Hu Xiaobai was well-known for her warm-hearted personality in the neighborhood. The stronghold was not that big or small, and due to a lack of human flow in, everyone’s social circle was kept to within the stronghold.
Disregarding everything else, the relationship between neighbors had become much more close.
Before The Cataclysm, everyone would have friends all over the world just by logging onto the Internet. No matter how far they might be from each other, it was enough to satisfy the social needs of humans.
But things were different now. They could only make calls from their home to others in the same city. Without satellite phones, normal residents couldn’t chat if they were from different strongholds.
When an auntie nearby saw Hu Xiaobai chatting with Yang Xiaojin, she said, “Little Hu, is this your friend?”
“Yes, she’s my new neighbor.” Hu Xiaobai said, “She just moved here about half a month ago. This girl has a good character and is mild-mannered.”
The auntie said with a smile, “I was wondering where a beautiful girl like you popped out from. So why did you come here to sell peaches?”
Yang Xiaojin explained with a smile, “The two peach trees in our backyard have matured, and we can’t finish eating the peaches by ourselves.”
Hu Xiaobai glanced at Yang Xiaojin and did not say anything more in the presence of the woman.
However, Yang Xiaojin felt that she had to explain herself. After all, Ren Xiaosu was the closest person to her. Even if she knew Ren Xiaosu did not care about such gossip, she wanted to clarify.
Yang Xiaojin said in seriousness, “My partner is actually quite capable, but he just wants to rest for a while now. He’s not a lazy bum at all. Mrs. Hu, you’ve misunderstood him. To be honest, a lot of people even hope he doesn’t work anymore.”
The latter half of her sentence left Hu Xiaobai and the auntie a little confused, but Yang Xiaojin was really telling the truth. For example, if the Zhou Consortium and the Wang Consortium found out that Ren Xiaosu was now living in seclusion, a lot of people would be thanking the gods and praying for Ren Xiaosu to retire permanently. They really hoped that he wouldn’t return to the Central Plains to “work” anymore.
That guy’s job was really too fucking scary!
Hu Xiaobai laughed. “Alright, alright, I’ll end it here. Keep working. It’s the weekend today, so I’ll go back to prepare lunch after getting some groceries.” With that, Hu Xiaobai walked out of the marketplace.
However, someone pulled Hu Xiaobai back and asked in a low voice, “I noticed you were hesitating to speak just now. What’s the matter? Is there something wrong with that girl?”
“There’s no problem with her. She’s definitely a good girl. Her boyfriend is the main issue. Do you know that ever since they moved here, that young man has been lazing at home every day, not bothering to look for a job? And now, he actually made her come out to sell peaches.” Hu Xiaobai lamented, “Just look at how pretty she is. It’s such a pity that she has to come to the market and set up a stall to sell things.”
A busybody who overheard the gossiping also muttered, “That’s really too outrageous.”
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu came back with some buns and handed one to Yang Xiaojin. He said with a smile, “Hurry up and eat it. I kept it warm in my arms. Here, I bought you a cup of soy milk too.”
“Mhm.” Yang Xiaojin nodded and took it from him.
However, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that since coming back to the stall, he could feel the gazes of people constantly on him.
Ren Xiaosu was puzzled. He whispered to Yang Xiaojin, “Why are there so many people stealing glimpses at me? Am I too good-looking?”
Yang Xiaojin laughed and said, “You really have the cheek to say that. It’s like this: Mrs. Hu ran into me when she came to buy groceries just now. However, she mentioned you not looking for a job again. From her description, I was the poor girl who was being leeched off of while you were that lazy parasite who does nothing all day.”
“Hehe.” Ren Xiaosu was amused. “Mrs. Hu is really zealous. She probably thinks that you’re too good to be with a guy like me and was just speaking up for you.”
“Aren’t you angry?” Yang Xiaojin took a bite of the bun and teased Ren Xiaosu.
“What’s there to be angry about? I can’t possibly go up to her and tell her that I’m the future commander of the Northwest Army, so she oughta show more respect when talking to me next time!” Ren Xiaosu chuckled, “That’d be too arrogant of me. Anyways, it’s fine as long as we know what we’re doing.”
“It’s good that you’re not angry.” Yang Xiaojin said, “Our peaches have grown well. We’ve only just started selling them, but we’ve already sold half of everything. I think they’ll be sold out very soon. I’ll buy some groceries home to cook in a while. What would you like to eat?”
“Pork ribs?” Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “And another fish dish, maybe?”
“Braised or steamed?” Yang Xiaojin asked.
“Why not one of each?”
“Alright then.”
…
When the two of them returned home, Yang Xiaojin went into the kitchen and got busy. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu lay on the recliner chair in the yard and started reading a book.
Nowadays, Ren Xiaosu did not even have to go to the library to look for books to read. After all, he had placed all the books in Stronghold 88’s library in his storage space.
The backyard was surrounded by a low wall that stood about a meter high. While Ren Xiaosu was reading, his middle-aged neighbor, Wang Yuexi, was sitting in the yard next door reading a newspaper. He even had a cup of brewed tea on the stone table.
Neither of them greeted each other. It was as though they had never spoken before or knew each other.
Actually, if it weren’t for Hu Xiaobai, they might not even have had any interaction with one another in their lifetimes.
It seemed like it was time for lunch next door. Hu Xiaobai went out into the backyard and called for Wang Yuexi to eat.
Wang Yuexi put down the newspaper and went straight into the house. When Hu Xiaobai saw Ren Xiaosu lying in his chair and reading a book, she instinctively peered into their house and heard the sizzling of Yang Xiaojin’s cooking.
Hu Xiaobai thought for a moment before greeting Ren Xiaosu with a smile, “Lü Xiaomi?”
Ren Xiaosu almost did not remember that this was the alias he was using now.
Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a second or two before looking up and greeting Hu Xiaobai from across the courtyard wall, “What’s the matter, Mrs. Hu?”
“Is your girlfriend making lunch?” Hu Xiaobai asked.
“Yes, I specifically asked Xiaojin to make pork ribs and fish for lunch. Mrs. Hu, would you like to join us?” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile.
Hu Xiaobai was taken aback. She thought to herself, ‘You aren’t even working, yet you dare to keep asking Ms. Xiaojin to cook you a feast every day?!‘
In fact, there were already signs of a food shortage happening in the Northwest. The prices of rice, noodles, vegetables, and meat were all increasing. Even though her husband, Wang Yuexi, was working at the stronghold’s administrative center, their family only got to eat meat once or twice a week.
Thinking of this, Hu Xiaobai inexplicably started feeling sorry for Yang Xiaojin. She said nonchalantly, “That sounds quite sumptuous.”
“Mhm, our peaches sold out pretty fast this morning. So we used the money earned to buy ourselves something better to eat.” Ren Xiaosu started making up a story.
Hu Xiaobai got even angrier when she heard this. ‘Did Ms. Xiaojin work so hard to sell the peaches all morning just so you could have meat to eat? Never mind that you aren’t working; you don’t even know how to live frugally!‘
But Hu Xiaobai did not tell Ren Xiaosu about this. She changed the subject and said, “By the way, you’ve been sitting idle for a while now. Why don’t I get my husband to recommend you a job?”
Ren Xiaosu smiled and shook his head. “There’s no need for that, Mrs. Hu. It feels quite good not needing to do anything.”
Hu Xiaobai’s face darkened. She returned to her house and slammed the door behind her, leaving Ren Xiaosu dumbfounded in his backyard. Wasn’t everything fine just a moment ago? Why did she suddenly get so angry?!
