Chapter Twenty-Five: Stood Up

"Where is she?"
Seeing that there was no one on the hillside, Zhang Mingyang glanced at the time—it was exactly nine o’clock.

"Maybe it's just that women take longer to do their makeup. Just wait a bit longer, just a bit longer," Zhang Mingyang comforted himself.

But as the minutes ticked by, it was soon half past nine, and Bai Muqing still hadn't appeared.

"Where is she? If she doesn't show up soon, I'm going to freeze to death."

Zhang Mingyang stood shivering on the hillside. It had rained today, and the temperature in the forest at night was especially low. Trembling, he took out his communicator, found Bai Muqing’s number, and dialed.

Beep beep...

No answer!

He tried again.

Beep beep...

"Hello, who's this?" A lazy voice answered.

"Director Bai... Bai, are you here yet?" Zhang Mingyang’s voice was trembling.

"Oh, wait a moment, I'm still putting on makeup. I'll be ready soon."

Hearing that she was still doing her makeup, Zhang Mingyang replied excitedly, "No rush, no rush, I'm not pushing you. I'm still waiting for you on the hillside."

"Alright, just wait a bit, I'll be there soon."

After hanging up, Zhang Mingyang stomped his feet and paced back and forth, hoping to drive away the cold.

"I'll wait! I'll keep waiting!"

So, another hour passed. At half past ten, Zhang Mingyang couldn’t stand it anymore and called again.

Beep beep...

This time, the call was quickly answered.

"Zhang Mingyang, something urgent just came up. I have to go out. Don't wait, just go back."

With that, Bai Muqing hung up.

Zhang Mingyang stood there, shivering, at a loss for words.

"Did I just... get played?"

Achoo...

He wiped his nose with his sleeve, feeling a cold coming on.

"Enough, I'm not waiting anymore."

Zhang Mingyang dashed down the muddy slope and ran toward the dormitory. The rain was coming down harder, soaking him to the skin. Battling through the downpour, he finally saw the dormitory’s lights and hurried inside, slipping on the steps at the entrance and painfully banging his tailbone.

Across the way, Bai Muqing was lazily leaning against her window, watching Zhang Mingyang slip and fall. She let out a little snort of laughter, "That’s what you get for bullying me last time. Serves you right."

With that, she closed the curtains and went to bed.

In the living room, Lin Guangming, who had just come out to fetch something, saw Zhang Mingyang stumble in, drenched and clutching his backside.

"Mingyang, where were you? Why are you soaked? Didn’t you take an umbrella?"

Seeing it was a teacher, Zhang Mingyang replied awkwardly, "It’s nothing, teacher. I just went back to the lab for a bit, and on the way back I slipped and fell. Just hit my tailbone, it’s nothing."

"You fell? Are you alright?" Lin Guangming asked with concern.

"I’m fine, really. You should rest, teacher. I’m off to bed myself."

With those words, Zhang Mingyang opened his door and slipped inside.

Once inside, he quickly locked the door, peeled off his wet clothes, and rushed into the bathroom.

He turned on the shower; scalding hot water poured over him, warming his chilled body.

After a hot shower and a change into clean clothes, Zhang Mingyang dove under the warm covers.

"Bai Muqing… just you wait…"

Achoo...

The next morning, Zhang Mingyang was woken by his alarm. He weakly turned it off with his right hand and dragged himself out of bed.

"Am I running a fever?"

His head ached, his whole body felt miserable, and he was burning up.

"Better go get some medicine."

After a hasty wash and bundling up in two thick layers, Zhang Mingyang left the dormitory.

"Zhang Mingyang, what happened to you?" Bai Muqing came over, concerned, when she saw him bundled up like a snowman.

Zhang Mingyang wanted to snap at her, but he had no energy and simply ignored her.

"Hey! I was just being nice, why are you acting like this?" She was trying not to laugh as she spoke.

"I must have been blind to think you were being nice!"

Zhang Mingyang paid her no attention and headed for the base hospital.

In the infirmary, the doctor took his temperature, "38.7 degrees—mild fever, nothing serious. Take some medicine and drink more hot water."

He wrote a prescription for Zhang Mingyang to collect his medication.

After getting the medicine, Zhang Mingyang didn’t return to his room but headed to the canteen instead.

As he entered, the Energy Department team saw him carrying a bag of medicine and crowded around, concerned. "What happened? Only here a few days and you can’t take it anymore?"

Zhang Mingyang swallowed, glanced at Bai Muqing in the distance, and replied, "It’s nothing. Just got a bit chilled last night, caught a fever. Some medicine will do."

"Do you want to take a day off?" Teacher Lin Guangming asked.

"No need, teacher. It's just a little cold. I’ll be fine in a few days."

Lin Guangming told him to sit down while others went to get him breakfast.

"You young people—your health isn’t as good as us old-timers. Clearly need more exercise," one joked.

Lin Su retorted, "You call yourself old? What are the rest of us in our seventies then—halfway in the ground?"

"Hey, Big Beard Lin, are you just looking for an argument?"

And so, the elders began bickering over their ages.

After breakfast, Zhang Mingyang stuffed his medicine into his pocket and headed for the laboratory.

The path today led toward the airport, and in the cave, Zhang Mingyang spotted Bai Muqing again.

Looking at her tall, slender figure, a word popped into his mind, and he blurted it out, "Bamboo stick!"

"What did you say?"

Bai Muqing had heard him.

"What did you just call me?"

Zhang Mingyang feigned confusion, "Did I say something? What did I say?"

"Didn’t you just call me a bamboo stick?" As she spoke, Bai Muqing cornered him against the cave wall, almost like she was trying to pin him.

"I said nothing," Zhang Mingyang pushed her away and hurried toward the elevator.

"Wait," Bai Muqing called, chasing after him.

Zhang Mingyang rushed to the elevator, verified his ID, and stepped inside.

The underground lab had strict entry protocols. With her clearance, Bai Muqing couldn’t follow and could only point and gesture at him from outside.

"I can’t hear you," Zhang Mingyang made faces at her from inside the elevator, mocking her.

Soon, Bai Muqing disappeared from view as the elevator rapidly descended.

In less than twenty seconds, he reached the underground lab. The little spat seemed to have made him feel much better—maybe teasing her really could cure a cold.

In the pipeline room, everyone else was already waiting, except for Wang Yanxiu.

"Team Leader Zhang, do you have a cold?" someone asked as they saw him.

"It’s nothing, just a little cold. Let’s get back to work."

Seeing that Zhang Mingyang insisted he was fine, the others said no more and resumed familiarizing themselves with the facility.

Zhang Mingyang glanced around. With no sign of Wang Yanxiu, he said nothing. The kind of person who always goes wherever he pleases, after all!