“I was not hiring prostitutes!”
The oversized helmet Zhou Xufang was wearing tilted to one side.
“Is that true?” she asked while adjusting the helmet.
She was feeling a little bitter at the thought of Jiang Zhi going home with a hooker to the point where her eyes had started to redden. This was because of her strong opinion against the concept of selling one’s own body for money and because she didn’t want Jiang Zhi to go down the path of immorality.
Even if he did go astray, she would not hesitate to guide him back toward the right path.
“Why would I lie to you?” Jiang Zhi emphasized, “I did not even touch them.”
He sounded firm and frankly, a little angry.
Could it be that she had misunderstood him?
Zhou Xufang thought about the matter with furrowed brows.
“You don’t trust me?” Jiang Zhi asked while gazing into her eyes, trying to hook onto her with his own.
Zhou Xufang thought harder about it.
Seeing did not necessarily mean believing. Zhou Xufang felt that it was wrong to even doubt Jiang Zhi’s moral conscience. After all, they had already known each other for quite a while now, and apart from his unconventional sexual preferences, he was a perfect person through and through. He liked helping those in need, particularly people who were in dire straits.
Also, there wasn’t even a need for Jiang Zhi to hire hookers. On the contrary, girls were actually lining up to get into bed with the man.
The more Zhou Xufang thought about it, the more she discovered that she had indeed misunderstood Jiang Zhi. This time, without hesitation, she said to Jiang Zhi, “I believe you.”
The corner of Jiang Zhi’s mouth curled upward.
“I understand now, that you are a man with noble intentions.”
“…”
Zhou Xufang sighed in relief that he wasn’t involved in some shady activity. Even so, she still had a job to do, so she had to be on her way. “I’ll go back to work now.” She pushed her electric scooter forward, preparing to leave for the porridge shop to deliver a new order.
Jiang Zhi pulled onto the tail of the electric scooter.
She turned around.
Instead of looking straight at her eyes, Jiang Zhi stared at her great yellow helmet. “You shouldn’t be working so late at night. It just isn’t safe for a single girl.”
‘Boom. I knew he was a good person.’
Zhou Xufang was a little disappointed in herself for even suspecting him of engaging in the illegal sex trade.
“No biggie, I’m really strong.” She could burst a car tire with a single kick and kill a bull with a single blow. The people who should be wary were the ones who targetted her.
Jiang Zhi stubbornly held on to the tail-end of her scooter. Since he was wearing only a single layer, the freezing outdoor weather had turned both his fingertips as well as his nose bright red. Then, he even burst out coughing after inhaling the chilly air which burned his lungs.
“It’s cold outside. Don’t go. If you’re short on cash…” He looked sideways in an attempt to avert his gaze, but that only revealed his ears which were glowing red. “If you’re short on cash, then I’ll give you some.”
Due to the cold wind, his voice had started sounding rather nasally, as if he had caught a cold already.
Zhou Xufang was so moved by his words that her heart felt as if it was going to melt away at any moment.
“Jiang Zhi, you’re such a good guy, but how could I possibly accept the money? It’s not like that stuff grows on trees, right?”
“…”
Zhou Xufang constantly calling himself a “good person” made him curl up his fists in irritation.
“I’ll be leaving, then. It’s really cold out here so you should hurry home now.” Zhou Xufang lifted her scooter and yanked it away from Jiang Zhi’s hand effortlessly. Now seated on the scooter, she remembered something so she turned around. “Ah Wan, could you pass me the bottles you’ve picked up?”
She wanted to give it to the old lady who picked through the trash cans outside the porridge shop.
Ah Wan, the sportsman who was shocked by the strength of a twenty-odd-year-old young lady replied, “O-okay.”
He didn’t know that Miss Zhou was so poor that she resorted to collecting recyclables to make a living. He promised himself that he must support her screen protector business from here on out.
“Thank you.”
Zhou Xufang placed the empty bottles on her scooter and waved Jiang Zhi goodbye before riding off.
Jiang Zhi stood there, staring at the little electric scooter until it disappeared into the never-ending traffic.
“Boss, how ’bout we go home now?” asked Ah Wan who, because he was picking up litter, was shunned by the young master who had ordered him to do so himself.
Jiang Zhi ignored him.
Staring at the neon lights in the distance, its color changed from red to blue, then finally to purple when he lowered his gaze. Silently, he turned around to leave with his back slightly arched as he coughed lightly.
For some reason, Ah Wan felt extremely sympathetic to the young master’s unrequited love.
By the time he reached the room where his goons were gathered, his body temperature had already flared up into a mild fever.
Of course it had. It was 2 degrees centigrade below freezing point after all. Xue Bingxue was nagging into his ear about how he was wrecking his own body before ordering Ah Wan to fetch over some fever medication.
“What’s up with you lately?” Qiao Nanchu asked.
He lay there on the sofa helplessly. With his eyes still closed, he muttered, “I don’t like men.” After a while, he continued. “I don’t like women either.”
‘So?’
Finally, Jiang Zhi accepted his fate. “But I do like her, a little bit.”
By that, Jiang Zhi meant that he had developed a desire for her—a very strong but distinct sort of desire for her. It was distinct in the sense that he wouldn’t grab her like he would the other things that he had developed a liking toward.
She was different. In fact, he was a little intimidated by the idea of approaching her.
“Her?” Qiao Nanchu asked, “Who is ‘her’?”
Xue Baoyi answered his question in Jiang Zhi’s stead. “The one from just now. That Zhou Xufang girl that’s selling screen protectors under Bayi Bridge.”
This wasn’t the first time Qiao Nanchu had heard her name. In fact, it was just yesterday that he had heard them speak of her name. It was when Jiang Zhi complained about his lunch and had ordered Ah Wan to order food from elsewhere which he demanded to be delivered by this Zhou Xufang herself.
“A bit?” Qiao Nanchu exposed Jiang Zhi with a cheeky smile on his face. “I don’t think so. Jiang Zhi, your reactions are way too over the top for you to like her just ‘a little bit’.”
He had been more than willing to haul his ass outside in the minus 2-degree centigrade weather just to clear up some petty misunderstanding. If it was just “a little bit”, he would’ve stayed at home, snoring away already.
Jiang Zhi’s eyes twitched. He wasn’t going to admit to it but neither was he going to deny it.
‘Yes, perhaps my reaction has been too much.’
For example…
“Xue Baoyi.” Jiang Zhi spoke as his eyes sprung open.
Hearing his full name being called, Xue Baoyi’s heart sank. “Hey, stop calling me that.”
‘I almost shat myself, y’know?’
“Isn’t your company about to start its year-end activities?”
This tone of his…
Xue Baoyi panicked. “Yeah, what are you trying to say?”
“I want you to give out phone covers as complimentary gifts from the company.” He was still staring at the ceiling listlessly. “Remember, procure your stock from that stall underneath Bayi Bridge.”
“…”
‘D*mn, why don’t you just say her name, ‘Zhou Xufang’!?’
Fine, Xue Baoyi took this as Jiang Zhi’s revenge for that “trump card” incident from a while ago. He nodded his head obediently. “No problemo, a hundred for each person. Would that be sufficient?”
Jiang Zhi mumbled a casual reply.
Ah Wan, who had just returned with the young master’s medication, overheard their conversation which only made his admiration for Jiang Zhi grow ever larger. Despite being down with a fever, he was still looking out for Miss Zhou’s business. All this, fuelled by the power of love!
That night, Jiang Zhi clambered onto his bed at 2 am but only fell asleep by 4 am. Then, he started experiencing a dream.
“Jiang Zhi.”
“Jiang Zhi.”
He could stand it no longer. “Stop it.”
“Jiang Zhi.”
“Jiang Zhi.”
She didn’t stop calling his name.
Looking up, he saw her sitting atop a tree, smiling at him sweetly. She was wearing a very short white skirt and was swinging her pale-white legs. “Do you like me?”
He refused to answer.
She opened up her arms and jumped down from the tree.
Without thinking twice, he reached out to catch her…
“Do you like me?” she asked as a pair of tender white hands wrapped around his neck, almost hugging him lightly. “Jiang Zhi,” she called out.
“Jiang Zhi.”
She was soft, like a cloud that was wrapped around his body.
He had no idea where this place was, but vaguely, he could make out that it was outdoors and under a tree. Looking up, he could see the star-filled night sky, and below, her gleaming smile.
She sat up and rested her face against his neck, whispering quietly into his ears, “Oh, so you do like me after all.”
He did not deny her claim, which allowed her to act so boldly.