For Qiao Le, even among friends, there should be mutual courtesy, let alone with Shen Hechuan, with whom he wasn’t even friends yet.
He could accept Shen Hechuan’s kind gesture of inviting him to eat together, but he couldn’t enjoy it without a sense of guilt.
Shen Hechuan seemed to sense his thoughts and didn’t say much.
He walked over to the coffee table, picked up his phone, and pulled up the payment QR code for Qiao Le:
“Half is fine. I ate too.”
Qiao Le swiftly transferred the money: “Done.”
The delivery had arrived, the food had been eaten, and Qiao Le had no reason to stay any longer.
Besides, he still had to return to the bar for work.
So, he picked up the pizza box and said to Shen Hechuan, “I’ll head out now. Goodbye, Mr. Shen.”
Shen Hechuan nodded: “Take care.”
With that, their interaction came to an end.
Qiao Le changed into his shoes at the entrance, neatly placed the yellow bear slippers back under the shoe cabinet, and left.
After he left, the room returned to silence.
Shen Hechuan turned on his phone, his gaze falling on the recent transfer notification.
[You have received a transfer from “Qiao Lelele.”]
88 yuan.
This was the first time in Shen Hechuan’s thirty-two years of life that he had received such a small amount.
Somehow, it felt… rather endearing.
Shen Hechuan stared at the notification for a while, then couldn’t help but smile, though he wasn’t entirely sure why.
He just felt… in a good mood.
As he was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang.
The screen displayed “Pei Wenjing,” a long-time friend of his.
Shen Hechuan casually answered the call, and Pei Wenjing’s teasing voice came through, accompanied by the sound of loud music:
“Hey, man, I heard you went on a blind date with the Cheng family’s daughter?”
Having known each other for years, and with their parents being close as well, it wasn’t surprising that Pei Wenjing knew about Shen Hechuan and Cheng Jiarong.
But it had been a while since then.
Shen Hechuan walked toward the study with his phone:
“Do you really spend your days focusing on such trivial matters?”
“How can you call it trivial? I’m just looking out for you,” Pei Wenjing laughed.
“So, when’s the wedding? I’ve already got my gift money ready.”
“Keep it for yourself,” Shen Hechuan replied, uninterested.
“Not your type, huh?” Pei Wenjing clicked his tongue.
“I heard the Cheng family’s daughter just graduated. Isn’t she like eight or nine years younger than you? I figured you wouldn’t be into someone that young. But isn’t your mom pushing you hard? Need any help?”
“No,” Shen Hechuan said as he turned on his computer.
“Someone’s already helping.”
“Who?” Pei Wenjing asked curiously.
He had been traveling abroad recently and had just returned today.
As soon as he heard about Shen Hechuan’s blind date, he had called to check in.
“Do I know them?”
Did he?
Probably not.
Shen Hechuan thought to himself, I just met them too.
He suddenly fell silent, and Pei Wenjing raised his voice:
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Who is it?”
“It’s nothing,” Shen Hechuan brushed it off and asked a question that had been on his mind.
“Besides the blind date, what else have you heard?”
“Huh?” Pei Wenjing sounded puzzled.
“What else? I just heard from my mom that you went on a blind date. Thought you might be getting hitched soon, so I called to check in.”
It seemed the rumor about the vasectomy hadn’t spread.
Good deeds do have their rewards.
Shen Hechuan smiled faintly: “Your concern is noted. Anything else?”
“Clear up your schedule, let’s hang out sometime. It’s been two months since we last met,” Pei Wenjing said.
“There’s a new bar that just opened, and the atmosphere is pretty good.”
“Mm,” Shen Hechuan replied, opening his work email.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
“Huh? Hang up? Let’s talk a bit more…”
Shen Hechuan ignored him and directly ended the call.
After the call was disconnected, the screen returned to the WeChat page, where Qiao Le’s transfer message was immediately visible.
Shen Hechuan glanced at it, then tapped to exit.
On the other side, Qiao Le, who had just left Linjiang Villa, was also in a good mood.
Although he had spent some money, the pizza was absolutely delicious.
He decided to take his younger brother there to eat once school let out for the weekend.
Also, for the new semester, he should buy his brother a new pair of bear slippers!
Qiao Le pulled out his phone, opened the shopping app, and used the image search feature to find the same slippers he had seen earlier.
A bunch of similar items popped up almost instantly.
When he saw the price listed by the first seller, Qiao Le’s eyes widened slightly.
One, ten, hundred, thousand-eight thousand!
Yes, 8,800 yuan.
The listing read: “XXX brand bear slippers, direct purchase, guaranteed authentic, fake items refunded tenfold.”
A pair of slippers for over eight thousand yuan.
I really can’t compete with you rich people!
Qiao Le felt that his understanding of wealthy people was still far too limited.
Actually, the 9.9 yuan slippers from home, which came with free shipping and a buy-one-get-one deal, were quite comfortable to wear.
Qiao Le dismissed the idea of buying the same slippers and instead ordered a similar pair of bear slippers.
After completing the purchase, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket, humming a tune as he rode his bike home.
He first stopped by the kindergarten to pick up Qiao Man.
The kindergarten provided dinner, and by the time Qiao Le arrived, Qiao Man had already finished eating and was waiting for him.
The little boy said goodbye to his teacher and walked out with Qiao Le.
“Big brother, have you eaten yet?” Qiao Man asked, grabbing Qiao Le’s hand.
“I have. I had pizza today,” Qiao Le replied, unlocking the electric bike and helping Qiao Man put on his little helmet.
“I’ll take you to eat it this weekend. It’s really good.”
“Okay!” Qiao Man climbed onto the footrest at the front of the bike, holding onto the rearview mirror handles.
When they arrived at “Xiao Zhuo Yi Qing,” Qiao Le parked the bike at the back door, where he happened to run into his colleague Xiao Jiang, who was also parking.
Xiao Jiang was a few years older than Qiao Le and lived nearby.
He had been working at “Xiao Ju Zhuo Yi Qing” longer than Qiao Le.
“Brother Xiao Jiang,” Qiao Le greeted, lifting Qiao Man down.
The little boy also obediently called out, “Brother Xiao Jiang.”
“Hey,” Xiao Jiang responded.
“Little Man’s back! Did you miss me?”
Qiao Man nodded, and Xiao Jiang happily patted his head.
Noticing Qiao Le’s delivery platform uniform, he asked, “Did you run deliveries all day today?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Le replied, locking the bike.
“There were a ton of orders today.”
Xiao Jiang walked in with them and asked with concern, “You didn’t skip dinner again, did you? What about Little Man? Should we order some takeout?”
“We already ate!” Qiao Man answered first.
“Big brother had pizza today. It was super yummy!”
Qiao Le couldn’t help but laugh, pinching his chubby little cheek.
“Did you eat too? ‘Super yummy,’ huh?”
Xiao Jiang noticed the laughter in his voice, as if Qiao Le was in a particularly good mood.
“You seem really happy today. Did something good happen?”
“Is it that obvious?” Qiao Le touched his face.
“I met a kind person today.”
“A kind person?”
“Right,” Qiao Le smiled and lowered his head, “We shared a pizza together.”
Qiao Le took Xiao Man to the lounge, handed him some picture books and storybooks to look at, and then went to take a shower in the bathroom.
When he came out after showering, he noticed a WeChat message on his phone.
[Song Tongyu: Lele, there’s a class reunion during National Day. Are you coming?]
[Song Tongyu: Did you see the message in the class group?]
A class reunion?
Qiao Le opened the high school class group and saw that everyone was indeed discussing the class reunion.
It was scheduled for October 1st, which was next month.
Song Tongyu was Qiao Le’s high school classmate and one of his closest friends during that time.
After graduating from high school, Song Tongyu went to university in the north, while Qiao Le stayed in Yunjing for university.
However, Qiao Le later took a leave of absence due to family matters.
After taking the leave, he juggled multiple jobs while taking care of his younger brother.
Although his contact with Song Tongyu had decreased, Song Tongyu would always look him up whenever he returned.
[Song Tongyu: I’m coming back at the end of the month. Are you free? It’s been so long since I last saw you.]
[Song Tongyu: If you don’t want to come to the class reunion, I’ll come find you to hang out, okay?]
Seeing Song Tongyu’s messages, Qiao Le replied.
[Qiao Lelele: I might not have time.]
The shop would probably be very busy during National Day, and Fang Jiaxu would pay them double wages for statutory holidays.
Double wages!!
He was super tempted!!
As soon as he sent the message, Song Tongyu’s status showed “typing.”
[Song Tongyu: You finally replied! Are you at work again?]]
[Song Tongyu: Although earning money is important, your health is important too!]
Qiao Le could imagine Song Tongyu tugging at his ear and shouting if he were beside him.
[Qiao Lelele: I have to get back to work. Let’s talk later.]
After sending the message, he gave Xiao Man a few instructions and went back to work.
The lounge was connected to the bar, so he wasn’t worried about his brother wandering off.
Besides, Xiao Man was very well-behaved and always waited patiently in the lounge for him to finish work.
The shop usually started getting customers around seven, mostly nearby office workers and vocational school students.
After finishing his tasks and returning to the bar, Fang Jiaxu called him over and mentioned that his friend’s new bar was opening and needed some help:
“It’s the one you’ve helped out at before. He opened a new place in Liwan New District, on Wende Road.”
Fang Jiaxu had a great personality, was loyal, and came from a well-off family, so he had many close friends.
The friend he mentioned owned several high-end bars, staffed entirely by attractive men and women, aiming to create the most visually stunning boutique bars in the city.
The first time this friend saw Qiao Le at “Sip and Relax,” his eyes lit up as if he had found a treasure.
He immediately tried to “poach” Qiao Le, trying to convince him to work at his bar.
The salary he offered was high, and Qiao Le was tempted, but considering the inconvenience of taking care of Xiao Man, he declined.
However, he was open to helping out occasionally, as the daily wage was also high and paid on the spot.
Whenever there was such a money-making opportunity, Fang Jiaxu would always inform him first and help arrange other things:
“Same as usual, I’ll take care of Xiao Man for a few days, and we’ll temporarily take you off the schedule at the shop.”
Qiao Le put down the tray and hugged him gratefully:
“Brother Jiaxu, you’re really the best.”
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s not just for you,” Fang Jiaxu said with a laugh, pushing him away.
“And don’t get so close; we’re the same type.”
Qiao Le was handsome and had a great service attitude.
Every time he went to help, he could close big deals.
It was a win-win situation-he did his friend a favor, helped Qiao Le make money, and everyone was happy.
“How can you say we’re the same type?” Qiao Le retorted.
“I don’t have a partner yet. Who knows what the other person will be like, or what type they’ll be?”
Fang Jiaxu rubbed his forehead, forgetting that this guy had never been in a relationship and was still a blank slate when it came to love.
He waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget it, forget it. Let’s get back to work.”
Qiao Le made a heart gesture with his hands.
“Got it.”
At that moment, the electronic “Welcome” chime sounded at the entrance, signaling the arrival of a new customer.
Qiao Le immediately stepped out from behind the counter to greet them.
“Hello, welcome-“
The rest of his words were cut off by the bouquet of roses suddenly thrust in front of his face.
The moment Qiao Le saw who it was, his head started to ache, and he wished he could shrink back behind the counter to hide.
The visitor was Yang Mu, who had fallen head over heels for Qiao Le at first sight last month.
Since then, he had been coming to the shop whenever he had free time, always bringing flowers for Qiao Le.
Unfortunately, Qiao Le didn’t want to get too close to customers, nor did he want any further development with Yang Mu.
He had rejected him multiple times, but Yang Mu remained persistent, determined to win Qiao Le over.
“Lele!” Yang Mu walked over with the flowers, his face beaming with obvious joy.
“I thought you weren’t here today.”
Several times before, Qiao Le had hidden in the break room when Yang Mu came, with his colleagues covering for him until Yang Mu left.
Today, they happened to run into each other.
Since Yang Mu was a customer, Qiao Le couldn’t afford to be rude.
He forced a smile and greeted him, “Hello, Mr. Yang. How many in your party today?”
“Just me,” Yang Mu adjusted his glasses.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be working today, so I came to try my luck. I didn’t expect you to actually be here. This is for you.”
He handed the bouquet of roses to Qiao Le, and the other customers in the shop let out teasing cheers like “Ooh!”
Qiao Le didn’t want to accept the roses, nor did he appreciate Yang Mu’s behavior of publicly giving him flowers despite being rejected.
It felt disrespectful.
Despite Qiao Le’s clear rejections, Yang Mu continued to act on his own.
If Qiao Le accepted the flowers, it would undoubtedly signal to Yang Mu that he had accepted his feelings.
Qiao Le was annoyed, but since the customer was here, he maintained his smile.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to accept them.”
He used “don’t want” instead of “can’t.”
The message was already clear.
But Yang Mu didn’t take it seriously and still held out the bouquet.
“It’s just a small gesture, nothing expensive. Don’t be shy.”
Why do some people just not understand what I’m saying?
Qiao Le felt exasperated, thinking to himself that maybe he should place an order on the “Let Me Help” app and find someone to pretend to be his boyfriend to teach Yang Mu a lesson.
He’d need someone like Shen Hechuan-someone who would make Yang Mu feel ashamed just by looking at him.
Seeing that Qiao Le wasn’t responding, Yang Mu took a step forward. “Lele—”
“Dad!”
A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Both of them turned to see Qiao Man peeking out from behind the counter, tilting his head as he looked at them.
Yang Mu: “Kid, who are you calling?”
Qiao Man called out to Qiao Le again, his voice sweet and clear.
“Dad!”
Qiao Le was only stunned for a second before quickly responding, “Hey!”
Yang Mu: “???!!”
What dad?
Whose dad?
Where did this dad come from?!
Ma baby so intelligent 😍😍