Not Familiar

Translator: Csycrus, Editor: Nini, Proofreader: Shigo.

Leaving the research institute and coming all the way to the university, then going even further to reach the bookstore.

    His girlfriend was working here, so Qian Kun naturally had to often be present at the location. But he was a little surprised to see Fang Huaining there as well.

    “Why are you here?” He asked, coming over with a drink.

    Fang Huaining sat down in front of Qian Kun, and without answering the other party’s question, his eyes scanned the store.

    “Because he has some free time and wants to relax.” Wei Ping walked and said clearly, then looked at Fang Huaining, “I approached him several times before, saying that I wanted to come to the research institute to help, but he didn’t agree. Although we know each other very well, he still didn’t agree, now that he finally agreed, how can I let it go so easily? I think you guys can come here often in the future, this place is so nice, and there is no shortage of options in drinking and playing.”

     After saying so, Wei Ping raised her head to follow Fang Huaining’s line of sight in the distance, and found that Li Ting was standing on his tiptoe, arranging books on the shelf.

    Wei Ping said, “He’s really weird.”

    Fang Huaining looked at her skeptically.

    Wei Ping: “He usually stays alone, and my colleagues told me, he never goes to any social events. Say, why did they recruit a person with such low EQ to work as a waiter, and apparently, he doesn’t play cards according to common sense.”

    “You think he’s not good?” Fang Huaining asked suddenly.

    Wei Ping thought: “Well…although he’s quite withdrawn, doesn’t have much love for his colleagues, and is stingy, but he still works hard, is responsible, and is really good at his job, so…I don’t like him or dislike him.”

This is because Wei Ping had been brainwashed by Qian Kun, Wang Fuliang and the others about how powerful Li Ting is, and how last time he persisted in his work even with such a serious injury. In her opinion, this kind of personality is hard to come across, but as long as they don’t interfere with each other, it’s okay.

    Neither liking nor disliking.

    Fang Huaining thought this answer was very good.

    So does he himself like Li Ting more, or dislike him more? But dislike…why dislike? Fang Huaining didn’t think Li Ting had any unbearable shortcomings, but as for liking… why would he like him? 

What do you do when you like a boy? !

    Qian Kun on the other end pretended to be angry after hearing Wei Ping’s words: “You have only been here for a few days and you managed to observe so carefully, are you staring at people all day?!”

    Wei Ping admitted without fear: “Yes, I was watching him. See, I am quite beautiful, but not only has he never even looked at me since he entered the store, he is not even gentle, how can I not be curious, I think he either has a sweetheart or has the same sexual orientation as me.”

   Just as she said this, Fang Huaining unexpectedly let go of the utensil in his hand, and the spoon and glass collided loudly.

    Wei Ping gave him a strange look, then picked up the rag in her hand to wipe off the juice splashed on Fang Huaining’s table: “Is there any need to be so surprised? I trust my instincts, and of course you can’t rule out that he has a sweetheart. With such a character, I don’t know who he will fall in love with, is she prettier than me?”

    Wei Ping muttered, and turned to work.

    Her speechless boyfriend and the silent Fang Huaining were left behind.

    Sweetheart?

    Different sexual orientation?

    These two keywords kept lingering in his ears, the former made Fang Huaining’s heart beat a little slower, and the latter… made his heart skip a beat. He felt that something was wrong with his thoughts…

    The new bookstore had opened so there were a lot of events going on. After Wei Ping left, another waiter came over and distributed membership leaflets to the two of them.

    Qian Kun looked at it: “So there is a monthly card and a quarterly card? The monthly card gives 15% off, and the quarterly card gives 30% off. It seems to be more cost-effective if you come here often. I should get one.” As long as his girlfriend goes to work here, he will definitely come to report everyday, so Qian Kun needed this very much.

    Qian Kun asked for an application form for a monthly card, and then thinking of the person with him, he turned around and asked, “Huaining, how about you?”

Fang Huaining had already stretched out his hand to pick up a form as he spoke.

    Qian Kun took a look, quarterly? !

    He wasn’t sure how long his girlfriend would be able to work here and if she would run away halfway, but Fang Huaining was even more courageous than him?

    It seems that the ace really doesn’t want to fall in love, spending all day at the bookstore.

    Seeing Fang Huaining swiftly swiping his card to pay the bill, Qian Kun, who felt that he knew his good brother very well, came to this conclusion.

    *********

    Thus, Fang Huaining found another place to go to besides his home, the teaching buildings, and research institute in this way, which was Hyacinth Xiaoshe, the new bookstore.

    Of course, he didn’t stay there all the time, basically keeping the rhythm of showing up once every few days and sitting there for a couple hours every time, no different from ordinary customers.

    Li Ting didn’t communicate much with him, except for taking orders and cleaning the table, Fang Huaining would only see him working busily at the bar in the store.

    Then he discovered that Li Ting had many small habits while doing things.

When he meets a difficult customer, his eyebrows will be slightly lowered, and his fingers will gently rub the hem of his trousers to express his impatience; but after taking care of it, he will gently count the money; Yes, whenever he seemed to be happy, he usually had money in his hands. At that moment, the frequency of his eyes blinking would become faster, his eyelashes would flutter, and his mouth would be curved just a little. The small arc was…very cute…

    Wei Ping had the morning shift today and had gone back before evening shift started. Qian Kun went with her, and when they asked Fang Huaining about when he would be leaving, the ace said that he would sit down for a while more.

    Qian Kun said casually: “Next weekend is the Mid-Autumn Festival. My mother asked you time to come home with me for dinner.”

His family was somewhat related to Fang Huaining. So when they aren’t in China, Qian Kun’s family naturally needs to take more care of him.

   But there happened to be another job at Hexin Industry next week, Fang Huaining was not sure about the time, so he decided to discuss it when the time came.

    Qian Kun and Wei Ping left, and Fang Huaining stayed for a few more hours, watching as the crowd near the book shelves gradually decreased, and finally only a few students were left reading. Half the waiters had also clocked off work by then, but Li Ting hadn’t. Fang Huaining knew that he would basically be the last one to leave.

    However, the boss here was not very harsh on the employees. In the evening, when there aren’t many customers, it was within the allowable range for the waiters to relax a bit.

    Fang Huaining was looking up various notes when he saw that some employees were also sitting down to read books. He also noticed that Li Ting had come out from behind the bar and turned on a computer.

    He had a new haircut.

And sitting there with his waist staright, revealing the slender nape brushed by hair. He seemed particularly eye-catching under the soft light of the bar.

    Fang Huaining found out that he was reading the electronic document that he had given him, very serious and focused. And for some reason, Fang Huaining felt a little relieved, as if proud that he had won a certain award.

    At this time, Fang Huaining’s cell phone rang. When he saw the caller-id, he quickly put down his things and walked outside the store to pick it up.

    A gentle voice came from the other end: “Ningning, how are you doing?”

    After quickly reading a chapter, Li Ting was about to leave work. He turned off his computer and went to the staff room to change his uniform. After closing the door, he heard someone chatting in the changing room next door.

    The party gossiping was a young duo of friends hiding in a corner, and chatting.

    “…Did you see, that handsome guy is here again today? Really handsome…”

    “Which handsome guy?”

    “It’s the one in the black T-shirt sitting by the window. He just went out to make a phone call, when he stood up, did you see, he was super tall…”

    “Oh, it’s Fang Huaining.”

    “Is his name Fang Huaining? Which department?”

    “Department of Computer Science, you don’t know Fang Huaining? In our university, he is very famous for his looks too. But he usually only appears in the teaching buildings. I’d seen him once or twice before, but recently I’ve seen him more often.”

    “So why does he always come to our store, it’s not like our computers are better than theirs, hahahaha, or maybe there is someone he likes in our store! “

    “Maybe he’s taken a fancy to me? No wonder I always feel that my back is hot when I’m working.”

    “You have a lot of meat on your back, so you’re sweating and that’s why it’s hot… he must have taken a fancy to me.”

“Yes, yes, yes, if you like him, then why don’t you hurry up and flirt with him.”

    “I’ll go! Right away! Maybe I’ll hit the jackpot on the first try!”

    “Hahahahaha, stop making trouble, to tell you the truth, Fang Huaining is very cold. And notoriously difficult to flirt with, there are quite a few people with their eyes on him in the university, if you aren’t a goddess, don’t waste your time.”

    Li Ting went out after changing his clothes, and by then the two girls had also finished changing, Still, since Li Ting was walking behind them, he heard what they were talking about along the way.

    Suddenly one of the girls grabbed the other, pointed outside and said, “Look, it’s been more than ten minutes and he hasn’t finished the phone call, and he’s smiling so softly, didn’t you say he’s really alood?”

“Really…”

    “I think it’s hard to flirt with this kind of male god because he already has a girlfriend. Even if he doesn’t have a girlfriend, there should be no shortage of ambiguous partners.”

Li Ting came out of the shop.

Since he looked straight at him, Fang Huaining thought that the little employee had something to say to him, and even if he didn’t, he should say hello when their eyes met. But Li Ting just turned his face away, and passed Fang Huaining by, like a complete stranger!

    Fang Huaining was dumbfounded.

    Until the female voice on the phone reminded him.

    “Ningning, Ningning, what are you doing? Are you still outside?”

    “Ah? Well, I’m near the school…” Fang Huaining said.

    “It’s so late, do you want to accompany your girlfriend hime?” The voice on the phone was smiling, “If you have one, can come back together during the Chinese New Year this year.”

“Mom…”

    Fang Huaining said helplessly, “There is no such thing.”

    “How could there not be? If they don’t exist now, they will exist in the future.”

Mother Fang firmly said, “I don’t believe that at your age, you have never met one or two people who you like or are attracted to? En. It’s just that you didn’t feel it well.”

    Fang Huaining glanced in the direction of a certain someone’s departure again. He felt it, his heartbeat like this couldn’t be explained, maybe his heart had a blockage…

    ********

    Early weekend morning, Tian Dian called Li Ting.

 He said: “Li-zi, I have arrived near Univerdity A, and all the things I have brought are here too. If you are not free, I can take care of it by myself. If there is any problem, I’ll just call for maintenance.”

Li Ting was indeed busy today, since University A was on holiday.

    The students didn’t go to class, so many people came out to play instead. The shopping street near the school gate was full of students, and their bookstore was also packed to the brim.

    “Then you manage, I’ll come over when I have time.”

    After hanging up on the phone, Li Ting started to get busy again.

Wang Fuliang and Zhao Bang also came today, saying they were there to support Wei Ping. Of course, Fang Huaining was also there, and the employees in the shop were no longer surprised by his presence.

    Zhao Bang took a look at his big cup of milk tea, and asked Li Ting, “What I want is iced, have you forgotten?”

    Li Ting didn’t hear him, he was looking outside through the glass window.

    Fang Huaining followed his gaze, and found a person waving towards them from the opposite side of the road, with long hair, and in the same short-sleeved sportswear. Wasn’t it the girl he had seen in the hospital? She also seems to be Li Ting’s… cohabitant?

[TN: In case you forgot, Tian Dian cross dresses.]

    Fang Huaining looked back at Li Ting again and found that he was nodding slightly in her direction, as if his mind wasn’t on the work in front of him. Fang Huaining squeezed the cup in his hand.

    Wang Fuliang said aggrievedly: “I, my ice tea…”

    Li Ting heard him this time, and turned back to work: “Sorry.”

    “Forget it, no need,” Wang Fuliang waved his hand, “There, over there the guest is calling you.”

    After Li Ting left, Zhao Bang said to Qian Kun, “This work is exhausting. The waiters are already busy, how can you have the heart to let your wife do this?”

Fang Huaining suddenly said: “I think she likes it.”

    Qian Kun nodded in agreement: “Yes, she likes it herself, so it can be regarded as a kind of exercise, she is not that fragile, and even if she is too tired, doesn’t she still have me.” “Yo~~~~”

Zhao Bang and Wang Fuliang couldn’t bear it as usual, and this abused single dog started to complain.

    Fang Huaining was not interested in listening, so he turned his face towards the window. He found that the long-haired girl hadn’t left, and was standing in front of a claw machine across the road, picking a doll.

    He intuitively looked at Li Ting again, and sure enough, he found that his gaze was also on the same spot, and there even was a hint of concern on his face, which was usually expressionless.

    Hulululu, the drink in Fang Huaining’s cup was sucked up by him.

He felt that he shouldn’t go out during the holidays. The store was not as quiet as before, and the noise seemed to give him a headache.

    Fang Huaining took out his mobile phone, and opened the Little Ranch. He didn’t check the accounts or the memo function, and directly clicked on a racing game, wanting to play two rounds to calm himself. Who would have thought that on the leaderboard, he found that the highest record he had set before had been refreshed!

    Fang Huaining was stunned for a moment before realizing who must have played it. Looking at the new letter “L” on top of the “F”, he felt a little happier for no reason.

    Very good.

    So he spent all his effort on breaking the new record in the following time.

    He usually didn’t talk much, and his friends were already used to it. But they were a little confused as to why a game that is so simple can be played with so much fun and devotion by the ace.

    After a while, Fang Huaining, who successfully got his name back on top, raised his head in satisfaction. The person in front of the claw machine across the road had disappeared. He felt relieved and looked for Li Ting again, only to find that there was no one in front of the bar.

    Fang Huaining waited for a while, but even after drinking all the tea in the cup, he still didn’t see Li Ting, so he couldn’t help stopping Wei Ping who was passing by.

    “Is it time for a shift change?” Fang Huaining asked.

    “Ah?” Wei Ping looked at her watch, “No, it’s still an hour away.”

    Then she turned to ask the manager, “Is there enough manpower to change shifts today… What? Li Ting just left? He asked for leave? Then today there are only three people on duty? I’m going to be exhausted…”

    Qian Kun hurriedly comforted his girlfriend, while Zhao Bang and Wang Fuliang looked at Fang Huaining standing up after being silent for a long time.

    “Where to?” The two wondered.

    Fang Huaining said: “Hexin Industry, I need to go.”

    “Ah? So suddenly?”

    “I’m leaving.”

    Fang Huaining looked back worriedly, asking Qian Kun to say hello to his mom and tell her that he wouldn’t be going with him for dinner. Then, he left decisively.

    ***********

    Li Ting and Tian Dian walked all around the shopping street, subway station, and bus stop near A University. When they finished their work, it was already dark.

    During this period, Li Ting’s phone kept ringing, but he didn’t answer it. Until the last two calls, which were made by Li Han.

    “Brother, are you busy today? Do you want to come back for dinner? I miss you.”

    Li Ting didn’t answer.

    Li Han paused: “Dad misses you too, he wants you to come back for dinner, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and he said he has something to tell you…”

    Li Ting still didn’t speak.

    Li Han sighed: “We’ll be waiting for you, come if you want.”

    When the call ended, Tian Dian asked Li Ting: “Li-zi, are you going back home? Or going to work with me?”

There was an event tonight at the bar he worked, so it should be very lively, thinking of Li Ting going home alone at this time, Tian Dian also couldn’t bear it.

    Li Ting thought for a while, and said, “I’ll go shopping.”

    Tian Dian wanted to say more, but suddenly thought of where Li Ting actually might be going and swallowed the words again, “Then come back early.”

    … …

    Fang Huaining was not lying, Hexin Industry really had some work waiting for him, but it wasn’t urgent to the point that he needed to work on holidays.

Still, Fang Huaining always preferred to work alone so he didn’t not feel that this day was different from the past.

Perhaps the only difference was that the building that was always full of activity is now calm and quiet.

Only he was sitting alone there, busying himself.

    Being in a quiet place also had some advantage, because the work efficiency was very high. Every thing was done in only half the time, but Fang Huaining was not in a hurry to leave.

The weather is good today.

He made himself a cup of coffee, and stood near the glass pane quietly admiring the disc-like moon outside.

 Looking back, he felt that his mood was very unstable recently, fluctuating up and down, happy and then anxious. Fang Huaining, who was always composed in the past, felt that it was inexplicable. He was also very confused.

    He seemed to be a little too concerned about that person, and felt that he needed some time to think about it, what is the source of Li Ting’s influence on him? 

And also whether his overreaction to all this is just an illusion or the truth from the bottom of his heart.

    It’s a pity that reality didn’t seem to intend to give him such a chance. Just as Fang Huaining though so, a bright light suddenly flashed in the distance, but disappeared just as quickly, like a flashlight or the light of an electronic item.

    Fang Huaining took a closer look again, even turned off the lights in the room, and finally confirmed that there was a person sitting in the darkness in the distance!

    The figure from the back was quite blurry, but Fang Huaining recognized it immediately.

    In fact, he should have continued to stand where he was. He hadn’t thought clearly about the issues he wanted to think about, so going out by will would only increase his confusion.

But before he realized it, Fang Huaining’s feet had already moved involuntarily.

    Walking through the rugged dirt road, this was the first time Fang Huaining bypassed the gate of Hexin Industry, and entered the undeveloped area on the side. There was a man was sitting there, legs crossed, looking up at the moon in the sky.     

Fang Huaining did not lighten his footsteps, so the other party should have easily heard him, but the man did not turn his head until Fang Huaining stopped right beside him.

And then he heard him speak suddenly.     

“Times change the path.”     

Fang Huaining was just thinking about how to make an opening, when he heard this, he was puzzled for a moment: “What?”

Li Ting turned his head and looked at Fang Huaining’s feet, only the glow of the moonlight remained on his beautiful face. 

He said: “The road you walked on was called this way before. See… Time changed, and now there it is much different than before. Isn’t this name very appropriate?”

Times changed?    

 For some reason, Fang Huaining felt that this name sounded familiar. He was a native of City A, but has he been here before? Or heard of it elsewhere?

    “Are you familiar…with this place?” Since that was the case, Fang Huaining continued to ask along this topic.

    Li Ting seemed to smile slightly, Fang Huaining couldn’t see clearly, but he could hear him: “Of course, I used to live here.”

    Right here?

    Fang Huaining looked around nervously, afraid to see some kind of straw shed house, if Li Ting replied, “Now the way I live can be considered living a lavish life”, Fang Huaining might believe it.

    Fortunately, Li Ting didn’t say it, and instead asked: Aren’t you curious why I farm here?”

    Fang Huaining thought: Isn’t it to make money?

    The crops on the ground had begun to sprout, and they were now lush green. Fang Huaining didn’t know much about agriculture so he couldn’t tell what kind of vegetable it was.

    Li Ting seemed to have guessed what he was thinking, and, Fang Huaining was sure this time that he was really smiling.

    It’s a pity… why isn’t the moon brighter, I can’t see his face clearly...

    “Why?” Fang Huaining asked cooperatively.

    Li Ting stretched out his fingers and lightly tapped on a young seedling: “Because… this land is mine.”

    Fang Huaining was startled.

    “What?”

    Li Ting raised his head and looked at him, Fang Huaining finally saw his brows and eyes clearly, they were so prominent that even the darkness of night couldn’t cover them, and there was a faint smile, that was not really a smile, at the corner of his mouth.

    Li Ting slowly said: “My family used to be big landlords with a lot of money, but then they went bankrupt and everyone died. There was no house or property left, and I only inherited this piece of land, now I have become a small landlord, so of course I have to farm and manage the land well.”

    A small landlord…

    Maybe it was the darkness around him that made the look on Li Ting’s face stand out, Fang Huaining looked at Li Ting, who had a sly look in his eyes as he spoke, and he suddenly had the urge to pinch his face.

    Small landlord?

    This little liar.

    I won’t be fooled again.

    Li Ting found that there was no look of horror on Fang Huaining’s face, rather, his eyes seemed to become a little darker, so he turned his face away, and pursed his lips, a little bored.

    “So the little landlord deliberately crossed mountains and ridges to enjoy the moon in his field?”

This place was located in the outskirts, and the bus will have to go over many hills along the way. It was not an exaggeration for Fang Huaining to say this.   

  Li Ting actually nodded seriously

  “Well, what’s wrong with me coming here to reunite with my property for the holidays?”

His tone was a little uncomfortable… as if he couldn’t bear it.

    Fang Huaining thought of the bloody family drama he had seen that day, the two parents that were bad enough that Li Ting would rather enjoy the moon with the young crops all over the ground than go back to be with them. It may not be an exaggeration to be compared to neighbors.

    Perhaps what the little landlord said was not entirely false.

    Fang Huaining was tired from standing, but looking at the yellow mud all over the floor, he had no intention of sitting down with him at all. Moreover, in the summer night, there were buzzing mosquitoes everywhere, and he had already bitten since he was wearing short sleeves. If he opened his mouth, he might end up taking several mouthfuls.

    Li Ting wore safe long-sleeved trousers, but as if he felt uncomfortable with him standing beside him, Li Ting also stood up.

    Fang Huaining watched him go to the grass on one side, stretch out his hand to feel in the darkness for a while, then walk back and stretch out his hand towards him. A thick and flat object lay in his slender palm.

    Fang Huaining recognized it as aloe vera, but didn’t understand what Li Ting meant.

    Li Ting gave him a helpless look, and had no choice but to break off a piece by himself. After squeezing out the juice with his fingertips, he took Fang Huaining’s hand and rubbed it up and down.

    Fang Huaining froze, feeling as if his entire arm had been electrified, and suddenly lost all strength.

    Li Ting pressed down with his finger on the inside of Fang Huaining’s elbow, squeezing the twisted aloe vera juice and rubbing it lightly.

    Li Ting’s hand was cold but soft, and Fang Huaining could feel the little calluses on his fingertips touching his skin one by one, his heart skipped a beat.

    Li Ting’s tone was the same as before, as he explained: “Aloe relieves the itching.”

    Fang Huaining thought…

    I don’t feel itchy, I just feel hot.

    No one spoke, the humidity of early autumn and late summer seemed to erupt at this moment, and Fang Huaining’s nose had beads of sweat break out instantly. He felt his back going wet.

    Li Ting seemed to feel that something was wrong, so he slowly let go of his hand, threw the aloe aside, took a step back, blinked a few times, pursed his mouth, then turned…and left.     

It was getting late, and Fang Huaining also had to go back. There was only one road, so the two walked around Hexin Industry to the bus station one after the other. They were silent on the road, but the embarrassment still seemed to spread.     

But this time the embarrassment seemed to have a charming taste to it. Also, the strange atmosphere between the two of them didn’t come to an end that day.

The bus arrived very quickly, but the seats were all full of passengers. It turned out that the first few stops were on the way to the Green Field Ecological Park, where there happened to be a Mid-Autumn Festival flower viewing party tonight. Many tourists took the bus instead of a taxi, turning the vehicle into a state similar to a can of worms.  

Fang Huaining watched all those people squeezed up against each other and hesitated in his steps. He really didn’t really want to go up.     

Li Ting turned back and said: “There are no taxis available now.”

And waiting for another bus may take a while.     

Fang Huaining hesitated for a moment, but had no choice but to squeeze in, in the end. Fang Huaining’s addition filled up the remaining space at once. If Li Ting moved just a bit, he would be squeezed between the other passengers and crushed. 

So Fang Huaining looked in that direction once, and chose to stand on the outside, letting Li Ting lean against the bus door. Anyway, the route in this area was very long, so there was no need to worry about passengers getting on and off the bus for now.

    With the joint efforts of other passengers, the door was successfully closed, but the distance between Fang Huaining and Li Ting was completely compressed to a negative value. Li Ting’s back was pressed against Fang Huaining’s chest, and the back of his head was brushing his chin.

In order not to weigh down on Li Ting’s body, Fang Huaining put one hand on the car door to keep his balance, half-embracing Li Ting.

    Although there had been such contact between them before, but at that time Li Ting was injured, Fang Huaining was only thinking about sending him to the hospital as soon as possible without thinking about anything else, but at this moment…

    His eyes turned left and right, and his entire field of vision was completely blocked. Li Ting was so close that he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to.

    Fang Huaining had to lower his eyes, thinking it would be okay if he didn’t look at him, but he was even more startled when he looked down, Li Ting’s slender neck was right in front of his eyes, and there was a mosquito lying on that white skin.

    Small and round.

    Fang Huaining wanted to laugh.

It turned out that the other party had also been tricked, but he kept holding back.

    It should be very itchy, but unfortunately the aloe vera is gone and he didn’t know what else to do.

    Thinking of something, Fang Huaining froze, his throat moved, and a blush crept up his cheeks.

    Of course, Li Ting could also feel Fang Huaining behind him, the other party’s sense of presence was too strong.

Suddenly, a puff of air blew on Li Ting’s nape, it was very light, but it made Li Ting feel like his scalp was burning .

    Li Ting shook his head, originally wanting to quietly change to a different position, but just as he turned his head to the side, unfortunately, the driver pressed the brakes suddenly.

    At that moment, the person him who had been standing firmly behind him, pushed him against the door, and at the same time, something soft pressed against Li Ting’s cheek!

    Li Ting: “…”

    Fang Huai Ning: “!!!!”