Chapter 16
The Golden Week holiday had passed in the blink of an eye, and the temperature was gradually dropping. Gu Mengzhu leaned against the windowsill, looking out at the cloudless sky—a clear and crisp autumn day. To keep warm, she wore a light jacket when she went out, squinting as she walked, enjoying the warm morning sunlight. After half a month, her mood had improved considerably, and the pain of losing 50,000 yuan seemed to be fading with time. As for anything else, she couldn't remember it, and she didn't care to think about it.
As it was almost time to leave work, Huang Jiansheng parked his electric scooter next to the big banyan tree in front of the gate. Chen Luo pouted and muttered beside him:
"Why did you change cars?"
Before the person could even speak, he pulled a string of candied hawthorns from his paper bag and handed it to him.
"Just bought it, while it's fresh."
Chen Luo happily took it, took a big bite of the red hawthorn on top, and her eyes crinkled into a smile. Before Gu Mengzhu could finish envying her, Huang Jiansheng pulled out another one, this time for her.
"I got a share? Thank you, Brother Sheng!"
She thanked him happily, and the man nodded, smiling憨厚ly, then turned and winked at his girlfriend beside him. After Gu Mengzhu walked away, he nudged her shoulder:
Is there a reward?
When Chen Luo saw his eager-to-take-credit look, she almost spat out the hawthorn in her mouth.
"Yes, look, hawthorns!"
"That's not how you pronounce 'er' (儿) suffix."
Huang Jiansheng helplessly patted her head, but she immediately jerked her head away, baring her teeth and claws as she replied:
"I know, I did it on purpose!"
He ignored her furious rebuttal and, seeing that it was time, immediately dragged her into his car and drove her home.
Another month passed, the days as uneventful as if nothing had happened. Gu Mengzhu enjoyed her vacation on the sofa, taking a couple of bites of potato chips and a sip of tea, feeling utterly content. Although her savings were pitifully small, at least she had no debt. As long as she wasn't in debt, she had a chance to start over; as long as she wasn't in debt, she would have a place to live. For so long, Gu Mengzhu had been comforting herself with this thought, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to go on living.
"Knock, knock, knock," someone is knocking on the door.
Who is it?
She put down the bag of potato chips and shuffled over in her slippers.
Who is it?
To be honest, Gu Mengzhu was still quite vigilant. Seeing that no one answered, she bolted the door and took out the baseball bat and pepper spray from under the sofa, placing them within easy reach.
The doorbell rang again. This time, she didn't ask, and curled up on the sofa to continue watching the movie she'd downloaded on her phone. As if knowing she wouldn't answer, the visitor finally spoke:
"It's me, Qi Yaoguang."
Gu Mengzhu suddenly felt that the potato chips in her mouth didn't taste good at all. She didn't really want to see him, so she simply pretended not to hear him and turned her phone volume up to the maximum.
"Open the door, I have something to tell you."
"We can talk about anything even through the door."
"Please don't do this."
"Alright. Then there's nothing more to say. Please leave."
"Open the door, I've come to pay back the money."
Her ears perked up immediately, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Where had he stolen the money again to gamble with? It was difficult for her to trust Qi Yaoguang anymore. But she still had to go and check; if there was any trouble, she would call the police to avoid being arrested as an accomplice.
Upon opening the door, the man before me had a tangled mess of hair, stiff and matted together, seemingly mixed with fine grit. His face was dark and gloomy, looking even more homeless than a homeless person. His clothes weren't exactly dirty, but they were dusty and gritty, and if you got close, you could smell the sour odor of sweat and the pungent smell of cement.
"What are you doing? Doing manual labor, carrying cement?"
Without a second thought, she blurted out those words, and Qi Yaoguang merely chuckled. He didn't reply, but instead extended his right hand, which was covered in black mud, and handed her ten banknotes.
"They're holding onto my wages, so I can only give you a thousand right now."
Looking at his tanned face and the dense, tangled lines of scars on his arms, Gu Mengzhu felt a pang of pain at the thought of the 50,000 yuan and couldn't help but stab him with her own words:
"Save your breath, your self-inflicted suffering won't work on me. I don't want your money; who knows if you stole it or robbed it? Just leave."
He countered her moves with a witty retort, also trying to provoke her in a low voice:
"You look down on me? Think the money's too little? I didn't know you were that kind of person. Take the money. I'm a gambling addict, but I'm not a scoundrel who just defaults on debts. Here's the money, take it or leave it!"
He grabbed her hand, forcefully shoved the money into it, and seeing that she clenched her fist and refused to take it, he simply let go, letting the money fly to the ground. Then, without looking back, he strode away. Gu Mengzhu angrily called out his full name, but he had already disappeared. She had no choice but to squat down and pick up all the money. When she stood up again, she was clutching the wad of money in her hand, tears silently streaming down her face.
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