Ke Jin followed his instructions and walked for a while, and finally saw the destination of this trip - the "Guoyun" fruit card pool.
After all, it was once the first SSR card pool full of honors. This card pool covers a large area, and the gate alone can be described as "grand". However, the paint on the tall gate pillars on both sides of the gate has peeled off, and the color is no longer bright, giving people a feeling of vicissitudes and decline.
Ke Jin walked into the courtyard. The wide courtyard was like a small square. The ground was paved with neat and simple stone bricks. The black and white tiles outlined a large pattern on the ground. Ke Jin looked at it for a while before realizing that this was the totem of the card pool - perhaps it could also be called a "trademark".
At the end of the courtyard, there stood a tall, simple building, three stories high, but like the gateposts, it looked gray due to lack of maintenance. At first glance, the building looked like a Japanese shrine, with four open sides, and the layout inside could be seen at a glance - there were three shrines, neatly arranged in three rows, and a long table in front of each shrine, with some blessing slogans hanging above and things like offerings placed below.
Ke Jin felt curious and looked at it for a few more times before realizing - Damn, this is actually a card pool kiosk? Those "shrines" are actually independent card drawing rooms, right? ?
Thinking about the lonely little pavilion in his own courtyard, and then looking at the tall building in front of him, Ke Jin suddenly felt like he was comparing a "newly-risen upstart" with an "old, wealthy and prestigious family."
"Sir, are you here to draw a card?"
Hearing the questioning voice, Ke Jin subconsciously turned his head and found a kind-looking uncle standing in a corner of the courtyard. He was holding a big broom in his hand, and seemed to be sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard. Before Ke Jin could answer, the other party was slightly startled after seeing Ke Jin's face clearly.
"Eh? Are you Mr. Ke Jin?"
"Who are you……?"
"I'm the card renewer here, you can call me Uncle Zhou." The uncle smiled kindly, "I went to your card pool during the Autumn Festival and saw you then." As he said that, he put the broom aside and shouted to the other side.
"Yufeng, look who's here!"
Ke Jin was stunned for a moment - Yufeng? Su Yufeng? He was here today too?
The courtyard was surrounded by red-leaf maple trees, with tall and thick trunks, and they were obviously very old. As soon as Uncle Zhou finished speaking, Ke Jin saw a man slowly walk out from behind a tree. It was Su Yufeng, who was wearing long clothes and long pants. He was also holding a broom, and he might have been cleaning behind the tree just now, so Ke Jin didn't see it.
Unlike the aloofness he showed at the previous exchange meeting, Su Yufeng did not ignore Ke Jin this time. Instead, he nodded to him. Although there was still no expression on his face, it was at least a sign of welcome.
"You two are already quite familiar with each other, so I won't introduce you any further." Uncle Zhou said with a smile, "Mr. Ke Jin, you came here specially today, so it shouldn't be for the card draw, right? I'll go make some tea, and we can sit down and drink while we chat."
Ke Jin: “…”
Wait, familiar? Are you talking about him and Su Yufeng? But the last time they met, they didn't even say a word to each other, so how can they be familiar?
But Uncle Zhou had already walked away. Judging from the man's brisk steps, he seemed to be in a very good mood. At this moment, there were no customers, and only Ke Jin and Su Yufeng were left in the empty yard. Due to Su Yufeng's condition, Ke Jin did not dare to speak rashly for a while, and could only smile at him reluctantly.
Maybe it was because he was in his own territory, but Su Yufeng seemed quite natural and easy-going today. He put the broom aside, pointed to a stone table under the maple tree, and looked at Ke Jin silently.
Uh... do you want me to sit over there?
Ke Jin sat down at the stone table a little stiffly. Su Yufeng soon sat down next to him. After he sat down, he kept staring at Ke Jin, making Ke Jin, who was already very embarrassed, even more at a loss.
"Uh... I didn't expect to see you here." The atmosphere of silence was too awkward, and Ke Jinyi spoke reflexively, "Are you, are you okay now?"
Ahhhhh! What a stupid question I asked! -- Ke Jin regretted it as soon as he finished speaking -- knowing that Su Yufeng couldn't speak, he actually asked about his health. Isn't this asking for a fight? !
But unexpectedly, the young man did not stare at Ke Jin with such cold and creepy eyes as he did at the previous exchange meeting. Instead, a hint of human confusion appeared in the eye that was exposed. He took out a writing board from his body like a magic trick and wrote a few words on it with a pen.
——【Why didn’t you expect to see me here? Didn’t you come here specifically to see me? 】
Eh? He's not angry? And... he doesn't seem to mind communicating with people?
Ke Jin was surprised and looked at Su Yufeng carefully a few more times before speaking again.
"I came to see you." Ke Jin said, "But I heard that you are not often in the card pool. I thought I would have to wait a long time before I could see you."
Su Yufeng's mouth corners briefly rose, as if he was laughing gently. But he quickly returned to his puppet-like expression, making Ke Jin feel that the fleeting "smile" just now was just an illusion.
——【What do you want to talk to me about? 】
After seeing the words on the writing board, Ke Jin was finally sure that the other party did not mind communicating in this way, so he relaxed and repeated his purpose.
Su Yufeng listened carefully, thought about it, and wrote on the writing board.
——【I don’t know much about this, you can ask Uncle Zhou for details.】
Ke Jin nodded and asked curiously, "Is Uncle Zhou the only employee here?"
——[He is the only one who comes here long-term, the rest are part-timers who only come here occasionally.]
Sure enough, it is similar to most local card pools in Qixing City, Ke Jin thought. There is nothing that can be done about it. After all, most card pools usually have very few customers, so there is really no need to hire long-term card masters.
While they were talking, Uncle Zhou came out with a tea tray. After he put down the tray, Su Yufeng naturally picked up a cup of fruit tea and handed it to Ke Jin.
Unexpectedly, the other party would personally serve him tea. Ke Jin was stunned for a moment before hurriedly taking it: "Ah, thank you."
When Su Yufeng stretched out his hand, a corner of his sleeve turned up slightly. Ke Jin saw several hideous scars exposed under the other's sleeve, and his heart suddenly tightened.
This is what was left over from the car accident...
Thinking of Secretary Xiaobai's words, Ke Jin didn't dare to show any expression of pity or sympathy. He took the teacup as if nothing had happened. A sweet fragrance of flowers and fruits wafted in his face, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath and exclaimed in admiration.
"It smells so good. Haha, it really has the characteristics of your fruit card pool. Even the tea we drink is fruit tea."
"The fruits in the tea are indeed produced in our card pool." Uncle Zhou said with a smile. There were several plates of juicy fresh fruits on the tray. The man placed them on the table one by one. "These are all SSR quality fruits. Mr. Ke Jin, you rarely come here, you must try them."
"Uncle Zhou, please stop calling me 'Mr. Ke' and just call me Xiao Ke." Ke Jin said embarrassedly, "If you are free, please come and sit with me. I want to treat you well, too."
"We have been there." Uncle Zhou smiled and took a sip of tea, then glanced at Su Yufeng beside him, "Yufeng has been there several times."
……Um? ?
Ke Jin immediately looked at Su Yufeng. The young man took a few cherries, and as if he didn't hear Uncle Zhou's words, he lowered his eyelashes and ate slowly, not looking at Ke Jin at all.
"Huh? Xiao Ke, don't you know?" Uncle Zhou was also stunned for a moment. He looked at Ke Jin, then at Su Yufeng, and then he said "Oh" as if he suddenly realized something.
"Yufeng is a little shy when he goes out alone, so he didn't take the initiative to say hello to you." Uncle Zhou said as he gently patted Su Yufeng's shoulder, like a kind father comforting his introverted child, "Don't be so sneaky next time. Since you're here, just go up and say hello. Didn't you say Xiao Ke is very friendly?"
Are you shy when you go out alone? Ke Jin looked at Su Yufeng in surprise, but he lowered his head very low, and his long hair completely covered his face, revealing only his delicate jawline and tightly pursed pale pink lips.
So during the exchange meeting...it wasn't that Su Yufeng deliberately ignored me, but he just didn't dare to respond to me?
Ke Jin suddenly realized, and then felt sad and amused.
Secretary Xiaobai and the others were afraid to poke Su Yufeng in the heart, so they didn't dare to get close to him, but in fact, this kid really wanted others to communicate with him normally, right? So the other party mistook my rash words as "kindness" and later secretly went to the card pool to see me. Unfortunately, I didn't find out in time.
"Yufeng, you're welcome to come visit me often." Ke Jin curled his lips and smiled gently, "But you must tell me next time. There's no need to be so formal between friends, what do you think?"
Su Yufeng slowly raised his head, and his brown eyes looked at Ke Jin quietly for a long time before he nodded slightly.
***
The three of them chatted for a while, and Uncle Zhou asked Ke Jin the reason for his visit, and Ke Jin repeated it truthfully.
"Oh? Are you already preparing to open a chain card pool?" Uncle Zhou asked with interest, "Have you decided where to open the first branch?"
Ke Jin shook his head: "I am not very familiar with the cities in Chikongzhou. I am still in the stage of understanding them."
"We did open chain card pools before. At that time, there were about ten in Chikongzhou. Unfortunately, some things happened later... and we closed them one by one." Uncle Zhou was very calm when talking about the past, without any frustration or loneliness of failure. "Yufeng was still young at that time, and he didn't participate much. The chain card pool was mainly planned and developed by his father and me. It's just that it's been so long, and I don't know if you can still use the experience at that time."
When Ke Jin came here, he had already learned about the situation on Su Yufeng's side in advance. He knew that before him, the owner of this card pool was actually his father. It was only later because his father met with an accident that he took on the responsibility of running the business.
"It's okay." Ke Jin humbly asked for advice, "Some experiences are always valuable, and I will make my own choices. Just tell me what you want."
Uncle Zhou nodded, took a sip of the fruit tea, and then began to talk about what happened that year in detail.
Ke Jin listened very carefully, and from time to time he would make a few notes in the notebook he carried with him. Su Yufeng sat quietly beside him, and occasionally wrote a few words on the writing board for Ke Jin to read, as a way of adding some details of that year for Uncle Zhou.
Time passed quickly, and by the time Uncle Zhou had finished telling everything he could think of, it was almost noon.
"Stay for lunch at noon." Uncle Zhou looked at the time and said enthusiastically, "Xiao Lan will be back soon, and it will be more lively with more people."
"Xiao Lan?"
"Oh, it's Yufeng's sister." Uncle Zhou explained, "You should have seen her. She has been to your card pool quite a few times. We first knew about yours when she told us that there was a very good snack card pool in Qixing City."
As soon as Uncle Zhou finished speaking, a crisp voice came from outside the door.
"Uncle Zhou! What bad things did you say behind my back again?"
Ke Jin turned around and saw a girl in the uniform of Xingchen International School jumping into the yard. If Su Yufeng's temperament was handsome and gloomy, this girl's temperament was passionate and flamboyant. After she entered the yard, it seemed as if the sunshine was brighter, which made people's eyes brighten.
"Eh? Mr. Ke?!" Su Xiaolan ran closer and saw who was talking to Uncle Zhou. She was stunned. "Why are you here?"
As she spoke, she immediately looked at her brother, but Su Yufeng just drank his fruit tea calmly, as if it had nothing to do with him.
"I remember you." Ke Jin felt that the girl looked familiar. After searching his memory carefully, he clapped his hands and said, "Ah! The last time I asked Jiang Siyu about the admission, were you sitting at the same table with her?"
Su Xiaolan was stunned for a moment, then she smiled and pulled her ponytail: "Mr. Ke, you have a really good memory. You still remember things from such a long time ago."
"I didn't expect you to be Su Yufeng's sister." Ke Jin sighed, "What a coincidence."
"Xiao Lan, it's not time to go home from school yet, why did you come back so early?" Uncle Zhou asked.
"I don't have to go to class today." Su Xiaolan sat down at the stone table carelessly, picked a purple grape and put it into her mouth. "I was just cleaning this morning... Well, I finished my part and then I came back. Hahaha."
"Don't you have classes today?" Ke Jin was stunned - why had he never heard Ou Nuo mention it?
"Eh? Didn't the kid living at your house tell you?" The last time Ke Jin asked Jiang Siyu about her schooling, Su Xiaolan was sitting next to her. Naturally, she knew the relationship between Ou Nuo and Ke Jin. "The midterm exam just ended a few days ago. The results were announced and the campus was cleaned this morning. There was a parent-teacher meeting in the afternoon. The teacher should have sent messages to the parents..."
Ke Jin almost jumped up: "Parent-Teacher Conference?! This afternoon???"
"Yes." Su Xiaolan nodded. "You can look through the information records of the communicator. The school will always send messages to parents in advance... Uh, is it because there are too many spam messages on your side that you didn't see it?"
Ke Jin: “…”
Ke Jin didn't even need to look at it. He would carefully read the unread messages before going to bed every day, so it was impossible for him to miss anything. He didn't know about this, and the most likely possibility was that Ounuo was behind it - he had so many strange cards, it was nothing to intercept a message, maybe he couldn't even answer the teacher's call!
No wonder this kid refused to come when I said I wanted to pick up Ounuo today... Turns out he was waiting here!
Ke Jin was speechless and amused, and thought to himself:
Very good, the more you stop me from going... the more I must go and take a look today!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com