Chapter 57 Zhu Zhiwei, are you doing well?
"Sister Juan...?"
If the other party had not called her, Zhu Yingning would not have dared to speak to recognize him.
Compared to Zhu Juan's transformation, Xu Sirui's transformation pales in comparison. In Zhu Yingning's memory, Zhu Juan had the tanned skin common to her area, with thick, jet-black hair, slightly brittle at the ends from lack of nutrition, always tied simply back in a high ponytail. But now, the young woman standing before her had a radiant complexion, her hair permed into fashionable waves, heavy makeup, a smart and elegant business suit, and apricot high heels. She looked like a true urban beauty. Only by looking closely could one discern a hint of her former self in her features.
In the past in the village, Zhu Yingning always affectionately called her "Juan", but perhaps it was due to the long separation or the unfamiliarity brought about by her earth-shaking changes, when Zhu Yingning opened her mouth, she couldn't help but add the more polite and distant word "sister" after the words.
Zhu Juan smiled, a complex mixture of embarrassment, panic, and surprise. The traffic officer urged her to go over and discuss the situation, so she could only say to Zhu Yingning, "Wait here for a moment. I'll talk to the traffic officer first."
"Okay." Zhu Yingning waited blankly by the side.
Li Jianyu beside her asked curiously, "What's going on? You two actually know each other?"
Zhu Yingning didn't want to say much, so she stammered and said "hmm".
"Forget it, I won't join in your fun." Li Jianyu was not the kind of person who was tactless. Seeing this, he shrugged his shoulders magnanimously, rolled up his flyer, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go." Then he went to distribute flyers in crowded places.
Zhu Yingning breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked him for his thoughtfulness.
She stood by and waited for a while. The traffic police asked a few simple questions and then asked Zhu Juan and her to go to the police station to make a statement. She followed them there, feeling dizzy. It was her first time in her life. She answered the traffic police's questions honestly. When she came out after her busy work, she looked up and saw that it was already dark. She was a little anxious. She borrowed Zhu Juan's phone and called Xu Sirui's house first. She explained the situation to Xu Zhengkang: "I ran into an old friend nearby and might not be back so early."
Xu Zhengkang was quite understanding: "Friends? Oh, that's a good thing. It's a good thing to communicate with friends more often. Go ahead and have fun. It's fine."
After they finished chatting and hung up, Zhu Juan picked up the phone and asked curiously, "Who is this?"
"It's an uncle...it's a long story."
"That's right." Zhu Juan grinned. "What's the big deal about standing in front of the police station and talking? You're hungry too, right? Let's find a restaurant and have a meal. We can talk while we eat. We can talk slowly."
Zhu Juan took Zhu Yingning to a nearby department store and picked out a Chinese restaurant. She enthusiastically introduced it, "I often eat here. The food is delicious. You should try it."
The waiter came over with a bound menu. Zhu Yingning was so embarrassed that she didn't know where to put her hands and feet. She glanced at the menu briefly and felt that every dish on it was shockingly expensive. She stammered, "I'm not hungry, Sister Juan, you...just order whatever you want."
"What are you talking about?" Zhu Juan rolled her eyes at her, took the menu, returned it to the waiter without even looking at it, and skillfully ordered dishes for two.
The atmosphere grew quieter after the waiter left. Zhu Yingning had expected the situation to become awkward, but Zhu Juan seemed to have regained her composure through this. With a smile that was both similar and different from before, she took the initiative to start a conversation, "Come to think of it, how many years have we last seen each other? Why are you in Beijing?"
Although there was still an inexplicable sense of strangeness between them, relying on the trust they had built up from their childhood together, Zhu Yingning still told them everything that had happened after she left.
As she listened, Zhu Juan's mouth gradually opened into an O shape.
"So, it's Xu Zhengkang who is funding you now?"
"right."
"I've watched that variety show, but I didn't expect your dad would end up like that. If I had known that earlier, I wouldn't have to look for other people to sponsor you. I'd sponsor you instead. How great is that?"
"No, no, no, it's not easy for you to make money." Zhu Yingning shook her head and waved her hands in panic, as if shaking her head out. After a while, she asked curiously, "Sister Juan, what are you doing in Beijing now? When you wrote to me before, weren't you still working as a restaurant waitress in another city?"
Zhu Juan burst into laughter. "That was all many years ago. I'm not a waitress anymore! I own a clothing store in Beijing and I'm my own boss. Also, please stop calling me Sister Juan. The word 'Juan' is already unfashionable, and adding 'jie' makes it even more unfashionable, okay? I gave myself a new name after I came here. You can call me by my new name, Zhu Zhiwei, or you can call me by my English name, Vivi."
Zhu Yingning took in too much information at once, and her mind was a little confused: "Oh..."
Zhu Juan—no, it should be Zhu Zhiwei now. Zhu Zhiwei continued, "My clothing store is inside the department store. After dinner, I'll take you there."
"Great." Zhu Yingning's eyes lit up and she praised sincerely, "You're really amazing to be able to open your own clothing store, Juan... Zhi... Vivi."
Zhu Zhiwei was amused by her clumsy name.
**
The waiter continued to bring dishes during their conversation. A white porcelain bowl of soup was placed in front of Zhu Yingning. She lowered her head, staring at the turbid soup and the unfamiliar shellfish inside: "This is..."
"Abalone, try it."
She didn't know what abalone was, but judging by his words and expressions, she instinctively sensed that it was something valuable, so she said worriedly, "Isn't this expensive? I've made you spend money."
"It's not expensive." Zhu Zhiwei pushed the new dishes brought by the waiter towards Zhu Yingning and said, "Don't worry about the price when you go out to play. Once you start to worry about it, even the most delicious and fun things will become boring."
Zhu Yingning nodded, not quite understanding.
Although she listened to Zhu Zhiwei's advice, she couldn't get rid of the "poor spirit" in her heart for a while. After eating the meal, she felt extremely panicked. As for whether the food was delicious or not, she didn't notice it at all. She was even worse than Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit.
After finishing this expensive dinner that made her extremely anxious, Zhu Zhiwei took her to her clothing store as she had said.
The clothing store was located on the first floor of a department store, in a central location with high foot traffic. It was easily visible from the main entrance. The shop wasn't large, but it was uniquely decorated with ferns, a place that reflected both taste and thoughtfulness. Zhu Yingning couldn't help but breathe more softly as she walked in. Even though she didn't understand fashion and didn't know the tags, she could tell from the lighting and the atmosphere that the rows of clothes were expensive.
There were two salespeople in the store, both young women, each one beautiful, with exquisite makeup and radiant looks.
Zhu Zhiwei pointed at them and introduced them to Zhu Yingning: "This is Yiyi, this is Emily, both of them are salespeople I hired. Yiyi, Emmy, this is my friend, Zhu Yingning."
Zhu Yingning greeted them nervously, "Hello."
"My shop specializes in affordable luxury." Zhu Zhiwei casually picked up a dress and continued to introduce it to her, "My customers are working women in their twenties and thirties, and the style of the dress I'm wearing is similar."
Zhu Yingning was confused but also in awe: "You are amazing."
"Nothing special, I just came out early and caught a good time." Zhu Zhiwei put the clothes back and asked naturally, as if asking if she wanted to go for coffee later, "Aren't you looking for a job? Do you want to work for me?" She was stunned. The feeling of gratitude and fear when eating abalone in the restaurant came back to her. She asked uncertainly, "Will I cause you any trouble?"
This clothing store focuses on light luxury. Although she doesn't want to belittle herself, she has to ask herself in all conscience, where is her light luxury temperament?
The mirror in the clothing store was like a funhouse mirror, reflecting two completely different worlds. Zhu Zhiwei and the beautiful saleswomen she hired, Yi Yi and Emily, were like the noble heroines in an eight o'clock soap opera, while she was a wild mushroom that grew here by mistake, standing awkwardly in front of the mirror, looking out of place from the inside out.
Zhu Zhiwei patted her shoulder in understanding: "Don't be nervous, everyone has come this far. If you're not used to it, you can do some logistics work first, like shopping with me."
**
Coming out of Zhu Zhiwei's clothing store, Zhu Yingning was trembling with fear, thinking that she was too lucky. Every time she encountered difficulties, she could survive and meet noble people who helped her. How could she be so worthy of this?
Zhu Zhiwei was unaware of the complicated thoughts in her mind. She sent her to the street corner and, despite her vehement objection, she stopped a taxi for her and told the driver to take her home.
Before getting in the car, Zhu Yingning opened the door and turned to look at Zhu Zhiwei in the night.
She always felt that their meeting was too hasty, and she seemed to have a thousand questions in her heart, such as why he had given her his QQ number but never approved her friend verification request? However, perhaps out of a tacit understanding learned in childhood, or perhaps simply out of some kind of consideration, she wisely and timely remained silent on this issue, leaving him room to avoid the question.
There's just one problem.
There was only one question—the only question she wanted to know most during the hundreds of days and nights of separation.
"Juan." She was holding the cheap bag filled with cheap flyers in her arms. Her dark, clear eyes pierced through the layers of black fog in the night. She looked into Zhu Zhiwei's eyes and asked softly, "How have you been these past few years?"
Her voice seemed to come from the distant old times, soft and with a warm strength. Zhu Zhiwei was dazed for a moment, then habitually raised the corner of her mouth and laughed lightly: "If I'm not doing well, the world is full of people who are doing poorly." After saying this, as if to prove her point, she turned her body again, letting Zhu Yingning see her well-tailored and elegant office lady suit, and the Hermès bag that had survived the disaster in her hand, and pointed to the clothing store that was visible at the entrance of the shopping mall, and raised her thumb for emphasis.
The driver began to urge: "You can't park here for too long."
Zhu Yingning responded, got into the car, rolled down the rear window, and watched Zhu Zhiwei's figure quickly disappear behind the taxi.
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