Zhou Ji was extremely happy.
He had never expected such a huge surprise to come to him. This was something he hadn’t even dared to think about. Yet, it had been effortlessly realized!
Duan Ye led Jiang Yumo back to his room. Suddenly, Jiang Yumo said, “I’m in trouble.”
“What’s wrong?” Duan Ye closed the door, just in case, and also locked it…
“I realized that I can’t remember what Zhou Ji looked like when I first met him!” Jiang Yumo racked her brain to remember. She could vaguely recall his arrogance and domineering attitude in the cafeteria, but it felt like that wasn’t Zhou Ji at all.
Duan Ye pulled her to sit on the couch. “Don’t dwell on it. Otherwise, he’ll suffer again.”
He had almost forgotten how she used to always look at Zhou Ji.
“Okay.”
After spending these days together, Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo had become accustomed to this cohabitation. They had developed an understanding between them. When Jiang Yumo was taking a shower, Duan Ye would find excuses to go downstairs to buy things, like mosquito repellent or bottled water. In any case, he wouldn’t stay in the room and usually returned upstairs after about half an hour.
Occasionally, when he looked up from downstairs, the thought of buying a house became stronger.
Having their own house would likely change things.
Clearly, in the other rented room, Zhou Ji couldn’t compare to Duan Ye in terms of insight. He had no intention of leaving that room. He wished he could follow Ning Zhiyu wherever she went. After being rejected by Ning Zhiyu, he happily spread out his bedding on the floor from the closet.
Ning Zhiyu had wanted to ask him to leave several times.
But every time she called him, he would immediately come over, looking at her expectantly.
When faced with his gaze, the words ‘Why don’t you go out for a while?’ just couldn’t be said.
Finally, she thought of a reason that wouldn’t hurt his young heart. She casually asked, “Zhou Ji, don’t you have a hairdryer here?”
“…”, Zhou Ji was puzzled for a moment, then shook his head. “Seems like I don’t.”
It seemed like he hadn’t used that thing in a very long time.
Spending so much time with Lao Duan, he had unconsciously become rough.
A hairdryer, not needed.
Facial cleanser, he only bought the cheapest one because he often worked on construction sites with too much dust.
As for clothes, ever since coming here, he hadn’t bought any.
Limited edition sneakers, cool watches, gaming consoles—what did they have to do with him? Those were things the previous him used to play with.
He even bought the cheapest body wash and shampoo for bath.
He had already planned everything out. Even if the shower gel is as cheap as it can get, this bottle still costs around ten or twenty yuan. It’s better to buy a bar of soap for a few yuans, that’s what true cheap is. When the shower gel is used up, he can just buy a bar of soap.
Ning Zhiyu hesitated and said, “But I need to wash my hair.”
Zhou Ji patted his chest, saying, “What’s so difficult about that? I’ll go borrow one outside!”
Ning Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief, “Alright, also, I think my hairband snapped. Could you help me go buy one?”
“What are you saying?” Zhou Ji placed his hand seriously on her shoulder, “You should command me with your words. Help?? You can’t use that word with me.”
Ning Zhiyu : “…”
“No, “Zhou Ji continued, “I need to apologize to you too. I shouldn’t use the word ‘can’t’ with you. For you, everything is ‘can’.”
Ning Zhiyu nodded slightly and whispered, “Then, hurry and borrow the hair dryer and buy the hairband for me.”
Zhou Ji looked delighted, “That’s the right way! I’m off!”
Finally sending Zhou Ji away, Ning Zhiyu relaxed. She quickly rushed into the bathroom at breakneck speed, washing up in a hurry, and even had to wash and air dry her close-fitting clothes. The time left for her was quite tight.
Exiting the room, Zhou Ji’s first instinct was to go next door to borrow a hair dryer.
After all, Lao Duan was a severe case of henpecked husband, and Jiang Yumo had been here for a few days, so he must have bought a hair dryer for her.
Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door, in that moment, a realization hit him—
Wait, there’s really no need to borrow a hair dryer from Lao Duan!!
Decisively, he turned around and headed for the corridor, quickly going to the third floor. He knocked on the landlady’s door, and as soon as she opened it, he eagerly asked, “Aunt Zhao, do you have a hair dryer?”
Without waiting for the landlady to answer yes or no…
He hurriedly and bashfully added, “My girlfriend has come, and I don’t have a hair dryer for her to dry her hair.”
How could he miss this chance? If he could, he would have used a loudspeaker to announce it to the whole city—that his girlfriend had arrived.
Aunt Zhao was momentarily surprised, then smiled and said, “What a coincidence.”
Zhou Ji : “Don’t you have a hair dryer?”
“Yes,” Aunt Zhao said as she turned around and went back into the house to fetch a hairdryer. Her voice was loud and clear; even outside, Zhou Ji could hear it. “A few days ago, Xiao Duan also borrowed the hairdryer. He was getting it for his girlfriend too.”
Zhou Ji : “?”
Zhou Ji : “……”
So, was he still one step behind? Even this excellent way of PDA had been used by Master Duan?
Late at night, Ning Zhiyu was already quite sleepy, but she still had to listen to Zhou Ji lying on the ground, constantly muttering, “Probably in about half a month, they’ll settle accounts with us. I’ll have more income by then. Yuyu, I’ve thought about it. I’ll save up the money. When you have a break and I have a break, shall we go out to play? How about that?
“If you don’t want to go out and play, that’s fine. I’ll give you the money, and you can save it for me. No, that’s not right. I’ll just give it to you. Buy whatever you want.
“If I had known you earlier, it would have been great. Then I could have bought you many things. But, well, it’s not the same, and it’s not money I earned myself. Meeting you last year was just perfect!”
Listening to his ramblings, she drifted into a dream, a faint smile on her lips.
Tonight, she was definitely going to have a good dream.
In fact, Zhou Ji’s return meant that the vacation for both him and Duan Ye had come to an end.
Even if they were reluctant, the two of them had to go back to work. Ning Zhi Yu was very diligent; she didn’t waste any time after waking up. She tidied up the room, as she likes to clean. This was Zhou Ji’s room, so naturally, she wanted to do something for him. Jiang Yumo entered while biting an apple and felt a bit embarrassed. “Comparison is the root of unhappiness. Comparing to you, I’m unbelievably lazy. It seems like my Mom’s scolding wasn’t unfounded.”
Ning Zhiyu laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “That’s because Duan Ye is much more diligent than Zhou Ji. So, you can afford to be lazy.”
Jiang Yumo leaned closer, curious. “Did Zhou Ji tell you about his work?”
“Not much,” Ning Zhi Yu turned her head to look at her. “Why do you ask?”
“He didn’t complain to you about the cook auntie’s bad cooking skills?” Jiang Yumo was shocked. “The day he picked me up, he didn’t stop talking. He said if he finds three strands of meat in the green pepper stir-fry, that’s a burst of good luck. He also said stir-fried cabbage appears most often in the menu, but there’s no oil to be seen; it’s all boiled in plain water. Oh, and, he said it’s really hot in the bare apartment, and he got heat rash on his back.”
She still remembered the exaggerated expression on Zhou Ji’s face when he talked about this.
Probably, in his nineteen years of life, he could count the number of times he got heat rash on one hand. It was unbelievable that he would get heat rash when he was nearly twenty!
Ning Zhiyu listened blankly, shaking her head. “He didn’t mention it.”
Jiang Yumo said, “That’s strange…”
But it wasn’t actually that strange. Even Zhou Ji seemed to have learned on his own to share his good news and keep his worries to himself when it came to his girlfriend. Duan Ye was the same. No matter how she asked, they would only talk about the positive things. It was probably because they didn’t want their girlfriends to worry.
Both of them fell silent, each feeling sorry for their respective boyfriends.
Jiang Yumo wanted to prevent the atmosphere from becoming too gloomy. She took another bite of the apple and enthusiastically suggested, “Since we don’t have anything to do right now, how about we buy some ingredients and cook a meal to send over to them? Yes, that’s a good idea! A love bento would be great!”
Ning Zhiyu paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “Sure.”
The two girls didn’t idle around. Holding hands, they went to the supermarket and bought fresh vegetables. After returning to the rented apartment, they assigned tasks and started cooking. Even the usually reserved and calm Ning Zhi Yu was particularly focused and serious when it came to making a bento for someone she liked. She carefully cut the ribs into even pieces and put more effort into cooking than ever before.
Once the bento was packed, they set off for the building complex where the recipients were.
Jiang Yumo knew that Duan Ye had mentioned the location of the building complex that morning. It was mainly to reassure her, as the complex wasn’t far from here. It was only about three bus stops away.
The two of them boarded the bus, full of excitement all the way. After all, it was the first time they were making a bento for a boyfriend and delivering it. Imagining how happy and touched he would be made their own moods uplifted. That’s how love was—no need for grand gestures; even ordinary things, when done with love, brought happiness.
This mood lasted until they got off the bus.
After getting off the bus, they walked for a few minutes and arrived near the development complex. Only when they were actually there could they feel the hardships the workers endured.
Dust and dirt were everywhere. Several workers wearing safety helmets emerged from inside, their skin darkened by the sun, covered in patches of dust on their clothes and pants.
The smile on Jiang Yumo’s face gradually froze.
Ning Zhiyu’s brows and eyes drooped as well.
They had come here to surprise their boyfriends, but…
Jiang Yumo watched for a while and whispered, “They probably wouldn’t want us to see them like this. How about we find another place to wait for them?”
Ning Zhi Yu didn’t object either. She nodded, and the two of them walked down another street, arriving at a hamburger shop they had never heard of before.
The shop wasn’t big, with only a few tables, and there weren’t many customers at this time.
Jiang Yumo took a deep breath and then dialed Duan Ye’s number. He answered quickly on the other end and said, “Have you eaten? If you haven’t, do you want me to buy you a meal and bring it over?”
Sitting in the air-conditioned store, Jiang Yumo absentmindedly picked at the edge of the table. Her nose turned slightly sour, but she held herself together, afraid that he might sense it. Even though he wasn’t right in front of her, she managed to muster a smile and said, “Zhiyu and I came over here. We wanted to bring you guys some food, but we couldn’t find the complex you mentioned. We asked a few people, but they weren’t sure either.”
“You guys came over?” Duan Ye was busy in the unfinished room and straightened up in surprise upon hearing this.
Originally drinking water, Zhou Ji couldn’t care less about that now. He strode over in a few swift steps, almost sticking to Duan Ye’s phone.
Duan Ye looked quite displeased and kicked him lightly, then turned away. “Alright, where are you guys now?”
Jiang Yumo turned to look back and pretended to sound puzzled and uncertain. “I’m not quite sure. Anyway, we’re at a burger shop called McKenzie’s…”
“I got it,” Duan Ye said in a deep voice. “Just stay there, don’t move. We’ll be there shortly.”
Jiang Yumo hung up the phone, feeling relieved.
Zhou Ji kept asking, “What, what’s going on? Did Yuyu come?”
Duan Ye made an affirmative sound. “She said they came to bring us food.”
A sense of overwhelming gratitude appeared on Zhou Ji’s face. He could hardly believe his ears. How was it possible for such a good thing to happen to him again?
He just wanted to tell everyone. Acting somewhat childishly, he ran to the neighboring room to boast to a few middle-aged coworkers, “Brother Liu, Brother Zhang, my girlfriend is here. She’s bringing me food. Today, I’m giving you guys my and Lao Duan’s share of food!”
One of the middle-aged coworkers, speaking in a local dialect, said with a smile, “Well, thank you both then.”
Inside the room, Duan Ye lowered his head, his expression thoughtful. He seemed to have grasped something, a complex smile and expression playing on his face.
It was a mixture of being moved and feeling guilty.
Inside the burger restaurant, Ning Zhiyu remained in a state of uncomfortable silence.
In fact, she had been thinking all along, up until now, that if it wasn’t for her, if she wasn’t with him, Zhou Ji would never have taken this path. He should have been full of spirit and possessed everything he deserved.
Jiang Yumo saw that Ning Zhiyu couldn’t cheer up, but in a little while, Duan Ye and Zhou Ji would come over. She was also anxious in her heart, so she reached out to hold Ning Zhiyu’s hand. When Ning Zhiyu looked over, she blinked and said, “Let me tell you a joke. My Mom told me this one. My Dad went all out when he was pursuing my Mom back then. He borrowed a bicycle from someone else to pick her up and watch a movie. But he didn’t notice a stone, and he fell with the bike and himself. At that time, the road was all gravel, and my Mom was on the side. My Dad quickly got up, so my Mom asked if he was okay, and while he was grimacing in pain, he said he was fine. After my parents started dating, my Dad’s younger brother told my Mom that my Dad howled at home that night, his knees were almost wrecked. Can you believe my Dad had such an iron will? After falling like that, he acted as if nothing happened, accompanied my Mom to watch the movie, and even took a walk on the embankment!”
Ning Zhiyu wanted to laugh. She knew why Jiang Yumo was telling her this story.
Every boy wants to appear invincible in front of the girl he likes. Even if he falls, he will immediately get up and casually pat his pants.
“Give me a smile!” Jiang Yumo said, “Come on, look at me, cheese~”
Ning Zhiyu swept away her previous discomfort, looked at Jiang Yumo, and said, “Cheese.”