Just as he arrived at the entrance of the Internet cafe, Jiang Xu saw Zhou Qingyue.
She looked much more haggard than before.
She was walking with her head down, not noticing Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu hurried his pace.
He didn't want to have any interactions with her.
"Huh?"
Zhou Qingyue seemed to sense something and turned around.
She only caught a glimpse of Jiang Xu's retreating silhouette.
Even though it seemed familiar, she did not give it much thought.
She went into the Internet cafe.
She found a computer that wasn't covered in too much ash from cigarettes.
After switching it on, she began to search for some information online.
She was a faithful fan of Story Club.
Recently, she made up her mind to submit her manuscript to Story Club.
One reason was that she was fond of Story Club after reading so many of its stories.
The other was that she hoped to earn the recognition of being a writer.
Hopefully, when Jiang Xu learned about this, he would see her in a new light, right?
Maybe he would come back to her side again.
And cherish her again as his goddess.
Thinking about this, Zhou Qingyue's lips curled slightly up into a smile.
...
Jiang Xu printed out his writings over the past two days and mailed them away.
He also attached a suggestion.
That was, if they could send the manuscripts directly to the other party's QQ mailbox in the future.
In 2002, QQ Mail was launched.
If they could send emails, it would be much more convenient and faster.
Plus, it would save a lot of postage.
When he returned to the restaurant, he saw An Nuonuo bustling around.
When Jiang Xu walked in, he heard many customers praising her.
"This young lady is really good."
"Polite and sensible, and does her work diligently."
"I don't know whose child she is, but she's really enviable."
"If only my child could be half as good as her."
...
Jiang Xu's smile was so big that even AK couldn't hold it back.
If the timing was right, he would definitely proclaim to these people.
"This is my future wife!"
They were busy until nine thirty in the evening.
Jiang Xu took An Nuonuo to the kitchen to eat a bit of seafood, then they went home.
They still had to go to school the next day.
"How much in tips did the guests give today?" Jiang Xu asked.
"More than 300 yuan." An Nuonuo was very happy.
This money was a large sum for her.
But, Jiang Xu said, "When you're in Senior Three, you can't work anymore.
You need to use this time to study, to strive for a scholarship from the school."
"Oh, okay."
An Nuonuo was somewhat reluctant in her heart.
However, she also thought that Jiang Xu was right.
"By the way, where does your father work?" Jiang Xu changed the subject.
During Senior Three, An Nuonuo's father was already quite wealthy.
But as for what he did before his rise to prosperity, Jiang Xu didn't know.
"He's a maintenance engineer in a clothing factory." An Nuonuo's mood dropped a little:
"The factory is doing worse and worse, and my father said that there's a lot of inventory backlogged.
If they can't sell it off, the factory will go bankrupt and start laying off workers."
An idea came to Jiang Xu.
An Feng's rise could be related to this.
Jiang Xu comforted An Nuonuo a few words.
He took her back home.
The bicycle stopped in front of her house.
Jiang Xu told her, "Tomorrow you should bike to the intersection where we turned back today.
Starting from tomorrow, we will go to school and come back home together."
An Nuonuo was very moved.
She nodded vigorously.
Jiang Xu laughed.
This little girl didn't know how to hold back at all.
"Alright, I'm leaving."
"Bye, take care on the road."
An Nuonuo kept watching Jiang Xu.
Only when he disappeared from sight did she reluctantly withdraw her gaze.
She entered the house.
She found both of her parents in the living room, looking worried.
"Mom, Dad, what's wrong?" An Nuonuo had a bad feeling in her heart.
An Feng forced a smile: "Nothing, Nuonuo, it's very late, go back to your room and rest."
An Nuonuo walked up to An Feng: "Dad, I'm not a child anymore."
She saw bloodshot eyes in his.
Li Yuanjuan sighed, "Your father's factory workers can't be paid anymore."
An Nuonuo's heart trembled: "They fell so fast?"
Last night at dinner, An Feng had said that at least they could hold on for a few more months.
"We've all been deceived by the boss," An Feng shook his head. "The factory has long run out of money.
A lot of the garments produced haven't been paid even by the third parties."
An Nuonuo suddenly felt enormous pressure.
Without thinking, she took out all the money from her part-time job and tips from the past two days.
"You should keep it for yourself." Li Yuanjuan, her eyes red,
"We're sorry, we failed to give you a good life.
In school, you must have suffered a lot too, right?"
"I'm okay," An Nuonuo shook her head, "someone will protect me."
In her mind, naturally, Jiang Xu's figure came to the fore.
She felt inexplicably comforted.
...
The next day, when Jiang Xu arrived at the three-way intersection, An Nuonuo was already there.
He remembered the days when he made arrangements with Zhou Qingyue.
Every time, he would wait for her for several hours, even half a day.
Not to mention arriving early, even arriving on time was an impossible task.
This was the first time Jiang Xu had experienced the feeling of being waited on by a girl.
It felt good.
Her favorability rating increased by a hundred.
"Didn't you sleep well?" Jiang Xu noticed that An Nuonuo didn't look well after he got closer.
"No," An Nuonuo shook her head.
Jiang Xu said, "When you lie, your entire body gives you away."
An Nuonuo lowered her head: "My dad's factory can't pay the salaries."
"So soon?" Jiang Xu's gaze hardened: "Walk and talk."
They rode their bikes.
An Nuonuo explained the situation to him.
It turned out that the garment factory where An Feng worked was doing pretty well.
But then problems arose.
They had been tricked.
A merchant came to buy goods.
The first few transactions were all paid in full upfront.
After winning the trust of the factory owner, he increased the size of his orders.
He said he didn't have that much money and asked if a few tens of thousands of yuan as a deposit would be acceptable.
Because this buyer had always paid promptly in the previous transactions.
The factory owner didn't think too much and agreed.
But when the goods were produced.
The buyer suddenly could not be contacted.
Hundreds of thousands of garments could not be sold.
And all of a sudden, the entire capital chain was cut off.
All the factory's workers couldn't be paid.
The factory owner could only offer these garments as collateral to the workers.
An Nuonuo's home now had over five hundred garments.
By the time she finished talking, they had already arrived at the school.
The two of them locked their bicycles.
Jiang Xu asked An Nuonuo what style and fabrics the clothes were.
"They're all white, pure cotton, very basic. They probably won't sell much," she said.
A shadow fell over the young girl's voice.
Even though she's strong most of the time, at this moment she was on the verge of breaking down.
The family's breadwinner was unemployed and it was unknown how long it would take to find a new job.
Even if he found one, the salary might not be much better.
They also owed a lot of money.
Whether she could continue her studies next semester was now an unknown.
Jiang Xu patted An Nuonuo's shoulder lightly, "Isn't it just a few clothes? It's a small problem.
Your Brother Jiang, I'll help you resolve it."