The young man, who always wielded a firm attitude, suddenly agreed and let himself go along with the flow. That left the thick faced Qin Yuyang somewhat puzzled and embarrassed.
He was indeed selfish, but he knew he could adapt himself to this world in a few days.
"Thank you." As for an apology, it was useless to say it now. Qin Yuyang thought it was more practical to help Su Ranqiu improve his life instead.
Soon, the bus came over and Su Ranqiu followed behind the crowd to squeeze inside, his movements weren't too sharp.
Qin Yuyang protected him with both hands, his fierce behavior was seen by several old people. However, he didn't move a muscle until Su Ranqiu got on safely.
Under the driver's gaze, Su Ranqiu stuffed two coins to pay for himself into the cash box.
Qin – penniless – Yuyang, found the driver staring at him. He smiled and nodded, feeling nothing amiss.
Once everyone was seated, Su Ranqiu looked at the young man beside him in a subdued manner. Could this be the man's real face?
How could the driver pretend that he didn't see anything and ignore him?
"Xiao-Qiu, are you a local here?" Qin Yuyang gazed at the scenery passing by the window and had an intuition that this was Sijiu city; so familiar yet so strange.
"No," Su Ranqiu replied stiffly.
"Huh? Where are you from then? Are you a Southerner?" Qin Yuyang looked at him and found that the boy was very thin, only about five foot nine1 in height. His face was small with clear features and beautiful eyes; he had a pure appearance.
If it wasn't for the frightening handprint on the left side of his face, he'd have been a good looking beauty.
"No," Su Ranqiu continued to reply with a stiff tone.
"So… where's your hometown?" Before Qin Yuyang could find out, his handsome cheek hit the back of the seat in front of him due to a sudden halt.
Su Ranqiu glanced at the man who was currently bent over, crying out in pain and suddenly, he showed a happy expression.
After the collision, Qin Yuyang stopped questioning Su Ranqiu and kept an eye on his personal safety.
"We're here, get off the bus." Su Ranqiu was very grateful to the bus driver for his beautiful, sharp brake which shut Qin Yuyang up for the rest of the way.
"Do you live in this neighborhood?" Qin Yuyang checked out the small district in front of him and his first thought was that it was quite small.
"No." Su Ranqiu turned into the side alley and walked for five minutes along an old stone-slab road before finally stopping in front of an old community building. He then used his key to open the first sliding iron door and then the second wooden door.
It was a dimly lit, 20 square meter room that only had one window.
Su Ranqiu had divided the room with a curtain; there was a bed on the inner side and a dining table on the outer side.
A small kitchen and bathroom were on the left, connected together. If someone wanted to take a dump, they'd have to leave the room and use the two public toilets in the corridor instead.
"Come in." Su Ranqiu took the initiative to invite Qin Yuyang in.
He was stunned at the beginning, but then swaggered in and started looking around Su Ranqiu's residence.
Su Ranqiu waited for Qin Yuyang to say something, but in the end, the other party didn't utter a single word so he sat down and began taking off his shoes…
"The place is small and really dirty so it's better for me to put on slippers." Qin Yuyang was afraid of stepping on the dirty ground so he asked, "Do you have a pair of extra slippers ?"
Su Ranqiu's face darkened and it took awhile for him to take out a pair of light gray slippers from the shoe rack and leave them on the floor.
"Thank you." Qin Yuyang grabbed them and tried putting them on his feet. "…" They were too small for him to fit into.
He turned over his shoe to take a look at the size written on the sole – size 9.5 – no wonder.
"I only have these slippers. If you don't want to wear them, go buy some yourself." Su Ranqiu saw that he couldn't wear them and was quite satisfied.
Qin Yuyang watched as the other person took back his slippers, put them on, and went to the kitchen to cook rice.
He thought for a moment and then started walking directly on the floor with his socks.
The weather in April was cold with only a little bit of warmth so very soon, it became too cold for Qin Yuyang to bear.
"Xiao-Qiu, can you give me a hundred yuan2?" He stood shivering in the doorway with his shoes already on his feet.
"No," Su Ranqiu, who was cooking, answered with a cold look on his face.
"How come? Didn't you just get paid?" Qin Yuyang shamelessly lifted a finger and said, "I only want 100 yuan." In order to start making money, a start-up fund was necessary; otherwise, if someone couldn't even hitch a ride, the idea of making money was still out of reach.
"Even if I have it, why should I give it to you?" Su Ranqiu looked at him with contempt, "You still have the nerve to ask me for money?"
Qin Yuyang was so ashamed that he scratched his face and replied, "Alright, if you don't want to give, forget it. I'll figure something out myself."
After five minutes, Su Ranqiu came out of the kitchen with an icy face. He directly passed Qin Yuyang and walked through the curtain.
Qin Yuyang sat on the only wooden stool in the house and was thinking about how to make money when he realized how hungry he was; his thoughts were completely out of control.
Slam
A red hundred yuan bill was thrown onto the table next to Qin Yuyang.
"Take it," Su Ranqiu said coldly.
"Thanks… but I'll make money quickly." Before reaching for the money, Qin Yuyang unexpectedly promised, "I'll give you all of the money I earn in the future." It was enough to keep a little bit of the funds to ensure the business kept running.
Su Ranqiu curled his lips but his face was expressionless as usual.
Half an hour later, he brought out two large bowls of white rice and a plate of scrambled eggs from the kitchen.
"Eat."
"Alright."
Qin Yuyang picked up the rice bowl and chopsticks. Once Su Ranqiu moved his own chopsticks, he immediately finished the big bowl of rice at an amazing speed. Quickly and politely, he stared at Su Ranqiu, "Is there any more rice in the kitchen?"
Su Ranqiu's mouth twitched, he couldn't believe it. He bowed his head to look at the 1/8th portion of rice left in his own bowl.
"If you don't have more then forget it, I'll wait for dinner." Qin Yuyang put down the chopsticks and grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth with.
Su Ranqiu finished his meal in a trance while worrying about his future.
"Then, I'm going to take a nap. I'll get up at two in the afternoon to earn money," Qin Yuyang looked at his watch and stated.
Su Ranqiu listened on with a blank expression, neither shaking his head or nodding. After he finished eating, he silently cleaned up the table and then washed the clothes he had left behind last night, hanging them up by the window.
The only bed in the house was occupied by Qin Yuyang and Su Ranqiu didn't want to sleep in the same bed as him.
But he hadn't slept well last night and had been feeling drowsy since the afternoon.
In the end, he became so sleepy that he took off his coat and trousers and squeezed into the wooden bed which was only one and a half meters long.
He breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he got into the blanket. Usually, when he slept in the cold weather, his blanket would be as cold as an ice cellar.
Not as warm as it was now…
"Wake up." Su Ranqiu pushed at the man who slept like a pig around him, "Answer the phone quickly, your phone is ringing."
"Hmm?" Qin Yuyang found the cell phone beside the pillow with his eyes closed and then said, "Hello?"
Qin Yuyang's father on the other end had veins popping out of his head as he shouted into the phone, "Hello your head! Bastard! You better get your ass home right this instance!"
Qin Yuyang remained silent for two seconds before replying, "Uncle, you may have dialed the wrong number." Then he hung up the phone and went back to sleep.
About two minutes later, he suddenly sat up, took out his sim card, wrapped it in a piece of paper, and stuffed it into his pocket.
Su Ranqiu was lying in bed, quietly watching Qin Yuyang's every move, before turning around and going back to sleep when he returned.
"Xiao-Qiu." Qin Yuyang got dressed and patted Su Ranqiu's arm. "I'm going out to look for a job now. I'll come back at about five in the evening. Do you have an extra key for me?"
Su Ranqiu replied coldly, "No."
After thinking for a while, Qin Yuyang asked again, "Will you be going out?"
Su Ranqiu was in a stalemate with him for a while but then he resigned himself to his fate and answered again, "No."
Qin Yuyang instructed, "Then open the door for me when I come back." After that, he took his coat and left with a smile.
As soon as he was out the door, the relaxed smile on his face immediately reigned in, changing into a solemn expression as he precisely walked out of the alley.
When he passed by a tea shop with wifi, he decided to walk in.
The elegant shop assistant came over and asked, "What would you like to drink?"
Qin Yuyang brazenly replied, "I'm waiting for someone." Then he fished out the phone without a sim card from his pocket and began to surf the internet with the free wifi.
His target was the most active racing forum in the country. Somewhere he could register directly without using his ID card or identifying his face, that way he could work immediately.
#Casual: I've been short on money lately and since I've been down to the sea before to win bets people placed on cars, I want to find a big client who can afford me.
This was very silly in the eyes of the old birds. The main content of the post was essentially: I'm going to gamble only once, take the money and withdraw from the circle; I want to be contacted by a person who can afford the price.
First reply, #Your dad: Where did this dumbass come from? What a big mouth.
Second reply, #Casual @ Your dad: [smiles] Great-grandson, how could I be your grandfather when I don't have such a big mouth.
Third reply, #East Side Cyclone: This man's a little crazy.
Fourth reply, #Was the river running out of water today: Not just crazy, simply a bit stupid too.
Fifth reply, #Casual @ Was the river running out of water today: Not as stupid as you.
Sixth reply, #Casual @ East Side Cyclone: You're from Beijing, can you introduce me to a good client? I need money.
Seventh reply, #East Side Cyclone @ Casual: Smart, your nose is like a dogs. How did you know that? Why are you short on money?
Eighth reply, #Casual @ East Side Cyclone: To support the family, you know?
Soon the guy didn't reply back, Qin Yuyang thought he'd been taken for a fool.
While he was reviewing his profile, a private message had been received. It was from East Side Cyclone, "Of course I can introduce you to one, but it all depends on your driving skills. If you only wanted to try your luck, then just wash up and get some sleep. Don't waste my time."
Qin Yuyang immediately replied to him, "If you don't believe me, we can meet up first and then talk about money and the other stuff. You can also receive a lot of commissions as the middleman."
East Side Cyclone rebutted, "Who doesn't know that? But the more you earn, the greater the risk. So if you screw up, my ten lives won't be enough to compensate with."
Qin Yuyang was also a bit hesitant, "Let's do it this way then, we'll start with a small bet and then you'll help me find a bigger one."
"I knew you were full of fucking bullshit. What your post said about only gambling once was all lies," East Side Cyclone argued.
"Do you want to do it or not? If you don't then I'll find someone else," Qin Yuyang stated to him without a moment of hesitation.
East Side Cyclone caved in saying, "Text me an address. I'll test your driving skills first."
Qin Yuyang quickly sent him his location and then waited for about 40 minutes. Eventually, a yellow-colored sports car parked in front of the shop's entrance.
A young man with blond hair opened the car door and got out to look around.
"My friend is here, bye," Qin Yuyang got up and said while leaving.
The shop assistant dumbly looked at him only to realize that this was what he had meant by waiting for someone, and he really was just waiting.