Chapter 109: Playing around

Chen Xiaohong is a very good cook.

Hot and sour potato shreds, braised eggplant, cold cucumber salad, old vinegar peanuts, potato and chicken nuggets, steamed carp.

The six dishes look delicious and appetizing.

The originally messy house was tidied up, the vegetable baskets were neatly placed at the foot of the wall, the paint-chipped wooden table was covered with a clean tablecloth printed with peonies, and the tape recorder on the windowsill was playing soft music.

Chen Xiaohong really knows how to enjoy life. She had just washed her hair, her long hair was fluttering, and the air was filled with the smell of shampoo.

What surprised Su Jiaojiao even more was that Xiao Cai was also there.

Xiao Cai looked at Su Jiaojiao with a smile on his face and said politely, "Hello."

"Hello." Su Jiaojiao's mood was a little up and down when she saw Xiao Cai again. In her previous life, Xiao Cai was her anchor. Just before she came back, she and Xiao Cai were interacting with fans in the live broadcast room, but looking at Xiao Cai's expression, she knew that Xiao Cai did not come back with her.

"Let me introduce you." Chen Xiaohong lit a cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. "Cai Ting, my junior high school classmate. She works at the China Travel Hotel. She's about your age. You can just call her Xiao Cai. I started school later, so all the students in our class are younger than me."

"Su Jiaojiao, my neighbor just told you." Chen Xiaohong's face became more charming in the smoke. She placed a glass of white wine in front of her and took two bottles of orange soda to Su Jiaojiao and Cai Ting. "Today is my birthday, so we can have some fun together."

"Happy birthday, Sister Xiaohong." Su Jiaojiao suddenly realized and smiled, "I haven't prepared a gift for you yet. I'll make it up to you another day."

"I didn't have time to prepare a gift." Cai Ting picked up the wine opener, opened both bottles of soda, handed one to Su Jiaojiao, and said to Chen Xiaohong, "You called me to come over, and I forgot it was your birthday."

"No need, just have a meal with me." Chen Xiaohong picked up the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and greeted Su Jiaojiao and Cai Ting like an older brother, "Come on, come on, you two, drink too. Don't be polite, eat your food."

Chen Xiaohong was very good at adjusting the atmosphere. She first asked about Su Jiaojiao's school life. When she learned that she didn't come home until around 10 o'clock every night, she blew a smoke ring and said, "I'll pick you up when I'm free. I'll protect you from now on."

"Thank you, Sister Xiaohong." Su Jiaojiao smiled, "I'll be back after crossing the street. No need to pick me up."

Chen Xiaohong smokes and drinks, and she is quite individual.

In her previous life, she and Xiao Cai were very close, but she didn't remember Xiao Cai ever mentioning her as a classmate.

"Look, this student girl is so innocent! She's already thanking me before I even went to pick her up." Chen Xiaohong said to Cai Ting with a smile, "How are you? Are you busy at the China International Travel Agency?"

"Not really. I'm mainly responsible for the catering and cleaning on the ninth floor." Cai Ting picked up her cup, clinked it with Su Jiaojiao's, and took a sip of orange soda. "The ninth floor of our China Travel Service was contracted by the Jiahe Group half a year ago. They leave early and come back late, and sometimes they have their work lunch outside instead of eating with us. So I go over there in the morning to clean and stuff."

"Oh, oh, they're the same group of people I met last time, right?" Chen Xiaohong poured herself another glass of wine and said with a wicked smile, "I see there are quite a lot of handsome guys in there. You'll have a chance to pick one up yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Cai Ting glanced at her and said angrily, "If I had that intention, I would have been fired from the China Travel Service long ago. But you're the only one who thinks about that all the time. Be careful if your husband, Wang, finds out."

"He's nothing!" Chen Xiaohong lit another cigarette, glanced at the two of them, and grinned, "Only innocent girls like you still believe in love. He and I are just playing around. He's rich and likes a playboy like me. Do you think I really like him?"

"Ahem, be careful with your words. Su Jiaojiao is still in high school!" Cai Ting reminded Chen Xiaohong. Chen Xiaohong laughed, "She is in high school, but she is much smarter and more insightful than you."

Then Chen Xiaohong asked Su Jiaojiao, "That little boy who often comes to buy my vegetables is here for you, right?"

"Which little boy?" Su Jiaojiao was puzzled.

"That tall, skinny guy wearing the same school uniform as you. Every time he comes, he looks in your direction, sometimes seven or eight times. And you're so perfunctory when you greet him." Chen Xiaohong said, blowing out smoke rings. "If you don't like someone, don't keep them hanging. Just reject them directly."

"I'm not keeping him hanging." Su Jiaojiao knew Chen Xiaohong was talking about Chen Yi. "He just came to buy some vegetables and didn't confess his feelings to me. How could I refuse him?"

In fact, she had little contact with Chen Yi at school.

At most, during evening self-study, we would discuss a question together.

Chen Yi is totally focused on studying. He even ranked among the top three in the grade in the last monthly exam. He would definitely not rashly confess his feelings.

"That's right, you're being overly suspicious." Cai Ting smiled and patted Chen Xiaohong. "You can't use the mind of a social gangster to guess what a high school student is thinking. That boy is just a secret crush at best. Even if Su Jiaojiao knew, how could she refuse?"

"Oh, secret crushes are the most annoying." Chen Xiaohong slapped her thigh. "Do you remember when I was in school, I had a crush on our sports committee member. I had a crush on him for three years. When we were about to graduate, I finally mustered up the courage to confess my feelings, but he told me I needed to wash my hair. I now wash my hair once a day because he hurt me."

Su Jiaojiao and Cai Ting both laughed out loud.

"Come on, eat quickly." Chen Xiaohong saw that the two girls had barely moved their chopsticks, so she greeted them warmly, "Don't be embarrassed, you'd better clear these dishes for me, otherwise I will throw them all away. I don't lack vegetables here."

Then, she turned to Su Jiaojiao and said, "Jiaojiao, today is the weekend. You don't have to rush back. Let's chat. Besides selling vegetables, I can also chat. We can chat all night long."

"I can attest to that," Cai Ting said, chewing on a chicken leg with relish. "She's been in seven or eight relationships, and she could talk to each one for an hour. From the moment they met to the moment they broke up, each one was different."

"Don't listen to her nonsense." Chen Xiaohong brought the braised eggplant and potato chicken to them, and then brought the plate of vinegar peanuts to herself, chomping on them. "Those guys aren't real men. They started crying the moment I mentioned breaking up. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be like this. They're neither man nor woman. It's so annoying to watch them."

"What's the point of being neither male nor female? You are a woman," Cai Ting reminded her with a smile. "Isn't your husband Wang's favorite type of you?"

Su Jiaojiao sipped her orange soda and just smiled.

Chen Xiaohong is a really interesting person.

"Stop talking about it. That bastard Wang Jian knew I was coming here, but he never even said he'd come see me," Chen Xiaohong said, reeking of alcohol. "He said he'd come in a few days, but it's been half a month, and there's still no confirmation. Damn, he's a liar."

"We haven't seen each other for only half a month, and you miss him already?" Cai Ting teased Chen Xiaohong.

"Don't mention him, it's annoying!" Chen Xiaohong ate her food and drank her wine with big mouthfuls, looking very generous. After the three of them ate for a while, she asked Cai Ting, "By the way, when will the pre-sale of Jiahe Group's property start?"

"I don't know." Cai Ting shook her head. "Why are you asking this?"

"If you're planning on pre-sale, tell me. I want Wang Jian to buy a house here." Chen Xiaohong said earnestly to Su Jiaojiao and Cai Ting, "Remember, when you're looking for a partner, you have to find someone with financial resources. Saying things like 'I love you, you love me' is worthless."

"Look at my sister and my brother-in-law. When they got married, my brother-in-law had nothing. Now he's old and still selling vegetables here. We quarrel all the time over trivial matters. If my family didn't have a house for them to live in, they would have to sell vegetables for many years before they could afford one. I won't be like them. If you want to marry me, you have to buy a house."

"Sister Xiaohong, you're really clear-headed." Su Jiaojiao took the initiative to clink glasses with her. "When you're going to see the house, tell me and I'll go too."

"You want to buy a house too?" Chen Xiaohong was quite surprised.

Su Jiaojiao nodded and said frankly, "I can't live here forever."

She would go to look at the house anyway.

It would be nice to be a house-buying partner with Chen Xiaohong.

"You're so young, why buy a house?" Chen Xiaohong lit another cigarette and waved her hand, "When you grow up, ask your partner to buy you one, just like me."

After saying that, she belatedly asked Su Jiaojiao, "Where did you get so much money to buy a house?"