Tong Qui was not such an easy person. If he had been, then he wouldn’t have remained single in his thirties.
Not to mention he has such high standards and generally looked down on the people who approached him with malicious intent.
After so many years, Huo Zhixing was the only one who made Tong Qiu feel an affinity with and even made him think about marriage, even though they had only met twice or thrice and had yet to know each other – not to mention, the most important reason why Tong Qiu decided on Huo Zhixing was that the other wore a uniform.
It was a pity that he has yet to see the man wear his uniform.
Huo Zhixing dressed casually during their dates, and when they ran into each other at the Bureau of Education he was wearing a raincoat.
In the middle of the night, as Tong Qiu laid down on his bed with his eyes closed and the loud ticking of the clock invading his eardrums, his mind wandered off fantasizing about Huo Zhixing in his uniform.
It was quite exciting.
It stimulated him a little bit.
While thinking of the other man, he solved his little problem by himself. When he entered the shower afterward, he promised to himself he must find a chance to see Huo Zhixing in his uniform. Tong Qiu had no doubts the other would look very handsome.
Tong Qiu had long expected Huo Zhixing to be a very busy man, even busier than a middle school teacher like him.
More than a week had passed since the two confirmed their relationship, and yet they haven’t seen each other again nor even exchange phone calls. Even Huo Zhixing’s text messages were sent at very strange times – he would receive a good morning at around 3 p.m., and at around 1 or 2 o’clock in the middle of the night he would receive a text saying that the other had gotten off work.
At that time Tong Qiu didn’t know Huo Zhixing’s work schedule. He simply wondered if the other man was in a different time zone than him, as it seemed like the other was following an American time.
Because of the differences in their schedules and their busy workloads, they rarely had the time to properly talk. For more than a week, they’ve sent each other messages – though it never seemed to work out since the messages and replies always arrived a few hours after the last one was sent.
Tong Qiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Later, he couldn’t hold back anymore and asked Huo Zhixing: Did you go abroad for a business trip? Why do I feel like there is a time difference between us?
From then on, Tong Qiu found out that Huo Zhixing and his co-workers worked on shifting schedules to make sure someone was always at the station for the whole 24 hours.
He remembered that Huo Zhixing once sent him a text in the middle of the night that he had gone off work, and Tong Qiu could visibly read how exhausted the other was as he talked about the cold night air.
Three days later, Huo Zhixing, a policeman from the Sanhu Police Station, received a large package. When he opened it, it was full of supplements.
The ghosts hungry for gossip headed by his apprentice Zhao Heyu approached and asked questions.
Zhao Heyu asked, “Shifu, who is being so kind to you? Were they afraid you don’t eat enough here and bought you snacks?”
Huo Zhixing smiled and said he didn’t know who sent it.
Zhao Heyu picked up a bottle of milk thistle capsules and said, “If you don’t know, then I can take and eat it! It just so happened that recently I drank too much wedding wine and had to stay up late everyday so I need to replenish my liver!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
As he was talking, Huo Zhixing received a WeChat from Tong Qiu. After he finished reading it, he immediately grabbed the bottle from Zhao Heyu, “Return them to me! They were sent by your future shimu.”
Coafg tf rjlv atlr, fnfgsbcf fzmtjcufv uijcmfr jcv fnfgsatlcu atja kjr ajxfc kjr gfaegcfv ab atf bglulcji bkcfg.
Huo Zhixing put away the box of various health care products inside a drawer. Zhao Heyu leaned on his side and asked, “Shifu, is that the one you went on a blind date with?”
Leb Itlzlcu uijcmfv ja tlw yfobgf qgbmffvlcu ab lucbgf tlw.
“C afjmtfg?” Itjb Lfse ralii kjcafv ab ubrrlq, “Qtja vbfr tf ibbx ilxf? Vtbk tlw ab sbeg yfibnfv vlrmlqifr!”
Leb Itlzlcu jrxfv tlw nfgs geatifrris, “Tfrafgvjs, P jrxfv sbe ab rbga bea atf vjaj bo jii atf gfrlvfcar lc Vjcte ragffa. Ljnf sbe olclrtfv la?”
“I already did!” Zhao Heyu proudly said, “I’ve finished it all.”
“Alright, then you can reorganize the North Alley again. Anyways, you have nothing to do.”
Zhao Heyu wailed and vowed never to gossip again.
Two weeks had passed when Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing met again.
On Saturday morning, he took a bath immediately after waking up and only then did his mind finally become clear.
When he walked out of the bathroom, he heard his mother yell, “Your phone received a message just now. I didn’t take a peek!”
Tong Qiu smiled, “Madam, do you know what your behavior is called? There are no 300 taels of silver buried here.”
Mother Tong glared at him and approached to read the message with him.
The message was sent by Huo Zhixing. Fifteen minutes ago, the other man informed that he would be off work at noon today and asked him if he would like to have a meal together.
Mother Tong laughed, “Little Huo? Anyway, you have nothing to do, you should go.”
Tong Qiu squinted at his mother, “How do you know I’m free? I made an appointment with Chu Yao to play games.”
“What are you talking about?” Mother Tong slapped her son on the back, “When could you not play games? But who knows when another one will come when you let this one go!”
Mother Tong went inside his room and began to pick out his son’s clothes, “I warn you, take this seriously! Don’t scare people away. I’m already so old, please don’t make my heart worry more!”
Tong Qiu laughed lazily as he laid on the sofa, and deliberately dragged his voice, “Ah… I understand…”
He replied to Huo Zhixing: Okay, when and where shall we meet?
After Tong Qiu responded, on the other side at Sanhu Police station Zhao Heyu shouted, “Shifu, Shifu, Shifu! A reply!”
Huo Zhixing just changed out of his police uniform and walked over with a smile on his face.
“It took a long time before a reply arrived.” Zhao Heyu said, “I’m just as nervous as you.”
“What are you nervous about?” Huo Zhixing took back the phone and wondered where to eat.
Zhao Heyu replied, “I’m afraid you will be dumped when your relationship had just started! Tell me, where else can you find such a caring apprentice as me?”
Huo Zhixing didn’t answer his question, but instead threw out another one that needed to be solved immediately, “You are more familiar with places to eat, drink and play. Is there a restaurant suitable for the both of us?”
“Us both?” Zhao Heyu deliberately teased him, “Shifu, you want to date me?”
Huo Zhixing gave a “tsk” and pulled Zhao Heyu’s head into a noogie, “Be serious!”
Zhao Heyu felt that the other party almost pulled his head off the ground this time. He raised a hand to fix his hair and complained, “I was wrong, couldn’t you be a little nicer about it!”
He picked up his cell phone and sent Huo Zhixing a map, “Right there, your sensible disciple has checked it for you!”
Huo Zhixing was satisfied and sent it to Tong Qiu to ask for his opinion.
Tong Qiu had nothing to say, he just wanted to meet.
So, the two decided to meet at the restaurant’s entrance at 12:30 noon. While waiting for the time, Tong Qiu changed his clothes several times until the very last moment, where he decided it didn’t matter anymore and randomly chose something with his eyes close, changed into it, and finally went out.
Tong Qiu thought he would finally see the other in his police uniform, but he didn’t expect the other to be too diligent and changed his clothes after work.
If the person who introduced the two of them were not reliable, he would have doubted whether Huo Zhixing lied about his identity.
During the meal, they talked about the large package of health products that Tong Qiu sent. Huo Zhixing smiled and said, “The other guys at the station were envious of me.”
Tong Qiu smiled modestly, “I thought that your irregular schedule might affect your health so sent it as prevention.”
Huo Zhixing smiled and thanked him, which made Tong Qiu feel very embarrassed.
As a couple who had just started dating, especially as they met on a blind date, even though they’ve already made things official, there was still some kind of distance between them. Apart from going out to eat and watch movies, there was nothing else they could do.
They walked around the streets in boredom and just happened to walk past Tong Qiu’s school.
As it was September, only three months had passed since the end of last year’s college entrance examinations, so the list in red of the results posted at the school gates was still there. Huo Zhixing smiled and said he wanted to go and have a look.
Tong Qiu accompanied him in front of the red list. Huo Zhixing asked, “What grade are you teaching now?”
“Year 2,” Tong Qiu replied, “In two years it will be my students up on that list.”
Huo Zhixing pointed to one of the names above: “This is my underclassman!”
Tong Qiu stepped forward and saw that it was a student who had passed the police academy. He didn’t know that student, but that school was one of the best police academies in the country. He didn’t expect Huo Zhixing to graduate there.
“By the way, I heard from Aunt Xu that you used to be a detective,” Tong Qiu looked at him. “How come you are a regular police officer now?”
Huo Zhixing was stunned but quickly replied with a smile, “Because of personal reasons, I applied for a transfer. It’s also good to be a police officer. The police station can be lively every day.”
Tong Qiu noticed the other didn’t want to elaborate further.
In fact, he could understand. Both of them were in their thirties. They must have a lot of things they didn’t want to mention to outsiders. Although he was very curious, Tong Qiu was not the kind of person who would pester others for their secrets.
He nodded and joked, “I’ve been to the police station.”
“You?” Huo Zhixing smiled. “Tong-laoshi did not seem like someone who would break the law and violate disciple.”
Tong Qiu laughed, “Of course I’m not! I have always abided by the law! Didn’t I strictly investigate entertainment venues such as arcades in the past two years? I have two minor students who were caught in such places and were taken to the police station. The two did not dare to call their parents, so they called me.”
That was not unusual for Huo Zhixing. He caught many minors himself.
“I see.” Huo Zhixing smiled. “You are a good teacher. The students can trust you.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” said Tong Qiu, “Who told me to be their teacher.”
Tong Qiu continued to look at the red list casually, while Huo Zhixing next to him stood watching him.
Today, Tong Qiu didn’t wear any spectacles and wasn’t dressed as maturely as last time. The denim jacket made him look like a college student in his early twenties.
Huo Zhixing looked in Tong Qiu’s direction and smiled, suddenly rejoicing that he accepted the tenth one after he rejected nine blind dates.
Huo Zhixing thought it would’ve been a pity if he missed Tong Qiu.
Nell’s Corner:
Terribly sorry for the late update! Would you kill me if I told you I simply lost track of time because I was too busy from school? heheheheh……..
Thanks for the chapter ❤
Thank you for the chapter(๑•́ω•̀)
Thank you for the chapter 💕😊
Slow development of a relationship is good.
Thank you for the chapter!! No worries! 👌😉
Ten really is an amazing number tho 😅😅😅
Thank You for the chapter (ฅ’ω’ฅ)♥