CHAPTER 602: CHAPTER 568 - COMING TO COLLECT MONEY

The man wasn’t here to buy anything. After he said a few words to the girl, she took a small box from the back door and handed it to him. The man didn’t leave immediately; he opened it in front of her. Inside was a lot of cash, which he stuffed into his bag. After leaving some receipts, he gave the girl a slap on the head. The girl, feeling aggrieved, rubbed her head and didn’t dare to say anything.

From Xiao Lin’s position, he couldn’t see the man’s mouth, so he couldn’t lip-read what he was saying. He patiently waited until the man finished rambling and walked out, before tossing his cigarette and heading toward the hardware store.

"Welcome!" Upon hearing the chime on the doorframe, she called out with her head down. The wooden box only had some coins left, not even a single large bill. What a shame. She grabbed a handful of coins and watched as they fell from her palm into the wooden box with a clattering sound, then picked them up again, repeatedly indulging in this childish act with a giggle. At that moment, in Xiao Lin’s eyes, she seemed like a child, not yet grown up.

"Hey!" Xiao Lin didn’t want to interrupt her joy, but seeing her repeatedly lost in this, he had no choice but to break her train of thought.

"Oh, it’s you!" Upon hearing his voice, the girl suddenly looked up, startled, her face breaking into a sweet smile of surprise. "How are you back? I thought I’d never see you again."

"What, do you really want to see me that bad?" Xiao Lin smirked cheekily, showing his white teeth.

"Hmm, your teeth are so white, you should be in a toothpaste ad, you’d definitely become famous." Perhaps the familiarity of seeing him a second time made the girl more at ease, and her natural sociability shone through even more. "Have you been here long? Did the medicine work well last time?"

"I’ve been here for a while, watching from across the street. I saw someone here, so I didn’t come over till now."

"Oh, so you’ve been secretly watching me? Be honest, are you interested in me?" The girl confidently pushed out her chest, performing a playful imitation of a sexy movie star, which made Xiao Lin burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I just saw a big guy walk in. He seemed unfriendly to you. Is there a problem here?"

"You saw that?" Xiao Lin nodded.

"I was planning to keep my promise today. Didn’t we agree on doing...that thing?" Xiao Lin gestured playfully with his eyebrows. "I saw him; it looked like he was about to hit you."

"Not really, he’s the second boss here, coming to collect the money." Hearing this, the girl pouted, and the heavy foundation on her face couldn’t hide her sudden deflation. "He said this month’s business was bad and that I wasn’t working hard enough."

"I saw him take a lot of money though. But it’s not safe having so much cash around. Aren’t you afraid of being robbed? You’re just a girl; it’s too dangerous."

"Hey, are you worried about me or something? Just admit you fell in love with me at first sight." The girl, not taking Xiao Lin’s words to heart, playfully took his arm. "Did you really come to ask me out?"

"Yeah, missus, can we close up and leave now?"

"No way, I haven’t completed today’s target yet." The girl’s face fell again. "You know, last night a woman’s body was found by the lake, and today there are fewer customers here for medicine."

"What does that have to do with each other?" Xiao Lin asked with keen interest, thinking that a murder shouldn’t affect business this way.

"You wouldn’t know since you’re from the outside. Not long ago, a hostess went missing from a dance hall. The boss there went crazy looking for her, and now they’ve found the body. People went to see it—it’s a mess, unrecognizable. Those guys are scared of getting involved and aren’t coming around lately, so business has been pretty bad."

"I see. So how much are you short of your target today?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand." The girl furrowed her brow, wondering how long it would take to reach that target today.

"Oh, that’s not too much. Get that catalog out, let me see if there’s anything interesting."

"What, you want to buy more?" The girl stared at Xiao Lin in shock. Indeed, he was a generous customer, but she suddenly felt reluctant to sell him the medicine.

"Why not? What’s so surprising about me buying?"

"Well... I just suddenly don’t want to sell it to you." The girl was honest, speaking her mind freely.

"Afraid I can’t pay?"

"No, I know you can afford it, but these medicines..."

"What’s wrong with them?" Seeing the girl hesitating, Xiao Lin leaned closer to her ear, unintentionally brushing his lips against her earlobe, causing her face to turn red. "Are they fake or what?"

"No, no!" The girl hastily waved her hands and shook her head vigorously. "I never sell fake stuff; I have a reputation to uphold. Otherwise, how can I do business in the future? My shop might be small, but I definitely won’t substitute with fakes like others do."

Seeing the girl’s professionalism, Xiao Lin chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her soft hair. "Then why won’t you sell it to me?"

"Well... because you seem like a good person, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Even though these medicines are real, but..." The girl suddenly looked out, then leaned closer to Xiao Lin’s ear again. "Because they’re contraband, smuggled in secretly, and we don’t know if they’re harmful to the body. So I think it’s better if you don’t buy them. I can wait for more customers. Worse comes to worst, I just won’t make money today."

The girl pouted, using her fingers to smudge the eyeshadow under her eyes in the mirror. "So that’s it, don’t worry about it." Xiao Lin waved his hand. "I came to ask you out today, it doesn’t matter. Just give me the catalog, and I’ll pick something fun."

"Really?"

"Stop with the small talk, hurry up, or it’ll be dark soon."

"Oh please, it’s not that exaggerated. It’s only a bit past one in the afternoon." The girl casually tossed the catalog to Xiao Lin. "The last few pages have aphrodisiacs and such. There are only a few types, but if you’re looking for fun, the first few pages are quite interesting, though nobody’s ever bought them, only inquired. So who knows if they’re real."

Xiao Lin nodded as he examined the selections with genuine interest.

"How about this one?" he pointed to a black bottle with silvery-white liquid swirling inside. It looked much like what he had seen in a Middle Eastern casino before, except back then it didn’t have the silver-white liquid inside. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com—your support is my biggest motivation.)