Quenching

Zhou Binwei put down the warm goat milk and shook her head.

"I don't like drinking goat milk."

"If you don't like it, then don't drink it."

Zhou Binwei's boyfriend gestured for the aunt to take it away.

"Next week, I've invited Huang Qiaqia and Wanli Fuguang to go skiing together, and the two of us will go too!"

"I have something to do next week. Wanli Fuguang probably won't have time either."

"Okay, you guys go make money, we girls will have fun."

"Stop dragging Huang Qiaqia into playing with you."

"Why? She's a very nice person, and her silly and adorable nature makes me like playing with her."

Instead of thinking about how to have fun, why not go look at wedding dresses first?

"I haven't decided yet whether I want to be childless."

"You can think about it after you get married."

"you……"

Just as Zhou Binwei was about to speak, her boyfriend picked up the phone again and took a deep breath.

******

The bright moon hung in the sky, its silvery light covering the vast white earth. The falling snowflakes seemed to completely suppress the eyelids of Huang Qiaqia and her classmates sitting in the laboratory.

The male classmate next to Huang Qiaqia nudged Huang Qiaqia's elbow and yawned.

"Put on Hao Hao's clothes and perform the water sleeve dance you learned for us. We didn't get enough of it last time."

Huang Qiaqia shook his groggy head, put on his oversized coat, and casually folded two pieces of paper into a paper fan.

Another student raised his eyelids, stretched, and clapped loudly.

"Look, Huang Qiaqia is dancing."

Huang Qiaqia's eyes were filled with suspicion, but she curled her lips into a smile and perked up.

In an instant, the room erupted in thunderous applause, cheers, and applause.

Huang Qiaqia twisted her waist, turning slightly – swirling – and swinging her arms.

"awesome."

"Graceful, like a fairy descended from heaven."

"Graceful and charming".

Huang Qiaqia was overjoyed, her lips curving into a wider smile. She lightly lifted her toes, attempting a perfect, graceful dance, but unfortunately, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Several forces pulled Huang Qiaqia to a chair. The male classmate next to Huang Qiaqia clapped his hands, stood up, looked around at the students in the laboratory, and encouraged them.

"We just watched the mentally ill person's convulsive dance, so I guess everyone's awake now. Let's do one last check-up and try to get home before dawn."

Huang Qiaqia puffed out her cheeks and punched the boy hard, secretly annoyed.

The boy pushed his chair away, squatted down, and apologized.

"I ordered two milk teas for you, and the other one is for your boyfriend."

"He's not coming to pick me up."

Huang Qiaqia's face darkened again, as there had been no news of Wanli Fuguang for a long time.

"You can ride in Hao Hao's car later!"

Someone is picking me up.

"Okay, you don't need to do the inspection. You can leave after you finish your part!"

"I'll check with you too. With more people, everyone can go home earlier."

"You've worked so hard. If we keep going like this, we'll all turn into mummies."

"Fortunately, they gave us quite a lot."

Huang Qiaqia also pushed away his chair and stood in front of the computer desk.

******

Wanli Fuguang's deep gaze slowly climbed the steps of the residential area. The tormenting white snow spread over the desolate walkway. The fluttering white snowflakes seemed unwilling to accept the torment of darkness, stubbornly cutting through the stubborn inky cold night, swirling and dancing in the sky.

The light, small, and soft snowflakes could not compare to the thick ink falling from the heavy night sky. Wanli Fuguang sniffed, clenched his fist, his eyes filled with determination, and took a step, stepping onto the pure white snowflakes.

"Squeak."

The unit door suddenly burst open from the inside. Wanli Fuguang frowned, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes, and paused in his steps.

Huang Qiaqia, nestled in Ma Qianji's arms, had wet hair that clung haphazardly to her pale cheeks, large beads of sweat rolling down her face, her features almost contorted into a crooked knot.

In a flash, Wanli Fuguang rushed over, grabbed Huang Qiaqia's trembling little hand, and looked on with suspicion. Gradually, Huang Qiaqia's sweaty little hand lost its strength, and her breathing became weak. Wanli Fuguang gasped, pulled the taxi driver out, took out the cash from his pocket, threw it at him, and quickly stepped on the gas. Ma Qianji sat nimbly in the back seat, seemingly nervously looking at the road ahead, but actually inadvertently pressing on Huang Qiaqia's Tanzhong and Hegu acupoints.

In the consultation room, Sheng Shanxing slammed the diagnosis report onto the hospital bed, his eyes blazing with uncontrollable rage.

"If you want to commit suicide, choose a quick and painless way to die."

"I was with my classmates, and we all..."

"You make it sound so easy. Don't you know your own body? Six days without sleep? Are you crazy for money?"

"I did not expect……"

"What are you thinking? I'm asking you? Do you need to make money? As long as you don't live extravagantly, isn't the family's money enough for you? Who needs you to risk your life to make money?"

Veins bulged on Sheng Shanxing's forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and a destructive rage filled his entire body, as if a fire could be lit around him and burn the whole room.

Huang Qiaqia's pale face was full of apology. She trembled and hid in Ma Qianji's arms, holding Ma Qianji's hand tightly, and apologized to Sheng Shanxing in a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry."

Sheng Shanxing's piercing gaze slashed at Wanli Fuguang. Wanli Fuguang gritted his teeth, swallowed his bitterness, and followed Sheng Shanxing into the cold corridor.

"Did Huang Qiaqia earn your money?"

"Impossible, I'm making some money now..."

Wanli Fuguang's eyes were filled with disbelief, his face showing a mixture of emotions and anxiety, and his helpless hand was about to grab Sheng Shanxing.

Sheng Shanxing sneered, ruthlessly dodging away and dismissively tossing out a remark.

"If you want to break up, then get lost."

"I……"

Wanli Fuguang's lips trembled as he spoke, his gaze urgently following Sheng Shanxing's retreating figure. He only hoped that Sheng Shanxing could understand him, comprehend him. He didn't want to, couldn't bear to, and was unwilling to, but...

Huang Qiaqia sobbed softly as she gripped the horse's hand, her whole body trembling as she pointed to the pocket of her down jacket, breathing heavily, and said bitterly.

"Grandpa, I have a card in my pocket. Can you give it to him secretly for me? I'm afraid that if Brother Sheng Shanxing finds out, it will make things difficult for him. If he's busy, he shouldn't be distracted by me. I won't bother him anymore, I won't."

Ma Qianji patted Huang Qiaqia's cold hand and put down his pen.

"I won't regret it if I give up without even tasting the foie gras."

"I've tasted foie gras and peacock meat. I don't want to keep eating because I think about the taste of foie gras, and because peacocks are wild animals. I also don't want to praise the cute teacup dogs in their hands because I don't want another poor, sick dog in the world to be born because of my praise."

"Why don't you tell Wanli Fuguang all your true thoughts?"

“When Zhou Binwei appeared, Sheng Shanxing told me about the breakup. I was reluctant and wanted to stay in his arms a little longer, but he was busy with work. I wanted to help him one last time. In addition to the money from the lab, I had the money from the fertilizer factory I sold and my savings.”

How will we make a living in the future?