When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 189: Chapter 83: The Number One Sister of the 60s Cultural Troupe (22)

He Qingran looked at Xia Zhaoyun. ”Yunyun, what do you think?”

”The transportation unit, I suppose,” Xia Zhaoyun said with a soft laugh, her eyes twinkling. ”I wonder if Brother Hao would welcome us?”

’This would be a perfect chance to show myself off in front of everyone and properly play my part as his decoy. It’s a small way to repay him for all the running around he’s done to help me, right?’

Huo Tianhao nodded, his expression cool, and uttered a single, flat word: ”Fine.”

Xia Zhaoyun pressed her lips together. The doubts she’d had before the competition came rushing back.

However, after the events of the afternoon, she was no longer as flustered as she had been initially.

’The Huo Tianhao from the factory was a hero. When he was transporting supplies, he fell from a cliff with no chance of survival.’

’The man standing before her now had all his limbs intact and was living openly in the city center under the name Huo Tianhao. It was impossible for them to be the same person.’

’So, she was actually quite calm about it. Perhaps their paths had crossed somehow?’

Still, because he shared a name with Hero Huo, Xia Zhaoyun couldn’t help but feel a sliver of warmth and dependence toward him.

The Capital City Highway Transportation Unit occupied a large area. Even before they drew near, they could see trucks of all sizes coming and going in an orderly stream, looking like giant beetles. It was a spectacular sight.

In this era, eight professions were considered particularly desirable: salesperson, driver, mail carrier, childcare worker, barber, film projectionist, cook, and member of a cultural troupe. Someone had even written an old song about them!

And among the four of them, they pretty much had these professions covered, making them a hot commodity on the matchmaking market.

This time, Huo Tianhao was riding a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Xia Zhaoyun sat in the sidecar with her arms around the two children. Amid the engine’s sputtering roar, the two kids, without the slightest struggle, leaned against her and fell sound asleep.

Huo Tianhao first stopped by the dormitory to grab his keys before driving into the staff apartment complex.

They hadn’t even gotten out when a flock of nosy aunties swarmed them, all smiles. ”Mr. Huo, who’s this pretty young wife you’ve got here? She’s a real looker!”

”I never heard you had any sisters...”

”And you, a young bachelor with no girlfriend in sight, you’re a sly one, snagging a spot in the family apartments. It sits empty all year long. Isn’t that just a waste of resources?”

”Exactly! You’ve only been here two years. Just because you can fix cars and have that ’technician’ title, you get an apartment right away. There are families where both parents work who’ve been on the waiting list for three, even five years, with a dozen people crammed into one of those narrow dormitory apartments...”

”Mr. Huo, I know you have high standards. There’s a rumor going around that you’ve fallen for a girl who’s already taken. Let me tell you, that puppy love stuff is fleeting. The most important thing for a couple is practicality! I have a niece on my side of the family, a real knockout...”

Huo Tianhao acted as if he hadn’t heard a word. After parking the motorcycle, he gently scooped up Ruyuan with one arm. He turned to Xia Zhaoyun, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile, his voice low and gentle. ”Our place is on the third floor. Can you manage with Ruyi?”

”Or I can take Ruyuan up and come back for you?”

’Our place?’

Xia Zhaoyun was so startled she nearly choked on her own spit. When she caught a sidelong glance of the women’s army gawking at them like they were monkeys in a zoo, she realized he was putting on an act.

She nodded repeatedly and whispered with a small laugh, ”She’s not heavy, I’m strong enough. Let’s just hurry upstairs, I don’t want to be an exhibit.”

This time, Huo Tianhao reached out and affectionately ruffled her hair. ”Then stick close to me.”

Xia Zhaoyun froze on the spot. The surrounding aunties, as well as Liu Mingkun and He Qingran who had just parked and were walking up behind them, were all struck completely speechless.

Huo Tianhao was extremely well-known at the unit.

He was young, handsome, and a skilled mechanic. He drew two salaries—one as a driver and another as a technician—and had even managed to secure an apartment in the cadres’ building. Countless people wanted to be his girlfriend, his mother-in-law, or at least the one to set him up.

But the young comrade was impervious to all advances, whether gentle or forceful; he was stubbornly oblivious. For two years, no one had ever seen a woman get within two feet of him.

Even the most stubborn girls, whose resolve only strengthened with every rejection, were at their wits’ end with him. Gradually, he became leftover goods on the marriage market.

It was only the old men and women, pulling rank with their age, who would still try to shove a blind date on him from time to time.

It got to the point where Huo Tianhao was practically forced to stay away on business trips year-round...

People were more conservative back then—even married couples didn’t dare to hold hands on the street. And on top of that, in everyone else’s eyes, a match between Huo Tianhao and Xia Zhaoyun was utterly impossible.

’Perhaps they’re long-lost siblings?’

The crowd’s gazes shifted from his resolute, handsome face to Xia Zhaoyun’s equally striking features, trying to rationalize what they were seeing.

Securing her hold on Ruyi, Xia Zhaoyun dazedly followed the man into the apartment building and up to the third floor.