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(SHMOLL: BQ? What happened to her? Nauurr, that girl will be dead, next time you go there brroo.)
It was 3 A.M. by the time they closed up shop. Usually, Ye Chuan and Luo Xi would have gone home long ago, but because Luo Xi's father wasn't there, and business was good, they stayed open later.
Earning a bit more money took precedence over sleep.
Ye Chuan packed up the equipment and ingredients on the barbecue cart, while Luo Xi collected the discarded skewers and cans.
She tossed the bamboo skewers into the trash, and crushed the cans and plastic bottles with her grey sneakers before putting them into a bag, the plastic rustling with her movements.
The recycling price for cans was a dime each, and plastic bottles were a dollar fifty per kilogram. Small amounts added up over time.
The tables and chairs were rented from the food street, so they only needed to be stacked and put away.
After half an hour of cleaning, Luo Xi trotted over. "ChuanChuan, look how good business was today!"
She flashed a bright smile, proudly holding up the plastic bag filled with crushed cans and bottles.
"Good business isn't measured by the number of cans." Ye Chuan didn't look up, his fingers flying across the calculator, the other hand flipping through the ledger.
"How much did we make today?" Luo Xi leaned closer, curious, bending slightly at the waist.
"Your hair… over three thousand." The girl's hair tickled Ye Chuan as she bent down.
He double-checked his calculations, then tucked the ledger into the cart's compartment.
"Not bad at all."
"Only on weekends, though." Ye Chuan estimated that Luo Xi's family's barbecue stall could earn about ten to twenty thousand yuan a month. But setting up and closing down was hard work.
Plus, they had a lot of debt from Luo Xi's mother's medical treatment, so they could only just maintain their current living situation.
A serious illness dragging down a family was all too common.
After finishing up, Ye Chuan and Luo Xi sat in the driver's seat of the three-wheeled cart and drove away from the food street.
The late-night city was less noisy, but the lights in the high-rise buildings were still on.
The three-wheeled cart had no windshield, so the night breeze felt quite cold.
"Ooh, the wind is so strong, I can't even doze off." Luo Xi giggled, then buried her face in Ye Chuan's arm like an ostrich.
"Don't fall asleep, Daddy's life is in your hands."
"At worst, we'll just get isekai'd," Ye Chuan said with a smirk.
The food street wasn't far from home, but because the three-wheeled cart couldn't navigate the narrow alleyways, Ye Chuan drove on the main road for a while before turning into the entrance of the urban village.
The cart rattled along the uneven road. Despite the darkness, Ye Chuan, familiar with the route, finally parked beneath a residential building.
After reversing the cart, Ye Chuan exhaled and looked up. Many of the apartments had their lights off, only a few faint lights still on.
Occasionally, the sound of a metal gate being pulled open could be heard, probably a breakfast shop opening for the day.
It was quite late.
Almost dawn.
His shoulder felt heavy. Ye Chuan glanced to his side and saw that Luo Xi had fallen asleep against him, her pretty face flushed, a strand of hair stuck to her lips.
"Wake up," Ye Chuan said.
Luo Xi didn't move.
Seeing this, Ye Chuan pinched her thigh. Luo Xi jolted awake, her head snapping up and hitting Ye Chuan's chin!
"Ouch!"
"Ow."
Ye Chuan rubbed his chin, and Luo Xi held her head, both of them wincing in pain.
"Jerk, why'd you pinch my thigh?" Luo Xi whined, then reached out and hit Ye Chuan.
"Who told you to sleep so soundly?"
Luo Xi puffed out her cheeks and hopped off the cart.
Seeing that they had arrived at her building, she stretched, her shapely figure evident even under the Silver Mountain uniform.
Turning to Ye Chuan, she asked, "Come upstairs with me? My parents aren't home."
"What would I go up there for?" Ye Chuan said lazily. "Are you plotting something against me?"
"No way! You're all sweaty, you need to take a shower. It's not convenient at your place," Luo Xi explained.
"We have a showerhead at my place. It's so late, you can shower and we can get some rest. It's not like there's no place for you to sleep."
"Nah." Ye Chuan thought about buying breakfast for Bai Qianshuang and shook his head. He couldn't neglect his money tree.
"Oh?" Luo Xi nodded.
"Are you disappointed?"
"N-no!" Luo Xi quickly said, then turned and headed for the stairs.
Ye Chuan chuckled, shook his head, and turned to go home.
But before he could take a step, he heard footsteps behind him. Luo Xi had returned.
"What's wrong?"
"Mm." Luo Xi didn't say anything.
After a few seconds, she mumbled, staring at her shoes, "The stairwell light is broken."
Ye Chuan looked towards the stairwell and saw that it was pitch black, indeed different from usual.
"Afraid of the dark, beautiful Luo Xi?" he teased.
"You know I am."
"It won't be dark once the sun comes up."
Despite saying this, Ye Chuan walked past Luo Xi and into the stairwell.
"Hee hee." Luo Xi quickly followed with small, quick steps.
Luo Xi's apartment was on the fifth floor.
This old residential building didn't have an elevator, and the stairs weren't even tiled, just bare concrete.
The walls on both sides were covered in small advertisements, mostly for plumbing services.
Arriving at the door, Luo Xi handed him the key. Ye Chuan opened the door and turned on the light.
He immediately smelled the strong scent of medicinal alcohol in the air, but he was used to it.
"I'm going back."
"Not showering?" Luo Xi asked.
"Nah, what time would it be by the time you're done?"
"It's the same if you go back, aren't you tired?"
Ye Chuan thought for a moment. He was indeed tired, scratching his greasy hair. "Then go shower quickly. If you take too long, I'm coming in with you."
"Okay~" Luo Xi hurried to get some clothes. Before entering the bathroom, she poked her head out and said, "You can wear my dad's clothes, I'll get them for you."
"Okay."
…
It was almost five in the morning when Ye Chuan finished his shower.
"It's almost dawn." Ye Chuan glanced at the time, then pushed open the door to a room and found Luo Xi already asleep in bed.
She was wearing a slip dress, her eyes closed, breathing softly, completely unguarded in front of him.
Beside the bed, there was a futon that she had already prepared.
Ye Chuan didn't bother drying his wet hair, just roughly towel-dried it and lay down on the futon.
He was truly exhausted.
Soon, soft snores filled the room.
But then there was a rustling from the bed.
Luo Xi propped herself up on one elbow, her hand supporting her cheek, her beautiful eyes gazing at Ye Chuan with a gentle expression.
"You worked hard, ChuanChuan."
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night.