Qu Tantan just swung her legs and rested her face in her hands, gossiping playfully, “Brother Lou, how did you and Sister Wen meet? When did you meet?”
Lou Xiangwen’s face fell, and he sighed, “It was probably last week. I just helped out a little.”
It turned out that one day last week, Wen Qingqing had been shopping nearby with a friend when the heel of her high heels got stuck in a manhole cover. Neither of them could get it out. Wen Qingqing felt humiliated, thinking everyone around was laughing at her, and couldn’t bring herself to ask anyone for help, so she just stood there, sulking.
Right at that moment, Lou Xiangwen happened to pass by and noticed her awkward situation. Remembering how he himself had once been the subject of spectators’ amusement, he kindly stepped forward to help her pull out the heel.
Unexpectedly, the heel snapped off.
Lou Xiangwen blushed in embarrassment and apologized profusely. After asking for her shoe size, he rushed to a nearby shoe store to buy her another pair of heels. When Wen Qingqing asked for his name and tried to exchange contact info, he didn’t think much of it and directly refused.
But the next day, as soon as he arrived at the store, he saw that same smiling girl walk in.
He had no idea how she’d found out where he worked. She looked around the store curiously, asking about this and that. Though she came off picky and critical, Lou Xiangwen still treated her patiently like a regular customer.
He hadn’t expected that she was just killing time, and in the end, she grandly waved her hand and bought five crates of every juice flavor in the store.
Lou Xiangwen assumed she was trying to repay his help and frowned, stopping her—telling her it wasn’t necessary, that she wouldn’t even be able to drink it all.
But Wen Qingqing wouldn’t listen. In fact, the next day she came back and placed another huge order. Lou Xiangwen found her behavior rather troubling. He felt it wasn’t right. But the more he tried to talk her out of it, the more she bought. Eventually, he gave up saying anything.
Later on, she stopped buying but instead would just chat with him non-stop. Even when he was trying to introduce products to other customers, she’d interrupt him. Once he got frustrated and sternly told her to stop disturbing him.
Maybe it was the first time she’d been treated that way, but Wen Qingqing seemed stunned. When she came to her senses, she complained that he didn’t have to be so harsh, then stormed off in anger.
Lou Xiangwen figured she wouldn’t be back after that. But the next day, she showed up again as if nothing had happened. This time she didn’t interrupt, just sat in the store watching him work, occasionally commenting with mild disdain about the customers.
Even when Lou Xiangwen ignored her, she could still entertain herself, waiting until he got off work, then pestering him with questions about where he lived.
Before he realized it, Wen Qingqing even knew all the product prices in the store and would casually help out when he was busy. This was part of why Mother Qu’s colleague had misunderstood that day.
Listening to Lou Xiangwen’s account, Qu Tantan suddenly thought Wen Qingqing was actually kind of adorable. Especially the way she splurged—rich big sis mode was even cuter!!
She suddenly felt a bit of regret. Why had she chased the lady off so harshly? That was a major client who bought five crates of each juice flavor every day!
Just for the money the lady threw around, she deserved gentler treatment. Who knew, maybe one day she’d come back for the juice, even if it wasn’t for Lou Xiangwen.
Unfortunately, after what happened, Wen Qingqing probably wouldn’t return.
Qu Tantan shook her head regretfully. But seeing Lou Xiangwen’s relieved and thankful expression, she figured it was for the best. After all, Wen Qingqing had been disrupting his life. Since Lou Xiangwen clearly didn’t like her, it was better they didn’t meet again.
She picked up a bottle of orange soda beside her and handed it to him comfortingly. “This one’s on me, Brother Lou. Since the situation’s been settled, don’t dwell on it anymore.
“Sister Wen probably didn’t know you still needed time to study. I’m sure she didn’t mean to bother you. And she did help you out a few times, too. Now that she’s gone, isn’t it just right that you can go back to your normal life?”
Lou Xiangwen had been feeling a little down, overwhelmed by Wen Qingqing’s relentless attention, and worried people might think she was his girlfriend or even the store owner. Especially if Mother Qu ever misunderstood, things would get messy.
But thinking about it now, what Qu Tantan said made sense. Her words made him feel much better. Touched, he took the soda, and seeing that it was his favorite flavor, he even felt a flicker of joy.
The little girl remembered what he liked.
Lou Xiangwen had always been socially anxious and didn’t have many people he was close to. After moving here, he had even fewer friends. When things troubled him, he had no one to confide in. Even though he knew Uncle Qu and the others were kind, he still felt embarrassed to talk to them about his personal problems.
Only with Qu Tantan.
Even though she was still a child and probably didn’t understand his troubles, that was exactly why Lou Xiangwen felt at ease around her. He could talk without fear of judgment or ridicule.
Every time Lou Xiangwen confided in her, Qu Tantan would always listen quietly. Even if she couldn’t offer any real help, her occasional head pats were enough to comfort him.
Of course, if the little girl took the initiative to give him a hug, Lou Xiangwen would be even more overwhelmed with joy. It would be like getting an instant energy boost, reigniting his confidence and drive to keep going.
Lou Xiangwen actually had a habit that he couldn’t really call just a habit.
Every night before bed, he couldn’t help but replay the events of the day in his mind. If there was something that bothered him, he’d agonize over every word—wondering whether he shouldn’t have said something, whether his friend might secretly think he was immature, or even laugh behind his back for being useless.
He knew that was unlikely, but he still tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
So later, he started deliberately trying to hold things in. But bottling up too much only made him feel even worse. Sometimes, he even thought something was wrong with him. As a result, he became increasingly cautious in conversations with friends, barely speaking at all.
But it was different with Qu Tantan. Every time he vented to her, Lou Xiangwen would feel completely relaxed afterward, like all his worries had been washed away. At night, he could fall asleep easily without thinking about any of it again.
This period had been the most relaxing time for Lou Xiangwen in recent memory. This life—aside from still not having settled on a script—was exactly the life he had dreamed of. He was genuinely satisfied with this job.
He was truly grateful for the Qu family’s appearance in his life. They gave him the courage and confidence to start over. Especially Qu Tantan. Although the little girl liked to play pranks sometimes, she had helped him many times too.
Thinking of this, he mustered a rare moment of boldness and reached out to pat Qu Tantan’s head. When she looked up at him in surprise, he rubbed his nose awkwardly and gave her a warm, bashful smile.
Qu Tantan : ?
Seeing the girl narrow her eyes slightly, looking somewhat displeased, Lou Xiangwen flinched and quickly explained, “I just wanted to thank you for the comfort and the soda. And you came over today to hang out, but ended up having to help me deal with problems instead. Thank you, Tantan.”
The little devil, having been properly flattered and soothed, immediately changed to a cheerful expression. “It’s okay! After all, I’ve caused trouble for Brother Lou before too, and you didn’t mind, right?”
She waved her little hand generously. “We’re neighbors—it’s only right to help each other.”
Lou Xiangwen looked confused. “Have you ever caused me any trouble? I don’t think so.”
Qu Tantan : “……” Oops, that just slipped out.
Lin Zhenmo, who was nearby and seemingly doing homework but in fact listening with full attention : “……”
He paused with his pen in hand, then silently glanced at Qu Tantan: You haven’t told him yet?
Somehow, with a mysterious sense of unspoken understanding, Qu Tantan immediately gave a firm look back : Not yet.
She had accidentally forgotten.
Lin Zhenmo was speechless and threw her another glance : So what are you going to say now?
Qu Tantan : Act cute and get away with it.
She cleared her throat lightly and smiled sweetly with her hands propping up her cheeks. “Tantan’s such a good girl, of course I wouldn’t cause trouble for anyone. I just always hear Mom and Dad say that, was that wrong?”
The more guilty Qu Tantan felt, the more innocent her smile appeared. “Then, Brother Lou, why don’t you teach me the right way to say it?”
Her smile was so sweet that Lou Xiangwen was immediately lulled into a daze. He hurriedly shook his head, denying it, “No, no, Tantan is definitely a very good girl. How could you cause me trouble? But even if you did, I’d still be really happy.”
He spoke from the heart, completely unaware of what these two had done behind his back.
Lin Zhenmo, who had seen firsthand how Qu Tantan ‘operated’ : “……”
He suddenly recalled that every time she had tricked him in the past, she had also smiled just as sweetly, like a swaying little sunflower radiating sunshine.
Lin Zhenmo fell into thought, wondering if he, too, had unknowingly been coaxed and fooled by her like Lou Xiangwen.
When lunchtime came, it was Lin Wan who came to pick up the two kids.
She smiled a little awkwardly. “Your Mom was supposed to come, but something came up at work and she had to go to the office. I didn’t have anything to do, so I came instead.
“Tantan, would you like to have lunch at Aunt Wan’s place today?” Lin Wan gently patted Qu Tantan’s head and asked kindly, “If you don’t feel like it, we can eat out instead.”
Qu Tantan didn’t mind at all and even cheered, “I’ll eat whatever Aunt Wan makes!”
Lin Zhenmo looked like he wanted to say something, but when he saw her bouncing happily behind his Mom like a little tail, completely forgetting about him, he quietly swallowed his words again.
He followed them silently, thinking coldly to himself : Fine, let her try Mom’s cooking. She’ll probably be so ‘happy’ she’ll cry.
Back at the Lin house, Lin Wan refused the kids’ help, blushing as she said she’d do her best to make a delicious meal. Qu Tantan, who had no idea what awaited her, eagerly agreed and innocently said she would love anything Aunt Wan made.
Lin Zhenmo glanced slowly at his Mom’s guilty-looking face but still chose not to expose her.
He took Qu Tantan back to the room, ready to continue doing homework.
Opening his essay book, he pondered for a while but really didn’t know what to write. So, with a serious expression, he solemnly wrote an essay titled <Study Plan for Teaching Qu Tantan>.
He nodded with satisfaction. This should just about meet the word count.
What he didn’t know was that next to him, Qu Tantan—who was being ‘forced’ to learn how to write an essay—had been biting her pen for a long time, trying to figure out how to avoid mentioning the whole situation with Lou Xiangwen and Wen Qingqing. After much frustration, a lightbulb suddenly went off in her head. She decisively began writing a short essay titled <How to Compliment Without Repeating Yourself>.
She counted the rows and columns and nodded with satisfaction.
Mm, not bad. Should be enough words.
After finishing, the two of them both glanced at each other warily, then closed their essay books somewhat guiltily. At Lin Wan’s call, they went to wash their hands and eat.
Then, Lin Zhenmo calmly sat across from Qu Tantan, watching her being warmly welcomed, all while eating a plate of burnt potatoes—smiling through tears.
He silently turned his head away and shrugged.
—Oh, maybe this is retribution.