Chapter 7 Sending You Home

At 7 p.m. the next day, Shen Mengqing arrived at the convenience store first.

As dusk approached, the last rays of the setting sun had not yet faded, casting a warm golden border around the streets and alleys.

She took two bottles of tea and sat by the window, drinking and waiting.

As the convenience store's door opening music played, Shen Mengqing looked towards the entrance, her gaze landing squarely on Yu Xin.

He was wearing a black windbreaker today, with the zipper pulled all the way up, just below his chin. The fabric made a rustling sound as he walked, and he looked damp and slightly chilly after the rain.

Like a puppy that has been out playing for half a day and has come back to find its owner, it smells like it has rolled in the damp grass.

Yu Xin walked straight to Shen Mengqing and sat down, placing the materials on the table with a crisp and efficient motion: "Here you go."

Shen Mengqing had more things at hand: first, he returned the file folder to its owner, then the umbrella, and finally a bottle of beverage.

"Would you like something to eat? It's on me. I haven't had dinner yet." Shen Mengqing's stomach was growling with hunger.

Yu Xin stared at her for a while, then tapped her finger on the table: "Is the salary Yu Sheng pays you very low?"

Shen Mengqing: "Huh? It's alright."

What a nonsensical question.

Yu Xin: "Then why do you eat at convenience stores every day?"

After understanding Yu Xin's meaning for a moment, Shen Mengqing said, "That's true. It seems too cheap to treat you to a convenience store meal. How about we find a restaurant nearby?"

Yu Xin: "...No need, let's just go to the convenience store."

This person is so unpredictable, Shen Mengqing thought. If Yu Xin is her client, then he will definitely be a major obstacle in her career, and a very troublesome one at that.

Shen Mengqing stood up: "What would you like to eat? Oden? Bento?"

"Anything is fine, as long as you think it tastes good. I'm not hungry." Yu Xin followed her to choose food.

This was the first time Shen Mengqing had walked side by side with Yu Xin like this. He looked up at him and felt that Yu Xin was at least 1.88 meters tall.

Shen Mengqing ordered two bowls of mixed noodles and some hot food at the cashier, then returned to her seat with her hands full.

It was already dark outside. Looking out through the glass window was like watching a black and white silent film. Their blurry figures were reflected in the window, intertwined with the hurried flow of people outside.

Yu Xin ate very slowly and methodically. It was the first time Shen Mengqing had ever seen someone so calm and composed when it came to food. Beside him, she unconsciously slowed down her eating pace and was full in no time.

The door opening notification sounded again, and a student couple walked in. After buying some food, they sat down in the seats behind Shen Mengqing and Yu Xin.

The girl scrolled through her phone for a while and said, "Look, there seems to be a perverted man around here. A lot of girls have encountered him in the comments section of this post."

The boy leaned over for a look, then put his arm around the girl and said, "Don't be afraid, baby, I'm here."

"Let's go home early after we finish eating," the girl said fearfully.

Shen Mengqing didn't notice their conversation. Seeing that Yu Xin had also put down her chopsticks, she said somewhat apologetically, "I'm just too hungry today, so I'll just have to eat here. Next time, I'll treat you to something else."

Yu Xin seemed to be lost in thought. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "No need, the taste is pretty good. Let's go."

The two cleaned up the trash and left the convenience store.

When Shen Mengqing reached the intersection of the residential area and the zebra crossing, she stopped and prepared to say goodbye to Yu Xin.

Unexpectedly, Yu Xin kept walking forward until she realized that the person beside her had disappeared after taking two or three more steps.

He turned around, and Shen Mengqing stood motionless in front of the zebra crossing.

"Why did you stop?" he asked.

Shen Mengqing asked, "Do you live up ahead?"

Yu Xin: "No."

Shen Mengqing: "Then where are you going?"

Yu Xin stood under the stark white streetlights, his cold voice clearly reaching Shen Mengqing's ears.

"I'll take you home."

Shen Mengqing thought she had misheard and repeated Yu Xin's words: "Take me home?"

Yu Xin saw the traffic light on the pedestrian crossing turn green in the distance. Everyone around him was moving, but he and Shen Mengqing remained still.

He shifted his gaze back to Shen Mengqing's face and gave a muffled "hmm".

Shen Mengqing's lips curved into a smile, and her eyes suddenly shone brightly. She quickly walked a few steps to Yu Xin's side, as if afraid that he would run away.

"let's go."

She didn't intend to ask Yu Xin why he was taking her home, not wanting to spoil the suddenly delicate atmosphere.

"By the way," she turned her head and asked, "how did you know my phone number?"

Yu Xin calmly replied, "The police left your phone number at the bar that day. I glanced at it and wrote it down."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and touched the tip of his nose.

This isn't exactly a lie; he did remember Shen Mengqing's phone number that time, but he just confirmed it with Jiang Yu last night.

Shen Mengqing exclaimed, "You have a pretty good memory."

The apartment complex where Shen Mengqing rented was a decades-old building. The apartment wasn't large, but it was more than enough for her. In Beicheng, where land is incredibly valuable, if the landlord hadn't been a good friend of her father's from his younger days, her budget of five thousand would only be enough to share an apartment with someone else.

Most of the residents here are locals, especially the middle-aged and elderly. Once they've settled down, they don't want to move. In the past, many scammers sneaked into the community to sell substandard health products, cheating many elderly people out of their money. As a result, the community property management has upgraded the security system several times since then, and now you have to scan your face to enter the community.

However, the equipment was rather rudimentary.

There was only a small iron gate for pedestrians to enter and exit. After scanning their faces, they had to wait for the recognition system to freeze for two or three seconds. Then the iron gate clicked open and opened a crack. Shen Mengqing pulled the door open, and the rusty parts of the hardware made a sharp sound.

Once inside the residential area, the roads become much narrower.

Shen Mengqing, as if possessed, moved a little closer to Yu Xin, glancing at him every now and then. A gentle evening breeze carried a faint fragrance emanating from him.

At first, she would pretend to look at Yu Xin for a while, then turn her head to look at the trees in the community that had grown taller again, and the broken fountain that had been repaired at some point was now spouting water listlessly.

Later, she couldn't be bothered to look away and shamelessly and openly began to examine it.

As they passed under the streetlights, the light cast flickering shadows on Yu Xin's face. Shen Mengqing racked her brains for a long time before finally describing his appearance as a cocktail: the top notes of mint leaves, cool and unique, then softened by syrup, releasing the bright flavor of fruit and lemon, with a long and sweet aftertaste. The more she tasted it, the more she liked it.

Every line on his face was in line with Shen Mengqing's aesthetic preferences, especially his light brown pupils, which only became noticeable in bright light, instantly bringing his features, composed of black and white lines, to life.

Jiang Yu is right. How great would it be if you woke up to this handsome face first thing in the morning?

She really wanted to experience it.

"Have you seen enough?" Yu Xin coldly glanced at her.

Shen Mengqing said frankly, "No, let me watch for a while longer."

Yu Xin had no choice but to ignore her completely.

At this time, many elderly people were enjoying the cool air on the chairs downstairs. When they saw Shen Mengqing returning from afar, they greeted her warmly.

"Xiao Shen is back. I used the plaster you gave me a few days ago, and my knee feels much better. It doesn't hurt even when it rains. But my husband hasn't been sleeping well at night lately. Do you think he should take some medicine?"

Shen Mengqing smiled and said, "Uncle Qian, please tell me your specific symptoms in more detail later, and I will ask the doctor at my workplace. I will then get the medicine for you directly, just like before."

Grandpa Qian said, "Okay, okay, I'll have to trouble you again."

"Hey, it's nothing."

Seeing that Yu Xin was still standing to one side, Shen Mengqing said to him, "I live in this building, you can go back now. Thank you, my protector."

Yu Xin glanced up at the building, which was only eight or nine stories high, said goodbye to Shen Mengqing with a nonchalant expression, and stepped into the darkness.

Mr. Qian's wife was sitting next to him. She had just noticed that Shen Mengqing was accompanied by someone when she walked over. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a handsome young man who looked like a celebrity on TV.

After everyone left, she stopped massaging his back and asked gossipily, "Xiao Shen, is this your partner?"

"A lover?" Grandpa Qian lowered his head and pondered for a while. "No way, he doesn't look like that young man from before."

Shen Mengqing couldn't help but laugh and said, "Grandpa and Grandma, I'm single now."

"Oh, being single is great! I always felt that young man from before didn't look good; he seemed so young but had so many worries on his mind. He wasn't right for you," said Mr. Qian's wife. "And that handsome guy from earlier, was he pursuing you? You seem to have a crush on him, don't you?"

Shen Mengqing asked in surprise, "Grandma, you noticed that?"

"Grandma, I've been young before. Look at that handsome guy, his eyes clearly show your feelings. He looks nice and energetic. You should get to know him better."

"Then Grandma, you must wish me all my dreams come true."

After chatting with her grandparents, Shen Mengqing went upstairs humming a song in a very good mood.

...

Before going to bed, Jiang Yu forwarded a popular online post to her with the title: "[Pervert Spotted Near Fujian Road!]"

Shen Mengqing lives in a residential area on Fujian Road. She looked through the pictures in the tweet and found that several of them were taken at the entrance of her residential area.

Jiang Yu said, "Qing, be careful going home alone. Liang the Skinflint has been exploiting you lately. You've been working overtime every day, so you need to be extra careful at night."

Shen Mengqing recalled that Yu Xin had suddenly offered to take her home that evening. Could it be because she had seen this tweet?

She thought that Yu Xin was just like a hedgehog, always covering her skin with cold, sharp quills, treating things with a sharp and piercing appearance, never easily showing her inner softness, and never announcing the good deeds she did. If she wasn't discovered, she would keep it to herself for the rest of her life.

It was as if he didn't want anyone to get close to him.

As for Shen Mengqing, she works in sales. She's been ripped off and helped by others. Of all the different kinds of people she's met, she actually likes those who are cold on the outside but warm on the inside the most. Ever since she caught a glimpse of Yu Xin's unintentional kindness, she's seen his sharp exterior as nothing more than empty talk and bluster.

Shen Mengqing replied to Jiang Yu, "Don't worry, the old man downstairs can take on three people with one punch."

-

Although she was joking, Shen Mengqing was genuinely scared. For the next few days, she would clock out as soon as it was time to leave work and take any unfinished work home to finish.

Until one day, she was forced to leave work close to 11 p.m. because of a seminar.

Jiang Yu had promised to take her home, but she received a call saying that an old classmate had arranged a last-minute get-together and was coming to pick her up downstairs at her company, so she had no choice but to go. Jiang Yu was very worried, so she left her car with Shen Mengqing and asked Shen Mengqing to drive her home.

Sitting in Jiang Yu's car, Shen Mengqing connected her phone via Bluetooth, and the car music suddenly started playing. She suddenly really wanted to have her own car.

Anyway, we don't need to save money to buy a house with Lin Xiangyang anymore. Our current savings are enough. We can find some time to pick up a new car.

It only took Shen Mengqing a dozen minutes to drive home, and she found that she hadn't thrown away the garbage bags she had accumulated over the past two days.

After putting her bag inside, she grabbed the knotted garbage bag, took the elevator down to the first floor, walked a few steps to the garbage collection area, and just as she threw the bag aside and was about to turn back, someone suddenly jumped out of the dim bushes behind her.

Before Shen Mengqing could even scream in fright, another person appeared in her field of vision, subduing the person in front of her against the wall in a few quick moves, rendering them unable to move.

The person being pinned against the wall turned their head towards Shen Mengqing, sobbing and crying, "Yanyan, please don't break up with me! I can't live without you, sob sob sob..."

A note from the author:

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Shen Mengqing: More than taking you home, I want to hear "Don't be afraid, baby" (x)