The owner of the supermarket where Jiang Qingzhou works part-time is surnamed Zheng.
Seeing him coming, Boss Zheng said "Yo", and handed Jiang Qingzhou a slice of watermelon with a smile: "Xiao Jiang is here, here's some freshly cut iced watermelon, seedless, have a piece."
"Thank you." Jiang Qingzhou thanked him politely, and then paused and said, "I'm sorry, boss. I have something urgent to do these days... I can't leave."
Boss Zheng waved his hand without caring: "It's okay. Everyone has urgent matters these days."
Jiang Qingzhou swapped shifts with the cashier at the front desk, put on his work clothes, and skillfully scanned the codes of the goods purchased by customers and checked them out.
Boss Zheng, who was eating watermelon behind the cash register, looked at Jiang Qingzhou's familiar cashiering movements, puffed out his potbelly with satisfaction, and after this small group of customers in his store left, he started chatting with Jiang Qingzhou as if he was chatting with family.
"Xiao Jiang, why don't you find a less stressful part-time job? I heard that college students can earn more than a hundred yuan an hour tutoring, which is much more than being a cashier here."
It's not that he doesn't want to, but that he can't.
Before he dropped out of school in his previous life, his academic performance was among the top three in his grade. After that, he never touched a book again. Over time, he probably forgot most of what he learned in school.
In this life, he starts out as a college student. In order to keep up with the progress of the original owner, he is still in the stage of self-exploration and learning. He takes out his junior and high school textbooks and reads them over and over again.
Let me ask you, can he teach others? It's impossible... It's better for him to be a cashier and earn some living expenses.
Of course, the truth could not be told, so Jiang Qingzhou found an excuse: "I am a bit impatient, and I am not suitable for tutoring others."
Boss Zheng said, "Ah..." His tone seemed to be somewhat melancholy and regretful. He looked Jiang Qingzhou up and down several times and said, "I'm not in a hurry when I look at you... Don't mention it, Xiao Jiang, you are much more handsome than those male stars that my daughter is chasing after."
So pretty, with a handsome little face, red lips and white teeth, he looks prettier than any girl, yet not feminine at all… He really is like those young masters from noble families described in ancient books, with a handsome face and an elegant demeanor.
Jiang Qingzhou didn't know how to respond, so he could only smile.
It would have been fine if he didn't smile. Once he smiled, Boss Zheng felt dizzy before his eyes, and then blurted out a sentence without thinking: "Xiao Jiang, with your looks, you will definitely make a name for yourself in the entertainment industry."
"..." A strange color flashed across his eyes behind the lenses, and then Jiang Qingzhou lowered his eyelids and shook his head, saying, "The entertainment industry is too complicated, I haven't thought about it."
Boss Zheng came back to his senses and realized that he had spoken too much. He patted his mouth and agreed, "You're right! The entertainment industry is very complicated nowadays. If you don't have a sponsor behind you, you'll probably be eaten alive as soon as you enter. - I never thought about it, it's good that I never thought about it..."
Then, Boss Zheng ended the topic at the right time, made an excuse to go home, and left.
Jiang Qingzhou did not take this little episode to heart and tried his best to do his job well.
After getting off work at ten o'clock in the evening, he did some simple handover work with his colleague who came to take over his shift, and rode the shared bicycle home.
For the next two days, without Huo Jinyu around, he lived a simple and casual life, going back and forth between home and work. During the day, he read books at home to review the knowledge he had learned before, and at six in the afternoon he went out to work part-time as a cashier.
Come back at twelve o'clock, take a shower and go to bed.
Jiang Qingzhou arrived at school at 7 o'clock on Monday as normal. To his surprise, Huo Jinyu did not come to school today.
Are you...sick
After class, he took out his phone and sent a text message to Huo Jinyu, "Student Huo, are you feeling unwell or sick today? You didn't come to school."
After editing it, I felt it was too... so I deleted it and edited a new one.
"Why didn't you come to school today?"
Well, this time it's simple and clear, just click send.
Jiang Qingzhou kept waiting until school was over in the afternoon, but he still didn't receive a reply from Huo Jinyu.
On the way to his part-time job, Jiang Qingzhou was hesitating whether to send another text message to Huo Jinyu in the evening. At a crossroads outside the school, the male protagonist called him.
"—Jiang Qingzhou!"
The full name was called.
Jiang Qingzhou stepped on the ground and pushed the shared bike back a little. He stopped it with a surprised expression: "Student Ye, what's the matter?"
Ye Tianyu's eyes moved around Jiang Qingzhou, as if he wanted to confirm something: "I heard that after you dragged Huo Jinyu out that day, Huo Jinyu pushed you hard against the wall and injured you?"
Jiang Qingzhou stood there in shock: "...Who... said that?"
"Last Friday after school, several seniors got together to gossip. I passed by and heard it." Ye Tianyu explained, "Student Jiang, did Huo Jinyu use you to..."
Before Ye Tianyu could finish his words, he was interrupted by Jiang Qingzhou: "That's not the case. I accidentally bumped into the wall that day. It has nothing to do with Huo Jinyu."
Ye Tianyu did not immediately refute Jiang Qingzhou's words, but took out his mobile phone from his pocket and held a dynamic photo in front of Jiang Qingzhou.
That dynamic photo was none other than the scene of him being pushed against the wall by Huo Jinyu.
"…?"
The evidence was conclusive, and Jiang Qingzhou was silent for a moment.
"Student Jiang, why did you lie?" Ye Tianyu's tone was clearly rising with anger and condemnation. "Huo Jinyu treated you like that, why are you still following him around? You, you—"
Jiang Qingzhou was confused. He was still wondering who took the photo secretly, but why did the male protagonist turn around and accuse him with a heartbroken tone
No... Is he very familiar with the male lead
Yes, they lived in the same dormitory for a week, but it seemed that they didn’t even have more than ten sentences to each other.
"—Because he's rich? His family is powerful!?"
"Yes! He gave you a house and other things, but what does that mean? As long as you make him unhappy, he can take back all the things he gave you at any time... You can't beat him."
Jiang Qingzhou avoided the male protagonist's gaze, which was filled with a bit of disappointment. He felt weird and a little embarrassed at the same time.
After all, this was exactly why the original owner chose to follow Huo Jinyu. He thought that Huo Jinyu came from a wealthy family and was the eldest son of a wealthy family. After graduation, he might be able to use Huo Jinyu's connections to find himself a good job in Kyoto.
"Perhaps the environment in which everyone is born cannot be changed, but our future can be changed. We can work hard with our own hands, try our best, and fight for a bright future. Such a future is more reliable than following behind others and waiting for the illusory charity that may come at any time. Isn't it... Mr. Jiang?"
The protagonist's speech was deafening.
Jiang Qingzhou wanted to applaud him, he spoke so well.
"People like Huo Jinyu are not worth following. If he can push you once, he can push you a second time, a third time..."
"That's all I have to say. You... think about it carefully."
After saying these words, Ye Tianyu turned and left.
Jiang Qingzhou was left riding the shared bicycle where it was, and it took him a long time to sort out a piece of information from his confused thoughts.
So, the male protagonist specifically called him today and talked a lot just to tell him...
Huo Jinyu is not worth it.