Zhou Xinghai, a staff member of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Because Dong Shishi was crying so pitifully, he felt sorry for her and returned the money that was due to her.
"Brother Zhou, thank you so much."
Wang Peng gave him a thumbs up, saying, "My junior is quite pitiful. Her family is poor, and her mother is sick."
"Don't mention it, I certainly wouldn't betray my conscience and steal the hard-earned money of the working class," Zhou Xinghai said with a smile.
Their conversation attracted their respective families, and Li Mingzhu greeted Zhou Xinghai with a smile.
"Brother, is that Santana downstairs yours?" Zhou Xinghai's wife, Fan Lina, asked with a smile.
"Sister-in-law, you are so observant."
Wang Peng also gave her a thumbs up, saying, "A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor, and a close neighbor is not as good as the one across the street. They're making dumplings at home, let's have a couple of drinks."
Li Mingzhu smiled and said, "Brother and sister-in-law, come and have a meal."
“My family also makes dumplings, come over to my house for a meal,” Fan Lina said hurriedly.
The two families exchanged a few more polite words and agreed to have a meal together another day before returning to their respective homes and closing their doors.
"Honey, what were you two talking about just now? You seemed so happy." Li Mingzhu asked.
Wang Peng then told her the story of how Dong Shishi gave him the wrong change and Zhou Xinghai returned it.
Finally, he added, "People always make mistakes for no reason. Let's just pretend we don't know and not put pressure on Dong Shishi."
"Oh my, I didn't realize my husband was such a tender-hearted man."
Li Mingzhu said with a smug look, "I have to remind Sister Shishi that she met a good person this time, but she might not be so lucky next time."
"There's no need for that," Wang Peng scratched his head. "Let's not talk about this. Listen to me."
At the Brothers Tobacco and Liquor Store, Dong Shishi returned to the store, her face streaked with tears.
Du Lei hurriedly went upstairs to get a washbasin. "Sister Shishi, don't be sad, wash your face first."
"Mmm." Dong Shishi washed her face and tidied her hair in front of the mirror.
"Sister Shishi, I'll cover the 52 yuan for you. It's terrible to make a mistake on the first day. I'm afraid Brother Peng will be unhappy."
Du Lei sighed softly, worried that Wang Peng might get upset and fire Dong Shishi again.
He had heard Li Mingzhu talk about Dong Shishi's family difficulties and felt sorry for the girl from the bottom of his heart.
A thought popped into Dong Shishi's mind—not to tell Du Lei the truth, but to embezzle the fifty-two yuan.
This is no small amount of money, and Du Lei and Wang Peng don't know that person anyway.
This thought, like a demon, instantly took over her reason. "Brother Lei, thank you."
"Don't mention it, it's only fifty-two yuan. Just pretend I'm the one who lost the money."
Du Lei said, "Peng and I have both been poor before, so we know how tough it is when you don't have money. But don't worry, things will definitely get better."
Dong Shishi's heart skipped a beat as she stared into her own eyes in the mirror.
"By the way, what do you want to eat? I'll go buy it."
Du Lei said, "Brother Peng said that we only have 15 yuan a day for living expenses, so we can eat as much as we want."
A bowl of braised noodles costs three yuan, while a serving of bean sprouts at school costs only three mao (0.3 yuan).
Dong Shishi kept staring at herself in the mirror, looking into her own eyes, her hands clenched into fists, and she pinched the flesh of her hands hard with her nails.
"I'll go buy some braised noodles, let's eat noodles." Du Lei went out to the braised noodle shop across the street.
He assumed Dong Shishi was still upset, since she had messed up her job on her first day and was bound to feel guilty.
Across from the tobacco and liquor store was a noodle shop, and Du Lei ordered two bowls of noodles.
The restaurant owner smiled and said, "Lei Zi, go back and wait. I'll bring it over to you in a bit."
"Okay." Du Lei tossed a cigarette to the boss.
He was a regular customer of the restaurant and had become good friends with the owner. He always got more mutton in his noodles than other customers.
Du Lei returned to the tobacco and alcohol shop and found Dong Shishi still standing in front of the mirror, lost in thought.
Not knowing how to advise her, I shook my head and sat outside the counter reading martial arts novels.
Before long, the owner brought over two large bowls of braised noodles.
"Stop spacing out. It's all over. It's just fifty-two yuan."
Du Lei placed the chopsticks in her hand and said, "I told you, I'll pay for it for you and I won't tell Brother Peng."
"Brother Lei, I'm sorry." Dong Shishi suddenly knelt down.
"What are you doing?" Du Lei was terrified and quickly pulled her up.
"Brother Lei, I'm sorry, I lied to you earlier. I found that person, and he has already refunded my money."
At this point, Dong Shishi covered her mouth and sobbed.
Du Lei was completely dumbfounded. He realized that he had almost become a sucker just now.
"Brother Lei, I'm sorry!" Dong Shishi took out some money and placed it on the counter.
"I've done terribly today. I'm sorry to you and to Brother Peng. I quit."
As soon as she finished speaking, Dong Shishi took off running out of the store.
"Holy crap, what the hell is going on?!" Du Lei quickly chased after them and locked the shop door with a U-lock.
Dong Shishi ran ahead, completely losing her composure.
Du Lei followed her slowly from behind, giving her time to vent; catching up now would be pointless.
And so, the two walked along the road, one after the other, as bicycles passed by them one after another.
After an unknown amount of time, Dong Shishi stopped under a large tree, reached out and grabbed the bark, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
Du Lei scratched his head, shut his mouth, and stood behind her.
After a long while, Dong Shishi stopped crying and continued to face the big tree.
"Shishi, come back with me, the noodles are all soggy."
Du Lei felt a pang of heartache; two bowls of braised noodles had been wasted just like that.
"You're so annoying!" Dong Shishi stomped on Du Lei's foot hard and strode back into the store.
Du Lei was bewildered. What's wrong with him? Why is he stepping on my foot?
The two returned to the shop one after the other, and sure enough, the braised noodles were ruined; they had no choice but to eat them awkwardly.
After finishing his braised noodles, Du Lei went upstairs to wash the dishes and then returned the bowls to the noodle shop.
"Xiao Lei, is the girl in the shop your girlfriend? She's quite pretty," the shop owner said.
"Don't misunderstand, she's my sister-in-law's classmate, and this is the first time I've met her," Du Lei hurriedly explained.
"I just saw her running away crying. Did you bully her?" The boss grinned slyly.
"Bullshit, he's the one who bullied me." Du Lei sneered, "She caused trouble and made herself cry, and when I kindly helped her, she actually stepped on my foot."
"Goodness," the boss muttered, "Since she's a college student, you should marry her. It'll be a good look to take her out in public."
Du Lei was too lazy to waste words with him, so he took out six yuan and gave it to him before turning back to the tobacco and liquor store.
At this moment, the Santana stopped by the roadside, and Wang Peng got out of the car carrying a lunchbox.
"Sister Shishi, Brother Lei, I brought you dumplings."
Wang Peng placed the lunchbox on the counter and asked Du Lei to go upstairs to get a bowl.
"Brother Peng, I did two stupid things today."
Dong Shishi's emotions had stabilized. "First, I gave someone the wrong change and almost lost fifty-two yuan. Luckily, the person returned the money to me."
"Huh? There's a second one?" Wang Peng scratched his head; he already knew about this one.
"Secondly, I almost became greedy and did something I would regret for the rest of my life."
Dong Shishi recounted her entanglement with Du Lei and said, "Brother Peng, I'm sorry, I'm not working here anymore."
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