Chapter 14: I Have a Friend

The small shop where Zhu Niao worked part-time rarely had customers, nor was there much face-to-face interaction with clients.

So, surprisingly, the person she spoke with the most in the store turned out to be the manager girl.

“Sis Xiao Zhu, I originally wasn’t even planning to hire anyone,” the manager said cheerfully, “but I really like cute things…”

Zhu Niao understood what that implied—but she clearly remembered she had already passed the interview before she turned into a girl.

Back then, she’d still been a guy.

Did that mean even as a guy, I was considered ‘something cute’?

Zhu Niao couldn’t accept that.

So, out of pure defiance, she decided to pretend to seriously work for five whole minutes, hoping the manager girl would be forced to talk to the air.

She turned on the cash register and the computer at the front counter, which had been idle since the shop opened.

And the moment the screen lit up and she saw Steam sitting right there, her heart relaxed into a smile.

Yep. This is definitely the right place for me.

“Sis Xiao Zhu, no need to take it so seriously~ We don’t have any boss checking on us or anything.”

Zhu Niao even started to wonder—Had this girl forgotten she was the boss?

Just as she was about to be lured into launching a game by the manager girl’s whispery temptation, the glass door—one that rarely got pushed open—slowly creaked ajar.

The visitor was a man dressed quite formally.

The first thing that piqued Zhu Niao’s curiosity was: Isn’t it too hot to be wearing a full suit at the tail end of summer?

“Sis Xiao Zhu, second cabinet, first row, fourth bottle.”

Looks like he was a regular.

Zhu Niao nodded and fetched the bottle, then began searching for its corresponding price.

“Uhhh…” she frowned, staring at the listed price.

“This decimal… is this a decimal?”

“Nope.”

Great. Now Zhu Niao had an even clearer picture of just how wealthy the manager’s family really was.

Logically, someone like her—so desperate to live a better life—should be trying to get on the good side of this rich girl.

But her deeply ingrained moral compass just wouldn’t let her do something like that.

Fine then. Let’s just push Gou Yu onto her instead.

Of course, that was just a thought.

No way she could actually say something like that out loud.

“Sis Xiao Zhu, do you have a boyfriend?”

Zhu Niao noticed that the manager girl’s way of addressing her had grown noticeably more intimate.

It seemed the manager still hadn’t given up—still thinking about introducing Zhu Niao to her rebellious, money-indifferent older brother.

But then, a lightbulb went off in Zhu Niao’s head.

If that’s the case, why not just make it a mutually beneficial exchange?

After the manager handed her own contact info to her wayward brother, Zhu Niao could pass along her contact info to Gou Yu.

A perfect win-win.

“Nope, been single since birth,” Zhu Niao replied earnestly.

“I see…” The manager gathered her chestnut-red hair and smiled slightly.

“Well then, how about getting to know my not-so-reliable older brother? Just as friends, of course—you don’t have to worry about me being the boss. If you two don’t get along, you can just ignore him.”

Logically speaking, now that it had come to this, Zhu Niao really couldn’t say no.

Even if the manager’s brother turned out to be the worst kind of person, she could just treat it like subscribing to one more public account.

“Then, Boss… would it be okay if I gave your contact info to a good friend of mine too?”

The manager was taken aback.

Even someone as socially adept as her didn’t immediately know how to interpret that sentence.

She looked into Zhu Niao’s clear eyes—so transparent, so unclouded.

And suddenly she understood.

Just as she worried about her brother’s love life from a sister’s point of view, her excellent employee Zhu Niao was doing the same—from a friend’s perspective.

“Alright,” the manager said, smiling as she gave Zhu Niao’s head a playful rub—they were about the same height. “But just so we’re clear—if we don’t get along, I’m just as capable of ghosting.”

“Mhm, got it.”

Zhu Niao felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

She only hoped that old dog Gou Yu would seize this chance.

If both of them could climb the social ladder by linking up with rich girls, they might finally escape the grind of surviving meal to meal on cobbled-together leftovers.

If Gou Yu really does land himself a rich girlfriend, I’m putting TWO braised eggs and THREE sausages in my instant noodles!

Then Zhu Niao pulled out her phone and sent the manager’s contact info to Gou Yu, who was out doing deliveries.

At the same time, the manager tapped away at her own screen.

Elsewhere, Gou Yu was sipping a cheap, overly-colored drink a merchant had thrown in for free, standing in a patch of shade to escape the sun.

Then—ding! ding!—two back-to-back message notifications buzzed on his phone, forcing him to pull it out of his pocket like he was defusing a sun-baked C4 bomb.

He adjusted the screen brightness, squinting as he looked at the message at the very top.

[Sister: Pushing a very obedient and super cute girl your way. Same age as you, kinda easy to trick—but obviously, don’t actually trick her.]

[Sister: Try to develop something, okay? I know you don’t want to get involved in the family business, but you can’t avoid coming home forever, right?]

[Recommended contact — Little Bird]

Wait, hold up.

Bro.

Gou Yu had originally been lying back on his e-scooter seat, but the moment he read the message, he shot upright.

He stared at the familiar profile picture, even tapped in to double-check—but there was no option to add her as a friend.

A terrifyingly plausible suspicion crept into his mind.

He set that thought aside for now and checked his “Special Concern” list.

[Little Bird: Bro, found you a rich lady—like, filthy rich. Go work that quiet charm of yours and win her over.]

[Little Bird: Your bro’s future happiness is all riding on you and my mother-in-law now, dear father-in-law.]

[Little Bird: Though she seems to be underage at the moment, so just focus on building the emotional connection first, okay? Don’t do anything illegal. Or else I, as your father, will be the first to mete out justice.]

[Little Bird: Recommended contact — Sister]

Everything was fucking connected.

The entire backstory had essentially unfolded right in front of Gou Yu: the store manager Zhu Niao worked under… was his actual younger sister.

And the two of them—without knowing each other’s true identities—had simultaneously started matchmaking for him, each trying to push the other toward him.

For a moment, Gou Yu didn’t even know whether he should feel moved.

What the hell is happening in my life?

He let out a helpless laugh, caught between amusement and disbelief.

On the other end, Zhu Niao, seeing that Gou Yu hadn’t replied in a while, figured the old dog was probably busy and slipped her phone away.

“I’m not sure he’ll even add you. He’s kind of a wimp.”

The manager girl frowned, staring at her own phone.

No response on her end either.

“I’m guessing my brother’s probably the same.”

The chestnut-haired underage girl rested her chin in her hand, looking vaguely troubled for reasons even she couldn’t quite articulate.

She glanced again at Zhu Niao, who was sitting on the chair like a well-behaved little kitten.

The more she looked, the more satisfied she became.

“Almost time to clock out, Little Zhu-jie. You can relax a bit.”

At that, Zhu Niao only felt more embarrassed.

It was her fault she came in late today, which was why it felt like the shift ended as soon as it began.

“Just come in earlier tomorrow, no need to overthink it,” the manager added cheerfully.

She gave Zhu Niao a playful rub on the head and even started tidying things up before Zhu Niao could, almost as if she were rushing her out—clearly unwilling to let her stay for any overtime.

“Well… okay then…”

“But I did just order takeout. If you really can’t bear to leave me, I can order an extra portion.”

She was even starting to manipulate Zhu Niao using her personality against her.

“No need, no need!” Zhu Niao said quickly.

With that, Little Bird left the part-time job.

****

[You have a new order.]

Gou Yu looked down and saw the notification, and the phone number attached was one he knew all too well.

Beyond the masked details, there was also that familiar surname—his own.

He shut his eyes in silent agony.