Chapter 2 You Smell Good My greatest virtue is honesty.
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The email on her phone was indeed about an economic dispute, but it had nothing to do with the drug prices that Zhou Jinqin was thinking about. Instead, it was a notification that a music app was automatically deducting money from her subscription.
Seeing that her daughter didn't answer, Lü Jianying reached out and patted her arm, asking again, "I'm asking you a question! Is it any good or bad that you met this boy today?"
When her mother asked the question, what first popped into Zhou Jinqin's mind was not the other person's wig-covered head garden, but the handsome guy at the next table with his jet-black hair that remained untouched by the wind. She suddenly thought of a very fitting poem to describe it - "Though battered and bruised, it remains steadfast, unmoved by the winds from all directions."
Bringing her back to reality with the pain in her arm, Zhou Jinqin shook her head: "Not really."
"Go ahead and choose." Lu Jianying was unaware that the resources introduced by the neighbor were so unreliable, and only assumed that her daughter was too picky and didn't like them. "They say that good men are not available on the market. The further you go on blind dates, the more you'll find the ones that other people have left over. If you don't make a move soon, you'll only be picking up the scraps among the ugly ones, and you'll bring this upon yourself."
Zhou Jinqin fidgeted with the rhinestones she had just applied to her nails, muttering, "According to you, I was also one of those leftovers."
Hearing this, Lü Jianying's face darkened. She poked her temple with a cold expression and said, "Isn't it all your fault? Why did you have to tell everyone that you were unemployed? Aren't you lowering your own worth and deliberately making people look down on you?"
Zhou Jinqin said nonchalantly, "I was just telling the truth."
"Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" Lu Jianying angrily slapped her back. "I told you not to resign, now where are you going to regret it? You've wasted so many years of your life for me. The person you've wronged the most in this world is me, do you even know that?"
Her tone hardened: "I'm telling you, you have to get married whether you like it or not. I've already given in to your resignation, so from now on you have to listen to me. You won't have a choice anymore."
Zhou Jinqin didn't understand: "Is marriage such a simple thing?"
"Is it that difficult?" Zhou Zhixiang, who was half-slumped on the sofa, suddenly spoke with disdain. "You're not my son. If you want to get married, it's just a matter of nodding your head."
Hearing her husband's words, Lü Jianying paused for a moment before echoing, "That's right. Getting married isn't as difficult as you think. It's just that you young people of your generation have been poisoned by the internet and believe in all that theory about emotional damage. Look at how respectful your father and I have been all these years. Haven't you ever envied someone who has someone by your side?"
"Why talk so much nonsense?" Zhou Zhixiang grabbed an ashtray and smashed it at Lü Jianying's feet. "Marriage is arranged by parents and matchmakers. No matter how much you try to persuade her, she won't listen. As her mother, you should put your heart into choosing a good husband for her."
He complained, "I told you long ago that girls shouldn't study so much. Look at what she's learned at school!"
Lu Jianying didn't agree with that. She looked up and stroked her daughter's soft, long hair, her tone softening: "Jinqin, every request I've made of you since you were little has been for your own good. Do you know how much I've suffered raising you? I only wanted you to get married because I was afraid you'd be all alone. Don't make things difficult for your mother, okay?"
As she spoke, she picked up a strand of Zhou Jinqin's hair and exclaimed, "No wonder many of the guys you went on blind dates had a good impression of you. Look how well I've taken care of you; even your hair is black and shiny now."
What was so good about her? Was it because she was mild-mannered, quiet, and easy to control? Zhou Jinqin grew tired of it. She picked up a pair of not-so-sharp scissors and cut her hair unevenly along the hair tie.
Before Lü Jianying could stop it, the ill-cut strand of hair was placed in her palm.
Zhou Jinqin, sporting a comical short haircut, said in a nonchalant tone, "My hair has grown quite long. I can call Uncle Zhang to come and collect it now."
Lu Jianying couldn't swallow her anger; her eyes were bloodshot with rage. "Are you resentful of me? Did you think you could soften my heart with such petty tricks? Let me tell you, you have to go through with this marriage! Since you can't choose, then I'll pick one for you!"
"Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you." Zhou Jinqin looked down at her mother's distorted and weathered face, changed her slippers and walked out. "I will get married, but I will have to decide who I choose."
She left home and went straight to a nearby print shop, asking the owner to print several color resumes.
Just now, she received an invitation for an in-person interview from a company. She couldn't remember when she had applied, nor did she know the job details. All she knew was that the company was located in Shenzhen, in South China, more than a thousand kilometers away from Shanghai. She accepted the offer without hesitation.
July rains always come in torrential downpours, sweeping away the dust covering the greenery in droves, moistening the parched soil covering new life, and shrouding this city, which has already entered summer, in a spring-like season, provided that the persistently high temperatures are ignored.
Zhou Jinqin, holding an umbrella, walked along the green belt paved with hydrangeas. Under a street lamp that was flickering on and off, she encountered an elderly man who looked helpless.
His companion was a man-made wooden cart, a rarity in this era, with stacks of cardboard boxes bound together by frayed hemp ropes. Due to the rain, some of the boxes had rotted and broken free of the ropes, scattering all over the ground, and the old man was trying his best to salvage them.
Zhou Jinqin ran over to help pick up the cardboard boxes and re-secure them with rope. The old man thanked her repeatedly in a thick accent from another region.
"Thank you, little sister." The old man took out a crumpled twenty-yuan note from his coat pocket and gave it to her. "Take this to buy some candy."
Zhou Jinqin refused the umbrella and even offered to give it to him, but the old man declined, saying that was not an option.
"I'll just get soaked myself, I don't want you to catch a cold, I'd feel bad about that."
Just as Zhou Jinqin was at her wit's end, a large black umbrella was placed over her and the old man's heads, completely shielding them from the rain.
It was the man he met in the coffee shop who smiled and said to the old man, "Don't worry, old man, she's with me."
"Right?" Liang Minghe tilted his head, blinking his charming eyes at her.
The tone was flirtatious, and Zhou Jinqin was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses. She cleared her throat awkwardly, but her voice was still hoarse when she spoke: "Yes, you don't need to worry, I'm with him."
The old man scrutinized the two men for a long time before finally believing them and accepting the umbrella out of kindness.
Before leaving, he gestured wildly and said a lot of things, which sounded like Yunnan dialect. Zhou Jinqin couldn't quite understand the obscure words he was saying, but she could roughly guess that he was expressing his gratitude or praise, so she just smiled and responded.
When the old man left, the umbrella Zhou Jinqin left behind didn't land on his head, but instead covered the mountain of stacked cardboard boxes.
Looking at the woman's gentle profile, Liang Minghe suddenly asked, "Did you understand what he said?"
Zhou Jinqin withdrew her gaze from the old man's back and looked at the man beside her. Only then did she realize that the two were too close. She subconsciously took two steps back and separated their intertwined clothes.
She said hesitantly, "He's probably thanking us..."
"Really? I feel like he's saying we're a match made in heaven." Liang Minghe tilted the umbrella towards her, and even leaned a little more towards her.
There wasn't much ambiguity in his tone when he said this; it was more like he was stating the facts seriously. But it was probably his captivating peach blossom eyes that were making Zhou Jinqin feel her heart race.
She coughed violently for a while, then staggered back a few steps. Liang Minghe couldn't catch up, so he simply grabbed her wrist and brought her back.
"Why are you running? Do I smell bad?" he asked, getting closer.
“It doesn’t smell bad.” Zhou Jinqin shook her head, blushing. Her small, narrow nose twitched slightly. She said honestly, “You smell very nice.”
It's an atmosphere that even this city, seemingly drowning in springtime, can't suppress, like newly sprouted bamboo wrapped in rain and dew, carrying a refreshing fragrance.
Liang Minghe chuckled softly: "Then you really have a strong sense of distance."
To be honest, he had a kind of nobility at night that was completely different from that during the day. The dim light made his features more distinct and three-dimensional. Even though he was only wearing the most basic white T-shirt, his extraordinary appearance made his outfit look particularly expensive.
Zhou Jinqin was too embarrassed to look at his face, so she turned her head and focused her gaze on the sparkling star earring on his ear cartilage.
If you look closely, those stars are actually softened starfruit, which looks quite cute.
Zhou Jinqin felt her wrist getting unusually hot and realized that she was being held captive by a large hand. She didn't know when, but the square diamonds that had been set on her nails just a day ago had been lost.
Zhou Jinqin broke free without much effort. She lowered her head and said awkwardly, "Thank you for just now."
Liang Minghe took out two neatly folded hundred-yuan bills from his pocket, waved them between the two of them, and asked, "Is this also on your behalf to say thank you?"
The man's fingers were long and slender, with a luster that rivaled even the richness of banknotes.
Zhou Jinqin said softly, "Yes, thank you for the medicine you bought for me last time. I used to be a doctor, so I shouldn't have misjudged the price."
Perhaps it was because the amount she had earned through her professional experience was right, or perhaps the other party simply didn't care about such a small amount, but Zhou Jinqin hadn't received any follow-up messages from the other party in the past few days.
“Very professional,” Liang Minghe affirmed. “But you probably don’t know that there’s a food delivery war going on lately. After the discount, I only spent 118.63 yuan on your medicine.”
Zhou Jinqin didn't really know much about it. She used to eat mostly in the hospital cafeteria or at home, and she didn't order takeout very often.
She asked blankly, "So, are you planning to refund me the extra money?"
"Oh, I really didn't intend to." Liang Minghe put the money back into his pocket, bent down slightly to match Zhou Jinqin's height, and then forcefully shoved the umbrella handle into her hand. "I'm going to sell this umbrella to you for eighty-one yuan and thirty-seven cents."
The umbrella was much heavier than she had imagined, and Zhou Jinqin almost lost her grip on it. Luckily, the man didn't let go immediately.
She looked up, asking the tall man in front of her with concern, "If you give me the umbrella, how will you get home?"
"You'll take me." The man raised the corners of his mouth and spoke shamelessly.
As he spoke, he straightened up, and Zhou Jinqin had to raise her arms to match his height.
"Where do you live?" She subconsciously stood on tiptoe, a posture that gave her a hallucination of experiencing feeding giraffes at the zoo.
Looking down at her, the woman's eyes, which were rather long, appeared rounder. The light falling from above seemed to gather in her light brown pupils, making them sparkle like pearlescent powder sprinkled on an umbrella.
She cut off most of her original long hair, which now only reaches her chin. The ends are uneven and look like they've been chewed by a dog, which has erased some of her original softness and added a touch of wildness.
He said, "It's not far, just walk straight along this road for ten minutes."
Zhou Jinqin felt uncomfortable under his direct gaze. She awkwardly tugged at her hair, wanting to quickly skip this part: "Okay, let's go then."
But Liang Ming and this man had no sense of propriety whatsoever. He wouldn't let go of the fact that he was grabbing her hair: "You cut it yourself, didn't you? Otherwise you could have called the police."
Zhou Jinqin hadn't even had a chance to look in the mirror yet, but judging from the strange looks she'd received on her way out, she knew it wouldn't look good.
She glared at him: "I know it's ugly..."
Before going to university, Lü Jianying would ask her to cut her hair short, citing that her long hair would affect her studies. But the uncle who took her hair had decades of experience, and even if he had never systematically learned hairdressing skills, he could still cut her hair neatly. There was no way she would end up like this today.
Liang Minghe laughed: "Don't take this too seriously. I never said the word 'ugly' from beginning to end."
"Then what do you mean?" Even Zhou Jinqin, who had a good temper, was getting annoyed.
Liang Minghe stared at her messy hair and appraised it carefully: "Okay, your hair is indeed a bit bad, but fortunately your face is enough to make up for this shortcoming."
"..." It's hard not to suspect that the other party is being sarcastic.
Seeing the other person's sullen expression, Liang Minghe took the initiative: "You're very beautiful, hasn't anyone ever complimented you?"
Zhou Jinqin was well aware that she was of average appearance, but far from beautiful. Many people praised her for her delicate features, but few used such a straightforward word to describe her.
She wasn't a beauty in the conventional sense; she didn't have the striking features of someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Her features were rather delicate, and she had a naturally pitiful air about her. When her mother was happy, she would call her Lin Daiyu, but when she was unhappy, she would curse her with a gloomy, deadpan face.
Given the other person's incredibly handsome face, it's hard to believe that this is the kind of aesthetic he should have. Rather than a genuine compliment, Zhou Jinqin would rather believe that it's just polite talk.
Seeing that she didn't believe him, Liang Minghe continued, "My greatest virtue is honesty."
His eyes were piercing, so serious that Zhou Jinqin almost ignored the fact that he had an extremely dishonest face.
Her fair face flushed, and she looked ahead, quickening her pace to urge, "The rain is getting heavier, let's hurry up."
The two soon arrived at their destination, a high-end star-rated hotel. Zhou Jinqin escorted the person to the lobby and was about to leave when, due to her large movements, she accidentally knocked the resume, which was half-stuffed in her bag, to the ground.
One of the cards happened to be scattered at Liang Minghe's feet. He bent down to pick it up and happened to catch a glimpse of the location he wanted to visit.
He handed the resume back to Zhou Jinqin, smiling as he said, "Perhaps we'll meet again soon."
A note from the author:
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Liang Minghe is a complete straight man [sunglasses]
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