Chapter 56 Suspicion
For Liu Yinfeng, her daughter's affairs were naturally the most important thing.
She could ignore the problem for a while, but when she had time to think about it again, she still felt something was off. When her son came home, she asked him, "Why is Sanfang here learning from his sister?"
Luo Hong asked matter-of-factly, "Who in the entire alley has better grades than Yan Yan?"
He didn't even need to say it; Liu Yinfeng wanted to ask, "Why did he suddenly decide to study?"
Her son and Zhou Weifang had always been ranked near the bottom of their class since they were little, and she had been called in by the teacher countless times.
Although Luo Hong didn't study, he felt that this statement made no sense: "Mom, is it wrong for someone to want to improve?"
Liu Yinfeng thought that if she continued talking, it would seem as if she looked down on the other person's ambition, but she still muttered to herself, "Yanyan is a grown woman now, we have to be careful."
So that's what you were thinking about. Luo Hong laughed, "None of the three parties will like the younger sister."
His intention was to say that he knew his childhood friend's personality too well and knew that he would definitely find someone who could handle doing business together in the future. However, he didn't choose his words well and hit Liu Yinfeng's sore spot: "What's wrong with your sister? Is Zhou Weifang blind?"
Luo Hong: "I told you they didn't mean it that way, but you still won't agree. So let me put it another way, do you think Yan Yan would like San Fang?"
Thinking of her daughter's obsession with studying the classics, Liu Yinfeng angrily slapped her son on the back: "Look at you, not only do you not want to get married, but you've also corrupted your sister."
She can be brought up as marriage even though they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Luo Hong rubbed his back twice and said, "Don't worry, maybe she'll get married before me."
What does that mean? Liu Yinfeng smacked her son twice more: "Who has your sister been getting close to lately?"
Luo Hong thought to himself that he hadn't done anything wrong but had almost been beaten internally, and said, "You should ask her."
As soon as she was asked, Liu Yinfeng called out, "Yanyan, come out here for a moment."
Luo Yan, who was copying books in her room, poked her head out and asked, "What's wrong?"
Liu Yinfeng: "Tell Mom, have you made any new friends lately?"
A new friend? Luo Yan hesitated a little: "Yes, he's a boy from Jin Hong's class."
It wasn't that she was embarrassed to mention it in front of her mother, but rather that she couldn't help but blush when she thought of Zhou Xiuhe.
Liu Yinfeng could easily see that this boy had potential. As long as she knew this, she said, "Okay, then you can decide for yourself."
Luo Yan rubbed the sole of her shoe back and forth: "We're not even together yet."
Looking at her like this, Liu Yinfeng glanced at her son and said, "You're the most disappointing one."
Okay, okay, it's me again.
Luo Hong was afraid his mother would punch him again, so he reminded her, "My dad will be back soon."
Liu Yinfeng didn't even bother to say anything to him: "I'll go cook. Are you guys still going to eat?"
Luo Hong thought that what she hadn't really eaten could be called a meal, and said, "I'm not hungry."
Luo Yan raised her hand and said, "I'm not hungry either."
That would save trouble. Liu Yinfeng turned and went into the kitchen, thinking that if she could hurry, she could catch the TV series.
The remaining brother and sister exchanged a glance, one went back to her room to catch up on sleep, while the other continued copying the rules.
Luo Yan writes quickly and finished copying before her brother went to work the night shift.
Luo Hong stuffed it into his bag and said, "I'll bring you some food after get off work tomorrow."
He finished speaking and went out. When he passed the car dealership, he saw that the lights were on, so he stopped, lifted the curtain, and asked, "Still reading?"
Zhou Weifang placed the book face down on the table: "A customer said he would come to pick up the car later, but I don't have any work to do right now, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to just wait around."
Seeing how quickly they were working, Luo Hong thought he should really call his mother to come and take a look. He changed what he was going to say to her: "Then you watch over them, I'm going to work."
Zhou Weifang assumed he was just passing by and saying hello, so he didn't take it seriously and picked up the book again after the man left.
After reading a few pages, he became somewhat impatient. After all, he had never been a bookworm since childhood, so he decided to take a break, get up, and walk around to warm up.
As I swayed back and forth, my gaze unconsciously fell on the scarf that Luo Yan had worn that day.
He carried it all the way back to the shop, feeling that it was too hot to handle, afraid that touching it would give rise to some inappropriate thoughts. However, even without touching it, he seemed to smell a fragrance about it.
Zhou Weifang is twenty-four years old this year. He is a perfectly normal man. He scratches his head, practices a set of boxing moves, and takes two deep breaths.
When the customer came in and saw the situation, he said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've been working overtime for a while."
Zhou Weifang: "It's alright, it's alright, we're open 24 hours a day."
The customer squatted down to look at his car: "I have to say, your service is much better. Last time, Old Liu from the community service point gave me a piece of his mind."
Zhou Weifang: "Others who do a lot of repairs don't get a raise, so they're definitely not happy about it. I'm happy to do it, so feel free to call me anytime if you need anything."
It was just a minor repair or replacement, earning him a mere penny, but every business is built up one order at a time.
The more the better, but a little is fine too.
Zhou Weifang warmly saw the customer off, and just as he was about to close the door, another order came in—the car was badly broken, and the customer had been haggling for a long time before buying a new one from him. Including the profit from dismantling the old car, he could make about twenty yuan.
The profits need to be broken down. One part comes from car sales, from which Luo Hong receives a share, and the other part comes from car repairs, which goes to him personally.
There are many intricacies to calculating and dividing accounts. Zhou Weifang cannot rely solely on having a mental record; every transaction must be written down. Luo Hong does not look at the accounts, but Zhou Weifang forces him to look at them once a week.
Friendships are friendships, and business is business. Even if we become family in the future, we still need to be clear about things.
A family.
Zhou Weifang chuckled to himself as he thought about those three words, then closed the shop door and climbed up to the attic to sleep.
--
Luo Yan slept well that night, but when she woke up, her right hand hurt. She held it up and asked her brother for medical expenses.
Luo Hong ate his breakfast: "No, you've done more homework than these rules and regulations every day, and now you're blaming me."
Luo Yan gestured, "I haven't done my homework for several days."
Luo Hong chuckled: "Yeah, all he did was write letters."
Now the whole family knows that she's been getting close to a guy lately. Luo Xinmin heard about it last night but kept quiet about it. Now he can't help but say, "Yanyan, you have to choose your man carefully. There's no rush."
Luo Yan glanced at her brother: "I'm not in a hurry. If I get married before Luo Hong, he'll be a bachelor forever."
"This girl," Luo Hong said irritably, "I even bought you ground beef specially."
Each one is five cents more expensive than pork.
Luo Yan waved her wrist at him, implying that he should have bought it for her in the first place.
Luo Hong slapped his sister's hand: "You're asking for it."
Liu Yinfeng: "You're not even trying to live up to others' expectations."
She also didn't like nagging her son about it all the time, and said with a pout, "You cook dinner yourself tonight, and put less oil in it."
All three of them were going to a wedding banquet, leaving Luo Hong to look after the house.
He said, "I won't put a drop of oil in it; I'll just go out and get a free meal."
My son has many friends, so he won't go hungry.
Liu Yinfeng ignored him and only told him, "Don't drink."
Luo Hong: "Is this how you see me? I work the night shift. Besides, the boss has been cracking down hard lately, practically cutting off every second."
Even Luo Xinmin had heard about what happened at their bicycle factory and said, "With a new factory manager, he's bound to do something. Things will get better soon."
Luo Hong only complained a couple of times. After eating two pies, he was even more sleepy and couldn't keep his eyes open. He wiped his hands and stood up: "I'm going to take a nap."
Luo Xinmin raised his wrist to check his watch: "I'm almost late too."
Liu Yinfeng was also about to go out, and said, "Let's go together."
In the blink of an eye, only Luo Yan was left.
She swept up the pie crumbs on the table, then suddenly felt like she had nothing to do. Her eyes darted around for a moment, then she took a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her brother's coat hanging behind the door, put it in her own pocket, and went out—she wanted to borrow two books to read.
There was no one in the mahjong shop at the moment. He was sitting on a recliner with his legs crossed. When he saw her come in, he quickly stood up straight and said, "Yanzi is here."
Luo Yan asked a question before saying, "I would like to borrow two books to read."
There are other shops on the street, but the ones that she likes are the most abundant here, and there are always new ones every time she comes back.
Sparrow made way: "Don't talk about lending or not, take whichever one you want."
Then he asked, "Did your brother go to work today?"
Luo Yan: "He just finished his night shift and was sleeping at home."
"Is he going to Fatty Wang's wedding banquet that night?"
"I'll go."
"Can you manage all by yourself?"
"Can it be done?" Even he had to ask that question. Luo Yan thought that her image in other people's eyes was probably not very good, so she said, "It's not just me. Jianjun and his family are going too."
Almost forgot, Sparrow said, "Jianjun and Fatty Wang are sworn brothers, that's perfect, I can share a table with you guys tonight."
It's always better to be with someone you know than someone you don't know well.
Luo Yan found the book she wanted and waved it, saying, "I'll return it tonight."
Sparrow: "No rush, take your time."
Luo Yan held the book in one hand and put the other hand in her pocket, ready to go.
Sparrow saw through it: "Don't give me money. What kind of person would I be if I accepted it? How would I face your brother then?"
Luo Yan placed her brother's cigarettes on his counter: "Then you definitely can't let him know that I stole them from his pocket."
She had a sly look on her face and even raised her finger to shush in front of her.
Sparrow laughed: "Okay, I'll smoke it secretly."
He added, "These are peonies, take a couple more, or you'll lose out."
Luo Yan: "I'll just look at these. I need to start preparing for next semester's lessons in a couple of days."
See? We're not on the same page.
Sparrow: "Sure, my shop's open anyway, I can come anytime."
Luo Yan nodded and said goodbye, probably in a hurry to get home to read, and skipped away.
Sparrow tossed the pack of cigarettes in his hand a couple of times, thinking that he probably wouldn't even smoke it if it rotted. He put it in his pocket and then took it out again—afraid of giving the wrong pack when distributing cigarettes later, he decided to keep it in the drawer for now.
Luo Yan had no idea what a pack of cigarettes meant to him. He ran home quickly and sat down by the stove to read.
Once you look at it, you don't even care what time it is.
When Liu Yinfeng got home after finishing her errands, she saw her daughter curled up on the sofa reading a book. She turned on the light and said, "It's very dark in here."
The sudden brightness made Luo Yan a little uncomfortable, and she squinted her eyes: "I feel okay."
"It's not like we're short of a couple of kilowatt-hours of electricity," Liu Yinfeng said. "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
Luo Yan: "Hot dishes are fine, we're having a wedding banquet tonight."
"Okay, if she doesn't like it, she can eat less. There will be a good meal tonight." Liu Yinfeng said, "Then I'll steam some rice."
Luo Yan looked up from her book and nodded. Hearing her brother's door creak open, she looked back.
Luo Hong half-opened his eyes, passed by his sister and tugged at her hair, went out to use the restroom, and when he came back, he was mostly awake. He drank a glass of water and craned his neck to see what his sister was doing.
Luo Yan showed him the cover: "I just borrowed it."
The books in the mahjong shop all have a stamp on their covers, which Luo Hong recognized at a glance.
He asked, "Did you pay?"
Luo Yan looked steadily at her brother and smiled, "I gave it to him."
Why are you laughing so strangely? Luo Hong: "What mischief have you done?"
Luo Yan: "Ha, guess for yourself."
Luo Hong tugged at his sister's braid again and yawned: "Too lazy to guess."
"This is boring," Luo Yan slapped his hand away, "Go away, don't disturb my reading."
They talk a very serious game, but they're just killing time here.
Luo Hong yawned: "I'm going to sleep a little longer. Don't call me for lunch."
No one called him for lunch, and he slept until dinner time.
He woke up, checked his watch, and for the first time found the house quite quiet. He went out of his room to wash up and wake himself up, then locked the door and went to find food.
We walked and strolled along until we finally reached the car dealership.
Zhou Weifang was working when he saw him and said, "You're here."
Luo Hong: "I'm here to mooch a meal from you."
Zhou Weifang was worried about who would take care of his dinner since his apprentice got off work early, so he said, "Go and buy me some."
Well, they've come here to be bossed around.
Luo Hong: "If I had known, I would have preferred to go to the wedding banquet. Anyway, Yan Yan didn't want to go."
Wedding banquet? Zhou Weifang put down the wrench: "She's going by herself?"
Luo Hong: "I reckon he left with Jianjun's family."
That's good. Zhou Weifang was relieved: "Just buy some dumplings, I want pork and cabbage."
They even ordered some dishes. Luo Hong rolled his eyes at him but didn't say anything and went to buy dumplings.
After buying the car, he started eating it by himself. Only after eating half of it did Zhou Weifang have time to sit down: "Business has been good these past few days. We've sold seventeen cars."
The profit from each vehicle is about ten or eight yuan, which adds up to a considerable amount. Luo Hong said, "I'll send over a few more vehicles in a couple of days."
Looking around, he suddenly became critical of the place: "I see you've earned quite a bit, you should find a decent place to live."
When Zhou Weifang was sent to the countryside, he lived in a dugout. For him, having a roof over his head was considered a good condition.
He said, "Let's talk about it after we get married. Let's just get a nice one."
Marriage? Luo Hong: "You have a boyfriend?"
Zhou Weifang: "It's not here yet, it's just sitting here."
Indeed, Luo Hong finished the last bite of his dumpling and patted his childhood friend on the shoulder: "Whoever stays with you in the future will enjoy the good life."
Then I dusted myself off and went to work.
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Author's note: I honestly can't come up with any more names, so let's just use code names for some of them for now, as long as it doesn't affect understanding.
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