Cheng Su composed herself, exhaled, and said, "It’s not even dawn yet; why aren’t you sleeping? Uh, did I wake you? You weren’t here for the past few days, so I took over a small restaurant. We’re short on staff, and now I need to head over there."
What, took over a restaurant?
"You’re running a business?" He looked at her with full surprise. Wasn’t she supposed to be looking for a job? How had she suddenly started a business?
Cheng Su nodded, "It’s been open for some time now." She had already made quite a bit of money.
Qi Taiguo watched her, then after a moment, said, "Wait here."
He turned, went back into the room to close the door, leaving Cheng Su puzzled. Shortly after, she saw him come out wearing long trousers and said, "Let’s go!"
"What?" Cheng Su was stunned.
Qi Taiguo was already at the door, kicked off his slippers and put on his sports boots, looking back at her, "I’ll take you there." He needed to see what she was up to!
Cheng Su raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
Heading out early in the dark morning made Cheng Su feel a bit scared, but having someone to accompany her, especially a strong man, naturally made her happy.
But seeing the bandage on his arm, she hesitated, "You should sleep more. Your arm is still injured, and you’ve just returned from a mission. Rest more."
"Nagging," grumbled Qi Taiguo as he opened the door and glanced at her, "Are you coming or not?"
Cheng Su uttered an ’Oh,’ and followed him out the door.
It was past five, and the sky hadn’t completely brightened. Cheng Su took out her flashlight as soon as they exited the building. Qi Taiguo saw it and gave her a deep look.
She’s prepared quite well.
They reached the main road, where the sky was a deep navy, only a sliver of white light faintly visible. Although the road was a major one, fitted with streetlights, they were spaced tens of meters apart, and some were faulty, flickering intermittently.
The two walked one behind the other in silence.
Qi Taiguo had only walked a short distance when he began to feel uneasy. When he wasn’t around, did she make this walk every day? Did running a restaurant require getting up so early?
Doesn’t she know fear? A woman walking alone in the dark, where does she get such courage?
Unable to help himself, he glanced at her sideways. Qi Taiguo couldn’t quite name the feeling in his heart, but he found it all very strange.
"At my restaurant, we’re also short-staffed, with just me, and Qiulan, Platoon Leader Lu’s aunt from upstairs, working there too. But as I am the boss, I definitely need to get there early to prepare," Cheng Su broke the silence, initiating a conversation.
"There are plenty of jobs out there, why choose this one? You’re out before daylight, you sure have the nerve," Qi Taiguo huffed lightly, not expecting her to be so bold or to have started her own business.
Uh...
"I’ve considered that issue, but being an entrepreneur naturally means getting up at the crack of dawn. The problem is the lack of convenient transport. If I had a bicycle, it would be nice. It isn’t far if you ride, oh, it’s near the school on East Main Road... What’s wrong?" Mid-sentence, Cheng Su noticed that the man beside her had stopped walking.
Qi Taiguo asked, "A bicycle?"
"Yeah." Cheng Su was somewhat confused. What about a bicycle?
Qi Taiguo pursed his lips. So, she made noodles and pretended to care, treating his wound with concern, all to get him to buy her a bicycle?
If Cheng Su could see through his thought process, she would probably scream in frustration: What a huge misunderstanding.
Busy from dawn to dusk since the opening, she had made more money than his entire fortune; she hadn’t even thought about that detail.
But Cheng Su didn’t possess the ability to see through someone else’s thoughts, she just looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "Oh no, it’s getting light, let’s hurry up!"
She rushed ahead, and the doubts Qi Taiguo had been about to voice became lodged in his throat; he swallowed them and followed behind her with a scowl on his face.
There would be time to settle scores with her later!