My Mister Ostrich

Chapter 27

Finally, what was left on the bed was a photograph.

A photo encased in plastic. It was taken at the bund. It was pretty small, the colors weren’t very bright, but the image was still pretty clear.

It was a photo of him and Pang Qian. At the time, Pang Qian was carrying around her point and shoot camera. Gu Mingxi had no way of taking a photo of her, but she felt rather indifferent about it. She told Gu Mingxi that it was already her second roll of film. She had taken a bunch of pictures with the comic artists in the morning.

Later on, Gu Mingxi saw a photography station(?). If they used film to take a photo, they could leave their address and the boss would send it over later. If he used a Polaroid camera, they could get the photo immediately.

Gu Mingxi let the boss take out 30 dollars from his pocket. He had him take a photo of Pang Qian with the Oriental Pearl Tower in the background, and then another photo of the two of them together.

He took one of the photos. In it, he and Pang Qian stood side by side against a railing. The wind was blowing then. His sleeves were carried up by it, and even Pang Qian’s loose hair was scattered a bit.

When she smiled, she was rather pretty. Gu Mingxi carefully looked at the photo, and thought that Pang Qian was actually pretty cute. She was just as good as Zhao Jing and Qiu Lina and the like.

She just seemed too young. Whether it was her head or her heart, she was just like a child.

Gu Mingxi carefully put the photo into his bag. He thought, if it was possible, he wanted Pang Qian to grow up slowly.

At 11 o’clock, Pang Qian woke up, needing to urinate. With difficulty, she pulled herself up from bed and went to shower and wash her hair. After that, not even waiting for her hair to dry, she dropped back onto her bed.

And like that, she slept until 9 o’clock the next morning. Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi woke up refreshed and went down to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. When they returned to their room, the phone rang.

It was Lin Weibin calling. He asked Gu Mingxi what time his train left, and Gu Mingxi told him 3 o’clock. Lin Weibin said he wanted to treat him and Pang Qian to lunch, and then he would send them to the train station.

The reason why Lin Weibin initiated such a thing was because he felt he had forgotten his manners in front of Gu Mingxi the previous day. He couldn’t figure out what Gu Guoxiang’s attitude towards his son was. What if this son missing his arms was Chief Engineer Gu’s precious treasure. Then if he goes home and complains, it will be difficult if they ever need to ask for Gu Guoxiang’s help in the future. After consulting with his wife, Lin Weibin came up with this remedy to show his care toward Gu Mingxi.

Gu Mingxi felt he couldn’t turn away this invitation. Lin Weibin was Gu Guoxiang’s friend. Gu Mingxi couldn’t reject him every single time. But… He had originally promised Pang Qian that he’d take her to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Well, it looks like those plans were dashed.

When it was lunch time, Pang Qian’s face was as dark as Lord Bao’s. Gu Mingxi was making polite conversation with Lin Weibin. Because it was Sunday, Lin Weibin had also brought along his wife and daughter. His daughter was called Lin Xuan. She was in fifth grade, a charming little Shanghai girl. Maybe because this lunch ruined her initial plans for the day, but her dark face was comparable to Pang Qian’s.

Some info from Wiki: Lord Bao, named Bao Zheng, was a government officer during the Song Dynsaty. He was extremely honest and upright, and made many changes according to the people’s problems. That’s not the relevant part though… Supposedly, he was born very dark-skinned and ugly. And in dramas and operas, he’s portrayed with a black face and white crescent shaped birthmark on his forehead.