After looking at the apartment, Xu Fei drove Wu Jun to several places around the city.
They got a temporary ID, then a replacement SIM card and bank card.
"Brother Jun, where to now?" Xu Fei asked Wu Jun after they got back in the car, having finished their errands at the bank.
Wu Jun rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Back to the supermarket first," he said.
Xu Fei was a little surprised to see Wu Jun smoking for the first time.
She felt like something about Brother Jun had changed since last night, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
’But... he looks so handsome when he smokes, too.’
Xu Fei stared blankly at Wu Jun.
She thought about the time he had carried her on his back, wading through the pouring rain to the hospital.
She remembered the scene from the fire, how he had shielded her with his own body.
She thought about him helping her tie her apron, and how he had given her the room while he slept on the floor.
And how he had sat in the passenger seat, a nervous wreck, teaching her how to drive.
She even thought about last night, by the bathroom door...
Every little moment she had spent with Wu Jun flashed through her mind like a slideshow.
Even though they hadn’t known each other long, she felt she could never leave him. Her heart had no room for anyone else.
"What are you thinking about?" Wu Jun noticed that Xu Fei still hadn’t started the car. He turned and saw her staring at him without blinking, so he reached out and gently pinched her cheek.
"Thinking about kissing you," Xu Fei said with a grin. She leaned forward and planted a loud SMACK of a kiss on Wu Jun’s cheek.
Caught by Xu Fei’s surprise attack, Wu Jun wanted to return the favor, but seeing the pedestrians constantly walking past the front of the car, he dismissed the idea. Instead, he just reached out and ruffled her hair.
By the time the two of them returned to the supermarket, it was already past five in the afternoon.
The area around the supermarket was cordoned off with police tape, and a few people were standing in front of the building, discussing last night’s fire.
When the group in front of the building saw Wu Jun’s big Mercedes pull up, they instantly scattered.
After getting out of the car, Wu Jun and Xu Fei entered the building and took the elevator up to the 20th floor, where Xu Minli lived.
They had just reached the door when they heard a loud woman’s voice coming from inside.
"I’m telling you, Xu, what the hell happened? Little Wu ran this place for three years and nothing like this ever happened! You take over for one month and you burn my place down! So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Renovate? You think a renovation is going to fix this? This apartment had a massive fire! Who’s going to want to buy it now?!"
"I was planning to sell it when the time was right! You didn’t really think I was going to rent it out forever, did you?!"
Xu Minli’s voice was completely drowned out by the woman’s booming shouts. Standing at the door, they could only hear the other woman talking.
Wu Jun was no stranger to that voice. It belonged to the supermarket’s landlady, Zhao Shuzhen. He had come specifically to deal with this matter.
With something as serious as a fire at the supermarket, the landlady naturally wouldn’t just let it go. She would need an explanation.
Wu Jun reached out and knocked on the door. Xu Minli was the one who opened it.
"Little Wu, why are you out of the hospital so soon?" Xu Minli was very surprised to see Wu Jun and Xu Fei. "And you, Feifei, why didn’t you stop your Brother Jun?"
"It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious. It doesn’t even affect my walking now," Wu Jun said with a smile as he stepped inside.
"Little Wu, you’re just in time! You be the judge. I rented out my property in good condition..." When the landlady saw it was Wu Jun, she came forward, ready to pour out her grievances.
"Auntie Zhao, I came today specifically for this matter," Wu Jun said, cutting Zhao Shuzhen off before she could finish.
Xu Minli hurriedly pulled Wu Jun aside, her face etched with anxiety. "Little Wu, this has nothing to do with you! You already transferred the supermarket to me..."
Wu Jun patted Xu Minli’s hand and said, "Auntie, listen to me. Let me handle this."
Xu Minli didn’t know the full story, and Wu Jun didn’t plan on telling her and making her worry.
Last night’s fire was clearly targeted at him, so of course, he couldn’t let Auntie Xu bear the loss.
"Little Wu..." Xu Minli wiped the corner of her eye, at a loss for words. This kid, Little Wu, had been truly impeccable to her family.
"Brother Jun..." Xu Fei stepped forward and hugged Wu Jun’s arm tightly, never wanting to let go again.
After comforting them both, Wu Jun turned to Zhao Shuzhen and said, "Auntie Zhao, I’ll buy the apartment downstairs. Find some time to get it appraised by a real estate agent."
"Little Wu, do you... do you have any idea how much this apartment costs?" the landlady asked, a look of astonishment on her face after hearing Wu Jun’s words.
Right now, in the Tianyuan residential complex, the average price per square meter was over 10,000 yuan. The supermarket was 120 square meters, so the total price would be over 1.5 million.
Wu Jun had only been running the supermarket for three years. Back then, after paying rent, he couldn’t even afford the heating bill in the winter. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out how Wu Jun had managed to earn 1.5 million in just three years.
’Can a small supermarket be that profitable these days?’
’Making enough to buy a whole apartment in a little over three years?’
’What a joke. If it were that profitable, everyone would be opening supermarkets.’
Wu Jun limped over to the window, pointed downstairs, and said, "Auntie Zhao, do you know how much that car costs?"
Zhao Shuzhen didn’t understand. She walked to the window, glanced down, and asked Wu Jun with a bewildered expression, "Which one?"
Wu Jun took out his car key and pressed the unlock button. The Mercedes-Benz GLS parked in front of the building beeped a few times. "Bought it in full," he said.
’A Mercedes worth over two million? Bought in full?’
After getting a clear look at Wu Jun’s ride, Zhao Shuzhen’s doubts completely vanished. She stared at Wu Jun, completely dumbfounded.
She had originally thought that forget 1.5 million, Wu Jun would probably have trouble scraping together even 150,000. Now, here he was, driving a car worth over two million. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.
’What on earth was he selling in that supermarket these past three years to make so much money?!’
Zhao Shuzhen, who had arrived in a fury, left with a face wreathed in smiles after being dealt with by Wu Jun.
Zhou Xing had said that the fire damage to the apartment where the supermarket was located wasn’t severe. The building’s structure was undamaged, and it could be used normally after renovations.
It wasn’t really a loss for Wu Jun to buy it. In a few years, the property value might even go up.
The small supermarket had been open for over three years and had a large base of loyal customers. Wu Jun planned to have Xu Minli continue running it after the renovation. He didn’t care whether she paid rent or not; he wasn’t short on that kind of money anymore.
Last night, outside the fire, Xu Minli had tried to rush in to save them, fainting from anxiety in the end.
The last time Wang Hongliang brought his men over, he had to go to the station to give a statement, and Xu Minli had waited for him downstairs until the middle of the night.
Three winters ago, after paying the supermarket’s rent and stocking up on goods, he had been flat broke, unable to even afford the heating bill. He had been shivering from the cold in the supermarket when Auntie Xu quietly paid the bill for him.
A close neighbor is better than a distant relative. In Wu Jun’s heart, Xu Minli held a status similar to his own aunts and uncles. Helping her with this small matter was only natural.
With the supermarket issue resolved, Xu Minli felt a great sense of relief. If Wu Jun hadn’t come, she really wouldn’t have known how to handle the relentless Zhao Shuzhen.
Since it was now dinner time, Xu Minli insisted they stay and eat at her place.
She had Wu Jun rest on the sofa while the aunt and niece duo went out to buy groceries.