Chapter 18
Cars come and go on the road, their reflections mingling with the ground at the platform.
Guan Nan hesitated, wanting to say something, but the other person seemed to see through her thoughts, still with that nonchalant attitude, and lightly tugged at her ponytail, reminding her, "The car is here, let's go."
Looking up, I saw the No. 625 bus.
Jiang Li had already stood up, as if waiting for her, when the bus slowly approached.
“I…” Guan Nan stood up with him, but didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye. She said softly, “I’ll go to Tangzi Alley.”
After staring at her for two seconds, Jiang Li, with a thoughtful expression, realized that she wanted to be alone.
He left without saying anything more.
Guan Nan sat there, and soon received a message from Jiang Li.
Desk mate: [Do I meet your criteria for choosing friends?]
Guan Nan looked at the text message, blinked slowly, and suddenly recalled what she had said.
"I have very high standards for choosing friends."
Staring at these words, looking at them over and over again, always gives me a sense of unreality.
Guan Nan types very slowly, so she replied: 【Yes】
After replying, she put away her phone, sat on a bench, and looked at the colorful neon lights and towering buildings in the distance, and couldn't help but laugh.
She suddenly felt very happy.
Although life is still a mess, and she's still all alone, she has to be careful what she says and does, and act like she's invisible. But it's okay, tomorrow will be better.
As long as there is tomorrow, as long as she is alive, everything will be alright.
On Sunday, Guan Nan's part-time job was still at New City Plaza, but not at the milk tea shop. The girl handing out flyers yesterday went home crying because she was too tired, and she had to hand out flyers today anyway. With no other option, Qi Yang had to fill in Guan Nan's spot.
The jewelry store distributes flyers and occasionally plays music and dance to attract customers.
The manager had them learn this dance when they first started working part-time at the mobile phone store, so although it was embarrassing to dance it now, they were still quite skilled at it.
Guan Nan pulled out a speaker and started playing music.
—"Long, long ago, there was a group of legendary young people who would hold an ancient and mysterious ceremony every night of the full moon."①
Standing in the line, Guan Nan's face was tense, her ears were red and her expression was blank. Her movements were mechanical, giving her an eerie seriousness.
Guan Nan had become numb from dancing in the morning and dancing in the afternoon.
When the music ended, someone next to me burst into laughter.
Guan Nan turned her head and saw that the classmate named Lin Rui was leaning on Jiang Li's shoulder and laughing like crazy, without restraint at all.
Jiang Li's lips curled up uncontrollably, but he forced a smile that didn't show on his face.
"......"
Guan Nan's face turned even redder.
She pulled the speaker inside, came out holding a stack of flyers, and stood at the crossroads.
"Class monitor," Lin Rui put his arm around Jiang Li's shoulder, smiled, clasped his hands in a fist salute to her, and even made a playful ending gesture, "It takes a lot of courage to dance like this in public. I admire you."
Guan Nan gave a dry laugh.
The girl standing next to her greeted her and went to the other side to hand out the cards.
Guan Nan glanced at Jiang Li, who held up an open bottle of Sprite, indicating that he was an innocent bystander "buying a drink".
"What are you doing? Are you cosplaying?" Lin Rui asked curiously. "This dance is quite fun. Teach me how to dance it next time you have the chance."
Guan Nan said "Ah," but realizing she definitely wouldn't have a chance, she nodded politely.
"They're here." Jiang Li let go of the hand on his shoulder, raised his chin towards the entrance.
Who is it?
As Lin Rui turned his head, Guan Nan also looked over.
The person who came was a girl, wearing a white dress, with a bun hairstyle that made her look gentle and sweet.
The girl jogged along, cheerfully calling out, "Lin Rui!"
As the girl approached, Lin Rui draped his black jacket over her shoulders, abandoning his usual frivolous and sarcastic demeanor: "Put your coat on, it's cold inside with the air conditioning on."
"Oh, okay." The girl handed the backpack to Lin Rui, who naturally took it.
She put on her clothes. "Shall we go up now?"
Lin Rui slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Wait a minute, I ordered you a milk tea, it hasn't arrived yet."
“Lin Rui,” the girl smiled, her eyes crinkling. She raised her hand, and Lin Rui’s head lowered slightly. She patted him. “You’re such a sweet and considerate dog.”
Okay...dog?
Guan Nan blinked, looking at them with some surprise.
"Is this your friend?" The girl glanced at Jiang Li but didn't ask Lin Rui.
Lin Rui spoke first: "High school classmate."
"Hello, my name is Xie Shuwan, and I was their junior high school classmate." The girl had a lovely smile.
Guan Nan smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Guan Nan, the 'Nan' in 'nanmu' (nan wood)."
"The camphor tree soars high, its spirit unyielding to wind, frost, rain, and snow." Xie Shuwan said with a smile, "Your name is very well chosen."
Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said politely, "Thank you."
"Tsk." Lin Rui patted her, not quite satisfied that her attention wasn't on him. He grabbed the back of her clothes, greeted Jiang Li, and asked him to bring milk tea up later.
Without waiting for Jiang Li's reply, he lowered his head and said to Xie Shuwan, "I'll take you to see our band's rehearsal..."
In an instant, only the two of them remained.
Guan Nan glanced at him, bit her lip uncomfortably, and just then someone passed by. "Hello, the gold shop is having a big sale. You can check it out if you're interested."
Jiang Li hasn't left yet.
"The jewelry store has new styles; you can check them out."
Guan Nan glanced at him again, and he tilted his head back and took a sip of Sprite, still looking as lazy as ever.
Guan Nan: "No depreciation fee will be charged for the trade-in program."
A third of the flyers had been handed out, but Jiang Li still hadn't left, carrying a milk tea delivery in her hand.
Jiang Li's eyebrows twitched, and he looked down at her. "Are you tired?"
"It's alright." Guan Nan looked up and met those misty eyes, and said hesitantly, "You'll get used to it."
“Oh,” Jiang Li said without changing his expression, “then treat me to dinner later.”
Guan Nan looked surprised.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Li chuckled and said, "Just kidding. How about having dinner with me tonight?"
Jiang Li figured Lin Rui was going to take Xie Shuwan home that night, and he couldn't find anyone to eat with.
Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."
Distributing flyers is actually much easier than serving samples at a bubble tea shop. Although you'll be standing all day, there's much less communication involved. It's all the same back and forth, just getting the flyers out.
Guan Nan smiled and handed out photos to anyone who walked by, not getting angry even if the person didn't want them.
Occasionally, when someone enters the store, the staff will ask her to serve tea and water when they are too busy. They will also let her sit down and rest for a while because she has been standing for so long.
At 5:30 PM, Qi Yang rushed over.
Guan Nan happened to be holding a stack of flyers when she saw Qi Yang standing at the entrance of the store, holding a phone to his ear, his brows furrowed as he spoke to someone. He seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Brother Qiyang." Guan Nan called out as he hung up the phone.
Qi Yang put down his phone. "How was your day? Are you tired? Are you able to get used to it?"
"It's okay, I'm not too tired." He asked a strange question, but Guan Nan still answered him normally.
"Sigh," Qi Yang sighed, "The girl who went to the bubble tea shop today left. She called her parents and went home crying."
"ah?"
“People really do have different fates.” Qi Yang looked at her, his usually calm demeanor tinged with worry. “She said she had never experienced hardship before, having to stand all day long. It’s simply not a job for a human being.”
Guan Nan looked at him without saying anything.
"You know, we've been finding part-time jobs to support ourselves since junior high, and we're used to it by now," Qi Yang said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Looking at them today, everyone knows how tiring it is to stand on one side all day. Why are we the only ones who have to get used to it?"
Qi Yang's situation was similar to hers, yet different.
His parents were not divorced, but his father became disabled after being discharged from the army and received a monthly allowance. His mother worked in a factory to support his education. Although the family owned a small grocery store, they also had a bedridden grandmother.
Guan Nan didn't know how to comfort him: "Not everyone has to get used to this."
Hearing this, Qi Yang forced a smile but didn't actually laugh: "Is Aunt Ran doing alright inside?"
"The hospital director said she's recovering very well," Guan Nan hadn't seen Ran Mingju for a long time, but she didn't hide what Qi Yang said on the phone yesterday, since Ran Mingju's return would cause trouble for the neighbors. "She should be able to be discharged soon."
Qi Yang nodded: "You can move back then too."
"Mm." Guan Nan nodded.
Qi Yang paid her the money in advance and added, "If you need any help later, just give us a call."
“Okay,” Guan Nan smiled as she took the money. “Thank you.”
At 7:00 PM, Guan Nan finished her two-day part-time job and signed out.
She roughly calculated the approximate cost of transportation and food over the next two weeks, then glanced at the money in her hand. When Jiang Li arrived, she told him she needed to go to an ATM.
Jiang Li didn't care whether he ate early or late.
Standing in front of the ATM, Guan Nan took out her wallet from her pocket, inserted her bank card, and entered her PIN.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..." Looking at the amounts displayed on the screen, Jiang Li was somewhat puzzled by her behavior. "If you're so rich, why do you need to do a part-time job?"
When Guan Weimin was the top scorer in the high school entrance exam, the government gave her a bonus of 100,000 yuan, half of which was in Guan Weimin's hands. They said that if she wanted to live in Tangzi Lane, she would have to take the money.
Initially, Guan Weimin and his wife wanted the full amount, but Guan Nan did not agree.
She stubbornly stayed in Hecangyuan for a few days, but after being persuaded by everyone and appealing to their emotions and reason, she finally went to Tangzi Lane.
The remaining 50,000 is in the card; 5,000 is the school's reward and 3,000 is the neighborhood committee's reward.
The other odds and ends were money she saved up little by little from her part-time jobs.
This money is for Ran Mingju's recovery and to support her.
There will be many places to spend money then.
They couldn't take all her money; they harbored resentment towards her; and they could find any excuse to attack her.
To this day, Guan Nan still remembers what Guan Weimin said to Zhang Guilian back then.
"Her sick mother can't get out."
"Her money will all be ours from now on, what's the rush?"
They all thought she was still young and didn't know any better, and that a meal or a few kind words would be enough to make her open her heart.
Thinking of this, Guan Nan pursed her lips.
She was reluctant to spend more, so she only took two hundred, saying, "I'll take it."
"You've been keeping a low profile," Jiang Liyi raised an eyebrow. "You really have to treat me this time."
Guan Nan thought for a moment, then said, "Okay."
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