After breakfast, Jiang Lin sat in front of the computer for a long time. He couldn't concentrate on reading the text on the screen. Finally, he had to turn off the computer, change his clothes, and go to the pet shop.
He had just video chatted with Cheese yesterday, and when he saw him today, Cheese still pounced on him and licked his chin and lips with his tongue.
He indulged himself in licking the cheese for a few times, and when the clerk next to him handed him a disinfectant wipe to wipe his mouth, he remembered that he forgot to wear gloves. The store had run out of latex gloves, so the boss gave him disposable plastic gloves, and he wore them to accompany the cheese. When he left, several of his fingers began to itch.
He took out medicine for eczema from his bag, went to the convenience store and bought a bottle of water to take it, and by the time he got to the store, the symptoms had eased a little.
It started to drizzle again. Deng Feng had just opened the store door and was mopping up the water at the door. He looked up and saw him coming, so he jokingly said, "You're more than half an hour early. I'm going to pay you overtime today."
Walking around the water on the ground, Jiang Lin said, "No need, I would have come here earlier if I had gone out."
The typhoon had a lot of impact on the shops along the street, which Jiang Lin was aware of. He put his bag in the employee lounge, picked up his apron from the wall, put it on, and then put on the latex gloves he had just bought to come out to help.
The store was insufficiently lit and had poor air quality, so he opened several floor-to-ceiling windows in the guest area to let in natural light and wind. He wrung out a rag and began to wipe the tables, chairs, and ornaments. After the guest area was cleaned up, he went to the order area to continue tidying up.
Deng Feng mopped the floor of the store, and the two of them worked until after two o'clock. Finally, they cleaned up and were ready for business.
Deng Feng put the bucket and mop on the iron rack opposite to dry them. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and went back to the store to ask Jiang Lin who was putting labels on the shelves, "Have you had lunch?"
Jiang Lin had eaten late breakfast and was not hungry yet. Deng Feng went to the beef offal shop opposite to buy a bowl of noodles, and then bought Korean fried chicken with honey and garlic flavor at the fried chicken shop next door. As soon as he brought it back to the store, Deng Yi came and shouted that she was starving. She grabbed the fried chicken and started eating.
Deng Feng sighed and said dissatisfiedly: "You took it without asking me. This is for Jiang Lin."
Deng Yi had just stuffed a piece of garlic fried chicken into her mouth when she heard the words and looked at Jiang Lin's back as he was whipping butter. She said to Deng Feng, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I can just go buy another one."
"No need," Jiang Lin turned around and said, "You guys eat, I'm really not hungry."
"Okay." Deng Yi responded happily and raised her eyebrows at Deng Feng. Deng Feng shook his head helplessly and broke off a pair of chopsticks to eat the beef noodles.
The store was filled with the aroma of beef and fried chicken, as well as the scent of coffee being ground by a coffee machine. Jiang Lin felt hungry after smelling it for a while, and thought about going across the street to buy a bowl of beef noodles after finishing his meal. At this time, a few student customers came into the store.
Deng Feng and Deng Yi were eating. He put down what he was doing and came over to place the order. These students placed a large order as soon as they arrived, ordering 28 drinks, including 7 different kinds of coffee alone.
After Jiang Lin took the order, the two of them put down their food and came over to help. While they were cooking, other customers arrived one after another. Jiang Lin was so busy that he didn't even have time to drink water. He could only stop when Xiao Xu came to the store at three o'clock.
After being so hungry, he couldn't eat anything, so he made a cup of Ovaltine. Deng Yi threw the cold fried chicken nuggets into the trash can, picked up the phone and told Deng Feng to ask Ji Minglun to buy food.
After calling Ji Minglun, Deng Yi found out that he was at school, and asked him to bring some ginger duck and fried oysters from an old shop near the school. When Deng Feng turned around, he found Jiang Lin looking at them. Thinking that Jiang Lin wanted to eat, he patted Deng Yi on the shoulder and said, "Ask Minglun to bring more food. Jiang Lin and Xiaoxu are here too."
Deng Yi did as she was told, and then hung up the phone happily. Deng Feng asked her what she was happy about, and she said, "It's strange, he agreed so readily today, and even asked me if I had anything else to bring."
Deng Feng laughed and said, "That's not normal. Did he hit a telephone pole during the typhoon and damage his brain?"
Deng Yi slapped Deng Feng's arm hard: "Can you hope your sister is well?"
Rubbing his numbed arm, Deng Feng bared his teeth and said, "I reminded you because I hope you'll be well."
Deng Yi didn't want to bother with her brother, so she picked up her phone and went out. Deng Feng walked to the counter and said to Jiang Lin, who was leaning against the wall drinking Ovaltine, "You've been busy for several hours and haven't sat down. Go take a break. Xiao Xu and I will watch over you."
Jiang Lin rarely refused. After finishing the last sip of Ovaltine, he washed the cup and hung it up, then said to Deng Feng, "Call me if you need anything."
Deng Feng watched him go in, and when the door of the lounge was closed, he remembered another thing. He told Xiaoxu to take a look and went to open the door.
Jiang Lin sat at the table. The gloves he had just worn were taken off and placed aside. His white and slender fingers turned very red, and his left hand was scratching his right hand.
When Jiang Lin came to the store for an interview, he mentioned the issue of eczema to Deng Feng. Since the disease was not contagious and he wore gloves when working, Deng Feng didn't mind. Now he guessed what was going on. Deng Feng took his hand and checked it: "Why is it so serious? Have you been to the hospital?"
Jiang Lin felt uncomfortable as the warmth of other people's fingers was transmitted through the skin of his wrist, so he pulled his hand back and explained, "It should be because of the weather. I forgot to wear gloves when I went to the pet store just now. I guess I'm allergic again."
Fearing that Deng Feng would be worried that this would affect his work, he added: "It's not a big problem. I've taken medicine and it will go away soon."
"Is there any ointment?" Deng Feng asked.
The ointment was at home. He had just entered the lounge intending to place an order for medicine. Deng Feng asked him to wait, went out for a few minutes, and came back with the store's medicine box.
Seeing Deng Feng find the disinfectant wipes, he took one and held his right wrist to wipe it, Jiang Lin took it and said he would do it. Deng Feng did not force him, and continued to look through the medicine box while he was wiping, and found a half-used piece of Pi Yan Ping, and asked him if he could use this.
Jiang Lin had never used Pi Yan Ping, but now his hands were itchy, so he used it as an emergency measure. Seeing him squeeze it directly onto his fingers, Deng Feng stopped him and said, "How can you apply medicine like this?"
As Deng Feng spoke, he took out a medical cotton swab, squeezed the white paste onto the cotton swab, and held his wrist again.
"I'll do it myself."
Although Deng Feng was expressing his concern, Jiang Lin always felt uncomfortable to bother others to apply the medicine, especially since they were not very familiar with each other. However, Deng Feng did not let go this time: "Don't be polite to me all the time. When my sister was a child, she often broke her hands and feet and I helped her apply the medicine. I have experience in this matter."
Since he said so, Jiang Lin couldn't refuse anymore and could only watch him apply the ointment. It must be said that Deng Feng was really meticulous in doing these things. He applied the ointment bit by bit without missing any corners. He was very patient.
When I was almost done wiping my right hand, the door of the lounge was suddenly pushed open.
The person outside the door shouted, "Brother, come out and cancel the order. The machine seems to be stuck."
Before Deng Feng could say anything, Jiang Lin pulled his hand back, took the cotton swab from him and said, "Go ahead, I'll apply it myself."
Deng Feng had no choice but to go outside to busy himself. Before closing the door, Deng Yi looked at Jiang Lin thoughtfully, then caught up with Deng Feng. Before she could ask what was going on, the guest at table 3 pressed the service bell.
Jiang Lin in the room didn't notice that Deng Yi had looked at him. He dipped the cotton swab in the ointment and quickly applied it to several other fingers. After applying it, he put away the medicine box and took out his mobile phone to look at it.
The new unread messages were all insignificant, and the person on the top of the list still hadn't contacted him. He opened his Moments again and saw a nine-square grid that Lu Zhe had posted not long ago, which was a photo of the old streets of Hong Kong.
Lu Zhe likes photography and is good at photo editing. This set of street photos has a very 1990s feel. Jiang Lin saved every one of them and gave a thumbs up.
After reading his Moments, he put away his phone and continued to help outside.
It was almost evening when Ji Minglun arrived. The wind and rain outside had passed, and the setting sun pierced through the frosty white clouds, casting patches of afterglow on the world and also reflecting a faint rainbow in the sky. There were more and more pedestrians on the street, and the store also welcomed the peak period of late customers.
Carrying two large food bags in, Ji Minglun looked at the order counter and the order processing area. He didn't see Jiang Lin, but his eyes met Deng Yi's.
Deng Yi was sprinkling matcha powder on the cream on her coffee. When she saw him, she pouted and said, "Why are you so late? We're missing someone who can do the work. Come and help us."
Ji Minglun raised the food in his hand and said, "I'll take it in first."
Passing through the guest area, he saw Jiang Lin cleaning up at a round table in the corner with his back to him. He put the food on the table in the lounge. Ji Minglun took the apron from the wall and put it on. When he came out, he saw Jiang Lin had already gone to the next table and was bending over to talk with a guest. He didn't know what they were talking about, but he was actually smiling at the guest.
The person who was talking to him was a girl with a ponytail. Because of Jiang Lin's smile, the girl also smiled sweetly and took the initiative to unlock her phone to show him.
Jiang Lin, who was always cold to others, looked at the girl's screen seriously, then took out his own mobile phone and handed it to her. After talking for a while, the girl returned the phone to him. He stood up and went back to the table to continue cleaning up.
Ji Minglun looked at the girl's appearance.
She had a baby face, dog-hair bangs, and was wearing a ruffled short-sleeved shirt and a plaid skirt with suspenders. She was drinking a cup of iced latte. Even when Jiang Lin walked to the next table, she stared at his back and talked in a low voice with her friend.
After running the store for more than half a year, Ji Minglun has accumulated a lot of experience in judging people, especially situations like this that he often encounters.
On Jiang Lin's first day, Deng Feng told him that there were customers taking pictures of Jiang Lin in the store. He knew that this meant that sooner or later someone would fall in love with Jiang Lin and confess their love to him. If it were in the past, he would have tried to prevent this situation, but now he could do nothing but watch this day come.
While he was daydreaming, Jiang Lin had already cleaned up the table. He turned around and found Jiang Lin standing at the door of the lounge. Jiang Lin raised the corner of his mouth at him, but he avoided his gaze and walked towards the counter.
The smile that didn't fully unfold froze on his lips. Jiang Lin remembered the unnatural feeling he had when Ji Minglun left in the morning.
He woke up later than Ji Minglun this morning. When he got up, there was no one in the room, only the sound of water coming from the bathroom.
At that time, he didn't think that there was anything that made Ji Minglun uncomfortable. Later, he remembered that it might be that Ji Minglun woke up and saw them sleeping in each other's arms again.
If this is true, it would explain Ji Minglun's coldness towards him.
Taking out his cell phone from his trouser pocket, Jiang Lin looked at the two tickets for the lawn concert he had just bought.
Just now, when he heard the two guests talking about tonight's concert, he remembered that Ji Minglun often used to invite him to KTV to sing, so he thought of asking Ji Minglun to go together.
Given the current situation, he might be rejected as soon as he opens his mouth.
Looking at the two tickets at the edge, he hesitated for a while, but decided to give it a try.
After cleaning up the desk, Jiang Lin returned to the trading area.
Ji Minglun was standing with Deng Yi. When he came over, he saw Deng Yi leaning on the edge of the table, tilting her head and saying, "Go ahead, otherwise it would be such a pity. Do you know how many people I asked for help to get it?"
Focusing on cutting the lemon slices in his hand, Ji Minglun said, "I really have something to do tonight, you should go find your friends."
"Tsk," Deng Yi curled her lips, "What can you do? If you don't want to go, forget it. There are many people who want to go with me."
After saying this, Deng Yi looked at Ji Minglun who was still indifferent, her eyes turned red and she turned away. Deng Feng watched the whole process from the side, and only patted Ji Minglun on the shoulder after his sister walked out of the store: "I really don't know how to say hello to you two."
Ji Minglun put the sliced lemon into the empty jar beside him without even raising his eyelids: "If you don't want to help persuade me, don't say anything."
"Can I persuade her?" Deng Feng said helplessly, "She is my sister after all, I can't say anything too harsh."
"Brother Feng, come and take a look at this."
Xiao Xu, who was standing in front of the cash register, turned around and called out, and Deng Feng went over. When Ji Minglun finished cutting the last slice of lemon and turned around to get the honey jar, a figure stood where Deng Feng had just stood, blocking his way.
Jiang Lin didn't try to guess why Deng Yi wanted to date Ji Minglun. She only remembered the way Ji Minglun rejected her just now, so she bravely asked, "Do you have anything to do tonight?"
Ji Minglun glanced at him: "What?"
Jiang Lin unlocked his phone, handed it to Ji Minglun, and lowered his voice, "I have two tickets for the Grassland Music Festival tonight. The seats are not good, but you can still see the stage. Do you want to go?"
Ji Minglun looked at Jiang Lin's phone screen and didn't answer for a while. Just when Jiang Lin was so nervous that his breathing rate unconsciously quickened, he finally spoke.
"How do you know this?"
Jiang Lin has never been keen on entertainment activities. He would rather stay at home than socialize when he has time. Ji Minglun knows his character very well and he probably won't take the initiative to learn about these noisy activities.
"I just heard from two guests," Jiang Lin confessed, "I thought you might be interested, so I bought two tickets, but unfortunately the good seats are gone."
At the end, Jiang Lin felt a little unsure, after all, the location was indeed too remote, but he still insisted on looking at Ji Minglun.
Compared to the second row that Deng Yi mentioned just now, the seats of these two tickets are indeed not attractive, but they are better because of the people they are meeting. Ji Minglun stared at Jiang Lin's fingers pinching the phone, and after a moment asked, "Do you want to go with me?"
Jiang Lin nodded immediately: "I bought connected seats."
Picking up a piece of sour lemon and putting it in his mouth, Ji Minglun suppressed the emotion that was about to show, and said in a calm tone: "Okay, then wait until the store closes before leaving."
The author has something to say:
Today is a double update, there is still one chapter ahead O(∩_∩)O