ice cream
"It doesn't matter. I'll be happy if you accept it." Zhou Qianling said, smiling at her.
The shop owner was also smiling so much that his eyes almost narrowed into slits. He said while searching for a pocket to put his clothes in, "It's rare to have such a good friend in life, so you must cherish him."
"One hundred and twenty, right?" Zhou Qianling confirmed.
"Yes, one hundred and twenty. Since you two girls are pretty, I'll give you a price..."
Wu Mei came and stopped Zhou Qianling who was scanning the code. Without looking at her puzzled eyes, she turned to the shop owner and said calmly, "I don't like it very much either. If fifty is okay, I'll take it."
Zhou Qianling's jaw dropped.
This price is too drastic.
The shop owner was also stunned. "Sister, I can't even buy goods at this price. If you are sincere, I can reduce the price by another ten dollars."
…
Zhou Qianling walked out of the room in a daze, holding his bag. After a while, he gave Wu Meilai a thumbs up and said, "The original price was 150 yuan, and you bargained it down to 70 yuan. That's great."
Wu Meilai raised her chin and said, "It's like this. We have to cut it in half at least, and then reduce it a little bit."
More and more people came, and a bus blew its deafening horn and slowly passed through the bustling streets.
When Wu Meilai saw the silly Zhou Qianling not knowing how to give way, she grabbed her hand and squeezed her between the two stalls, holding her close to herself.
The bus brought with it a smell of hot air and gasoline, which was not very pleasant, but because it was mixed with a faint hint of orange scent, it did not make Zhou Qianling feel carsick.
The street was narrow, lined with small stalls, and the bus practically brushed against the parasols overhead. Zhou Qianling finally realized what was happening, and with a frightened heart, he took another half step back, pressing himself against Wu Meilai's chest.
At that moment, the wheels ran over the bamboo winnowing baskets being sold at the stall to their right. The stall owner immediately stood up and ran out of the front door, saying something in a minority language. Judging from his expression and body movements, he was probably cursing.
The shuttle bus stopped and a crowd of onlookers gradually gathered around.
Zhou Qianling pushed away the busybodies and pulled Wu Mei away from the encirclement.
"The traffic is so chaotic." Zhou Qianling patted his chest with lingering fear, but the hand he was holding did not move at all.
"I heard that when the road is built to the town, the market street will be moved to the new street, which is more spacious." Wu Meilai explained, not paying attention to the hands of the two people, and was unconsciously pulled away by the other party.
Zhou Qianling looked straight ahead, his lips slightly curled up, revealing his good mood at holding hands, and he even swung it gently like a primary school student.
Ganchang Street is really just a street. After less than ten minutes' walk, there are only a few shops left on both sides of the road, and the rest are just fields for growing crops.
Zhou Qianling didn't want to go back so soon, so he dragged Wu Mei back and forth. Then he heard a promotion from an unknown milk tea shop: "Limited-time ice cream sale! Couples discount! Buy one, get one free! Hurry up and buy it!"
Zhou Qianling suddenly had an image of two people holding hands and eating ice cream under the moonlight, so he turned around and pulled Wu Mei into the store.
Before the clerk looked over, Zhou Qianling felt Wu Meilai's hand suddenly shrink again. But this time, she was prepared and held it tightly, refusing to let go.
"What do you want? You can scan the QR code to order." The waiter glanced at the two people holding hands tightly and didn't think there was anything wrong.
But Wu Meilai's palms were sweating, and she felt guilty for no reason.
On the other hand, the person next to her was looking at the menu calmly and rubbing her knuckles with her thumb.
"What flavor do you want?" Zhou Qianling turned his head and asked softly.
Wu Meilai just wanted to leave quickly, so she just said the same thing as her.
Zhou Qianling looked at it for a long time, then pointed at the discounted ice cream and said to the clerk with a smile, "Then let's... have it for couples."
With a bang, the word "couple" seemed to explode in her ears. Wu Meilai turned her head abruptly to look at her, her mind going blank.
The other party didn't react much, and the clerk didn't react much either. The street was crowded with people, and the speakers were still shouting incessantly: Buy one get one free for couples.
Everything is normal.
It's just a buy one get one free deal.
Her heartbeat gradually subsided. But the skin her palms touched grew even hotter. Wu Meilai tugged again, but still nothing happened.
After the clerk finished making the first ice cream, he turned around and saw that both of them seemed to be out of sorts. He asked Zhou Qianling, "Shall we give it to your friend first?"
Wu Mei came back to her senses and pinched the claws (unruly claws) that were pinching her knuckles with her thumb nail. When the other party let go, she took the ice cream from the clerk and glared at Zhou Qianling.
Zhou Qianling: innocent pout and tears.jpg
The clerk looked at Wu Meilai's red face strangely: Why do I feel like these two people are weird?
Duishi Middle School is not far from the street, so every day in the summer there are high school students coming here to buy ice cream. No need to ask, most of them buy the couple's special ice cream. After all, it is cost-effective. No one is as awkward as them.
But then I think again, those little girls are still underage students, so it’s understandable that they buy at a discounted price. But if they were adults, they might have an inferiority complex because they’re worried that others would look down on them... right?
Shaking his head and no longer caring about the customer's personal affairs, the clerk turned around, took out the ice cream cone shell, and spun it in a circle to catch the ice cream, and even deliberately took an extra circle.
After leaving the milk tea shop, the two of them wandered aimlessly side by side.
Zhou Qianling glanced at the person next to him and pursed his lips slightly.
She and Wu Mei got an ice cream each as she wished, but there was no trace of the romantic atmosphere under the moon. Not only was her hand shaken off, but it was also the coldest time of the year and her teeth were frozen every time she took a bite.
Seeing Wu Meilai taking small sips and licking the tip flat, Zhou Qianling had an idea and handed her the ice cream he hadn't taken two bites of, saying with a smile, "I don't think mine is as delicious as yours."
Wu Meilai blinked and stared at the two ice cream cones, one tall and one short, leaning against each other, wondering what tricks she was going to play next.
"Let me taste yours."
Wu Meilai rolled her eyes, took another lick of her ice cream, and said, "They all come from the same machine, so they're all the same."
"How can it be the same? Yours came out first and is at the bottom. Maybe there's some special substance that will sink to the bottom?"
Wu Mei came to praise her ability to make up stories, then rolled her eyes at her and walked on.
After walking a few steps, I suddenly heard a hoarse plea from behind me.
Look back.
Zhou Qianling frowned slightly, staring at her chest. There was a white stain there, and at her feet was a ball of ice cream that had been smashed into a semicircle.
"Living Bodhisattva, please be kind and give me some money for food, please."
An old woman was hunched over, leaning on a crutch, holding Zhou Qianling with one hand. In her backpack was a four or five-year-old child who was half asleep. When the child heard her grandmother's voice, he rubbed his eyes and burst into tears.
"The child's father died early, and her mother said she went to work, but there has been no news for three years, and the family really has no food." The wrinkles on the old man's face were piled together, and tears were all soaked into them.
Zhou Qianling paused while wiping his clothes for some reason, then touched the pockets of his clothes and pants and said apologetically, "I don't have any cash."
The old man flipped out a QR code like magic and said, "You can scan it."
“…”
Zhou Qianling glanced over two hundred, and then, amid the other party's thanks, he waved his hand generously and walked towards Wu Meilai.
She smiled gently, like Guanyin Bodhisattva sitting cross-legged on a lotus throne, holding a jade bottle.
But Wu Meilai clearly saw the indifference and coldness in her eyes at first.
"Is there something on my face?" Zhou Qianling wiped his face.
Wu Meilai shook her head, looking at the backs of the old man and the young boy, and said, "There are a lot of scammers nowadays, you..."
Wu Meilai suddenly realized that she didn't seem to understand this city dweller whom she had just met.
"Well... having said that, what if the other party is really in trouble? So try to help as much as you can." Zhou Qianling raised a perfect smile, looking like an enthusiastic and kind-hearted young man.
Wu Meilai avoided her sight and looked at her clothes stained by ice cream, frowning: "Your clothes..."
Zhou Qianling sighed, "It can't be wiped off." She glanced at the hotel a few meters away, curled her lips slightly, and said, "I have to find a place to wash it first."
Wu Meilai thought about it for a moment, then foolishly took the bait and dragged Zhou Qianling to the hotel.
In addition to being old and dilapidated, the hotels in the town are also dirty.
But it’s cheap and doesn’t require an ID.
After paying twenty, Wu Mei came to take the key and led Zhou Qianling upstairs.
The corridor was crowded and narrow, with garbage scattered on the steps, and there was even a pool of urine in the corner, which was not sure whether it was dog or human urine.
Zhou Qianling covered his mouth and nose and changed his mind.
Stopping in front of the door of Room 301, Wu Meilai inserted the key into the keyhole, turned the knob, and the door opened.
Zhou Qianling was slightly surprised. The room was pretty good. Although it was not big, it didn't have any strong smell.
After all, you can't ask for too much with twenty dollars.
The room was simply furnished with a bed, a table, two chairs, and a bathroom separated by frosted glass.
Wu Meilai entered the room, opened the window for ventilation, and sat down on a nearby chair. Turning around, she saw Zhou Qianling slowly closing the door, locking it with a click, and leaning against it, staring at her.
Book a room.
This ambiguous word suddenly popped into my mind.
Wu Meilai frowned, suppressing this ridiculous, inappropriate association, and said calmly, "You... go wash up."
This doesn't seem to sound right.
"Clothes dry sooner if you wash them earlier," she added.
"oh--"
Zhou Qianling dragged out his words as he walked into the bathroom and pulled the door open. Only Wu Meilai and her swaying shadow on the frosted glass were left in the room.
The blurry shadow gradually turned into a white patch, and Wu Meilai turned around and sat up straight in shock.
Aren’t you here to do laundry? Why are you taking a shower too?
The sound of running water gradually rose, and the heat from the bathroom seemed to seep out, making people's faces hot.
Wu Mei opened the game and turned the volume up to the maximum.
My fingers slid mechanically across the screen, but my thoughts were actually drifting away.
Wu Meilai recalled that New Year's Eve. She heard that Zhou Qianling's mother had bought fireworks, so she went to watch the fun with her friends. Before leaving, she made a special trip to tidy up her frizzy hair and combed it into a neat ponytail.
Her skin was red and black, her face cracked from the dryness and cold, and she didn't look very pleasant. So she just stood not far from Zhou Qianling, watching her giggle as she lit the fireworks, and then she and the other children from the village covered their ears and waited for the fireworks to explode.
Everyone was watching the fireworks, but she was the only one watching the person setting off the fireworks.
Therefore, she didn't notice that the rocket had drunkenly changed direction and was heading towards her.
With a loud bang, fireworks exploded at her feet, and Wu Meilai fell to the ground in fright. The children screamed and scattered, then gathered around chattering.
"Are you okay?"
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