Chapter 6

At the entrance stood a grandmother in bulky clothes, carrying a large wicker basket on her back, her hair half-white and her figure hunched. She was clutching Cui Xuan’s arm tightly.

“Little Fu, why are you here? Came to buy cake by yourself?”

Cui Xuan touched her grandmother’s damp outer clothes. “Why did you come, Grandma? How did you get here? Why are you all wet…”

“When I went out, it wasn’t raining. Then it started coming down while I was walking. Why are you here, sweetheart? Didn’t you go to school?”

Just as Cui Xuan did not know how to answer, a voice suddenly took over.

“The school had a power outage, so they let us out early. Cui Xuan came with me.”

Grandma Cui looked at Zhao Mingyue, then at Cui Xuan. “This, this is…”

“Hello, Grandma.” Zhao Mingyue took the hand Grandma Cui had been using to clutch Cui Xuan’s arm into her own and shook it up and down, smiling brightly. “I’m Cui Xuan’s… friend. You can just call me Xiao Zhao.”

While Grandma was talking to Zhao Mingyue, Cui Xuan quietly rubbed her arm, then quickly reached out to help Grandma take off the wicker basket on her back. Zhao Mingyue lent a hand too, and after they set it down together, she heard Grandma Cui calling Cui Xuan.

“Little Fu, come quick! See which cake you like. Grandma will buy it for you!”

Cui Xuan answered and had only taken two steps that way when she hesitated and looked back at Zhao Mingyue. Only when she saw Zhao Mingyue wave at her did she continue toward Grandma.

“Do you like this one?”

So much fruit. It must be very expensive. Cui Xuan shook her head.

“What about this one? This one’s so pretty, and it’s even a big goose!”

There was no price tag under the display cake, but instinct told Cui Xuan that such an exquisite cake definitely would not be cheap. She shook her head again.

“What about this one…”

Grandma pointed at one, and Cui Xuan shook her head once. Later, even she started to feel embarrassed. After hesitating and looking back several times, she pointed toward the dessert display case beside them.

“Grandma, I’m not hungry. How about buying that little cake?”

Inside the dessert display case were three-inch mini cakes, made with two layers of round cake, pale green cream, and jam. A few halved green grapes filled the top, and each one was packed in a clear plastic box, selling for twenty-one yuan.

Cui Xuan thought this was expensive too, but compared to the ones in the display case, it should still be much cheaper.

Grandma Cui glanced at it and knew Cui Xuan was worried about money, so she did not agree. “That tiny thing? How can you eat that for your birthday? If you won’t choose, Grandma will choose.”

She looked and looked in front of the display case, then pointed to a cake covered in fruit and asked the shop assistant for the price.

The shop assistant said, “Our shop uses dairy cream, so the price is higher than cakes made with vegetable cream. This one is one hundred and thirty yuan for six inches, and ninety-nine yuan for four inches. Which one would you like?”

Animal, vegetable—what did any of that mean? Vegetables were seedlings, [stolen content]animals were the chickens and dogs raised at home. How did those have anything to do with cream? Grandma Cui listened in confusion until the price was announced, and she instantly snapped awake.

“Can it be any cheaper? That’s too expensive. In our town, a six-inch one is only forty…”

The cake prices were set by the shop, and the assistant was only an employee. She could only helplessly explain the difference between the two types of cream to Grandma Cui.

Grandma Cui did not really understand, but she roughly understood that the cheaper one was not good for the body, and the expensive one was the good cream.

Thinking of the money she had brought with her, she felt troubled for a moment. If she bought the cake, the remaining money still had to be saved for her granddaughter. The more she spent on the cake, the less she would have to give her granddaughter.

Should she… should she buy a four-inch one first?

“I have a membership card,” Zhao Mingyue suddenly said, handing over her phone. “If I remember right, it can deduct up to one hundred, right? We’ll take the six-inch one. You can deduct one hundred in points, and Grandma can pay the remaining thirty in cash. Is that all right?”

The shop assistant had just been about to say the store’s membership points could not be used that way, but after seeing that the phone screen showed a payment code, she belatedly understood what Zhao Mingyue meant and quickly agreed.

“Yes, yes, of course. Please come over here and I’ll redeem it for you.”

Membership, points—Grandma Cui did not understand any of it. She grabbed Zhao Mingyue’s arm, a little uneasy. “What are you saying? How did it become only thirty? I don’t need to spend your money, girl…”

Zhao Mingyue patiently explained, “When you buy things in the shop, they give you points. Points don’t cost money, but they can be used like money. I still have a lot of points on my card anyway. If I leave them there, they’ll expire and go to waste, so I might as well use them.”

Grandma Cui roughly understood, but taking advantage of someone else’s discount still made her feel bad. “Then, then how should I thank you? Should I pay you back the money?”

Zhao Mingyue took the initiative to say, “Grandma, if you want to thank me, why not let me come to your house for a read the original at bailiantales.commeal? Cui Xuan must be eating something nice for her birthday, and I want to come mooch a meal too.”

Grandma Cui quickly agreed, visibly delighted. “Of course, of course. You’re my girl’s good friend. You should come for her birthday.”

Zhao Mingyue smiled. “All right. I don’t have cash on me either, so Grandma still has to pay the rest.”

Grandma Cui nodded again and again. Layer by layer, she pulled her clothes out from where they were tucked into her waistband, reached into the pocket of the innermost layer, and took out a small cloth bundle.

She unfolded one layer of blue-patterned cloth, then another layer of green-patterned cloth, and finally took out a red-patterned, bulging little cloth purse.

Opening the clasp, she took out a roll of money and counted it carefully.

Zhao Mingyue looked behind her and saw the top of a dark little head. She took two steps back toward Cui Xuan and lifted Cui Xuan’s chin, cupping it upward.

Cui Xuan’s raised eyes blinked in slight panic. Her black eyes were misty, and tiny points of light clung to her long, slightly curled lashes. She instinctively wanted to wipe her eyes with her sleeve, but stopped when she saw the cuff, remembering that she was wearing Zhao Mingyue’s clothes.

Before Cui Xuan could wipe messily with her hand, Zhao Mingyue pulled a tissue from the table and handed it to her.

Cui Xuan was a little embarrassed. She wiped randomly, then lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes, saying in a muffled voice, “Thank you. Thank you for just now…”

The Cui Xuan she had seen today seemed to always be talking to her with the top of her head. Zhao Mingyue reached out and rubbed the top of Cui Xuan’s head, rubbing until she swayed this way and that, almost unable to stand steady.

Cui Xuan wanted to hold her head, but touched Zhao Mingyue’s hand and was so startled she quickly shrank back. Zhao Mingyue became even more brazen and rubbed her a couple more times.

Seeing that Cui Xuan was about to Read on BaiLianTales lower her head to dodge, Zhao Mingyue suddenly said, “Don’t move.”

Cui Xuan really did freeze in place by instinct.

Zhao Mingyue straightened Cui Xuan’s head and slowly combed her fingers through her hair. “Why is your hair all puffed up? I’ll smooth it down for you.”

Cui Xuan stood there blankly and let her move. After Zhao Mingyue’s hand left the top of her head, she slowly touched her now-smoothed hair and instinctively thanked her again.

Zhao Mingyue laughed when she heard it. “What did you just say?”

Cui Xuan did not really dare look at people when she spoke, especially when facing Zhao Mingyue. At this moment, her head was still lowered, and her voice was weak, but she answered seriously, “I said… thank you.”

Thank her?

How could there be someone this foolish?

Zhao Mingyue could not understand it. Even more, she could not understand how such a foolish person could be the Cui Xuan from before.

“No need to say thank you. I’ve put it on your tab. You’ll have to pay it all back.”

“I will pay it back.” Cui Xuan lifted her head and, for the first time, looked into Zhao Mingyue’s eyes so seriously as she spoke. She was so nervous her lashes were trembling, her voice was shaking, and her back and palms were weak and sweaty, yet she still did not look away. Her tone was firm. “I’m willing to pay it back.”

This time, she was truly willing.

Even if Zhao Mingyue asked for more money, even if ​unauthorized copy​she asked Cui Xuan to do many things, Cui Xuan truly would do it willingly.

Zhao Mingyue reached out and covered those eyes still wet with tears. Soft lashes brushed across her palm. She paused for two seconds, then moved her hand away.

“Go look at your birthday cake.”

Because it was raining today and there was still an order before theirs, they waited ten minutes before the pastry chef started making their cake.

Grandma Cui and Cui Xuan both sat on stools, watching through the glass window as the pastry chef spread the cream.

Grandma Cui looked worried. “How much longer will it take? If it’s late, we won’t catch the bus…”

There was a distance from here to the bus stop, and walking over would take more than ten minutes. She was afraid they would miss the last bus.

Zhao Mingyue suggested, “How about going to my place? My home is nearby, and I’m the only one living there. It’s quite spacious. A few more people could stay with no problem.”

It was raining outside, and Grandma Cui was carrying so many bags and bundles. How could she take the bus in weather like this? More importantly, it was also today that Cui Xuan’s drunken eldest uncle, while pushing and hitting her, would smash and break Cui Xuan’s ankle.

Although Zhao Mingyue was confident that even if they went, Cui Xuan would not suffer any loss, today was Cui Xuan’s birthday.

It was Cui Xuan’s eighteenth birthday.

Cui Xuan should spend this day peacefully and happily.

“How could that be all right? Who celebrates their birthday at someone else’s home…”

Seeing that Grandma Cui was hesitating, Zhao Mingyue added, “At this hour, and with the rain falling, you definitely won’t catch the last bus. The place I live is very close to the school too, so it’ll be convenient for Cui Xuan to go to class tomorrow.”

Grandma Cui could not make up her mind and hesitantly looked toward Cui Xuan.

Cui Xuan’s lips moved. Thinking of the situation at her eldest uncle’s home, she could not bring herself to refuse Zhao Mingyue’s suggestion.

Back when her eldest aunt heard that Cui Xuan had been accepted into a city high school, she said Cui Xuan should come stay at their home. The school dormitory conditions were poor, and it so happened that her older cousin had gone to university, leaving a room empty.

In first year, with her aunt there, Cui Xuan’s days had been decent. In the first half of second year, her eldest aunt divorced her eldest uncle, and from then on, Cui Xuan’s days had become difficult.

All the housework fell on her. When her eldest uncle was in a bad mood, he scolded her. When he got drunk, he would occasionally hit her. The bathroom door was broken, so she did not dare shower inside. Even when using the toilet, she had to wait until her eldest uncle was not home or had fallen asleep…

Later still, her eldest uncle rented out the second bedroom and made her set up a bed in the storage room.

If Grandma went back with her, the fact that she was living in the storage room could no longer be hidden. Her eldest uncle had no shame, so he would not feel anything, but Grandma would definitely be furious.

And then? Grandma would probably take out her savings and tell Cui Xuan to return to the school dormitory as soon as possible, then work hard to earn more money after going back.

Cui Xuan knew that telling Grandma was actually the best choice for her. But she could not say it. She did not want to bring trouble to Grandma. She did not want Grandma to work so hard.

She was already working hard at part-time jobs. In another half year, she would be able to save enough for her senior-year living expenses. Then she could tell Grandma that the school had decided to waive her food and accommodation fees, and that she could live and study there without spending any money…

Give her a little more time. She could solve these troubles.

Right now, she could only shamelessly trouble Zhao Mingyue first.

She would pay it back.

No matter how much money Zhao Mingyue wanted, no matter how many things Zhao Mingyue asked her to do, she was willing.

Zhao Mingyue had called for a car in advance. The driver arrived quickly, and after she paid extra, he even more cheerfully moved Grandma Cui’s wicker basket into the trunk. Just as they finished loading it, the cake inside the shop was packed too.

The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. Without an umbrella, they would be soaked in just a few steps. Fortunately, Zhao Mingyue had bought two umbrellas. She gave the one in her hand to Grandma Cui, then went to ask Cui Xuan for the one in her schoolbag.

Cui Xuan found the umbrella and gave it to her, then picked up the cake and was about to walk under Grandma’s umbrella when she suddenly heard Zhao Mingyue say unhurriedly,

“Grandma loves you so much. If you walk with her, she’ll definitely tilt the umbrella toward you.”

Cui Xuan hesitated for two seconds, gave up the idea of walking with Grandma, and obediently stood under the umbrella Zhao Mingyue had opened.

The rain outside grew heavier and heavier, crackling against the umbrella. Cui Xuan carefully carried the cake, following closely behind Zhao Mingyue as she stepped over the waterlogged ground.

The distance from the shop to the private car was not far. When they were almost there, Cui Xuan suddenly lifted her head for some reason and glanced up.

She could not see the sky or the rain above her head.

They were completely blocked by the tilted surface of the umbrella.

Zhao Mingyue’s umbrella was tilted toward her.