Chapter 15

"Take it!"

Chen Luo stuffed a wad of red banknotes into Gu Mengzhu's hand. Looking at the person in front of her, who seemed to be in excruciating pain, she asked with a bewildered expression:

"What are you doing?"

"I didn't say they were all stolen. I was just worried you wouldn't have money to pay the rent. Here you go."

"I don't want it."

She forced the money back into her hand.

"Don't look down on me. Take it. Besides, you still have to support another person. Just take it and stop talking nonsense."

"I'm not keeping it anymore. I've sent it away."

The voice was muffled, making one feel listless.

"Hey, what happened?" (What?)

Chen Luo glanced at her cautiously, then relented and said:

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then let's pretend nothing happened." She patted the person involved, who was looking down. "Did you call the police? If the police don't care, I'll go with you."

Gu Mengzhu was so frightened that she quickly looked up to cover herself.

"No. Okay, okay, it's being processed, they're busy too. What's the big deal? Aren't I more worried than you about losing your money?"

Chen Luo was brushed off, but she still looked at her suspiciously a couple more times. Seeing that the woman remained calm and didn't even blink, she felt relieved and went to do other things.

The matter was left unresolved. One day, after finishing their night shift, the two went shopping together. On their way back, they ran into Sister Fang. Seeing Gu Mengzhu's unsteady gait, her head swaying wildly and ignoring everyone, Sister Fang raised her chin:

"Are you drunk?"

"No, it's not. It seems like I drank a cup of tea and then some fresh milk, and that's how it turned out."

Everyone could see how down she'd been these past few days. Sister Fang scolded her, exasperated:

"Why bother with her raving and cursing? Let her be crazy! She's just a boy, acting like she's neither human nor ghost!"

"Oh dear, it's hard to say."

Fearing an even harsher scolding, Chen Luo quickly pulled the person away. Only when she could no longer see Fang Jie did she let go, letting out a sigh of relief and wiping the sweat from her brow. When she turned back, she found the person standing at the vegetable stall beside her, holding a goji berry leaf, making a "hiss" sound, and staring at her expectantly, crying and shouting like a child:

"Goji berry leaves! It's attacking me!"

That wasn't all. Gu Mengzhu turned to the right side of the large sunshade pole with a serious expression and said in a wronged tone:

"No, I don't drink. I just want to cry but can't."

"Excuse me, I'll salute you."

Chen Luo didn't care and let her make a fuss. This was much better than her being silent and ignoring everyone, acting like a fool.

"Go ahead and cry if you want to. Nobody will see you except me anyway. You can scream as loud as you want."

Seeing that she didn't respond, Chen Luo started rambling on again:

"That guy probably took your money to gamble."

Gu Mengzhu stiffened and glared at her:

"Who told you that?"

"I know some of my neighbors at the casino tables; the whole area knows about it. I just never expected anyone would be so stupid. I never expected that the stupid one would be you."

"Go ahead and curse me, I don't care if you curse me to death."

Chen Luo grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the rented room.

Why did I yell at you? I just wanted you to cry quickly. If you're hurt, your wounds will heal quickly. Even if you're stupid, you should have the courage to do it again.

"Wow, listening to what you're saying, I can tell you've read a lot of books."

Chen Luo rolled her eyes:

"A person who reads a lot may not necessarily be able to speak profound truths, just as a person who has not read much may not necessarily be ignorant of profound truths."

Gu Mengzhu's head swayed back and forth with her steps, muttering to herself as she walked:

"That's wonderful, you're my friend, my one and only friend. If I were a man, I would definitely marry you."

"Are you crazy, Lei?!"

Chen Luo's voice instantly resounded through the sky.