No. 96 My Shelf My Goods

  In the morning, Wang Jian got up earlier than ever before. Although it was almost summer, when he got up, the sky was still twinkling with stars.

  At this moment, not to mention the second-hand smoke, even the dogs in the neighborhood haven't woken up yet. The city with its lights off floats with a mysterious silence, except for the occasional distant sound of horns, only leaving an inexplicable emptiness.

  All the streetlights have gone out, although it's about to dawn, but it's not bright yet, and it looks dim and hazy. Everything is vague and shadowy. The whole neighborhood, except for the security room and a few warm floor lamps, only has Wang Jian's garage lit up. He didn't have time to exercise today, first hanging those small wooden carvings on red strings, then packing them into small boxes from the small commodity market.

  After putting away over a hundred wooden carvings, the sky had already turned white. He started to heat up his flat-bottomed pan and began frying egg pancakes and leek pancakes. With a swift motion, he also used yesterday's leftover rice to whip up a bowl of fried rice with eggs.

  After everything was ready, Wang Jian, the male version of a housewife, went to the small stall at the entrance of the community to buy fried dough sticks and soy milk. After he had bought a big pile of odds and ends, he kicked open Jin Huiming's door with one foot:

  "Get out of here!"

  Jin Huiming was sleeping drowsily, wearing only a belly-baring top and lying on the bed with her pants rolled up to her waist, exposing nearly half of her snow-white buttocks.

  Wang Jian called out, but she didn't respond. She smacked her lips a couple of times and continued sleeping. Wang Jian didn't say another word, picked up the towel beside him, and slapped her butt with it.

  "Ouch!"

  Jin Huiming suddenly sat up in bed, opened her blurry eyes and stared at Wang Jian, not caring that she was almost exposed, just staring foolishly at him.

  "Get up!"

  Actually, Wang Jian didn't think there was anything wrong with it, just like his own child, he didn't think about it that way and naturally wouldn't feel embarrassed. If Tian Ernai had been so infatuated, he would have died from a nosebleed. But even though Jin Huiming had an intelligence quotient and physical development that didn't match her age, Wang Jian never treated her as an adult.

  "Go brush your teeth and wash your face. Things are on the table."

  After closing the door, Wang Jian turned around and returned to his own little world. He loaded the scallion pancake onto a plate, grabbed the soy milk and fried dough sticks, and rushed towards Tianran Er's home.

  After much effort, the door was finally opened, but it turned out that Liang Huanhuan, who had opened the door, was wearing a large pair of slippers and a sloppy T-shirt, rubbing her eyes and standing dazedly in the doorway.

  "What time is it? Sleeping more will kill you?"

  Liang Huanhuan sat dazedly on the sofa, grabbed the wolf cub trying to jump onto the sofa and stuffed it under her head, mumbling: "That bed of hers reeks of a man's stench, I didn't sleep well all night, damn it. Had nightmares all night, it's going to be the death of me."

  Wang Jian was taken aback, then suddenly realized that even a natural fool like Tian Ran wouldn't remember to change the sheets and bedding in the guest room after Wang Jian slept. So it wasn't surprising that there was still Wang Jian's scent on the pillow, but...

  "Must be one of her friends who came over to sleep?"

  "Nonsense! That's exactly your style!" Liang Huanhuan complained: "My eyes are good, my nose is good, my ears are good, and identifying people by smell is a special training project. Otherwise, if someone just changes their clothes slightly, they can easily assassinate me. I'm still a bodyguard for nothing."

  "Oh... what about perfume?"

  "Useless. Unless you apply hydrochloric acid on yourself, nothing can cover up the smell on your body." Liang Huanhuan seemed to have regained her spirits and gradually sobered up: "No, cow dung can also work. Cow dung is the only thing that can remove human body odor without harming the body."

  "Alright. Don't say such disgusting things." Wang Jian put the thing in his hand on the coffee table: "I brought you breakfast, you're resting today. I have to go to the charity sale. You have to go too, don't forget."

  Liang Huan slapped his forehead: "I really forgot. Never mind, you tell me the place and I'll go there directly."

  Wang Jian nodded and told her about the place, then turned around to leave, but she suddenly called out to Wang Jian: "Wait!"

  "Say."

  Liang Huanhuan glanced at Tianran Er who was sleeping and coughed: "You like her."

  "There's nothing going on, she just helped me a lot and I'm quite grateful to her."

  "Don't pretend anymore, just like it if you do."

  "None of your business."

  Wang Jian hastily left Tianran Er's home and returned to find Jin Huiming already sitting on his bed, watching TV while eating fried dough sticks with soy milk. Seeing him arrive, she shifted over a bit to make room for him.

  "Who allowed you to eat in bed?"

  "I'm just a father-born and mother-less, who has ever told me these things?"

  "I told you, come down!"

  Jin Huiming got out of bed with a pout, and sighed helplessly: "Look at you, I really don't know what to do with you."

  "Wait a moment and go find Zhang Manting, you go with her."

  "How was it?"

  "In the past, I myself, if Lin's foot was injured and couldn't drive, of course took the bus."

  "Are you stupid?" Jin Huiming poked Wang Jian's temple with a rather impolite gesture: "You won't call a 'sissy' to pick you up, are you that straightforward?"

  "What's the point of troubling others?" Wang Jian tapped her head: "Things that you can do yourself, try to do them less with other people's help."

  "It doesn't matter anyway, he doesn't mind. You have to understand that the relationship between people is originally a mutually utilitarian one, he uses you and you use him, just tools."

  Wang Jian sneered: "Then what have I used you for?"

  "This is different, it's true love." Jin Huiming was speechless after being choked by him, and could only glare at Wang Jian with a sullen expression before falling silent and continuing to watch TV obediently.

  "Alright, you'll go quietly on your own later." Wang Jian rubbed her head and was about to get up and leave, but halfway through, he suddenly thought of something: "Hey, what are you selling? Don't give me any special treatment."

  "Don't worry, you'll know when the time comes." Jin Huiming didn't even turn her head: "I want to eat curry chicken tonight..."

  "It depends on how much money I make today." Wang Jian sighed: "I still have nine yuan left, and I estimate that the curry chicken can only afford potatoes, not even enough for curry."

  "Don't be so miserable......" Jin Huiming struggled to pull out a plastic bag from under Wang Jian's bed: "Look, I've been prepared for a long time."

  "What is this?"

  "I've been saving this dowry money for the two of us." Jin Huiming opened her bag, and inside was a stack of 100-yuan bills: "There's a total of 13,000 yuan here, which is all my savings since we met. The original amount was all spent on electric games."

  Wang Jian was stunned, counted his fingers, and then was shocked. It had only been a few days... This guy had saved over 10,000 yuan, which worked out to be over 1,000 yuan per day! How did he do it?

  "Don't look at me like that, I'm doing graphic design and backend work for a website, this is how I earn my living." Jin Huiming proudly patted his chest: "Or do you think I've been surviving all these years by relying on the government? If I starved to death, I'd be just another dead dog."

  "Don't be so gloomy." Wang Jian pinched her face: "Don't worry, there will be curry chicken. You keep this money to spend yourself, I don't even see you buying clothes?"

  "Buy? I haven't bought clothes in years. They're all self-designed and self-made."

  Wang Jian was convinced that this guy could be considered a ginseng fruit spirit, who could do everything by himself. Probably except for giving birth to children, he didn't need anyone's help in doing anything else...

  "Go ahead, I'll help you wash the bowl." Jin Hui said to Wang Jian the next morning, waving his hand: "I'm sure I'll arrive before you."

  Wang Jian didn't say much, he just carried his bulging backpack and walked slowly out of the compound like a fugitive. Jin Huiming stood at the gate like a waiting stone, holding a bowl and watching Wang Jian leave her line of sight before silently turning back into the house, her small eyes filled with reluctance...

  The venue of the charity sale was actually in a large circular atrium of a shopping mall, which was very spacious and could accommodate over a thousand people. This time, almost all classes except for those who were about to take the college entrance exam participated, with so many people that even this spacious place seemed somewhat crowded.

  Because it's a grand event, the media advertisements in this mall are also overwhelming, and the pre-event promotion was very thorough. Plus, it's a charity event, so there were many reporters from TV stations, newspapers, etc. on site, and apparently, several celebrities were invited to attend. Anyway, the school invested heavily in this event, obviously for the upcoming graduation season promotion, to attract more high-quality students.

  Wang Jian carried his large bag and navigated through the crowded shopping mall. The dazzling array of goods left this country boy somewhat overwhelmed, but during the break before the charity sale began, he had a rather leisurely stroll in front of many shop windows.

  "This table looks good..."

  Wang Jian's face was stuck to the window of a watch specialty store, staring at a watch inside for a full five minutes. In fact, Wang Jian didn't have many things he liked, and one of them was watches. But this thing... there's a saying that goes: "The poor play with cars, the rich play with watches, idiots play with yachts, and losers play with cell phones." Wang Jian couldn't even afford to play with cell phones, let alone luxury goods like watches. So he could only look on, the five zeros on the price tag an insurmountable obstacle for him.

  "Do you like it?"

  Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts. Wang Jian looked up to find that it was actually the second young master of the Sun family. He wore his signature smile and had a spring in his step, looking at Wang Jian like an old neighbor.

  "I like you, let's consider us acquainted."

  Wang Jian smiled and shook his head: "Liking something doesn't necessarily mean you have to hold onto it. In fact, having something to look forward to is what makes life interesting."

  Sun Ersha was taken aback, looking at Wang Jian's back as he turned to leave, and muttered to himself with a hint of resentment: "What's the big deal? What's so special about you? You can stare at a broken watch for half a day, what's so interesting about that?"

  In order not to break my promise, I got up at 4:30.

  I am a disabled typist.