Contract Marriage

Chapter 23

"What meeting..." the sharp gaze the man swept towards Han Yang made him switch his topic, "Alright, I'll wait for you to come meet me."

It was currently already the time for the security check, so Han Yang took his suitcase and said, "I have to go now. You should hurry and get back home, I'll call you when I get there."

With arms outstretched, Helian Qing took the other man into his embrace—hugging him vigorously—then let him go, shooing him away, "Go on, hurry!"

Han Yang thought the gesture he made to drive him off was rather funny. Pulling his suitcase behind him, he went over to the security check point.

Done with the inspection Han Yang took a look back, discovering Helian Qing still stood in the same spot with his gaze turned towards him. He waved at the man, who nodded in return, then made an "I call you" gesture with his hands before he turned and left.

Once he arrived at Y-City, Han Yang gave Helian Qing a call as soon as he was out of the airport. He told him he had already gotten off the plane, and was planning to head straight to the transfer station then back to his village. Helian Qing was presently in the middle of a meeting, so after urging him to be careful on his way there, he ended the call.

By the time Han Yang made it to the station the train had just arrived when Grandpa called, asking him when he planned on coming back home.

Han Yang had not mentioned to his grandfather that this day was the one he would be returning home because every time he went back, the elderly man would always wait for him at the entrance to their village. Han Yang would then worry about whether he had waited a long time, so for this reason he simply did not tell.

"I'm coming back today, and I'm already on my way." Since he had already made it halfway there, Han Yang did not hide it.

"Really? Why didn't you tell me? I should hurry and go buy some groceries to give you a tasty meal then!" Grandpa's voice sounded very excited.

"There's no need for you to rush, I'll go with you when I get there," Han Yang said with a laugh.

"Okay, alright," Grandpa replied giddily. "Oh, by the way, you coming back today is really great, because there something I really need you to come back and confirm."

"What is it?" Han Yang asked.

"I'll wait until you get here to tell you, so let's not talk about it now, alright—phone calls are pricey. Remember to be careful on your way, you understand right?" Grandpa kept him in suspense, but from the way he said it, it should be a good thing.

"Yeah. You shouldn't come out to wait for me, okay," Han Yang added before he hung up the phone.

After ending the call, he had planned on taking a nap until he saw there was a WeChat message Qing Gége had sent. Han Yang opened it to see that it was a picture of a salted fish carrying a bag on it's back, walking under the sun.

Was this describing him? Han Yang laughed.

Salted Fish: Is your meeting over?

Qing Gége: Yeah. Where are you?

Salted Fish: I'm just about halfway there. Where did you get so many salted fish, huh?

Qing Gége: They're kept[1] at home.

Because of his clowning around, Han Yang held on to his phone and chatted along with him on WeChat. The account Helian Qing used was the one Han Yang had set up last time, where the name was just Qing Gége and the profile picture was a cartoon princess' headdress. His, however, was named Saltfish, and his profile picture was a cartoon salted fish. For his signature, Han Yang had: My Qing Gége; while Helian Qing's was: My Saltfish. One time, when he was in class, Han Yang had his chat with Helian Qing seen by She Zhang, who cried out "It's burning my eyes" [2], before saying, "They won't give us single fellas a way to survive at all!"