CH 12

Chapter 12 – Unrequited Love

Uncle Cheng once again felt regret in his heart. He was nearly ten years younger than Luo Bei’s father, so his son was also seven or eight years younger than Luo Bei. Luo Bei had graduated from college now, yet his son was only in high school…

If his son was the same age as Luo Bei, heck, even if they were three years apart, he would thicken his skin and match them together.

But one was an adult graduate and the other was a minor still in high school, he couldn’t bring himself to do it even if he was deranged and had no ethics.

“Mother Luo, has anyone not paid rent recently?” Uncle Cheng asked again.

“No, but even if they were a few days late it’s still understandable. Who doesn’t undergo difficulties sometimes?”

Whether it was because of Uncle Cheng or because of Grandma Luo herself, the Luo family had never had difficulties with tenants being late with rent before. They were the only ones in the slums fortunate enough.

Grandma Luo had a good relationship with their tenants. They had tenants who came to work in the city from outside and when they came back after Chinese New Year’s, they would bring local specialties back for Grandma Luo.

***

“Beibei!”

“Is Beibei home?!”

Even though it was almost nine o’clock, the shanty town was still lively.

Luo Bei looked out the window, the one calling for her was her playmate when she was younger.

“I’m here!”

“Come down! I’ll treat you to some tong sui1Tong sui (literally translated as “sugar water”), also known as tim tong, is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. (Wikipedia)!”

Luo Bei put on her shoes, grabbed her purse and headed downstairs, bumping into Jiang Sihan who had just come in.

Autumn was approaching and the nights were getting chilly, but he was sweating until his back was drenched. After he helped send Zhao Pianpian to the hospital last time, Luo Bei felt she was more familiar with him so she greeted him.

Jiang Sihan had an indescribable temperament. He was very cold and aloof. Even if he was hungry to the point he looked malnourished and sickly, even if he lived in the basement of a low-income neighborhood, he had a countenance that was different from people around him.

If he gained some weight and regained some color in his complexion, he could probably go up against those nation’s male gods on Weibo and on TV.

Luo Bei did not chat with him, but he probably didn’t think of chatting with her either. She went out with her childhood friend Xu Yao to a tong sui shop in the neighborhood.

She and Xu Yao were classmates up until high school, as they were admitted into different high schools later on. Their relationship had weakened but they would often ask the other out for tong sui.

“I heard you got a job?” Xu Yao asked after sitting down.

“Yeah, as the CEO’s assistant in a foreign trade company.”

Xu Yao cupped her face in her hands, her expression melancholic, “That’s good. I resigned yesterday. I don’t know why I can’t stay in a company for long.”

Luo Bei comforted her, “That means you haven’t met a company that you like, but you don’t have to worry.”

They conversed idly. As they were almost done drinking the tong sui, Xu Yao finally brought up the topic she had been holding in. She hesitated and asked, “Beibei, I heard that Zhan Qi is pursuing you. How do you feel about him?”

Luo Bei was honestly not surprised that Xu Yao would come find her.

Xu Yao had liked Zhan Qi since middle school, but it seemed like Zhan Qi was unaware of it. He had dated several times in succession and each time Xu Yao would be depressed for a long time.

For Xu Yao, if Zhan Qi dated someone she didn’t know, she could still secretly pray for them to break up quickly. But if Zhan Qi ended up with Luo Bei, then her worst nightmare would come true.

Although Luo Bei wasn’t her best friend now, they did grow up together after all and she still had some attachment to her. And if Luo Bei and Zhan Qi were actually together, they would probably do so with marriage in mind. The two families knew each other inside out and had close relations and both of them grew up together, it was obvious that the relationship would be taken more seriously than his previous ones.