Chapter 10 Sophomore Year
Nan Jiu sat at the counter that morning, waiting for Song Ting to come to her desk to make tea in the afternoon. She had successfully taken the tea, breaking his plan and showing off. However, Song Ting never called her over to make tea for her again throughout the day.
As evening approached, Old Man Nan asked Nan Jiu to go to the alley outside and buy two braised dishes. As Nan Jiu walked back with the dishes, an Audi slowly pulled up at the entrance of the alley. Liu Yin, wearing high heels, got out of the car with a man. The man, wearing a polo shirt, was about the same height as Liu Yin and slightly overweight.
Nanjiu stopped and looked towards them. Liu Yin also noticed Nanjiu. She paused for a moment, handed the fruit in her hand to the man, and said to him, "You go back to your mother's house first. I met an old friend and wanted to chat for a while."
Nanjiu stood at the entrance of the alley, tall and slender, with long flowing hair. The man looked Nanjiu over, a smile plastered on his face. Nanjiu nodded at him, then turned his gaze back to Liu Yin.
Liu Yin walked up to him, looked at the man who kept looking back, and said to Nan Jiu, "My husband."
"You're married?" Nan Jiu was a little surprised. Besides being surprised that she was already married, he was even more surprised that Liu Yin's husband was nothing like the type she had originally liked.
Back when they'd been huddled together watching idol dramas, Liu Yin's crushes were always on the likes of Eddie Peng or Jerry Yan—tall, muscular, and masculine. She'd fallen for Song Ting, which Nan Jiu thought was understandable, considering Song Ting fell into that category. But Liu Yin ended up with a husband who was completely different from her ideal type.
"We got married last year and had the wedding reception at my husband's house. Here we just had a meal with our family."
Thinking her husband might have some extraordinary qualities, Nan Jiu didn't say much, but politely replied, "Very good, congratulations!" Then she asked, "Are you still working at the mall in Old Street?"
"No, my husband works in engineering and earns more than me. He asked me to quit my job before we got married." Liu Yin raised her hand and touched Nan Jiu's hair, which was blown by the wind. "Your hair has grown longer, and it's still beautiful. Did you have a love relationship in college?"
"Too popular to talk about."
Liu Yin smiled. Nan Jiu was still as carefree and relaxed as ever. She always envied that energy in her. She couldn't be like Nan Jiu, so she was always hesitant.
Liu Yin lowered her eyelashes, and the smile on her lips faded. "I looked for Song Ting before I got married. I had a lot of things to say before I went to see him, but when I actually stood in front of him, my tongue was tied. Before I could say what was really in my heart, he took out a red envelope and blocked my words back." When Liu Yin raised her eyes again, the light in her pupils trembled slightly. "Actually, I didn't have any other intentions at the time. I just wanted to ask him how he felt about me. Even if it wasn't the answer I wanted, I could give up."
......
When Nan Jiu returned to the teahouse, the dishes were already on the table, waiting for her. Old Man Nan sat at the table and asked her, "Why does it take so long to buy a braised dish?"
Nan Jiu poured the braised food into the empty plate and replied, "I ran into Liu Yin and chatted for a while."
She raised her eyes and looked at Song Ting. Song Ting's expression was calm and he stood up to serve the rice.
Nan Jiu sat beside his grandfather and distributed chopsticks: "In fact, if Song Ting had just spoken up, things could have been turned around."
"After what happened to his family, everyone in the alley said his father reaped what he sowed, saying that Song Ting's bright future was ruined. But you see, the people in the alley sympathize with him, but when it comes to his family, everyone wants to stay away. Do you think he doesn't know what's going on?"
Therefore, Song Ting would not have much contact with Liu Yin at all, nor would he embarrass the Liu family elders. Since his family was inescapable of conflict, he simply cut off the source of the conflict, which also cut off his own life, trapping his days in this old teahouse like an isolated island.
They stopped talking when Song Ting came back from the kitchen with three bowls of rice.
I don't know if it's just a psychological effect, but after applying that old folk remedy last night, Nanjiu felt much better today. After dinner, she offered to wash the dishes, humming a little tune as she went to the kitchen.
That evening, Nan Jiu came downstairs after taking a shower. Old Man Nan chatted with her about family matters. Nan Zhendong was a man who only reported good news and not bad news. He always felt that he was the eldest in the family. Even if life was not going well, he would not complain to his younger siblings, let alone his father. Old Man Nan only knew about his son's situation through Nan Jiu.
As they spoke, Nan Jiu kept scratching her legs. Song Ting, who was checking the tea set nearby, looked over. Nan Jiu's fair, smooth calves were covered in several red and swollen mosquito bites.
Old Man Nan stood up and brought a bottle of floral water over and handed it to Nan Jiu. Nan Jiu disliked the strong smell and refused to apply it.
Nanjiu spent two days in the teahouse and had a basic understanding of how it made money. In addition to the income from customers drinking tea, another part came from selling tea leaves.
On the right hand side of the teahouse entrance is a whole wall of tea cabinets filled with various teas. When someone comes to buy tea, it is usually Song Ting or Mr. Nan who receives them.
Knowing and brewing tea wasn't something you could rush, and following Aunt Wu around serving tea and water wasn't something that required much skill. Since he was working for Old Man Nan, Nan Jiu wasn't going to take the money for nothing.
The next evening, Nanjiu spoke with Old Man Nan. She mentioned how consumers are now accustomed to searching for popular stores online. Maoer Teahouse used to rely on word of mouth to build its reputation, but now that we're in the information age, traditional teahouses must adapt. She suggested that teahouses join the platform, register an account, and even create their own independent IP.
Nanjiu's talk was full of nonsense, but the old man was completely confused. He didn't understand what the English words Nanjiu was talking about, so he asked Nanjiu to consult Song Ting.
Nan Jiu looked around but didn't see Song Ting. Old Man Nan said he was out and would be back soon. Nan Jiu was impatient and couldn't wait for things she had decided on. It had started raining outside about ten minutes earlier, so she simply grabbed a black umbrella and headed for the alley entrance.
At the entrance to the alley stood a crooked tree, its crown fused with the streetlight over the years. A dim light nestled among its branches, its radiance filtering through the mottled leaves.
Song Ting had walked this road countless times. When his mother was still alive, she would always wait for him under the crooked tree with an umbrella on rainy days. After his mother passed away, this road no longer had a destination, but he still had the habit of glancing at the street corner on his way back.
Song Ting saw a slender figure beneath a black umbrella. The wind blew Nan Jiu's platinum hair, making the red hairpin stand out.
"Waiting for me?" Through the drizzling rain curtain, his eyes were solemn and deep.
Nanjiu raised his eyes and looked at him: "What else? Where have you been? I've been waiting for a long time."
She took a few steps forward and held the umbrella over his head. "I have something to discuss with you. I just told my grandfather about it, but he didn't understand..."
Song Ting was much taller than her, and she had to raise her arms with great effort to frame him under the umbrella. Song Ting glanced down and took the umbrella handle. Raindrops hit the umbrella and formed a rain curtain along the edge of the umbrella.
On the way back, Nan Jiu repeated what she had just said to the old man to Song Ting. Communicating with Song Ting was much easier than with Old Man Nan. Nan Jiu didn't need to explain to him what IP was or how online platforms worked. She just needed to give him the general plan.
Song Ting just listened, without commenting. Nan Jiu, on the other hand, grew increasingly excited as she spoke, the fabric unconsciously rubbing against each other, her footsteps rhythmically overlapping. In her excitement, Nan Jiu's elbow bumped into Song Ting's. There were still drops of water on his arm, and as her skin brushed against it, the delicate, damp touch imprinted on his skin, which, blew by the wind, stirred up a subtle chill. The wind died down, but the chill didn't dissipate. Instead, it clung to him like a vine in the darkness. Song Ting's arms tensed slightly, his eyelashes drooped, and he half-stepped out of the umbrella.
Unconsciously, they reached the door of the teahouse. Nan Jiu craned his neck and asked him, "Do you think it's okay?"
The street light shone on her delicate neck, and the smooth curve looked like a poppy blooming in a dark alley.
Song Ting turned away from his sight, folded his umbrella, shook off the water on it, and hung it at the door: "If you want to do it, go ahead and try it."
"Can I get a share of the revenue from customers I attract online?"
Song Ting turned around, a hint of interest in his eyes: "Is this what you've been working so hard for?"
Nanjiu has never been interested in running a teahouse, and she has even less patience for brewing and tasting tea. She won't make unnecessary sacrifices, whether for people or for the teahouse.
She didn't hide or evade the truth, and admitted frankly: "I'm short of money!"
Song Ting stepped into the tea room: "You can do it first, then we can talk."
Nan Jiu leaned against the carved wooden door, his voice as light as the night wind, drifting through the door: "Half of your clothes are wet."
Song Ting hesitated and went straight upstairs without stopping.
Nanjiu curled the corners of his mouth slightly and turned around to lock the door.
......
Nanjiu really changed his lazy attitude of the past few days. He got up before dawn, set up a mobile phone holder, placed it at the door of the teahouse, facing the sign of "Maoer Teahouse", and took pictures for several hours without knowing what he was taking pictures.
Aunt Wu was really curious. She leaned in front of the phone screen, looked left and right, and couldn't help asking her, "Xiao Jiu, I saw you were taking pictures all the time, but you only took four words in. Why don't you take a picture from a different angle?"
Nanjiu sat calmly on a bamboo chair, holding a pink electric fan, and replied to her: "No rush, we haven't finished filming yet."
Seeing her nagging, Old Man Nan guessed that she was probably just being lazy and looking for trouble. He asked Aunt Wu to call her back to work, but Song Ting stopped her, saying, "The store isn't busy today, so let her tinker with it."
At noon, when the sun was at its hottest, Nanjiu went into the teahouse to rest for a while. Before dusk, he brought a small stool and ran to knock on the door. Now even Aunt Wu was sure that Nanjiu was slacking off.
The next day, Nan Jiu stopped taking pictures of the storefronts. She asked Liu Yin to get her a more professional device and spent the entire day wandering around the teahouse, taking pictures here and there, which gave Old Man Nan a headache.
On the third day, she simply went out with her photography equipment and returned after dark.
A familiar tea drinker teased Mr. Nan, "Where's your granddaughter? Didn't she say she'd come back to the teahouse to help you?"
Old Man Nan hummed in his throat: "I might as well hope for the sun to rise from the west as to hope for her to help."
A few days later, Nan Jiu became quiet and stayed in her room all day without going out. Old Man Nan started to nag her about not doing her job properly.
Finally, she stopped fiddling and returned to collecting bills at the counter, her chin propped up. She didn't explain what she'd been up to the past few days, and Old Man Nan didn't bother to ask. His attention was quickly drawn to something else.
Nanjiu's uncle heard from somewhere that Nanjiu had returned to the teahouse to work, so he called Nan Zhenyong and said he would send his son over as well. Nan Zhenyong wanted to find an excuse to brush it off, but Nan Zhenyong said on the phone that a friend was driving back to his hometown and promised to take his son back with him the next day.
The next afternoon, Grandpa Nan's beloved grandson arrived at Mao'er Lane. Nan Qiaoyu and Nan Jiu were the same age, and they had been at odds since childhood. Because Nan Qiaoyu was only two months older, Nan Jiu had never called him "brother," always addressing him by his first name.
As soon as he stepped into the teahouse, Nan Qiaoyu's outfit looked like an idol visiting. He wore large sunglasses, a fashionable branded outfit, a chain hanging from his chest, and was pushing a large black suitcase.
Nan Jiu, sitting at the counter, glanced at him. Nan Qiaoyu lowered his sunglasses, glanced at Nan Jiu, and said sarcastically, "Isn't this my cousin who has artistic talent? Why is she doing rough labor here?"
Nanjiu lowered his eyelids: "Cut~Wen, get out."
One unruly kid was enough to give Old Man Nan a headache, and now here came two funny guys who were on edge the moment they met. Furious, Old Man Nan picked up his cane and lectured Nan Qiaoyu: "You're already mocking your sister right away, and you didn't even say hello to me."
Nan Jiu raised his eyes with a gloating look. Old Man Nan turned around immediately and said, "And you, how do you talk to your brother like that? Go out and buy some braised dishes."
Nan Jiu reluctantly stood up and asked before leaving: "Who among you is eating the duck head?"
Song Ting never ate it, and Old Man Nan didn't have time to chew on it. Nan Jiu looked at Nan Qiaoyu and said disdainfully, "Can't you buy some meaty parts?"
Nanjiu withdrew his gaze and turned to leave. The roast duck heads at that braised food shop in Maoer Lane were a specialty, with crispy and fragrant skin and flavorful, chewy meat. However, the daily supply of duck heads was limited, so if you went too late, you wouldn't be able to buy any.
Nanjiu bought two duck heads, which the owner split in half, breaking them into four pieces. She carried them back to the teahouse along with the other braised dishes.
Old Nan was invited to Old Qin's house. Old Qin's condition had worsened, and Old Qin's son had taken him there to keep his father company. He wasn't home for dinner. Aunt Wu finished cooking and went back. After Song Ting closed the teahouse, he went back to the attic to get something.
Before dinner, Nanjiu received a call from a club member, discussing recruitment after the start of the semester. When she hung up and returned to the table, only the head of the four-petal duck head remained, her beloved duck brain completely gone.
Nan Jiu glared at Nan Qiaoyu who was sitting across from him: "Are you sick? I just asked you if you wanted to eat it, and you said no. Where's the duck brain?"
Nan Qiaoyu said nonchalantly, "I don't eat duck heads, but I didn't say I don't eat duck brains." He then added sarcastically, "Oh, by the way, I've already said that."
Nan Jiu slammed his chopsticks on the table. Song Ting heard the noise and came down from upstairs. Nan Jiu flipped the roast duck over and said, "Okay, then don't eat it."
Nan Qiaoyu suddenly jumped up from his chair and pointed at Nan Jiu: "Don't be so rude to me. Don't think I won't beat you up."
He raised his fist as if to say this. Song Ting opened his hand and asked, "What are you doing?"
Nan Qiaoyu had never dealt with Song Ting before, but he was intimidated by his height and aura. He took two steps back, picked up his phone, and walked out the door: "I'll go have a big meal by myself, you can go hungry."
The roast duck sauce spilled all over the table, and Song Ting bent down to clean up the mess for them. Nan Jiu was so angry that her face turned blue. Song Ting glanced at her, trying to smile: "You two had a quarrel and ruined my dinner."
"He started the trouble first." Nan Jiu frowned and brought over a rag.
Song Ting took the rag and wiped the table clean. After washing his hands, he came out of the kitchen and looked at her: "What do you want to eat?"
"Duck head." She knew that duck head was no longer available in the stewed food store, but she was unwilling to miss out on eating it, so she said it out of anger.
"Let's go." Song Ting called out and walked out of the teahouse.
Nan Jiu looked at him in confusion. Song Ting walked to the door and turned back: "Don't you want to eat duck heads? Let's go."
Nanjiu reacted and followed.
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This chapter drops a random red envelope
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