Xi Leyao looked at her, his brows tightly furrowed. This woman was a bit too persistent.
He walked past Ji Zhi toward his electric scooter, but she quickly followed and blocked his way.
“Are you heading back?”
“Would you like me to treat you to a meal? After all, you weren’t in a good mood today.” Ji Zhi was dressed in a particularly sunny outfit—black overalls with a denim skirt and an orange short-sleeved top on the upper half.
Her long hair was tied into twin ponytails, bouncing and swaying as she hopped around.
She looked like a bright, cheerful little sun.
Meanwhile, Xi Leyao walked ahead, completely ignoring Ji Zhi.
In his mind, he was thinking about going back to cook a delicious meal for Song Jinhe. He could make braised shrimp, stir-fry some meat with potatoes for a lean pork and potato dish, reheat the hand-shredded chicken, and prepare a plate of blanched vegetables.
That would do.
Thankfully, his cooking skills were decent enough to please Song Jinhe.
Seeing him get on his scooter without even acknowledging her, Ji Zhi stood there, fuming.
“Hey—why are you ignoring me?” Ji Zhi shouted, reaching out to grab his arm as he was about to drive away.
As soon as she grabbed him, Xi Leyao immediately shook her off.
His gaze was filled with wariness and disgust.
But Ji Zhi didn’t mind. Instead, she seized the opportunity to grab his hand again, preventing Xi Leyao from escaping.
“Who are you, and why are you following me?” Xi Leyao was annoyed. He was in a hurry to go back and cook for his wife.
“I’m the one who saved you at noon today, your lifesaver,” Ji Zhi said, taken aback.
Lifesaver?
Xi Leyao sneered, looking at her coldly as he questioned, “I didn’t fall into the water, nor did I faint by the river. How can you call yourself a lifesaver?”
“I haven’t even said you were meddling. I was squatting by the river, not lying in it.”
He pulled his hand back, twisted the throttle, and drove off.
Watching Xi Leyao’s retreating figure, Ji Zhi stomped her foot in frustration. In her previous life, this man hadn’t been so cold and indifferent.
In her past life, Xi Leyao had been gentle and refined, always wearing a faint smile on his face. He was kind to everyone and spoke with exceptional warmth.
Xi Leyao returned to the rented apartment and opened the door to find Song Jinhe asleep on the sofa.
The living room lights were on, and the floor was littered with shopping bags, likely from her trip to the mall earlier in the day.
A laptop lay open on the coffee table, playing a short song on repeat every few seconds.
Xi Leyao moved quietly as he entered, placing the groceries in the kitchen and taking off his delivery vest.
He picked up the paper bags scattered on the floor one by one and hung them on the clothing rack.
Most of the clothes on the rack belonged to Song Jinhe, and the small wardrobe in the room was also filled with her clothes.
Xi Leyao’s clothes occupied only a tiny corner.
The fan hummed in the rented apartment, but even with the windows open, Song Jinhe still felt unbearably hot.
She was drenched in sweat, her forehead damp and her back soaked.
Waking up from the heat, Song Jinhe sat up, rubbing her eyes in a daze.
“You’re awake,” Xi Leyao’s voice sounded.
Song Jinhe looked toward the open kitchen, where Xi Leyao stood wearing an apron, washing the ingredients.
“Mhm.”
“You came back quite early today.”
Song Jinhe picked up the mineral water bottle on the coffee table, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.
All the things she had messed up today had been put back in place by the other person, and the originally somewhat messy house instantly became clean and tidy.
After an hour, the two of them sat down at the dining table. Song Jinhe ate her meal while Xi Leyao, wearing disposable gloves, peeled shrimp for her.
“Xi Leyao, how about we go set up a stall?” Song Jinhe held her bowl and asked with a smile, her eyes curving.
“Not a good idea.”
Xi Leyao placed the peeled shrimp in her bowl. “It’s exhausting. You’ve been pampered since childhood and won’t be used to it.”
Song Jinhe ate the shrimp and retorted, “Not just me, it’s us.”
“I heard setting up a stall can be very profitable. We urgently need money right now, and a stall should bring in money faster, right?”
“Your cooking skills are excellent. Let’s sell fast food.” After researching all afternoon, Song Jinhe concluded that selling fast food at a stall was the best idea she could come up with.
Cooking was also Xi Leyao’s specialty.
Hearing her suggestion, Xi Leyao didn’t respond immediately, just looked at her with his dark eyes.
Feeling a bit unnerved by his stare, Song Jinhe raised her voice defensively, “Do you agree or not? Running deliveries every day isn’t a long-term solution either.”
“If you really don’t plan to work hard anymore, let’s get a divorce. I’ll have Jiang Yuan support me.” Song Jinhe shouted at him.
Xi Leyao didn’t reply, just placed the peeled shrimp in front of her, took off the disposable gloves, and wiped his hands with a tissue.
After finishing all this, Xi Leyao finally asked, “Why do you want to set up a stall?”
“To make money, of course.”
What else could it be? For the exhaustion or the fun?
“Got it. I’ll research the market feasibility tonight.” Xi Leyao picked up his chopsticks and spoke slowly, lowering his head.
“Alright.” Song Jinhe knew that when he spoke like this, he already had his own thoughts. Once Xi Leyao decided to do something, he would see it through to the end, even if it was just setting up a stall.
She picked up her phone from the side, opened it, found Xi Leyao’s WeChat, and transferred fifty thousand yuan to him.
“Ding dong—”
Xi Leyao glanced at his phone—it was a transfer notification. Opening it, he stared at the four zeros and froze.
“Why are you giving me money?”
“And where did this money come from?”
Instead of accepting it, Xi Leyao frowned deeply, wondering where she had gotten the money.
“This fifty thousand is your startup capital. You have to pay it back once you succeed.” Song Jinhe put down her phone and spoke with utmost seriousness.
As someone who only hoarded money and never spent it, parting with fifty thousand yuan already pained Song Jinhe deeply.
“You have to work hard and earn money to support me!”
Song Jinhe looked at him and said this with absolute confidence.
Xi Leyao nodded. “I will.”
Even after going bankrupt, Song Jinhe was still encouraging him to regain his confidence.
So he absolutely couldn’t let Song Jinhe down.
Because of the stall plan, Xi Leyao left early and returned late these past few days. He stopped cooking and simply brought back takeout for Song Jinhe to eat.
Meanwhile, Song Jinhe wasn’t idle either. She updated her dance videos daily.
Since she danced well and was naturally beautiful and charming,
her followers skyrocketed. In just three days, she surpassed one thousand followers.
After hitting one thousand followers, Song Jinhe quickly set up a shopping window, thinking every little bit of income counted.
Song Jinhe was very happy; being beautiful really made a difference in how she was treated.
As she scrolled through the sparse comments, two particularly glaring ones caught her eye.
[“If you’re broke, just come back home. What’s the point of singing and dancing online?”]
[“What an embarrassment.”]