Chapter 20 Sister Erwan, call me brother and I'll forgive you.
Why does this kid seem like he doesn't lack money?
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Chen Siqing sent a message saying that he was settling the bill at the front desk, and Ayu immediately went back to the private room to get the bouquet and left.
The two went downstairs together, the elevator doors opened, and they chatted and laughed as they naturally exited the building.
Sitting on the sofa in the lobby, Xingmian's gaze followed Xu Zhiyu from the elevator all the way to the door, and she didn't even glance anywhere else!
Couldn't she see him sitting here, a grown man like him?
Xu Zhiyu smoothed her long, soft hair and swept it all to one side, so that her neck would feel much cooler after leaving the air-conditioned room.
She had already booked a taxi on her phone, and the app showed that the driver was only about 100 meters away. She craned her neck and looked around.
Seeing her looking around, Xingmian assumed she was looking for him and immediately snapped out of her daze, hurriedly taking out her phone and pretending to be playing a game.
He stared at the black screen for a long time, but his sister didn't call him. When he looked up again, there was no sign of Boss Xu at the entrance of the teahouse hall, only a few waiters walking around.
A once burning, passionate heart suddenly turned cold.
He stared at a glass of cold water on the table, his eyes filled with mixed emotions and a sense of loneliness.
Sister, oh sister...
How could Xingmian be without you?
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The next morning, a Saturday, Mr. Xu slept in late. It was a stormy day outside, and he didn't get up until 10:30.
When she woke up, her mind was blank. She stared at her phone screen three or four times to make sure it was really 10:30!
The alarm clock also showed that it went off, but it wasn't turned off. It was probably because the rain was too loud that I didn't hear it.
"This is terrible!" She hurriedly rinsed her face under the tap. "Xingmian must be getting anxious. He has a tutoring class at 10:30 on weekend mornings. What are we going to do?"
With the heavy rain outside, she couldn't wear slippers outside; they'd get dirty and difficult to wash. She pulled out a pair of rain boots she hadn't worn in a long time from the shoe cabinet, tore off the dust cover, and her cute little yellow duck bucket boots were revealed. She slipped them on barefoot, grabbed her umbrella from the entryway, and sprinted away!
Because she ran so fast, the rain dripping from the back of the umbrella soaked the hem of her pajamas. When she reached the supermarket entrance, she bent over, panting with one hand on her knee. She looked around, but there was no one at the entrance.
Ah Yu laughed and patted her head, annoyed: "Look at me, I was so anxious I lost my mind. He should have gone to his tutoring class long ago if he couldn't wait for the store to open at 10:30. Did he think he could just eat breakfast at her supermarket and skip class?"
This morning's incident was her fault; she had indeed overslept and caused him to miss breakfast. She would make him a nice meal tonight to compensate.
She opened the shop door, held the umbrella on the second-floor balcony, and then laid a disposable absorbent mat on the supermarket floor. The wooden floor couldn't withstand customers' wet shoes walking back and forth, and it would easily get dirty and unsightly, so she would specially lay this thing down when it rained heavily, which was convenient and practical.
After tidying everything up, Ah Yu went to the bathroom for a quick wash.
After washing up, I made lunch; after making lunch, I planned to clean; after cleaning, I watered the plants...
Wait, didn't I already water the flowers this morning?
"Strange, what's wrong with me today? I feel empty and stuffy inside. Could it be that my period is about to start?"
Thinking it over, she immediately ran to the calendar in front of the cashier and flipped through the dates from last month; it was clearly still far off.
Ah Yu touched her chest. She stood under the eaves watching the rain pour down. Lately, she had been feeling a strange sensation in her chest. Thinking about it carefully made her feel sad. What was it?
Nothing happened that should make her sad, right?
Did Xingmian come this morning or not?
Did he come to wait for the door to open but never came, or did he simply not come because of the heavy rain?
Oh, I see.
It's probably because I don't see the person I see every morning, so I feel a little out of sorts.
Oh dear, I thought it was something serious.
He'll be coming tonight, I'll see if I can make something he likes to eat.
She took out a mop and wiped the rainwater off the wide steps outside the supermarket, and while she was at it, she also cleaned the area in front of Aunt Wang's shop next door. Aunt Wang was having lunch when she saw Ms. Xu mopping her shop's entrance and came out smiling to thank her.
"Ayu, did you make lunch? If not, come to my shop and we can eat together. You're such a clever kid; you always mop up the steps and make sure everything is clean, saving me the trouble of cleaning up myself."
Ah Yu wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead. "Aunt Wang, you're too kind. I'm usually so busy, and you always help me watch the shop. It's nothing for me to help you out!"
"Oh my, Ah Yu's personality is so endearing. I'm happy to help you with the shop! Besides, when Aunt Xu buys fruit, she always shares some with me. Your whole family is so kind! To be honest, Ah Yu, I really didn't know that silly kid I introduced to you last time was so stingy!"
She brought a bowl, moved a small stool, and sat down at the door, feeling extremely guilty. "How was that date you went yesterday? After hearing about that last one, I've been too embarrassed to talk to you these past few days."
"My goodness, Aunt Wang, what are you thinking? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would fuss over such a small thing?" Ah Yu propped the mop up against the door. "How could I possibly have any rift with my good friends over a man's matter?"
Aunt Wang couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Good friends? You mean the two of us?"
"What, you don't want to? I've always considered you a good friend."
"Haha, sure, good friend." Aunt Wang laughed, her face flushed. But then she stopped laughing, remembering what happened that morning. "By the way, that classmate who often comes to your shop to buy things, I saw him standing in front of your shop for a long time this morning. He didn't have an umbrella. I asked him to come inside and wait for me, but he wouldn't. Later, I offered him an umbrella, but he refused and just walked in the rain. Are those kids' parents irresponsible and neglectful? They don't even have an umbrella in this heavy rain."
Aunt Wang's words immediately made Xu Zhiyu's heart clench.
She frowned worriedly: "Sigh. His parents are gone, and I discussed with them that he should come to the supermarket to have lunch with me every morning and evening. I slept in late today and forgot to ask for his phone number, making him wait so long this morning for nothing..."
Aunt Wang asked incredulously, "You eat for free at your shop every day? Doesn't that mean your parents are raising another son?"
“My parents said they wouldn’t take his money. At first, since I wasn’t familiar with him, I said I’d just give him eight yuan for two meals a day. That’s the price he usually pays when he buys bread or something at the supermarket. But this kid is stubborn and transfers fifty yuan to me every day.”
"It's a blessing for this child to have met your family." Aunt Wang's eyes darted around. "So you're accepting all the money?"
“I can’t persuade him otherwise, so I’ll leave it here and pay him back when he grows up and needs money.” Ah Yu entered the store with a mop. “I’m not going to say anything more, I need to check the security footage.”
As Aunt Wang watched her retreating figure as she entered the store, she couldn't help but sigh: No wonder Mr. Xu's supermarket business is so good; she's such a kind girl, she deserves to earn this money.
Ah Yu sat down at the computer, pulled up the morning's surveillance footage, and selected the view from the doorway.
When the time was set to a little past nine, a boy wearing a black casual jacket walked into the high-definition screen. He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head to shield himself from the rain, but the dark marks on his shoulders and backpack still showed that he had gotten quite wet.
He stood under the eaves at the supermarket entrance, took off his hat, and would sometimes reach out to catch the water dripping from the eaves, and sometimes look up expectantly at the surveillance camera.
They waited like that, and half an hour later, Aunt Wang spotted him. Aunt Wang's image was also captured on the surveillance camera, but just as she described, Xingmian put on an arrogant and unapproachable attitude, refusing whatever Aunt Wang offered him with a sour face.
After waiting and waiting, another half hour passed.
When it was time to leave, Ah Yu saw him suddenly lower his head and start playing with his phone. He tapped on the screen, then held the phone horizontally up to the security camera—
She paused, puzzled.
Zoom in on the screen on his phone, and you'll see the four big characters "Mirror" on it!
[My sister is such a fool]
hateful!
"That brat!"
Xu Zhiyu suddenly put her hands on her hips and said irritably, "You're really tired of living!"
The boy on the screen left, but Mr. Xu felt relieved.
So he came this morning, that's good.
No, no, this kid doesn't even know how to use an umbrella, he doesn't know how to take care of himself at all!
…
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He only had tutoring sessions on Sunday afternoons, which covered alternating weeks. This weekend, he had no classes in the afternoon, so Lin Xingmian arrived at the supermarket early, before dinner time.
I'm getting more and more familiar with this place; it's even more familiar than my own home.
After he arrived, he first took his favorite milk to the microwave on the second floor to heat it up. Then he neatly arranged the somewhat messy tables and chairs on the second floor before finally sitting down in his usual spot and quietly drinking his milk.
Boss Xu naturally saw him come in. This kid came in without even saying hello. She pretended to be doing the accounting at the cashier, but she kept an eye on him out of the corner of her eye.
The two had become quite familiar with each other, and their relationship had grown much closer after eating together. Recently, even if he didn't say anything when he came to the supermarket, he would at least obediently call her "sister." But today, this kid didn't say a word to her. Is he going to give her the silent treatment?
snort.
snort.
snort!
Are you still angry with me about what happened yesterday?
Okay, I'll coax you.
It's only a little past four in the afternoon. The flow of customers is relatively stable at this time of the weekend, with one or two customers coming in every five minutes on average. Recently, under Mr. Xu's careful guidance, very few elderly people have stopped using the self-service payment machine. When it's not busy, there's no need to collect payments at the door.
She went up to the second floor and took a pot of warm chicken soup from the induction cooker.
"Stop drinking milk, try this instead."
...
"Are your clothes dry? Why didn't you take Aunt Wang's umbrella?"
...
"After you finish eating, remember to take some cold medicine tonight as a precaution. Your clothes are wet today, so you might catch a cold tomorrow."
...
"..."
"You brat, try giving me that look again!"
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