“Brother Xiao…”
A-Meng’s throat tightened. He did his best to keep his voice steady. “Brother Xiao, I really don’t know that girl. If you want to get to know her, I can drive over right now and strike up a conversation with her.”
The man addressed as Brother Xiao rested his chin on one hand, his gaze fixed on Tian Tian in the distance. Hearing A-Meng’s words, he let out a casual “Oh.”
“You don’t know her? What a shame. The boss likes girls like her. If you introduced her to him, you’d be well rewarded.”
A-Meng’s lips pressed together at that.
Brother Xiao seemed to notice his nervousness and suddenly chuckled lightly. “Forget it. Since you don’t know her, there’s nothing to discuss.”
With that, Brother Xiao glanced at the gold Rolex on his wrist. “Alright, drive. We’re in a hurry to pick up the boss.”
Relieved as if granted a reprieve, A-Meng immediately stepped on the gas and headed toward the checkpoint.
As the car passed Tian Tian, who was still waiting for the bus, A-Meng sighed inwardly. He hoped he wouldn’t run into her again in Shenzhen.
Tian Tian had no idea what had happened inside the black Santana.
After shaking off the yellow-haired guy, she had gone to the bus stop to wait for the bus. While waiting, she noticed the yellow-haired guy approach a black Santana and exchange words. Her guard went up.
Luckily, the yellow-haired guy soon left, and the black Santana drove off too. It seemed their interaction had nothing to do with her.
Soon after, the bus arrived, and she squeezed on board.
—
“Tian Tian, you went out!”
Just after buying her ticket, Tian Tian heard someone call her name. Looking up, she saw Qian Lizhen. What a coincidence.
“Sister Zhen, yeah! I got my things sorted and decided to take a walk.”
Qian Lizhen noticed the large bag at Tian Tian’s feet and asked curiously, “Tian Tian, what’s in that big bag?”
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow. This girl’s mother seemed low-key and clever, but the daughter appeared quite naive.
“Flip-flops, Sister Zhen. Want some? Two and a half yuan for two pairs, or one yuan and thirty cents for one pair.”
The bus was fairly crowded. Hearing Tian Tian’s words, a few curious passengers looked over.
Pretending not to notice, Tian Tian pulled out a flip-flop. “These are the kind. They come in small, medium, and large.”
Before Qian Lizhen could respond, two aunties sitting nearby reached out their hands.
Tian Tian dodged and asked directly, “Aunties, are you looking to buy?”
One auntie clapped her hands familiarly. “Yes, but can you make it cheaper?”
Tian Tian put on a pained expression. “Sorry, Aunties, I can’t. I went through a lot of trouble getting these flip-flops from the plastic factory. One yuan and thirty cents a pair is already a rock-bottom price. If you go to the market, the same shoes will cost you two yuan.”
“It’s still the New Year holidays—who’s buying slippers?” the other auntie tried to haggle.
Tian Tian replied unhurriedly, “You’ll be able to wear them in two weeks. You know how the weather is here. It’s the same every year. Once the rainy season hits, who’s still wearing sneakers?”
Seeing that they couldn’t get the price down, the two aunties hesitated for a moment before pulling out 25 yuan for 10 pairs.
“We’ll split them between our two families—won’t be many left.”
That got things off to a good start. Soon, other passengers on the bus came over to buy flip-flops from Tian Tian.
The conductor wanted to stop them, but after Tian Tian slipped her two pairs—one for her and one for the driver—no one interfered.
Two bus stops—not too long, not too short. By the time the bus reached the stop near the village entrance, Tian Tian had sold over 120 pairs of flip-flops.
As she got off, the passengers waved enthusiastically and called out their goodbyes.
—
Qian Lizhen, who had gotten off with her, finally spoke up. “You’re really amazing!”
From the moment Tian Tian started selling flip-flops, Qian Lizhen had kept quiet. Only when Tian Tian got too busy did she help find the right sizes.
So now, Tian Tian said warmly, “Not at all! Everyone was just really nice, that’s why it went so smoothly. Hey, you helped me earlier. Here, take a pair that fits you and wear them home.”
With that, Tian Tian shoved a pair of flip-flops into Qian Lizhen’s hands. Before she could refuse, Tian Tian hoisted her bag and ran off.
The sun had long since set, and the village was lit only by dim yellow streetlights.
So when a bicycle suddenly shot out from an alley, it gave Tian Tian a fright. She dodged it, but the burlap sack she was carrying fell to the ground, and quite a few flip-flops spilled out.
“Are you blind?!” a middle-aged woman’s voice rang out. Under the dim yellow streetlight, Tian Tian could see the woman straddling her bicycle, glaring in her direction.
Tian Tian rolled her eyes. She felt like today’s quota of crazy people had been exceeded.
“At least I’m better than someone who has eyes but can’t see. A person this big, and you still didn’t notice. Those eyes of yours are just for decoration. If I were you, I’d dig them out and throw them away—no point keeping ugly things on your face.”
Tian Tian scolded as she quickly gathered up the flip-flops.
The middle-aged woman hadn’t expected such a young and pretty girl to talk back. For a moment, she was stunned.
Tian Tian ignored her completely. Once she’d picked up all the flip-flops, she hoisted the sack and ran straight toward Granny Cui’s house.
Watching Tian Tian’s retreating figure, the woman finally snapped out of it. She let out a loud “Pfft!” and pushed her bicycle, ready to chase after her.
—
“Hu Erhua, what are you doing?”
The middle-aged woman looked up when she heard someone call her name. On the balcony of a two-story building nearby stood a woman.
“Cai Xiaomei, mind your own damn business!”
“How is it none of my business? When you bully people in this village, it is my business.”
“You—” Hu Erhua wanted to curse back, but when she saw a tall figure appear behind Cai Xiaomei, she immediately hopped on her bicycle and rode off.
“Mom, time to eat. Who were you talking to?” Zhou Haoting walked onto the balcony just in time to see his mother standing with her hands on her hips, gearing up for a fight.
“Haoting, you’re back! I was just arguing with Hu Erhua. That woman almost hit someone with her bike, and then she had the nerve to blame the victim. But the girl she nearly hit is no pushover either. She talked right back. From her voice, she doesn’t sound like she’s from our village. Maybe she’s someone’s relative or a new renter…”
Zhou Haoting was tall, and standing on the second-floor balcony, he could easily see Hu Erhua riding off. He also saw the young girl with a ponytail, carrying a burlap sack.
The girl seemed to be in a good mood. Despite hauling a heavy sack, her steps were light and bouncy. Just watching her made one’s spirits lift.
Cai Xiaomei, unaware of what her son was thinking, continued complaining about Hu Erhua. “That woman must have a screw loose lately. She’s always riding around on that bicycle, all secretive. Definitely up to no good.”
Zhou Haoting withdrew his gaze and said, “Mom, if she’s really up to something illegal, just go straight to Uncle.”
“Of course. After dinner, I’ll go talk to your uncle. He’s the village chief—he shouldn’t be clueless if something happens around here.” Cai Xiaomei chatted as she headed downstairs with her son.
“Oh, right. Huizi came by looking for you this afternoon. Are you going out tonight?”
Her face filled with worry as she spoke about her son going out at night.
Zhou Haoting replied, “Yeah, I ran into him on my way home from work. It’s nothing—I’ll just be out for a little while. I’ll be back soon. I still have work tomorrow.”
Hearing that, Cai Xiaomei felt relieved. She wanted her son to stick to his job and not go running around trading goods with his friends. But she hadn’t exactly been well-behaved in her younger days, so she didn’t really have the right to ask too much of him.
Dinner was food Zhou Haoting had brought back from the factory canteen. Mother and son ate quickly. After they finished, they left the house together—one heading to her older brother’s place to tattle, the other getting on his motorcycle to pick up Huizi at the end of the village before heading out.
—
“Rock-bottom prices! Rock-bottom prices! Flip-flops—one yuan and thirty cents a pair, two and a half yuan for two pairs! You won’t lose, you won’t get scammed! Flip-flops for all four seasons!”
“Smash cockroaches, stomp cockroaches—every household needs a pair of flip-flops!”
“Wear flip-flops, and Mom won’t have to worry about your athlete’s foot anymore!”
Just as Zhou Haoting was riding his motorcycle, these slogans nearly made him swerve the wrong way.
Curious, he looked toward the source of the sound.
There, hanging on a nylon rope at the entrance of Granny Cui’s courtyard, were rows of blue plastic flip-flops. Quite a few villagers who had come out for an after-dinner stroll were gathered around, watching the commotion.
Among the crowd, a very striking girl stood out. Under the yellow light bulb, she looked exceptionally soft and pretty.
With infectious enthusiasm, she shouted those somewhat silly slogans, waving two flip-flops in her hands. She looked utterly adorable.
Zhou Haoting recognized her as the ponytailed girl from earlier.
“Brother Ting, what are you looking at?”
Huizi had heard the motorcycle and come out of his house, only to find his ever-cool Brother Ting staring intently at the commotion outside Granny Cui’s place.
Normally, Brother Ting wasn’t one to gawk at spectacles either. Could it be that he’d been wrong about him all along?
Huizi thought he’d discovered a secret hidden side of Zhou Haoting. He shrank his shoulders in surprise, silently vowing to guard this secret well. No one could ever find out that Ting-ge of Tianfu Village enjoyed watching street commotion like some old busybody.
Zhou Haoting had been staring at Huizi ever since he asked his question. Watching his expression shift unpredictably, he knew exactly what kind of wild imagination he was cooking up.
“Let’s go. Stop overthinking. If you’d put even a fraction of that brainpower into studying, you wouldn’t have dropped out before finishing middle school.”
“Aiyo, Ting-ge, what’s there to worry about? Isn’t that what I have you for?”
Zhou Haoting was speechless. “Enough. Get on the bike. We still need to make it to see the goods.”
At the mention of goods, Huizi lowered his voice mysteriously. “Ting-ge, are you sure we shouldn’t at least go check out Xiao Ming’s merchandise? Their stall on Renmin Road got shut down by the cops. They’ve got nowhere to move product now. If we take it off their hands, we could probably get it dirt cheap.”
Zhou Haoting shook his head. “Xiao Ming runs with Hecheng Syndicate. Their goods aren’t clean. No matter how cheap, we’re not touching it.”
Not to mention the risk of attracting official attention. Besides, even when making money, Zhou Haoting had his principles. Some things you just don’t get involved with.
—
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