After finishing the cooking, the two of them carried the dishes and bowls to the living room to eat.
Sometimes they would share things that happened while they were apart. Occasionally, they would reflect with a sense of wonder; though they hadn’t spent a vast amount of time together, there was no sense of being strangers. Their interactions had always been very natural.
“After I get my salary next month, let’s buy you a phone,” Jiang Tan said. Buying one this month would make things a bit too tight, and Jiang Yue could manage for a while longer by using Jiang Tan’s phone temporarily.
Jiang Yue paused for a moment. Originally, she wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but she quickly realized that without a phone, she had no way to contact Jiang Tan whenever she needed. For instance, during those few days of her estrus period, she had the urge to contact Jiang Tan more than once. She felt that even just hearing her voice would bring her a lot of peace of mind, yet at that time, she had no way to reach her at all.
“Okay, just a cheap one will do,” Jiang Yue said. A phone’s function was nothing more than making calls or browsing information; as long as it covered the basics, it was enough. Jiang Yue didn’t have any desire for high-end features.
Jiang Tan couldn’t help but laugh. She placed a morsel of food into Jiang Yue’s bowl and said, “Well, you certainly think highly of us then. We definitely can’t afford anything expensive anyway.”
Hearing her say this and looking at the food in her bowl, Jiang Yue also couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “I suppose that’s true.”
“Let’s buy a decent enough phone to make do with for now. Once we can save up more money in the future, we’ll switch to a better one.” Jiang Tan felt that although she was being a bit stingy now, she fell into the category of “saving where one should and spending where one must,” rather than being truly miserly.
“There’s no need for one that’s so good,” Jiang Yue shook her head in refusal. Not only did she see Jiang Tan working busily every day like a wound-up clock just to earn a bit of money, but having spent the afternoon delivering takeout herself, she now understood the hardship of earning a living.
“Whether we need it or not is something we’ll decide when we have more money,” Jiang Tan mumbled. She had no idea when they would actually have enough extra money to buy a better phone.
Jiang Yue looked at her with a hint of helplessness. Finally, she picked up a piece of fish for Jiang Tan and said, “You should eat more. Your work is all physical labor.”
She had seen it when she went to the construction site today. Looking at the busy workers, she noticed it was all open-air work. Such a working environment would likely become even more miserable when the weather turned hot.
Hearing Jiang Yue’s words, Jiang Tan stole a glance at her, not daring to voice the thoughts in her heart.
She still couldn’t figure it out. She was an Alpha, taller than Jiang Yue and doing heavy manual labor at a construction site—so why did she still eat less than Jiang Yue?
The main thing was that Jiang Yue wasn’t fat at all! Where did all that meat even go?
No matter how puzzled she was, Jiang Tan kept the thought hidden. She was afraid that if she spoke up, Jiang Yue might think she was teasing her and consciously restrict her diet. What if she didn’t get enough to eat?
“You’re not coming tonight, right?” Jiang Tan asked as she put on her delivery uniform.
“I’m going.” Jiang Yue hurriedly got up to tidy things away. “It’s faster with two people.”
Jiang Tan: “?” The distance to be traveled wouldn’t get any shorter just because there was an extra person.
Although she wanted Jiang Yue to rest, Jiang Tan didn’t refuse further since Jiang Yue had insisted. She also wanted Jiang Yue to get to know the city as much as possible.
Well…
Even though a better way to get to know it would be taking her out to have fun, but…
They should wait until they were a bit more financially comfortable before worrying about that.
When the two went downstairs, the elderly residents who had finished their dinners were gathered at the base of the building. Seeing them come out, they all greeted them with smiles.
“Little Jiang is going out to deliver food again. So hardworking! I wonder who will be lucky enough to have you in the future.”
Listening to their chatter, Jiang Tan helped Jiang Yue onto the electric scooter and said with a smile, “Maybe I’ll be the lucky one then.”
“Haha, that’s right! Only the very best would be a match for our Little Jiang.”
“Grandmas, I won’t chat anymore. I’m off to work!”
“Go on, go on. Drive carefully on the road.”
Jiang Tan responded to them as she drove toward the entrance of the residential complex.
Sitting in the back, Jiang Yue looked at the back of Jiang Tan’s head, recalling her previous conversation with the elderly neighbors.
She was also a bit curious about who would be lucky enough to have Jiang Tan in the future.
As she drove, Jiang Tan had to raise her voice over the noise of the main street: “I’ve noticed you don’t really talk to other people.”
Aside from having more to say when they were together, Jiang Tan noticed that Jiang Yue barely opened her mouth when they were out. Although she didn’t seem cold or distant, she didn’t take the initiative to be friendly either. This resulted in others not daring to strike up much conversation with her.
For instance, earlier with those elderly people, she had only offered a greeting but didn’t engage in small talk like Jiang Tan did.
“Really?” Jiang Yue’s voice sounded somewhat innocent. “I just don’t know what to talk about.”
She knew nothing about those people. Jiang Yue felt a bit awkward and constrained when interacting with them; it wasn’t natural like it was with Jiang Tan.
Moreover, judging by what those grandmothers said to Jiang Tan, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn’t bring up topics like “partners” if they talked to her. She didn’t want to lie to the elderly, but she didn’t know how to answer either.
She also didn’t really want to reveal the fact that she had lost her memory, fearing it might negatively affect Jiang Tan.
After all, Jiang Tan had been alone before, and suddenly a sister appeared out of nowhere—one who had amnesia and was an Omega. She was afraid people with ill intentions might overthink the situation.
“Then you’re quite introverted,” Jiang Tan muttered. She really hadn’t expected Jiang Yue to be so cold toward outsiders.
Jiang Yue chuckled. “You’re quite extroverted.”
It felt like Jiang Tan could chat with anyone, which explained why she seemed to get along so well with everyone.
“Being extroverted helps you get by,” Jiang Tan said with a bit of a boast. “I often benefit from my extroversion and sweet talk. I get a lot of perks and opportunities!”
For example, at the beginning, even the construction site didn’t want her. Back then, she looked much thinner than she did now. Even though she was an Alpha, she was as skinny as a rack of ribs; it was no wonder they worried she couldn’t handle the work.
However…
In the end, thanks to Jiang Tan’s sweet talk, Sister Zhou gave her a chance to try it out. As she kept at it, she was allowed to stay. Plus, with a normal diet combined with heavy labor, Jiang Tan’s muscle mass increased, and she worked faster and better than before.
Listening to the slight pride in Jiang Tan’s voice, Jiang Yue also curved her lips into a shallow smile.
With the two of them working together to deliver food, their efficiency indeed improved. However, considering Jiang Yue had already worked the whole afternoon and likely wasn’t adjusted to the physical toll yet, Jiang Tan stopped taking orders after 10:00 PM. On the way back, she took Jiang Yue to the snack street to eat something before they went home to shower and sleep.
The two continued living this way. Every morning, Jiang Yue followed Jiang Tan to the construction site, then Jiang Yue would take the scooter to deliver food, and they would go out together again in the evening. After a period of time, everyone at the construction site knew that Jiang Tan had a beautiful Omega girlfriend—one who didn’t mind Jiang Tan being poor and was willing to endure hardships with her.
When Jiang Tan heard those comments…
She felt like the tone was very strange!
Why did she get the distinct feeling that people were talking as if she were some delinquent “yellow-haired” punk who had seduced a good girl from school, making her drop out just to suffer by her side?!
Even though she knew many people were just teasing and genuinely wished her well, Jiang Tan couldn’t shake that “vibe.”
Perhaps it was because they never forgot to emphasize Jiang Tan’s poverty just to highlight how rare the situation was—it made Jiang Tan feel a bit “broken” by the reminder of her own poor status.
Truly heartbroken by poverty.