Chapter Fourteen

  Before the final exam, Yu Zai solemnly released the way to Qi, "Your English has made great progress this semester, but because it's supplementary basic knowledge, it may not be reflected in the exam, you don't have to worry".

  He nodded in response, anyway he had never cared about his own grades.

  "That's good, I hope you can guarantee at least one hour of English study every day during the winter break, except for those few days during Chinese New Year. I bought a book for you, it's all review material that we've covered before, very simple, just to help you consolidate what we've learned so you don't forget."

  Ji Shi nodded again, and Yu Cai put her mind at ease. "Remember what you promised, huh? Get good grades on your exam!"

  After finishing the last exam, Yu Zai slowly packed up her things, thinking about when she could go home. All the classrooms were still in exams, and there was no way to study on her own. But going back home would also be boring. Half a year had already passed, and her plan to buy a house was still just an empty idea...

  Yu Cai, where are you going?

  "Surfing the Internet".

  Qiao Jia didn't think Yu Cai would say this answer and was at a loss for words.

  He Qi heard this and immediately said, "I'm also going, let's go together."

  "Count me in."

  "Uh, you guys go ahead, I still have something to take care of, I'll catch up with you later."

  "What's wrong?"

  Yu Cai said coolly, "Is there anything else I need to report to you?"

  "What's wrong with you? I'm just asking, didn't say you have to report it with me."

  "That's good, I have some private matters, I'll go first," Yu Cai said, nodding at Qiao Jia before walking away.

  He furrowed his brow and turned to Mo Fei behind him, "Mo Fei, did I unintentionally offend her at some point?"

  "Perhaps with a lazy smile, 'You've offended too many people, how can I remember them one by one'."

  "But she's Ah Jie's cousin, I've always been very careful, how could I possibly offend her?"

  "That's for you to decide."

  "Hey, don't you think Yucai is being too arrogant?" Qiao Jia frowned with her delicate eyebrows.

  "I think so too," He Qiu immediately felt that he had found a party organization, "She must be too proud of herself, not that I offended her."

  "Why don't I think so?"

  "That's because you spend all your time watching Qiao Jia, when do you have time to notice other girls?" He Qi smiled.

  Qiao Jia playfully punched him.

  "Isn't it still lazy and careless? This time you're wrong, this Yu Cai, I've put in a lot of effort to study."

  "Impossible, Ah Fei. I thought that apart from sleeping and putting in effort, nothing else would spark your interest," He Qiguan exclaimed.

  Didn't she remember her teasing him on the first day of school when she pulled his sleeve and called him Afei?

  He Qizhen nodded and said, "At that time, I thought she had been dumped by you."

  "I only like beautiful women, I'm not interested in her type," Mo Fei comforted Ge Jia by patting her shoulder. "I thought she was trying to get my attention through this method, but after that, she didn't even glance at me again. At first, I thought she was playing hard to get, but later I found out she really didn't want to have much interaction with me. Moreover, the way she looked at me was very strange, it had a kind of inexplicable familiarity, but I'm sure we've never spoken before."

  "How profound! 'Her gaze is indeed very strange —'"

  "You just said she was arrogant, but basically, she's only like that to you and Li Miao. It can't be called arrogance, it should be respect from a distance."

  "Li Miao?"

  Mo Fei shrugged, "You've offended people with your skills, if you say she's had enough of you and is keeping her distance from now on, I'd believe it. But Li Miao, I have no idea what happened to him."

  Qiao Jia got impatient and said in a soft voice, "Hey, you guys are always talking about Yu Cai, what's the point? Why don't we think about where to go for winter break instead?"

  He nodded and said, "That's right, I won't bother you anymore, I'll leave first."

  "Where are you going?"

  "It has nothing to do with you, just think about how to be romantic with Qiao Jia!"

  Qiao Jia spat out a mouthful and turned to Mo Fei, "Where are we going to eat?"

  "Never mind, our goals are too obvious, let's talk about it next time."

  The exam started at 8 am and ended at 10 am. Yu Zai rushed out of the school gate and went straight to the internet cafe, it had been a long time since she last came here due to the exam.

  First, open the mailbox, and the long-awaited letter is still nowhere to be found. Yu Cai has been used to being disappointed for a long time. After confirming that the things bought last time have not arrived, start browsing web pages everywhere.

  Yu felt hungry at 1:30 pm, and had basically finished looking at everything he wanted to see, so he settled the bill and left the internet cafe. He casually bought a rice ball on the street and nibbled on it while slowly wandering around, thinking that when he goes home for Chinese New Year, he can't skimp on gifts for Yu Xuan.

  Unconsciously walking into the flower and bird market, Yu Cai thought of Yu Lie's fondness for small animals and looked carefully.

  Yu Zhen was in third grade this year. Small cats and dogs, which take up a lot of time as pets, were not allowed to be bought. After Yu Cai looked around for half a day, she finally chose two small green turtles.

  Holding the turtle and walking a few steps, I found that among the long queue of vendors selling Spring Festival couplets, there were two who were actually acquaintances. Yu Zai saw that their stall was idle at the moment, so he went forward to greet them.

  They are from Waipo Village and have a very good relationship with Waipo's family. Yu Cai has to call them Uncle and Aunt.

  They were delighted to see Yu Cai and kindly asked if Yu Cai was on holiday, how the exam went, and if studying was still hard.

  Before several people finished chatting, there were more and more people on the street, and the business on the stalls also picked up. Uncle and aunt smiled apologetically at her and let her do as she pleased, then went to entertain the guests.

  Yu Cai saw that they were very busy, and she had always been interested in this kind of small business of sending and receiving, so she suggested helping out. Her uncle was a bit embarrassed, saying that it would interfere with Yu Cai's studies, but Yu Cai said that since she had just started her vacation, it was a good opportunity to relax a bit, and the stall was really busy anyway, so her uncle half-heartedly agreed.

  As the Spring Festival is approaching, business on the stall is booming. After Yu Cai figured out the prices, she immediately got busy and, relying on her thick skin, pulled over hesitant customers who were lingering around the stall.

  In the afternoon, Yu Cai received unanimous praise from her uncle and aunt, saying that she was not only smart in reading books but also good at doing business. Yu Cai took the opportunity to say that she would come again tomorrow to help out.

  Uncle immediately refused, saying that it's cold now and don't catch a chill, besides Yucai studies hard, during the holidays he should rest well.

  My aunt was a bit reluctant to leave, firstly because business was good and the two of them were really busy, secondly because Yu Cai was young, had a sweet mouth, a bright smile, quick hands and feet, spoke clearly, calculated accounts quickly, and kept many customers.

  Yu Cai lost a sentence the next day will come again, refused to uncle and aunt's kindness to stay for dinner, happy mood back to school.

  The next day, Yu Cai got up early and read an English essay for a while before heading to her uncle's stall again.

  It was only a little after eight o'clock, and there were few pedestrians on the street except for early risers buying vegetables. The stalls were also quiet, so Yucai chatted with her uncle and aunt about family matters. Before long, business gradually picked up, and the three of them busied themselves in an orderly and enthusiastic manner.

  "Take care, walk slowly!" Yu Cai's smile was as warm and rare as a winter sun, she loved this feeling of sending off and welcoming, though it was just a brief intersection, they gave each other their own smiling faces before parting ways. So even if the customer only bought a one-yuan spring couplet, she would still smile from the heart.

  "Take a look and see if you want anything," business is good now, just sent away the last batch, the next batch has arrived.

  Her response was a burst of laughter, and Yu Cai raised her head to find that in front of her was that annoying little white face again. To his left were Mo Fei and Qiao Jia, and to his right was actually Qi Shi Zhi.

  Yu Cai's face was stern, but her eyes were smiling as she asked a few people who were approaching, "Are you also here to buy Spring Festival couplets?"

  "One day without seeing you and you've become a street vendor!"

  Yu Cai wouldn't normally care about such ridicule, but she caught a glimpse of Qiao Jia's disdain in her eyes, as well as the contempt she showed towards Yu Cai's uncle and aunt. She immediately became furious, but couldn't vent her anger, after all, it was just a matter of eye contact, and there was no way to force someone to admit something if they didn't want to. Moreover, her uncle and aunt were still present, so she coldly snorted, "Yes, but at least that's better than some people changing careers to become a mere decoration."

  He was about to say that he was covering up and not a light bulb, but thinking about it, that girl might come up with something like a firewall again, and he would lose face.

  Yesterday, after breaking up with Mo Fei, Hou Yu stepped into an internet cafe and naturally saw Yu Cai inside. However, when he looked up from the computer, Yu Cai was gone. He also went offline and thought it wasn't a big deal to go back, so he strolled around the streets. XX county town is really small, with only one bustling street, just like how Yu Cai found her uncle and aunt, He Qi also found Yu Cai.

  When He Qi saw Yu Cai, Yu Cai was smiling and helping a customer arrange the Spring Festival couplets. He Qi had never seen Yu Cai smile so brightly before, and he also saw Yu Cai busy with her work, with agile mouth movements. This was also something he had never seen or even thought of before. In his impression, Yu Cai always had a stiff face and said some infuriating words, although she was much better than Qi Shi Zhi, but still belonged to the kind of person whose facial muscles were stiff and couldn't fully express her inner feelings. She was indeed Qi Shi Zhi's older cousin.

  Now he suddenly saw another side of Yu Cai, and the feeling was like seeing a silly smile from Qixi. He thought it was very interesting and stood far away to watch for a while. He wanted to go up and say hello, but those two people should be Yu Cai's relatives. Now that people are suspicious and cautious, so He Qi wisely went back to make a phone call to invite Mo Fei, who claimed to have spent a lot of effort "studying" Yu Cai, to go together the next day to attend the event.

  Was it because he refused Qiao Jia's suggestion to eat together that he was "cold warred"? Upon hearing this, he immediately asked if he could bring Qiao Jia along. He thought that having a girl would be better, and Yu Cai's family wouldn't think much of it, so he readily agreed.

  After the candidate was settled, He Qi thought that Ji Xieren might not know about this news, so he made a call to report it. Ji Xieren didn't say anything after hearing it, but when He Qi mentioned going to the temple fair with Mo Fei tomorrow, he suggested going together too. He Qi naturally agreed, of course, what Ji Xieren didn't know was that Qiao Jia would also be going.

  He Qi was choked by Yu Cai's words and couldn't vent his anger, so he glared at Mo Fei fiercely. Mo Fei smiled innocently.

  Auntie on the other side also heard the noise and shouted from afar, "A Cai, your classmate is here!"

  Yu Cai hummed in response.

  "Now business is also slow, Ah Chai, you go and play with your classmates for a while!"

  "No, they just passed by and will be gone soon!"

  Her aunt thought she had been polite enough and since business was busy on this side, she stopped paying attention to them and went to entertain the guests again.

  Qiao Jia flipped through the couplet and said, "What's good about it? My family hasn't bought one yet either!"

  All guests are welcome, Yu Cai naturally wouldn't drive away the guests just because she had an opinion about Qiao Jia, "You take a look yourselves, if you need anything I can give you a discount".

  At this time, an old man from the countryside was carrying a heavy load in front of the stall, looking around. Yu Cai had seen many such customers and liked them the most. They were generally very easy to talk to and wouldn't ask what character was on the door couplet, what color it was, or what font it was in. As long as it was cheap, they would take whatever was given to them. Moreover, they usually didn't understand much about door couplets, which gave Yu Cai, the salesperson, the best opportunity to show off his skills.

  Yu Qian hurriedly stepped forward to support the old man's carrying pole, "Dad wants to buy a couplet? Put things down and take a closer look."

  This old man, like countless other rustic old men in the countryside, immediately smiled and said with a hint of embarrassment when he saw a big girl enthusiastically coming to help him with his burden, "Ah, girl, I can do it myself."

  Yu Cai saw him put down his burden and immediately asked what he needed. Is there a grandson at home studying? Do you want a couplet for studying?

  Yu Cai's expression was not surprising, as she had seen it yesterday. Mo Ni, however, found it amusing and couldn't help but tease her. Qi Xi was also a bit surprised, after all, they were only 14 or 15 years old high school students. Anyone who got caught by their classmates doing something like this should be embarrassed, so how could she remain so calm?

  Yu Cai smiled and helped the old man tie up the couplets, tied them to the pole, and then pretended to help him carry the pole on his shoulder. Although he didn't exert himself at all, it was this kind of attitude that was needed. Sure enough, the old man kept thanking him profusely.

  "Dad, don't be polite, this is what should be done. Have a good trip! My family sells door couplets here every year, if you buy well, come back next year!"

  It's just a few people in black clothes, okay, even next year's things have been booked.

  "Have you made your selection?"

  "There's nothing good to look at."

  Alright, Miss Qiao, you think this is a flower and it's quite pretty.

  Mo Fei said, "Help me find a anti-theft door and a banner".

  "Should anti-theft doors be single or in pairs?"

  "It's not that I'm being questioned, but Yu Cai immediately explained, 'If there is a cat eye on your door, you must use one pair at a time, without blocking the cat eye'."

  "Then it's a pair."

  "Anything else? Oh right, I remember boys like to have celebrity posters in their rooms. We have some here, want a couple?"

  Alright, Yu Cai, it seems like you've become addicted to doing business, even selling to classmates.

  "Then let's have two," Ah, go back and use it as a tablecloth, anyway, Young Master Yu has spoken.

  "Alright, nothing else? This year is the Year of the Horse, for example, you shouldn't stick a pair of small white horses on the glass and mirrors in your bathroom. Look, it's this kind of very cute one, and it matches your White Prince Charming image!"

  Isn't that a twitch at the corner of his mouth? Yu Cai thought he didn't want any, and said, "Don't you guys put up couplets for Chinese New Year? We have many kinds here, simple ones, luxurious ones, 3D ones, cute ones. Do you want to pick some?"

  "Take a slightly larger one, simple is fine."

  Yu Cai extracted one and asked, "Will this do?"

  Mo Fei glanced at him casually and nodded slightly.

  Yu Cai added a sentence when handing him the package, "Don't you really want Little White Horse? It's the year of the horse, and it only comes once every twelve years!"

  "Alright, take a pair then," Mo Fei said, "How come I never noticed this girl talked so much before?"

  Yu Cai was thrilled, she loved it when people who originally didn't want to buy anything ended up buying everything after being persuaded by her.

  Handing the door to Mo Fei, "A total of six dollars".

  "Isn't this just paying with money? What's going on? 'I feel like the price is the same as before, didn't you say it was discounted?'"

  "I hit it, 10% off".

  Okay, Yu Cai, I just found out today that you're actually a strong person too!

  Yu Cai received the money and turned to Qi Shi, "Qi Shi, your family hasn't bought any either, let me help you pick a few."

  Qí shì zhī nodded, just as someone came over to look at the couplet. Yù Cǎi smiled and said, "Qí shì zhī, why don't you go ahead and take care of your business first? I'll help you wrap this up and put it here for now, you can come back later to pick it up." After saying that, she didn't wait for Qí shì zhī's response and went off to greet others.

  Qishan was the first to leave, but he didn't want to go yet. Mo Ni pulled him along, "Let's go, she's busy now. I estimate that by 12:01, everyone will have gone back home for dinner and she'll be free. We can come again then."

  Mo Fei's words were quite prophetic. At half past twelve, Yu Cai happened to be free and was eating a boxed lunch with his uncle and aunt. When he saw them arrive, he immediately put down his rice bowl and handed the pre-packaged couplet to Qi Shi Zhi. Qi Shi Zhi took out his wallet, and Yu Cai hurriedly said, "Qi Shi Zhi, if you want to be polite, I'll dig a hole for you to see."

  Although Ji Shi was happy to see Yu Cai dig another hole, he still put away his wallet and handed the cake in He Qi's hand to Yu Cai.

  Yu Cai waved her hand repeatedly, "I really don't eat it——"

  "You're not eating, are you going to let A Shi return? Come, help me choose a few couplets."

  Put the cake that was placed on the tray in a box at the back, and let Uncle and Auntie eat it later!

  "How many doors does your house have? What kind are they?"

  "Just like Mo Fei's will do."

  Yu Cai helped him pack up and said, "By the way, I just got some Chinese knots this noon. Do you want two?"

  "Let me see."

  The Chinese knot is very festive, with a red and gold color that Yucai likes very much.

  He Qi looked at him and nodded slightly, then Yu Cai turned to Mo Fei again, "Do you want to take two as well?"

  Perhaps afraid of shaking her head, she said a lot more, so she could only nod, and Yu Cai Xi happily helped the two pack up.

  Qiao Jia saw that all three of them had bought some, so she also bought a portion just like Mo Fei's. Yu Cai happily helped her pack it up.

  "Hey, I think selling this is quite interesting, why don't you let me help out too?"

  Yu Cai hastily shook her head, seeing Xiao Bai's determined look, and quickly stretched out both hands. "This was fun at first, but now it's cold, look at my hands, and these ink stains are hard to wash off, I almost scrubbed my hands raw yesterday trying to get them off."

  He Qi looked at her stiff and black hands, hesitated.

  "Really, it's so windy here, after a while your face will be dry and wrinkled again. Why don't you go find something else to play with?"

  He wanted to say he was helping out, but thinking about it, he indeed had a playful intention, so he just nodded and left.

  As the four of them walked far away, Auntie quietly asked Yu Cai, "A Cai, why is that girl walking with three boys?"

  Yu Cai awkwardly smiled and said, "Uh, she's one of their sisters."

  Auntie pouted, "They took four sets of door-to-door coupons."

  Alright, Auntie, your observational skills are on par with Conan's.

  "Azai, you can't learn from her."

  Yu Cai hurriedly guaranteed and took out that cake again, "Aunt, this is what they ordered but didn't finish. I won't eat it, you have it!"

  The aunt hurriedly declined, but in the end couldn't outdo Yu Cai, and she and her husband ate separately.