Chapter 7 Seven-Tube Star Sleep, Jealous of the Wrong Person
Feed the dog, feed the dog, feed the dog...
He couldn't help but chuckle, a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Shang Qi: !
"This is so unusual, could it be that your dad and your stepmother have divorced?"
The boy closed his eyes: "Get lost."
"Then what makes you happy?"
He paused for a moment, then continued chewing his bagel without saying a word.
What's making you happy?
I could only answer him in my heart.
.
Throughout the afternoon, customers were constantly coming and going in the supermarket. This self-service payment machine really helped Ms. Xu a lot, making her already not-so-busy work even more relaxed.
At noon, I asked Aunt Wang from the stationery store next door to watch the store for a while. She quickly went home and changed her clothes. She was still wearing a loose and comfortable summer outfit, a short-sleeved shirt and shorts with cherry blossom floral patterns, and her hair was tied up in a high bun. She looked much more refreshed.
Worried that Aunt Wang's shop would be too busy, and in order to save time, Ayu quickly washed up and packed all her skincare and makeup products to bring to the shop. She took out her little cloud-shaped desktop mirror from the drawer and began to patiently and carefully do her skincare routine, followed by applying makeup.
Except for the first two days after returning to Mushui City when she insisted on wearing makeup every day while working at the shop, she only sat down at the table to do her makeup properly when friends came over or when she was in a good mood. Although she has been staying up late a lot lately, she gets enough sleep and doesn't wear makeup every day. Nourished by the climate of her hometown, Ayu's skin is even whiter and more delicate.
Looking at her relaxed and satisfied skin in the mirror, she applied a light orange blush, feeling involuntarily refreshed.
After a leisurely hour, the girl in the mirror, who was originally pure and listless, was transformed. She had smooth eyebrows, delicate double eyelids, crystal clear lip gloss, and vibrant orange apple cheeks. She smiled at the mirror and seemed to see birds flying and grass growing in the mirror.
She made a promise to her reflection in the mirror that she would be satisfied with it every day.
You will always be mine
You will always be mine
You will always be mine
"You will always be mine"①
The WeChat notification rang. Looking at the caller's name, Ayu thought to herself, "This person really knows how to time things. He called right after I finished my makeup."
When she answered the phone, she mumbled a few "uh-huhs" and "yeahs," basically saying that Li Jiajing said the two of them were leaving home soon and would arrive at their daily shop in about twenty minutes, just to let her know in advance.
"Come on over, I've already prepared afternoon tea for you two... What are we having for dinner? We'll talk about it later. You probably won't be hungry too soon after afternoon tea. I need to wait until he's come over and has dinner before I can close the shop and leave."
The person on the other end of the phone felt a jolt of fear: "Him? Who is he?"
Li Jiajing's question stumped Xu Zhiyu, because she suddenly realized that, even now, she still didn't know the name of the boy she saw every day. She tilted her head and casually explained:
"It's a kid who often comes to the shop. His parents have passed away, and I promised to treat him to a meal or something. But it's no big deal. He usually comes around six o'clock in the evening. After he's eaten, the three of us can go out for a nice meal."
"Oh, oh." When Li Jiajing heard that it was a child, she didn't take it to heart. She picked up the perfume on the table and sprayed it on her wrist. She checked her clothes and hairstyle in the mirror. "It's okay, we're not in a hurry. We have plenty of time. Zhang Zhi and I are going out. Zhizhi, you can hang up now."
"Okay, come quick, come quick."
After hanging up the phone, Mr. Xu excitedly ran upstairs to the second floor, put on his bear apron, and began to prepare some of his signature afternoon tea snacks.
In the short twenty minutes it took to prepare the tea and snacks, supermarket customers came and went. Seeing the owner busy on the second floor, they all lined up in front of the self-service payment machine. Occasionally, someone would come in to ask where the nearest restroom was, or ask about items they couldn't find.
Twenty minutes later.
Two tall, handsome men appeared at the entrance of the supermarket.
Passersby and neighbors who knew Mr. Xu stared at the two unfamiliar men with curious eyes.
One of them held a bunch of yellow daisies, wearing a dark gray long-sleeved shirt, distressed loose jeans, and trendy sneakers. The other was different; tall and thin, wearing thick, transparent-framed plastic glasses, with shoulder-length hair in a half-up bun. He wore a tight black top and leather vest, ripped wide-leg trousers, and carried two bags of fruit, exuding an artistic vibe.
"Zhizhi, we're here."
Li Jiajing was naturally familiar with the place, and the two of them followed the directions set by Zhizhifa.
Hearing the call from downstairs, Xu Zhiyu's white sneakers made a rapid, muffled sound on the wooden Harajuku stairs.
"Wow, Mr. Li is so thoughtful, he even brought flowers!"
Standing on the stairs, she watched the two people who turned their heads and walked around the wind chimes into the store, her face beaming with energy.
"I didn't know what kind of fruit you liked, so I bought some cherries and Shine Muscat grapes."
Zhang Zhi placed the two bags he was carrying on Xu Zhiyu's checkout counter and looked around at the comfortable little supermarket. He noticed that the large yellow light on the ceiling had a bamboo shade, and many small lights of different shapes hung in different layers. For example, there were two moons above the checkout counter, a row of stars in the refrigerated section, and butterflies and flowers in the middle of the shelves.
Wooden flooring, green shelving.
The second floor has tall potted plants, the walls are covered with colorful sticky notes, and artificial vines are wrapped around the second-floor railing.
"My goodness, you two are too kind. Don't bother buying fruit," Xu Zhiyu said, inviting the two fashionable young men to sit on the second floor.
"Next time you buy something, remember to buy some grapes."
She joked shamelessly.
Upon hearing this, Li Jiajing smiled sheepishly and said, "It's my fault, I forgot you love grapes."
After saying that, he handed the daisies to Ayu. Ayu happily accepted the cute daisies and planned to find a vase to put them in later.
Zhang Zhi was so captivated by the exquisite little shop that he couldn't take his eyes off it. He exclaimed, "Boss Xu's amazing aesthetic talent is something even I, an art student, am ashamed of! Seriously, Li Jiajing, the decoration of his shop is more sophisticated than yours."
"Hey, don't flatter me like that. How can we amateurs compare to a professional like Boss Li?"
“No, no, I personally think your store is better designed than his.” Zhang Zhi pushed up his glasses and sat down with Li Jiajing at a small round table by the window on the second floor.
Li Jiajing smiled as he looked at Zhizhi, who was being served food from the bar: "Yes, I think so too."
Boss Xu was overjoyed by the praise, her smile never closing. She felt as if she were on cloud nine, and if these two praised her a few more times, she would fly away!
She sat down on the dusty rose sofa against the wall, holding a latte in her hand. Her legs were fair and shapely, and she had taken off her shoe and crossed one leg. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should be more mindful with customers around, but she quickly convinced herself that it was her own shop and her own home. It was just crossing her legs; she should do whatever made her comfortable.
The man across from me, Mr. Li, had been pounding his heart ever since he entered the store and saw Xu Zhiyu. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her wear makeup, but every time she looked stunning. Especially when Zhiyu wore this pink and tender outfit, she looked as small and delicate as a peach.
The three were chatting happily inside, unaware that a commotion had already broken out outside the supermarket.
A figure would walk past the door every now and then, only to return again after a while.
Across the street, Mint watched as Aunt Wang walked back and forth in front of A Yu's door, pretending to be nonchalant. She and Xiao Meng from the cake shop chatted for a while, then covered their mouths and laughed excitedly, then covered their mouths and chattered away.
After Aunt Wang finished her investigation, she waved to the two of them, and Bohe and Ameng dashed into Aunt Wang's shop.
Mint: "Is that your boyfriend? The guy with the slightly brown hair, I saw him come here once before."
Aunt Wang: "It still doesn't seem quite right. If Ayu really was dating someone, wouldn't she tell us? These two boys are quite tall, and I like tall people... but... I don't really like the one with long hair. He's neither male nor female."
Xiaomeng: "Oh my, I'm really impressed by you two. The short-haired guy is the owner of the coffee shop in the alley next door. Ayu and I played cards with him before, and they didn't seem to have any romantic feelings for each other. I can't tell if Ayu is interested in him... But the other guy doesn't look like someone from Mushui City. His demeanor is definitely from a big city. Even though we might not appreciate his clothes, they're fashionable! Maybe Ms. Xu, with her innovative ideas, is into that kind of style!"
The other two, upon hearing Xiaomeng's analysis, found it very reasonable and nodded in sudden realization.
As they discussed this, no one noticed how quickly time had passed. By the time the three of them realized it, the junior high students from No. 1 Middle School had already finished class, so they hurried back to the shop to get busy.
In Huainan Alley, any new news spreads quickly. The discussion between the three at the entrance was overheard by a few young men with blond hair from the worst high school class who liked to skip class and stand guard at the school gate, imitating adults smoking. The young men found it interesting and sent a message to their friends group. One of their friends was Shang Qi, the "garbage guardian" of Class 3, Grade 11. Shang Qi was the best friend of the top student in Class 3, who was a cold and aloof fanatic who came to the supermarket every day.
The school bell had just rung when Shang Qi, with a gossipy tone, said to him, "Honey, don't you always buy that bread from Tiantian? Guess what happened to the supermarket owner?"
The phrase "come every day" is his key phrase, triggering an alarm in a second.
The nonchalant boy immediately frowned, his heart clenching: "What's wrong with her?"
"Hmph, I knew you were worried about her. Come here, give Daddy a kiss, and I'll tell you."
Shang Qi tilted half his face and pointed to his cheek in a pretentious and disgusting manner.
The boy sneered, smoothed the textbook in his hand, and without hesitation picked it up and "kissed" him.
A sharp gust of wind brushed past his face, startling the cheeky Shang Qi. Luckily, he dodged quickly! He chuckled mysteriously twice, having seen through his brother's little secret.
"Let me tell you, that beautiful Ms. Xu has a boyfriend. She's so fashionable. They're all gathered at the supermarket entrance right now, peeking at him. I heard the guy is still in the store. You should hurry over now; you might be able to see him."
A note from the author:
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①The song is 【angel】Yoon Mi-rae/tiger/bizzy
②This chapter has been expanded by 1,000 words.
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