Chapter 160 Want a Toolbox and Hair Dryer
In the following days, Yao Xiaoyu maintained a daily routine of visiting Ye Junshu at the Grand Hotel. Even if she occasionally missed a visit, she would at most show up every other day. Once inside the room, she would stay for at least an hour before coming out.
Once the waiter had completely solidified the impression that Ye Junshu was being kept as a mistress, and the outside atmosphere had calmed down, Ye Junshu began to miss his toolbox. Before, those people had been keeping a close eye on the Ye family, and even the smallest things had to go through their hands, so he naturally couldn't mention it. But now he could look forward to it.
Of course, Ye Junshu's biggest wish was to go out for a walk. Although he hadn't left the house much since returning to Shanghai, there was a difference between staying home and being forbidden from leaving. However, he was aware of the dangers involved, so he opted for a less desirable option.
"Those large items are difficult to bring out, but there is still room for improvement in small items such as hair dryers."
Ye Junshu sighed and said that his hands-on skills had been fully honed in his turbulent life. So when faced with the difficulty of going from luxury to frugality after returning from abroad, Ye Junshu decisively embarked on the path of handcrafting. However, there were too many things to make, so unless it was extremely urgent, he would move on to the next item as soon as it was made to a usable standard.
The hair dryer is just passable; it's not that it can't be improved, but there are too many things that need improvement, and the effort spent on it isn't enough to achieve the desired results, so it's been put on hold for now. But now, all I can bring along are small items, so it's become the right thing to do again.
"Hair dryer? You mean the one for drying your hair?"
Transporting goods from the Ye residence was too risky, and Yao Xiaoyu hadn't originally planned to agree, but what had Ye Junshu just mentioned?!
"Hmm, you've heard of it?"
Ye Junshu was somewhat surprised. This little thing was not uncommon abroad, after all, it was invented more than 20 years ago. But after returning to Shanghai, he couldn't find any finished products that could be purchased in China, so he decided to make it by hand.
"I saw it in the newspaper,"
After confirming that the hair dryer Ye Junshu mentioned was the same one she had imagined, Yao Xiaoyu's initial thought that it wasn't worth the risk immediately changed. She hadn't seen this product in the Shanghai trade market yet, and her attempts to have it shipped from abroad had yielded no results. If she didn't seize this opportunity, she might have to wait until hair dryers were widely available before she could get her hands on one.
"My hair is very thick, and it takes a long time to dry it after each wash. I really wanted one after seeing the description of the hair dryer, and I even prepared the money, but the store never sold it."
Yao Xiaoyu glossed over the source of the information and focused on the troubles of having long hair. Ye Junshu understood her meaning perfectly and said he would give Yao Xiaoyu a hairdryer once it was finished.
"Just buy it, I have plenty of money, it's just out of stock."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't intend to get something for nothing. Ye Junshu couldn't argue with her, so he had no choice but to agree. But he was thinking that he still had to make something out for Yao Xiaoyu. She had taken a risk to help him so much, and Ye Junshu would feel really bad if he didn't give her something in return.
After discussing the transportation process, Yao Xiaoyu hurriedly left the room. Halfway there, the rickshaw driver, due to a sudden physiological need, quickly stopped the rickshaw at the corner and disappeared in a flash. Just as Yao Xiaoyu and Yao Xiaoyu were waiting for him to return, a small, thin figure suddenly darted in.
"Have the driver take me to the dock... Why are there still people here?!"
The girl, who had been practicing her rhetoric while hiding inside, belatedly realized the existence of the unknown. Her hands, which were counting money, froze on the spot, and she looked up in a jerky, frame-dropping motion, letting out a small, desperate scream. Then she blinked... The girl seemed to be trying to gain sympathy through tears, but her eyes were not very cooperative, dry and heartbreaking.
"...Excuse me, could you please help me?"
After several unsuccessful attempts, the girl finally spoke up in desperation. Her words were polite, but they didn't sound very hopeful. In that short time, Tao Xiaoxiao, who had spotted the girl, had arrived and blocked her way out.
Yao Xiaoyu's dress today was as big as ever, although it wasn't as exaggerated as her previous bowl-shaped dresses, it was still a bit of a stretch to fit her into the rickshaw, so Tao Xiaoxiao hired a car to follow behind.
How can I help?
While pondering whether autumn and winter were more likely to trigger various small tasks, Yao Xiaoyu asked softly.
"I ran away from an arranged marriage. My family found out and sent many people to take me back. I need to go to the dock to take a ship abroad. Please, you two... They're here!"
The girl seemed to have heard something and shut her mouth tightly like a frightened bird, shrinking her already small body into the corner. Yao Xiaoyu gestured for Tao Xiaoxiao to go back to her car and sit down. Soon, there was a sound outside the car. It was the driver who had finished resolving the problem. After saying a lot of apologetic words, he continued to pull the car towards the place Yao Xiaoyu had mentioned earlier.
"Search! Search thoroughly! Someone just saw the young lady here; she must still be around here."
A nasty voice rang out from outside the car. Yao Xiaoyu glanced at the girl who had shrunk even smaller, then lifted the thin curtain and saw a man with beady eyes. The voice was coming from the man's mouth.
The rickshaws were all pretty much the same, some with canopies. The one Yao Xiaoyu was sitting in was probably the driver's own. The gaps around it were covered by a whole straw curtain, with openings left on the sides during the weaving process. Small windows were sewn on with clean cloth, and the front was also completely covered with cloth. Unless someone deliberately lifted it, no one could see what was inside the rickshaw.
Otherwise, the girl wouldn't have taken a liking to this rickshaw at first sight, and even prepared the silver dollars to hire it. Unfortunately, she hadn't planned that there were people inside, and now she was stuck and couldn't move forward or backward. If the foreign woman in front of her shouted, she would have no choice but to be dragged back to get married.
A look of sorrow flickered in the girl's eyes. She was prepared to swallow mercury if she were caught and taken back. If she couldn't decide how she lived, she would at least choose how she died. The moment she came out, she went to a Western medicine hospital and changed the thermometers enough. The mercury was already in the glass bottle around her neck, which was another way out she had prepared for herself.
What nonsense about the Ye family being a good match! If that beast had even a shred of compassion for her and had ever listened to a single word she said, he wouldn't have believed that her wish was to marry a good man!
Yao Xiaoyu hadn't really decided whether to hand the girl over. She wasn't the type to cause trouble. The girl's experience was indeed touching, but who knew if it was true or not? But the idea of same-sex mutual assistance was like a weight that was just right, putting both options on equal footing.
"Hey, you old hag, have you seen a woman in a yellow dress? She has six fingers on her hand."
The man grabbed the collar of an old woman passing by and asked her menacingly. Seeing the old woman's blank expression, he casually threw her to the ground. If the old woman hadn't been wearing thick winter clothes and hadn't landed in a corner, she would have fallen hard. Even so, the old woman showed signs of pain on her face.
The scales tipped at this moment.
"Run faster."
Yao Xiaoyu swiftly pulled down the curtains, her face cold as she told the driver to speed up. The driver, who had run back from a blind spot, didn't notice the tense atmosphere receding into the distance. He agreed verbally, but continued to drive at a leisurely pace, as if taking a stroll.
Yao Xiaoyu didn't say another word, but handed out a silver dollar through the door. The driver quietly took it. The slight wind suddenly became louder, which was the effect of running. The driver following behind didn't know what crazy thing was going on in front of him. He cursed angrily and had no choice but to hurry up and catch up.
There wasn't any melodramatic scene of Yao Xiaoyu and the man making eye contact, but the heavily wrapped car still caught the man's attention. He called for the car to stop, but Yao Xiaoyu remained silent. The driver, naturally knowing whose orders to follow, sped off into the distance...
"Smack!"
"You son of a bitch, I told you to stop, can't you understand human language?!"
The person pulling the cart was no match for someone with empty hands. Even with some distance between them, the driver was quickly overtaken and almost fell into the ditch due to the sudden stop. One of the man's men, who was fearless, rushed over and blocked the road at the corner ahead. Fearing that he would hit someone, the driver had to brake suddenly.
Because of this unexpected sudden stop, Yao Xiaoyu and the girl below her almost rolled out of the car. Fortunately, they managed to grab the poles on both sides and keep themselves in the car by keeping their necks and upper bodies leaning forward.
After catching up, the man didn't check on his subordinate who had blocked the car with his body. Instead, he cursed and slapped the driver across the face. The driver's mouth bled immediately, but fortunately, his teeth were not damaged. Yao Xiaoyu's face darkened when she heard the crisp sound of the slap.
"Distinguished guest on the bus, have you seen a girl wearing a pale yellow dress, with six fingers on both hands?"
The man had a strange intuition: the person he was looking for was on this car!
"No."
Yao Xiaoyu glanced at the timid girl and raised her voice in response.
"Then please lift the curtain and let us take a look. It wouldn't be good to delay our journey, would it?"
The man's address was polite, but the teasing tone was obvious to anyone. The people around him joined in the jeering, and his mouth sounded like fermenting dung, with not a single utterable word.
"roll!"
The man uttered a single, crisp word, and a moment of silence followed. He lost all interest in joking around and reached out to lift the curtain.
"I'm giving you face, but you don't want it. You're refusing a toast only to suffer the consequences, aren't you..."
The curtain opened by itself before he could touch it, and before the man could even glance at it, something cold pressed against his forehead.
"Behave yourself, it'll be bad if things get out of hand."
A familiar female voice rang out, and the henchman next to him trembled as he told his boss not to move, because there was a pistol stuck in his forehead.
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Author's Note: I overestimated myself; I thought I could finish the story.
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