Offense - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The tall, silent girl lowered her head slightly, her eyes watching her as if gazing upon a treasure. Zhou Yanqian's mood instantly brightened. She suppressed the delight in her tone, maintaining her composure as she asked, "Mm, and?"
Lian Wan genuinely felt guilty.
An apology spoken aloud inevitably sounded flimsy, but for Lian Wan, it was already a rare occurrence. She had never had anything, so naturally, she was even stingy with her emotions.
Timid to initiate, stingy in giving.
But the reason was hard to voice, and after saying that one apology, she didn't know what to say next. Lian Wan pressed her lips together and looked up at Zhou Yanqian. Just as she was hesitating, she heard the woman say with a smile, "Alright, I accept. It's okay."
The woman had a gentle and open expression, smiling faintly at Lian Wan. Lian Wan looked back at her, somewhat speechless, and keenly noticed that she had changed again, like a stray cat suddenly retracting its claws, widening its eyes to innocently beg for food. The previous lazy gazes that held a hook, the close curves and embrace, the faint fragrance and words that had made Lian Wan's heart itch unbearably in the night-now, in the daylight, they had taken on a different form, one that was equally irresistible to her.
When you get close, a cunning and curious cat will run away. Would she run away too?
Lian Wan looked at Zhou Yanqian, whose eyes were curved into crescents, and almost wanted to apologize to her again.
She thought for a moment and said, "…I'll treat you to breakfast."
A little dirty dog, shaking its head, followed them all the way as they twisted and turned out of the alley's entrance. Lian Wan roughly knew the way here. They emerged into a corner of Pingchuan Town's morning market. The small, crowded shops along the road were all open, and the street was filled with the aroma of steamed buns, tea eggs, and tofu pudding. Steam billowed from the steamers, and you could work up a sweat before you even got close.
Lian Wan led Zhou Yanqian to a shop she was familiar with and they sat down.
It was prime breakfast time, and a crowd was squeezed around the counter. Lian Wan deliberately wiped the table and chairs carefully, then stood up to get tofu pudding and buns for Zhou Yanqian. The shop was crowded and cramped. She was afraid Zhou Yanqian wouldn't be used to it, but the woman didn't say anything. She just sat down, propped her chin on her hand, and watched her with a smile, clearly enjoying being doted on.
Lian Wan's spirits were thus boosted a hundredfold. Even while squeezing through the crowd waiting for the buns to come out of the steamer, she felt that the morning light was exceptionally bright today.
When she returned with the buns and tofu pudding, Zhou Yanqian was wiping away sweat.
The little dog they had met was also lying obediently under the table, panting with its tongue out to cool off.
Her fair, smooth neck glistened slightly, soaked with beads of sweat. Lian Wan didn't dare look for too long, and as if to distract herself, she helped her get the condiments.
"You walk too fast," Zhou Yanqian said, looking up at her with a hint of playful complaint.
Lian Wan was half a head taller than her, so her strides were naturally larger. She clearly had little experience walking with someone else, focused only on forging ahead on her own. Zhou Yanqian had a hard time keeping up; the ten-minute walk felt like a workout.
Lian Wan opened her mouth, about to apologize again out of habit. The woman seemed amused by her, her peach-blossom eyes curving into a smile. "I won't blame you this time. Just be mindful next time."
But Lian Wan heard the extra room in her words. Her heart seemed to soften and sink a little as she replied solemnly, "Okay."
The tofu pudding was still scalding hot. Zhou Yanqian looked around, a constant smile on her lips, seemingly unbothered by the noise. "It's so lively here. I've been back for so long and haven't been to this area yet."
Lian Wan said, "You're busy with the store."
"Not really…" She said it so earnestly that Zhou Yanqian was amused again. Embarrassed to tell her that she was basically just idling her days away, she just smiled and said, "It's alright."
She quickly added, "I can still manage my own time. Otherwise, if I were just as busy as before, why would I have come back?"
"You were very busy before," Lian Wan said.
"Yeah." The woman carefully blew on a bun, took a bite, and only dared a second bite after seeing that no scalding meat juice dripped out. "I had no time off all year round."
"Mm." Lian Wan thought for a moment before saying, "Then it's good that you came back."
"Of course. Life is very comfortable here."
After saying this, Zhou Yanqian looked up at the person across from her.
But Lian Wan was completely oblivious, her head down as she bit into her bun.
"What about you?"
"What?"
"You always leave so early. How do you have time to have breakfast with me today?"
"No call yet…" Lian Wan didn't notice the information revealed in her words and explained, "No call means no job."
"Your jobs are all assigned by the Vehicle Team?"
"Yeah." Lian Wan nodded, her nose wrinkling as she was choked by too much pepper in her tofu pudding. "You can also take jobs from an app, but there are few jobs in town, so we rarely use the website. There are more if you go to the county."
"So how are the wages calculated? A split? Whose truck is it?"
"A seventy-thirty split. The truck is mine."
"They take that much." Zhou Yanqian showed a look of disapproval, frowning before smiling faintly. "It seems capitalists are the same everywhere."
"Not really…" The puppy with the wrinkled nose wiped her mouth and said honestly, "Everyone has to make money, and Brother Wang is a good person. He takes good care of everyone."
When she said this, she looked over earnestly, her gaze focused, clearly speaking from the heart.
So obedient. Zhou Yanqian averted her eyes, almost wanting to reach out and pat her head.
After they finished eating and came out, the call from the Vehicle Team still hadn't come. The little dirty dog they'd met in the alley followed them around, refusing to be shooed away no matter what they said.
Lian Wan loved the little expression on Zhou Yanqian's face, the one that said she was helpless against the little dog. Just as she was about to say, "Why don't we take it home," she saw the woman's gaze shift and land on something behind her.
"Wait for me a second," she said, striding quickly across the road.
Lian Wan didn't understand why, but she and the little dirty dog followed behind her.
The morning market was already starting to pack up, leaving scattered rotten vegetable leaves on the roadside. Across the street were some hardware and general stores that hadn't opened yet. As Lian Wan followed Zhou Yanqian closer, she realized that the only open shop had a sign at its entrance that read "Sports Lottery."
Lian Wan followed her. "Are you buying a lottery ticket?"
"Yeah!" Zhou Yanqian's voice was cheerful. "I'm an old hand at this."
She walked up the steps and called out loudly, "Boss!"
It was the first time Lian Wan had seen her so happy, and she couldn't help but let the corners of her own lips curve up subconsciously.
The owner clearly hadn't expected a customer so early. Without turning his head, he answered from inside, "Eating! Wait a bit!"
Quite self-righteous about it.
Zhou Yanqian chuckled and leaned against the counter, looking at the winning newspaper clippings and promotional posters pasted up in the small shop.
"I didn't expect there to be a lottery shop here."
"This is my first time in here," Lian Wan said.
"Mm, you are, after all, a good kid who only knows how to quietly make money." Zhou Yanqian clearly hadn't forgotten their earlier topic and teased her slowly, "Even speaking up for the capitalists."
"Ah… I…"
"Unfortunately, I'm just a common person." The woman crossed her arms, watching her with a smile, her eyes seeming to hold hooks. "And I don't want to struggle… so I can only pin my hopes on the chance of a pie falling from the sky."
Lian Wan opened her mouth, not knowing how to respond. There were many gamblers in town, and many idlers who spent all day in arcades. She had heard too many rumors and tragedies and should have been dismissive of such ethereal fantasies. But Zhou Yanqian had just said it so lightly, perhaps not even taking it to heart herself. Lian Wan immediately switched sides, feeling that what she was doing was so common it was chic, and that it should come true right away.
She didn't know how to explain this feeling to Zhou Yanqian, and deep down, she didn't want her to understand. So she could only respond with silence, quietly gazing back at her smile.
The air fell silent for a moment.
Zhou Yanqian's smile faltered for a second. She closed her eyes, but still couldn't resist. She curled a finger and hooked it under her chin. "Why are you so obedient."
After she said this, she saw, as expected, that the puppy's ears turned bright red as if a switch had been flipped.
Luckily, the owner pushed open the door to the inner room and came out just then, causing Zhou Yanqian, who had been leisurely admiring Lian Wan's blush, to turn her head. "Two tickets."
She first recited a string of numbers for the owner to enter into the machine, then asked the person beside her, "When's your birthday?"
Lian Wan resisted the urge to cover her ears and took a small step back.
"Hm?"
"…May sixth."
"Mm," Zhou Yanqian replied with satisfaction. "On the last ticket, change the rear numbers from 1201 to 0506."
"Alrighty." The owner passed two tickets over the counter. "Here you go."
"Let's go." Zhou Yanqian looked at the lottery tickets in her hand, then looked up at Lian Wan, who was standing frozen in front of her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing…" Lian Wan turned and followed her out. It wasn't until she was out the door that she realized the dog that had been following them had run off at some point.
Zhou Yanqian noticed too. "Huh? I was thinking of taking it home, but it actually ran away."
"It probably thought you didn't want it anymore," Lian Wan said. After all, they had gone into the lottery shop and left it outside.
"How could that be?" The woman's voice held a smile as she grabbed her wrist and gave it a squeeze. "I like little puppies."
Lian Wan let her hold her wrist, not daring to move. Thinking she was really talking about the dog, she replied, "It's okay. If we see it again, I'll bring it back for you."
"Okay." Zhou Yanqian looked at her, just about to say something more, when she heard Lian Wan's phone ring.
"…You should get to work." She let go of her hand. "I can just take a walk back."
Calls from the Vehicle Team either didn't come at all or were urgent when they did. Lian Wan had no way to take her back, so hearing Zhou Yanqian say that, she just nodded. "Alright."
Her farewell was quite brisk. "I'm off then. Let me know when you get back."
Zhou Yanqian didn't want to delay her work either, so she agreed softly and watched her run off.
But she must have been truly busy. Zhou Yanqian sent a message after getting back in the morning, but didn't receive Lian Wan's reply-"Okay."-until lunchtime.
The chat window, which had been silent for over half a month, finally became active again.
There were few customers in the store that afternoon. Zhou Yanqian stared blankly at the single word Lian Wan had sent in the chat.
This still isn't enough, she thought.
So, that evening, after Lian Wan got off work, returned home, washed up, and was just about to rest, she saw a private voice message from the Vehicle Team's group owner.
She played it. It was Wang Zhiqiang's boisterous voice, booming through the summer night air:
"Xiao Lian, got something to tell you. That woman downstairs from you just contacted the Vehicle Team. Said she wants you to handle all her store's future deliveries. Get up early tomorrow, come to my place to get the order form, and take it to her. Reply when you get this."
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