Chapter 110: You Are Unworthy ⑧
Taking the money Zhang Qitian gave her, Nie Qiu got on the bus and headed to a nearby residential area to rent a warehouse. The house rental went smoothly, but what made Nie Qiu uneasy was that it wasn’t the residential area’s property management that rented it to her, but the residential area’s security guard. She wasn’t sure if the warehouse’s usage rights truly belonged to the security guard, so she insisted on signing a lease agreement with him.
The warehouse was empty; it just needed a good cleaning. Fortunately, the corner of the stairs wasn’t dark, so there weren’t any messy insects, only thick dust accumulated over a long time. Nie Qiu sprinkled some water in the warehouse, then took the broom and shovel the security guard gave her and meticulously cleaned the warehouse. She locked the door, took out a lot of vegetables from her space, and arranged them one by one on the plastic film spread on the ground. She sprinkled water from her space to ensure they would remain fresh for when they came to pick them up tomorrow.
As she walked out of the residential area holding the warehouse key and looked up at the sky, it was already painted with red clouds, one after another, looking extremely beautiful. It must be almost seven o’clock now, right?
Since she had already told Nie Aifang she was going to a classmate’s house, Nie Aifang probably wouldn’t be waiting outside the residential area. However, she also knew that if she returned home late, Nie Aifang would definitely worry. So, she hurried onto the arriving bus and rode back to the vicinity of the vegetable market. She found a place to duplicate keys and made three copies, then rushed home.
Nie Aifang didn’t have to set up her stall in the evening and had a rare moment to relax at home, so she made a delicious meal. She stewed meatballs with pork, stewed pig trotters with winter melon, stir-fried a side dish, and also took out pickled long beans from the jar at home to eat.
The pickled vegetables were appetizing, and Nie Qiu ate with her mouth full of oil. The fatty meat on the pig trotters was so tender it melted in her mouth, and with Nie Aifang’s special sauce, it was heavenly delicious. Seeing Nie Qiu eating with gusto, Nie Aifang smiled dotingly, “After we finish eating, I’ll wash the dishes, and you can wash the clothes. After you’re done, we’ll go to the night market. I’ll buy you some clothes and shoes.”
“Go to the night market? Great!” That’s right, after dinner and chores, it probably wouldn’t be nine o’clock yet. The night market would be brightly lit, with not only stalls selling snacks and barbecue but also various street stalls selling books, clothes, pants, and shoes – everything imaginable, like a large mall. If they went to the night market, she might run into Zhang Qitian, and then she could give him the warehouse key. Because last time they went to the flower and bird market, his younger brother had mentioned that his sister-in-law sold potted plants. Indeed, without a shopfront, selling potted plants at the night market would be even better.
Nie Aifang smiled, “Then let’s eat quickly!”
The next day, Nie Qiu woke up very early. Last night while browsing the night market, when Nie Aifang was picking out jeans for her, she excused herself to go to the toilet for a while. Among a large pile of stalls selling potted plants, goldfish, and decorative items, she found Zhang Qitian’s family stall and successfully handed the key to Zhang Qitian.
What surprised her was that the items at the night market were much cheaper than those at the market. The sellers named exorbitant prices, and the buyers haggled fiercely. It made sense, though; selling at the night market didn’t require paying for a shopfront, so the prices being a bit lower was understandable. Nie Aifang bought her a pair of jeans and two long-sleeved shirts. Although the weather was still hot, autumn was approaching.
When Nie Qiu entered the classroom, all the classmates were already there, but it was quite noisy. Nie Qiu frowned and stood on the lectern. Some classmates noticed Nie Qiu’s arrival and signaled to those nearby. Everyone’s gaze turned towards Nie Qiu, looking at her and smiling happily.
The classmates’ bright smiles made Nie Qiu feel a bit bewildered. She slowly took out her books from her schoolbag and then slowly began to speak, “What I’m going to talk about is the homework assigned by the teacher last week…”
Looking at Nie Qiu on the lectern, Li Kai was filled with regret. Yesterday, he had gone to the night market with shoes to find Nie Qiu, but he heard from people around that their family no longer sold barbecue. It was one thing not to meet Nie Qiu, but he unexpectedly ran into classmates from their class at the spot where Nie Qiu’s family used to set up their stall. Of course, Zhang Haiyang and Luo Xu were among them. These people, who had heard him talk, stood at Nie Qiu’s family’s former stall location, and one by one, they smiled knowingly, their laughter filled with teasing and jest.
Later, he treated them to KTV to sing as a way to make up for it, but he never expected that today, upon arriving at school with the shoes, the entire class would know about what happened last night!
Although he tried to ignore it, when Nie Qiu walked into the classroom, he couldn’t help but feel regret and nervousness. If Nie Qiu found out, what would she think?
This morning reading session passed with the classmates’ meaningful smiles. Nie Qiu put the book in her hand back into her schoolbag, then slung the schoolbag over her shoulder and walked back to her seat. After putting her schoolbag into the drawer, Nie Qiu smiled at Huang Yan, who was walking towards her, and said, “Huang Yan, let’s go to the toilet together.”
“Okay!” Huang Yan placed the book she was holding on Nie Qiu’s desk, took Nie Qiu’s hand, and they walked out of the classroom hand in hand.
Nie Qiu smiled, looking at their clasped hands. She was thirty-eight years old, yet she had never walked hand in hand with a friend before. This scene might seem a bit sentimental, but she liked it very much.
Li Kai looked at the packaging bag in his drawer, swallowed, then picked up the bag and followed Nie Qiu and Huang Yan out of the classroom. As soon as he stepped out, the classroom erupted in astonishing screams and whistles, followed by the sound of chaotic footsteps. In a short while, almost all the classmates’ heads were sticking out of the classroom doorway, and a few people were squeezed out, laughing heartily.
“Nie Qiu!”
Li Kai bit his lower lip and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, another person’s voice reached them first. He looked up and saw people from Class 1.
“Nie Qiu, look, this is the book I told you about last Saturday. What do you think? Have you read it?” Zhang Qidi excitedly handed the original book in his hand to Nie Qiu. “I’ve marked the parts I don’t understand, and I’ve looked up the general meaning of the book with a dictionary. If you have time at noon, come to our class, and we can read it together.”
Nie Qiu took the book Zhang Qidi handed her, nodded at Ai Siyuan, who was standing next to Zhang Qidi, as a greeting, and then flipped through the book in her hands. She carefully looked at the first two pages and asked excitedly, “Complete Works of Shakespeare? Did you buy the genuine edition? That costs several hundred yuan!”
“This is a birthday gift from my brother,” Zhang Qidi said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “What do you think? This book is pretty good, right?”
“It is good. You have to lend it to me after you finish reading it,” Nie Qiu said with a smile, returning the book to Zhang Qidi.
Zhang Qidi took it back and smiled, “My English isn’t good enough yet! Reading the complete works is quite difficult. The class monitor promised to read it with me. Nie Qiu, will you read it with me too?”
“Okay, after we get lunch at noon, we’ll cook together,” Nie Qiu said with a smile and nodded.
Huang Yan tugged at Nie Qiu, “Morning self-study is about to start, let’s hurry!”
Nie Qiu snapped back to attention, smiled at Zhang Qidi and Ai Siyuan, and said, “I have something to do, I’m leaving now!”
“We have to go back to class too. Bye. See you at noon,” Ai Siyuan said with a smile.
Watching Nie Qiu and Huang Yan walk away, Ai Siyuan smiled and looked at Li Kai, and the disappointed classmates sighing behind him, and asked, “What are you guys doing?”
