CHAPTER 806: CHAPTER 808: THE ONSET

"Looks nice, but I saw a photo that Jiayi kept saying looked like Auntie when she was young, so I wanted to ask about it," Su Xi explained.

Fei Meishu didn’t give it much thought and casually replied, "People can look similar, that’s normal."

"Mom, I remember we have photo albums at home; where did you put them?" Su Xi wanted to look at the albums and said, "It’s been a long time since I looked at the old albums."

Before Fei Meishu could answer, the phone rang. Jiang Wanru had fallen ill, and fearing it might scare Hongen, Su Xi was asked to go over to keep him company.

Su Xi went over without a second thought.

*

"Nianhua, you really don’t need to help me sell things; it’s too hot outside, be careful of heatstroke, I wouldn’t be able to explain to Auntie." Ji Shuyuan advised, although the stall was under some shade, it was still hot outside, making it feel like an oven.

"Shuyuan, I’m not that delicate." Xu Nianhua didn’t mind; she wanted to see how Ji Shuyuan sold things and whether there might be something better to do that wouldn’t interfere with Ji Shuyuan’s studies.

Ultimately, Ji Shuyuan couldn’t convince Xu Nianhua otherwise, so he let her tag along. Nianhua wasn’t a first-timer with stalls; she’d helped her second brother when he had one in Ningbei, and knew how busy it could get to the point her throat would feel dry, so she’d specifically bought throat lozenges to soothe herself whenever needed.

"Ji Shuyuan, you’re late today."

Zheng Jin had come many times to buy hairpins and knew Ji Shuyuan and Xu Nianhua were classmates, which made their bond closer. She asked, "Did you get any pretty hair clips this time?"

Zheng Jin searched through the dazzling array of items on the stall, completely unaware that Xu Nianhua was selling nearby.

"Zheng Jin?"

When Xu Nianhua called out her name, Zheng Jin instinctively responded and was taken aback upon seeing Xu Nianhua, asking, "Why are you here? When did you come back?"

"Shuyuan is my cousin, why wouldn’t I be here?" Xu Nianhua replied with a playful smile, saying, "I came back a couple of days ago. What about you? Didn’t you go back home during the holiday?"

Xu Nianhua eyed Ji Shuyuan and Zheng Jin back and forth.

Zheng Jin’s face flushed instantly, quickly pulling Xu Nianhua aside, worried she might say something inappropriate, saying, "Nianhua, don’t misunderstand. I just came here a few times to buy things, and then I found out by chance that he’s your cousin, so we got to know each other better."

"Just a few times?" Xu Nianhua looked at her with a teasing smile.

Feeling guilty under Xu Nianhua’s gaze, Zheng Jin explained, "I come about once every week or two..."

She was downplaying it; she nearly went every week, sometimes just to buy things, and sometimes just to chat. Knowing Ji Shuyuan was also a university student, she admired him even more.

"Didn’t you use to like my second brother?" Xu Nianhua pressed further; she needed to clear this up since her second brother was family, and her cousin was too.

"No,"

Zheng Jin denied quickly and hastily said, "That was just youthful ignorance, besides, your second brother rejected me and I moved on long ago."

What Zheng Jin said only added to the ’there’s no silver in this place’ (a Chinese idiom meaning denial makes it worse) feeling Xu Nianhua had.