Chapter 22 You're dating while you're out?
In the early morning, what truly woke Zhu Liushuang wasn't the alarm clock, but rather that ambiguous message He Ming had sent the night before—a cryptic "?".
In the bathroom, she bit her toothbrush, at a loss, wondering how to reply in a way that wouldn't make her feel too awkward.
"Bang, bang, bang," Gu Chunling urged in a low voice from outside the door, "Xiaoshuang, it's been more than ten minutes, haven't you finished washing up yet? Mom's stomach hurts, I need to go to the toilet..."
Startled by the knocking, Zhu Liushuang hastily pulled off her toothbrush, accidentally biting her tongue. "Hiss—" The taste of blood spread across her tongue, mixed with the minty toothpaste foam, stinging her tongue with a burning pain.
“I’m coming out now—” she replied with a lisp, hurriedly rinsing her mouth and opening the door for her mother.
He ran headlong into Gu Chunling's deathly pale face.
"Did you eat something bad?" Zhu Liushuang helped her mother up with concern. "You ate very bland food last night..."
Gu Chunling clutched her stomach and went into the bathroom, waving her daughter out. Lately, she'd been having stomach problems; every time she took methotrexate, she'd have diarrhea and vomit the next day.
But she didn't dare to make a fuss, and instead lied and said that she had eaten expired cookies, which caused her stomach upset.
"Mom, how many times have I told you? You have to be careful about what you eat. Expired or leftover food is bad for your health!" Zhu Liushuang shouted angrily into the room.
Gu Chunling refused to tell the truth, so others naturally didn't know the inside story. If Zhu Liushuang had known that her mother was in so much pain because of the medication, she would have taken her mother to the hospital immediately to find a doctor to change the treatment plan.
"Okay, okay... I won't eat it next time." Gu Chunling replied hastily, then reluctantly changed the subject, "I've served you some porridge and put it on the table. Remember to bring your sun-protective clothing after you finish eating, the sun is very strong outside, it's hanging by the door."
Knowing that her mother didn't want to continue the previous topic, Zhu Liushuang simply went along with her wishes, hummed in agreement, and silently walked to the dining table to sit down. She picked up a bowl of rice porridge and began to drink it down in silence.
This time she ate extremely quickly, finishing a bowl of thin porridge in just a few mouthfuls. With time to spare before work, she opened the cabinet, took out a bottle of berberine from the medicine box, and placed it on the dining table.
After leaving the house, she sent her mother a message as if she was still worried: "If you still have diarrhea, remember to take the pills on the table; they're for bacterial infections."
After sending the message, Zhu Liushuang suddenly had a breakthrough and thought of how to reply to He Ming. So she typed as she walked down the stairs, a hint of pleasure on her face.
[Sorry, senior, I accidentally clicked on your profile picture last night. I apologize for bothering you. Actually, I wanted to ask if you could send me a copy of the lecture slides? My notes from the daytime weren't complete, and I'd like to review them when I have some free time.]
"If you keep playing on your phone, you're going to fall!" The man's stern voice suddenly rang out in the hallway.
Zhu Liushuang was walking along the stair railing when she was startled by the sudden reminder and almost twisted her ankle.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly, firmly gripping the railing with her free hand. She even managed to spare half her attention to avoid the large hand reaching out to help her.
"Lu Feng! You scared me to death..." Zhu Liushuang glared at him with displeasure.
Lu Feng and she came face to face. He was wearing a pure white sports vest, revealing his muscular physique, and he stood opposite her, smiling and looking at her with a warm glow.
"I'm just trying to be helpful... it'll be too late if you actually fall." The young man exuded a damp, sticky smell of sweat after exercising. Zhu Liushuang, with her keen sense of smell, instinctively turned aside to avoid him.
Lu Feng felt a burning pain from Zhu Liushuang's subconscious action. He clenched his fists at his sides, but then smiled as if nothing had happened and said, "Staring at your phone with a lovestruck expression, are you in love?"
Zhu Liushuang pretended not to understand the half-joking probing and replied hastily, "No way, do you have vision problems... I'm busy making money! A customer in the group just urged me to set up my stall this weekend."
She wasn't entirely lying; the girl named "Gu Gu" had indeed urged her to set up her stall early in the group chat that morning. The little girl was on summer vacation and was really craving food.
"Oh... then be careful on your way to work." Lu Feng said sullenly, "I just ran around the neighborhood a few times, and I'm all sweaty and uncomfortable. I'm going home to take a shower."
Zhu Liushuang waved goodbye to him symbolically, then ran downstairs without looking back.
Even a slight glance back would have revealed that Lü Feng wasn't in a hurry to go upstairs. He stood on the steps, his gaze lingering on her retreating figure as she disappeared at the top of the stairs.
Of course, at this moment, Zhu Liushuang was only focused on checking her WeChat contact list to see if He Ming had replied to her, and she didn't care about anything else.
The phone vibrated twice; a new message had arrived.
Sorry, the PPT is on my computer. I'll send it to you when I get to the office. Actually, what I talked about yesterday is related to the following two documents; you can take a look when you have time.
The tone was distinctly businesslike. Then, Zhu Liushuang received two documents forwarded to her by He Ming.
[Interpretation of High-Tech Enterprise Application Policies] [Interpretation of the New Accounting Law Policy]
He answered her questions seriously.
Zhu Liushuang couldn't think of a reason to continue chatting with He Ming. So she quickly replied with a "well-behaved and studious" emoji.
————
After the rainy season, Gucheng enjoyed several sunny days in a row, with the temperature rising day by day.
The weekend was sunny and bright, and Zhu Liushuang set up her stall early. When her white tricycle arrived at the night market, her reserved stall had been forcibly taken over.
A barbecue grill was set up in the open space, the charcoal fire was burning brightly, and a middle-aged man with a burly face was leisurely standing and grilling lamb skewers while fanning himself with a large palm leaf fan.
Since the tricycle couldn't get in, Zhu Liushuang simply parked it right in front of the stall.
The middle-aged man, humming a tune, sensed something was wrong. He looked up, and the moment he saw the tricycle, his expression changed instantly: "Hey, young lady, why are you blocking my business! Drive away right now..."
Zhu Liushuang looked down and pulled out her reservation record, then held up her phone and said loudly, "Uncle, the spot where you're setting up your stall is mine. I made a reservation on the app three days ago, so please move aside."
In all matters, courtesy should come first. Zhu Liushuang explained the street vendor policy to the man in a kind and gentle manner, and even kindly reminded him: "You can download this convenient APP. If you want to set up a stall in the future, you can apply for a stall in advance. It's very convenient."
"What reservations? It's first come, first served, don't you understand? I was here first, so this place is mine today!" But after I explained for so long, the other person didn't listen at all and kept emphasizing "first come, first served," making it all too clear that they were being unreasonable.
Zhu Liushuang looked around but couldn't find any familiar stall owners. But she wasn't flustered and deliberately raised her voice: "Uncle, you're joking. All the stall owners on this street made appointments in advance through an app. You can ask them if you don't believe me."
As she spoke, she pointed to several stall owners on both sides of the barbecue stand, trying to get their support.
Two kind-hearted stall owners, having watched the commotion unfold, advised, "These are legitimate stalls, part of a public works project. It's first-come, first-served, and that young lady made a reservation long ago, so she got there first. You're being unreasonable..."
"It's not right for grown men to take advantage of their age to bully a young girl!"
The middle-aged man snorted, his temper flaring, and retorted unreasonably, "What kind of lousy public works project is this? I'll set it up right here today, so what?"
It seemed that reasoning with her wouldn't work. Zhu Liushuang knew that if a girl was too weak when making a living alone, she would definitely be bullied. So she got off the tricycle, walked up to the barbecue stall, and said defiantly, "Uncle, if you insist on taking this place, then I'll have to call the police."
Most people would feel some apprehension upon hearing the words "call the police." But the middle-aged man in front of him grew increasingly arrogant, saying, "Go ahead and call! I have a criminal record, I'm not afraid of you calling the police or going to the city management..."
Since she started her stall last year, this was the first time Zhu Liushuang had encountered something like this. Looking at the man's arrogant and ferocious face, she was unsure how things would unfold.
Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, the pain keeping her alert. Zhu Liushuang knew she couldn't let the man intimidate her; she had to remain calm. Preserve evidence, yes! She had to record this man's shameless behavior; it would be more convincing in front of the police.
Zhu Liushuang pretended to be nonchalant, took out her phone, secretly turned on the video recording button, and continued arguing with the middle-aged man in front of the barbecue grill.
After exchanging only a few words, the other person suddenly became alert and asked, "What are you doing with your phone? Don't record me, or I'll beat you up! Don't you know about violating portrait rights?"
Now she knows about portrait rights, she's not ignorant of the law! Zhu Liushuang quickly put her phone away and hid it in her pocket, not to be outdone, she said, "Hitting someone is illegal." As soon as she finished speaking, she took a few steps back and hid in the next stall, and took out her phone again to dial the police.
"Hello, there are people occupying our stalls and causing trouble. Please come and handle this. The address is..."
The middle-aged man thought she was putting on an act and sneered, "Trying to scare me, huh? I'm not afraid at all."
Looking at the tall but brainless man in front of her, Zhu Liushuang couldn't help but sneer: "Just you wait!"
Unwilling to continue arguing with such a scoundrel, she got into her tricycle, drove straight to a parking space at the end of the street, and patiently waited for the police to arrive.
The police station was located several blocks away, and their response was very swift. Zhu Liushuang handed over the video she had recorded on her phone, along with her appointment record, to the officers for review. She was in the right, and the police would naturally handle the rest.
Soon, the unreasonable middle-aged man was "invited" away by the police. Zhu Liushuang drove her tricycle to the stall and got to work with satisfaction.
After the farce, business at their stall had slowed considerably. A nosy older woman nearby, displeased, remarked sarcastically, "Young lady, you've got guts, calling the police so quickly. You've scared away all the passersby..."
Zhu Liushuang endured the other person's disdainful look and said in a low voice, "In a society governed by law, one should naturally seek help from the police when encountering difficulties. The customer flow will be larger after dinner. Auntie, you are very generous. Here are some iced glutinous rice balls from my family. Please have a bowl to try."
As the saying goes, "harmony brings wealth," and since the male owner of the stall next door had spoken up for her during the argument, she naturally wanted to maintain a good relationship with them. Zhu Liushuang served two bowls of chilled glutinous rice balls and handed one to each of them.
Since they had accepted the food, the two stall owners felt awkward about saying anything more. They could only subtly remind her that if the person had a criminal record, she should be careful of retaliation later.
Zhu Liushuang thanked them verbally, but she didn't take their advice seriously. She thought simply that the other person would be more restrained after being educated by the police and would set up their stall in a different location.
The summer night was still and windless, filled with the sounds of vendors hawking their wares. The food street was getting more and more crowded.
Cold drinks and snacks are essential for summer nights, and Zhu Liushuang's stall is doing brisk business. When people get busy, they tend to neglect other things.
For example, while she was busy packing iced glutinous rice balls for customers, a figure sneaked past, quickly disappeared into the crowd, and then hid in a corner a moment later.
"Sister Xiaoshuang, I'm here! Today I want green grape flavored tiramisu, and two servings of iced glutinous rice balls..." A familiar girl's voice, sweet and clear.
Zhu Liushuang looked up at "Gu Gu" and smiled: "How long have you been waiting? Have you been bitten by mosquitoes? Next time, just message me to make a reservation, then you won't have to wait in line."
Gu Xuting shook her head: "Anyway, I'm not in a hurry. The longer the line, the better your business seems! Besides... I brought a free errand runner today to help me queue." As she spoke, she pulled Gu Xufeng out from behind her.
“This is my brother, my own brother! Sister Xiaoshuang, weren’t you asking me about the firm last time? I’ve brought him to you today…” Gu Xuting leaned closer to the freezer and said earnestly.
"Hello, I'm Gu Xufeng. We meet again... Your fruit tea is delicious." Gu Xufeng looked at Zhu Liushuang's beautiful face and, unusually, showed a hint of shyness.
Zhu Liushuang remembered him, the man who took all her remaining fruit tea and had his arm around He Ming's shoulder.
"Hello, thank you for last time." She smiled sweetly, "Then let me give you another bottle of fruit tea today."
Gu Xufeng sluggishly accepted the fruit tea. If his sister hadn't pulled him out of the line in time, he might have stood there for much longer.
"Are you smitten with Sister Xiaoshuang? She's still single, so hurry up and pursue her... Oh, right, Sister Xiaoshuang was asking me about working at the firm last time, what an opportunity!" Gu Xuting whispered in her brother's ear.
Before the "strategist" could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a phone call. Gu Xufeng gave his sister a warning look, telling her not to talk nonsense, and then answered the phone himself.
"Hey, what do you want? Need to work overtime?" He rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're a workaholic, fine, but why won't you let me rest? It's the weekend!"
"Who is it?" Gu Xuting opened her mouth, then asked silently, "Is it Brother He Ming?"
Gu Xufeng ignored her and continued making the call: "Okay... but I don't have a car. I'm on the food street right now. Why don't you come pick me up? Yes... the food street we came to last time."
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A note from the author: Life is not easy when you're away from home.
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