DF Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Young Lady Can’t Ride a Small Electric Scooter

Sheng Jia’s daily plans are always very clear: attend classes, work part-time, and go home.

They don’t have mandatory evening self-study sessions now, so their evenings are relatively free, which gives Sheng Jia a chance to earn money. If she had to wait for her mother to give her living expenses, she would have starved to death long ago.

The closest route to her part-time job also requires passing through the same alleyway as during the day. Obviously, her luck was much better tonight; she didn’t encounter anyone looking for trouble until she left the alley.

Sheng Jia walked through the alley at a leisurely pace. Her destination was the City’s International Hotel. The headhunter she had contacted recently introduced her to a temporary cleaning job there. She would work for three hours every evening and receive a full two hundred in salary, paid daily.

The International Hotel is the largest 5 Star Hotel in the city. After entering through the back door, Sheng Jia skillfully changed into her work clothes and pushed the cleaning cart upstairs.

Her job was to do cleaning work from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Sister Zhou, the lead, had already sent her the room information that needed to be cleaned tonight. Sheng Jia glanced at it and entered several suites on the sixth floor in order. When she reached the doors of the last two suites, she pursed her lips.

One of them still had people inside, but the information given to her indicated that both rooms needed to be cleaned.

Sheng Jia put on a mask and chose a quiet room to enter. The person sitting on the sofa inside turned their head the moment she opened the door.

Sheng Jia was slightly stunned to see a familiar face.

Song Ji’an was sitting on the sofa, her eyes slightly red. When she looked over, her expression was calm and puzzled. She had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing casual and comfortable tank top and long pants.

Sheng Jia explained, “Guest room cleaning.”

Upon hearing this, Song Ji’an smiled apologetically at Sheng Jia and politely replied, “Sorry, I’ll leave right away.”

Sheng Jia remained indifferent and waited for her to leave before entering the room to clean it. She removed the bedsheets and bedding in one go and quickly came out.

The room next door was still filled with laughter. Sheng Jia knocked on the door and said, “Excuse me, do you need guest room cleaning?”

The laughter inside paused slightly, and soon someone came to open the door. It was a girl with delicate makeup. She smiled at Sheng Jia, her eyes curving, and said very politely, “Not for now. When we need it, we’ll ask the housekeeper to send someone to clean.”

Through the crack in the door, Sheng Jia saw the scene inside the room. A group of young girls were playing cards inside. Song Ji’an was sitting in the middle but not at the card table. As if sensing something, she suddenly looked up and met Sheng Jia’s eyes.

Sheng Jia subconsciously looked away and simply nodded to the girl who opened the door. “Then I’ll leave first. If you need anything, just contact the housekeeper.”

The lively door was closed, and Sheng Jia, holding the handle of the cleaning cart, slowly left the floor.

Sheng Jia didn’t return to the employee room to change back into her school uniform until 10:00 PM. She went out through the back door as before, but as soon as she reached the door, she was stopped by Song Ji’an, who came out of the shadows.

“Sheng Jia, it really is you.” Her eyes smiled, with a hint of surprise, “I thought it looked a lot like you in the room. I specially asked the housekeeper about your off-work time to wait for you here.”

Song Ji’an had also changed back into her school uniform. She was carrying her schoolbag and a set of keys.

“Why did you wait for me?” Sheng Jia frowned slightly, very puzzled.

“I asked the hotel housekeeper. Your working hours are from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM. We don’t get out of class until 5:30 PM. Considering your eating time, the tetanus antitoxin you needed to get during the day probably hasn’t been administered yet, right?” Song Ji’an took her hand and walked forward, stopping in front of a small electric scooter. Then she handed her a helmet and blinked at her, “I’ll take you there, okay?”

“I can take a taxi myself,” Sheng Jia returned the helmet to her and turned to walk forward.

But Song Ji’an fastened her own helmet and rode the small electric scooter, keeping pace with her, reminding her, “Sheng Jia, it’s a bit remote here. It’s hard to get a taxi at night.”

Sheng Jia didn’t reply to her, only turned her head to look at her, seeing a pair of very bright eyes without any gloom.

She didn’t ask Sheng Jia why she was working at the hotel, nor did she say why she had waited for Sheng Jia to get off work before acknowledging her. She just looked at her expectantly, showing the most sincere kindness, as if she had finally found an opportunity to get close to her.

The small windmill on top of the helmet was still spinning around and around as she drove forward. Sheng Jia continued to walk forward, and she aimlessly dragged her feet on the ground, following her closely, like a little rascal.

Sheng Jia gave in, took another helmet from her rearview mirror, and sat behind her.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Song Ji’an smiled, a hint of joy revealed in her eyes, and only said, “Hold on tight! I’m starting.”

Sheng Jia nodded.

Three minutes later, she felt that she shouldn’t have trusted Song Ji’an, someone who looked like a pampered young lady, to drive an electric scooter properly.

The two crashed into a trash can on Binhai Highway. The salty and humid sea breeze blew over, and only silence remained in the air.

Song Ji’an sat on the ground, covering her butt, enduring it again and again, but still couldn’t help laughing out loud. She was amused by her own ridiculous appearance, and a little embarrassed, she propped herself up and reached out her hand to Sheng Jia, “Sorry, sorry, I’m not very familiar with the new car. Are you okay?”

Sheng Jia helplessly took her hand to get up. She realized that Song Ji’an was someone who was never unhappy, as if she would never be embarrassed no matter what happened.

Sheng Jia took the keys from her hand with some headache, and after helping the small electric scooter up, she asked, “You haven’t learned how to ride?”

“I have learned,” Song Ji’an defended herself. “I studied for three whole days before buying it. I can drive, but I just haven’t carried anyone before.”

She seemed a little guilty when she said the last few words.

After speaking, she approached Sheng Jia again and carefully examined her, “Are you really okay? You must tell me if you feel uncomfortable anywhere.”

Sheng Jia straddled the small electric scooter and sneered, “What could happen from falling from this height? Get on.”

Song Ji’an obediently got into the back seat, not daring to reply, only holding Sheng Jia’s waist tightly, “Then let’s go? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t close, but it’s always better to go earlier than later.”

Sheng Jia responded and turned on the small electric scooter. The two set off again, but this time, Sheng Jia didn’t say another word until they reached their destination. Only Song Ji’an occasionally made a few sounds, marveling at the beautiful scenery on Binhai Highway.

The CDC was quiet and deserted in the late night. Only a small amber light was on in the duty room. The female doctor on duty inside gave them a slip of paper and asked, “Which one do you want? Tetanus antitoxin or immunoglobulin?”

Sheng Jia: “The cheapest one.”

The female doctor looked up at her and didn’t ask any more questions, “Go to the side to do a skin test. Get vaccinated after the skin test results come out.”

They took the slip of paper. This was Song Ji’an’s first time here, and she hesitated after hearing Sheng Jia’s choice.

“What do you want to say?” Sheng Jia asked while waiting for the aunt in the vaccination room to give her an injection.

“Shouldn’t we get a better one that’s more insured?” Song Ji’an said hesitantly, “After all, it concerns your health.”

Sheng Jia didn’t reply, only handed her the slip of paper in her hand.

Song Ji’an took it and looked at the price on it. It was only ten yuan, while Xu Lijing had given her five hundred during the day.

Looking down again, Sheng Jia was looking at her with a non-smiling expression. This expression made Song Ji’an feel a little uncomfortable. She put the slip of paper back in Sheng Jia’s hand and stopped talking.

But the expression on her face fell into hesitation again. This hesitation continued until Sheng Jia finished the injection and the two walked out.

There was a bright moon hanging high outside. After Sheng Jia threw the cotton swab pressing on the injection site into the trash can, her gaze fell on the small electric scooter parked in front of the door.

It was a car with a pure white appearance, not much different from most electric cars advertised on TV, but Sheng Jia knew that it was worth as much as 30,000, which would require her to work at the hotel for half a year at night to save so much money. But for Song Ji’an, it was just a toy, and she wouldn’t feel any heartache even if it was bumped or damaged.

Song Ji’an and she were people from two different worlds, like the door in the hotel. Behind the door was a lively and happy friend’s party. Each room on the sixth floor that she cleaned cost more than five figures to book for one night, but for Song Ji’an and people in her world, it was just an ordinary expense for a night of gathering with her girlfriends.

Even if Song Ji’an was a polite, kind-hearted, and enthusiastic girl who sincerely wanted to befriend her, Sheng Jia could still feel the clear difference between the two.

Just like she could not ask about Sheng Jia’s privacy, maintain Sheng Jia’s dignity, and secretly ask the housekeeper before looking for her when she got off work, but she still couldn’t understand why Sheng Jia only chose the cheapest vaccine after being injured, even when she had absolutely enough money.

Because she didn’t know that people who were struggling to make ends meet had to be careful with every hard-earned penny, but she also kindly wanted to protect Sheng Jia’s dignity, so she hesitated when Sheng Jia was vaccinated.

Sheng Jia could even see what she was struggling with through her expression.

——If I help Sheng Jia pay for it, will she be angry?

This sentence was clearly written on her face.

The night wind was very cool, and this road was also very beautiful. In fact, it was very lively tonight with Song Ji’an accompanying her.

“Actually, you’re not just accompanying me, right?” Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an walked to the small electric scooter and said softly, “You don’t want to go home, and you happened to see me, so you want to find something to do for yourself?”

Song Ji’an was slightly stunned, and then a look of surprise appeared on that bright face, “How did you guess?”

“It doesn’t matter how I guessed,” Sheng Jia straddled the car again, “If you want to find someone to talk to, I can find a place to talk to you. If you don’t want to, I’ll send you home now, as a thank you for accompanying me. After that, we will not owe each other…”

Before she could finish her words, Song Ji’an got into the car without any restraint and said from behind, “Then I’ll trouble Student Sheng Jia to take me for a few laps, preferably a few big laps.”