The girl in front of him seemed to have no recognition of him at all. She looked at him expectantly and asked shyly, "May I?"
"Mm." Shang Lu handed over three times the amount of money in front of her, just the right amount as a tip for her trouble, not too much for fear that she might feel awkward accepting it.
Jiang Yan immediately smiled brightly, looking extremely happy. As she was leaving, she extended her hand from her sleeve and waved at him.
The system did not hold much benefit for her anymore; Jiang Yan felt quite free. But at the same time, there was also a downside – she didn't know when that rich young master named Shang Lu would show up again.
How distressing it was. Treasure, please come out and save her.
But Shang Lu did not appear, and Jiang Yan continued to experience the joys of being a working person.
It was that boy who had delivered the paint box the other day who, for some reason, frequently visited her business and always gave her a little extra.
Jiang Yan really liked customers like him and would greet him warmly every time she saw him.
Until one evening, as Jiang Yan handed him the small parcels from her cart and remarked on how frequently he shopped there, she suddenly heard a boy holding a ball call out to him, "Shang Lu, are you hitting on that girl?"
Jiang Yan hurriedly looked left and right. In the slightly intoxicating evening, the three of them were the only ones there.
Shang Lu clearly saw her turning her head this way and that, and then sluggishly and blankly fixing her gaze on him, her crimson lips curling up as he found her demeanor quite amusing.
"Your name is Shang Lu?" she asked as if her soul had left her body.
"What?" Shang Lu's peach blossom eyes looked at her with a hint of a smile. "Don't you recognize me?"
Jiang Yan didn't think too much of it, only assuming it was fate that the person she had been searching for had already crossed paths with her, far away at the horizon yet close at hand. She smiled sweetly and took out her phone, "Let's add each other on WeChat."
The boy holding the ball whistled.
Shang Lu smiled slightly, his voice low yet magnetic and gentle as he asked her, "Then how did you end up delivering parcels for me?"
Jiang Yan lowered her head and saw that Shang Lu's WeChat money transfer to her was still the first message.
Jiang Yan tapped her head, calmly putting away her phone and saying warmly, "Look at me, all excited and silly."
Shang Lu paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"What's so funny? Am I really that amusing?" Jiang Yan asked shyly.
The boy holding the ball looked puzzled at the scene unfolding before him. It wasn't supposed to be about hitting on a girl, just picking up a parcel. How did it suddenly turn into hitting on a girl?
Shang Lu smiled and said, "It's getting cold. You should head back."
"Okay." Jiang Yan gave him an earnest okay sign and obediently rode her electric scooter away.
Jiang Yan was extremely excited. Her meal ticket had appeared! From today onwards, she would use all her skills to secure that meal ticket as soon as possible. She hadn't eaten meat for several days already.
She felt sorry for herself.
So, the coveted Shang Lu soon received a message from Jiang Yan.
"Where are you from?"
Aside from the delivery incident, this was their first exchange. Shang Lu raised an eyebrow and replied, "I'm from Jiangcheng."
"No," came the response from the other end.
Shang Lu suddenly had a bad feeling, and at the same time, the next message popped up: "You're the one in my heart."
Shang Lu: ...
"Guess what my zodiac sign is?" she asked again.
Shang Lu patiently replied, "Aquarius?"
"Wrong."
Shang Lu waited for her next message.
"I was made to order, just for you."
Before she could continue harassing him, Shang Lu got straight to the point and asked her, "Do you want to pursue me?"
"Is it that obvious?"
Otherwise, who would randomly send such deadly cheesy pick-up lines? Suddenly, her dazed appearance that afternoon flashed in his mind. She only became enthusiastic after learning he was Shang Lu, and the previous love letter was also written for Shang Lu.
She had written a love letter without even knowing what he looked like and failed to recognize him after seeing him so many times. She was practically wearing her ulterior motives on her face.
Shang Lu typed leisurely, "I'm hard to pursue."
Wanting to know what it was that she wanted.
Jiang Yan didn't know that her future meal ticket had already seen through her. She continued typing sincerely from her bed, "It doesn't matter. I'll always like you!"
"Call me 'older brother' a couple of times first."
Jiang Yan's fingers froze mid-typing. Had she encountered an old lecher?
"Too shy or don't know how? Do you need older brother to teach you?" The other end sent messages with great interest.
"Can't even call me older brother and you want to hit on me?"
Jiang Yan: ...
She didn't expect her meal ticket to be like this.
Jiang Yan was forced to call him "older brother" for several days, but there was no progress. He was just a pure, unabashed lecher.
After two days with no response from the little girl he was teasing, the usually carefree young master Shang Lu casually wondered if the poor girl he had bluntly flirted with when he couldn't charm her would employ a strategy of feigned aloofness.
Of course, that was not the case. The impoverished working girl was simply a very busy person.
Jiang Yan had taken on an additional part-time job at a newly opened hot pot restaurant near the school, earning an extra ten dollars an hour.
Wu's Father's condition had stabilized for the time being, but the upcoming surgery fees were still a considerable sum. As Jiang Yan sat at the cash register, smelling the fragrant and spicy aroma of the hot pot, she drooled while pondering how to earn money.
There weren't many hot pot restaurants near the school; most were barbecue places and Japanese cuisine. So when this new restaurant opened and advertised, it attracted quite a few customers. The hot pot restaurant was filled with steamy vapors from the hot pots.
Thus, when a few tall boys entered together, she didn't notice them right away.
Until one of them enthusiastically called out, "Hey, Lu-ge! Isn't that the girl who delivered the parcel the other day?"
Jiang Yan was still immersed in her misery over her lack of money. She looked up sadly and met a pair of dark eyes.
