After a few more words, Zhao Tianqiang left.
Here, only Qin Yun and Qin Xiaotao were left.
"Xiaotao, it’s getting late. Why are you still at the clothing store?"
Qin Yun asked curiously, as it was almost ten o’clock now.
During the day, Qin Xiaotao was running around everywhere, and he didn’t work at night.
Hearing the question, Qin Xiaotao’s face showed a hint of embarrassment. He said, "I’m waiting for someone."
Qin Yun was surprised. He glanced at Hu Shanshan, who was working inside the clothing store, and his eyes showed an understanding expression.
"Alright, I won’t disturb you, Xiaotao." Qin Yun smiled.
He knew that Qin Xiaotao liked Hu Shanshan. Now that Qin Xiaotao was already thirty, it was rare for him to find a girl he liked, so of course, he supported it.
After ten, Celestial Fortune Clothing closed, and the girls started to leave one by one.
"Director Qin, we’re leaving!"
"Director Qin, goodbye."
Some people smiled and said to Qin Xiaotao when they saw him.
Qin Xiaotao kept waiting until Hu Shanshan finally came out.
"Xiaotao, aren’t you leaving?" Hu Shanshan asked in confusion.
"Yes, I’m waiting for you." Qin Xiaotao said with a smile, "Let me take you home."
"Sure."
Hearing this, Hu Shanshan didn’t refuse and smiled.
Qin Xiaotao quickly drove Hu Shanshan to her place after she got in the passenger seat.
"Xiaotao, I’m going up." As she opened the car door, Hu Shanshan smiled and said, "Thank you for taking me home."
Just as she was about to leave, Qin Xiaotao suddenly said, "Shanshan, wait a minute."
Hu Shanshan stopped and looked at him in confusion.
As he spoke, Qin Xiaotao took out a small box from somewhere and said, "This is a phone for you. Didn’t you say your phone broke last time?"
"A phone for me?" Hu Shanshan was taken aback, looking at Qin Xiaotao in confusion, then shook her head and declined, "This gift is too expensive, I can’t accept it."
At this moment, Qin Xiaotao seemed a bit emotionally unstable, and after holding it in for a while, he finally said, "Shanshan, I like you."
After speaking, he nervously looked at Hu Shanshan, as if worried about being rejected by her.
Right now, Hu Shanshan seemed stunned by Qin Xiaotao’s words, completely still.
It took her a few seconds to come back to herself and said, "Xiaotao, we haven’t known each other for long."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaotao hastily said, "We knew each other in college. I liked you even back then."
"We did know each other then, but we hardly spoke, and I know nothing about you."
After thinking for a moment, Hu Shanshan said helplessly, "We’ve only really been in touch for a little over a month. It feels too fast."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaotao felt a bit deflated. Over the past month, he often chatted with Hu Shanshan. After receiving his salary, he spent more than half of it on a phone and mustered the courage to confess today.
Compared to before, he was more confident now.
Seeing Qin Xiaotao’s appearance, Hu Shanshan said, "We haven’t spent enough time together. It feels too sudden today. Give me some time."
She handed the phone back and said, "This phone is too expensive. Take it back."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaotao seemed to gain confidence again and quickly said, "The phone is for you. Didn’t your phone break? You’ll need a new one."
Hu Shanshan hesitated slightly and said, "Alright, thank you, Xiaotao."
"It’s nothing."
Qin Xiaotao waved his hand and said, "You must be tired from work today. Go up first. I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow."
After hesitating for a moment, Hu Shanshan nodded.
Seeing her agree to being picked up tomorrow, Qin Xiaotao became excited again.
At this moment, he wasn’t too disappointed. Although Hu Shanshan didn’t accept him, she didn’t reject him either, just mentioned that they hadn’t spent enough time together.
Given time, he was sure he had hope.
...
Qin Yun returned to his place alone, lay on the bed, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Xiao Lan.
"Have you reached where you’re staying?"
Earlier, Xiao Lan said she’d only be returning to Jinling in the evening.
In less than a few seconds, a message was returned: "I’ll be there in about five minutes. My mom and sister just finished dinner outside."
...
The next day, Qin Yun arrived at class early in the morning.
The class was bustling, and Qin Yun heard several people talking about spicy hot pot.
A little later, Yu Leyao walked into the classroom, and almost everyone looked at her.
"Class rep, I heard your spicy hot pot place just opened!"
"I tried it, and the taste was amazing."
"Awesome, class rep!"
Suddenly, many people spoke loudly.
Owning a small shop wouldn’t make anyone look down on you; rather, everyone found it impressive.
After all, no matter how small, a shop’s still owned by someone.
Hearing everyone, Yu Leyao walked to the podium and said with a smile, "Since everyone knows my shop has opened, you must come and support it."
"That’s a given!"
"Class rep, if we go to support, are there any discounts?"
Another student asked with a smile.
On the podium, Yu Leyao smiled and said, "Of course there’s a discount. Just show your student ID and you can get a 20% discount on spicy hot pot!"
"Wow! You’re generous, class rep!"
"I’m going to have a bowl at noon to try the taste."
Cheerful voices suddenly erupted.
Since the class rep owned the shop, they were naturally very interested in trying the spicy hot pot.
Even Qin Yun became interested.
"If business is good, the spicy hot pot must be delicious too."
When he was young, he loved eating spicy hot pot. Back then, his family was poor and rarely bought buns or rolls from outside, so having a bowl of spicy hot pot felt like happiness.
When lunchtime came and there were no classes in the afternoon, Qin Yun informed his dormmates and left the school.
"Hanyu, I’m going shopping. I’ll find you when I’m back." Zhang Xiaoyue smiled at Li Hanyu.
Her dormmates planned to go shopping today.
"Alright, I’ll be writing this afternoon." Li Hanyu replied with a smile.
After September, his salary reached over seven thousand, an increase of a thousand from August.
Seeing Li Hanyu’s dormmates leave, Zhao Qing curiously asked, "Why isn’t Qin Yun going back to the dorm with Li Hanyu and the others?"
At this moment, the five of them were together, and Qin Yun had gone off on his own.
"You didn’t know?"
Zhang Xiaoyue looked at her and explained, "Qin Yun moved out of Hanyu’s dorm and rented a place on his own."
"Rented a place?" Zhao Qing was surprised upon hearing this.
She really didn’t know about this.
"How does he have the money for that?" she asked instinctively.
Jinling being a big city, rent is expensive. Many working in Jinling rented in remote areas to save on rent.
Now Qin Yun, a freshman, had already moved out on his own.
"You’re silly."
Wearing blue denim shorts and light makeup, Jiang Yi said lightly, "Didn’t Qin Yun win a grand prize of a car before? Even if he didn’t sell it at full price, he’d have at least over a hundred thousand. With that, renting outside is easy."
(Thanks to Z188888888 and Book Friend 130715124626251 for the 100 rewards, thank you.)