Chapter 20
Jiang Yunu seemed to be really familiar with this neighborhood. She walked forward first, and Joyceon, who looked confused, was more than a beat late in catching up.
The two of them quickly approached the flickering streetlights at the intersection.
Jiang Yunu glanced at the streetlights. "Is there a new light at the intersection? I remember only three of them were flashing before, but today it seems the fourth one further in has started flashing too."
Joyson also glanced at the streetlight and said subconsciously, "Really? Looks like the circuitry of 'Old Four' is failing, too?"
After he finished speaking, Joeysen's doubts were half gone, and he was sure that Jiang Yunu was not lying when he said that the other party also lived here.
After all, apart from the residents who actually live in their dilapidated streets, who else would care whether the street lights at their intersections are flashing, and how many lights are flashing further inside?
Only half of the doubts were dispelled, and the other half still remained in Joyson's mind, that is, he grew up in a dilapidated street, so why had he never seen Jiang Yunu?
"You..." Joyson organized his words. He always felt that he was not good at speaking. He wanted to ask Jiang Yunu more about the house, but he was afraid that he would lead the topic to his parents and family. This made him feel embarrassed for a while.
While Joyson was stuck, the two of them passed every flickering streetlight at the intersection. Jiang Yunu even knew which bricks on the street were movable, where water would accumulate, and in the dim light, she deftly avoided the movable bricks and the puddles hidden in the dimly lit areas. Joyson, however, was distracted and stepped on a soaked movable brick, causing a small splash of water to splash down his pants, which also affected Jiang Yunu, who was standing next to him.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry!" Joyson quickly apologized for his carelessness.
Jiang Yunu was unfortunately affected by the splash, but he didn't get angry about such a small thing at all: "Who is 'Dui Dui'? Why are you saying sorry to him for no reason?"
Joyson was originally very embarrassed, and was also a little amused by what Jiang Yunu said.
He stopped stuttering and apologized again: "I wasn't looking where I was walking. I didn't expect to be tricked by this tile again today."
"It's okay." Jiang Yunu comforted him, "I think there are very few people living on this street who haven't been attacked by it."
When Jiang Yunu first moved to this street, she ran in and out every day, going out early and coming back late. Every time she left, it was still dark, but when she came back, it was completely dark. She had been tricked several times by the moving bricks and the frequent accumulation of water. Only through practice and experience did she remember the locations of these "mechanisms and hidden weapons". Now she can avoid them accurately when she comes back in the dark at night.
Thanks to Jiang Yunu's familiarity with the road conditions, Joyson was further convinced that the other party lived here.
"When did you start living in the dilapidated street?" Joyson finally asked. Anyway, his house was located in the deepest part of the dilapidated street, basically the one closest to the end of the street.
It would take a while to walk from the beginning to the end of the street, enough to make him hesitate for that long. He and Jiang Yunu had not yet passed No. 50, the dilapidated street, so they had plenty of time to chat.
Jiang Yunu looked at Qiao Yisen.
Joyson quickly added, "I don't mean anything else. It's just that I've always lived here, but I've never seen you before."
"That's for sure." Jiang Yunu said, "I haven't lived here long. I just moved here recently."
Joyson got the answer: "Oh..."
Joyson's "Oh" has a complicated meaning.
It was a simple question and answer, and Jiang Yunu spoke the truth. Qiao Yisen listened carefully, but couldn't help but imagine more.
Because generally speaking, there is a consensus that: unless the conditions have become extremely difficult and all unnecessary expenses must be cut as much as possible, the people of Chat will not easily move to the dilapidated streets.
It has always been the people living in the run-down streets who try to move out. It is not to be said that there are no people who move in from the outside, but once such a person appears, the other party moves in from the outside and gives up his or her original residence outside the run-down street, which means that the other party has "slipped" from his or her original life.
Moving to a run-down street is a recognized downgrade in life.
Joyson no longer asked when Jiang Yunu moved in, nor did he ask the reason for the move. He felt a lot of sympathy for Jiang Yunu and felt that his life was really not easy.
Joyson led Jiang Yunu to his home with sympathy, without even asking where he lived on the dilapidated street.
Jiang Yunu looked at the door of No. 78 Dilapidated Street. While Joyson took two steps forward and knocked on the door, she turned sideways and took a look at the door of No. 80 Dilapidated Street opposite her.
This is not just a coincidence, it's an extreme coincidence.
Jiang Yunu never expected that when he received help at the library entrance, he became friends with an enthusiastic and slightly shy red-haired child, who turned out to be his next-door neighbor.
When she first discovered that Qiao Yisen might live on a run-down street, Jiang Yunu tried hard to recall whether she had seen him before, thinking that the library might not be their first encounter. Well, the answer was no, and she knew where her vague impression of Qiao Yisen came from - it was most likely the "socially anxious" guy on the second floor opposite whom she had greeted warmly on the first night she moved to this street.
Jiang Yunu still thinks that the person on the second floor opposite is "socially anxious", and believes that the other party was hiding his head and closing the window at that time because he was not used to her enthusiasm.
It was a dark and windy night. There was no light on Jiang Yunuo's side, and Qiao Yisen, who was secretly watching from the house, did not turn on the light either. Even though Jiang Yunuo had good night vision, Qiao Yisen was so panicked that his face was blurred and Jiang Yunuo could not see his facial features clearly. He only remembered that this "socially anxious" man, who was very consistent with his social anxiety identity, found a pole and silently stretched out the long pole from inside the house to close the window.
"Mom!" Socially anxious Joeysen was still knocking on the door.
There is a small lattice window on the door of House No. 78, which looks very similar to the old-fashioned security door in Jiang Yunu's previous world, with a small security window embedded in it.
The lattice window was quickly opened from the inside.
Joyson jumped up and waved at the lattice window: "It's me, Mom, please open the door for me."
The lattice window closed, and the door opened from the inside. A tall woman appeared at the door. Her red hair was exactly like Joyson's, but her personality was completely different from her son's. She looked down at her son with great authority and asked, "How come you forgot to bring your keys when you went out?"
Joyson felt his mother's gaze plummet, and he said honestly, "When I left, I wanted to catch the regular bus that was about to arrive. If I missed it, I would have to wait for 40 minutes for the next one, so I rushed out and left my keys on the table in the room."
The houses in the dilapidated streets do not even have smart locks that meet the current technological level, and the front doors of the houses are all very primitive mechanical locks.
The red-haired woman seemed to want to "nagged" her son a few more times. She was not happy with his careless behavior, but she was tall and her sight easily passed over the top of her son's messy red head and saw the unfamiliar face standing behind him.
——A strange little girl with white hair.
When the small lattice window on the door was opened, Jiang Yunu stopped looking around and stood behind Joyceon very obediently and harmlessly, quietly listening to the conversation between mother and son. When Joyceon's mother noticed her, she raised her face to the tall red-haired lady and showed a smile that had been "unimpeded" in front of all female citizens of Chat City so far.
"Hello." Jiang Yunu said, "Are you Qiao Yisen's mother? I'm embarrassed to call you aunt. If I hadn't heard him call you mom, you really would look like his sister."
Red-haired woman: "..."
Red-haired woman: “…………”
The woman grabbed her son's ear and said, "Is this the rescue you brought for yourself today after you forgot to bring your keys and came home 20 minutes late for curfew?"
Three minutes later, Joyson, who had lost one ear, and his "rescuer" successfully entered the door.
Jiang Yunu's arrival did reduce Qiao Yisen's punishment. Based on the principle of not letting those who helped her suffer, she took the initiative to explain at the door of the house that Qiao Yisen had helped her at the Public Library and kindly wanted to invite her home for dinner, so she was delayed and came back later than the designated curfew time.
Joyson's mother's name is Qiao Daisy, and she asked Jiang Yunu to call her Aunt Daisy.
Jiang Yunu habitually said sweetly: "It's a pity that I can't call you Sister Dai Si."
Qiao Daisi's temper is as hot as her natural hair color. She is soft-hearted and not tough. She is especially tolerant of sweet-talking girls. Jiang Yunu's emotional value was maximized as soon as he entered the door, making it difficult for her to maintain a tough expression.
"Forget it." Ms. Jodais sighed finally, her expression gradually relaxing. She pointed at her careless son and said, "You're lucky today, kid."
An adult's sweet talk may make people wary, and a stranger's sweet talk may make people think that they have ulterior motives. However, a little girl who is so thin and frail that she is much smaller than her own children, looks people in the eye openly when she speaks sweetly, without dodging or hiding her gaze. Her eyes can see through people at a glance, which makes people feel that all her sweet talk is sincere.
Jiang Yunu was born with the ability to close social distance with others.
While Jiang Yunu was sitting at the table, Qiao Yisen said he wanted to go into the kitchen to help with the work. He followed his mother into the kitchen like a tail.
Qiao Daisi knew her son very well. She knew if he was going to go crazy again just by looking up. Without even turning her head, she walked straight to her counter and said, "Tell me, why do you suddenly want to invite someone home for dinner?"
"Mom, you don't know, she is really pitiful!" Joyson started with this sentence, lowered his voice, and secretly shared everything he knew after meeting Jiang Yunu today.
Qiao Daisi skillfully cut the vegetables and listened to her son helping to wash the vegetables in front of the narrow kitchen sink and telling stories amid the sounds of running water and cutting vegetables. She did not comment on Jiang Yunu's experience. She had the indifference of an old resident of a dilapidated street who insisted on not paying any attention and could accept everything, and also revealed a trace of empathy of people with children for other children.
Jodie just nodded and said, "I understand. I'll treat them to a good dinner tonight."
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