Chapter 203
“What? You want one too?” Xiang Tianyi raised an eyebrow at her.
“A big thing like that wouldn’t be much use to me. But I’d like one of your little cars,” Song Nianchu said with a smile.
“Tell me when you want one, and I’ll keep an eye out for you,” Xiang Tianyi replied.
“Huh? How come you’re not making fun of me this time? I remember when I told you before that I wanted a little car, you mocked me,” Song Nianchu said curiously.
“Back then, I didn’t know you had such impressive abilities.” Xiang Tianyi admitted it frankly, without the slightest embarrassment.
“Does that count as a compliment?”
“Of course.”
“…”
The two of them chatted merrily. When Mu Shi’an approached from a distance, he happened to see the scene. His steps faltered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Chu,” Mu Shi’an called.
“Shi’an.” Song Nianchu turned around and, upon seeing him, her face immediately lit up with delight. She then hurried over to him. “What brings you here?”
Xiang Tianyi was still standing where he was, watching them from a distance through narrowed dark eyes.
Mu Shi’an noticed his gaze and looked up to meet it. Their eyes locked in midair, seemingly striking sparks between them.
“What’s wrong?” Song Nianchu asked again when Mu Shi’an remained silent.
“Your construction is about to begin, and we need to clear out the sheds on our side too. We’ve just finished making a batch of net-weaving machines over the past few days. To keep them from taking up space, I was hoping you could deliver them for us.” Only then did Mu Shi’an explain why he had come.
“No problem. I’ll have someone deliver them for you later,” Song Nianchu agreed.
“Mm.”
“By the way, how many machines have you made?” Song Nianchu asked.
“Ten.”
“How many did you say?” For a moment, Song Nianchu wondered if she had heard him wrong.
“Ten. There are still a few that haven’t been installed yet. In three days at most, we’ll have another ten finished.”
“Have you become that efficient? You can make ten in just three days?” Song Nianchu remembered that they hadn’t been able to work this quickly before.
“You’ve been working so hard. I can’t afford to hold you back.” Warmth filled Mu Shi’an’s eyes.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. The fishing-equipment factory isn’t in such a rush,” Song Nianchu said, worried that Mu Shi’an might be overworking himself.
“I’m fine. I just made a few improvements to our tools and increased our efficiency a little.”
“Is that so? Comrade Mu, you really are impressive.”
“Still not as impressive as you.”
“I know you’re flattering me, but I’m happy to hear it anyway.”
“…”
The atmosphere between them grew almost sickeningly sweet. Even though Xiang Tianyi was too far away to hear what they were saying, he could tell from their expressions.
It was the first time he had seen that kind of girlish shyness and feminine softness on Song Nianchu’s face.
She smiled at both of them, but the way she smiled at him was completely different from the way she smiled at Mu Shi’an.
What exactly did she see in Mu Shi’an?
His face?
Noticing Xiang Tianyi’s increasingly impossible-to-ignore stare, Mu Shi’an looked over at him again.
Whether it was a provocation or deliberate, he reached out and smoothed the loose strands of hair from beside Song Nianchu’s ear. Then he deliberately leaned a little closer to her.
“Are you going to deliver the machines to the fishing-equipment factory yourself? Our schedule has been shortened considerably. Should we let the factory director know? That way, they can arrange the work that follows.”
“We should tell them, yes. I’ll go there myself later,” Song Nianchu said with a nod.
“Good.” The smile in Mu Shi’an’s eyes deepened. “Then I’ll get back to work.”
“Mm.” Song Nianchu didn’t notice anything unusual about what Mu Shi’an had just done. She simply smiled and nodded.
After Mu Shi’an left, Song Nianchu returned to Xiang Tianyi’s side.
“Manager Xiang, I still have a few things to take care of later. For anything concerning the construction site, you can coordinate directly with our village chief. If he can’t handle it, then wait until I get back.”
“Mm,” Xiang Tianyi replied flatly.
Song Nianchu knew that his moods were always unpredictable. Though she found him a little cold, she didn’t ask any questions. She turned and left.
What she didn’t know was that after she departed, Xiang Tianyi’s gaze remained fixed on her, a barely suppressed emotion lurking deep in his eyes.
“…”
By the time Song Nianchu returned from making the delivery, Xiang Tianyi was no longer in the village. But she had other matters to deal with and didn’t notice his absence at all.
As soon as she got back to the village, she hurried toward the carpentry workshop.
“Shi’an!” she shouted when she saw Mu Shi’an still hard at work.
Everyone else in the workshop began teasing them as soon as they saw the scene.
Mu Shi’an’s expression turned slightly unnatural, but he did his best to remain composed. He set down what he was doing and rose to walk toward Song Nianchu.
“Why are you back so soon?” Mu Shi’an noticed that she was covered in sweat, her cheeks flushed bright red. She looked as though she had run all the way back.
Sure enough, Song Nianchu admitted the very next moment, “I ran all the way here.”
“Why were you in such a hurry?” Mu Shi’an’s brows drew together slightly.
He took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped the sweat from her face.
Song Nianchu was too eager to bother with anything else. She took the handkerchief from him and roughly wiped her face.
Mu Shi’an froze for a moment. Looking at her cheeks, which had been rubbed even redder, he smiled helplessly.
“Shi’an, your workshop is really about to become a factory!” Song Nianchu stared at him with shining eyes.
“What do you mean?” Mu Shi’an didn’t quite understand.
“When I went to deliver the machines to the fishing-equipment factory today, the owner discussed another major order with me.” Song Nianchu’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
Mu Shi’an barely heard what she was saying. He nodded instinctively, his attention completely captured by her vivid, animated face.
“We’ve been delivering dozens of net-weaving machines to the fishing-equipment factory little by little lately. The director told me that with these machines, the factory’s efficiency has increased several times over.”
“Then people from the other production brigades in the county came to deliver goods. They noticed the net-weaving machines at the fishing-equipment factory and asked where they had come from.”
“The factory owner was an honest man, so he told them about you. Now they all want to place orders for net-weaving machines with you.” Song Nianchu quickly explained everything to Mu Shi’an.
“Mm.”
Mu Shi’an’s attention had already drifted from Song Nianchu’s eyes to her lips as they opened and closed.
They were lush and enticing.
He wanted to kiss them.
“Do you realize how enormous this could become?” Song Nianchu’s eyes gleamed. “Everyone in Qinghe County makes their living from the sea. Weaving fishing nets has become their only means of support when they can’t go out to sea. Tell me—who wouldn’t want a high-efficiency net-weaving machine?”