Chapter 39

After Xin Geling left, Xie Zhitang closed the door and returned to the bedroom again. She bent down and touched the spot where Sister had lain all night.

There was still a little warmth left.

Xie Zhitang let out a long, contented sigh, her eyes revealing endless lingering tenderness.

How nice. She was a little closer to Sister again.

Sleepiness floated up once more. Xie Zhitang gathered all the long hair behind her into her hand and placed it over the left side of her chest. Her pair of long, slender legs bent slightly at the knees and slipped beneath the thin sheet. Then she lay down in the spot where Sister had been.

The instant she covered herself with the quilt, it truly felt as if Sister were holding her in her arms.

On the other side, Xin Geling finished her morning run, ate breakfast, and immediately rushed to the farmers’ market to buy stock.

Today might be a little busy for her. She had quite a few appliance repair orders, and they were basically all in the morning.

It was not until past one in the afternoon that she finally had time to return home for lunch.

Only after lunch did she have a slightly longer stretch of free time, but before she had rested for even an hour, someone called her, saying they wanted their washing machine cleaned.

Xin Geling had no choice but to take cleaning agents and her tool bag for a house call.

When she arrived downstairs at an apartment building, she increasingly felt that this place was somewhat familiar.

By the time she came to a door number, Xin Geling was even more certain she had been here before. She had probably delivered a cat to this customer back when she worked at Maochong Grooming.

“Coming.” A young voice came from inside.

Before long, the door opened. What entered her eyes was a familiar girl. Xin Geling remembered that she was the girl who had once given her a piece of cake.

The girl was surprised. “It’s you!”

Xin Geling nodded. “Yes.”

The girl quickly opened the door and let her in. “Didn’t you work at that cat grooming shop?”

Xin Geling inspected her washing machine. After unplugging it, she began using a screwdriver to remove the screws. “I don’t work there anymore.”

The girl asked, “Why?”

Xin Geling said, “Because that boss was privately breeding pets. Our principles didn’t align, so I didn’t keep working there.”

Hearing this, the girl was extremely shocked. “Privately breeding them? That kind of person is way too much! I couldn’t tell that boss was actually someone like that.”

Xin Geling removed the drum and paused. Then she looked helplessly at the girl. “I couldn’t understand it either.”

At this moment, the girl’s kitten Kele ran over. She picked it up, hugging and petting it, when she suddenly remembered something. “I guess it’s karma. I heard in the apartment group chat that your former boss got into trouble a few days ago.”

Xin Geling did not understand. “What happened?”

The girl recalled, “It seems he recently got infected with rabies. The shop isn’t open anymore either. We’re all guessing whether it’s going to close down.”

Xin Geling said, “Rabies? Such a tiny probability, and he actually ran into it.”

The girl connected this series of events and said with satisfaction, “It must be karma. For the sake of breeding pretty little kittens, he kept breeding cats and connecting the bloodlines of pedigree cats. People who run backyard breeding operations to sell cats aren’t human at all.”

Thinking of that scene, Xin Geling’s grip on the screwdriver tightened.

Seeing that the drum Xin Geling had taken apart was covered in grime, the girl’s face turned slightly red, and she quickly explained, “This washing machine belongs to the landlord. It’s probably been used for several years. I thought I’d find someone today to deep-clean it, but I didn’t expect the person coming to be you.”

Xin Geling took out the cleaning agent and sprayed it onto the drum. Suddenly, she remembered that her appliance repair services were generally aimed at the elderly on Linzhang Street. After all, only they were willing to tolerate her lack of professionalism.

But recently, she had noticed that many of the repair orders had come from younger faces.

“Where did you see my repair information?”

The girl said, “The apartment group chat. I asked in the group whether anyone knew a technician who could clean washing machines, and someone recommended your phone number. Your surname is Xin, right?”

Xin Geling said, “Mm.”

The girl looked at her outfit. Loose cargo pants and an American-style tank top. She was different from most girls the girl had met. People who liked going out and following trends might dress almost like this too, but those people either held guitars and played popular rock music, good at socializing, or held coffee in an office and lived a decent nine-to-five life.

But the person in front of her was holding a screwdriver and crouching in front of her washing machine, cleaning it for a sixty-yuan cleaning fee.

The girl sat on the sofa, petting her cat’s head, watching this person busy herself around her home. She actually also knew that Xin Geling set up a barbecue stall on the snack street at night.

It was just that ever since that time someone said, “She’s not a lesbian,” she had not dared to approach and try to get closer anymore.

But seeing this scene today still made her heart race like crazy.

So she quickly opened her phone and called on her friend.

Weiwei: Is falling for a straight girl the fate of every little lesbian?! [sad frog tears.jpg]

Friend: What happened?

Weiwei: I saw that crush again. She came to my place today to clean the washing machine!

Friend: You two really are pretty fated, hahaha.

Weiwei: Right, right? The repair technician I casually added from the apartment group actually turned out to be her.

Friend: Feels like her family situation isn’t too good. Doesn’t she also come out at night to sell barbecue at a stall?

Weiwei: She works several jobs alone. From the cat grooming shop to appliance repair today, she gives me this very steady and reliable feeling.

Weiwei: Oh right, right. She said she quit the cat grooming shop because her principles didn’t align with the boss’s. Only then did I find out her former boss was privately using customers’ pedigree cats for breeding!

Friend: That kind of person… seriously, hurry up and die.

Weiwei: Karma already got him. Someone in the group said he got infected with rabies. I really hope he kicks the bucket soon. God, I’m so vicious.

Friend: Hahahahahaha, I hope he kicks the bucket too. Best if he drops dead tomorrow!

Weiwei pulled the topic back: What do I do about my crush?

Friend: If she’s a straight girl, then you can only cut her off and move on. [spreads hands]

Weiwei: What if I don’t want to cut her off and move on, wu wu wu wu.

Friend: Then be friends first. Maybe she’ll bend later.

Weiwei: That works too. Friends first.

Friend: What’s your crush’s name?

Weiwei: Haven’t asked yet. I only know her surname is Xin.

Friend: Then hurry up and ask her full name while you can! [angry angry angry]

Weiwei: Okkk.

Tan Shiwei put down her phone and asked Xin Geling, “Can I ask your full name?”

“Xin Geling.”

“Oh…” Tan Shiwei silently memorized the name. “My name is Tan Shiwei.”

“Okay, Miss Tan.”

“You can call me Shiwei or Weiwei too.”

Xin Geling lifted her head with the brush in hand and glanced at her. “Okay.”

Tan Shiwei was secretly delighted. “Then can I call you Geling?”

“That works too.”

After Xin Geling cleaned the inner drum, she also cleaned the grime inside the washing machine. Finally, she reinstalled it and tightened the screws.

Tan Shiwei said, “I’ll transfer the money to you. Why don’t we add each other on WeChat? It’ll be more convenient to find you for appliance repairs in the future.”

Xin Geling did not think too much about it. “Sure.”

After the two added each other on WeChat, Xin Geling received the sixty-yuan cleaning fee the other party transferred to her. After accepting it, she put her phone into her pants pocket, half-crouched, and packed up her tool bag.

“Then I’ll go first.”

“Goodbye, goodbye…”

After coming down from Tan Shiwei’s apartment, Xin Geling had just walked back to the entrance of Linzhang Street when she unexpectedly ran into Xie Zhitang.

The other woman was standing in front of the window of a steamed-dish restaurant, ordering from the dazzling array of small plates inside.

“I’ll take this plate of spicy shredded potatoes and that steamed meat.”

The owner placed them on her tray. “Altogether, eighteen.”

“Xie Zhitang.” Xin Geling called her.

Xie Zhitang had just finished paying. Before she could turn around, she heard Xin Geling’s voice. “Sister?”

Xin Geling asked, “Only eating lunch now?”

Xie Zhitang gave an “mm.” “I was too sleepy and slept until now. I was also too lazy to cook, so I came down to eat out.”

Xin Geling actually wanted to talk to her about the mended pants. “Did you help me mend my pants yesterday?”

Xie Zhitang asked rather helplessly, “Sister only discovered it now?”

Xin Geling said, “I didn’t notice. I only found out they’d been mended when I showered last night. Thank you.”

Xie Zhitang said, “I just mended them in passing. It was no trouble. As long as Sister doesn’t think my stitching is ugly.”

Xin Geling recalled that pink braided pattern. “It’s quite pretty.”

She had even saved it from Ms. Lin’s hands.

Xie Zhitang could not believe it. “Really?”

Xin Geling said, “Really.”

Xie Zhitang’s eyes curved, clearly made happy by her praise. “Then in the future, Sister can give me any torn clothes to mend.”

Xin Geling knew she was joking. “How could I feel comfortable doing that?”

Xie Zhitang said, “There’s nothing to feel uncomfortable about.” She lifted her tray and gestured. “I’ll go eat first, Sister.”

Xin Geling said, “Eat slowly. I have to go work too.”

Xin Geling had just turned around and only walked a few steps when she ran into Tan Shiwei.

“Geling, what a coincidence!” Tan Shiwei waved at her.

Xin Geling nodded at her. “Weiwei.”

Xie Zhitang, who had just been about to go inside to eat, paused. She turned to look at the two of them. The word “Weiwei” fell into her ears, and Xie Zhitang’s expression darkened.

“Are you going to the next place to repair appliances now?”

“Yes.”

“Oh right, I gave you some publicity. You don’t mind, right? I strongly recommended you in the group chat.”

“Thank you.”

“Then I won’t disturb you. I’m getting ready to go to work.”

The two briefly said goodbye, and Xin Geling headed to the next repair customer’s address.

Because she had to pass through the snack street, Xin Geling had no choice but to cross it. At noon, there was not much foot traffic on the snack street, probably because the main consumers were mostly at work during this time.

Only during the morning and evening rush would this street have many people.

Suddenly, she was attracted by a sign saying that a popular shop was being transferred for rent.

Xin Geling stopped and glanced inside. This shop had quite a lot of space, but the renovation was not very good. Because it was not in the center of the snack street, but rather a little off to the side, the floor had even been leveled with cement and was not fully tiled like the other clothing shops and snack shops.

If such a shop were used for a down-to-earth [unauthorized copy]breakfast shop or folk-style food, it would be just right. Taking the affordable food route would be a good direction.

But the location was the issue. It was a bit out of the way, almost at the very end of the snack street. Foot traffic would be a problem.

This matter still had to be considered carefully.

Xin Geling formed an idea in her heart, noted down the phone number left on the sign, and planned to go back and discuss it with others.

That night, after selling out the barbecue from her stall, Xin Geling called to ask about the rent.

One thousand a month.

As soon as this price came out, Xin Geling could almost guess why it was so low. The first issue was foot traffic, and the second was the simple, rough renovation.

Just as Xin Geling was weighing it, Xie Zhitang sent her a message, saying she had to work overtime again tonight.

Xin Geling guessed what she meant and comforted her. “Okay. I’ll come pick you up tonight. Call me when the time comes.”

Perfect. She happened to want to consult this professional.