Chapter 11

Luo Qingmeng got into the car while cursing. She slammed the car door with a loud bang and repeatedly cursed Qiu Shuxue for lacking manners. “Hurry up and drive. People are already yelling at you.”

She felt like she had become a spectacle—the kind where people pointed right at her nose and berated her. She criticized Qiu Shuxue. “You’re so embarrassing. Can’t you act more mature next time?”

Qiu Shuxue started the car and said agreeably, “Then you should’ve gotten in my car sooner.” With that, it sounded like Luo Qingmeng was the root cause of everything.

“So it’s my fault?” Luo Qingmeng asked, displeased.

Qiu Shuxue said, “It’s my fault.”

Then she said more seriously, “Really, I truly think it’s my fault.”

But that didn’t ring true. Luo Qingmeng could tell she was clearly smiling—and grinning happily, at that.

Luo Qingmeng sat in the back seat, pulled out her phone, and opened the navigation app. She was mainly worried that Qiu Shuxue might drive her in circles and make her late for work.

She muttered under her breath, “I hate you little brats the most.”

“By the way, do you prefer more mature guys?” Qiu Shuxue asked. “Li An is pretty young, but he’s in his mid-thirties already. In our company, it’s actually hard for someone with his profile to find a marriage partner.”

“…”

Luo Qingmeng nearly had a heart attack. She knew Qiu Shuxue was doing this on purpose—luring her into the car just to humiliate her. “What does his age have to do with me? I hate old guys the most.”

Qiu Shuxue laughed. “See? You suit someone younger. But why did you fall for Li An? Is it just that you don’t like him now? Would you still go for someone older than you in the future?”

Luo Qingmeng hadn’t realized it was a trap. She was desperately trying to distance herself from Li An right now and fell right into the self-incriminating pitfall without noticing. She kept explaining that she didn’t like older men.

After she rambled on for a while, all she got in return was a laugh from Qiu Shuxue.

It carried a hint of mockery, like an unspoken taunt: “You’re just talking big right now. When you meet the right one, you’ll fall for it anyway. You’re such a hopeless romantic.”

Qiu Shuxue turned the steering wheel, and the car rounded a sharp bend before stopping at a red light. Qiu Shuxue said, “You’ve invested a lot in him. Everyone at the company thinks you’re clinging to him—he’s your ideal type. Of course, plenty of people at our company envy him. They say you’re the dream wife for most guys: obedient, good at cooking, and you do whatever your husband says without question.”

Luo Qingmeng said, “I’ve had it with men. They’re disgusting.” Bah, dream wife? More like dream maid who throws in childbearing. Men like that can all drop dead—disgusting!

“Got it,” Qiu Shuxue said.

“What do you get? You don’t get anything.”

Qiu Shuxue dropped her off at her destination. Luo Qingmeng got out without even acknowledging her. Qiu Shuxue called after her, “I’ll pick you up tonight, then.”

Luo Qingmeng froze and looked at Qiu Shuxue in confusion.

“Why would you pick me up?”

“To save on that 6.4 fare, sis.”

But Luo Qingmeng didn’t have time to respond, because Chen Xin had arrived. She greeted Luo Qingmeng from afar. “Morning, Qingmeng sis!”

Luo Qingmeng didn’t really want Chen Xin to know about her connection to Qiu Shuxue, so she kept her head down and hurried inside. Qiu Shuxue didn’t linger; she stepped on the gas and drove away from the mall entrance.

Chen Xin hadn’t managed to greet Qiu Shuxue. She jogged to catch up with Luo Qingmeng and asked, “How did it feel to have three days off in a row, Sister Meng?”

Luo Qingmeng hadn’t found it particularly refreshing—probably because she’d holed up at home like a total hermit. Chen Xin pressed on. “Did you go out and have fun with your husband? Eat anything delicious?”

“…” Luo Qingmeng really didn’t want to talk about it. She’d rather dwell on Qiu Shuxue some more—Li An was as good as dead to her now.

“We went grocery shopping.”

“Ah, that’s so boring. Men, huh…”

It had cost over thirty thousand.

“He used to come by a few times when he was still your boyfriend. How come he doesn’t anymore?” Chen Xin kept prying, full of gossip.

Luo Qingmeng entered the mall and headed for the escalator. Ever since getting out of the car, she’d felt stuffy, with an ache in her chest.

Seeing this, Chen Xin followed her and asked a few more questions about her newlywed life. Luo Qingmeng was tempted to snap back that she was treating him like he was dead.

The thought sparked an idea in Luo Qingmeng.

Once she got the money, she could just say Li An had died—in a car crash, smashed to bits. She’d be a heartbroken widow, sworn off love forever.

The notion cheered her up.

She licked her lips. When they reached the second floor, she headed straight over.

Luo Qingmeng asked, “Did the store manager say which books are on discount?”

“Nope, looks like you’ll have to pick them. Go ahead—you always choose better than the boss does. Her books sell way better than the ones the boss picks. She’s not as detail-oriented as you; she’s a real hands-off manager.”

Chen Xin lavished praise on her. She thought Luo Qingmeng was impressive—strong sales skills and a real bookworm to boot. There wasn’t a book in the store she didn’t know. No matter which customer asked for one, she could identify it right away and say if they had it.

Luo Qingmeng felt pleased and hummed inwardly but didn’t respond directly—lest the boss overhear.

Chen Xin had the keys. As she chattered on and unlocked the door, she said, “Qingmeng sis, you could open your own bookstore.”

Luo Qingmeng did dream of that, but she had no money.

Chen Xin continued, “Start by renting a small storefront. What could you do? Open a study room. Rent’s about five thousand a month. Once the exam preppers start showing up, offer package deals. Once you’ve got cash flowing, stock up on books and turn it into a full bookstore.”

The idea tempted Luo Qingmeng. “Where’d you hear about that?”

“I’m a junior now, starting to think about grad school exams. The school library’s packed, dorms aren’t good for studying, so everyone heads out to study rooms. It’s three hundred a month for a card, and all the extras cost more. If you target college students, you don’t need fancy renovations—just some tables, a quiet space, cheap prices, low rent, and you’d make bank. Have your husband invest a bit; it’d be way easier than slaving away here.”

It was the first time Luo Qingmeng had heard of this.

Chen Xin vented a bit about the cutthroat competition these days—the libraries were absolute madhouses. Luo Qingmeng listened, hummed along, and filed it away.

Rent was the sticking point, though. Five thousand a month?

In this city, five thousand for rent didn’t seem that bad.

Once the door was open, Luo Qingmeng noticed a musty smell inside. She turned on the ventilation fan, drew back the curtains, and eventually found the source: the reading area hadn’t been cleaned properly. There were apple cores in the corners.

Luo Qingmeng frowned and grabbed the broom. “Didn’t we say no food in the bookstore? They should leave it on the table outside. How did it get like this? Flies are a nightmare.”

Their bookstore was fairly large. To keep the books clean, there was a big table at the entrance, and the on-duty staff watched customers that day.

“Yesterday it was Xiao Tang… she probably didn’t check carefully.”

Luo Qingmeng didn’t like Xiao Tang much. She was careless, always making excuses like “I’m young; why should I kill myself for the boss? I’m just chilling.” But she used it as a cop-out to half-ass everything, leaving messes for others to clean up. It was annoying.

Luo Qingmeng said, “Even slackers have limits. Show some restraint.”

Chen Xin stayed quiet. She’d been on shift with Xiao Tang yesterday and slacked off too. She fetched an apron and brought one for Luo Qingmeng as well. When Luo Qingmeng froze while tying hers, not moving a muscle, Chen Xin asked curiously, “What’s wrong, Qingmeng sis?”

Luo Qingmeng swallowed hard. It was all Qiu Shuxue’s fault—she now felt weird even looking at aprons. “Nothing.”

“Pissed at Xiao Tang?” Chen Xin jumped in. “Tell her off later. She’s only well-behaved when you’re on shift with her.”

Luo Qingmeng just hummed in acknowledgment.

She was too lazy to deal with Xiao Tang’s issues. It wouldn’t even get her a raise. She wasn’t stupid—as long as Xiao Tang behaved when they were together, that was fine.

An auntie was on duty that day. She stood at the entrance, helping shelve books and reminding customers to set down their food. She was diligent and helped lighten the workload. Nothing much happened that day. Near noon, the store manager stopped by. She was fairly young, about thirty-five, female, short in stature, and an excellent talker. Luo Qingmeng admired her. Theirs was a chain bookstore with locations nationwide, mostly in big malls. The store manager made a few rounds, inspecting inside and out. Chen Xin wanted to report Xiao Tang’s behavior, but the store manager kept chatting with Luo Qingmeng, so she couldn’t get a word in.

Luo Qingmeng felt uncomfortable because the store manager was asking about her marriage too—wishing her marital bliss and giving her two crates of fruit. She kept probing why they hadn’t thrown a wedding banquet, if they’d gotten their certificate, why no social media post, and how living together felt.

It wasn’t really fruit season, but the store manager said one crate was strawberries and the other pineapples—both things Luo Qingmeng liked. Luo Qingmeng bit her lip, twitched the corners of her mouth into a smile, and told the store manager, “Thank you. We’ll be happy.”

Heh, they’d see after she ate the fruit and Li An mysteriously keeled over from poison.

As the store manager left, she waved her phone. “Message me if there’s anything, or just ask Qingmeng.” The store manager smiled at Luo Qingmeng. “With you here, Qingmeng, I feel so much better about this store.”

Luo Qingmeng smiled back.

She knew better. What good was sweet talk like that? Her salary was still just four thousand a month, yet she was doing the store manager’s job. What was the point? She wasn’t going to help run things. She’d leave the second her shift ended.

Once the boss was gone, she sighed. She did this often on purpose, letting everyone know: I’m just an employee too—don’t come to me. I’m only doing this under duress. I don’t want to manage the store for the boss. I’m not the manager.

By noon, Luo Qingmeng was able to switch shifts and take her break. She went to the break room and pulled out her lunch. Their workplace was a bookstore, where they weren’t allowed to use appliances like heaters, so they had to head to the chain’s affiliated coffee shop to warm it up. She went there with Chen Xin.

She felt a bit thirsty while eating and originally wanted to buy a bottle of mineral water, but she remembered what Qiu Shuxue had said that morning about saving money.

She could afford to spend an extra 3.2 yuan today.

Luo Qingmeng opened Meituan to check the group deals and saw that Mixue had several options for three yuan. In the end, she ordered a cup of lemon water for 2.5 yuan.

She had saved an extra 0.7 yuan.

Luo Qingmeng lowered her head and smiled.

Chen Xin glanced at her while eating a small bun. “What are you smiling about?”

Luo Qingmeng said, “I just feel like today’s cooking turned out especially tasty.”

Chen Xin smiled. “Then, sis, let me try some tomorrow, yeah?”

She hadn’t had much time that morning, so her cooking had been pretty simple. She’d used the new machine she’d bought that day to steam some purple sweet potatoes and regular sweet potatoes, made a basic tomato and egg rice topping, and stir-fried a bit of the boiled meatballs she’d ordered online earliest. Her lunch didn’t really show off any great skill.

Luo Qingmeng felt quite happy and prepared to redeem her voucher for the lemon water. She had just reached Mixue’s floor when she received a message from Chen Xin.

Chen Xin: 【Sis, your dear one ordered you a Jasmine Yogurt Drink. Cancel that voucher quick!】

Luo Qingmeng stared at the message, not quite understanding. 【What?】

Chen Xin snapped a photo and sent it over. Luo Qingmeng spotted the note on it: 【Please make it less sweet for my dear—she’s already sweet enough.】

It definitely couldn’t have been Li An who’d ordered her the Jasmine Yogurt Drink. She came down on the escalator, and they weren’t allowed to bring food or drinks into the store anyway, so Chen Xin had taken it to the break room for her. The break room only had some chairs and a long, narrow table.

The Jasmine Yogurt Drink sat on the table, covered in a fine layer of condensation. Chen Xin teased, “Marriage really is pretty great—having a husband who cares about you like that.”

Luo Qingmeng wanted to say it wasn’t her husband but couldn’t easily explain why someone had called her “dear.” The yogurt drink sitting there on the table was an eyesore.

Zhang Fenlan, who was outside, saw it too and laughed. “It’s from your husband—drink up! The young folks outside are all having them, and they cost dozens of yuan a cup. It’d be a waste not to drink it.”

It was probably that last remark that goaded her. She stuck in a straw and took a sip. The taste was pretty good—it was hawthorn flavor, the kind Qiu Shuxue had ordered.

At noon, she had an hour and a half for her break. She went to the small break room in the back and sprawled out for a bit. First she scrolled through some videos, then took another sip of the yogurt drink. That’s when she noticed the additional info on that friend request had changed.

Qiu Shuxue: 【So hungry at noon.】

“Yeah, right,” Luo Qingmeng muttered.

She wasn’t fooled. Li An had told her before that the cafeteria at his foreign company was great—the chefs even had special certifications. There were dozens of dishes every day; you could get whatever you wanted, and they even gave a monthly meal subsidy. Li An had even sent her photos and asked if she knew how to make those dishes.

Luo Qingmeng didn’t bother looking anymore and just lay down for a nap.

When she got up, there was still a little yogurt drink left undrunk, but now it had all melted. She sucked up a mouthful, and it was sickeningly sweet—not great.

At two, she went back on shift. The store was quiet in the afternoon, with few people out and about. She sat down and picked up a book from nearby to read.

Lately, the marketing accounts had been pushing this one hard. The author wrote about real corruption cases, and the content truly shattered her worldview. She couldn’t fathom how people who’d gone through higher education could do such mind-blowing things—learning all that knowledge just to turn into beasts in the end. She read intently, thinking about the copy she’d write tomorrow to promote the book.

After three chapters, customers started trickling into the store one after another. She perked up and manned the register. As closing time neared, her mind began to wander. Would Qiu Shuxue come pick her up? Could she save that extra 3.2 yuan? Was it worth bowing her head for just 3.2 yuan?

As Luo Qingmeng pondered this, she took a book from a customer, scanned the barcode for the price, but it didn’t register. She kept her head down and said, “Hold on, let me check where the code is on this physical exam report. Please wait… A physical exam report? You’ve got the wrong item—pick another one.”

She looked up and realized it wasn’t a problem with the book or the customer handing her the wrong thing. The person in front of her was Qiu Shuxue, who had deliberately handed her a physical exam report.

Qiu Shuxue said, “I specially went for a checkup yesterday, and the results came out today… Wanna take a look?” She gazed at her, her eyes hinting: We agreed on that night.

Luo Qingmeng looked up. Customers were still browsing in the store, and someone at the door was setting down their milk tea. Chen Xin glanced over curiously. She shoved the physical exam report back at Qiu Shuxue, but she wouldn’t take it—insisting she look.

Luo Qingmeng was afraid others would see it—what would she say then? She thought for a moment and stuffed it under the counter, lowering her voice to ask, “What are you trying to do? I’m working.”

Qiu Shuxue was also holding a book—the very one Luo Qingmeng had been reading that day. She said, “Nothing, really. Just showing you.”

Some customers came up to check out behind her, so Qiu Shuxue stepped aside to not block the register. She leaned her arm on the counter. As a customer handed a book to Luo Qingmeng, she shot Qiu Shuxue a sideways glare, her eyes boring into her with an obvious message: Get lost.

But Qiu Shuxue drawled in a slow tone, “Boss, I’m super clean. It’s all written right there—take a peek.”

Luo Qingmeng nearly bit her tongue.

“I’m not the boss.”

Qiu Shuxue looked at her and said, “Then what are you?”

The physical exam report hadn’t been stuffed away properly and now fell to the floor. Luo Qingmeng stepped on it without thinking about her answer.

Raising her voice, she shot back, “Right now, I’m a widow!”

Then… everyone in the store froze in stunned silence.