Chapter 5 (Part 2)
The three boys, each holding a stack of books in their arms, followed Han Xi to pay the bill. Han Xi looked excited, and when passing Gan Ling's table, he gave her a smug wink. Gan Ling felt uneasy for some reason, and walked to the cashier and said to the three men, "What did you buy? Let me see." They put the books on the table very obediently. Gan Ling flipped through them one by one. Some of them were books she had found with great difficulty, and she hadn't had time to read them yet. She put these books aside and put the rest back in their places. "You can't take these books." "Why?!" It was Han Xi who raised the sharp question. It was so hard to get business, but what had happened to the boss lady? Gan Ling couldn't explain why she wanted to read it, so she just said, "Other customers asked me to buy them, so I have to save them for them." Han Xi was furious, but the man in the blue T-shirt said sympathetically, "It's okay, we'll get a few more." He winked at his attendants, and they immediately turned back to the bookshelf, indiscriminately pulling out three or four books and returning. Han Xi's expression brightened again. As Han Xi paid the bill, Tian Miao watched silently from the side. After the customers left, he scoffed at Han Xi, "Why are you so enthusiastic? Just pull out a few books and give them to them. Is it necessary to introduce each one to them? Can't you see those guys, like me, won't even touch the corners of the books?" "Then why are they buying books?" "Maybe they'll use them as firewood." "Who cares? Just pay for them!" "Money-grubber!" Gan Ling put the books he'd "grabbed" back on the shelf, thought for a moment, and sent a WeChat message to Cheng Zhao: Don't ask anyone to come buy books from me anymore." Cheng Zhao didn't reply. It was almost five o'clock when Gan Ling checked the day's revenue at the cash register. There were no surprises, only the expected disappointment. It wasn't exactly disappointment; after all, she'd prepared for the worst when she first opened the shop. It's just that one always clings to a glimmer of hope, hoping for a turnaround. Gan Ling quickly composed herself, checked the few remaining accounts, locked the cash register, and prepared to call it a day. Suddenly, someone walked in. She glanced over and saw it was Zhou Zhenchuan, so she swallowed back the words "closed." "Mr. Zhou, are you here to pick up Sister Meiling again?" Zhou Zhenchuan nodded. "Let's go pick up Sasha from school at six o'clock. She'll be back home for the weekend." "Sasha's a sophomore in high school, right? Studying is tough." "Yeah! There's no escaping the path you have to take." "But time flies." Zhou Zhenchuan smiled. "Are there any new books?" "A few. They're all in the third row on shelf C!" "…
The three boys, each holding a stack of books, followed Han Xi to pay the bill. Han Xi looked excited and gave Gan Ling a complacent wink as she passed by her table.
Gan Ling felt uneasy for some reason. She walked to the cashier and said to the three people, "Let me see what you bought."
They put the books on the table very obediently. Gan Ling flipped through them one by one. Some of them were books she had found with great difficulty, but she had not had time to read them yet. She put these books aside and put the rest back in their original places.
"You can't take these books away."
"Why?!"
It was Han Xi who raised the sharp question. It was so hard to get some business, but the boss lady was crazy again?
Gan Ling couldn't explain why she wanted to see it, so she just said, "Another customer asked me to buy it, so I have to keep it for them."
Han Xi was furious, and the man in the blue T-shirt said sympathetically, "It's okay, we can get a few more."
He winked at his followers, and they immediately turned back to the bookshelf, pulling out three or four books without any discrimination. Han Xi's expression brightened again.
When Han Xi was paying the bill, Tian Miao watched silently from the side. After the customer left, he laughed at Han Xi, "Why are you so enthusiastic? Just pick a few books and give them to them. Is it necessary to introduce each one to them? Can't you see that those guys are just like me, who won't even touch the corners of the books?"
"Then why do they buy books?"
"Maybe it can be used as firewood when it's returned."
"Who cares! Just give me the money!"
"miser!"
Gan Ling put the book he had "snatched" back on the bookshelf, thought for a while, and sent a WeChat message to Cheng Zhao: Don't ask anyone to come and buy books for you in the future.
Cheng Zhao did not respond.
Around five o'clock, Gan Ling checked the day's revenue at the cash register. There were no surprises, only the expected disappointment. It wasn't exactly disappointment; after all, she'd been prepared for the worst when she first opened the shop. It's just that everyone always holds onto a glimmer of hope, hoping for a turnaround.
Gan Ling quickly adjusted her mood, checked the few accounts she had, locked the cash register, and prepared to leave work. Suddenly, someone walked in from outside. She turned her head and saw it was Zhou Zhenchuan. She swallowed the words "closed" back.
"Mr. Zhou, are you here to pick up Sister Meiling again today?"
Zhou Zhenchuan nodded, "Let's go to school together to pick up Sasha at six o'clock. She will be back home for the weekend."
"Sasha is in her second year of high school, right? Studying is so hard."
"Yeah! There's no way to escape the path you have to take."
"But time passes quickly."
Zhou Zhenchuan smiled and asked, "Are there any new books recently?"
"There are some, all on the third row from the front of the C rack!"
"Okay, I'll go check...Are you guys closing?"
"It's okay! Take your time, it's still early."
Tian Miao flashed out from behind the bookshelf, with a canvas bag slung across his body. He looked up and saw Zhou Zhenchuan. He was startled and immediately called out respectfully, "Uncle."
Zhou Zhenchuan nodded at him, and without saying anything more, he went to look for a book. Tian Miao stuck out his tongue at the void.
After confirming Zhou Zhenchuan wasn't interested in chatting, Tian Miao quietly approached Han Xi's table. Han Xi was cleaning the table, but his eyes followed Zhou Zhenchuan. Zhou Zhenchuan was one of the few good customers who never left empty-handed, and he bought books for the sole purpose of reading. However, Han Xi didn't actively approach him. Zhou Zhenchuan enjoyed chatting about books with Gan Ling; their reading tastes were surprisingly similar.
Tian Miao lowered his voice and asked, "How about we go to Dicos together later? It's my treat."
He was a head and a half taller than Han Xi, and had to lean over to whisper. Gan Ling happened to see him from the side and read a hint of flattery in his words.
"No." Han Xi refused decisively.
Tian Miao didn't want to give up yet. She reached out to help her tidy up the clutter on the table and muttered, "Why are you going back so early?"
"Don't worry about it—don't touch these beads. You've messed them up again..."
Zhou Zhenchuan pulled a copy of "A History of World Exploration" from the bookshelf, flipped through a few pages, and turned to ask Gan Ling, "Is this the book you recommended to me last time?"
Gan Ling walked over quickly. "Yes! You said you really liked The Silk Road by Peter Frankopan. I remembered the book and looked it up online. I actually found it, so I bought it."
Zhou Zhenchuan looked at her and smiled slightly, "I want it."
"I'll give this to you."
"Why?"
Gan Ling was choked by the question and her face suddenly turned a little red.
"Because you've bought a lot of books from me, and this one is so cheap, I thought there's no need to charge you..."
"In that case, you should give me an expensive one."
Gan Ling's face turned even redder. "Then you choose."
Zhou Zhenchuan's smile deepened. "I'm just kidding! Whether it's cheap or expensive, I'll pay for it because the books here are of good quality and I think it's worth it."
Gan Ling was very touched, but she was not very good at dealing with such situations after all, so she could only say thank you several times awkwardly.
Han Xi came over to say goodbye to Gan Ling, as it was time to get off work. Han Xi's steps were hurried as she left, and Gan Ling guessed she might have a part-time job somewhere else. Despite the failure of the treat, Tian Miao still followed Han Xi closely. The two young figures flashed before Gan Ling's eyes and disappeared.
At 5:20, Zhou Zhenchuan came to check out. He had chosen five books in total. Gan Ling noticed that one of them was Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks. She hesitated and said, "This one will be a bit more expensive. It's a collector's edition. There are very few copies, and the condition is good. The seller won't give me a discount..."
"That's okay. I'll buy it at the price you set."
Zhou Zhenchuan never bargained, but Gan Ling still felt it necessary to make things clear.
After paying, Zhou Zhenchuan did not leave immediately. He sat down at Han Xi's desk and casually flipped through the book he had just bought, not looking anxious at all.
Gan Ling made a cup of sugar-free tea and placed it in front of him. "It's your treat. This should be okay, right?"
Zhou Zhenchuan looked up at her and smiled.
"Thanks!"
He wasn't particularly handsome, but certainly not ugly either. He had a lovely smile and was a charming man. It was only after meeting Zhou Zhenchuan that Gan Ling finally understood her own preferences in the opposite sex. She sought someone like Zhou Zhenchuan: confident and composed, modest and polite, with deep thoughts and a broad mind.
On the surface, Wei Chi and Zhou Zhenchuan were similar in appearance: decent-looking, with respectable careers and the ability to make strategic decisions. However, a year into their marriage, Gan Ling's initial positive impression of Wei Chi began to erode bit by bit, and she finally saw clearly that Wei Chi was completely different from her ideal type.
"Tian Miao didn't cause you any trouble, did he?"
"No."
"I'm so sorry."
"ah?"
Zhou Zhenchuan closed the book and started chatting with Gan Ling.
"I tried to persuade Meiling, but she insisted on forcing Tian Miao on you. There's really nothing I can do."
"It's okay actually. Tian Miao is quite well behaved. Some jobs have to be done by boys."
"I feel relieved when you say that... If he gets into trouble, tell me and I won't ignore it."
Gan Ling smiled and said, "Sister Meiling is next door, he won't be in any trouble."
At ten minutes before six, Gan Ling and Zhou Zhenchuan were chatting happily.
"I don't have a systematic approach to reading; I just read whatever I like. For a while, I really loved mystery novels, but I got tired of always reading about murder stories, so I switched to science fiction. After that, I liked geography for a while, and now, I'm particularly interested in history."
Gan Ling nodded frequently. "I'm pretty much the same. I was fascinated by mystery for a while, and then I started reading humanities and history. From reading so much, I feel that apart from technological advancements, people's mindsets have changed very little from generation to generation. They always repeat the same mistakes..."
Zhou Zhenchuan raised his eyebrows, "You also discovered..."
Tian Meiling rushed into the bookstore, "I'm finally off work!"
The conversation was interrupted. Zhou Zhenchuan stood up and said to Gan Ling, "Let's talk next time."
Tian Meiling looked at the two of them and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Let's talk about books."
"Tsk tsk! Our Old Zhou has been working much harder since he found out there was a bookstore opening in Xiaoxi Lane!"
Gan Ling felt a little uncomfortable, "Sister Meiling, Mr. Zhou is waiting for you..."
Tian Meiling put her arm around her shoulders affectionately. "I have to thank you very much for chatting with him. He can hardly talk to me at home, but I feel like I've met a soulmate here with you!"
Zhou Zhenchuan's face remained calm as he asked Meiling, "Can we go now?"
Tian Meiling glared at him angrily and pointed at the drink in front of Zhou Zhenchuan, "Is this yours?"
"Um."
Tian Meiling grabbed it and drank it, "I'm so thirsty!"
After drinking, he asked Gan Ling again, "Did it delay your return home?"
"It's okay, it's okay."
"Then let's go! We can't keep Sasha waiting anxiously."
"Hey, okay, be careful on the road!"
Gan Ling was entertaining people when she saw Mei Ling grabbing Zhou Zhenchuan and running away like a gust of wind.
Gan Ling had an unspoken thought: she felt Tian Meiling and Zhou Zhenchuan were not a good match, and wondered how they had ever gotten together in the first place. Yet, the truth was, they were happily married. Life always had its hidden mysteries.
Gan Ling turned off the lights, locked the door, and walked on the bluestone road of Xiaoxi Lane. Suddenly, it became dark.
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