“Something bad? Can you tell me about it? Maybe I can help you feel better.”
Chen Zhuo put away his smile and became serious.
He knew this was a perfect opportunity to truly enter Jiang Qiuli’s inner world.
If he handled it well, their relationship could reach an unprecedented level.
Jiang Qiuli hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke, “It’s nothing much… I just always thought our class monitor, Ye Fei, was a good person. I didn’t expect that behind the scenes, he’d be so unpleasant.”
She paused, then continued, “People like that are the most disgusting. Back then, my dad was deceived by someone like that, and it ruined our whole family. If my mom hadn’t been under so much pressure, she might not have gotten cancer.”
As she spoke, Jiang Qiuli wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes again.
All these years, she didn’t even know how she and her mother had managed to get through life.
Once upon a time, she had been a carefree little princess who smiled brightly at everyone she met.
Chen Zhuo listened and said seriously, “That’s not a bad thing. Now that you’ve seen Ye Fei’s other side, you should actually feel relieved. At least you won’t fall for his tricks in the future.”
He began analyzing things for her carefully.
At that moment, he finally understood how those cliché ‘best friend’ roles always played a key part.
Right now, his position was practically the same as that “best friend.”
Son of Destiny Ye Fei? Today, he was determined to completely ruin Ye Fei’s image in Jiang Qiuli’s heart.
“Besides, you said there are many people like that in society. But there are all kinds of people out there. There are people like Ye Fei, who wear two faces… and there are people like me, who are straightforward and open, right?”
Jiang Qiuli raised her head and stared at Chen Zhuo blankly.
After thinking for a few seconds, she nodded in agreement.
The man in front of her really was straightforward.
Openly bad.
And openly shameless.
“What kind of look is that?” Chen Zhuo asked calmly.
“Pfft—”
Jiang Qiuli couldn’t help but laugh. [Selected Online Reading: Sangu Book House]
“It’s nothing. I just thought of something happy.”
“Something happy? What?”
Chen Zhuo frowned, not understanding.
“I’m not telling you!”
…
“If you don’t tell me, then don’t blame me for reporting you to your mom.”
At the entrance of the hospital cafeteria, after asking all the way without getting an answer, Chen Zhuo finally used his trump card.
Jiang Qiuli stopped and looked at him.
“It’s nothing, really. I just think… you really are a straightforward person. You do whatever you want and say whatever you want. These past two days… thank you.”
Although Jiang Qiuli usually didn’t talk much, she had once been a top student.
This kind of subtle expression wasn’t difficult for her.
She had simply rephrased “bad” and “thick-skinned” into something that sounded completely different.
“Really?”
Chen Zhuo, of course, didn’t catch the hidden meaning. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Instead, he was delighted.
For Jiang Qiuli to say something like this meant their relationship had indeed grown closer.
“That makes me very happy. As a reward, I’ll take care of your aunt’s dinner today!”
Without giving her a chance to refuse, Chen Zhuo walked to the same food stall they had eaten at yesterday.
He ordered a steamed egg, stir-fried beef with sweet peppers, corn with ham and green peas, and a main dish—steamed perch.
He also got three bowls of mixed-grain rice.
“Auntie, it’s paid.”
Carrying the packed food, he walked back to Jiang Qiuli and said calmly, “Let’s go. We’ll also get some fruit for your aunt.”
Jiang Qiuli stood there without moving.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Zhuo turned back and asked.
She pointed at the bag in his hand but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, this? I haven’t had dinner yet, and neither have you. I bought enough for three people.”
Jiang Qiuli shook her head and said softly, “Put… put it on my tab.”
“This costs over 80 yuan. Can you even pay that back if I put it on your tab?”
Chen Zhuo sighed, then continued, “Didn’t you treat me yesterday? I said I’d treat you back, so this counts as my treat.”
“That won’t do. Today’s meal is more expensive than yesterday’s. I’ll pay you back once I earn money.”
“Earn money? How are you going to earn money?”
Chen Zhuo’s eyes flickered as another idea came to him.
“You can come to my place to organize the warehouse. I’ll pay you 100 yuan each time, once a week. How many meals do you think that covers?”
Jiang Qiuli lowered her head.
What Chen Zhuo said was something she couldn’t avoid… a harsh reality.
Her answer was simple… she had no money.
Looking at her lowered head, Chen Zhuo continued, “But actually, I do have a way for you to earn more money and pay everything back.”
“What?”
Jiang Qiuli quickly raised her head, her eyes wide with expectation.
“What else could it be? There are only a few ways to make money. And for you… there’s really only one option.”
Chen Zhuo shrugged.
Jiang Qiuli’s face instantly turned red, and she lowered her head again.
Staring at the ground nervously, she muttered softly, “Pervert…”
Chen Zhuo reached out, lifted her chin, and forced her to look up.
“What did you just say?”
Jiang Qiuli pressed her lips together tightly and turned her head to the side, not daring to meet his gaze.
Chen Zhuo continued, “I want you to work at my supermarket. How is that perverted?”
Jiang Qiuli froze, then slowly turned her head back.
She stared blankly into his eyes.
“What do you mean ‘ah’? What did you think I meant?”
Jiang Qiuli bit her lip lightly, her eyelashes trembling, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“N-no… I just meant… last time I said I had to take care of my mom, so I don’t have time for a part-time job.”
She hurriedly changed the subject.
Chen Zhuo nodded. “I know. But today I came up with a way to solve your problem.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll lend you the electric bike. You can go take care of your aunt and come back. It’ll only take about 40 minutes. You should have 40 minutes around mealtime, right?”
Jiang Qiuli’s eyes instantly lit up.
She nodded vigorously, joy sparkling in her eyes.
“I do!”
“Good. Now you don’t have to worry anymore. Let’s go buy some fruit.”
“Okay!”
Jiang Qiuli looked at Chen Zhuo’s face. The soft golden afternoon sunlight filtered through the glass doors and fell on him… making him look especially handsome.
She suddenly realized that ever since Chen Zhuo had entered her life, it had started to feel full of hope again.
After following him for a few steps, Jiang Qiuli suddenly stopped again.
“Um… add the fruit to my tab too.”
“No. Last time I came to see your aunt, I didn’t bring anything. This time, buying some fruit is just proper etiquette. You can’t calculate everything so precisely like that. At worst, next time you visit my home, you can bring some fruit for my mom.”
Jiang Qiuli thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright… I understand.”
Chen Zhuo took her to the fruit shop beside the cafeteria and began picking things out.
The hospital cafeteria was quite reasonable, but the fruit shop was “cool” in a different way… the kind that chilled your wallet.
The prices were higher than outside, though the quality was decent.
Chen Zhuo didn’t care much about the cost. Based on what he remembered, he picked several fruits with high nutritional value.
However, Jiang Qiuli stood behind him holding the bag.
Whenever he picked expensive fruits and moved on, she would quietly take them out and put them back.
It was only when Chen Zhuo felt the weight was off that he realized.
He sighed.
As the villain, he really had no way to deal with this female lead.
Looking at the now light fruit bag, he grabbed some of the cheapest apples and bananas from the side and put them in.
Then he turned to Jiang Qiuli and asked, “Is this okay?”
Jiang Qiuli nodded.
“46 yuan in total.”
After paying, Chen Zhuo and Jiang Qiuli took the elevator to the 12th floor of the inpatient department.