EAY Chapter 7

Different Back Views

Different Back Views

7

Qi Ye was simply curious. Although he didn’t have any particular prejudices about people or things, he was, after all, just a high school student with limited experience.

He still found it a bit strange that Grandpa Shi would be selling these girls’ items.

Shi Ran sighed helplessly, “Who told our old man to be such a busybody?”

It turned out that their neighbor, a mother, had stocked up on these goods herself, planning to earn some pocket money. However, her husband’s job was suddenly transferred, and the whole family had to move. Hiring a moving company was too expensive because of the distance, so they planned to move everything at once in her husband’s car, which meant they had to abandon a lot of things.

The mother had a good relationship with Grandpa Shi, and knowing he wanted to buy a vacuum cleaner, she gave him her old one. While chatting, they naturally discussed the accessories she couldn’t get rid of, as well as the small tables, colorful lights, and other odds and ends she had bought for her stall.

As soon as Grandpa Shi heard this, he immediately offered to take everything off her hands at the price she had bought them for.

“That aunt was actually quite nice and gave my grandpa a 40% discount, but my grandpa’s brain must have short-circuited. Why would he sell these things?” Shi Ran pouted. “He might get mistaken for an old pervert.”

Qi Ye found his expression endearing. “That’s not likely.”

“Why not?” Shi Ran organized the butterfly hair accessories on the stall. “When you’re doing business, you definitely have to greet people with a smile, right? My old man is prone to exaggerated smiles, and he’s so attentive to kids. Some parents might think he’s a lecherous old man!”

“He wouldn’t be,” Qi Ye weakly defended Grandpa Shi, thinking back to when he had last seen him. “Grandpa Shi looks like a decent person.”

Shi Ran chuckled. “You’ve been fooled by the old man. Everyone thinks he’s very proper the first time they meet him. Uh, of course, I can’t say he’s not proper. How should I put it?” Shi Ran scratched his head. “The old man is indeed a decent person, but his personality isn’t the rigid type. Instead, he’s more like a gossipy middle-aged woman? Can I say that? Anyway, he has the best relationships with the aunties and mothers in our residential complex, and he gets along well with the kids too.”

“That’s nice,” Qi Ye said.

“What’s so nice about it?” Shi Ran looked at him strangely.

At that moment, someone stopped to look at the goods on the stall. Shi Ran put on his business smile again. As the customer tried the accessories in her hair, Shi Ran held up a mirror for her and offered some appropriate advice.

“It’s not childish, it’s cute. Everyone can be cute at any age. Hmm, I think blue suits you better. Yes, it’s best to wear it with your hair down. If you’re wearing a ponytail, then it’s like this…”

The two girls laughed and said, “How does this handsome young man know so much? Does he have a lot of girlfriends?”

Shi Ran replied that he had done his homework online specifically so he wouldn’t be at a loss for words when asked. He had also learned a few hairstyles that would go well with the accessories, and asked if they wanted to try them.

The girls nodded repeatedly, eager to try.

Qi Ye watched with great interest, but he couldn’t watch the whole time because more customers arrived. He had to help Shi Ran look after the stall.

Shi Ran’s hands were truly skillful, which surprised Qi Ye once again. The two girls looked in the mirror for a long time and were very satisfied. They bought a lot of accessories before leaving.

“You’re amazing,” Qi Ye said, looking at the large empty space on the stall. “You should be able to close up shop soon.”

“Hopefully,” Shi Ran, as the stall owner, wasn’t very excited. He looked at Qi Ye and said, “Thanks just now.”

“Ah, I didn’t do anything. No one bought anything.”

“It’s normal for them not to buy anything,” Shi Ran said, gathering the accessories on the stall. He sat down on the stool behind the stall. “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m going to leave,” Qi Ye said, feeling a sudden reluctance. But he didn’t know what reason to use to stay. Suddenly, he heard a rumbling sound.

It wasn’t his stomach, but Shi Ran’s.

Qi Ye looked at him. “Haven’t you eaten yet?”

Shi Ran covered his stomach a little embarrassedly and leaned forward. “No, I haven’t had time.”

Qi Ye immediately said, “I haven’t either! I’ll go buy some food!”

Shi Ran stood up. “I’ll go. You watch the stall for me.”

“But I don’t know how to sell things. I might scare away potential customers,” Qi Ye said, pushing him back into his seat as if not allowing him to refuse. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait,” Shi Ran suddenly called out to him. “Don’t go to that Xiao Zhang barbecue place. Their grilled gluten and grilled fish are super disgusting. And don’t buy anything from the first mala tang place over there either.”

“Okay, okay, got it,” Qi Ye nodded and asked, “Is there anything you want to eat?”

Shi Ran: “Soup noodles, lamb skewers.”

Qi Ye: “Okay, anything else?”

Shi Ran: “Nothing else.”

Qi Ye strode away.

Shi Ran stood up. Qi Ye always liked to leave people with his back view, running off after saying only a few words to him. But for the first time, Shi Ran felt that Qi Ye’s back view was a little different.

It took about half an hour for Qi Ye to return, carrying a bunch of food. Besides the soup noodles and lamb skewers Shi Ran had asked for, there were also other bags of barbecue, roujiamo, wheel cakes, ice jelly, and candied chestnuts.

“Are you that hungry?” Shi Ran looked at him with wide eyes.

“Haha, I accidentally bought too much. It all looked so good,” Qi Ye said, opening the lids of the packaging and scraping the disposable chopsticks together before handing them to Shi Ran. “Eat quickly.”

Shi Ran felt like he was the one being taken care of. How could this be? Although Qi Ye was taller than him, he was so thin and couldn’t fight. He was also awkward at speaking, seeming to have a language barrier and social anxiety.

He should be taking care of him more, but now it seemed like it was the other way around.

Shi Ran silently ate his soup noodles. Qi Ye suddenly exclaimed, “It’s almost all sold out! Shi Ran, you’re amazing!”

Shi Ran calmly said, “Just luck. Another big customer came and bought a lot, saying she was going to give it all to her niece as a birthday present.”

Qi Ye chuckled and said, “If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle a customer like that.”

Shi Ran frowned. “I didn’t do anything. She just really needed it. Anyone could have handled it.”

Then he noticed that Qi Ye had been slowly peeling chestnuts, not touching anything else. “Aren’t you eating?”

Qi Ye smiled sheepishly. “I’m not that hungry right now.”

His lying skills needed improvement. Shi Ran simply said, “You’ve already eaten dinner, haven’t you?”

Qi Ye lowered his head and silently peeled chestnuts.

Idiot, at this time, you should just say you only ate a little but you’re already hungry, right? Why can’t this person be more flexible?

“How much is this? I’ll transfer it to you,” Shi Ran said, taking out his phone.

Qi Ye quickly said, “No need, no need. I ate some too. You don’t need to pay.”

Shi Ran only had sixty yuan left in his change. He transferred it all to Qi Ye, saying he needed to give the money from today’s sales to the old man first. “If it’s not enough, I’ll take it from my allowance tomorrow and give it to you.”

Qi Ye was a little deflated. “Okay.”

Shi Ran lowered his head to look at his expression. “What’s wrong? Are you angry?”

Was it not enough?

Shi Ran held his phone in front of him. “I really only have this much. Look, I’ll definitely pay you back for the difference tomorrow.”

Qi Ye said with a straight face, “I said you don’t need to pay. Can’t I even treat you to a meal?”

Shi Ran was stunned. This was the first time he had heard Qi Ye speak so bluntly. Were there really people who got angry over splitting the bill for a meal?

But Qi Ye quickly realized that he had been too harsh with Shi Ran. Shi Ran just didn’t want to owe him a favor, which was normal. It showed that he was polite and well-mannered, and wouldn’t take advantage of small things.

He should be happy that the person he liked was such a good person.

But Qi Ye was still a little greedy. He didn’t want Shi Ran to treat him like everyone else.

He hoped he was special, someone Shi Ran could be informal with.

However, that kind of thinking was a bit presumptuous.