Entering the break room, Xia Yu understood why the manager had called him over.
The manager took out an envelope and handed it to Xia Yu, saying, “This is your salary; the rent has already been deducted.”
Feeling the impressive thickness of the envelope, Xia Yu felt a sense of satisfaction.
After obtaining the game, after such a long time, he had finally earned his first pot of gold.
Without counting the money, Xia Yu confidently put the envelope into his backpack, bid farewell to the manager, and walked out of the cafe.
He took out his phone and called Kong Hanyue, saying he wouldn’t be coming over today.
“Why aren’t you coming? I’ve already prepared food,” Kong Hanyue tried to persuade him.
“I got my part-time salary today; I’m going out to celebrate.”
“Then bring my mom along!”
Who celebrates with their mom around!
“I’m going with Youxue; do you want to come?” Xia Yu asked.
After hesitating for ten seconds, Kong Hanyue gave up the idea of tagging along with Xia Yu.
Back home, Xia Yu saw Youxue cooking noodles.
“Oh, why did you come back so early today, Brother?” the girl was surprised.
“I got my salary today; let’s go out for dinner,” Xia Yu waved the envelope in his hand.
“But my noodles,” Youxue looked at the noodles in the pot.
“Just a bowl of noodles,” Xia Yu said generously.
Wanting to eat out, Youxue agreed after Xia Yu persuaded her slightly. She scooped the noodles from the pot and threw them into the trash, then ran into her room to get ready.
Xia Yu sat at the dining table, staring at the noodles in the trash for a while, then went to the kitchen.
He opened the drawer beneath the stove, where there were many dried dough balls.
These days, he had been eating dinner at Kong Hanyue’s place and hadn’t asked what Youxue had been eating. Now it seemed that the girl had just been managing with simple noodles.
Eating only noodles wouldn’t support proper development.
After closing the drawer, Xia Yu changed their plans to a barbecue restaurant.
They really needed to replenish their nutrition.
He also needed to figure out dinner arrangements for the future.
While thinking, he opened the envelope, inside which was 13,000 yuan; the manager had secretly raised his salary.
After counting the money, Youxue, now ready, came out from her bedroom.
Staring at the girl for five seconds, Xia Yu realized she had just redone her hairstyle.
Girls were indeed meticulous.
“Where are we going?” Youxue held Xia Yu’s hand.
“There’s a barbecue place nearby,” Xia Yu said.
This area was close to the school, so there were many restaurants.
“Can we eat enough there?” Youxue had never been to a barbecue restaurant; in her imagination, barbecue meant two people grilling a few small dishes of meat around a stove.
“You won’t be able to finish it all,” Xia Yu pinched the girl’s cheek and led her downstairs.
At the barbecue restaurant, Youxue quickly forgot her earlier worries and waited happily.
When the staff prepared the grill and placed the meat on it, she became even more excited.
“You can eat now,” Xia Yu said.
The girl immediately reached out with her chopsticks.
After eating a few slices of meat, she remembered her desire to show off and took several photos with her phone, posting them in her bestie group chat.
Then, she put her phone aside and continued eating meat.
…
At the Yan household.
Yan Li, who was helping in the kitchen, saw the photos Youxue had posted and playfully said to her mother, “Mom, I want to eat barbecue too!”
“Oh, I want to eat it too,” her mother responded indifferently.
Shouldn’t you be saying we’ll go next time? What do you mean, “I want to eat it too”?
Adjusting her mood, Yan Li continued, “Then when are we going to eat it?”
“Nice try.”
“…”
Seeing that she couldn’t convince her mother, Yan Li ran to her older sister Yan Wei, “Sis, Youxue is eating barbecue; I want to eat it too.”
“With her brother,” Yan Wei slowed her pace.
“Her brother?”
After thinking for two seconds, Yan Wei put down her work, untied her apron, and approached their mother.
“Mom, Lili is nagging to go eat barbecue; I’ll take her to eat,” Yan Wei said.
“Go on the weekend.”
“She wants to go right now; we’re leaving!”
“What a wasteful child, fine, go ahead,” Yan Mom waved her off.
“?”
Yan Li tilted her head in thought: When did I say I wanted to go today?
But if she could go today, that would be best!
Under her sister’s guidance, Yan Li asked for the details of the restaurant where Youxue was. The Yans also lived near the school, so the two quickly arrived at the restaurant.
“Xue Xue!” Yan Li found Youxue.
“You really came!” Youxue was also happy.
“I want to post photos too, to make those guys envious!” Yan Li also took photos of the barbecue and a picture with Youxue, then posted them in the group.
In this world, the messaging app “Penguin” hadn’t developed the “Penguin Space” feature yet, so they could only post in group chats.
The two girls played joyfully together, while Xia Yu and Yan Wei had little to talk about.
After realizing that Yan Wei still had ulterior motives, Xia Yu kept his distance from her. Acting like a protagonist from a Japanese anime, stringing someone along, was a very irresponsible behavior.
To put it bluntly, those male protagonists’ actions were those of a playboy, no matter what reasons they had—they ended up keeping numerous backup options around them.
Previously, Xia Yu had enjoyed being fed by Yan Wei because he thought that Yan Wei, having just been rejected by him, probably wouldn’t have any further intentions. But after spending time together, he realized she still wanted to make a move on him.
Yan Wei could clearly sense this distance, and she didn’t know what to do next.
When she asked Gui Zixiao for advice, she only got the response, “You’re pushing too hard,” without any real solution.
Halfway through the meal, another of Youxue’s female friends arrived; this was the one who had previously accompanied Youxue when she witnessed Yan Wei confessing to Xia Yu.
She had come with her mother.
The three little girls chattered and played joyfully together, filling the barbecue restaurant with a happy atmosphere.
After dragging on for an hour, the three tables had finished eating, and the time for parting had come.
At this point, the newly arrived girl finally recognized Yan Wei’s face.
She leaned toward her mother and told her what she had previously witnessed—Yan Wei’s confession to Xia Yu.
The young mother looked at Yan Wei, whose expression had turned gloomy, and stroked her chin thoughtfully.
After paying the bill, she said to Xia Yu and Yan Wei, “The kids don’t want to separate tonight; how about letting Xue Xue and Li Li come to my house to play? I’ll send them to school tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Youxue and Yan Li looked eagerly hopeful.
Xia Yu and Yan Wei agreed.
Thus, the young mother drove to the Yan and Xia households to collect clothes for the two girls.
Outside the barbecue restaurant, only Xia Yu and Yan Wei remained.
By now, it was already dark, and the streetlights around them were dim.
“I’ll walk you home first,” Xia Yu said.
“Okay,” Yan Wei replied softly, lowering her head.
She felt no joy because she knew this was out of Xia Yu’s kindness; standing here, no matter which girl it was, Xia Yu would have done the same.
The two walked under the quiet night sky.
Yan Wei’s house was on a street behind the barbecue restaurant. To take a shortcut, they entered a small park without streetlights.
The park was even quieter; the rustling of leaves echoed, harmonizing with their footsteps.
Something was off.
Xia Yu stopped. There were not just two footsteps, but three.
Seeing Xia Yu stop, Yan Wei also halted, and now the third set of footsteps became clearly noticeable.
The footsteps began to quicken.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage