A thick sense of life’s bustle blanketed everyone’s hearts in the night.
Or maybe it wasn’t the bustle—it was the choking smoke from the oil.
The smoke from the Barbecue Stall always seemed to drift toward people, as if drawn to them.
“Cough, cough…” Zhu Niao covered her mouth and nose, coughing twice. “A hundred yuan worth of skewers should be enough for the two of us to eat ourselves into oblivion, right?”
As soon as Zhu Niao coughed, Gou Yu turned the electric fan beside the Barbecue Stall toward their side, blowing away the smoke that always drifted over to Zhu Niao.
“More than enough. Your appetite isn’t what it used to be anyway. We can even pack some to take home.”
Gou Yu grabbed two cans of fizzy drinks and set them on the table.
Barbecue had to be paired with fizzy drinks, but Zhu Niao didn’t like cola or Sprite—she was devoted to fruit soda, especially orange flavor.
Gou Yu wasn’t picky about anything, so after spending time with Zhu Niao, he started drinking orange soda with her.
With the two iron trays piled high with skewers on the table, the total was just a bit over a hundred yuan. That was exactly why Zhu Niao and Gou Yu loved this kind of street barbecue.
By the way, Gou Yu also paid the change, since Zhu Niao said the main hundred was from her bonus.
Gou Yu frowned, pulling Zhu Niao’s wrist so the greasy skewers stayed far from Little Bird’s white dress.
That was one of the downsides of street stalls—the environment didn’t look all that healthy or hygienic.
“You think eating skewers here will mess up our stomachs?” Zhu Niao adjusted to the habit of eating in a white dress, stretching her slender neck to reach the skewer.
It looked a bit odd, but Zhu Niao wasn’t someone who cared about appearances.
In fact, with that face of hers, it seemed like whatever she did just made sense.
“Just look at how many skewers you get for a hundred yuan.” Gou Yu pointed at the skewers on the table. “If these things could send me running to the toilet for three days straight, I’d actually praise them for helping digestion.”
“Good point.” Zhu Niao took a big gulp of soda, then grabbed a skewer and started eating.
Before long, Little Bird was hugging her soda can and starting to burp.
Every time she burped, she’d deliberately lean close to Gou Yu’s ear and force out a huge, loud belch.
After that, Gou Yu would push Zhu Niao’s face away in disgust and press Little Bird back into her seat.
In the noisy Night Market, Zhu Niao seemed especially eye-catching.
Her white dress was like a touch of vermilion falling into ink, like a round white moon reflected in a pond.
There were always glances drifting over, and when there were enough of them, one or two might get bold.
Zhu Niao was already used to all the eyes on her whenever she went out—it seemed like a required course for any beautiful girl.
But Gou Yu wasn’t used to it.
He glanced indifferently at those few stares, then finished the last sip from his soda can.
Then he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his well-defined muscles, and pressed his arm down on the can.
With a couple of soft clicks, a thin iron disk appeared on the table, which Gou Yu tossed to Zhu Niao like a toy.
No matter how many eyes there were, after that scene, they all wisely looked away.
The little wooden table trembled twice, and Gou Yu looked left and right before realizing it was his phone vibrating on the table.
It was his dear little sister calling.
He glanced at Zhu Niao, then at the noisy surroundings, and just answered the call.
Even face to face, you had to raise your voice to be heard here—there was no way Little Bird could hear without speakerphone.
“Hello?”
Hearing that, Zhu Niao leaned her face over.
And was promptly pressed back by Gou Yu, this time staying obediently in her seat.
“Hey, bro, are you free lately?”
Gou Yu paused, looking at Zhu Niao across from him.
Little Bird, seeing Gou Yu on the phone, shrank into the corner of her seat to wait for her good brother’s call to finish.
“If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. I’m busy right now.”
“What, you don’t even have time for your own sister’s call?” The voice on the other end hesitated. “But if you’re out on a date with your girlfriend, I guess I can understand.”
Hearing that, Gou Yu subconsciously glanced at Zhu Niao again.
Little Bird tilted her head when she noticed his gaze, still cradling her half-finished orange soda.
He suddenly didn’t dare meet Little Bird’s eyes, quickly looking away into the surging crowd of the Night Market.
“If you’ve got something to say, say it.” His voice dropped a little without realizing.
“The family wants me to check on how you’re living, so I’ve decided to come visit your place.”
Gou Yu froze.
Logically, he wasn’t worried about his dear little sister coming over—he wouldn’t even mind if she took the two packs of spicy strips in the fridge.
But now Little Bird was living with him—what if his sister found out?
Though, it seemed like there was already a certain level of misunderstanding.
“No way, I’m super busy these days. Even if you come, I’ll probably be out.” Gou Yu started making excuses.
“I know you don’t have class tomorrow.”
Wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, Gou Yu tried again: “No class tomorrow just means I can go deliver food. You just don’t get how tough it is for us poor folks.”
“I can pay you tomorrow’s wages, as a fee for letting me visit your place.”
Gou Yu was sure he’d never been this nervous, not even when teachers came for home visits back in school.
Back then, he’d have lied without hesitation, saying he was an orphan just to dodge a home visit.
“I just want to experience the sense of accomplishment from working. Labor brings me joy—someone like you, who should be hung from a lamppost, wouldn’t understand.” Gou Yu kept trying to wriggle out.
“I’ve already boxed your address.”
Gou Yu fell silent.
All his words stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
So this call from his dear sister was just a notification, not a discussion.
“My roommate’s a guy, so it might be awkward when you come.”
The girl on the other end didn’t seem to mind: “No problem, I wanted to get to know the people around you anyway.”
For a moment, Gou Yu couldn’t think of any way to refuse.
He couldn’t just leave Little Bird at home alone to face his inevitably visiting sister, so even running away wasn’t an option.
“Alright, it’s settled.”
With that, the girl hung up.
Across the table, Zhu Niao looked curious. “What’s up? Why do I feel like it’s got something to do with me?”
“Nothing, just a friend coming over to visit tomorrow.” Gou Yu still didn’t plan to reveal the truth.
Honestly, he hadn’t figured out what to do yet.
“You actually have friends?” Zhu Niao glanced at the phone. “Hey, perfect—Store Manager just messaged me that I have tomorrow off.”
Only Gou Yu was left with a bitter smile.
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