If The Moon Won’t Hold You - Chapter 26

Yan Xingzhi carried Cen Ning to the infirmary. On the way, some people could not help but look at her curiously. Yan Xingzhi was expressionless, but for Cen Ning, if it weren’t for the mud covering her face, others would have discovered that her face had flushed red.

Finally, he reached the infirmary, and he placed Cen Ning down. Then the military doctor came up to them.

“What happened?”

“I fell into the mud pit and twisted my ankle.” Yan Xingzhi put Cen Ning on the chair and asked, “Which one?”

“Left…”

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Yan Xingzhi gave an “mhm” and then bowed his knees and squatted down, reaching out to untie Cen Ning’s shoelaces.

“Hey! I’ll do it myself.”

“Quiet.” Yan Xingzhi gave her a serious look. Cen Ning was afraid of this facial expression since she was a child, so she stayed quiet. Seeing that she would stay obedient, Yan Xingzhi carefully took off her shoes and socks, and then rolled up her pants.

Mbl pbslp yde vaswplap olal yzz xweeu, cwv vbl zlqv qssv vbyv oyp fwpv lmrsple oyp nzlyd yde obkvl, prsvzlpp.

Zyd Dkdtgbk’p lulp dyaasole pzktbvzu. Gqvla y caklq rywpl, bl alynble swv yde blze bla qssv. “Rv’p poszzld.”

Mbl xkzkvyau esnvsa piwyvvle esod yde lmyxkdle kv. “Rv’p sjyu, kv’p qkdl. R’zz ts tlv psxl xleknkdl yde prayu kv.”

“Xjyu, vbydj usw.”

Mbl xkzkvyau esnvsa oldv swv, yde Zyd Dkdtgbk zlv ts. Mbld bl pyv esod clpkel bla. “Ebu eke usw fwxr kd vbl xwe ps pweeldzu?”

Uld Lkdt blyae vbl osaep yde pyke psqvzu, “Mbyv zsnyvksd kp tsse…”

“Rq kv’p tsse, cl ralryale. Tso nyd usw pweeldzu fwxr esod zkjl vbyv?”

Ebld Zyd Dkdtgbk oyp plakswp, bl oyp alyzzu pnyau. Mbyv hsknl, vbyv zssj. Ohld vbspl pszeklap obs bye clld vaykdkdt qsa y zsdt vkxl swvpkel olal polyvkdt, dsv vs xldvksd Uld Lkdt.

“I… I suddenly had a whimsical thought and felt that I couldn’t waste this opportunity.” After speaking, Cen Ning glanced at him secretly. “Don’t be angry.”

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Yan Xingzhi couldn’t be angry after noticing her furtive glance, and in the end, he could only helplessly sigh, “Shooting is shooting, pay attention to safety.”

Seeing that his expression softened, Cen Ning hurriedly said, “I know!”

The military doctor came in and gave the medicine to Cen Ning for her to spray. At this moment, Hao Jie and the others had also received the news and came over quickly.

“Cen Ning!”

Cen Ning looked up and saw that several of her colleagues came, and immediately felt ashamed. “Mr Hao.”

Hao Jie frowned. “How did this happen? Are you all right?”

Cen Ning said, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I can continue later.”

“You can’t continue.” Yan Xingzhi suddenly echoed.

Hao Jie had already noticed Yan Xingzhi, and after listening to him speak, he said, “Sorry to trouble you to bring her here.”

“No trouble. We are also responsible for injuries in the camp.” Yan Xingzhi stood up and looked down at Cen Ning. “For the time being, don’t walk, do you hear me?”

The commanding tone was full of familiarity and concern. Hao Jie, Liu Xin, and the others looked at the two people strangely, with confusion in their eyes.

But Cen Ning didn’t think so much at the moment. On one hand, she was worried that Hao Jie, who has always been bad-tempered and strict, would feel that she was holding the team back, and she didn’t dare not listen to Yan Xingzhi’s words. The contradiction between the two sides made her expression very tangled. 

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She looked at Yan Xingzhi pitifully, but he didn’t take it. She can’t walk!

“Cen Ning.” Hao Jie suddenly said, “I think you should rest in the afternoon. I’ve seen your shots just now, and they’re pretty good. There’s not a lot to do next, so I’ll just do it.”

“Really!” Cen Ning was overjoyed and quickly looked at Hao Jie. “Do you mean my shots are good?”

“It’s pretty good.” Hao Jie said, “A lot of the shots are desirable.”

“Thank you, Mr Hao!”

“You are in this situation… Liu Xin, you and Xiao Qian should help her back to the dormitory and deal with the mud.”

“Okay.”

Yan Xingzhi saw that Cen Ning was fine, so he left.

On the way back to the dormitory, Liu Xin asked, “Hey, Cen Ning. Do you know that officer?”

Before Cen Ning could answer, Xiao Qian, who was to edit the photos, supported her right side and had a gossipy face. “Yes, yes, he sent you to the infirmary personally, and his tone just now, I think there must be something!”

Cen Ning didn’t want to cause trouble for Yan Xingzhi, but she didn’t want to lie to her colleagues either since they’ve asked, “I know him.”

Xiao Qian: “Sure enough! What’s your relationship—”

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“Unfamiliar.”

“What……”

“He’s… a neighbour.”

Xiao Qian: “Wow, I envy you so much. You have such a handsome neighbour.”

Liu Xin laughed: “I see, I was confused about how you would know this kind of person.”

The next day, Cen Ning could only stay in the dormitory with Xiao Qian to deal with the photos that were deemed good by Hao Jie because of her ankle injury.

After three o’clock in the afternoon, the photography team cleaned up and left.

On the way, Hao Jie flipped through the photos on the computer and said, “Cen Ning, I will take you back to the school first.”

Cen Ning: “Mr Hao, I can go back by myself.”

“No, it’s on the way, anyway.” Hao Jie seemed to be in a good mood. “The photos you took yesterday were very good, especially the two pictures of the mud pit. The composition, colour, light source… I’m very satisfied.”

It was more difficult to get Hao Jie’s praise than to go to heaven. Cen Ning was overjoyed and exclaimed a few words of thanks in a row.

Compared with Cen Ning, Liu Xin was not so lucky. She was scolded from beginning to end along the way. She had stayed by Hao Jie’s side for a long time, and she had also studied photography longer than Cen Ning. However, her lens sensitivity was just not up to Hao Jie’s requirements.

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In the end, Hao Jie probably scolded her too much, and the atmosphere in the car was cold and tense. Cen Ning didn’t dare to show a bit of joy, for fear that Liu Xin would think she was laughing at her after seeing Hao Jie scold her.

Later, they finally got to school.

Cen Ning’s injury was not serious, and there was no problem with walking on the ground. At dinner time in the evening, she received a call from Song Ci.

“I heard Zhang Ziyi mention you were injured.”

Cen Ning: “A minor injury isn’t that serious. Don’t listen to her nonsense.”

“That’s good.” Song Ci breathed a sigh of relief, “I almost bought a fruit basket to visit you, but luckily I didn’t.”

Cen Ning: “… Thank you.”

Song Ci: “I’m downstairs in your dormitory. I haven’t eaten yet. Didn’t you say you were going to treat me?”

Since Song Ci confessed to her before, Cen Ning felt a little uncomfortable with him, but fortunately, Song Ci rarely came to her after the confession.

Today he was in her school, and Cen Ning was a little surprised.

Besides the surprise, there was some joy. She grew up with Zhang Ziyi and Song Ci. They were her best friends. She privately hoped that everything would return to the way it was…

“Wait a minute.” Cen Ning hurriedly changed her shoes and walked down from the dormitory building.

They haven’t seen each other for a long time. Song Ci seemed to have changed a bit.

From middle school to university, Cen Ning counted as a person who watched Song Ci grow up. When he was a child, he looked good, and now he has matured a lot, and the temperament of the sunny boy was very eye-catching.

“Song Ci.” Cen Ning stepped forward and patted his shoulder.

Song Ci glanced down at her ankle and said, “Be more careful in the future.”

“Yes, I know,” Cen Ning smiled. “This time it was an accident.”

Song Ci glanced at her again, and just as he was about to speak, Cen Ning blocked his words, “Okay, don’t nag like Ziyi. I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

Song Ci had no choice but to shut up and change the subject: “The barbecue rice in your school cafeteria is delicious, right?”

Cen Ning: “You even know that?”

Song Ci hummed. “Isn’t it famous?”

“Then let’s go. I’ll treat you to barbecue rice.”

The two went directly to the cafeteria. Cen Ning used her meal card to swipe for two meals, and Song Ci and her each brought their meal to the dining table.

But she didn’t expect to meet an acquaintance as soon as she sat down.

“Cen Ning, you are here too.” Xia Yi came over with a meal. “Who is this?”

“Oh, this is my friend, his name is Song Ci.” After Cen Ning finished speaking, she looked at Song Ci again, “Song Ci, this is my school senior brother, Xia Yi.”

“Oh, Zhang Ziyi mentioned before,” Song Ci smiled strangely. “It’s a senior brother from your photography club, right?”

Cen Ning was stunned for a moment. “Ziyi told you?”

“Mhm.” Song Ci put down the plate, “If Senior Brother Xia doesn’t mind, let’s eat together.”

Xia Yi looked at Cen Ning: “Okay.”

The three of them were seated, and Song Ci and Xia Yi had a casual chat. The topic of the two was nothing more than Cen Ning. She didn’t know if Song Ci was being intentional or unintentional, but he always liked to mention Cen Ning when she was a child. When speaking, there was quite a “she is a person I know very well and is familiar with” feeling.

Over time, Xia Yi also felt it.

Cen Ning ate the meal silently, and she stayed silent throughout the awkwardness of the entire meal.

“Well, we are all done eating. I’ll walk with you to the school gate.” Cen Ning said, putting down her chopsticks.

Xia Yi: “Then I’ll go with you.”

Cen Ning: “No, no, I’ll just send him myself.”

Xia Yi: “It’s okay, anyway, Song Ci and I… feel like old friends at the first meeting.”

God d*mn it feeling like old friends at the first meeting.

Song Ci sneered in his heart. “Since Senior Brother Xia said so, let’s go.”

Cen Ning: “…”

The three walked to the school gate side by side, with Cen Ning standing in the middle, forming a concave character. (TLN: 凹)

“Be careful next time. Don’t give up your life just to take pictures. How many times can your leg withstand a few falls?” Song Ci nagged.

Cen Ning: “Okay, I know, I said it was an accident.”

Xia Yi: “Are you injured?”

Cen Ning: “No, it’s just a minor injury.”

Song Ci: “It’s still an injury. Why doesn’t Senior Brother Xia know?”

Cen Ning: “…”

Xia Yi showed a hint of awkwardness. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Cen Ning: “It’s all right. If I had a severe injury, could I still walk around here?”

Xia Yi: “In the future, you still need to tell me about minor injuries.”

Song Ci sighed and patted the top of Cen Ning’s head with the advantage of his height. “She has been like this since she was a child. She swallows any grievances to her heart, and to ask her to tell others what she feels… Senior Brother Xia, it would be hard without knowing her for several years.”

 …

After finally reaching the school gate, Cen Ning breathed a sigh of relief, finally breaking the strange atmosphere between the three.

But at this moment, a car turned into the road. Cen Ning felt it was a little familiar, but paid little attention.

Until… the car stopped right next to them.

Cen Ning stared blankly at the door of the car and finally remembered where she had seen this car before. She had seen it in the garage at home before?

“Cen Ning.” A man stepped out from the driver’s seat. He was wearing black pants and a shirt, and his eyebrows were cold and harsh.

Cen Ning: “… How come you are here?”

Yan Xingzhi glanced at the two people standing to the side, raised his feet, and stepped forward. “Isn’t it inconvenient for your foot, how can you walk around?”

Cen Ning: “No, I can walk.”

Yan Xingzhi frowned and glanced at Song Ci. “You are also here.”

Song Ci nodded to him, changed his previous state in front of Xia Yi, and pursed his lips. His facial expression was not very good.

Xia Yi: “This man from last time, your friend…”

Yan Xingzhi reached out his hand to him. “Yan Xingzhi.”

Xia Yi hurriedly reached out and shook his hand. “My name is Xia Yi, hello.”

Yan Xingzhi: “I know.”

Cen Ning wasn’t sure if it was a psychological effect, but she felt the scene was getting even more strange.

What should have been scattered was not yet scattered, and what should not have come came.

Xia Yi: “What are you doing here, Mr Yan?”

Yan Xingzhi looked at Cen Ning calmly. “I’m here to take her home.”