Chapter 152, Part 152, First Update
Before Luo Hong could figure out how to "exploit" his childhood friend, the very next day the friend delivered himself to his door.
Although it was Tuesday, Luo Yan thought he would be too busy to come, but when she leisurely arrived at the car dealership, she was surprised to see him and asked, "Are you done with your work?"
While eating a donkey meat sandwich, Luo Hong made sarcastic remarks: "What's so busy about it? People will come even if it means being stabbed."
"No, I haven't even swallowed what I brought in my mouth yet, why are you already picking a fight?" Zhou Weifang said irritably, "You really are the kind of person who eats people without even showing any mercy."
Luo Hong shrugged, his face saying, "That's just how I am, what can you do about it?"
Zhou Weifang could only curse him with his eyes, while saying, "Fumen Street hasn't opened yet, and there are four people watching over the two stores right now. I was just a little busy yesterday."
He then gave her a baked bun, saying, "I added some spice to it for you."
Luo Yan was about to bite when Luo Hong shouted to stop her, saying, "I thought you were going to a restaurant."
Zhou Weifang: "Can't you eat something else after eating out?"
No, Luo Hong snatched the food from the tiger's mouth: "Hurry up and leave, everyone stay here."
Is he that hungry? Zhou Weifang: "I'll bring you some more later, so you can let her have a bite."
Luo Yan spread her palms out and raised her hand higher, signaling her brother to hurry up and return it. Then, as if afraid he would snatch it away again, she took a big bite.
Ignoring the oil on his hands, Luo Hong flicked his sister's forehead with his finger: "What kind of look is that? Do you think I would really steal your food?"
Luo Yan couldn't swallow the food in her mouth for a moment, shook her head violently, and after a long while, looked at the person with sincere big eyes and said, "I'm just too hungry."
Luo Hong ignored her and waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Then go eat quickly."
Luo Yan turned to Zhou Weifang and said, "No rush, finish your meal before you leave."
The fire-roasted bread wasn't very big, so Luo Yan filled her stomach and followed him. On the way, she asked, "Aren't you busy this afternoon?"
"I'll go back when you're in class, so we can't have dinner together. I'll come back in a couple of days."
"If you're busy, don't run around so much, it's too tiring."
How could I be tired? Zhou Weifang turned her head away: "I'm not trying to fool you. As soon as I see you, everything really feels better."
He travels from east to west all day long, and of course, not everything goes smoothly. When he gets angry, he even wants to fight a tiger, but when he thinks about seeing her, it doesn't seem like such a big problem.
Luo Yan also said sweetly, "I'm very happy you came."
The two chatted as they rode their bikes, and she only then realized that she had been following them the whole time. She asked, "Where are we going?"
"I saw a newly opened restaurant on my way here, want to try it?"
As soon as she heard that it was newly opened, Luo Yan wanted to go, regardless of whether the food was good or not.
She passes through these places on her way to and from school and home, saying, "I think I saw a sign there a couple of days ago, is it around that corner?"
Zhou Weifang had just said "yes" when she saw her speed up and say, "The shop won't run away, slow down."
Luo Yan said loudly, "I can run."
She slid over and parked her bicycle in front of the restaurant, but stopped when she saw that there were quite a few people.
Zhou Weifang, who was two steps behind her, chuckled and asked, "Not running anymore?"
He was still laughing. Luo Yan patted him and pushed him inside. The two found an empty seat in a corner and sat down to look at the menu on the wall.
This is a husband-and-wife shop; a woman in her early thirties is busy taking orders, collecting money, and serving food.
Zhou Weifang called out twice but no one responded. Just as he was about to call out a third time, a primary school student carrying a schoolbag who had just entered the store said, "Uncle, uncle, please wait for me."
Judging from the appearance of this child, Luo Yan always had a gentle touch towards children, and quickly said, "No rush, no rush, you haven't even eaten yet."
The elementary school student seemed quite experienced, flipping open her little notebook to write down what she wanted to eat: "Sister, I'm not hungry, what do you want to eat?"
Wait a minute, why are everyone's generational rankings different?
Zhou Weifang, without any formality, patted the girl's chubby face and said, "Little girl, if you call her 'sister,' you can only call me 'brother.'"
The child changed his mind quickly: "Brother, what do you want to eat?"
"Good boy," Zhou Weifang said, carrying a handful of candy with him. "I'll give you a bite first."
The child was sensible; he politely took one and said thank you, then took another one a little shyly, saying, "My sister hasn't come back yet."
Zhou Weifang stuffed all the candy into his pocket and said, "Hurry up and order some food for us, we're hungry."
The little kid was a bit hesitant, secretly patting his pocket and smiling as he ordered, then took the napkin to the kitchen to find his dad.
Luo Yan found it amusing and said, "How come they were so cute when they were little?"
Zhou Weifang pondered, "You seem to be implying something in your words."
Luo Yan raised an eyebrow: "It wasn't hidden in the words, it's just the meaning you got from them."
Zhou Weifang pried open the soda bottle for her: "Yanyan, sometimes we can't be too honest."
"That is my virtue."
Zhou Weifang praised her by splitting a single word in two: "She is indeed very beautiful and virtuous."
Luo Yan gently kicked him, then moved the bowls and chopsticks aside when she saw the dishes being served: "By the way, I think I saw Sister Yuying go back to the alley when I left this morning."
Second sister? Zhou Weifang thought for a moment and knew: "The Li family is marrying off their daughter. I remember that girl used to be quite close to her."
Luo Yan lived in the alley and wasn't very familiar with these weddings and funerals. He only remembered it when Luo Yan mentioned it. He picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and said, "It's good that nothing happened at home."
Zhou Weifang: "There shouldn't be anything going on recently. My second sister-in-law won't give birth until after the Lunar New Year."
Luo Yan had only met Zhou Ersao twice, and only knew that she worked at the thermos factory. She asked, "What about Sister Yuyao?"
Zhou Weifang: "I asked her when I visited her last time, after May Day."
Whether or not to use personal connections is not something to discuss in a hurry. Luo Yan put that matter aside for now and brought up other things: "When do you plan to open your store in Fumen?"
Zhou Weifang: "I had another argument with the installer this morning. He had to redo the door three times, and it's still not done. He's just dragging his feet day after day."
Luo Yan: "Should we change the master? I think the person my mom found is pretty good."
Zhou Weifang: "I'll give him one last chance. If he doesn't do well this week, I'll switch."
Luo Yan suddenly laughed out loud: "I'm telling you it's easy to change, but I would never do it myself."
She has suffered countless injustices in the outside world, so many that they are impossible to count.
Zhou Weifang: "That's perfect, I'm the best at arguing with people."
He was delighted when he heard that it was a perfect match.
Luo Yan didn't know why he was so easily amused, but without even thinking about it, her heart softened, and she felt she should treat him even better.
After dinner, she said, "Let's go buy a book together."
Buying books? Zhou Weifang followed her, stepping into the Xinhua Bookstore for the first time in eight hundred years. As they wandered among the bookshelves, he hooked his finger around Luo Yan's.
The shelves Luo Yan was showing were all related to rather obscure professional subjects, and there wasn't a single person in sight. She just let him be and searched through the books one by one by looking for the names, but to no avail.
She sighed with relief as she looked at the shelves full of books, then her gaze fell on the two people's hands clasped together: "Let's go."
Zhou Weifang touched the book with his other hand reluctantly: "Now I suddenly feel that knowledge tastes very good."
Luo Yan deliberately said, "Then let me pick out two for you? You haven't read a book in a while, have you?"
Zhou Weifang pleaded, "Yan'er, give me something nice, or nothing at all."
Luo Yan nudged him: "Isn't knowledge good enough?"
Okay, that's fantastic.
Zhou Weifang: "I am not worthy of them."
He started rambling again. Luo Yan nudged him with her elbow and glanced at the time: "I'm going to be late."
Even if the sky falls, we can't let her be late.
Luo Yan registered the names of the books she wanted at the counter, paid a 50-cent deposit, folded the receipt for picking up the books, stuffed it into her pocket, and then headed towards school.
Zhou Weifang was in a hurry to run errands and didn't see her off to the school gate. He turned right at the next intersection.
Luo Yan walked straight into the school gate, finished two short classes, stuffed her books into her bag, and then heard the class monitor say, "Let's take five minutes to have a short meeting."
A meeting? Luo Yan immediately sat up straight.
Class monitor: "To celebrate our class making it into the top ten in the sports meet, I propose that we all go out for a meal this Saturday, how about it?"
There are minor conflicts in the class, but the overall relationship is pretty good. We usually go out to eat twice a semester.
Everyone agreed on this, except for a slight disagreement about the timing.
Luo Yan said any day was fine with her; once they decided, she would raise her hand to indicate her agreement to have dinner together next Saturday.
After discussing it, everyone gradually walked out, and she followed the flow of people out of the school gate to find her brother.
Luo Hong was wondering why his younger sister hadn't arrived yet when he saw her and ordered her, "Go get the food."
Luo Yan gave a drawn-out "oh" in response, ordering only the dishes she liked.
Luo Hong wasn't picky about food anyway, so while eating, he said something serious: "If I'm not home when you get out of school tonight, just open the door and come in to sit and wait."
As the year draws to a close, public security becomes increasingly unstable, especially with two major cases occurring in the city recently.
Luo Yan said yes before asking him, "Where are you going?"
Luo Hong: "Section Chief Zhang's father is in the hospital, I'm going to go see him."
He was referring to Section Chief Zhang of the security department at Jiaotong University. The car dealership was right next to his duty room, and if it weren't for them keeping an eye on things at night, the car dealership would have been completely robbed.
Even Luo Yan understood the logic behind this small favor: "Then I'll wait for you in the shop."
Luo Hong: "Maybe I'll be back early, who knows?"
But if there's even a chance, you always have to give an explanation first.
Luo Yan nodded obediently, noticing a fresh scratch on her brother's hand: "You're not fixing people, you're fixing cars. How did you get hurt again?"
Luo Hong actually chuckled: "A tricycle overturned at the entrance just now. I was helping to pick things up when it happened."
Since it's about helping others for fun, then there's nothing more to say.
Luo Yan: "Then let's disinfect it too."
"Disinfectant, disinfectant, disinfectant," Luo Hong said. "Apart from the hospitals, our disinfectant is used up the fastest in the whole city."
He would say, "Just lick it a couple of times with your saliva, that'll do."
Luo Yan: "If everyone were like you, we might as well just live like our ancestors, eating raw meat and drinking blood. Who would benefit from scientific progress?"
No matter what she said, she was right. Luo Hong put down his chopsticks, took the metal box containing the medicine from the shelf, and seeing that his sister had already started to grimace, said, "It's not like I'm disinfecting you."
Luo Yan pouted: "Did you all think you were as tough as you?"
It wouldn't be bad to have someone to sit with, Luo Hong said: "Suddenly I feel that he would be quite suitable to be my brother-in-law."
To be honest, he had thought before that when his sister got married, she would become part of the family with someone he didn't know at all. But now it seemed very likely that Zhou Weifang, whom he knew very well, would become the new member of the family, so he would have someone to keep him company even if he got scolded.
Although Luo Yan wasn't quite sure what her brother meant by "suitable," she could guess it most likely, and said, "Anyway, you two are birds of a feather."
Luo Hong: "No, you're a college student, can't you even come up with some nice phrases like 'high mountains and flowing water meet a kindred spirit'?"
Luo Yan clapped her hands insincerely: "Brother, you're really cultured."
I'll beat that girl up sooner or later.
Luo Hong symbolically waved his fist, finished his meal, and waited for the guests to come and pick up the car.
Luo Yan checked that the store key was in her bag before entering the school.
It was still early when she sat down in the classroom. There were students chatting and studying around her. Ji Ning came over to share the latest news with her, saying, "The student council is organizing an open-air dance party."
"What kind of weather?" Luo Yan looked out the window: "Then it can only be in the next two weeks. If it's any later, people will freeze to death."
It's not that fast. Society has always had two attitudes toward dances, and even students have different opinions. Besides, there has always been a line between the sexes.
Ji Ning: "If you pass by the bulletin board at night, take a look. The opposition has written several satirical poems."
Our school's bulletin board is a free space; anyone can post whatever they want on it.
Luo Yan also posted a message once—criticizing that there were too many small stones in the rice in the school cafeteria, but this trivial matter was quickly replaced by other more sensational and inflammatory news, and it disappeared within half a day.
She joked, "Maybe it was Teacher Zhou who put it up."
Teacher Zhou from the Academic Affairs Office has a knack for catching students dating by waving a flashlight around his eyes. He's so feudal that he even considered adding a rule to the school regulations that separate boys and girls into classes.
It's said that he was the one who opposed the cafeteria's Sunday dance the most from the beginning. Even Ji Ning thought about it and thought it was very likely, saying, "I think he is indeed very suspicious."
But one person's resistance is certainly insignificant. At least, Luo Yan stood in front of the bulletin board for a long time after school and looked at the handwriting, which seemed to belong to different people. She stroked her chin and murmured, "How come everyone else is so eloquent? I can't even recite a few rhymes."
Therefore, she muttered to herself all the way to the car dealership, so focused that she almost bumped into the closed door.
Fortunately, she managed to stop the car in time, took out her keys from her bag, went inside the store and locked the door from the inside, then paced around while reading a book.
She didn't open the door immediately upon hearing the knock; instead, she asked, "Who is it?"
Luo Hong shouted, "Me!"
On his way back, he bought some late-night snacks. As soon as he opened the door, he said, "You eat, I still have a few things to do."
By the time he finished, the bathhouse was already closed.
Luo Yan could only take a shower at home tonight. After showering, she shook her accidentally wet hair and played with Huang Laishun in the living room.
Huang Laishun moved from side to side with his short legs, letting out a few whimpers in his throat, and swishing his tail back and forth.
This little thing is quite fun.
When Luo Hong passed by, he stretched out his foot and challenged it, laughing as he watched its little paws scratching at it.
"What kind of person is he?" Luo Yan said to him, "Do you owe me anything?"
Luo Hong is such a troublemaker; he even pulled his sister's hair. When she jumped up, she said, "Don't wake Mom and Dad up!"
He's played both good and bad roles for her, so all Luo Yan can do is look at him with disdain.
Luo Hong hummed a song triumphantly as he went to take a shower, but his joy turned to sorrow when he bumped into the wall as he turned around in the bathroom.
This space was originally partitioned off from the kitchen. It's not very big, but the house is only about the size of a palm, so there's really no extra room.
Fortunately, we're moving to a new house soon, which will be much more spacious.
Thinking this, he said to his sister after taking a shower, "I heard that there are those shower machines abroad that can keep hot water flowing at home. I wonder when we can buy one."
Because of health reasons, Dad has never liked going to public bathhouses. It's fine to take a shower at home in the summer, but in the winter, there's never enough hot water no matter how much you boil it.
Luo Yan: "We can only wait a few more years and see. It seems that the rooms in Beijing hotels use this kind of equipment, which is very expensive and cannot be bought outside."
There are too many things that can't be bought outside. Luo Hong said, "It's even difficult to get a gas certificate now."
Nowadays, you don't need coupons to buy meat anymore, and the supply is not tight, but many resources are still scarce. If someone in your family has a relative who works at a gas station, the level of rivalry is no less than it was ten years ago at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Luo Yan heard her parents and brother mention asking so-and-so to handle this matter, and asked, "Can it be done?"
Who told her to worry about it? Luo Hong said, "Yes, it will definitely come in handy when we move. Go to sleep."
Luo Yan, unsuspecting, yawned and went back to her room.
-----------------------
Author's note: Goodnight, today is the last day of the holiday, we can start counting down to the New Year!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com