Chapter 81: Meeting Brother Hui for the First Time

Xiao Yuxin shot Jiang Fan a glare and said, “You call that just so-so? You look honest and simple, but you’re really not as harmless as you seem. Still, I ought to thank you for them.”

She understood that Jiang Fan had provoked Ah Sheng not out of spite, but to use the incident so the other shop owners would no longer have to pay protection fees.

“It just happened, no big deal. Spare me the thanks, as long as you stop testing my willpower with your beauty and making me uncomfortable,” Jiang Fan replied offhandedly.

When he mentioned her beauty and his discomfort, images of passion flashed through Xiao Yuxin’s mind, and her heart began to pound. Silently, she muttered to herself, “In the end, just another mortal man.”

She was about to retort to cover her own confusion when the sound of a baby crying came from the shop. She hurriedly said to Jiang Fan, “No time to chat now. Every night, the baby wakes up once; only after nursing will she go back to sleep peacefully.”

Jiang Fan quipped, “I want some milk, too.”

Only after he said it did he remember Xiao Yuxin’s baby was still breastfeeding. Realizing his words had got him in trouble, he turned and ran.

Xiao Yuxin hadn’t expected him to joke like that. Her already flustered heart grew even more unsettled. She chased after him, calling, “Rascal! You dare take advantage of your big sister? Don’t run if you’ve got the guts!”

Jiang Fan dashed up the stairs, poked his head out, and teased, “If you’ve got the guts to tell me not to run, I’ve got the guts to run! If you can catch me in my room, then I really will have some milk!”

Seeing Jiang Fan getting bolder by the minute, Xiao Yuxin shot him a look and said, “If you’re a real man, come down here and I’ll let you have your fill!”

“If you’re too scared to come, then goodbye!” Jiang Fan said smugly, waving at her before retreating back into his rented room.

Having just started living together, both of them were going to bed late, and this morning, the sound of Wang Wenyu’s car picking someone up had woken them early. By the time they were having a late-night snack, Jiang Fan was already yawning.

But when he lay down and closed his eyes, he couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. His mind kept drifting to Wang Wenyu, and he found himself replaying Xiao Yuxin’s shy expression when he teased her, as well as her words: “A chance to rise.”

He tossed and turned for over an hour without finding sleep. Finally, he got up and took a cold shower, hoping to calm himself down.

The shower worked at soothing his mood, but it left him even more awake, and sleep was further away than before.

Because he felt guilty toward his family, Jiang Fan had always harbored a desire to make something of himself. He believed that by doing so, he could improve his family’s circumstances, repay their sacrifices, and alleviate his own guilt.

But he hadn’t yet found stability in his own life, so that ambition had remained buried and unexamined.

Lying there with an arm under his head, he murmured to himself, “A chance to rise? What would it take for me to rise?”

Xiao Yuxin’s comment, in the quiet, deep night, set him pondering.

He didn’t know the real reason Deputy General Manager Tang was being friendly to him, but he did believe one thing Tang had said: “Working for others can improve your quality of life, but it can’t change its essence.”

He’d just received three thousand in advance, and after sending money to his master and his family, he still had to buy a gift for Hao Meng. Add in living expenses, and there was hardly any left to do anything with.

No money, no direction—how could he possibly rise?

Spending a day in close contact with Xiao Yuxin, Jiang Fan had come to believe in her intelligence. Precisely because he trusted her, her mention of “rising” had peeled back the layers hiding his own ambition.

He desperately wanted to make something of himself, but no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn’t figure out where that opportunity might be. The more he thought, the more confused he became.

Near noon, guessing Xiao Yuxin was about to open the shop, he finally went downstairs, only to find she’d already done so and the fruit was neatly arranged outside.

He noticed dark circles under her eyes as well, and shamelessly joked, “Sister Xin, did you lose sleep over me wanting to nurse?”

Xiao Yuxin was taken aback and thought, “Is this monkey somehow reading my mind?”

She concealed her feelings and pointed at him threateningly. “What you did yesterday—I’ll tell Xiaoyu everything when she’s back and see how long you can keep that smart mouth.”

“No, no, no,” Jiang Fan pleaded, walking over to her. “Sister Xin, I was just joking. Don’t take it seriously.”

She raised her hand, about to twist his ear for revenge, then realized that would be too intimate. She put her hand down and, as if giving orders to an employee, instructed, “Move the little table outside and watch the shop for me. I’ll go cook.”

A short while later, Xiao Yuxin emerged with not only two freshly cooked dishes but also a large pot of slow-cooked pork bone soup.

Having decided to be a single mother, she’d opened this fruit shop. Now her baby was over a year old. She thought she’d weathered so many storms that nothing could shake her heart anymore, yet last night, she too had been unable to sleep.

She’d gotten up at eight, gone deliberately to the market to buy pork bones to help her fracture heal, and opened the shop earlier than ever—her earliest opening since she started the business.

After lunch, Xiao Yuxin took the baby to the nanny she’d hired, leaving Jiang Fan at the shop entrance to mind things by himself.

The skinny man from the night before returned, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to Jiang Fan with a self-introduction: “Brother Fan, I’m Lin, but you can call me Skinny.”

Jiang Fan didn’t stand up or take the cigarette, merely cocked his head and asked, “What do you want?”

“Heh heh,” Skinny chuckled awkwardly. “Brother Lu would like to invite you to a meal, to apologize on Ah Liang’s behalf. When would you be available?”

“My schedule is none of his business. Just tell him that,” Jiang Fan said, his tone softer than yesterday.

Skinny explained, “Yesterday was a misunderstanding. Brother Lu only meant for Ah Liang to invite you over for a chat. He didn’t expect things to turn out like that. When Brother Lu found out, he scolded him harshly and grounded him for three days. He’s only twenty-one—a kid who doesn’t know any better. Please forgive him.”

Jiang Fan could tell Skinny’s humility was just a front, a way to dodge responsibility. He glared at him and said, “I’ve heard he struts around this street every day with Ah Sheng and his gang, acting like a crab on the loose. Does Brother Lu really not know? The tricks he uses to collect dirty money are slicker than any old hand. And now you’re telling me he’s just a kid who doesn’t know any better? Either I’m misunderstanding, or your Brother Lu is playing dumb. You know the truth better than anyone. I’m done wasting words. I won’t accept your invitation, and as for whatever Brother Lu wants to do, I’ll be right here waiting.”

Skinny, ever slick, tried to retreat with dignity: “Maybe you’re still upset now. I’ll come back and invite you again when you’ve cooled off, okay?”

Jiang Fan had already made his position clear, but Skinny continued to nag. Jiang Fan shot to his feet and snapped, “No! I said I’m not going, didn’t you hear me?”

Skinny was about to say more when he caught sight of Hui, Brother Lu’s sworn brother, walking over with a leather bag under his arm and Xiao Yuxin by his side.

He quickly greeted him, “Brother Hui, hello.”

Hui gave him a contemptuous glance and asked, “Lu sent you here?”

Hui called the much-feared Brother Lu “Lu,” not as an insult. He was a few months older, so when they’d sworn brotherhood, he was nominally the elder. But when they met, they always called each other “Hui” and “Lu”—a habit by now. These days, though, the closeness was gone, and Hui’s attitude toward Lu’s henchmen had grown cold.

Skinny bowed and explained, “Ah Liang had a bit of a misunderstanding with Brother Fan, so Lu sent me to invite him for tea and clear it up.”

Hui waved his bag dismissively and sneered, “I think you, you little schemer, are up to no good here. I have business with Brother Fan. Don’t get in the way.”

Skinny didn’t dare say more and slunk off.

Jiang Fan gazed at Xiao Yuxin in surprise but said nothing.

She understood his look and explained, “I ran into Brother Hui while taking the baby to the nanny. He said he wanted to meet you, but was afraid of coming off as presumptuous, so he asked me to introduce you.”

Jiang Fan stood up politely, feigning annoyance as he said to Xiao Yuxin, “I’m not anyone important. Do I really need an introduction?”

Hui reached out warmly, “Hello, brother.”

Seeing how cold Hui was to Skinny but how kind his gaze was to him, Jiang Fan shook his hand in return. “Hello, Brother Hui.”

Xiao Yuxin brought out a stool for Hui and said to Jiang Fan, “You’re here all day, it’s rare to get a break. Chat with Brother Hui and mind the shop for me—I’m going out for a walk.”

Not understanding her intention to leave him time alone with Hui, Jiang Fan frowned in annoyance. “I’m not your employee, always watching the shop for you.”

She patted his shoulder, hinting at something, and said, “Eat your meal, do your work. There are some accounts I haven’t settled with you yet, so don’t complain.”

Jiang Fan realized the “accounts” she mentioned were about his loose tongue and quickly shut up.