Chapter 341: Three hundred and forty, enemies often cross each other’s paths Chapter 341: Three hundred and forty, enemies often cross each other’s paths Song Yan Ning sighed inwardly. She could tell that Lin Xiu really enjoyed her profession as a teacher.
“Song Yan Ning, how come you’re in Beijing?” Lin Xiu asked curiously.
“I came to Beijing to visit relatives,” Song Yan Ning replied.
Lin Xiu nodded, “I’ll be off work soon. Let’s go have afternoon tea together.” It had been a long time since she’d seen Song Yan Ning, and she wanted to catch up.
Song Yan Ning glanced at Song Yanli and Ye Shuangshuang, “Do you mind if they join us?”
Lin Xiu smiled and nodded, “Of course not. I get off at two, why don’t you all go for a stroll first? After you’re done, come and find me.” Not to say that they were Song Yan Ning’s friends, but Ye Shuangshuang had just helped Xiao Li, so she felt she should really thank her.
“See you later!” Song Yan Ning nodded, and walked out of the store with Ye Shuangshuang and Song Yanli.
“Xiao Ning, was that store manager your teacher just now?” Ye Shuangshuang asked curiously after they had walked some distance from the store.
Song Yan Ning nodded, “She was my middle school math teacher.”
“Isn’t being a teacher quite good? Why did she become a sales associate?” Ye Shuangshuang asked, puzzled. Teachers are the engineers of human souls, a noble calling indeed.
“I don’t know,” Song Yan Ning didn’t want to talk more about Lin Xiu’s private matters.
“That store has nice clothes; let’s take a look,” Song Yanli suggested after spotting a store up ahead whose clothing seemed to suit her style.
Lin Xiu was serving customers and saw Song Yan Ning’s group arrive with their hands full of bags. She gave them a slight smile, “Please, take a seat for a while.”
“Okay,” the three of them nodded and sat down in the waiting area.
Xiao Li poured a glass of water for each of the three women and turned to look at Ye Shuangshuang, “Thank you so much for your help earlier!” Her mood had already stabilized since such customers were few and far between, and most were quite decent.
“It’s no problem,” Ye Shuangshuang smiled and waved her hand. She just couldn’t stand that woman’s arrogance; if it had been someone else, she would’ve stood up for them too.
“Your face is still a bit swollen; you should put some cold water on it,” Song Yanli said with concern, noticing the red mark on Xiao Li’s face.
Xiao Li’s eyes immediately reddened, and she sniffed, “I’m fine now, but thank you for your concern.”
Song Yan Ning took out a box of ointment and handed it to Xiao Li, “Applying some of this should help.”
“Thank you!” Xiao Li accepted the ointment, opened it, and smelled the cool, refreshing scent. She dabbed a bit on her finger and applied it to her face; a cool sensation spread, and the stinging feeling soon disappeared without a trace.
“This medicine is really good! It doesn’t hurt at all when I put it on. Where did you buy this? I’ll go get a bottle too,” Xiao Li said, handing back the ointment to Song Yan Ning.
Song Yan Ning shook her head, “Keep it.”
“I can’t just take it; tell me how much it is, and I’ll pay you.” Given its effectiveness, the ointment must be expensive, and she couldn’t accept it for nothing.
“No need; I made the ointment myself,” Song Yan Ning said, smiling and shaking her head.
“You studied medicine?” Xiao Li looked at Song Yan Ning in surprise. She seemed very young, hardly sixteen or seventeen.
“My grandfather is a doctor.” Lin Xiu knew that her grandfather was a doctor, so there was no point in hiding it.
Xiao Li nodded in understanding, pulling out a hundred yuan and handing it to Song Yan Ning, “Even though you made it, it still costs something to produce.”
Song Yan Ning smiled helplessly, “Alright, then I’ll accept it.”
After finishing with her customers, Lin Xiu came over, “Sorry to keep you waiting!” She’d taken care of a few more customers since Song Yan Ning and her friends hadn’t arrived, letting Xiao Li rest a bit and calm down.
“It’s fine, we’re not in a hurry,” Song Yan Ning said with a smile, shaking her head.
“I’ll grab my bag; wait here a minute,” Lin Xiu said and quickly walked to the staff rest area behind the store.
Before long, she reemerged with her bag, “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” Song Yan Ning and her companions stood up and walked out of the store with Lin Xiu.
The three of them arrived at the fifth-floor restaurant of the mall and simply ordered a few drinks and snacks.
“Song Yan Ning, I remember you have one more year until college, right?” Lin Xiu took a sip of her drink and looked at Song Yan Ning. Of all her students over the years, Song Yan Ning had left the deepest impression.
“Yeah,” Song Yan Ning replied, spearing a piece of fruit with her fork and popping it into her mouth.
“Have you thought about which university you want to attend?” She felt that with Song Yan Ning’s grades, Shangjing University or Qing University would be best suited for her.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Song Yan Ning said, not particularly caring about which university she attended as long as it was in Yang City.
“You’re only a year away from the university entrance exam, you should have a goal,” Lin Xiu said with a smile, looking at Song Yan Ning.
“Xiao Ning, why don’t you come back to Beijing for college? Then we could hang out and shop together often,” Ye Shuangshuang suggested.
“Yeah,” Song Yanli nodded in agreement. She had always hoped Xiao Ning would return to Beijing, so they could see each other more often.
Song Yan Ning smiled, “I’ll see when the time comes.” If her grandparents were willing to come back, she didn’t mind.
Just then, Lin Xiu’s phone rang.
She took out her phone and saw it was the kindergarten teacher calling. She pressed the answer button, “Hello, Teacher Xu!”
“Is this Lin Jun’s mother? Do you have time to come to the kindergarten now?”
“What happened?”
“Your son Lin Jun got into a fight with another child and scratched their face, and the other child’s parents are here already.”
“Okay, I understand; I’ll be there right away.”
Lin Xiu put down her phone and looked apologetically at Song Yan Ning, “Song Yan Ning, I have some things to deal with, so leave me your mobile number, and I’ll call to make arrangements later.”
“I’ll go with you to the kindergarten,” Song Yan Ning heard the contents of the phone call loud and clear. Lin Xiu didn’t have much support in Beijing, so if something came up, she wanted to be able to help.
“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?” Lin Xiu felt a bit embarrassed.
Song Yan Ning shook her head, “We don’t have anything else to do right now.”
“Alright,” Lin Xiu was anxious about her son and couldn’t worry about anything else.
The four of them arrived at the kindergarten. Before they even entered the office, they could hear someone making a scene, and the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
“Today you must make the other parent explain this to me; look what he’s done to my baby’s face.”
“The child’s parent will be here very soon, please don’t panic.”
“How can you even speak like that? My son’s face has been scratched; how can I not be anxious?”
Walking into the office, Song Yan Ning and the others saw the person making a scene was indeed the middle-aged woman they had encountered earlier in the mall. It really was a small world!
“Lin Jun’s mother, you’re here,” Teacher Xu said, sighing in relief upon seeing Lin Xiu. She was really at her wits’ end.