping opened a nail salon near the university town. She took advantage of the fact that no one came over at noon and was about to go back.

Ni Manhua sent Zhan Ping to the door, and Zhan Ping leaned against the door frame and asked her, "Shall we have a good meal and go to the movies at [-] o'clock on Friday night?"

"Let's talk about it later." Ni Manhua didn't give an accurate answer: "I'll contact you at five o'clock Friday afternoon at the latest."

Zhan Ping curled her lips, turned around and walked toward the elevator while carrying her bag.

Ni Manhua looked at Zhan Ping's back for a long time, then lowered his head and smiled bitterly.She used to be a decisive person, but at this age, she is increasingly afraid to make promises easily.

After Zhan Ping left, Ni Manhua picked up his phone and saw the message from Lu Guanhai.In the afternoon, they had a dinner in the department and asked to bring their family members, Lu Guanhai asked her if she was free.

Ni Manhua was still a little tired and her limbs were still sore, but she thought of Lu Guanhai and Guan Fei sitting together to eat, and her fingers unconsciously typed the word "OK" on the screen.

In fact, everyone in Lu Guanhai's department was familiar to Ni Manhua.A few years ago, when Lu Guanhai had just entered the hospital, she would run to him whenever she had time.

If Lu Guanhai was busy, she would sit in the office and wait. If the office was locked, she would sit in the flower bed downstairs and wait.

At that time, there was a sense of loneliness and bravery in the young body, thinking that love would never fade as long as there was endless dedication.

Thinking about it now, love is actually a consumable, and they used it up too quickly and too hastily, to get to where it is now.

When it was almost time for dinner in the afternoon, Ni Manhua arrived at the box they had reserved early. There was no one in the box, so Ni Manhua randomly picked a seat and sat down.After waiting for about 10 minutes, a group of people walked in in twos and threes.Ni Manhua looked for Guanhai among these familiar faces and saw him and Guan Fei walking together.

Ni Manhua stood up, and before he could speak to Lu Guanhai, a few sociable people spoke first: "Mrs. Lu, why didn't you go to the hospital and follow our car?"

"Coming from home, it's closer to the hospital than here." Ni Manhua said with a smile, "I haven't seen Director Chen for a long time. Mrs. Chen recently gave birth to a little princess. She is very busy at home, right?"

Mrs. Chen brought her son here today, and the youngest daughter is under the care of the nanny at home. When she mentions the child, she can't stop talking: "That's not true, it makes me dizzy all day long, but every time she rushes at me Laughing, I just think those are small things.”

Director Chen helped Mrs. Chen pull out the chair and motioned for Ni Manhua to sit down too: "Don't just listen to her, you and Xiaolu should also feel it."

Doctor Liu on the side spoke up: "That's right, you two have such good genes, the child you will give birth to must be very good-looking."

Lu Guanhai went to sit next to Ni Manhua, and Guan Fei sat next to him, sitting with the young master of the Chen family.

Lu Guanhai poured tea for Ni Manhua in a natural way, and responded for her by the way: "I'm both busy and don't have time to take care of the children."

"Why don't I have time?" Dr. Liu didn't believe it: "I can't live up to my wife. If I had a wife, she would have to give birth to two children for me if I didn't let her work."

Guan Fei laughed at the side: "You can't say that. Mrs. Lu is an artist, how could she give up her job so easily."

Ni Manhua did not answer.

She never knew how to answer Guan Fei's words. Guan Fei was six years older than Ni Manhua and Lu Guanhai, but she was well maintained. She looked like she had just graduated from university for a few years.Her voice is also that kind of gentle and delicate, every time Ni Manhua talks to her, the volume will be lowered unconsciously.

Ni Manhua always felt that Guan Fei gave people a sense of distance. If it was not necessary, she would deliberately avoid her.

Lu Guanhai poured tea for Guan Fei again: "Of course you can't lose your job. Manman has always been very independent."

Ni Manhua glanced at Lu Guanhai.Has she always been independent?
She always had her own ideas. She would argue with him in the past, but later she would make her own decisions without asking him. Her independence had obviously been accumulated bit by bit over the past few years.

The reason why a meal is a meal is not just as simple as having a full stomach.In the adult world, nothing seems pure anymore.

Eating and drinking can be mixed with content that they would never have thought of when they were young.

Ni Manhua often socializes after work. This is probably the only thing that she and Lu Guanhai can understand each other about right now.Lu Guanhai toasted and drank and chatted with Dr. Liu and the others. He came by car, so Ni Manhua knew that he couldn't drink.

Ni Manhua sat there and sipped his food, making himself an elegant and decent background.

When the meal was about to end, Guan Fei received a call. She said that a friend came to deliver something and she wanted to go out for a while, so Lu Guanhai followed her out.

Ni Manhua was still sitting there, sipping the juice gracefully.It's still the same background board, but there's a deep scratch underneath the gorgeous exterior.

After the wine and food were full, the enthusiasm subsided. Some people scrambled to pay the bill, some pretended to block it, and some looked on indifferently because of their drunkenness.

Lu Guanhai and Guan Fei came back. They didn't carry anything in their hands. Of course, no one except Ni Manhua would care.

A table of people disperses like ants after a meal, scattering back to their caves.

They stood on the roadside and hugged, patted each other on the shoulders, got in the car, and left.Lu Guanhai walked up to Ni Manhua: "Guan Fei didn't drive, let's take her back."

Ni Manhua said yes, took the keys from Lu Guanhai and walked towards the car door.When she opened the door, she saw two exquisite gift boxes placed on the back seat.

Guan Fei opened the door and got in, while Lu Guanhai sat in the passenger seat.Ni Manhua waited for him to fasten his seat belt and drove off.

In the past few years, Ni Manhua often rides in this car with Guan Fei, and has become very familiar with the location of her home from various places in the city.

Lu Guanhai drank a lot and slept with his back on the seat. Guan Fei lowered his head and played with his mobile phone. No one spoke in the car.

Ni Manhua looked at the lights all around him, and for a moment he felt as if he was in a dream. In 2023, the world has changed a lot, but traffic jams are still the same as before.

The roads are wider and there are more viaducts, but the number of drivers has also increased. During the 10-minute journey, Ni Manhua had already urged him countless times in his mind.She didn't let out a long breath until the car stopped smoothly at the door of Guan Fei's community.

Guan Fei opened the door and got out of the car. Lu Guanhai woke up. He leaned over and told her to rest early and said thank you.

What Guan Fei said was see you later.The two exquisite gift boxes beside her were not taken away.

At nine o'clock, Ni Manhua finally drove the car into the garage. When he got out of the car, Lu Guanhai took the two boxes. Ni Manhua asked him: "What are these?"

Lu Guanhai said: "My mother's birthday is coming soon, so I asked Guan Fei to help me buy a home blood pressure monitor that is hard to get recently. Their family makes medical equipment."

"Both?"

"The other one was given to my mother by Guan Fei. You know she has a good relationship with my mother."

Ni Manhua didn't know where the dizziness came from in her body, as if she was the drunk one.She walked up and put Lu Guanhai's key into his pocket, then took out the key from her bag and got into the car next to her: "Why don't you take her to send the gift back in person? Mom will be happier."

Lu Guanhai froze on the spot, and after reacting, he strode over and asked, "It's so late, where are you going?"

Ni Manhua was about to close the window, but Lu Guanhai threw the gift box on the ground and pressed his elbow against the window frame: "Manman, don't make trouble, let's go home and talk about anything."

go home.Home is just the name of an empty room containing two souls with nowhere to go.

"I'm 28 years old and have the right to decide where I want to go." Ni Manhua said this coldly and started to reverse the car.The cold white light at the exit was like her faint hope at night.

(End of this chapter)