66. Male Protagonist's Perspective: Encounter
As night falls, the neon lights illuminate the entire night, creating a vibrant and colorful spectacle.
The streets on both sides were bustling with activity, and almost every storefront was shrouded in smoke, exuding a simple and ordinary atmosphere.
This is a famous food street, with seven or eight barbecue stalls alone. The food is delicious and the prices are reasonable.
It's only the beginning of May, and it's already quite lively as evening approaches. Men and women bring their children to enjoy some barbecue skewers, a drink of soda, and some shelled edamame, instantly washing away all the day's fatigue.
Chu Qinghuai came here specifically to work part-time because he saw the high foot traffic in this area.
Since his complete falling out with his family last year, he has been renting a place and working odd jobs. He has changed jobs many times and done all sorts of jobs. For him, he is young now and any job that can earn more money is a good job, provided it is legal.
The part-time job as a waiter at a barbecue stall was introduced by someone else. Don't underestimate this kind of small business. It relies on seasonal benefits, small profits but quick turnover. You can make a lot of money in a summer, so many restaurants will hire a summer worker. It doesn't cost much.
Chu Qinghuai has been working for a week now. His job is to take orders, serve dishes, and clean tables. It's simple but tedious and tiring. He can't even sit down during the peak hours from 5 to 9 pm.
Even so, he still knows how to find joy in hardship; for example, he recently discovered something interesting.
The shops on the street were all tightly packed together. There was another barbecue shop next to the one where he worked part-time, but it seemed that the two owners did not regard each other as competitors, because they both had regular customers and did not bother to steal each other's business.
Chu Qinghuai was often instructed to borrow two stools from the shop next door, which meant he had to pass by their storefront.
"Uncle, can I borrow two stools?"
The shop owner next door waved his hand, a cigarette dangling from his lips, seemingly quite used to this kind of thing, and said, "Take it yourself, and remember to bring it back for me."
Chu Qinghuai nodded and said thank you. He was tall and straight, and even though he was wearing greasy work clothes, it did not diminish his handsome appearance. He showed the youthful innocence that was unique to his age.
Suddenly, the slender back of a girl came into his view.
He usually interacts with people older than himself, so when he suddenly met a woman of the opposite sex of similar age, his tone became somewhat nervous.
"Could I move a stool for you?"
The girl, who was still diligently wiping the table, turned around and was almost startled by the sudden sound. A strand of hair that was tucked behind her ear accidentally fell onto her cheek. She blinked and saw that it was a refined-looking boy. She exclaimed, "Ah!"
Chu Qinghuai explained, "I work at the barbecue restaurant next door. We don't have enough seats for our customers. Could I bring two chairs? Your boss has given permission."
He was only nineteen years old at the time, and his demeanor still had a scholarly air about him. In addition, his fair skin was completely out of place with the smoky atmosphere, which made the girl a little slow to react.
Zhong Wan thought he was a customer who had come to eat, but it turned out he was a colleague. Her eyes crinkled into crescents, her almond-shaped eyes clear, and she handed him the stool she had just wiped, saying, "Here you go."
"Do you need my help?"
"Need not."
Chu Qinghuai carried one in each hand, thanked him, and left.
...
Chu Qinghuai admitted that he was very vulgar; when he encountered a beautiful person during his hard and boring days, he couldn't help but focus his attention on her.
He would deliberately walk to a few tables near the barbecue restaurant next door and ask the customers about their satisfaction several times, just to get a closer look at what the girl was doing.
He thought to himself, "She's really funny. Why does she love wiping tables so much? Every time I see her, she's doing this. She wipes the table several times over. Sometimes the oil stains on the table can't be wiped off at all, so she bends over and uses more force, even if she almost ruins the table, she still wipes it clean."
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) medication.
Chu Qinghuai didn't notice the smile in his eyes, a gentle look that hadn't appeared in a long time.
One evening, Chu Qinghuai was serving skewers to a table of customers when he overheard a girl being harassed. This was the first time he had ever shirked his duties, and he stood blankly in the corner, thinking that if needed, he wouldn't mind helping her out.
But the truth is, the girl didn't need his presumptuous help at all.
"Hey girl, new here? Let's add each other on WeChat?"
The unreliable, tattooed man sat shirtless on a stool, his belly so big it looked like he was six months pregnant. He held a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes gleaming with a sly, blatant gaze as he looked Zhong Wan up and down.
To everyone's surprise, the girl wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled and replied, "Brother, I'm afraid my husband will beat me if I add you on WeChat."
The man exhaled a puff of smoke in surprise, the cheap smell of which lingered around Zhong Wan's nose, almost making her vomit. "You're married? I didn't realize."
“It’s more than just getting married!” Zhong Wan deliberately widened her eyes and held up two fingers. “I’ve already had two children. Oh well, I’m from the countryside, so I had them early.”
She looked to be in her early twenties at most. How young must she have had a child? The man shook his head in disgust. Seeing this, Zhong Wan turned and left, patting her chest to calm herself down in a corner where she thought no one was watching. Chu Qinghuai took in everything, his eyes dark and gloomy. He chuckled in the dim atmosphere, and then his eyes gradually brightened.
Married young? Had two children?
He clearly overheard his boss talking to the boss next door about the new girl they hired. He said she was a simple, pitiful person who had finally escaped from home. She was efficient at her work, beautiful, and whoever married her would be very lucky.
He was indeed pitiful, but naive? Chu Qinghuai shook his head. Not necessarily.
He was unwilling to admit that he was actually attracted by the other person's aura, not out of any emotion, but out of curiosity, and a sense of kinship with her as a fellow sufferer, even though she might not know who he was.
-
The two worked as waiters day after day, without interfering with each other, until their second encounter.
One rainy night, there weren't many customers, and the entire food street closed early. After receiving his daily wage, Chu Qinghuai immediately changed his clothes and prepared to go home, holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying the braised duck products made by the proprietress in the other.
He strolled leisurely to the bus stop. He had finished get off work two hours earlier than usual today, so he was in a good mood and was even considering whether to splurge on three fried eggs when he got home.
A light rain was falling, and the puddles reflected the bright streetlights, making them look like a round moon. Chu Qinghuai stared intently at them, unaware that Zhong Wan was rushing over behind her, inevitably getting a few drops of rain on her.
"Phew, thankfully the rain isn't heavy."
Chu Qinghuai turned around when he heard the familiar voice. In an instant, their eyes met. Perhaps it was the rainy atmosphere that made their gazes more moist.
Zhong Wan knew he also worked as a helper at the barbecue restaurant, so she greeted him, "You're off work too?"
Chu Qinghuai noticed that she always had a smiling face and a good temper and attitude towards everyone. No one would dislike someone like that, so he exchanged a few more pleasantries: "Yes, where do you live?"
"What about the alley next to Ningge Road?"
Chu Qinghuai didn't answer, but frowned. "In the bungalows behind the old residential area?"
Just as Zhong Wan was about to ask him how he knew, she heard him say, "I've lived there before, it's too unsafe, you shouldn't stay there."
"ah?"
Chu Qinghuai's inexplicable words were hardly polite. He was just a stranger to the other party, so why did he suddenly deny their address?
Fortunately, Zhong Wan didn't hold grudges and told the boy in front of her the truth: "It's cheaper there."
How safe can a cheap place be? She hides a knife under her pillow every night and doesn't dare to comb her hair up. Instead, she dresses up as a female ghost, hoping no one will notice her.
“That won’t do either.” Normally, Chu Qinghuai wouldn’t meddle in other people’s business, but today he spoke quite confidently: “I used to live here. Once, I accidentally made eye contact with a thief who broke in while I was sleeping, and then I moved out the next day.”
The door to the little house was as flimsy as paper, and the key was just for show; the door opened with a push. Because the price was incredibly cheap, it was basically inhabited by the lowest and most despicable people in society. Even now, Chu Qinghuai still admired his courage back then—how could he have dared to stay there for two months? As for the girl beside him… he couldn't help but feel sorry for her; if she hadn't had no other choice, she definitely wouldn't have stayed there.
"It's really unsafe for a young girl like you to live in a place like that."
He softened his tone, hoping the other person would listen to his advice.
Zhong Wan said calmly, "But I have nowhere else to go."
The bus hadn't arrived yet, and the rain was getting heavier, with the force of a torrential downpour. All her self-esteem was being torn apart in the damp environment, and she felt like it was about to rot.
As if possessed by a ghost, Chu Qinghuai said, "If you trust me, why don't you stay at my house?"
He regretted it as soon as he said it, wondering if the other person would think he was frivolous and improper.
"Really? You live alone? How much does it cost?"
A barrage of questions rained down on him like beans, and he never expected the girl to actually accept the offer.
Isn't she afraid? He's a grown man!
Thinking about this, Chu Qinghuai felt even more that the girl had a really poor sense of self-protection, but luckily she met him.
"Really? I live alone. How about you pay me two hundred a month to sleep on the sofa and do the cleaning?" He noticed she was quite good at cleaning.
Zhong Wan nodded repeatedly, her bright eyes fixed on him. Feeling like she had gotten a great deal, she asked, "I haven't asked you yet. What's your name? My name is Zhong Wan, Zhong as in alarm clock, and Wan as in morning and evening."
"My name is Chu Qinghuai."
"Your name is so beautiful."
"..."
Since the house was also rented by Chu Qinghuai, it would be against the rules for him to ask Zhong Wan to pay extra to move in, so he simply didn't tell the landlord. Over time, everyone assumed they were a couple.
In reality, it's pretty much the same.
Chu Qinghuai didn't know what his relationship with Zhong Wan was; maybe they were just friends who lived together. She was very clean, and her house was always spotless. He would cook and invite her to eat with him at every meal. At the dinner table, he asked Zhong Wan, "Why do you love cleaning so much? It's already very clean."
Zhong Wan swallowed the food in her mouth and told him the truth: "When I was a child, my stepfather locked me in a chicken coop, so I am very afraid of getting dirty."
When she finished speaking so casually, Chu Qinghuai was stunned for a moment. Just thinking about it, he knew that she must have gone through more than this. He felt relieved and said, "I was originally in college, but my parents sold the college spot I got to someone else so that my brother with cerebral palsy could get married."
Both of them were in dire straits, exposing all their past misery to each other without worrying about being known by a third party; they were the people they trusted most.
People who have experienced similar pain will understand and appreciate each other. Fate has tied them together, and no matter how many coincidences there are, they will meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. This is called being destined to be together.
Therefore, later on, Zhong Wan no longer had to pay the 200 yuan "rent", and she no longer had to sleep on the sofa. She had family members she could rely on.
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