Night.88 (2800+)
"Fuck long-distance relationships!!"
Yu Xiongming cursed loudly, tilted his head back and gulped down half a bottle of asahi. The beer, which he didn't have time to swallow, slid down his chin and wet the boy's collar.
"Yeah! Screw this long-distance relationship!"
The one who agreed was Ruan Mei, whose black hair was tied into a soft bun, and two rose-red beads dangled from the hairband on her head. She held up a beer can, and the water droplets on the tin can rolled down her slender wrist.
But before he could even get to his lips, Yu Xiongming stopped him: "No, no, Brother Shanye told you not to drink too much."
Ruan Mei opened her almond-shaped eyes wide, looking at the traitor in disbelief, her voice trembling: "...Yu Xiongming, what do you mean?"
"There's nothing I can do, sister. My stomach is now under the control of Brother Shanye." Yu Xiongming shrugged and took the beer can away from Ruan Mei's hand.
Xu Ziling laughed so hard that her light brown cashmere shawl fell to the ground, and it looked like a cup of fragrant Ceylon milk tea had been spilled on the tile.
Yu Xiongming was too lazy to use a fork, so he picked up a tiger-skin chicken foot with his bare hands and put it in his mouth and started chewing.
The big chicken feet had crispy skin and tender meat, and were fresh, fragrant, and slightly spicy. Even the bones were stewed until they were soft and could be swallowed with just a chew. The boy sat cross-legged on the ground gnawing on the chicken feet, not caring at all about his internet celebrity image. Ruan Mei wanted to take a picture of his ugly appearance and post it online for his fans to see.
"Amazing, sister! These chicken feet go really well with beer! When will they officially go on sale?"
"It should be next week. The process of making this is quite complicated, so Lao Chen has to rearrange the time. After all, many people still order the pork cap with mixed sauce and spare ribs with mushrooms." Ruan Mei rested her chin on her knees, opened WeChat and sent a message to Chen Shanye, "Why did you let Xiao Xiong supervise me drinking! (Angry)".
"When this dish is online, I will record a video of him eating it."
"Well, I'll send samples to you and a few other kols when the time comes."
After drinking some wine, they had already finished the few dishes that Chen Shanye had just sent that afternoon. The colorful spots of light cast by the glass lamps intensified the hidden worries on the faces of several people. Xu Ziling touched the cigarette box and asked the other two, "Want to go out for a cigarette?"
Yu Xiongming also took his cigarette case. His bangs hanging down in front of his forehead looked very youthful. He pushed himself up with his long arms and stood up, tiptoeing on his numb toes: "Let's go!"
The November night breeze finally brought a chill. Ruan Mei placed a few high stools in the yard. Yu Xiongming offered her a cigarette, but she shook her head: "You guys smoke it, I don't want any."
"You quit?" Xu Ziling asked in surprise.
"No, I'm just not that addicted anymore." The night wind made Ruan Mei's hair stand on end, and she hugged her arms and rubbed them.
"Tsk tsk tsk, it's different when you're in love." Xu Ziling gave her half of the cashmere shawl.
The young man who was smoking said nothing, the smoke puffing upwards. Ruan Mei and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance, and Ruan Mei spoke up, "Are you really not going to wait for your Oppa?"
"What are you waiting for? She's already openly flirting with other men on Facebook, you know? That Saner even registered on Weibo to spy on my life. She might even be secretly watching my live broadcasts. The thought of this kind of thing makes me feel uncomfortable all over."
"What are his and that scumbag's Facebook names? Wait for me to climb over the wall and scold him." Xu Ziling said while biting the cigarette.
"Goodbye, sister. Mainly because I'm tired myself."
Yu Xiongming tilted his neck and exhaled a puff of white smoke. The string lights on the trunks of the short trees in the yard became psychedelic in the smoke, like silent fireflies.
Being in a long-distance relationship is hard enough, but being in an international relationship is almost life-threatening.
"Don't talk about me, what about you? If you have any troubles, tell your brother about it." He was asking Xu Ziling.
"Me? I don't have any worries. It's just those trivial things in the company." Xu Ziling smiled faintly.
"Really?"
Xu Ziling smoothed her wind-torn short hair, her voice rising with the smoke: "It's really nothing serious. It's just something I think about every year, whether I should quit my job."
There was a period of time every year when Xu Ziling was clamoring to resign. In the past, they would just listen to her and forget about it, but for some reason, this year they felt that Xu Ziling was a little serious.
When the two cigarettes were finished, it was their turn to ask Ruan Mei, "What about you?"
"I?"
Her pebble-like toes curled up in her slippers. Ruan Mei tucked herself into her large shawl and looked up at the night sky, which was tinged with a violet hue. "What else can I do? I miss him."
*
"Brother Shanye!"
Hearing the clear and crisp sound coming from the door, Chen Shanye was so scared that his hands shook and he almost dropped his phone on the ground.
He raised his head and looked at the girl who pushed open the shop door and walked in with the cold wind. She looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, wrapped in a bright red down jacket, with a navy blue backpack on her shoulders, her long hair tied in a ponytail, and her cheeks flushed by the wind.
"Xiao Yun, didn't I tell you not to call Shanye brother like that?" Cai Xiaofeng, who was busy packing, frowned, and his tone of reminding his own sister was not very good.
"Aren't I just calling you the same? Brother Shanye didn't say anything bad, why do you care so much about me." Cai Xiaoyun directly retorted to her own brother.
"Your brother calls me Brother Shanye, so you should follow him. 'Brother' sounds too childish for an old man like me." Chen Shanye laughed at himself, avoiding the little girl's overly passionate gaze, concentrating on looking at the high-speed rail tickets before New Year's Day, calculating how to give someone a surprise during the holiday.
How could a young girl in adolescence understand Chen Shanye's rejection? She could only see the good in men.
Cai Xiaofeng was annoyed when he saw his sister's silly look, and he started to chase her away: "I'm not saying anything bad, but go home quickly after school. What are you doing here?"
"I, I'll help you pack, okay?"
"Come on, don't make trouble. Just go away." Cai Xiaofeng put the express note in place and waved to the girl.
But Cai Xiaoyun just loved to go against him. She took off her schoolbag and threw it away, then sat on the plastic stool and refused to move.
After booking the train ticket, Chen Shanye stood up and walked to the packing table to help Cai Xiaofeng with the last few packages.
Cai Xiaofeng was hired by him last month. The young man is nimble and quick-witted. With his help, Chen Shanye can get a lot more done in a day.
But if he had known at the time that Cai Xiaofeng would cause such a small trouble, Chen Shanye would have had to think again about whether to invite him.
He gave Cai Xiaofeng a look, meaning, finish the work and take your sister home quickly.
“I know, I know, boss!” Cai Xiaofeng felt a shiver on the back of his neck, not knowing whether it was because of the cold wind that had just blown into the store, or because of Chen Shanye’s eyes. He stopped talking and quickly buried his head in his work.
The packages of "Mountain Food" are all insulated foam boxes of some size. Every afternoon, the courier has to drive his van back and forth several times to deliver them all. In winter, it gets dark very quickly. When the courier takes away the last car, the streets are already brightly lit. Gems are scattered on the black velvet cloth in a dazzling manner, winding down the old streets where people come and go, and winding out the graceful outline of the small town.
Cai Xiaofeng took his down jacket from the clothes hanger and lightly kicked the foot of the stool his sister was sitting on: "Let's go, let's go home."
He put on his clothes and shouted to the kitchen, "Brother, let's go."
The voice was accompanied by the sound of splashing water: "Well, go back, I'll be leaving after I finish packing."
Cai Xiaoyun reluctantly threw the textbook back into her schoolbag. Unable to keep her thoughts to herself, she ran to the kitchen door and asked the reason for her visit today: "Brother Shanye, what are you doing tomorrow night?"
Chen Shanye didn't look up, washing the utensils in his hands: "Nothing to do, just preparing the ingredients here."
"But tomorrow is Christmas. There's a Christmas tree in the big square in the new district, and they said there will be artificial snow..." The girl's words were filled with anticipation.
Whenever such foreign festivals come, the small county town will inevitably become more lively. With the development of the commercial street in the new district, there are more and more things to do every year.
Chen Shanye snorted and turned the washed dishes upside down to drain them one by one: "That's a festival for you young people. I don't care about that."
Cai Xiaoyun wanted to fight for it, but the strap of her schoolbag was pulled. Cai Xiaofeng could see what she was thinking and pulled her towards the door: "If you want to see the Christmas tree, I will go with you tomorrow after I get off work."
"Hey, Cai Xiaofeng! Let go!"
The two siblings were pulling each other by the store door. At this time, a cold wind rushed in, and they both looked at the opened store door at the same time.
The woman who walked in was wearing a crisp and stylish cashmere coat, and black suede over-the-knee boots wrapped around her long legs like lily branches. A small piece of skin was faintly visible under the caramel brown hem, as white and hazy as the moonlight covered by clouds.
The woman pulled down the light brown scarf that covered most of her face. The black agate embedded in the white shells gleamed faintly under her raven eyelashes. She opened her pink lips slightly and said, "Excuse me, is Chen Shanye here?"
Cai Xiaofeng was young and hadn't seen much of the world. Looking at the delicate girl, his back and neck tensed up, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Yes, yes. Boss! Someone's looking for you!"
Unlike her brother, the little girl immediately sensed something strange in the air and spoke without thinking: "Sister, are you Brother Shanye's friend?"
"Xiao Yun!" Cai Xiaofeng pulled the girl hard who was talking regardless of the occasion.
Ruan Mei raised her eyebrows slightly and exhaled a breath of warm air, her eyes becoming half crescents with joy: "Yes, I am an old friend of your brother Shanye, and I came to see him to reminisce about the past."
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